Heritage Of Holiness

has been said that we may yet discover that Kirtland is our most significant Church historical site it is a story nearly 200 years in the making this is breaking news from KSL good afternoon we begin with breaking news from The Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints today the exchange of historical assets between the Community of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that's where these historic sites this transfer is taking place historic buildings documents and artifacts changing ownership and a transaction many were never quite sure Cowboys aren't supposed to cry would ever happen it's that powerful for me it's just a it's amazing from navoo to Liberty Independence in Kirtland this right here the centerpiece of it all racing the landscape of Northeastern Ohio since 1836 the outside of the church's first temple looking every part of a 19th century structure the inside the Savior has appeared there heavenly father has appeared there this is where some of the most significant events and spiritual manifestations have taken place in the history of the church I walk into that building and I want to take my shoes off this is sacred ground with the Kirtland Temple and navu historic sites now back under the stewardship of the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints what is the importance to members it's scriptural for us uh what happened here in this Temple what will it mean for visitors I hope people will come and feel a sense of peace and what impact will this Heritage of Holiness have on the church moving forward early spring in northeastern Ohio is often unpredictable the age-old battle between freeze and thaw clearly evidenced across the Hills and Valleys the sun is shining yes but the chill in the air is telling a very different story and if what you're looking for is a story from this Old Town of Kirtland God has literally appeared angels have appeared prophets have appeared it is tough to put stories like these into Worlds the reality is what is believed to have happened here nearly two centuries ago is changed the lives of more than 17 million members around the world and so the Kirtland Temple made possible the work that happens in every Temple of the church today everything we do and believe as a covenant making people today has it start in Kirland and if that truly is the case how did it start take a look at the doctrine in covenants in just 8 months after the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints was established in fet New York until ye shall go to the Ohio that they should assemble together at the Ohio that you should go to the Ohio and there I will give unto you my law and there you shall be endowed with power from on high God's law in God's power two gifts promised in Ohio and one of the most memorable laws happened here the word of wisdom was given upstairs in the Parlor Revelation given to Joseph Smith inside the new K Whitney store this building the original centerpiece of Kirtland When the Saints first arrived then he took it into the school of the prophets in the room next door and read it to the Brethren and there were 22 that were assembled there 20 of whom used tobacco and as as they accepted that Revelation they got up and threw their corn cob pipes and their chewing tobacco in the fireplace but it did show their commitment and it actually prepared those brethren for um for some marvelous things that happened in the school of the prophets if the temple was ever constructed the new Whitney store served as Church Headquarters it was where the first presidency was organized the school of the prophets the First bishop storehouse Joseph Smith translated the Bible here and about 20 Revelations received 16 of those Revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants Kirland has been called a city of Revelation uh almost half the sections of our Doctrine and Covenants were received here in Kirtland and one of the most significant of those Revelations would eventually lead to this a command from the almighty to establish a house even a House of Prayer a house of fasting a house of Faith a house of learning a house of Glory a house of order a house of God when the early Saints heard the word of God they tried to do it so there's a commandment to build a temple in Kirtland and initially the Saints just a little bit and then Joseph receives another Revelation saying I told you to build a temple and hon Smith goes home grabs a shovel and goes and starts digging uh that very day this brand new church and these brand new members don't know that they're not supposed to be dreaming big things you know the world would tell you live in your little log houses live in your little frame themes don't do big thingses and then Joseph is given this vision of you will build build a house of the Lord and they are so young and naive they don't know they can't do it following the direction of Joseph Smith the early Saints turned their full attention to doing something they have never done before they did not have the money to build a temple they did not have the skill set to build a temple and many did not fully understand the spiritual manifestations that would come from building a temple it does require a tremendous investment by the Community they're not wealthy the early Saints are always struggling to have enough resources they have to take out loans they're uh trying to get donations they're working together they're uh using all the resources that they have uh to build this building what's they're doing with their own hands they're building it the way that God wants them to build it um this building is unusual it has teered pulpits representing the different offices of the priesthood I can't think another building in the United States that has that type of space so they're building it probably not quite sure how they're going to use it or why they're going to why it's going to look that way but God said to do it and