Over
the years as my thoughts and heart have turned to the lives of my noble
ancestors, I have learned to appreciate them more. Learning about my
ancestors has not only turned my heart to them, but has helped me see
eternity more clearly. My own life is rooted not just in the present,
but in the lives of my ancestors as well.
I
remember reading a message that Grandfather Kimball wrote to his
children in which he said, “I only care for the things of eternity. When
I behold the great things of God and the glory which awaits the
righteous, and when I reflect that the road is so straight that but few
find it, I feel to pray the Lord to bless my children and save them. I
am thankful to God because I live in a day when some will find it and
will become Gods.” (See Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Bookcraft, 1945, p. 513.)
If
we live in such a way that the eternity concerns us, we will make
better decisions. Perhaps this is why President Brigham Young once said
that if he could do only one thing to bless the Saints, he believed it
would be to give them “eyes with which to see things as they are.” (Journal of Discourses, p.
3:221). It is interesting to note how those last words reflect the
words of the scriptures in which truth is described as “knowledge of
things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come” (D&C 93:24).
Jacob reminds us also that the Spirit “speaketh the truth … of things
as they really are, and things as they really will be …” (Jacob 4:13).
The
more clearly we see eternity, the more obvious it becomes that the
Lord’s work in which we are engaged is one vast and grand work with
striking similarities on each side of the veil of death.
We
have great works to perform on this earth, and I suppose the whole
program of the Church could be put in one of three categories:
missionary work, temple work, and keeping Church members active and
faithful. It is hard to over-emphasize the value and importance of any
one of these activities. Our great and growing missionary program among
mortals is the most extensive it has ever been in this dispensation as
we are preaching, teaching, and baptizing tens of thousands of our
fellowmen. However, missionary work is not limited to proclaiming the
gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people now living on the
earth. Missionary work is also continuing beyond the veil among the
millions and even billions of the children of our Heavenly Father who
have died either without hearing the gospel or without accepting it
while they lived on the earth. Our great part in this aspect of
missionary work is to perform on this earth the ordinances required for
those who accept the gospel over there. The spirit world is full of
spirits who are anxiously awaiting for us to perform these earthly
ordinances for them. I hope to see us dissolve
the artificial boundary line we so often place in our minds between
missionary work and temple and genealogical work because it is the same
great redemptive work!
During
the span of ages, there have been periods of time when the Lord has
gathered his people together and established the gospel and certain of
the ordinances of salvation among them. These we call gospel
dispensations, each headed by prophets who held the holy priesthood and
the keys authorizing the exercise of that priesthood. We honor them for
their noble and inspired works of righteousness. We see that in each
dispensation prior to our own, certain aspects of the work of salvation
for all the larger family of God have been introduced and a part of the
labor completed.
In
our own dispensation, which the scriptures have identified as the
dispensation of the fulness of times, the Lord has promised that he
would “gather together in one all things, both of which are in heaven,
and which are on earth.” (D&C 27:13; Eph. 1:10.)
Certainly
gathering “together in one all things” is related to the Apostle
Peter’s statement regarding the “times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began.” (Acts 3:21.)
This very important prophecy refers especially to the return of those
prophets of old who held the various priesthood keys of the kingdom.
Thus,
the keys of the divine patriarchal order which were held by the fathers
anciently were restored, saying, in effect, that the time had finally
come for Abraham’s great lineage to be restored to the gospel and the
priesthood. Through this priesthood “shall all the families of the earth
be blessed” (Abr. 2:11)—meaning
in part that the blessings of the gospel are brought to individuals and
also that through the priesthood’s new and everlasting covenant of
marriage, all the elect children of God who are gathered together out of
the earth may be sealed together in family units into the lineage of
Abraham, or in other words, into the organized, eternal family of God.
Is
it any wonder that the organization and work of the Church and its
priesthood in this day are patterned after the keys it possesses? We are
a missionary Church, participating to the fullest possible extent in
the gathering of Israel. We are a Church founded upon families; a Church
that takes care of its own, stressing the economic, intellectual, and
spiritual development of its families and individual members in
preparation for salvation in the kingdom of heaven. And we are a Church
that is actively engaged in temple and genealogy work for ourselves and
for the infinite numbers of our Father’s children who have the promise,
but who haven’t yet had the opportunity, for the ordinances of
salvation. This is a work that makes even more meaningful the great
corresponding missionary work being carried out in the spirit world.
