Lessons on the Temple

Preface

Our Dear Friends and Family,

Updated online version of our book Lessons on the Temple – This online version updates the original version that was printed in early 2015.  As the Lord is accelerating His work much has happened in the world and in the Church during the last seven years.

The front cover of this book – As the world is becoming more fractured we better understand that the greatest blessing Sue and I will have in this life is to have been sealed together for time and eternity on March 15, 1968 in the Salt Lake Temple. The picture on the front cover of this book was taken on the grounds of the Salt Lake Temple shortly after our sealing for time and eternity.

The back cover of this book – This picture was taken on October 31, 2014 which was the last day of our service as president and matron of the Louisville Kentucky Temple.  During the intervening 46.5 years, between when the pictures on the front and inside cover of this book were taken, we have been greatly blessed that each of our six children were married and sealed in the temple and they are keeping their temple covenants.  The same is true for each of our grandchildren who are now married.

The purpose of this book is to teach and testify of the importance of the temple – As we have come to better appreciate the blessings of the temple we have a great desire that all of our grandchildren and their children, for generations to come, make and keep temple covenants.  We want to motivate them to desire and to live worthy of celestial marriage.  We can do this best by teaching doctrine because understanding doctrine has more powerful effect on our behavior than anything else.  (See Alma 31:5)

The Lord has commanded us to "declare (testify) in [his] name", and if we do so he gives us a promise that "the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say” (D&C 100:7).  We will follow this pattern and teach doctrine and then testify that it is true.  Then we are certain that the Holy Ghost will bear record of the truthfulness of the doctrines we teach and testify of.

Our Testimony is the most important and lasting legacy we can give to our family and friends, therefore:

• We testify that the plan of salvation is the way that we can return to our Heavenly Parents and be like them.  This is the greatest motivator to live righteously and to keep our temple covenants.

• We testify that we learn more about the plan of salvation in the temple than anywhere else, and we learn in ways that can only be learned there.  This applies particularly to the plan of ordinances.

• We testify that the doctrine taught in the hymn, O My Father is true.  Keeping temple covenants is the way that we can dwell with them again.  The lyrics of this hymn inspires and motivates us:    

  • O my Father, thou that dwellest In the high and glorious place,
    When shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face?
    In thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside?
    In my first primeval childhood was I nurtured near thy side?

  • For a wise and glorious purpose Thou has placed me here on earth
    And withheld the recollection of my former friends and birth;
    Yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, “You’re a stranger here,”
    And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere.

  • I had learned to call thee Father, thru thy Spirit from on high,
    But until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why.
    In the heav’ns are parents single?  No, the thought makes reason stare!
    Truth is reason; truth eternal tells me I’ve a mother there.

  • When I leave this frail existence, when I lay this mortal by,
    Father, Mother, may I meet you in your royal courts on high?
    Then, at length, when I’ve completed all you sent me forth to do
    With your mutual approbation let me come and dwell with you.

• We testify of the importance of the temple and the blessings of the temple garment as a protection against the power of evil. Satan has great influence in this world, and he desires to destroy all the children of God. He knows our weaknesses, and he targets each of us individually. The temple and the temple garment is a most effective shield against Satan and his co-conspirators. 

• We testify that a basic teaching of the temple is the importance of following the council of living prophets and apostles, and if we do so they will lead us along the path to eternal life.   

• We testify that temples are being built throughout the earth in preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord, and that temple worthy saints will be blessed and protected by the power of God. 

• We testify of the importance of attending the temple regularly and to always be temple worthy.

Larry and Susan Lunt

Lesson Index

Chapter 1 - Temple Preparation
1. Blessings of Temple Preparation and Regular Temple Worship
2. The Temple (the Lord’s University) and Our Spiritual PHD (Peace, Hope, and Direction)
3. Council to Our Grandchildren
4. A Temple Marriage Makes All The Difference
5. The Temple is Sacred
6. A Temple Dedication is an Opportunity to Re-Dedicate Our Lives
7. A Current Temple Recommend (CTR)
8. Temple Worship and the Parable of the Ten Virgins
9. The Temple Prepares and Strengthens Missionaries

Chapter 2 - Doctrine of Temple Worship
10. The Temple and the Plan of Ordinances
11. Temple Worship and the Blessings which Follow
12. Thoughts on Temple Worship
13. The Temple Endowment is a Gift of the Most Important Knowledge and Greatest Power
14. Women and the Temple
15. Recorded on Earth and Bound in Heaven
16. Temple Symbolism
17. Reverence Brings Blessings
18. Mysteries and Ordinances
19. The Patriarchal and the Ecclesiastical Orders of the Priesthood
20. The Temple is a House of Order

