Why do we need to perform ordinances in the temple? (D&C 124)

124:1

Why didn’t the Lord choose someone smarter than Joseph Smith? Why wouldn’t the Lord select a more educated man? Why not someone who was already a political or religious leader? Why, out of all the people of the world, did He choose a 14 year old, uneducated, poor boy in Palmyra?

I’ve thought about this question and usually my answer is that he needed someone who was young and untainted by life. He needed to pour his “wine in new bottles.” Only a young, inexperienced person wouldn’t have the biases that may prevent him from following in humility.

This is true but there is another reason that is illustrated in this verse. “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.” A reason that Joseph was selected was that it would be obvious that what he accomplished was through the Lord - not because of any genius on Joseph’s part. If the Lord chose a religious leader who had an IQ of 200 and had already written several religious books, it may be tempting to attribute revelations from God to the inventions of a brilliant man.

This is also a good reminder about what the Lord can do with us. We are all considered the “weak things of the earth.” God can do great things with people filled with weakness. Like me.

124:9

“And again, I will visit and soften their hearts, many of them for your good, that ye may find grace in their eyes, that they may come to the light of truth, and the Gentiles to the exaltation or lifting up of Zion.” I am very interested in how the Lord softens hearts. It’s interesting because he doesn’t ever take away free will - we always have a choice - but it does appear that he can sway us one way or another through heart softening.

So, how does the Lord soften hearts? He obviously doesn’t reach in and flip a switch that forces compliance. Instead, He extends spiritual influence through:

• The Holy Ghost, which brings feelings of peace, humility, and understanding. The Holy Ghost is the ultimate heart-softener.

• Experiences, such as trials, mercy, miracles, or love shown through others. This is a big way of softening someone’s heart. It could be a hard-hearted person experiences a trial so heart-wrenching that their heart is softened. Or, it may be that someone experiences a mighty miracle - the story of Alma the Younger comes to mind. His seeing an angel certainly softened his heart.

• Truth, which when sincerely received, naturally softens pride and opens the heart. If people’s minds are open to learning truth, truth itself can soften hearts. For example, I may judge someone harshly until I learn the truth of their upbringing. It could be, when I learn the truth of the childhood abuse that they endured, it would soften my heart about them.

God softens hearts by offering truth and love so powerful that it awakens something in us, but we still choose our response. He never removes free will — He works within it, inviting the heart to want goodness more deeply.

124:15

“And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” This is a good definition of integrity - if we love the things that we ought to. The alternative is to love that which isn’t good. For example:

• Do we love serving people or looking good because we serve people?

• Do we love obeying the commandments because we love God or because we want to have a better score at the end of our life?

• Do we love going to church because we are trying to be good disciples of Christ or because we want to look good for the congregation?

• Do we love to fast because we want to grow closer to God or because we like checking it off our list once a month?

• Do we love doing good or do we love relaxing on the couch?

• Do we love going to church or love going boating?

• Do we love being honest or do we love getting ahead financially by lying a little?

• Do we love forgiving people quickly or do we love holding grudges?

If we love what God loves, we have integrity of heart. If we love what we want to love, we are simply doing what any person does.

124:17

This verse is about John C. Bennett. “And for his love he shall be great, for he shall be mine if he do this, saith the Lord. I have seen the work which he hath done, which I accept if he continue, and will crown him with blessings and great glory.” This is true for all of us. If we love God and righteousness, we shall be great. This goes back to verse 15.

He adds an interesting phrase: “which I accept if he continue.” The Lord was speaking about John’s work. The Lord had seen what John had done. The Lord added this qualifier that he would accept John’s work if he continued. This is true for all of us. I cannot just front load all of my good works during the first half of my life and then coast through the second half. That isn’t how this works.

If we are to progress eternally, our progression path must continue. The slope must continue to go upward. We cannot just purchase a pass to glory with a lot of effort for a period of time. That’s not what “becoming” is. Our judgment will not involve a tally of our good works. It will be about what we have BECOME! If we have become the disciple we are suppose to be, our good works will continue into eternity. Just look at our Heavenly Father, his good works continue long after he has become a perfect being.

124:20

“And again, verily I say unto you, my servant George Miller is without guile; he may be trusted because of the integrity of his heart; and for the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him.” I’ve always wanted to be without guile. It’s hard to sometimes purge yourself of it. Without guile and having integrity are the same thing. George Miller had integrity.

The interesting phrase to me is the last one. “…and for the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him.” George’s love for the gospel that the Lord testified of was likely what purged him of guile and made it easy to act with integrity. His love for the gospel fueled his ability to:

• Keep covenants.

• Love others.

• Align his will with the Lord’s.

• Serve those in need.

• Be obedient.

George loved the gospel in addition to loving the Lord. Many of us will admit that we have passion in how we love the Lord. He was the one who sacrificed himself selflessly for us. We hear people say all of the time that they “love the Lord.” We hear less frequently that people “love the gospel.”

To me, loving the gospel is secondary to loving the Lord. But, it is also how we demonstrate our love for the Lord. The Lord’s gospel is how we show our gratitude for Him. Living the gospel is the action resulting from loving Him. The Lord’s gospel is beautiful and we should feel actual affection for it. What are the elements of the Lord’s gospel?

