Temple service

“ How far can the Presidency of this Church bear off this kingdom? Why, they can only do that which devolves upon them; they can only do their share the same as any other persons.
If you will reflect for a moment, brethren and sisters, you will see it is one of the easiest things in the world for us to build that Temple. Here are the men who understand quarrying and cutting the rock, and laying them up ”

“ That is the canon of church building as ordained by God himself—make the church as grand an offering as you can, but keep the ritual pure—fill the temple with all the emblems of his glory, but remember that it is he only who is to be worshipped. Such is the teaching of revelation; and now we turn to nature, that boundless temple which God has built up to himself with his own hands. ”

“ Each government has such a central station, and from it all temples of worship are controlled. Here the church and the state are yet married, and the state maintains its religious departments with careful scrutiny. The chief ambition of each government has always been to outshine the others in the glory and magnificence of its central temple which, of course, is fire proof and almost time proof. ”

“ He is thinking about the redemption of the earth, the regeneration of the world, the salvation of the living and the dead, and the accomplishment of the purposes spoken of by all the holy Prophets since the world began. And it is for us to be co-workers with him. He is pleased with your efforts in building this Temple; and the angels rejoice as they see you go forth to prepare a place in which you may labor for the living and the dead. People will be called upon to labor, as a mission in those Temples when built. ”

“ The cleansing of the sanctuary in the time of the end must, therefore, according to the sure teaching of the type, be the closing ministry of our great High Priest in the heavenly temple, before He lays aside His priestly work to come in glory. ”

“ That God would vouchsafe, not only to take possession of, but to take up his residence in, this temple which he had built: Arise, O Lord! into thy rest, and let this be it, thou, even the ark of thy strength, the pledge of thy presence, thy mighty presence. 2. That God would give grace to the ministers of the sanctuary to do their duty: Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; let them appear righteous both in their administrations and in their conversations, and let both be according to the rule. Note, Righteousness is the best ornament of a minister. ”

“ I am thankful that the way is being prepared, and that we have the privilege of erecting a spiritual and moral superstructure—a temple of God. I am happy to be a member of this community; it is my joy, my delight to perform the little services which God has given me ability to do for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the children of men, for the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and for the bringing forth of His laws. ”

“ We are called upon now to build Temples. I can say with great pleasure that, so far as my knowledge extends among the Latter-day Saints, that they, as a whole, are willing to perform this labor. We have, through the goodness and mercy of God, learned that Temples are for an important use, and that without them we cannot, in our present condition, receive certain blessings necessary to our salvation and exaltation in the Kingdom of God. ”

“ A Temple built to the name of the Lord is a most delightful place to labor in: we feel that we are saviors upon Mount Zion, and that the kingdom is the Lord's, and that we are operating for God and not for ourselves, but in the interest of our common humanity and in the salvation of the world.
Let us attend to our duties and do not get up any quarrels in our families. Husbands treat your wives with kindness and try to make your home a heaven for them ”

“ This is the greatest honor that could be conferred on us—to build a Temple to the name of the Most High God, and your children after you will be proud that their fathers were engaged in such a work, in building a Temple wherein thousands can receive their endowments. The adverse circumstances in which this work was done will not be thought of. The young man takes his ox goad in his hand, and becomes a Missionary to redeem the poor from bondage and bring them here to participate with us in the blessings of Zion ”

“ Yes, each and every one can do something, and if the Latter-day Saints will be united in this thing we shall see the construction of this Temple go on rapidly. We are abundantly able to do it—we have plenty of mechanics and laborers, and abundance of the means necessary to sustain them. ”

“ They have learned that a great part of the mission and ministry of the restored Church is the administration of vicarious ordinances in behalf of the unnumbered dead who never heard the tidings of the Gospel, and that for such sacred and saving service
Temples are a necessity. ”

“ The apostle is speaking of the ministry, and compares the ministers who followed him at Corinth to builders raising a temple on the foundation he himself had laid. The temple then is the visible Church; the material, the professing members of it: some of whom, like gold, silver, and precious stones, are shining as true believers to the glory of their Saviour: others, like wood, hay, and stubble, are worthless professors, fit only to be burned. ”

“ There are other ordinances that we can administer without a Temple. You know that there are some which you have received—baptism, the laying on of hands, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, such as the speaking in and interpretation of tongues, prophecying, healing, discerning of spirits, etc., and many blessings bestowed upon the people, we have the privilege of receiving without a Temple. There are other blessings that will not be received, and ordinances that will not be performed according to the law that the Lord has revealed, without their being done in a Temple prepared for that purpose. ”

“ It is so with us in the kingdom of God; if we are saved at all, it must be by subjecting ourselves to the principles of salvation and eternal life, by observing strictly the law of Christ; and it is precisely so with regard to this people and the building of that Temple. It is one of the easiest things for us to do, if we will only go to work and do it in the way that we are commanded. When we start to do it in good earnest, our means will increase in proportion to what we do. Some will turn round and say, if by building that Temple we shall be prospered, we are ready ”

“ These things cannot be attended to in all places on the earth. There are certain appointed places for the ministration of these holy ordinances, Temples must be built, by the commandment of the Almighty, unto his holy name, that shall be sanctified and made holy from the foundation stone unto the top thereof, consecrated to the living God for the administration of holy ordinances, not only for the benefit of the living, but for the benefit of the fathers who are dead. But in what apartments in the Temple shall the baptism for the dead be administered? ”

