Temple Marriage and Worthiness

Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles ¶

I am sure, brethren and sisters, we were all pleased to hear the President of the Church, and to know that he was able to stand before us and address us in the opening of this Conference. If I were to undertake to comment on his remarks I would say that the principles that he laid down when he became the President of the Church have actuated his life in the years that have succeeded. He has been an example unto the members of the Church. He has been full of persuasion, and has taught us well as a people. I believe we are so well taught that if we should do as well as we know, and leave undone the things we know we ought not to do, we would be in the way of salvation. We have need therefore of being impressed with the necessity of doing things we know we ought to do. ¶

A War Fought for a Principle

Our Savior has been an example to us in all things. I call attention to the war that took place in heaven of which we read in the Bible, the 12th chapter of Revelation, and the Pearl of Great Price, where one of our Father's sons who was regarded as a noble and great one, presented a plan for our salvation that would oblige us to comply with the law without the exercise of our agency, and he would take away from our Father in heaven His honor and His glory. In that council in heaven the Firstborn of the Father in the spirit came forward with a simple but forceful declaration: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." ¶

The battle was fought, whatever its nature, upon this platform of principles, and we have reason to believe that we were among those who stood with the Savior, our Elder Brother, true and faithful, and those who rebelled were cast out and down, and God's purposes and His will are made to obtain in the plan of man's salvation. The Savior is our great exemplar and we are instructed by Scripture that we should walk in the light as He is in the light, with the promise that we will have fellowship one with another, and His blood will cleanse us from all sin. We have good reason to believe that the principle which the Savior presented in the council of heaven, pertained not to the spirit life alone, but to our existence here on the earth. ¶

Of course the earth was not framed at that time, but the end is known unto God even from the beginning. Provision was made even at that time for redeeming mankind from a fall that had not yet taken place, through the atonement of Christ, and that was one of the purposes of His being chosen, and that we might all have forgiveness of sin through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. The Father gave ¶

the Son, and the Son gave Himself, the greatest gift that ever was given, the greatest sacrifice that ever was made, the greatest service that ever was rendered. We are asked to follow in His footsteps, and I think that means that we should be willing to give all we have, if need be, and our lives, if necessary, for the Cause, to aid in the purpose of our Heavenly Father in the saving of His children. ¶

We are not so much interested in our own welfare as we should be, and we can apply this spirit of the Christ to our individual lives in this respect. ¶

"Thy will be done" meant of course that we will do the things that will please our Father in heaven, and when we are doing His will we are pleasing Him. I want to tell you, brethren and sisters, it is apparent that many of us are doing things that are not pleasing to our Father in heaven, and we know it, so we have need to be reminded. ¶

The Scriptures tell us that faith is the first principle of revealed religion, the foundation of all righteousness, and the moving cause in all action. Faith being the foundation of all righteousness, we may conclude logically that our unrighteousness is due to a lack of faith. I am sure, brethren and sisters, if we had the faith that we should have, that our Father in heaven expects of us, there is no requirement made of us but that we would gladly respond to it; and the blessings held out to us we would take advantage of. ¶

Temple Marriage a Great Blessing

It is a matter of great disappointment to the Authorities of the Church and to the Lord that many of its members will satisfy themselves to be married with a ceremony until death separates them -- a time marriage. We call those marriages performed in the Church outside of the Temples civil marriages, and those in the Temple, Temple marriages. I want to explain to you that the Temple marriages have all the elements of a civil marriage, that a man performing a Temple marriage has authority of law the same as those who perform the civil marriages outside of the Temple, and also has authority in the holy Priesthood, by special appointment, the sealing power by which the man and woman are sealed as husband and wife for time and for all eternity, and not only that, but some of the greatest blessings our Father has for His children, intended for the very elect of the Lord, are pronounced upon them through their faithfulness in the keeping of their covenants, blessings that are attainable in no other way but in the marriage relation in the new and everlasting covenant. ¶

The leaders in the Wards, particularly the Bishops have the principal responsibility of teaching the young people, or seeing that they are taught what their opportunities are in the matter of marriage and of receiving the sacred ordinances of the holy endowments in the Temple of the Lord which are to prepare them to enter into and receive an exaltation in the kingdom of God. They should be so well instructed that when a young man comes to the Bishop for a recommend who has ¶

not complied with the prescribed conditions so as to be worthy to go to the Temple, he could consistently deny him the privilege. ¶

Blessings to Be Sought Through Worthiness

There are a great many members of the Church who have been married in the Temple who have not been worthy of the Temple blessings. They have need of repentance. ¶

