D&C 109-110

1. D&C 109-110

2. The Kirtland Temple—”not after the manner of the world” (D&C 95:13-15)

3. The Divine Design of the Kirtland Temple Carpenter Rolph asked Frederick G. Williams, "Doctor, what do you think of the House?" He answered, "It looks to me like the pattern precisely." He then related the following: "Joseph received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, [Frederick G.] Williams and [Sidney] Rigdon, and come before the Lord and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the building [Kirtland Temple] appeared within viewing distance. I being the first to discover it. Then all of us viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us, and the makeup of this hall seemed to coincide with what I there saw to a minutia.“ (Truman O. Angell, Autobiography (1810-1856) in “His Journal,” Our Pioneer Heritage 10 (1967):195-213.

4. Artemus Millet—Chief Architect of the Kirtland Temple When the Prophet Joseph Smith learned that Artemus Millet was not yet a member of the Church, he sent Brigham Young on a special mission to baptize him. Artemus Millet was a skilled mason in Canada who would be the right man to help build the Kirtland Temple. Brother Millet was baptized and accepted the call to be the master builder of the temple and to contribute a great deal of his own money to help pay for the sacred edifice. He went to Kirtland and selected the stone for the temple’s foundation. Later he sent workers to ask Saints in the area for precious china and glassware to grind into the plaster for the temple walls. Brother Millet would not reveal the formula for the plaster to anyone, explaining that it had been revealed to him by the Lord. After the Kirtland Temple was completed, he received his endowment in the temple he had helped build. Brother Millet also contributed his time to the building of the Nauvoo Temple. He then went west with the Saints and helped build the St. George and Manti Temples in Utah. He died in the faith in Scipio, Utah, on 19 November 1874. (CHFT, 164).

5. Kirtland Temple Dedication Facts -Sunday, March 27, 1836 -Doors opened at 8:00 am, 1st Presidency seated people -Nearly 1,000 people fit inside; many left outside -Resultantly, the dedicatory service was repeated on the following Thursday -Sidney Rigdon spoke for 2 ½ hours! -The dedicatory prayer was given to Joseph by revelation -This dedicatory prayer is a pattern for other temple dedicatory prayers -W.W. Phelps wrote “The Spirit of God” for the dedication. It was sung by the choir. -Joseph and others saw heavenly messengers at the service. -The SEVEN HOUR SERVICE was concluded by standing and rendering the sacred “hosanna” shout. (CHFT, 165-6).

6. D&C 109—The Dedicatory Prayer Which petitions from the Prophet Joseph most impress you? Why? How do you see these blessings being given to those who attend the temple today? 109: 4-5 55-57 10-13 61-64 20-22 68-69 25-33 73-76 50-53

7. Pentecostal Outpourings 1—D&C 137 received while Joseph was administering the endowment as far as it had been revealed (January 21, 1836). 2—At the dedication, there were many manifestations (March 27, 1836). 3—One week after the dedication, the most transcendent spiritual manifestation of all occurred as recorded in D&C 110 (April 3, 1836).

8. Pentecostal Manifestations at the Dedication “That evening over four hundred priesthood bearers met in the temple. While George A. Smith was speaking, ‘a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels.’ ‘David Whitmer bore testimony that he saw three angels passing up the south aisle.’ ’The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple).’ Others saw angels hovering over the temple and heard heavenly singing” (CHFT, 166-7).

9. D&C 110—Visions manifested to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836 This great day of visions and revelation occurred on Easter Sunday, 3 April 1836. What better day in the dispensation of the fulness of times to reconfirm the reality of the Resurrection? That weekend was also the Jewish Passover. For centuries Jewish families have left an empty chair at their Passover feasts, anticipating Elijah’s return. Elijah has returned—not to a Passover feast, but to the Lord’s temple in Kirtland.

11. Elias is Noah On the 3rd day of April, 1836, certain heavenly messengers appeared to the Prophet and to Oliver Cowdery. . . . Elias came and restored the gospel of Abraham. Who was Elias? Well, Elias was Noah, who came and restored his keys. "The priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the priesthood; he is called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then, in heaven." [HC 3:385-86.] It was Gabriel who appeared to Zacharias and promised him a son, and who appeared to Mary and announced the coming of the Son of God as recorded by Luke. It was also Gabriel as an Elias who is mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 27, verse 7, and was Gabriel or Noah, who stands next to Michael or Adam in the priesthood. (Joseph Fielding Smith, CR, April 1960, p. 72.)

