Temple Worship: A Pattern in Our Lives

 (part 4 of 4）

我的见证 

My Testimony

今年六月，我很容幸有机会为么儿和他的新娘执行印证教仪，古姐妹和我因而感受到特别的祝福和体验。我们夫妻俩连同另外四名子女和他们的配偶以及其他亲朋好友走进夏威夷州科纳圣殿的印证室时，都强烈地感受到圣灵与我们同在。我不禁红了眼眶，因为我了解到，由于身为父母的我们不断努力跟从主，引导家人前往圣殿，使圣殿崇拜成为生活的模式，因而蒙受主赐给我们家庭如此丰盛的祝福。我们都觉得要重新许下承诺，恪遵曾经在主的殿里立下的神圣圣约。

每一座圣殿朝东的墙上，都刻有“主的殿，归主为圣”的字样。我见证主所有的圣殿都是他在世上的神圣之地。我祈求，也诚挚希望主祝福各位有热切的渴望，在条件许可的情况下多到圣殿去，求取主已经应许的祝福和保障。愿我们都能牢牢记住：使徒、先知的话就是救主对我们说的话。救主已经提醒我们、劝勉我们要经常去圣殿。我见证耶稣基督活着，这是他的教会，圣殿是他神圣的屋宇，他是我们在圣殿崇拜的核心人物。奉耶稣基督的名，阿们。

      This past June, Sister Goo and I had a special blessing and experience as I was honored and privileged to perform the sealing for our youngest son and his bride. As we, our other four children and their spouses, and other family and friends entered the sealing room in the Kona Hawaii Temple, we felt a powerful spiritual presence. My eyes grew wet as I realized how much the Lord has blessed our family as we, as parents, have tried to follow the Lord in directing our family to the temple and in making temple worship a pattern in our lives. And we felt a renewed commitment to honor the sacred covenants that we have made in the House of the Lord.

On the east wall of every temple is engraved: “The House of the Lord. Holiness to the Lord.” I testify that all of the temples of the Lord are His sanctuaries here upon this earth. I pray and sincerely hope that the Lord will bless you with a strong desire to attend the temple more often, as your circumstances permit, and claim the blessings and protections that the Lord has promised. May we remember that the words of our Prophets and Apostles are the words of our Savior to us. He has warned and counseled us to go to the temple often. I testify that Jesus Christ lives, that this is His Church, that the Temple is his holy House, and that He is the center of our worship in the Temple. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

  

圣殿崇拜：生活的模式
  古卫兴长老

Submitted by President Charles W. H. Goo

Hong Kong China Temple

Temple Worship: A Pattern in Our Lives

(part 3 of 4)

Our Commitment to the House of the Lord

我们对主之家的承诺

我们对主的殿坚守的承诺在1836年嘉德兰圣殿的奉献祈祷文里，主向约瑟.斯密启示这些话：“在您所家宅中...光荣地拥有名声和地位（standing）...，直到所有世代和永恒”（教约109:24）。

米伽勒.威考克司（Michael Wilcox） 在其著作荣耀屋宇（The House of Glory）
里提到，“standing意指经常出席。字典里为standing下的定义是［一段时间或期间；永久且不变地；崇高的名声或受人景仰。］这些意义不仅跟主在教仪和圣约里的话语有关，也同时意谓着我们必须经常、不断地使用圣殿推荐书。...