Time
and time again, when I have read certain passages in the Bible
pertaining to this work, I have been impressed by the forceful questions
Paul posed when he asked the Corinthian Saints:
-
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
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And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
-
(1 Cor. 15:29–30; italics added.)
Paul’s
last question has caused me much reflection in recent months. Why do
the peoples of the world stand in jeopardy? Because they cannot be saved
without their families and their associates. They will continue to
stand in jeopardy until the gospel is taken to them in such a way that
they are willing either to receive it or reject it. This responsibility
also places us in jeopardy so far as missionary work is concerned if we
don’t share the gospel with them.
At
the same time, we as members of the Church also stand in jeopardy if we
do not do our temple work. Much of our time is taken up with the
mundane details of every day living which must be done, of course; but
those who are members of His kingdom at this crucial time should
endeavor to give much time and effort to this important work.
These
things of eternity pertaining to the spirit world and the hereafter
were on the mind of the Savior when He was crucified. This is reflected
in His statement to the repentant thief, which has puzzled many people:
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And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
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But the other answered him rebuking him, saying, Does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
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And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man (the Christ) hath done nothing amiss.
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And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest unto thy kingdom.
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And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
What
did He mean? He meant exactly what He said. The hours would pass, death
would come to them all, they would go into another world and “Today
thou shalt be with me in paradise.”
You
will remember also when the woman came to the tomb of the buried
Savior, the Savior was not in His tomb. When He met her in the garden,
He said, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father (in
heaven) but … I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God,
and your God.” (John 20:17.)
He had still not been to see His Heavenly Father, so He hadn’t gone
directly to the heaven we think of. He had gone some other place.
And then Peter explains to us later just where the Savior went and for what purpose.
-
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
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By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison …
-
For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
He
provided the opportunity whereby they might repent of their sins,
change their attitudes and their lives, and live according to God in the
spirit. We do not know how many millions of spirits are involved. We
know that many have died in wars, pestilence, and in various accidents.
We know that the spirit world is filled with the spirits of men who are
waiting for you and me to get busy—waiting like the signers of the
American Declaration of Independence waited. “Why,” they asked President
Wilford Woodruff, “why do you keep us waiting?” That question continues
to be asked of us also, by our own people.
We
wonder about our progenitors—grandparents, great-grandparents,
great-great-grandparents, etc. What do they think of you and me? We are
their offspring. We have the responsibility to do their temple work, and
yet the beautiful temples of the Lord stand day after day, but we do
not fill them always. We have a grave responsibility that we cannot
avoid, and may stand in jeopardy if we fail to do this important work.
I
hope our Saints will understand the glorious reality of it all, that as
the work in our temples is done in this world, it helps to prepare us
for another and better world.
The
temples are reserved for sacred ordinances pertaining to the living and
the dead. Worthy members of the Church should go to the temples as
often as possible to participate in this important work. One of the
ordinances performed in the temple is that of the endowment, which
comprises a course of instruction relating to the eternal journey of man
and woman from the pre-earthly existence through the earthly experience
and on to the exaltation each may attain.
Brigham Young has indicated the following concerning the endowment:
-
Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels … and gain your eternal exaltation …
-
(Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 416.)
Because
of the sacred nature of the endowment and the other ordinances
performed in the temple, those who go to the temple to receive them must
be prepared and worthy. People who are converted to the Church often
feel enthusiastic about going to the temple immediately after their
baptism. But it takes time for them to adjust their thinking to things
of an eternal nature, and it takes time for them to adjust their lives
so that they are prepared and worthy when they do attend the temple.
Thus, we have counseled stake presidents and bishops not to recommend
people to go to the temple to receive their endowments until they are
sufficiently mature in the gospel. We have established a policy that new
converts should prepare themselves for at least one year after baptism before receiving these additional ordinances and blessings.
Some
of the ancient temples were desecrated by the actions of outsiders. The
Temple of Solomon, for example, was desecrated by those without
authority who walked into the temple, robbed it of its precious
treasures, and took those treasures to foreign lands for use in
idolatrous practices. But the possible actions of outsiders are not the
only potential pollutants of holy places.
Holy
temples may also be defiled and desecrated by members of the Church who
go into the temple and make covenants unworthily, or which they are not
prepared or willing to accept and carry forward. When people go to the
temple and then make light of its sacred principles, they are defiling
it. When unrepentant people accept the holy ordinances without full
determination to prove worthy of them, they are helping to violate the
sacredness of the holy temple and they are desecrating holy places.
