Moroni quoted Malachi saying “he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.”
I realized this time that “the fathers” refers to the patriarchs while “their fathers” refers to a person’s ancestors. As I wrote that, Elder Bednar spoke about “the fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
We do not come to the temple to escape the evils of the world. We come to the temple to conquer the world of evil.
I begin by asking a fundamental question: why was the return of Elijah important?
“We learn from latter-day revelation that Elijah held the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood” and “was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ.”
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to hold the key of the … fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood … ; and to … obtain … all the ordinances belonging to the kingdom of God, even unto the turning of the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the hearts of the children unto the fathers, even those who are in heaven.”
This sacred sealing authority is necessary so that “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Elijah was the last prophet in the old world to hold the dealing power before the coming of Christ. We know that Nephi held that power much closer to the time of Christ.
The restoration of the sealing authority by Elijah in 1836 was necessary to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming and initiated a greatly increased and worldwide interest in family history research.
We do not build or enter holy temples solely to have a memorable individual or family experience. Rather, the covenants received and the ordinances performed in temples are essential to the sanctifying of our hearts and for the ultimate exaltation of God’s sons and daughters.
Planting in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers—even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—turning the hearts of the children to their own fathers, conducting family history research, and performing vicarious temple ordinances are labors that bless individuals on both sides of the veil. As we become anxiously engaged in this sacred work, we are obeying the commandments to love and serve God and our neighbors. And such selfless service helps us truly to “Hear Him!” and come unto the Savior.
For the Jews in the day of Malachi the fathers were also very much their fathers.
President Ezra Taft Benson described an important pattern the Redeemer employs in bringing “to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” He said: “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”
Covenants and priesthood ordinances are central in the ongoing process of spiritual rebirth and transformation; they are the means whereby the Lord works with each of us from the inside out. Covenants that are honored steadfastly, remembered always, and written “with the Spirit of the living God … in fleshy tables of the heart” provide purpose and the assurance of blessings in mortality and for eternity. Ordinances that are received worthily and remembered continually open the heavenly channels through which the power of godliness can flow into our lives.
The world can only seek to change the way people act but Christ can change who they fundamentally are – changing them from being sons of men into being sons of God. “That’s just who I am” and “that’s just not who I am” don’t hold where Christ is involved.
We do not come to the temple to hide from or escape the evils of the world. Rather, we come to the temple to conquer the world of evil. As we invite into our lives the “power of godliness” by receiving priesthood ordinances and making and keeping sacred covenants, we are blessed with strength beyond our own to overcome the temptations and challenges of mortality and to do and become good.
Brigham Young prophesied, “To accomplish this work there will have to be not only one temple but thousands of them, and thousands and tens of thousands of men and women will go into those temples and officiate for people who have lived as far back as the Lord shall reveal.”
That means we need more than 800 unannounced temples.
The fundamental obligations that rest upon us as members of the Lord’s restored Church are (1) to “Hear Him!” and have our own hearts changed through covenants and ordinances and (2) to fulfill joyfully the divinely appointed responsibility to offer temple blessings to the entire human family on both sides of the veil. With the Lord’s direction and help, indeed we will fulfill these sacred duties.
We should consistently ask ourselves what we are doing to hear Him and what we are doing to bring people from either side of the veil unto Him.
I solemnly testify that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, and Elijah restored the sealing authority. Sacred temple covenants and ordinances can strengthen us and purify our hearts as we “Hear Him!” and receive the power of godliness in our lives. And I witness that this latter-day work will destroy the powers of darkness and bring about the salvation of the human family.
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