Sealing Power and Temple Blessings

Yesterday, I got to teach in Relief Society. The lesson was Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, Chapter 17 entitled Sealing Power and Temple Blessings.

As I was preparing, I realized that the entire lesson was based around one scripture (D&C 2:1-3), so I printed it out very large and had it on the chalkboard behind me, along with a picture of the temple and some temple name cards. I also borrowed Steven's genealogy binder and placed that on the table. (I like having visual aides, things to look at besides me.)

Here are some of the questions that we discussed during the course of the lesson:

• What scripture is quoted in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants AND the Pearl of Great Price? (Malachi 4:5-6, 3 Ne 25:5-6, D&C 2:1-3, JSH 1:38-39)
• When and where did Elijah come? (April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland Temple)
• What did Elijah bring? (The priesthood sealing keys)

• Moroni informed Joseph Smith that this prediction was about to be fulfilled. The fulfillment came some twelve years later, on April 3, 1836. On this day Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and there conferred upon them … the power to bind, or seal, on earth and in heaven. The keys of this priesthood were held by Elijah, to whom the Lord gave power over the elements as well as over men, with the authority to seal for time and eternity on the righteous all the ordinances pertaining to the fullness of salvation.⁴
• Why did the sealing keys need to be restored?
• If Elijah had not come we are led to believe that all the work of past ages would have been of little avail, for the Lord said the whole earth, under such conditions, would be utterly wasted at his coming. Therefore his mission was of vast importance to the world. It is not the question of baptism for the dead alone, but also the sealing of parents and children to parents, so that there should be a “whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys and powers and glories,” from the beginning down to the end of time [see D&C 128:18]. If this sealing power were not on the earth, then confusion would reign and disorder would take place of order in that day when the Lord shall come, and, of course, this could not be, for all things are governed and controlled by perfect law in the kingdom of God.⁷
  Why would the earth be wasted? Simply because if there is not a welding link between the fathers and the children—which is the work for the dead—then we will all stand rejected; the whole work of God will fail and be utterly wasted. Such a condition, of course, shall not be.⁸
• The Lord [has] given unto us privileges and blessings, and the opportunity of entering into covenants, accepting ordinances that pertain to our salvation beyond what is preached in the world, beyond the principles of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance from sin and baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; and these principles and covenants are received nowhere else but in the temple of God.¹⁰
  Temple work is so interwoven with the plan of salvation, that one cannot exist without the other. In other words, there can be no salvation where there [are] no temple ordinances peculiarly belonging to the temple.¹¹
• If you want salvation in the fullest, that is exaltation in the kingdom of God, … you have got to go into the temple of the Lord and receive these holy ordinances which belong to that house, which cannot be had elsewhere.
• Who are the fathers, and what promises were made to them? Who were the children?
• Who are the fathers spoken of by Malachi, and who are the children? The fathers are our dead ancestors who died without the privilege of receiving the Gospel, but who received the promise that the time would come when that privilege would be granted them. The children are those now living who are preparing genealogical data and who are performing the vicarious ordinances in the Temples.¹⁴
• How do vicarious ordinances work? (Family history work, name submission, proxy work)
• Do the dead have a choice in the matter? (Yes, they can chose not to accept, but they need at least to be given the opportunity to accept the work.)

• The Lord has decreed that all of his spirit children, every soul who has lived or shall live on earth, shall have a fair and just opportunity to believe and obey the laws of his everlasting gospel. Those who accept the gospel and live in harmony with its laws, including baptism and celestial marriage, shall have eternal life.
• Those who did not have the opportunity to hear the message of salvation in this life but who would have accepted it with all their hearts if such an opportunity had come to them—they are the ones who will accept it in the spirit world; they are the ones for whom we shall perform the ordinances in the temples; and they are the ones who shall, in this way, become heirs with us of salvation and eternal life.¹⁶
• This doctrine of salvation for the dead is one of the most glorious principles ever revealed to man. It is the way in which the gospel shall be offered to all men. It establishes the fact that God is no respecter of persons [see Acts 10:34]; that every soul is precious in His sight; and that all men will, in fact and in reality, be judged according to their works.
• Why do we do family history and temple work? (love, service, to seal families together...)

• I paraphrased the story of the genealogist from the life of Joseph Fielding Smith
• There is no work connected with the gospel that is of a more unselfish nature than the work in the House of the Lord, for our dead. Those who work for the dead do not expect to receive any earthly remuneration or reward. It is, above all, a work of love, which is begotten in the heart of man through faithful and constant labor in these saving ordinances. There are no financial returns, but there shall be great joy in heaven with those souls whom we have helped to their salvation. It is a work that enlarges the soul of man, broadens his views regarding the welfare of his fellowman, and plants in his heart a love for all the children of our Heavenly Father. There is no work equal to that in the temple for the dead in teaching a man to love his neighbor as himself. Jesus so loved the world that he was willing to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin that the world might be saved. We also have the privilege, in a small degree, of showing our great love for Him and our fellow beings by helping them to the blessings of the gospel which now they cannot receive without our assistance.²¹
• There must be a welding, a joining together of the generations from the days of Adam to the end of time. Families will be joined and linked together, parents to children, children to parents, one generation to another, until we shall be joined together in one great grand family with our father Adam at the head, where the Lord placed him. 

It is interesting to me how when I have something on my mind, I continually come across things that relate. Last week, I was at a family reunion with my parents and all my brothers and sisters. We got to go to the Nauvoo temple and do baptisms for the dead, as well as endowments. It was an incredible feeling to be in the Celestial room of the temple with so much family. It gave me a premonition of how wonderful it will be to be in the Celestial Kingdom with all my extended family.

A few days ago, my mom shared a link to a website she had found which is a relative finder. You sign in, and it accesses your family tree via FamilySearch, and then it can find people from US history or LDS history or whatever that you are related to, and then tell you how you are related and even show you the lines of descent. It is really cool! Here is the link: http://roots-fb.cs.byu.edu/index.html.  It was fascinating to me to find out that Amelia Earhart is my 8th cousin 4 times removed, Benjamin Franklin is my 5th cousin 8 times removed, and Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is my 8th cousin 6 times removed. (Of course, this is based on the information in FamilySearch... if it is wrong there, then this might not be totally accurate.)  

My point in bringing this up is that it brought home to me how we are all family. We are all cousins if we go far enough back, and we are all brothers and sisters spiritually. God is our father, and he wants all of his children to return to his presence, and to do that, we all need to receive the blessings of the temple. We need to help those family members who have died without receiving those blessings to be able to receive them. This is why we do family history work.