35: Temple, Part 3

This is the third installment in a multi-part series about the Temple.  In this series Denver addresses the meaning behind both ancient and modern temple worship, as well as some of the features and purposes of the temple to be built in New Jerusalem.

Transcript:

DENVER: The priesthood which began with Adam was priesthood which was after the Order of the Son of God. And that Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God descended from Adam down to the time of Enoch. And then it got renamed the Priesthood after the Order of Enoch. And then later it got renamed the Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek, or the Priesthood of Melchizedek. When Adam promises that the priesthood that was in the beginning is going to return at the end of the world also, he is talking about a return at the end of the world of that priesthood which was held by the original patriarchs, a time when, for generations, it was unitary. There was only one, and that the designation—the correct designation of that priesthood—is the Holy Priesthood or the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God. It’s a long name, but it was that priesthood that was held by the patriarchs. As a consequence of it being that priesthood held by the original patriarchs, which was in the beginning of the world and is to return at the end of the world also, I prefer to regard the highest order under the name designation of Patriarchal Priesthood. And so when I use the term, I’m referring to that priesthood originally held by Adam, that priesthood held by Enoch, that priesthood which is more correctly called the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God. Therefore, if you are going to say Patriarchal Priesthood as a scholar and parse the words differently, you need to understand that I’m using them in this way, and I disagree with you, and I have my reasons for doing so. And I think that Joseph had reasons for doing so also, because of what I just read you. 

“Go to and finish the temple, and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood” ( TPJS, p. 322). I am suggesting to you that something which, by its nature, required the completion of the temple and required the presence of God which relates to the revelation given in January of 1841 that I read a few minutes ago. “For there is not a place found on the earth that He may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fullness of the priesthood” (D&C 124:28). 

It requires Him, God, to come to that place, and for Him, God, to restore to you that which has been taken away: the fullness. Go to—you finish the temple. God will fill it with power. You will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood. Even in the words of Joseph, taken together with Doctrine and Covenants 124:28 that I just read to you, it suggests that the highest form, the one which brings you into contact with God in his holy temple—that one—that priesthood is correctly designated Patriarchal. And it’s not priesthood which one obtains by going and being sealed in the temple. It’s the one that one obtains by going in and meeting with God in His temple. 

“Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on the earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people” (Helaman 5:7). This is rather Melchizedek because you can seal up unto eternal life. This is the positive side. This is the thing which those who are given this authority seek earnestly to do. Thus, if you shall say unto this temple, “It shall be rent in twain,” it shall be done, because the temple is subordinate to the word of God. The temple is not the place that controls the word of God; the temple is the place which most of all ought to be subject to the word of God. It’s not the place to innovate in ordinances. It’s the place to obey, to follow, to give strict heed unto, and to not vary. 

D&C 84 has a description of events at the time of Moses. Beginning at verse 19 of section 84: 

And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.” And by the way, I should add as a parenthetical thought, “the ordinances thereof” is far more expansive than simply a set of rights or rituals. Because when the higher priesthood is present on the earth, everything that that higher priesthood does is done as an ordinance. Because once it has been ordained by God to take place and God’s hand is behind what takes place, those events under the direction of that priesthood is all an ordinance, and therefore, within them you find power of godliness. 

“And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God; But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory” (verses 21-24). 

I’ll remind you we’ve talked about this before. “The glory of God is intelligence or in other words light and truth” (D&C 93:36). Therefore, the “rest” is to be filled with His glory, or in other words, filled with light and truth or to comprehend things that you do not at present comprehend without the benefit of the glory of God. 

“Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst and the Holy Priesthood also…” (D&C 84:25). And thus at that point ended the expectation anciently that there might be Zion. 

This incident is being described in modern revelation and section 84, but the incident itself occurred back in the book of Exodus. This is Exodus chapter 20, beginning at verse 18: “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:18-21). 

They did not want to encounter Him—not because the presence of God is so terrible that it drives men from Him, because Moses approached Him, but because the evidence of His presence makes us internally evaluate who and what we are. And although we can lie to ourselves about how good we really are, when the measuring stick against which you compare yourself is God, all of us come short. Even when the Lord himself testifies to you that your sins are forgiven you still recognize that you fall short. To the extent that you have confidence in the presence of the Lord, it is wholly derivative from him. He has to strengthen you because if He does not, all of us would retire in shame. 

