9/5/2018 - 9/6/2018 - Section 109:15-59

September 5, 2018 - September 6, 2018

Section 109:15-59

Temple Promises & Possibilities, Kirtland Temple Dedication,

A great list I found in the student manual (271): In this dedicatory prayer, Prophet Joseph Smith asked the Lord that the Saints receive the blessings promised to them in (some promises from this section and some from revelations already given):

1.     That God’s glory would rest upon His people and upon the Kirtland Temple (D&C109:12-13) (But that will happen when we take advantage of BEING in the temple, and that includes not just our bodies, but our minds and our hearts and our spirits. And my second observation is that the mar.velous events of the dedication were prayed for)

2.     That those who worship in the temple would be taught properly (v 14) (and I think the word ‘worship’ is meaningful & much different from the word ‘attend’. That verse also recommends that we seek learning by STUDY and by FAITH)

3.     That the people would “grow up” in the Lord, receiving a fullness of the Holy Ghost (v 15)  (the HG is able to help us more as we understand more and as we try more diligently to follow the Lord’s commandments. And the last line of that verse reminds us of our side of the promise: that we should “be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;)

4.     That the house of God would be all it was meant to be with no unclean thing permitted therein (see v 16-20, which are paraphrased from D&C 88:119-20)

(V 16 is where it tells us that the temple is a house of prayer, of fasting, of faith, and of glory. Do I do all those things there? I should be there to become better spiritually, to gain more knowledge of the Lord and his ways, and to be prepared to feel of His power and His glory.)

5.     That when the Saints transgressed, they would return quickly to the Lord (V21) (I love this promise…for myself and the daily repentance efforts I should make, and I love it for my children who have disengaged themselves from the gospel. Might this also mean that in the temple I can better recognize my shortcomings and failures, and even more importantly know better how to make things right)

6.     That His servants could go forth armed with power and protected by the angels to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth (v 22-23) (while we are currently not out spreading the gospel on this mission, we ARE every day involved in caring for and supporting the young missionaries who DO work to spread His gospel. We need to consciously work harder to help other in our mission to recognize the importance of the message they carry, the power that helps and aids them, the times that angels have truly been round about them and have borne them up)

7.     That He would establish His people forever against all the enemies who fight against them (v 24-33)

8.     That their sins would be forgiven (v 34) (a big thank you!—for those sins I am aware of and those times I foul up and don’t even realize it)

9.     That the powers of Pentecost would come upon them (v 35-37) (I love v 35 “Let the anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on high” and I add to that: let me remember this plea each time I am in the temple.)

10.  That the servants of God would have the power of the covenant and bear testimony of it throughout the world (v 38-44) (Is this power something I am so used to having that I neglect to thank the Lord for it? And as it says in v 44: Help thy servants to sey, with thy grace assisting them: They will be done, O Lord, and not ours.”)

11.  That the servants of God would be delivered from the calamity of the wicked and the judgments that are promised (v 45-49) (And one of the ways of doing this is in v 46: “enable thy servants to seal up the law, and bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared against the day of burning.”)

12.  That the Lord would have mercy on the nations of the earth, softening their hearts to prepare them for the gospel message (v 54-58) (V 56 is a wonderful missionary plea made in the temple (That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all.)

13.  That stakes of Zion would be appointed so the gathering might roll forth (v 59)(We ask thee to appoint unto Zion other stakes besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy work may be cut short in righteousness.” (And how it has rolled forth from that day in 1836!)