...如果我们想要获得以天父之名所应许的保护，就必须获得个人的圣殿推荐书，诚实地持有，经常地使用，不仅是人到圣殿去而已，还要在那里崇拜”（第56）。

威考克司也提到“ 更重要的是，我们不应感到消极。头一次参与圣殿完全明白圣殿教仪并非意料中的事。圣殿教仪能终生喂养我们。圣殿教仪，像神圣经文，值得一读再读，即使如此我们亦无法彻底了解固中含义。

另一位作家安得烈，斯金纳（Andrew C. Skinner）在其著作圣殿崇拜（Temple Worship）里谈到：“圣殿恩道门并不能等闲视之，与会者也无法在前往圣殿一两回之后就全盘了解其意义。大卫奥.麦基会长（1873-1970）到圣殿执行教仪将届六十年之际，有人听到他这么说：［现在我开始明了恩道门的意义了。］像麦基会长这样神的先知、又具有如此深厚的灵性休养，都得花将近一甲子的时间才能开始了解圣殿的恩道们，我想，如果我们有时候并不了解，是情有可原的--只是我们要以谦卑的态度面对自身的不足，下定决心力求改进，...我们必须带着求学若渴的态度经常到圣殿去”（第58页）。

The Lord, in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple in 1836 revealed these words to the Prophet Joseph Smith. “...and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity”. (D&C 109:24)

In his book, The House of Glory, Michael Wilcox states that “the word “standing” implies frequent attendance. The dictionary’s definitions of standing are “length of time or duration; permanent and unchanging; not movable; stationary; high reputation or esteem. (The American Heritage Dictionary.) All these meanings bear on the Lord’s words in the Doctrine and Covenants and imply the constant, continual use of the recommend. ...If we desire the promised protection of the Father’s name, we must receive our temple recommends, hold them honorably, and use them frequently, not merely to attend the temple but also to worship there.” (p. 56)

Bro. Wilcox also shared that: “Most of all, we must not become discouraged. It was never intended that we understand the temple ordinances all at once. They were designed to feed us for a lifetime...The temple ordinances, like the scriptures, are worth thousands of readings, and even then we shall not have sounded the depths of their possibilities.” (p. 27)

Another author, Andrew C. Skinner in his book, Temple Worship, stated: “The temple endowment is not a casual matter, nor was it intended to be understood fully in one or two visits to the temple. President David O. McKay is reported to have said, after nearly sixty years of temple attendance: ‘Now I am beginning to understand the endowment.’ If it took a prophet of God of the spiritual depth of President McKay almost six decades to begin to understand the temple endowment, I think we may be pardoned if we sometimes don’t understand- but only if we approach our deficiency in a spirit of humility and resolve to do better...we must go often to the temple with a seeking mind and heart.” (p. 58) President Howard W. Hunter a strong advocate for temple attendance, stated the October 1994

Temple Worship: A Pattern in Our Lives

(part 2 of 4)

总会交友大会：
General Conference:

积极提倡参与圣殿的洪德・豪威 会长在1994年十月总会大会提到“
让我们成为参与圣殿和对圣殿怀有关爱之心的人民。让我们在时间和个人事务容许下抓紧时机去圣殿。让我们不但只为死者而去，而是为了由圣殿崇拜获得的个人祝福，这块可以给予我们圣洁和安全的神圣的围墙。圣殿是美丽之地，启示之地，平安之地。这是神之屋宇。它于主内神圣。它也应当对我们神圣。

大卫・贝纳长老在2009年4月总会大会提到：我们承受耶稣基督之名的过程从水的洗礼开始，并在主的殿中持续并扩大。我们受洗后，心思转向圣殿；我们领受圣餐时，心思也转向圣殿。我们承诺要一直记得救主并遵守他的诫命，准备自己来参与圣殿的神圣教仪，接受透过主耶稣基督的名和经由他权柄而来的最高祝福。如此，我们才能在圣殿的教仪中更完全而充分地承受耶稣基督的名。

大卫・贝纳长老描述纳府逃亡时期百翰・杨会长写给当时圣徒的信“ 现在是劳动的时刻。让你在神的屋宇所立的圣约之火，燃烧你的心，像火焰不能熄灭。”
  大卫・贝纳长老进一步解释圣约之火的确在他们的心里燃烧。崇拜和光荣的拥有名声和在神的屋宇里的地位是他们的承诺。让我们记得在圣殿所立的圣约和让圣约之火在我们的心中燃烧。

圣殿崇拜巩固家庭
我愿与各位为人父母者分享培道.

潘长老送给即将印证的新人的一些忠告，这些忠告也适用于我们：“你们现在是一家人，可以自由地创造生命，有机会经由奉献与牺牲，把儿女带到世界上来，养育、栽培他们，让他们安全有朝一日也像你们一样，参与这些神圣的圣殿教仪”（参阅“圣殿”，1992年6月，圣徒之声，第21页）。

斯金纳弟兄也说：
“当我们遵循这样的模式，就是在做天上父母在做的事。我们创造生命、滋养生命，让儿女有机会长大成人，茁壮进步。我们致力于使他们达到愿意延续这个模式的地步，而那正是幸福快乐之所在。丈夫、妻子、儿女印证在一起，并不是一件美好的事情而已。家人印证在一起成为永恒家庭，其实正是天国的体制，是天上父母生活的方式。换句话说，家庭并不是社会的基本单位而已，也是永恒的基本单位”（第68页）。

我鼓励为人父母者，视情况尽可能地支持、鼓励儿女--特别是12到18岁的孩子至少一个月到圣殿一次，代替已逝者执行洗礼和证实的教仪。这样做的男女青年在生活里培养出经常到圣殿去的模式，会感受到圣殿的力量、以及救主对他每个儿女的大爱。这样作法最后会引领他们参与圣殿至高无上的教仪：印证为今世及全永恒的家庭。

 

“Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the House of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.”

In the April 2009 General Conference Elder David A. Bednar stated: “... the process of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ that is commenced in the waters of baptism is continued and enlarged in the house of the Lord. As we stand in the waters of baptism, we look to the temple. As we partake of the sacrament, we look to the temple. We pledge to always remember the Savior and to keep His commandments as preparation to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple and receive the highest blessings available through the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, in the ordinances of the holy temple we more completely and fully take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.”

Elder Bednar’s added as he described the exodus from Nauvoo and President Brigham Young’s letter to the saints: “Now is the time for labor. Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable.” Elder Bednar further explained that it was the fire of the covenant that burned in their hearts. It was their commitment to worship and honorably hold a name and standing in the house of the Lord. Let us all remember the covenants that we have made in the temple and have them burned in our hearts. Temple Worship Strengthens Families

For you who are parents, I would like to share some counsel Elder Boyd K. Packer gave couples who are about to be sealed which applies to us: “You now become a family, free to act in the creation of life, to have the opportunity through devotion and sacrifice to bring children into the world and to raise them and foster them safely through their mortal existence; to see them come one day, as you have come to participate in these sacred temple ordinances.”

Bro. Skinner adds: “As we follow this pattern, we are doing what our Heavenly Parents do. We create and nurture life, we provide our sons and daughters with opportunities for growth and progression, and we seek to have them arrive at the point where they desire to continue the pattern, wherein lies true happiness. Being sealed together as husband and wife and children is not just a nice thing to do, not just the customary pattern to follow. Being sealed together as an eternal family is the very order of heaven. It is the kind of life our Heavenly Parents live. In other words, the family isn’t just the basic unit of society; it is the basic unit of eternity.” (p.68)

       I encourage parents, insofar as possible, to support and encourage your children, especially those between the ages of 12 and 18, to go to the temple at least once a month to do baptisms and confirmations for the dead. As the youth do this, they will develop a pattern in their lives of going to the temple often and they will also feel the power of the temple and the great love that our Savior has for each one of His children. This practice eventually will lead them to participate in the crowning ordinance of the temple: being sealed as families for time and all eternity.