Doctrine and Covenants 124 has a revelation given in January of 1841 to the saints (at that point in Nauvoo), offering something to the saints in that day that is relevant to the history that unfolded thereafter. Beginning at verse 28, the Lord says through Joseph: “For there is not a place on earth that he…” (“He” here being the Lord, God) “…that He may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which He has taken away, even the fullness of the priesthood.” 

Skipping to verse 31: “But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me….” See, this commandment was unto everyone who at that point claimed to be a saint. All of them—every one of them was put under the equal burden “to build a house unto me and I grant unto you [ all of you] a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me. But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God” (D&C 124:31-32). 

It’s interesting that in verse 31 it says “your baptisms,” and in verse 32 it says “your baptisms for your dead.” Which suggests that after verse 31, if we fail in verse 32, that our baptisms will continue to be acceptable but our vicarious work would not, and the church would then be rejected. 

If you skip to 34, talking about this proposed temple to be constructed: “For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory.” “Honor” being the promise from God into the afterlife respecting what you can expect to receive from God as an oath and as a covenant. “Glory” being intelligence or knowledge and understanding, light and truth, things that were not comprehended but which God hoped to have the saints at that point comprehend. 

Well, He gives to us in this same revelation a measuring stick by which we can determine if we satisfy the requirements that the Lord has set forth. And the measuring stick is this, beginning in verse 43: “And ye shall build it on the place where you have contemplated building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to build it.” So they contemplated it, the Lord approved it, and this would become a spot where the Nauvoo temple was to be constructed. 

“If you labor with all your might, I will consecrate that spot that it shall be made holy. And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place” (verses 44-45). “They” being the people. “They” being those that He had chosen to lead them. “They” being, in this instance, the Prophet Joseph Smith and the one who would be appointed to receive priesthood and be appointed to hold the sealing power in this revelation—Hyrum Smith, the one who was designated to be the successor to Joseph Smith in the event of Joseph’s death, and the one whom the Lord would take first—Hyrum. Joseph died knowing that his successor had first fallen. “If…” then they shall not be moved out of their place. 

“But if they will not hearken to my voice, nor unto the voice of these men whom I have appointed, they shall not be blest, because they pollute mine holy grounds, and mine holy ordinances, and charters, and my holy words which I give unto them. And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name, and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord. For instead of blessings, ye, by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practice before me, saith the Lord” (D&C 124:46-48). 

So, if you get out the history, and you look at the events that occurred between 1841 and the death of Joseph on June 27th of 1844, and you ask yourself whether or not the saints went to and built the house that had been commanded, and did it with the kind of dispatch in the time frame that was allowed, that allowed the house of the Lord to be constructed, and if you look at the history to find where it was that the Lord came into that house—because it was Him that was required in order to restore what had been lost, because it was him that was required to be there in order to return the glory to the house of the Lord, because it was Him that would bestow upon the Saints the fullness of the priesthood, because it was the Lord Himself that required a place at which He could meet with his people—and then once Joseph and Hyrum were dead, if you look at the history of what occurred in Nauvoo and ask yourself: Were they blessed? Were they protected? Or did they experience in the ordeals that drove them out of Nauvoo and into the wilderness, and the suffering that ensued there—if instead you see cursings, wrath, indignations, and judgments upon the head of the saints, then you can reach a considered conclusion about whether or not we, in our day, mirror what happened at the time of Moses. And we, in our day, just as in the day of Moses, elected to say, “You, Joseph, Hyrum—you go talk to the Lord for us.” Because when we consider the glory of the house of the Lord, it is no more desirable to us to go and ascend there as it was for those ancient Israelites to climb up the mountain where there was thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes underway. 

I have one, and only one, desire: To try to persuade you to believe in the restoration through Joseph Smith. It is not, and has never been, completed. It is a work yet before us. It is a work largely neglected since the time Joseph and Hyrum breathed their last breath. 

The prophecies that were delivered to Joseph Smith—both by Christ in the first vision, and by Moroni on the night of the first visit—which we began this [40 Years in Mormonism Series] with in Boise, Idaho, are a rallying cry for us to rise up and lay hold upon things. It’s a rallying cry, a prophecy that does not fulfill itself. It gets fulfilled by what you do. Whether or not you fulfill those prophecies is dependent upon whether you will, like the ancient Israelites, elect not to go up. Or, whether you, like Moses, like Joseph, like Hyrum, choose instead to forsake your sins and to move forward even in the face of your own weakness and unworthiness. 

