The Baptism of John:
JS-H 1: 67-75:
67 Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery (being the 7th of April) I commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and he began to write for me.
68 We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying:
69 Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.
70 He said this Aaronic Priesthood had not the power of laying on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on us hereafter; and he commanded us to go and be baptized, and gave us directions that I should baptize Oliver Cowdery, and that afterwards he should baptize me.
71 Accordingly we went and were baptized. I baptized him first, and afterwards he baptized me — after which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood — for so we were commanded.
72 The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.
73 Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.
74 Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. In the meantime we were forced to keep secret the circumstances of having received the Priesthood and our having been baptized, owing to a spirit of persecution which had already manifested itself in the neighborhood.
75 We had been threatened with being mobbed, from time to time, and this, too, by professors of religion. And their intentions of mobbing us were only counteracted by the influence of my wife’s father’s family (under Divine providence), who had become very friendly to me, and who were opposed to mobs, and were willing that I should be allowed to continue the work of translation without interruption; and therefore offered and promised us protection from all unlawful proceedings, as far as in them lay.
In Jesus’ time here on earth, many of those who received John’s baptism ended up becoming members of Jesus Christ’s true church here on this earth. They became members of the Kingdom of God here on this earth. Jesus Christ recognized John’s baptism as being efficacious, binding, authoritative, valid, viable, real, effective, and true. That is why Jesus Christ went to John the Baptist to be baptized, because Jesus knew that John had the authority from God to baptize. You want to receive John’s baptism, if you want to be saved in the Kingdom of God. Currently, there is only one church on this planet that has the fullness of John’s baptism to offer to you. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can’t say it more plainly than that.
Just know that you are not going to find John’s baptism from those men who have be excommunicated from the LDS Church. They lost their priesthood when they rebelled against God and Christ’s true church.
Jesus says, “Come follow me”. Seek John’s baptism.
Matthew 21: 23-27:
23 And when Jesus was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
It’s all about Priesthood Authority. Even the duplicitous Pharisees knew this to be true.
Where did John the Baptist get his Priesthood Authority? Was it from heaven, or was it from men?
Where did Jesus get his Priesthood Authority? Was it from heaven, or was it from men?
Where did Joseph Smith get his Priesthood Authority? Was it from heaven, or was it from men?
If you can answer these questions truthfully and are willing to follow through on the witness of the spirit that you receive, then you are well on your way to finding the True Church of God and entering into the Kingdom of God here on this earth and in the heavens to come. You want John’s baptism, the baptism from heaven, and not some kind of fake unauthorized baptism from men. Baptism from some unauthorized self-appointed pastor is not going to be efficacious and gain us salvation in the Kingdom of God.
Notice very carefully that it’s only the men who receive the Priesthood from Heaven. Heaven does not give women the Priesthood, never has and never will. Heavenly messengers only give the Priesthood to men.
The world tells us that there are no boy angels. In fact, the opposite is the truth. Male angels come from heaven to give mortal men the Priesthood of God. It’s always a male angel from Heaven, who has the authority (the proper Priesthood Authority from God) to minister unto men here on this earth, that appears to mortal men here on this earth. God does not send female angels to minister unto men, because females do not have the Patriarchal Priesthood there in Heaven. It’s not the true order of Heaven to give women the Patriarchal Authority of the Priesthood of God and then send them out as ministering angels to confer the Patriarchal Priesthood on others. It’s called the Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood because it’s only for the Sons of God, for the Fathers.
If you see a protestant church ordaining women to their priesthood or LDS Apostates ordaining women to the priesthood, then you know of a surety that they are not the true church of God and are not receiving revelations from God, because God would never do such a thing. Ordaining women to the Priesthood is contrary to the order of Heaven and the will of God. By example and revelation, God has made it clear that it is so. When the Reorganized LDS Church started ordaining women to the Priesthood, then I knew for a surety that they were no longer the true church of God, if they ever were. Their apostasy was complete. Trying to get women ordained into the Priesthood of God is a sure sign of apostasy against God. The Priesthood is for the men. The Priestesshood or Motherhood is for the women.
Throughout the whole of eternity, the Priesthood has been represented by the male organ, by the seed or the sperm. Therefore, the Priesthood is exclusively male. Likewise, throughout the whole of eternity, the Priestesshood or Motherhood has been represented by the womb. Therefore, the Priestesshood or Motherhood is exclusively female. There are no female ministering angels handing out the Priesthood, just like there are no male Mothers in Heaven.
It’s not about misogyny or equality. It’s about reality. A well-built woman can do anything a man can do, except for impregnate herself. Likewise, a creative and ingenious man can do anything a woman can do, except for carrying children in a womb and bringing them to fruition. Each sex has its own unique divinely assigned role; and, it has been that way for all eternity.
Take the Tree of Life, for example.
The Priesthood or the male is represented by the Seed of the Tree. Heavenly Father or the Priesthood is the thing that puts the spark of life or the intelligence or the seed into the spirit body. Likewise, Heavenly Father or the Priesthood is the thing that puts the spirit body into our physical body and marries the two together. It’s also the Priesthood and Heavenly Father who resurrect us from the dead, putting the spirit back with a resurrected physical body. The Priesthood is the power of life or the seed of life. God the Father can see the intelligences and through the power of the Priesthood assign them or marry them to the different spirit bodies. Likewise, God the Father can see the spirits and through the power of the Priesthood assign those spirits to physical bodies. In the Hebrew alphabet, the seed or sperm or Priesthood or male is represented by the first letter, Aleph. Aleph is Adam. Aleph is God the Father. Aleph is the Priesthood or the sperm or the seed.
The Priestesshood or Motherhood or the female is represented by the Fruit of the Tree. Heavenly Mother is the one who grows the spirit body in her womb and gives birth to the spirit body. Likewise, our mothers are the ones who grow our physical bodies in her womb. It’s the mother that produces the fruits of life. It’s also our Heavenly Mother who will seat her son’s on their Father’s throne if those sons succeed in returning to Heaven from whence they came. The mother keeps the home. What was our first home in Heaven? It was Heavenly Mother’s womb! What was our first home here on this earth? It was our mother’s womb. The Mother or Priestess or Queen keeps the home or the womb. In the Hebrew alphabet, the womb or our first residence or the Garden of Eden or a fruitful garden or the home or the house or the Celestial Kingdom is represented by the second letter, Bet. Bet or Beth is Eve. Beth is Heavenly Mother. Beth is Motherhood or the womb or our first residence.
From the Aleph-bet or the Alphabet comes all the other letters and thus the rest of creation.
That’s the way it has always been and will always be.
The seed and the fruit combined together represent the Love of God, the Tree of Life. The sperm and the womb combined together represent the Love of the Gods; and, every Latter-day Saint knows that the Gods come in pairs, husband and wife, male and female, King and Queen, Father and Mother, God and Goddess, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, Construction Crew and Home, Priest and Priestess, Priesthood and Motherhood. Anything contrary to this runs against the true order of Heaven.
It is plain to see for anyone who is willing to do so. All else is sophistry.
Enoch