Chapter 3 - The Sealing Power
21. The Coming of Elijah the Prophet
22. Elijah Came and Hearts Turned to Families
23. Promises Planted in the Hearts of Our Children
24. Families are Central to the Plan of Salvation
25. The New and Everlasting Covenant
26. The Holy Spirit of Promise and the Sealing Power
27. Receiving the Sealing Power from President Thomas S. Monson
28. Conferring the Sealing Power
29. The Best Marriage Therapy
30. The Sealing Power Protects the Earth from a Curse and Preserves the Lord’s People
31. Keys that Open the Heavens for Eternal Families and for Rain
32. Medium of Mine Anointed
33. Temple Sealing Questions
34. The Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood

Chapter 4 - Thoughts on the Temple
35. Lessons from the Life of Vianga Kinikini with Emphasis on the Temple
36. The Powerful and Symbolically Beautiful Meaning of a Wedding Ring
37. Temple and Family History is the Work of the Lord
38. The Salt Lake Temple and Grandma Maggie Cottam Petty
39. To my Ukrainian Brothers and Sisters in the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Chapter 5 - Temple Doctrine in the Book of Mormon
40. The Temple in the Book of Mormon
41. Book Ends of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s Ministry
42. The Gift of the Temple Endowment
43. The Reality of the Atonement of Christ is Experienced with the Sacrament and in the Temple
44. The Blessings of the Temple are Received One by One
45. In the Temple We Become the Covenant People of the Lord
46. Be Thankful that the Lord Gives Us Commandments, and the More the Better
47. In the Temple We Take the Name of Christ and Receive the Promise of Eternal Life
48. The Temple and the Why of Christmas
49. The Fountain of Living Waters
50. The Book of Mormon Prepares Us for the Blessings of the Temple

Chapter 6 - The Ongoing Restoration of Temple Worship
51. Temples are an Essential Part an a Unique Evidence of the Ongoing Restoration
52. Adam-ondi-Ahman - The First Temple
53. Temple Worship Anciently
54. The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
55. Temple Worship is Evidence of the True Church
56. The Restoration of Temple Worship Began in the Kirtland Temple
57. Temple Worship as Restored in Nauvoo
58. The St George Temple, Wilford Woodruff, and the Founding Fathers
59. Temples and The Book of Mormon are Sacred
60. Obedience, Sacrifice, and Consecration
61. Sustained by Faith, Sacrifice, and Temple Covenants
62. Temple Worship Requires Sacrifice
63. The Law of Consecration and the Church Welfare System
64. The Temple and the Knowledge and Power of God
65. Homes Are Sacred Like Unto the Temple
66. Temple Service and Worship Renews our Minds and Bodies
67. The Temple Bridges the Past, the Present, and the Future
68. A Modern Temple Construction Miracle
69. The Temple Prayer Roll
70. The Temple and The Family, A Proclamation to the World
71. The Plan of Ordinances and the Sealing Line of Authority
72. The Veil is a Symbol of Jesus Christ

Chapter 7 - Temple Related Experiences
73. The Kyiv Temple Protects the People of Ukraine
74. The Temple is a House of Fasting
75. The Temple Helps Return Missionaries to Increase in Spiritual Power

Chapter 8 - Personal Experiences
76. The Salt Lake Temple Fulfills Prophecy and is Wonderfully Unique
77. The Many Blessings that Come From Worshiping and Serving in the House of the Lord
78. Opposition in All Things, Including Temple Worship
79. All Arrayed in White - Salt Lake Temple Devotionals
80. The Lord Personally Comes to His House
81. The Ministry of Angels
82. How Knoweth a Man the Master
83. The Importance of Latter Day Temple Building
84. At the Baptistery With President Monson
85. The Lord is Hastening His Work of the Gathering of Israel On Both Sides of the Veil
86. The Temple Covenant People of the Lord in Ukraine are Armed with the Power of God
87. The Veil is Thin in the Temple
88. Tents (Our Lives) Toward the Temple
89. The Temple, Moroni, and the Flag of the United States of America
90. President Lunt’s Homecoming Message
91. Sister Lunt’s Homecoming Message
92. A Temple, not Cotton, is the Legacy of the St George Latter-day Saint Pioneers
93. Christmas, the Temple, and the Atonement (At-One-Ment) of the Lord
94. Thoughts Concerning Celestial Marriage
95. The Keys of the Dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham Restored The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage