Missionaries learn truth about temples

Missionaries learn truth about temples.
Hello, I’m Danny. Welcome to my channel.
I live in Utah with an LDS temple less than a mile from my house. Nearly every day, I drive by it. It’s a massive elaborate edifice that costs about seventy million dollars to build. After it was completed, there was an open house for the public to tour the facility. I invited a couple of friends who had never seen the inside of an LDS temple to go with me to the open house. Because there was limited explanation about what transpired in the temple from those who led the tour, my friends were less than impressed by the opulent structure. I know the open house is staged so that people would be awestruck and desire to become a member of the LDS Church so they could attend the temple to perform proxy work for their dead ancestors. What most people don’t know is that Latter-day Saints must be “worthy” enough to hold a temple recommend to, attend the temple after it’s dedicated. Part of qualifying to be “worthy” is paying tithing, which is 10% of your annual income to the church. One of my friends acknowledged the statue of Moroni on the top of the temple spire and asked if Latter-day Saints worshipped the idol? I said no but thought that was an interesting observation.
The Layton, Utah Temple has now been in operation for a year. Six months before its completion, two young men – LDS missionaries knocked on my door. I excitedly invited them in to sit down in my front room. They happened to be going from house to house in my neighborhood looking for someone to teach. They told me they were assigned Spanish speaking missionaries and wanted to know if I knew anyone speaking Spanish who might be interested in hearing their message?
They obviously presumed I was LDS, since they never even asked about my faith or religion. I’ve lived in Utah for decades now, but it still amazes me how people just assume you’re a Mormon. Since they didn’t inquire, I didn’t disclose anything to them in the beginning but simply went along with the conversation.
The missionary, who was senior companion was from New York and did most of the talking. His companion was from Kentucky and had been out on his mission for only a few weeks.
I could tell they were about to thank me for my time and be on their way. But I wanted to extend the conversation. So, I asked them how they felt about the nearby temple under construction? They expressed their excitement, but the senior companion admitted he would be finishing his mission soon and would miss the temple dedication.
That is when I decided to ask if I could share a couple of scriptures with them before they left. They said certainly we would love that. I asked the senior companion to read out loud from their Bible, Acts 7:48-49 “Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?” And then the junior companion read Acts 17:24 “God who made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” I looked at the junior companion and saw his jaw literally drop open. I’ve never seen such a surprised expression on anyone’s face before, which made me smile.
Immediately, the senior companion went into defense mode. He said in a slightly annoyed voice, “You’re not LDS, are you?” I stated that I never said I was – you just assumed it. I admitted I had been a Latter-day Saint for 60 years before becoming a biblical Christian. Then, he started to stand up as if to leave. But I asked before they went if I could share my testimony with them and of course being nice young men, they consented.
My testimony in short consisted of me coming to know who the true Son of God was. That He was the Word of God incarnate. That He had come to fulfill the Old Covenant Law of Moses which included temple worship and ordinances. Christ had replaced the material temple by becoming the True Temple of God. Through His final sacrifice for all mankind, there was no more need for physical temples made by human hands. And today, the Spirit of Christ dwells in the temple hearts of those who put their faith and trust in His work alone.
I proceeded to state in John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” By the time Yeshua came into the world, the temple in Jerusalem had become defiled and the Jewish priests were corrupt. The Spirit of God now tabernacled in the person of the man named Yeshua, which He Himself alluded to when He claimed in Matthew 12:6 “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” And then in Mark 14:58 “We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.”
It was clear in that day to those who believed in Yeshua that God dwelt in Him and no longer in a building.
The former age of the Mosaic law was passing away as the New Covenant was being established to replace the Old Covenant. By 34 CE, the Old Covenant with its Jewish temple, priesthood, and sacrificial system became obsolete as Christ’s shed blood ratified the New Covenant. Listen to how that was described. Hebrews 8:13 “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Yeshua, Himself taught that temple worship was about to be replaced by a new form of worship. Believers in Him were to worship God not in temple buildings but ONLY in spirit and truth. When Yeshua met the Samaritan woman at the well John 4:21-24 “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain (mount Gerizim, where the Samaritan temple was built), nor yet at Jerusalem (the Jewish temple), worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and NOW IS, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Yeshua is announcing a huge change in how people use to worship to how they should begin worshipping God.
At Christ’s death on the cross, the temple curtain or veil in the holy of holies separating man from God’s presence was torn from top to bottom (Mark 15:37-38). Christ’s atoning death on the cross threw open the veil, providing direct access for all mankind to enter the presence of God without the mediation of any human including popes, priests, prophets or bishops.
When Yeshua exclaimed from the cross “It is finished!” (John 19:30), His work to redeem the world from sin was completed. Followed by His resurrection.
As the final sacrifice under the law – Yeshua Himself, the Lamb of God – forever ended temple rituals and ordinances. It clearly states in Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Ephesians 2:13-15 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” So, with His atonement came the end of temple building worship along with its ordinances. Got it? Colossians 2:20, 22 “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances. Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?” This is important to understand! Laws, commandments, and ordinances have been fulfilled by Christ. If they exist today, they are the commandments and doctrines of men.
Following Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension – under the New Covenant, every Believer now becomes the temple of God, through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile, the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 2 Corinthians 6:16 “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
The biblical narrative takes us from Old Covenant material buildings and ordinances to a New Covenant in which temple worship is spiritual.
Christ has now become our Great High Priest of the heavenly sanctuary. There is no longer a worldly material sanctuary – but a heavenly sanctuary. Hebrews 4:14 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” Hebrews 8:1-2 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an, high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
And in these modern great and spacious LDS buildings, all that expense claime to restore something that never existed in the ancient Old Covenant temple – like baptism for the dead, endowments, masonic handgrips, oaths and penalties, initiatory work, marriages, sealings, and second anointings.
It is written in Hebrews 9:11 “But Christ being come an, high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.” Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” That is the reason why Christians have never been a temple building people.
When Yeshua moves into our hearts and His Spirit dwells in us, as born-again Christians we become the house of God – the Temple of God. Trusting in the finished work of Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Ephesians 1:12-13 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” We don’t have to wait till death and judgment to find out if we qualify to live with our Heavenly Father. We can have that assurance as soon as we believe and trust in Christ. 1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Then, the collective body of all Believers in Christ are spiritually deemed a holy and royal priesthood. Every Believer becomes a priest in the spiritual household of God. 1 Peter 2:5, 9 “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an, holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an, holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Upon Christ’s ascension following His resurrection and appearance to hundreds of people in Jerusalem, He established a heavenly New Jerusalem which has no material temple in it – because Almighty God and Yeshua the Lamb of God – are the Temple of that New Jerusalem. Paul taught 2 Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Listen to the description written from John’s vision. Revelation 21:1-4 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were, passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Further describing the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:21-23 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” This is what is waiting for us the moment we die. It’s going to be amazing! The only temple in the New Jerusalem will be “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.”
Do you see the transformation that has been made from material religion to faith without religion?
When I finished with my remarks to the missionaries, we stood, and I shook each of their hands. I could tell the senior companion was annoyed and would barely touch my hand. But, the junior companion, still amazed at what he’d learned -looked me directly in the eye, gave me a strong firm handshake, and sincerely said “thank you! thank you!” I knew in my heart that young man understood the message of those scriptures.
I wished them well as they left. And I thought to myself how awesome God was to allow me to have another divine appointment with the LDS missionaries. If you are a Christian, pray for opportunities to share your faith with the missionaries when they knock on your door. They are young, kind, and generally patient to listen to what you have to say. You might not know the outcome of your conversation, but you will have done your part in planting seeds of truth. If they are sincere truth-seekers, the Holy Spirit will water those seeds. Trust in God and give Him all the glory.
Thanks for listening. If you’re interested, check out another video I made about other LDS missionaries who knocked on my door – which led to a life-changing experience for both them and me.
Until next time, God Bless!