![]() ![]() The temple is a place where we can experience the joy of humbling ourselves before the Lord.( 3 Nephi 28:10 Doctrine and Covenants 51:19) The temple represents heaven or the kingdom of God, a place where the righteous will be comforted and rewarded with eternal joy.As Isaiah prophesied: “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord joy and gladness shall be found therein … ( Isaiah 51:3,11 cf. The temple represents the Garden of Eden and the Edenic state of the world that Christ will usher in at His Second Coming, which will be full of peace and joy.As the psalmist exclaimed: “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion … Great is the Lord … in the mountain of his holiness … O God, in the midst of thy temple” ( Psalm 48:2, 1, 9). Merely observing the beauty of the temple can bring joy.Why is it that the temple, its teachings, and temple work are so strongly associated with feelings of joy? The scriptures give us many reasons, including: At the end of His three-day ministry, Jesus finalized His teachings by expressing the great joy that He, the Father, and the angels experience because of the people’s righteousness:Īnd now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation for none of them are lost … and in them I have fulness of joy. Later, Jesus would quote from Isaiah 52 regarding the gathering of Israel and redemption of Zion, declaring “then shall they break forth into joy” ( 3 Nephi 20:34). Touchingly, in response to their indescribable joy, Jesus declared that His joy was “full” ( v. When Jesus finished praying, the “joy of the multitude” was so great that “they were overcome” ( v. Witnesses reported that “no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father” ( 3 Nephi 17:17). 4Īt a certain point during His ministry, Jesus knelt down and prayed in the presence of the people. It was in this temple setting that He presented His sacred teachings and covenants to the people. In 3 Nephi 11, when Jesus descended from heaven, He met a multitude gathered at the temple in Bountiful ( 3 Nephi 11:1). This joy that is found in the temple and its teachings is also emphasized in the account of Christ’s visit to the Americas in the Book of Mormon. In other words, he believed that any type of service in the temple, no matter how lowly the position, would bring joy and be preferable to being out in the world, amongst the wicked. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” ( Psalm 84:10). ![]() And the psalmist exclaimed, “a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. 3 King David spoke of the joy that he felt at merely witnessing his people’s willingness to help build God’s temple ( 1 Chronicles 29:17 cf. For example, Psalm 16, which has been called “a prayer for admission to the temple,” 2 declares that “in presence is fullness of joy” ( Psalm 16:11 cf. Like this woman, many ancient Saints spoke of the joy they experienced while being in or near the temple. It brings me a joy and satisfaction that is found in no other place.” 1 She told him, “I love my service in the temple, and know I cannot be happy, really happy, away from it. ![]() Richards of the First Quorum of the Seventy told of an experience in which he witnessed the great joy that came to a temple worker as a result of her temple service. Latter-day Saints have long been taught that they can find joy in serving in the temple. ![]()
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