We have others who have not gone to the Temple because they could not have a recommend. They know they are not living the Gospel so as to be worthy to receive those great blessings pertaining to the endowment and the sealing of husband and wife, and this is displeasing in the sight of the Lord. ¶

And there are others who could have a recommend to go to the Temple, but choose to be married for time and in civil marriage rather than a marriage in the Temple of the Lord. ¶

Neglect of Opportunities Brings Regret

Now let me tell you of an experience I had while presiding in the Salt Lake Temple. A lady came to me as the President of the Temple, sobbing in her sorrow, in her disappointment. I heard her story. She said that she and her husband were members of the Church, and could have gone to the Temple, but they did not give serious thought to it, and after they had two children the husband died. Later, she married a man not a member of the Church, and these two children -- a boy and a girl -- had now arrived to their teens, and in the genealogical class where they were studying they had learned that those who had not been born under the new and everlasting covenant must of necessity be sealed to their parents, and so they came to their mother and wanted to know if they could be sealed to the father and the mother. The facts are that the parents had neglected being sealed in life, and after the death of the husband, and father, the wife had neglected going to the Temple to be sealed to the husband and have the children sealed to their parents, she has now married outside of the Church, and the doors of the Temple are closed against her. Not only is she deprived of the blessings of the holy endowment and of being a sealed wife to a man for eternity, but her children have not the privilege of being sealed to their parents. These parents have done their children a very great injustice in not having been married in the Temple that the children might be born under the new and everlasting covenant. ¶

And that represents but one class, brethren and sisters. ¶

I had a letter at one time from one of our northern settlements, I think it came from a Ward Teacher who made representations that a couple could have gone to the Temple, but they lived a long distance from the Temple; they intended to go but they kept putting it off until they had three children, and then the husband was taken sick and died. Later on a good brother came along and courted this widow and she married him for time, with the understanding that he would go to the ¶

Temple with her and stand as proxy for her husband, that she might be sealed to her husband and have her children sealed to them. The time went by and this promise was neglected, until now she has three children by her second husband, and the second husband thinks now that he has just as much right to that woman as the first husband, and the woman seemed to be in doubt as to what was the right thing to do, or what her privileges were. Of course, she not having been sealed to any man, has her choice. She can be sealed to whichever one she likes. When she mourned the loss of her husband I suppose she thought she could never love another, but time heals the wound, and another man comes into her life, and now she is in a position where she must judge between a live man and a dead man, and usually they prefer a live man, (laughter) and the live man has the advantage over the dead man, he is present to plead his cause. And so if the woman decides in favor of the second husband which is her right, if she desires it, and is sealed to him, the only way she can have her children is to have them sealed to her and to the man to whom she is sealed. The children having been young while their father lived, and this man, if he has been a good stepfather, the children have learned to love him and respect him as such and they want to be sealed to their mother. The only way to be sealed to her is to be sealed to this man. They are perfectly willing, even when they are grown up and can decide for themselves. ¶

How about the first husband, the father of those children? He has lost his wife; he has lost his children, through neglect, being indifferent to his own interests and the mind and the will of the Lord concerning him. As I have said, it is a displeasure to the Lord if any of these members of the Church should not be living so as to get a recommend to the Temple, or if those who are worthy do not go to the Temple for those blessings. ¶

These represent certain classes. I want to tell you there are in this Church today more than 30,000 men over twenty years of age that hold some office in the Aaronic Priesthood that have never been advanced to the Melchizedek Priesthood. That means they have never been to the Temple and received their endowments. It means that if they are married they have married outside of the Temple. It means they are in danger of losing their wives and their children, and they are doing an injustice to their children, bringing up their family without giving them the privilege of being born under the new and everlasting covenant. ¶

And so the Prophet Joseph has left of record this statement, that whenever the Lord offers a man a blessing and he rejects that offer, that man is damned. ¶

We cannot ignore the fact that there are incentives held out to us to do the things we know we ought to do to obtain salvation, and condemnation awaits us if we neglect those duties. ¶

I see my time has expired. I thank the Lord for the help He has given me, for I believe, brethren and sisters, I have spoken under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord and the will of the Lord concerning us. There are many other things just as important as those of which I have been speaking and wherein we are showing some neglect. So in ¶

the spirit of humility, and in love, faith, hope, and charity I would call upon the Latter-day Saints who have need of it to repent while they have the opportunity and make their calling and election sure, and may God help us all, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