When
promises are made and covenants are entered into without serious or
pure intent to magnify them, pollutions may occur in the holy temples.
It is not only a matter of receiving a recommendation to enter the
temples of the Lord, but it is also a matter of one having a pure,
sweet, and repentant spirit as well. When we enter the door of the house
of the Lord, we might well remember a theme that was mentioned in the
Washington Temple:
Enter this door as if the floor within were gold;
And every wall of jewels all of wealth untold;
As if a choir in robes of fire were singing here;
Nor shout nor rush but hush … for God is here.
(From “Words of Life” p. 45.)
Some
of us have had occasion to wait for someone or something for a minute,
an hour, a day, a week, or even a year. Can you imagine how our
progenitors must feel, some of whom have perhaps been waiting for
decades and even centuries for the temple work to be done for them? I
have tried, in my mind’s eye, to envision our progenitors who are
anxiously waiting for those of us who are their descendants and are
members of the Church on the earth to do our duty toward them. I have
also thought what a dreadful feeling it would be for us to see them in
the hereafter and have to acknowledge that we had not been as faithful
as we should have been here on earth in performing these ordinances in
their behalf.
During
the past few months, I have been privileged to attend the rededication
of a number of our temples. Perhaps, the Lord permits us to hold such
rededication services so that we can sit in the temple and think and
reflect and ponder on the things we ought to be doing. As a result of
such experiences, I have resolved to continue to give of myself and my
energies to this great and important work and encourage others to do
likewise.
Recently,
I have felt impressed to share some thoughts about the work for the
dead because I feel the same urgency for it that I do about missionary
work since they are basically one and the same. To my knowledge, there
has never been another time in this dispensation when we have had four
temples at various stages of planning and construction as we now have,
together with the refurbishing and rededication of others. Thus, I said
to my Brethren of the General Authorities, “This work is constantly on
my mind, for it must be carried forward.”
Having
in mind the importance of temple work, wouldn’t it be wonderful if
every Latter-day Saint home had in the bedroom of each boy and each
girl, or on the mantle of the living room, a fairly good-sized picture
of a temple which would help them recall, frequently, the purpose of
these beautiful edifices. I believe there would be far more marriages in
the temple than there are today, because the children would have as a
part of their growing experience the picture of one of our temples
constantly before them as a reminder and a goal. I recommend that to the
Saints. It is almost costless and certainly would help develop the
thinking processes of little minds that are growing, as the temple and
its meaning is contemplated and is discussed in the Family Home Evening.
This
is the work of the Lord, and He has given it to us. It is our
responsibility, our pleasure, and our privilege to carry this work
forward. We should so organize ourselves and the work that it will go
forward rapidly. In the book of Revelation, John saw that sometime in
the future (and it is still in the future to us) those who were faithful
and have cleansed their lives, will work night and day in the holy
temples. Evidently, there will be then a constant succession of groups
going through the temple somewhat like it was in the days of the Nauvoo
Temple. My grandfather, Heber C. Kimball, wrote in his journal that
during the last days of February 1846, groups were going through the
Nauvoo Temple night and day, “way into the night and way into the day,”
he said. He indicated that Brother Brigham took a group through, Brother
Willard took a group through, and he took a group through, and so on.
The faithful Saints then were so anxious that they should receive the
numerous blessings and ordinances which are given in the temple that
they virtually lived in the temple those last few hours before they
crossed the plains. Today, we should begin to act with that same fervor
and desire.
We
have asked the members of the Church to further the work of turning the
hearts of the children to the fathers by getting their sacred family
records in order. These records, including especially the “book
containing the records of our dead” (D&C 128:24) are a portion of the “offering in righteousness” referred to by Malachi (Mal. 3:3), which we are to present in His holy temple, and without which we shall not abide the day of His coming.
We
also have asked that the families of the Church organize themselves to
perform more efficiently their sacred missionary, welfare, home
education, temple and genealogical responsibilities and to set the
pattern for things to come. I recall it was said that the last public
words of my grandfather, Heber C. Kimball, were to the effect that the
time had come for all men to set their houses in order.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said:
-
Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and so on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.
-
(D&C 128:22.)
My
prayer for all of us who are members of the Church in this great
dispensation of the fulness of times is that we might indeed go forward
in this great work so that we will not stand in jeopardy of our eternal
reward.
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