Power of God

You are currently browsing articles tagged Power of God.

Kirtland Temple Pentecost

February 18, 2010 in Temple by Greg | 3 comments

The following is the beginning of a series of articles about the Kirtland Temple. This was the first temple built by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many reported that the events which accompanied its dedication on March 27, 1836 were similar in nature to the events which transpired on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.

Kirtland Temple Angels Pentecost means “the fiftieth day” and is directly related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot which commemorates the Lord’s appearance on Mount Sinai fifty days after the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt.1 Pentecost is also celebrated by many Christian religions since it commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, fifty days after the Savior’s resurrection.2

Those who compiled Joseph Smith’s history recorded the significance of similar events at the Kirtland Temple dedication:

Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place.3

Writing just a few years after the temple dedication, one participant wrote:

At the same time the saints in Kirtland, Ohio, were actively engaged in building a Temple to the Lord. The branches of the Church in the east were doing all they could to assist them to build and prepare for the day of Pentecost. The news from the west caused sorrow and lamentation, it was a day never to be forgotten. In the spring following, Elders Joseph and Hyrum Smith, in company with two hundred male members of the Church, went up to Missouri, for the purpose of rendering all the assistance they could to the afflicted saints. The dark clouds seemed to break away, the spirit of mobocracy was checked for a short time, and the beams of light once more dawned on the afflicted. After they had done all in their power to do at that time, Elders J. and H. Smith and many others, returned to Kirtland, Ohio. The same fall and winter a large school convened for instruction, composed of Elders, and members of the Church. Elders Smith, Rigdon, and others, acted as teachers. In the course of the winter the Quorum of the Twelve was chosen and ordained, also one Quorum of the Seventies. The next spring many of the Elders went forth to preach the word, to prove themselves worthy of the blessings expected at the day of Pentecost. In the spring of 1836, the lower room of the Temple being finished, some three hundred or over of the official members of the Church, assembled for the purpose of attending to the ordinances of washing and anointing, and the sacraments, that they might be sanctified before the Lord, and prepared for the reception of the Holy Spirit from on High. Prayer and fasting were attended to, the ordinations and anointings were sealed with great solemnity. The Holy Spirit descended in power as in bye-gone days, when it rested on the disciples at Jerusalem, some spoke with tongues and others prophesied—the visions of Heaven were also opened to some, intelligence burst upon their understanding, enabling them to comprehend things past, present and future.4

Another participant in the dedicatory events recorded that the gift of tongues and other Spiritual Gifts were given to many:

Continue reading Kirtland Temple Pentecost »»

  1. See Exodus 19 – 24; cf. D&C 84:19 – 27.↩
  2. For an explanation of these events, see Gift of the Holy Ghost a Higher Endowment.↩
  3. Roberts, Brigham Henry, ed. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1912. 2:428.↩
  4. Grant, Jedediah M. Collection of Facts, Relative to the Course Taken by Elder Sidney Rigdon in the States of Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Brown, Bicking, & Guilbert, 1844. 8-9.↩

Wilford Woodruff’s Testimony Video

October 14, 2008 in Religion by Greg | No comments

Today I ran across a video of Wilford Woodruff’s testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. His testimony was recorded on March 19, 1897 using a graphophone – or “talking machine” – and was one of the first recordings used by one of those devices. When he gave this testimony, President Woodruff had just turned 90 years old (he was born on March 1, 1807). It’s a marvel that the recording has been preserved this long.

YouTube Preview Image

In this recording, President Woodruff talked of the Prophet’s character and divine appointment to lay the foundation of the Church and kingdom of God on earth. He mentioned his experience when Joseph Smith gave his “last charge”1 to a select group of men and women in the spring of 1844, shortly before his death (see, for example The Kingdom of God).

President Woodruff also said that he received his endowments under Joseph’s hands and that Joseph was the author of those endowments. He made particular mention of the “power of God” that accompanied “all [the Prophet's] testimonies.”

It’s rather sobering to think that of all the things President Woodruff could have said in this recording, he chose those things which he felt would be most important.

The following is a transcript of the entire testimony:

I bear my testimony that the Prophet Joseph Smith said, before a large assemblage in Illinois, that if he were the emperor of the world and had control over the whole human family he would sustain every man, woman and child in the enjoyment of their religion. Those are my sentiments today.

I bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, ordained of God to lay the foundation of his church and kingdom in the last dispensation of the fulness of times.

I bear my testimony that in the early spring of 1844, in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith called the Twelve Apostles together and he delivered unto them the ordinances of the Church and kingdom of God; and all the keys and powers that God had bestowed upon him, he sealed upon our heads, and he told us that we must round up our shoulders and bear off this kingdom, or we would be damned. I am the only man now living in the flesh who heard that testimony from his mouth, and I know that it was true by the power of God manifest to him. At that meeting he stood on his feet for about three hours and taught us the things of the kingdom. His face was as clear as amber, and he was covered with a power that I had never seen in any man in the flesh before.

I bear testimony that Joseph Smith was the author of the endowments as received by the Latter-day Saints. I received my own endowments under his hands and direction, and I know they are true principles. I not only received my own endowments under his hands, but I bear my testimony that Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, John Taylor and other brethren received their endowments under the hands and direction of the Prophet Joseph; and also my wife Pheobe, Bathsheba Smith, Leonora Taylor, Mary Smith and others whose names I cannot recall now.

The Prophet Joseph laid down his life for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ, and he will be crowned as a martyr in the presence of God and the Lamb.

In all his testimonies to us the power of God was visibly manifest with the Prophet Joseph.

This is my testimony, spoken by myself into a talking machine on this the 19th day of March, 1897, in the 91st year of my age.

Wilford Woodruff2

Sources:

  1. Truman G. Madsen presented “Joseph Smith and the Last Charge” at the 2005 BYU Sperry Symposium. For an audio version of his talk, visit BYU Broadcasting. Although a video of his presentation was made and played on KBYU, only an audio version is currently available.↩
  2. Wilford Woodruff Testimony. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church Archives.↩