1. Exercise faith.

2. Come unto Christ.

3. Repentance.

4. Baptism.

5. Being cleansed by the Holy Ghost.

6. Receive God’s ordinances.

7. Obey His commandments.

8. Endure to the end.

This is, in a nutshell, the Lord’s “testimony.” As you read this list, do you feel affection and dedication to each one? Do we love that list? Do we love living and basing our lives on this list? If we do, the Lord will Love us and what we are doing.

124:30, 44, 55

“For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.” This is saying that baptisms for the dead should happen only in the temple unless the church is very poor.

Why does the Lord care about where the ordinances of the temple are performed? Why can’t they be done in a mountain or in a lake or in the middle of a forest? Enemies of the church argue that the only thing that matters is what is happening in our hearts and the location doesn’t matter.

So why should they happen in the temple? Consider the specialness of the ordinance. Consider the sacrifice that church members made to build temples. Consider the reverence that it shows the ordinance to build a holy house for the Lord for this purpose. If we could simply go down to the community pool and perform baptisms for the dead when we had the option to build a temple demonstrates a flippancy for the ordinances. Making them convenient makes them common. There are benefits to us performing the ordinances of the temple in the temple.

The effort and sacrifice needed to build a temple actually consecrates the temple. Verse 44 reads, “If ye labor with all your might, I will consecrate that spot that it shall be made holy.” The spot is consecrated, the effort is consecrated and our very selves are consecrated with sincere labor. In verse 55, we read, “And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you, and crown you with honor, immortality, and eternal life.” Building the temple is a way of proving ourselves. It is hard to build a temple. It was very hard for the early Saints. They proved themselves to be faithful.

124:45-48

Having said that, it isn’t the temple itself that consecrates what we do. It is what we do that consecrates the temple. The primary thing that we must do to have the Lord’s blessings promised in the temple is to “hearken unto the voice of the Lord and his servants.”

“And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place. But if they will not hearken to my voice, nor unto the voice of these men whom I have appointed, they shall not be blest, because they pollute mine holy grounds, and mine holy ordinances, and charters, and my holy words which I give unto them.” Having the temple and visiting it is not what is required. What is required is to live up to the covenants we have made and truly learn fro the ordinances performed.

If we discontinue following the patterns set up by the Lord in the temple, it will not be a blessing to us. “And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name, and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord.” The temple doesn’t save us, it all about us doing the things that the Lord says.

“For instead of blessings, ye, by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practice before me, saith the Lord.” If we were to turn our backs on what has been revealed about the purposes of the temple, the temple will be a place of cursings rather than blessings. Imagine if we decided to set up some gambling tables in the celestial room, how would that affect us? Truly, misappropriating the purposes of the temple in this way would bring down wrath, indignation and judgments upon our own heads.

124:84

“And with my servant Almon Babbitt, there are many things with which I am not pleased; behold, he aspireth to establish his counsel instead of the counsel which I have ordained, even that of the Presidency of my Church; and he setteth up a golden calf for the worship of my people.” Sometimes, people join the church and have a hard time giving up their own philosophies.

I’ve heard people say that something that the church does is not logical. They suggest that church leaders are contradicting each other. I hear things like “God would never do that.” They literally begin to worship their logic and brainpower above God himself! They say, “God gave me a brain and he wants me to use it and the church’s teachings don’t make sense to me!” They are making their own brains a golden calf.

This doesn’t mean that we aren’t supposed to think critically. This doesn’t mean that we are supposed to be blind sheep. But it does mean that, once we’ve decided that the gospel is true, we can have faith in its past and present leaders. If what your brain has conceived goes against the teachings of the Brethren and the scriptures, your worshipping your own logic.

124:86

“If they live here let them live unto me; and if they die let them die unto me; for they shall rest from all their labors here, and shall continue their works.” If we die, we will rest from our worldly labors. We will no longer care about bills or cleaning or yard work or jobs. However, we will “continue our works.” What does that mean?

Those of us that think that heaven is a place of continual relaxation and leisure couldn’t be more wrong. We will continue to work. Hopefully, it is clear to us that, if we do not have a purpose and aren’t earnestly engaged in a good cause, we start to atrophy mentally and spiritually. We will be engaged in a good cause for eternity. Heavenly Father himself works. Our full time job will be to teach and strengthen and bless others.

124:124

“First, I give unto you Hyrum Smith to be a patriarch unto you, to hold the sealing blessings of my church, even the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed up unto the day of redemption, that ye may not fall notwithstanding the hour of temptation that may come upon you.” The sealing blessings of the church are truly blessings that will protect us and “seal us up unto the day of redemption.”

Those of us that have Patriarchal blessings know that they are a roadmap for our lives. They are perspective-altering documents. We are able to see our lives described and most of ours talk about coming forth at the morning of the first resurrection. Having this eternal perspective is a protective process. It protects us from the “temptation that may come upon you.” All of us will experience this hour of temptation. Everyone’s is unique. Your hour of temptation is different than mine. We can all safely say that every one of us will experience something that truly tempts. Having the perspective of our Patriarchal blessings will protect us so that we may not fall.