Joseph told them how and they'll make it work this Temple was built in their poverty in their extreme poverty it tells the story of of povertous people they didn't donate their China to be broken and crushed in order to create that exterior it was it's already broken I I I'll offer all that I have but it's not much but here's even I'll give you my broken stuff and let's make something of it and God seems to be able to do that with broken china and broken lives and this Temple is a great Testament to his power in 1836 nearly 3 years after hyram Smith put that first shovel into the dirt the Kirtland Temple was completed a house of three unique floors on the main floor a house of prayer and fasting the second floor a house of faith in learning the top floor a house of Glory in order and on April 3rd [Music] 1836 appearing to the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Calder we saw the Lord standing upon the breast workk of the pulpit before us it was accepted by the Savior Jesus Christ as a the house of God his eyes were as a flame of fire the hair of his head was white like the pure snow his countenance Shone above the brightness of the Sun and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of Great Waters even the voice of Jehovah saying I am the first and the last I am he who liveth I am he who is slain I am your Advocate with the father there are many places in the world where we know roughly where the Savior was even going to Jerusalem but there are very few places where we can say right here but maybe the the most important or the ones that we latch on to the most are the ones where Heaven and Earth come together that happens in the sacred grove that happens on the banks of the sasquan and that happened here where the Savior appeared I think about the words on the face of the Kirtland Temple house of the Lord Temple of our God the purpose of this building is a place where God will come and dwell they thought of this literally as the house of the Lord we will build a place where he can come and he can speak to us a miraculous manifestation soon followed by others in the temple that very same day the heavens opened again the ancient prophets Moses Elias and Elijah committing unto them theing ke of the Gathering of Israel the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham and the keys of ceiling April 3rd 1836 the keys of the sealing Authority are restored here in this Temple just as meaningful to me or more meaningful is that date now for me because of what happened on June 12 1984 when those keys were exercised the power and authority of those keys were exercised in my behalf as my wife Jennifer and I were sealed together in the Oakland California [Music] Temple it's often said that Kirtland is one of the least understood periods in church history we have an account of a mob that haul a cannon over from Paynesville not a lot of people in this world can tell a story they were going to blow the temple down with the cannon quite like Carl Anderson they couldn't get the cannon up the hill because it was a clay soil and it rained and if that story has even the slightest connection to the church in Kirtland finally they just gave up they shot the cannon but it didn't reach there is nobody better to tell it we moved to Kirtland in 196 6 the temple was there uh and that was the only semblance of what was left in Kirtland with a population of roughly 5 to 6,000 at the time Kirtland had every part of that small town feel Carl was called as president of the Cleveland Ohio stake in the mid 1970s and that is when he had an impression the first thing that uh really was impressed on my mind is that there were prophecies that Kirtland had to be rebuilt we had to build up Kirland after severe persecution and many falling away from the faith the early Saints fled northeastern Ohio in the late 1830s Bound for navu much of Kirtland was left behind the temple included with different parties controlling access to the temple over the years they put the temple up for sale I've got a little clip of the advertising for it in 1901 a split up from the original Faith the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now known as Community of Christ Secured Title to the Kirtland Temple through legal proceedings while the original church was heading west Joseph Smith prophesied over seven times afterwards Kirtland would be rebuilt in section 124 the Doctrine and Covenants it reads I the Lord will build up Kirtland but I the Lord have a Scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof in 1842 Joseph's brother hyram prophesied thus sayeth the Lord Kirtland shall be scourged with a sore Scourge yet your children may possess Kirtland but not until many years shall pass away and then I the Lord will send forth and build up Kirtland it shall be polished and refined according to my word in 1979 nearly 140 years after that prophesied Scourge president Ezra Benson an apostle at the time visited Carl and Kirtland and said and he said do you know if that Scourge has ever been formally lifted and uh I replied no that I didn't uh know of anyone who had specifically lifted it and then he said I've been contemplating it and I'd like to know would it be all right with you if I were to lift that Scourge today at a meeting in Kirtland October 1979 Elder Benson declared the scourge that was placed upon the people in that prophecy is being lifted today now is the time to arise and shine and look forward to great progress in this part of the Lord's Vineyard and from that moment little by little the church began buying up old buildings and properties around Kirtland the new K Whitney store the Whitney home The Sawmill and ashery the Joseph Smith Jr Hall and a reconstructed replica of the Johnson Inn Joseph receiving Revelations at Several of these sites additional visions of the Father and Son the translation of ancient scriptures and it's where church doctrine government and structure was revealed it's a fulfillment