There isn’t one of us in this room that should not kneel before the presence of a just and holy being. There isn’t one of us who, if instructed to stand before Him, would not keenly feel the inadequacy of doing so. Not one of us. But there are some here who have been in His presence, myself included. There are a number who, like me, have a witness of our resurrected Lord. It can and it does happen, and hopefully as we get through this material today, you’ll have confidence in your own ability to rise up. 

Let’s assume that we are like ancient Israel. Let’s assume that we too were left outside of God’s presence when He offered to come and dwell generally among the saints back in Nauvoo. Let’s assume that this was not what God wanted for us. Let’s assume that these things have, just like they did anciently, kindled God’s anger like we read in D&C 84:24. Let’s assume that we have now, as a body, generally been left with something lesser, which is like what was described in D&C 84:26, that is only that the lesser priesthood which includes within it the ministering of angels. 

Well, assuming all of that, what shall we do? You’re the regulator that determines whether, on the one hand, you get more, or whether, on the other, you get less. Soften your heart now. Today is the day of salvation. This is the moment you came down here to face. The test is on. The challenge is in front of you. You better have ears to hear. God will judge you, but more importantly, you will judge yourself. 

“And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them” (Alma 12:28). H e wants us to know. “The glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth,” which is knowledge of things. He wants us to know these things. 

“Therefore [ because this is God’s desire] he sent angels to converse with them, who [ this is the angels] caused men to behold of his [God’s] glory” (verse 29). So the office of the angels is to educate and to prepare and then to cause man, who receive and entertain the angels, to then behold the glory of God—the glory of God being intelligence, or in other words, light and truth. 

Ultimately, the greatest truth is God Himself. And if you entertain angels, and if the angels instruct you, and if you have been in their presence, you acquire from them the strength, the fortification, the knowledge, or in other words, the ordination by which you’re able to go on and pass by them (because they surely are sentinels), and enter into the glory of the Lord. And so, if you’ll give heed to the process, it really should not matter that you are left in a dispensation in which the only authority gives you the ministering of angels. Because the ministering of angels is sufficient to bring you into the glory of God, if you will receive them, if you will give heed to them. That’s the office of their ministry. That’s what they’re responsible to do. 

“And they began from that time forth to call on His name; therefore God conversed with men” (Alma 12:30). 

And what did Joseph say about all of the prophets of the Old Testament? He said they all held Melchizedek Priesthood, and they were all ordained by God Himself, because they functioned inside a society that was defective, limited, excluded from the presence of God. But not those who received and entertained angels. They were brought up to where they need to be, and God Himself ordained them. Should you not have hope? Should you not rise up above the level of those who are content to have less? Should you not be willing to mount up on that fiery mountain, despite the thunderings and lightnings, despite the earthquakes, despite the fact that you do not believe yourself to be worthy? You’re still capable. 

In the beginning of section 132, look at verse 7, “…the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.” 

So, everything that you hope to receive into the next life, even your expectations, all of that has to be obtained from God by covenant. I mentioned an answer to a question in Ephraim that the role of the woman was significant, even in the life of Christ. I mentioned that she anointed Him preliminary to His death and burial. One of the things that gave Him the expectation of coming forth out of the grave was the anointing that promised Him. 

Why do you think in the temple the rights include preserving some of the functions of the body? It’s not to make you healthy here and now. It’s so that you can lay claim upon this as an expectation in the eternities. Because if you do not have the expectation conferred upon you by the Holy Spirit of Promise, you’ll have to get that in some other cycle. Because the only thing you will be able to take with you into eternity you obtain in this manner. Everything has to be obtained by a covenant. 

Look at verse 13: “And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities….” It doesn’t matter if it’s ordained by men, and it doesn’t even matter if someone sitting in eternity on a throne, who has authority in the presence of God, ordains it. It does not matter. “Or principalities…” That is talking about angels. That is talking about people from the other side. Even if they are in a position of authority in the presence of God, it doesn’t matter. “Everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.” 

The “keeper of the gate” is the Holy One of Israel, indeed. These words should mean something to you if you’ve listened to or read the text that we reviewed in Orem on priesthood. You should understand what God is saying here. You should understand that when it comes to some things that you hope to have continue into eternity, it is not enough to have even one of the noble and great, even one of those who we regard as an archangel, it doesn’t matter. God, and God alone, holds the keys of death and hell. Christ paid that price. Christ has to be the one because He is the only one qualified to do this. He has to be the one. This is a non-delegable responsibility by He who, by virtue of bringing you back and promising you, becomes your Father in Heaven. 

