D&C 110:1-10

Section 110 isn’t very long, only 16 verses but it very content heavy. The IM gives background as saying, “Excitement ran high as the Saints prepared to dedicate the Kirtland Temple of 27 March 1836. The Lord was pleased with the sacrifices made by the Saints to complete ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.’ As the house was being dedicated, the Lord’s acceptance was gloriously manifested in divine endowments of ‘power from on high.’” I just made the connection between our personal endowment of “power from on high” with the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit at the temple dedication. Interesting, I had never put that together before. The IM continues, “After the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, council and spiritual meetings were held in the building almost daily. Sunday, April 3, 1836, was one of the most eventful days in the history of the Church.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote of his activities on 3 April 1836: ‘Attended meeting in the Lord’s House, and assisted the other Presidents of the Church (the First Presidency and quorum presidents) in seating the congregation, and then became an attentive listener to the preaching from the stand. Thomas B. March and David W. Patten spoke in the forenoon to an attentive audience of about one thousand persons. In the afternoon, I assisted the other Presidents in distributing the Lord’s Supper to the Church, receiving it from the Twelve, whose privilege it was to officiate at the sacred desk this day. After having preformed this service to my brethren, I retired to the pulpit, the veils being dropped, and bowed myself, with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn and silent prayer. After rising form prayer, the following vision was opened to both of us.’”

110:1-9 - Joseph Smith begins by describing what he saw, “the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters.” This description was pretty intense for me. I always imaged that if the Savior appeared to me he would come dressed simply and in a friendly manner, this seemed the opposite to me, kind of intimidating actually. I don’t know how I would react to that, and that’s probably why the Lord hasn’t shown himself to me. The IM teaches, “A complete description of the glorified Savior in human language is probably not possible. But by comparing the indescribable things of a spiritual realm to things within our comprehension, the Prophet could give us some sense of the glory and appearance of the Lord. The language of the Prophet’s description is similar to that of the descriptions written by Daniel and by John the Revelator.” I wonder if, when John the Revelator was seen among the people at the Kirtland temple dedication, if it was his immortal yet not resurrected self? The Lord introduces himself in a familiar way saying, “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.” I wondered why the Lord kept referring to himself as the “first and the last,” and he does it every time but I thought that maybe it is meant to give a sense that he is in control of all things, all life. Because if he was only the first, then he wouldn’t be invested in what’s going on now, and if he was only the last, then he wouldn’t have had control over anything that happened previously and he would basically be doing clean up. But being in charge from the first moment to the last, he controls all, he is invested in all, this is his show and has been the whole time. It gives a sense of ownership. The Lord forgives them for their sins, which he does so often, and tells them to rejoice “for behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.” The IM says, “The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that ‘if a man would attain to the keys of the kingdom of an endless life; he must sacrifice all things.’ Elder Franklin D. Richards related the sacrifices of the Saints in building the temple to the blessings that followed: ‘The Saints did all the work they could on the building, and then went out and obtained work here and there, and with the money they earned they purchased those things that were necessary for its completion. It was done by sacrificing all that they had; and when we had done all that we could do, Oh! How joyous it was to know the Lord accepted the work, when He stood upon the breastwork of the Temple, converses with the Prophet Joseph and Oliver, and revealed to them their duties, and informed them that the Gospel should go from there and be preached throughout the nations of the earth.’”  Even though we didn’t sacrifice to build the Kirtland Temple, I’d like to think that when we sacrifice in order to go to the temple, then we are blessed as well.

110:10- - The Lord ends his acceptance with a very interesting statement, saying, “And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people.” Concerning the concept of “fame” the IM comments, “The workmanship on the Kirtland Temple was the best the Saints could produce. The sacrifice of the Saints in the construction of that temple has become legend. Many of the women sacrificed by giving their china to be crushed and mixed in the outside plaster to give color and brilliance to the house of God. But as for the ‘fame’ of the temple, the appearance of heavenly guests who came with unspeakable glory and restored vital saving keys and powers eclipses anything of mortal origin. Elder Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: ‘That which took place (in the Kirtland Temple) on the third day of April in the year 1836 has spread forth to all lands. Thousands and tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands have been blessed because of what took place upon that occasion. Not only the thousands in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but thousands upon thousands who are not members of the Church have partaken of the blessings which came at that time and which have spread forth throughout the earth. And while they may not know it, they have been influenced, and have many of them performed a wonderful work because of the things that took pace, and because of the fulfillment of this prediction made by the Son of God.”