Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Forty-Six

Be Thankful that the Lord Gives Us Commandments, and the More the Better

Crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few –  Early in the Restoration the Lord directed the Prophet Joseph Smith to dedicate a site for a future temple in Jackson County, Missouri.  At this time the Prophet received the marvelous revelation now canonized as D&C 59.  In this revelation we learn that those who come to Zion, “who have obeyed my gospel; for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its strength.  And they shall be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time – they that are faithful and diligent before me” (D&C 59:3-4, emphasis added).

Blessings come by keeping commandments, and the more commandments we are given and keep, the more numerous are our blessings –  The Lord taught this principle very clearly when He said: “There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated – And when we obtain any blessing from God it is by obedience to law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20-21).

In the temple we receive commandments not a few – As we worship in the temple we covenant to keep all of God’s commandments, and if we do, we are promised a “fulness of the Holy Ghost” (D&C 109:15).  This is the only place in all of scripture that the phrase “a fulness of the Holy Ghost” is used.  If we remember that the Holy Ghost is the conduit that brings blessings into our lives, and if we apply the principle of physics that teaches that if we can increase the diameter of a conduit just a small amount the volume that can flow through that conduit increases exponentially.

Temple worship involves making and keeping covenants, and as we make and keep our temple covenants we are blessed in every dimension of our lives – These blessings will pour out into every dimension of our lives, and we will be blessed in all of our righteous endeavors, relationships, and responsibilities.  We will be blessed in our homes, in our families, and in our marriages.  We will be blessed in our work and schooling, and in our callings.

Obedience is an essential part of temple worship, and it brings great power into our lives – In speaking about obedience President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”

At this Thanksgiving Season we have many things to be grateful for - Certainly at the top of the list is the blessings that come to us in the House of the Lord.  It is a wonderful blessing to be a servant of the Lord, and it is even more remarkable that if we are faithful and thankful the Lord will consider us His friends:  “Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted, yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks” (D&C 98:1).