This is my written copy of the talk I gave today in Sacrament meeting. For more information on my Church, go here.
On the front of Temples all over the world, the words, “Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord,” can be read. While symbolism plays a choice key in our understanding of the gospel, the simple, proclaiming phrase “The House of the Lord” should not be mistaken as symbolic. Under “Gospel Topics” on LDS.ORG, the first sentence about temples reads: “Temples are literally houses of the Lord.” Temples are God’s dwelling places on the Earth. Faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who desire and live worthily can enter in and spend time in the most sacred of all places, closest to the Spirit and to God.
The Temple is a sacred house dedicated to the work of the Lord. Whether it is the need for singular revelation, or the need to seal a family together for eternity, temples are built to facilitate the greatest needs a person can have of the Atonement of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Only in the Temple can the greatest blessings of the Atonement be sought.
LDS.org teaches that “everything in the Church—the meetings and activities, the missionary efforts, the lessons taught and the hymns—all lead to the work done in holy temples.” Lessons are taught to primary and mutual aged kids that they may prepare to enter the temple and understand the significance thereof. Just the same, lessons are taught to adults to both direct them to the temple and to teach them of the Savior, in order to enrich their temple-going experiences.
President Hinckley wrote in the November 1995 Ensign that “these unique and wonderful buildings, and the ordinances administered therein, represent the ultimate in our worship. These ordinances become the most profound expressions of our theology.”
The temple is the House of God because it is a sanctified, dedicated place clean enough for Him to dwell, along with His in-tune and progressing Saints. Faithful members who attend the temple in the correct spirit, having made the correct preparations, will have experiences that will deepen their testimonies that Temples are the Houses of the Lord precisely for the reasons described in D&C 88: 119.
It reads: aOrganize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a bhouse, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
The experience that I have had in the Temple has taught me of these things. One of my favorite experiences in attending the Temple was with the youth to do baptisms for the dead. One of the older girls, a laurel, remarked to one of our leaders that she felt so much peace being in the temple. She said she had even “scrubbed in-between her toes” so she could fully enjoy that clean, sanctified, holy feeling which the temple offers. I knew that she had recently successfully sought the blessings of the Atonement to overcome an eating disorder. To see her whole, safe, and happy inside the temple left an impression on me that I will never forget. The spirit testified to me that I, too, could always return worthily to the temple to be uplifted, reassured, and made whole once again through the love of my Savior. When we faithfully attend the temple, surely our faith will increase as we pray and learn.
Just as LDS.org suggested, regular gospel study is key to maintaining meaningful Temple experiences. Aside from my actual experiences within the Temple walls, the greatest growth to my testimony of Temples occurred when I was studying for Sunday School out of the Old Testament scripture study guide. I read the dedication of one of the ancient temples. The dedication was pages long, and so beautiful. In that experience, knowledge of the spirit and the testifying power of the spirit came together and the work of the temple became stunningly clear and powerful to me. I gained a deeper understanding of the relevance of Temple work, of the way in which all ordinances and covenants are connected and designed to bring families together that each individual may return to our Father in Heaven.
I had been struggling very much with understanding the importance and relevance of the Old Testament to my gospel study in the Latter-Days. This experience was a beautiful one that I would not have had if I had not been prayerfully studying my Sunday School lessons, week after week, and been ready to hear the voice of the Spirit speak on a topic I needed to learn more about. I learned that the significance of the Temple was key for disciples of the Savior then, just as it is now. As is so often the case with spirituality in our lives, the smallest, most reoccurring actions are the ones that will make the most difference in our lives.
The Saints who labored diligently to complete the Kirtland temple sacrificed so much. In the dedicatory prayer, it was said, “For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have agiven of our substance to build a bhouse to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to cmanifest himself to his people.”
Though we don’t need to labor with our hands to build the literal temple, as the Saints of Kirtland did, we must labor to maintain the spirit in our lives, to serve and to sacrifice. By doing these things we come to know the Savior, and are making the most worthwhile preparation of all.
As Elder Russell M Nelson taught that we must enter the temple with holiness. In the May 2001 Ensign, he wrote, “Inscribed on each temple are the words “Holiness to the Lord.” That statement designates both the temple and its purposes as holy. Those who enter the temple are also to bear the attribute of holiness. It may be easier to ascribe holiness to a building than it is to a people. We can acquire holiness only by enduring and persistent personal effort.”
Because the temple is the House of God, we must maintain that we carefully prepare to enter in. Elder Nelson suggests these physical and spiritual preparations:
1. Physical Preparation: “One prepares physically for the temple by dressing properly. It is not a place for casual attire. Within the temple, all are dressed in spotless white to remind us that God is to have a pure people. Wearing the temple garment has deep symbolic significance. It represents a continuing commitment. Just as the Savior exemplified the need to endure to the end, we wear the garment faithfully as part of the enduring armor of God.”
2. Spiritual Preparation: “Each temple is a house of learning. There we are taught in the Master’s way. His way differs from modes of others. His way is ancient and rich with symbolism. We can learn much by pondering the reality for which each symbol stands. I like to recommend that members going to the temple for the first time read short explanatory paragraphs in the Bible Dictionary, listed under seven topics: “Anoint,” “Atonement,” “Christ,” “Covenant,” “Fall of Adam,” “Sacrifices,” and “Temple.” Doing so will provide a firm foundation.”
3. Finally, he relates a quote from President Hinckley on the significance of keeping an eternal perspective. President Hinckley said, “There is a goal beyond the Resurrection. That is exaltation in our Father’s kingdom. … It will begin with acceptance of him as our Eternal Father and of his son as our living Redeemer. It will involve participation in various ordinances, each one important and necessary.”
We show reverence for the Temple when we make the proper preparations to attend, and we can receive the comfort, strength, revelation, and direction we need. Reverence for the Temple as the House of the Lord is important because it is a place set aside for the teaching of lessons and performing of ordinances far too sacred to take place anywhere else.
Boyd K Packer wrote these words in the Feb 1995 Ensign: “A careful reading of the scriptures reveals that the Lord did not tell all things to all people. There were some qualifications set that were prerequisite to receiving sacred information. Temple ceremonies fall within this category. The ordinances and ceremonies of the temple are simple. They are beautiful. They are sacred. They are kept confidential lest they be given to those who are unprepared. Curiosity is not a preparation. Deep interest itself is not a preparation. Preparation for the ordinances includes preliminary steps: faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation, worthiness, a maturity and dignity worthy of one who comes invited as a guest into the house of the Lord.”
Some frown upon the House of the Lord as too secretive and exclusive. Once on a plane from Salt Lake to Portland, I sat by two women, one of whom casually asked the other if she was LDS. Neither were, and the first attributed her disbelief in our faith to the nature of the temples. She said that she believed God loved His children too much to allow some people to enter His temple while requiring that others could not. I sadly listened on, and though I didn’t interject into their conversation, I prayed to the Lord, who did indeed love her, that she would some day find the truth and the blessings of the Temple she misunderstood.
The House of the Lord is kept sacred because of the eternal nature of its purposes, which God Himself has designed. There baptisms for the dead are performed, families are sealed for eternity, endowments are given as literal gifts to each individual Saint, all so that God may one day bring His people home to be with Him again. Through faithful attendance to the part of His House that is available to us now, we can surely spend eternity with Him and those we love.
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