“For whatsoever things remain are by me and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed” (D&C 132:14). That’s Christ’s word. That’s what He says is going to happen. 

“Therefore if a man marry him a wife in the world and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world” (verse 15). 

Although God is talking about the eternity of the marriage covenant, He extends this into everything. Everything, even your associations—all of them are obtained by a covenant from Him. Because His word, and His word alone, will endure. 

By the time Adam and Eve knew enough to declare repentance unto their children, their children were suffering from the ravages of the Fall. As soon as they began to declare repentance unto their children and teach them some things about covenant making, one of their sons took that and turned it into a combination by which inordinate wickedness could be brought to pass. And you wonder why God withholds some things from the view of the public? It’s because some things, if abused, can bring to pass such wretched wickedness in the lives of men, that you’re better off not talking about them. You’re better off not disclosing them. Adam and Eve declared and cried repentance together. They labored side-by-side. They received the garment at the same moment. They were instructed on sacrifice at the same time. They were taught and received the Holy Ghost at the same moment. They experienced the baptism of fire, and Adam prophesied at the same moment that Eve, overcome by the Spirit and the spirit of Wisdom, was able to interpret and define what was going on, and how all of this was suitable and appropriate. They two were one. 

This is the gospel of Christ. This is the power of God unto redemption, and this is the stuff that Joseph Smith was attempting to lay out when he was taken. There’s a lot left to be done. There’s more left to be done than has been started. There’s more that has not been revealed than what Joseph was able to get on the ground here. As we’ve gone forward, we’ve taken less and less. And now, with the engines of correlation, we’re managing to trim yet further. The gospel of Christ is not about “have a nice day.” The gospel of Christ is not about being a keyhole. The gospel of Christ is about awakening and arising; it’s about you becoming redeemed. Thank God that before Joseph died he was able to lay out something in the Red Brick Store, through ritual and through ceremony, that described walking back into the presence of God, conversing with him through the veil, and then entering into His presence. Thank God that in addition to the scriptures, Joseph left us a ritual testimony. But do you know why ancient Israel had their temple? It was to have ceremonies to point them to the coming of Christ in the flesh. The Latter-day Saints have been given a ritual ceremony to point them to receiving Christ in the flesh. There needs yet to be another temple built, but it will be in Zion. And those who go there will meet with their Lord because that will be His house, indeed. You can build that only if you qualify to do so. 

The other thing that’s required is a record of the names. Not email addresses, not vital statistics, not phone numbers, not any contact information—only names. Therefore, after you’ve complied and someone is being baptized, choose a recorder—someone that has to record who the names are. Faithfully record the names every time there is a baptism. There will be various recorders in various locations. The various recorders need to submit them to a single central record keeper on an annual basis. Have the recorders identify themselves, and I can give them some further direction, but there should be annually compiled a single volume which will be deposited in a temple when it is built. Because there will be a temple ultimately built. 

We do not need numerous temples; but we will need one to which Christ can come. We do not need to perform endless work for the dead until after there has been a covenant made for us. We must be first connected. Only then can we do something to liberate them. 

The coming of the Lord in the future will not bring an immediate resurrection. Just as the resurrection of Christ did not empty the world of spirits of even the righteous dead. Those who will be prepared at His coming will remain comparatively few, still. Hence the great need to turn the hearts of the children to the father’s and the father’s to the children, and this, too, by covenant and sealing through the Holy Spirit of Promise. It was abundantly clear, according to Joseph, that the only way in which this kind of a welding link could be accomplished, required a temple to be built. And not the temple that was built in Kirtland that was accepted by the Lord but something different. 

There are at least three stages in the process of restoring knowledge. The first stage is to receive it, but that’s just receiving it. Receiving it is not the same thing as the second stage, which is to comprehend it. It is possible that a man receive something without understanding what it was that he had received. Time and careful and solemn and ponderous thoughts are required to untangle what has been received in order to comprehend what it is that you have been given. But it is altogether something of a different order of magnitude, completely separate from that, to teach it. You can receive it, you can comprehend it, but you may not be able to teach it. When it finally does get taught, undoubtedly it will be taught in the manner that Joseph Smith was beginning to work on in Nauvoo that he never finished, at the time that he was taken. That is, by ceremony, by covenant. And this, too, by something given by God, and it to be established in a house that is acceptable to him. 