of Prophecy and it was rejoicing when we heard that we had just bought the kland temple we were born as a church up in Palmyra but during Kirtland it was a time that the keys were given for all that we do in the church [Music] today exactly 527 miles from Kirtland as the crow flies the city of NAU beautifully rests along the banks of the Mississippi River and just like Kirtland the centerpiece of this historical site is the temple destroyed by arson 176 years ago this Temple of the church Rose From the Ashes rebuilt and rededicated in 2002 and the covenants made by faithful members inside this extraordinary house were actually first received and it all started right there inside this simple building on the second floor of the red bricks store uh Joseph started to introduce Latter-Day Saints to what is now the temple endowment so the very first temple endowment as we know them today were performed on that second floor this is a very small group of saints that are doing this work and it and the temple construction is starting and it's it's picking up but it's really not until after Joseph Smith's death that the navu temple is completed enough for other glity Saints to start receiving their own Temple work reconstructed by The Community of Christ in 1981 the second floor of this red brick store is also the birthplace of what's believed to be the largest women's organization in the world the Relief Society group of women in wanting to contribute to the kingdom of God in meaningful ways uh and had come up with their own Charter their own Constitution and Joseph Smith said it was the best thing that he had ever seen but he said the Lord had something even better so on March 17th 1842 he organized them um according to the pattern of the priesthood with a president and two counselors and and they became the female Relief Society of Nauvoo the Relief Society became an important Organization for the women of the church it was understood to be a place where women had authority to lead and to teach each other to serve within the community the commission of the Relief Society was to help the poor and the needy and to save Souls so there were these two aspects to the Relief Society from the beginning that it was meant to be charitable to be helpful to look out for those who needed help and there were a lot of people in navoo at this time who needed help most of the sites in Nauvoo recently acquired by the church have a direct connection to Joseph Smith personally including the Smith family Homestead where his family first lived when arriving the mansion house which became a hotel and boarding home the navoo house including the original Cornerstone where Joseph placed the first manuscript of the Book of Mormon original portraits of the Prophet Joseph and Emma no longer on these walls but now in the Church History Museum a document possibly containing a sample of inscriptions from the gold plates the original door to Liberty Jail where Joseph and others were incarcerated for months manuscripts written by Joseph when translating the Bible and seven letters penned from Joseph to Emma one of those on the day he was martyred it made me pause I just kind of uh stared at it and in amazement and and really sensed the power of this his his last communication to his [Music] family on this morning as rays of sunshine break through the budding branches in many ways it is symbolic of a new day a new season a new future for the Kirtland Temple Kirtland it had seemed like was covered in a cloak of obscurity and members didn't realize what had happened for more than a century The Community of Christ loved and cared for this sacred structure it too is a part of their history they focused a lot on the historical aspects of it and nobody knows the history of that building better than our friends of the Community of Christ they have done an incredible job maintaining that space and keeping it historic and our charge now is to not lose any of that and because the role of caretaker is switching hands the experience for those who enter climb the stairs walk the floors that's amazing observe the rooms admire the detail and then for a moment just pause and feel the magnitude of what took place in this very room where Heaven and Earth came together prophets seeing Keys restored and witness the Sacred Space Jesus Christ once stood it's Holy Ground And when people stand on it they can feel it and that right there that is the experience hop for before walking out these doors it is real it's not a story it happened it took place and because it took place our lives are different when you can stand in the very room where the Savior appeared where Moses appeared and Elijah appeared and Elias and and be able to imagine that and you're looking at the very thing where it happened it makes it real it makes it more than just words on a page it makes it a living breathing reality that that actually happened I hope that everyone who goes through there feels that sense of the Divine that that connection to God that that feeling that God is speaking and that I can I can talk to him and the only reason that we have uh historic sites as a church uh is to help us as L Saints remember what God has done for us as a people one of our duties as as as Christians as children of God is to Remember to Remember the things God has done to remember his mercy so let it be remembered because of this one temple in this one city of Kirtland more significant events of the restoration happen in kland than any other location there are now hundreds of sacred temples dotting hundreds of cities around the world this is the beginning this is the blessing prophecy being fulfilled and the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people even so [Music] amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] h

Channel: KSL News

Views: 14,277

Keywords: today, Utah, Utah News

Id: 313ELNneDMk

Length: 22min 27sec (1347 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2024