Temple Worship: A Pattern in Our Lives

(Part 1 of 4)

遵循先知的忠告

 Following Prophetic Counsel

主在1831 年赐给先知约瑟・斯密的启示中说：“。。。却都要应验，无论是借着我自已的声音，或是我仆人们的声音，都是一样”（教约1:38）。因此，我们活着的先知多马.孟荪会长在2009年4月总会大会上的演讲，就像是主直接对我们说话一样。孟荪会长说：“弟兄姐妹们，我们已经在世界建造许多圣殿，今后仍将继续兴建。对于配称且能够到圣殿的人，我劝诫你们要常去。圣殿是神圣的地方，我们可以在那里找到平安；我们在圣殿里承诺要奉行福音，遵守诫命的决心也更加坚定。能够到圣殿是多么大的特权，我们在圣殿里可以体验到主的灵使人圣化的影响力”（圣参阅“直到再相会”，2009年5月，利阿贺拿，第113页）。

孟荪会长这一席话，重新强调了他在2008年4月总会大会上的声明，他说：“对于能够去圣殿的人，我劝告你们要经常去。这么做有助于巩固婚姻及家庭”（“蒙受丰盛的祝福”，2008年5月，利阿贺拿，弟112页）。

“劝诫”和“劝告”这两个词蕴藏了一种可不容缓的感觉。字典里把“劝戒”定义为“提醒、警告”，把“劝告”定义为“给予建言”。总的来说，这些话都督促我们在能力许可的范围内，经常前往圣殿。

而我们该如何为“经常”这个词下定义呢？李察.司考德长老在2009年4月的总会教友大会上告诉我们，他每周到圣殿一次。他说：“14年前，我决定每星期至少到圣殿去作一场教仪。我如果出门旅行在外，也会补足不够的次数，以便达到那项目标。我一直守着这份决心，生活也从此彻底改变了。我努力参与圣殿中所有的不同教仪”（参阅“圣殿崇拜：在艰困的时刻获得力量和能力的泉源”，2009年5月，利阿贺拿，第43页）。

作为教会十二使徒定额组的成员之一，司考德长老在世界各地有形形色色的任务。当我深思他所作的经验时，我愿重新下定决心每周至少参与一次圣殿教仪。

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1831 the Lord said “....but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C 1:38). Thus the words of our living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, in the April 2009 General Conference are the same as if the Lord were speaking directly to us. President Monson said: “Now my brothers and sisters, we have built temples throughout the world and will continue to do so. To you who are worthy and able to attend the temple, I would admonish you to go often. The temple is a place where we can find peace. There we receive a renewed dedication to the gospel and strengthened resolve to keep the commandments. What a privilege it is to be able to go the temple, where we may experience the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of the Lord. Great service is given when we perform vicarious ordinances for those who have gone beyond the veil. In many cases we do not know those for whom we perform the work. We expect no thanks, nor do we have the assurance that they will accept that which we offer. However, we serve, and in that process we attain that which comes of no other effort: we literally become saviors on Mount Zion. As our Savior gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for us, so we, in some small measure, do the same when we perform proxy work in the temple for those who have no means of moving forward unless something is done for them by those of us here in President Monson’s declaration he gave new emphasis to his statement in the April 2008 General Conference wherein he said, “To you who are able to attend the temple, I would counsel you to go often. Doing so will strengthen marriages and families.”

The words “admonish” and “counsel” suggest a sense of urgency. The dictionary defines “admonish” as “to warn” and “counsel” is “to advise”. Taken together, these statements are urging us to go to the temple often insofar as we have the ability to do so.

How should we define “often”? Elder Richard G. Scott told us in the April 2009 General Conference that he attends once a week. He said: “Fourteen years ago I decided to attend the temple and complete an ordinance once a week. When I am traveling I make up the missed visits in order to achieve that objective. I have kept that resolve, and it has changed my life profoundly. I strive to participate in all the different ordinances available in the temple.” Elder Scott continued by sharing, “I encourage you to establish your own goal of how frequently you will avail yourself of the ordinances offered in our operating temples. What is there that is more important than attending and participating in the ordinances of the temple? What activity could have a greater impact and provide more joy and profound happiness for a couple than worshipping together in the temple?”

        As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Scott has many assignments around the world. As I reflected on his observation, I recommitted to participate in at least one ordinance each week.