83. TPJS, 308. The ordinances of the temple are practiced in the seclusion of sacred space because they constitute "the mysteries of the kingdom" (McConkie, Mortal Messiah, 1:99). These ordinances, "though not secret, are of such a sacred nature as to be reserved for the eyes and ears and hearts of those whose attained spiritual maturity prepares them to receive the mysteries of the kingdom" (ibid., 1:104). "After people are converted and have the gift of the Holy Ghost to enlighten their minds it is time enough for them to learn the deeper things pertaining to exaltation in the eternal worlds. The sacred teachings revealed in temple ordinances, for instance, are mysteries reserved for selected and faithful members of the kingdom who have attained sufficient stability and background to understand them" (DNTC, 1:248-49). ON the connection between the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Mysteries of the kingdom" see D&C 84:19-21; 107:18-19. Temple ordinances and teachings are also known as the "mysteries of godliness" (see Clyde J. Williams, ed., The Teachings of Harold B. Lee [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], 575; Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft 1998], 245). The Prophet Joseph Smith urged the Saints to "go on to perfection, and search deeper and deeper into the mysteries of godliness" (TPJS, 364).

84. Larry E. Dahl and Donald Q. Cannon, eds., The Teachings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997), 217.

85. On 22 January 1834 the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "the ordinance or institution of offering blood in sacrifice, was only designed to be performed till Christ was offered up and shed his blood... that man might look forward in faith to that time" (TPJS, 60; emphasis added). On 5 October 1840, however, the Prophet delivered a discourse on Malachi 3:3, which speaks of the "sons of Levi" making an "offering in righteousness" in the latter days. This scripture does not say that blood sacrifices would be offered unto the Lord in the last days as many suppose. The Hebrew word used to designate the "offering" in this passage is michah, which is commonly used in Old Testament temple texts to designate a "bloodless" sacrifice (James Strong, The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996], Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary, 80, word #4503). Based upon the text of Malachi 3:3, and the reasoning that all of the priesthood ordinances performed in former dispensations had to be restored in the latter days, the Prophet taught that temple sacrifices-- specifically those performed "prior to the law of Moses" and by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood-- would be performed again "when the Priesthood is restored with all its authority, power and blessings" (TPJS, 172-73; emphasis added). The Lord helped to clarify the meaning of the Prophet's teachings when he revealed on 19 January 1841 that within the walls of the Nauvoo Temple we would restore "the fulness of the priesthood" (D&C 124:28; emphasis added), and there the latter-day "sons of Levi" would offer sacrifice in the manner of a memorial, meaning in symbolic fashion (vs. 39). On 6 September 1842, shortly after the Nauvoo temple ordinances were first bestowed, Joseph Smith quoted Malachi 3:2-3 and clearly stated that it was the "Latter-day Saints" who were to "offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" in the "holy temple." He also indicated that the offering he was referring to was of a bloodless nature (D&C 128:24).