If you want to know what Joseph Smith was doing in his efforts apart from the church, in a whole new effort, you have to understand the birthright. You have to understand the sealing power. You have to understand he was trying to organize again on the earth the kingdom of God. He was trying to bring back the actual family, but he was taken from us at the incipient stage. Because all that he was sent here to do was to lay the groundwork, to lay the beginning, to come as an Elias, to come and to call to the world and to give to them, if they will pay attention to it, a basis upon which they can study and learn and potentially qualify for the Lord to resume the restoration and bring it to a completion. All of the work that gets done for the dead, where you seal yourself to your ancestors (like they are going to get you anywhere), is the inverse of the model that Joseph was establishing. Joseph had people sealed to him because he had formed a link to heaven. Sealing your kindred dead to be your superior puts you in the spirit world living among the dead, unredeemed, unresurrected, unreturned to the flesh, where you, like your righteous dead, can preach to the people that are in prison. But it’ll never get you up Jacob’s Ladder back to the presence of God. It won’t even get you out of the grave. If you’re going to be part of the family of God, there has to be a link, and the link has to form an unbroken chain. 

Remember that in Nauvoo the Lord offered to reconnect the saints, but clearly defined the condition for that to happen. It was necessarily an acceptable temple where He could come and restore the connection. The reconnection is ordinance-based and will require an acceptable temple before it goes beyond the single representative. First, ideas need to be advanced and accepted. Then second, we need to act on the ideas primarily by repenting and opening ourselves to the influence of God. Third, we have to be humble and patient and willing to practice the religion before we can have any hope of God deciding to gather us. Practical experience is absolutely necessary. Theories and pretensions are not going to get us anywhere. Everyone can theorize the virtues that are necessary to gather people together and live in harmony. Everyone can envision themselves as one of the residents of the City of Peace. But the practical experiences required to iron out our selfishness and competitiveness, so we can actually live in peace, is another order of magnitude harder. 

See, individual salvation and promises of eternal life are just that—they are individual. A restoration of the family of Israel requires more, including cooperation and inter-relationships that will be formed by God Himself. Promises made to individuals give the individual hope. 

If you take the vision of the redemption of the dead that we find in D&C 138, he saw a vision where “…there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ” (D&C 138:12-14). 

All of them—these were the righteous, they were in Paradise, and all of them were worthy; they had hope, and not only did the Savior give them hope before death, He visited with them in the spirit world during the time between His death and His resurrection. But that did not get them reconnected to the Fathers in Heaven, nor did it even get them resurrected, because it goes on to say in the same vision: “…from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead” (D&C 138:30). 

So the righteous who departed this life firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, who had offered sacrifice in the similitude, many of whom had seen Him in the flesh, who witnessed Him and were ministered to by Him and given authority by Him in the spirit world, remained in the world of the dead to preach to the dead. 

Only the organization through a temple and associated rites results in finishing the family of God and the house of order, allowing the results achieved by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are described in D&C 132:37. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—they “…did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.” 

In D&C 138:41, Abraham (the father of the faithful), Isaac, and Jacob were also there. In verses 41-42 of 138, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were there. But in the revelation given in 1843, they’re sitting on thrones. They’re not in the spirit world proselytizing; they’re sitting on thrones. The difference between these two categories are the differences between individual salvation, which can come, and reorganizing the family of God, which must occur by an ordinance in a temple to be acceptable to God. This was why the command was given to build the temple in Nauvoo and why God offered to restore to them the fullness that they did not achieve. 

We need to let God take the lead, and then we need to patiently await each step along the way. This is the stuff of which the prophecies speak, and it is the stuff that will be fulfilled. But the rights and the ordinances necessary to accomplish that— people in this generation don’t even have a clue how that necessarily has to roll forth. But rest assured, it will. It will. 

The foregoing are excerpts taken from: 

——— 

  • Denver’s 40 Years in Mormonism Series, Talk #5 entitled “Priesthood,” given in Orem, UT on November 2, 2013;
  • Denver’s 40 Years in Mormonism Series, Talk #8 entitled “A Broken Heart,” given in Las Vegas, NV on July 25, 2014;
  • Denver’s 40 Years in Mormonism Series, Talk #9 entitled “Marriage and Family,” given in St. George, UT on July 26, 2014;
  • Denver’s 40 Years in Mormonism Series, Talk #10 entitled “Preserving the Restoration,” given in Mesa, AZ on September 9, 2014;
  • Denver’s fireside talk on “Plural Marriage,” given in Sandy, UT on March 22, 2015; and
  • Denver’s Q&A session entitled “A Visit with Denver Snuffer,” held on May 13, 2015.