“ But if you are what you profess to be, do your duty—stay with the Saints, pay your tithing, and be prompt in paying, as you are in feeding your family; and the temple, of which we have now laid the southeast corner stone, will arise in beauty and grandeur, in a manner and time which you have not hitherto known or contemplated. ”

“ Most Worshipful Provost says, rising and facing the east, at the same time raising his mark in his right hand, "Most Illustrious Prefect, it is now the first hour of the day, the time when our Lord suffered and the veil of the temple was rent asunder, when darkness and consternation was spread over the earth, when the confusion of the old covenant was made light in the new in the temple of the cross. ”

“ They must have a Temple there, wherein these ordinances may be administered; another here, another in the northern part of the Territory, and multiply them according to the wants of the people; for the work is becoming continually greater and greater, and the Latter-day Saints must wake up to these principles, and not have their minds absorbed with the things of this world, forgetting the great plan of salvation revealed from heaven. ”

“ The public ground here has to be inclosed before we can put forth a hand to build a Temple to the name of our God; and you are ready to feed everybody else under the heavens but the workmen. Have you turned from the Lord your God, and forgot His purposes? ”

“ Temples and Churches ought not to be built, and those already built ought to be pulled down, and sacred places for praying were not necessary to Christians, since equally in tavern or church, in market or temple, before altar or stall, God, when called upon, hears and hearkens to those who deserve. ”

“ The priests themselves reside in a range of low buildings, erected at right angles with the different temples and courts which divide them. Each has a little temple in his own house—a family altar crowded with small images, where he is often engaged in private devotion. ”

“ As set forth in the preceding pages, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims the need of Temples at the present time, reared and dedicated to the service of the Most High; and affirms that upon the Church has been placed the commission to build and maintain these sanctuaries, and to administer therein the saving and exalting ordinances of the Gospel for both living and dead. ”

“ Now is it not a reasonable thing that the apostle, when about to point us to the law and the prophets as God’s two witnesses, shall put a broad distinction between them and all mere human productions? The temple itself is the field within which they fulfill their office, and those only who speak from it are God’s accredited messengers. If the Scriptures are the standard by which truth concerning the kingdom of Christ is to be tested, if they have authority to bind the consciences of men, there must be some criterion by which they shall be judged. ”

“ Thou didst, by the main gate or in the daytime."
"How then?"
"There are external doors which I know and which the wise overseers of the labyrinth leave unguarded. In the court the watches are not numerous and they trust so much to the care of the gods, or to the fear of the people that they sleep in the night time most frequently. Besides, the priests go to pray in the temple three times between sunset and sunrise, but the guards perform their devotions in the open air. Before one prayer is finished I shall be in the edifice." ”

“ The canons were chanting the Office when we entered, and looked like bishops in their flowing purple robes. The service ended with a procession around the church, the clergy in magnificent copes, heavy with ancient embroidery in gold. The people were all devout. No careless ways, as in many places where religion sits lightly on the people, but an earnestness and devotion that were impressive. ”

“ I will build a temple, a great illimitable temple, a second Pantheon, a church which shall unite all churches within itself, in which it shall be granted to every man to have his own altar, and adopt his own religious exercises. ”

“ I want to say to the hands upon the Temple, be united; and to the committee, don't turn away any person because he is English, Irish, or Scotch. Employ every man you can, and build {227} the Temple and build your homes. ”

“ Not only does the church work in a hundred ways through its regular organizations to advance the spiritual life of its members and the community, but once every year, organization fences are taken down and as a whole and united body, it marches forward to a great fair. The Temple fairs are famous. ”

“ We are building up a Temple to the name of the Most High, and there is plenty of business for every individual who lists to do his part. Do not let us pander to the Devil, nor strew our ways to strangers, but let us take that course that will be best calculated to establish the principles of righteousness upon the earth, to establish the reign of the kingdom of God. ”

“ We enjoy the privilege of entering into a Temple, built to the name of God, and receiving the ordinances of his House, with all the keys and blessings preparatory of entering into the "lives ;" we also enjoy the privilege of administering for our fathers and mothers, our grandfathers and grand mothers, for those who have slept without the Gospel. ”

“ How like he is to your Lord! Is he not, like your Christ, a Saviour, and risen from the dead? The Temple or the Church—both are the sanctuaries of the Deity. By the ivy-wreathed altar of the weeping goddess, at the foot of the tall cypresses which cast their mysterious shadows on the snowy whiteness of the marble steps on which lies the bier of the god, you will feel the sacred awe which falls upon every pure soul when it is conscious of the presence of the Deity—call Him what you will. ”

“ We are seeking not only to administer for the living, but for the dead. There are many queries come up in relation to the manner in which the various works we are now engaged in shall be accomplished. Shall we pay our Tithing? Yes. Shall we sustain the building of Temples? Yes. And anything outside of this? Yes, we should do the best we can to build up the kingdom of our God. ”

“ And we have it, upon the authority of this national body of clergymen, that there are not a sufficient number of church edifices in the country to hold one-half of the people if they wished to attend "divine service;" and that, on an an average, the churches are not half filled on the sabbath. ”