12. Elijah Then came another glorious manifestation in fulfillment of the prediction made by the prophet Malachi some four hundred years before the birth of Christ. We read again: [Sec. 110:13-16, quoted.] SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16111Since the bestowal of these keys the work of salvation for the dead has been proclaimed, has taken hold of the hearts of the children of men, I say, both in the Church and out of it. [Sec. 2.] There are thousands who are working in the gathering of the records of the dead, and why they do it they do not know. . . . SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16111I want to call your attention to an incident which I think is of some importance. I am going to read to you a statement from Alfred Edersheim in his work "The Temple." . . . SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16111And so also in the last days it would be the Paschal night when the final judgment should come upon "Edom," and the glorious deliverance of Israel take place. Hence to this day, in every Jewish home, at a certain part of the Paschal service—the door is opened to admit Elijah the prophet as forerunner of the Messiah, while appropriate passages are at the same time read which foretell the destruction of all heathen nations. It is a remarkable coincidence that, in instituting his own Supper, the Lord Jesus connected the symbol, not of judgment, but of his dying love, with his "third cup." SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16111It was, I am informed, on the third day of April, 1836, that the Jews, in their homes at the Paschal feast, opened their doors for Elijah to enter. On that very day Elijah did enter—not in the home of the Jews to partake of the Passover with them, but he appeared in the House of the Lord, erected to his name and received by the Lord in Kirtland, and there bestowed his keys to bring to pass the very things for which these Jews, assembled in their homes, were seeking. (CR, April 1936, pp. 74-75.) SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16112 - 113Well, of course, the world does not believe that Elijah came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery; but they have no record in the world that he has come to anyone else. There has been no appearance and no claim of an appearance, and a restoration of his priesthood to anyone else. May we not, then, with perfect consistency, put forth the claim that he did come on that occasion [April 3, 1836] and that he did restore his keys of authority to these two humble men, which turned the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers? . . . We have an abundance of evidence that this story is true. If Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had lied, it would have been impossible for them to have turned the hearts of the children to their fathers. Surely, they would not have any power to do that. It is true that following the declaration by them that Elijah did come, the hearts of the children commenced to turn to their dead fathers. There is strong presumptive evidence that this was because these keys were restored. This is a demonstrative fact, that the hearts of children have turned to their fathers. . . . Before the days of the coming of Elijah in 1836, there was no endeavor of any import to search the records of the dead. What was done, here and there, was usually where some estate was involved. The people were not turning their hearts to their dead fathers. They were not searching the records. They were not compiling them. There were no organizations or societies on the face of the earth, as far as I can learn, gathering records of the dead, before the year 1836. In 1837, however, one year later, Great Britain passed laws providing for and compelling the preservation of records of the dead. In the year 1844, the New England Historical and Genealogical Society was organized in Boston, and I think this was the first organization of the kind in the world. In 1869, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in the city of New York was organized. Then following rapidly other societies up and down the Atlantic coast of the United States, from Maine to Georgia. . . . In Great Britain, genealogical societies have been organized in practically every country in that land and in Scotland. These records have been kept and filed also in other countries in Europe, the countries from which the Latter-day Saints have come. The Spirit has taken hold of the people, not only in the Church but also of many who are not of the Church, and they, too, are searching the records, and compiling them, of the dead. . . . SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16113Now here is something which I think is interesting. In 1935, Mr. T. B. Thompson published A Catalogue of British Family Histories. It included the titles and years of publication of some two thousand seventy-one families and was supposed to be a complete list of all such published records up to that date. Here are his figures from the date of the invention of printing: SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16113From 1450 to 1600, were published 2 family histories.From 1600 to 1700, were published 18 family histories.From 1700 to 1800, were published 72 family histories.From 1800 to 1836, when Elijah came, were published 100 family histories.From 1837 to 1935, were published 1,879 family histories. SCD&C 110 13D&C 110 14D&C 110 15D&C 110 16113 - 114These were records in Europe, and since the year 1836, there have been published in Great Britain and the United States thousands of records of the dead. . . . Let me call your attention to the fact, however . . . that Elijah restored to this Church and, if they would receive it, to the world, the keys of the sealing power; and that sealing power puts the stamp of approval upon every ordinance that is done in this Church and more particularly those that are performed in the temples of the Lord. Through that restoration each of you . . . has the privilege, of going into this house or one of the other temples to have your wife sealed to you for time and for all eternity, and your children sealed to you also, or better, have them born under that covenant. What a glorious privilege it is to know that the family organization will remain intact. It is not destroyed. . . . We may go into the house of the Lord and do these things and be baptized for our dead, those who have died, the scriptures say . . . who died without the knowledge of the gospel. [Sec. 128:5, 16.] (CR, April 1948, pp. 132-33, 135.) • Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants , vol. 4Search this bookView table of contents