Malachi
3:16
16 ¶Then they that feared the Lord spake often
one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his
name.
The
Lord wants us to gather together often, “…to mourn with those that mourn; yea,
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of
God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even
until death…” The Lord has promised us, “For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
The
book of remembrance is referenced several times throughout scripture and is
also known as the Lamb’s Book of Life. Scripture cautions that in order to
withstand the coming judgments your name must be written in this book.
Joseph Smith, Jr. taught, “…whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in
heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in
heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own
works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own
propria persona, or by the means of their own agents, according to the
ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation
of the world…”
The
apparent question then is how does one get ones name written in this book? 3
Nephi 21:6 states: “For this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden
their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be
baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that
they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.” Denver
Snuffer states in, Preserving the
Restoration, that this will not be fulfilled except through the correct
doctrine and baptism performed by those God has given power to baptize. Baptism has been and will always be the way a
person can be washed clean of their sins and reconnect with Christ. In Matthew
3 (KJV) we learn that John was baptizing in the river Jordan all those who had
come to him confessing their sins. Jesus
Christ came to John to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness. Nephi teaches us to, “do the things which I
have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for
this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which
ye should enter.” If one is trying to reconnect to God, baptism
unto repentance, by immersion, by one who has authority from God, in living
waters is a very good place to start.
Baptism
as an infant is not baptism unto repentance as all children are innocent before
God until the age of accountability. Moroni 8: 8 states: “Listen to the words of
Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. I came into the world not to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but
they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not
capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in
me…” According to Doctrine and Covenants
68:27 children should be baptized for the remission of sins at the age of eight
years old.
Viola
and Barna propose that in the first century water baptism was the outward
confession of a person’s faith and was the way someone came to the Lord. Baptism marked a complete break with the past
and a full entrance to Christ; it was simultaneously an act of faith
as well as an expression
of faith. In 3 Nephi 11 Christ appears to
the people who have been spared the destruction of their civilization. These people were spared because they had
received the prophets and been baptized previous to his appearance. It
is interesting to note that one of the very first things Christ teaches these
people is the correct ordinance of baptism and commands them all to be baptized
again. The
invitation to be baptized, immersed in living waters, by one who has authority from
Jesus Christ has been extended to us again today. “Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come
unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be
saved.” “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye
ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be
sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless
before me at the last day.”
Many people
make the argument that they have no need of baptism because they have accepted
Jesus in their hearts;
they were baptized as an infant or a young child; or that they were baptized as
an adult. Baptism is a gift God has
extended to us which can be accepted through-out our lives, whenever we feel
the necessity of turning from our old selves and facing Him, repenting of our
sins and reconnecting with the Lord we can be baptized. Baptism is the fruits of repentance.
It is
often argued that there is only one Lord, one faith and one baptism,
therefore the necessity of being baptized more than once is a false
concept. What if “one baptism” is
referring to only one mode of
baptism which is acceptable to the Lord? Denver Snuffer, Jr. in his post titled
“Baptism is Mandatory” (Aug. 25, 2015) states:
Baptism
must be by immersion. (3 Ne. 11:26: “then shall ye immerse them in the water,
and come forth again out of the water.”)
To
baptize, a man must have been given authority by Jesus Christ. Christ taught
that in the baptismal prayer He required to be recited by anyone performing the
ordinance. It establishes the condition that He first directly gives them
authority to baptize: “These are the words which ye shall say, calling them by
name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” (3 Ne.
11:24-25.)
Catholics
baptize by sprinkling. This is not accepted by the Lord as His because it does
not comply with the required pattern.
Baptists
may immerse, but do not have authority to baptize given to them by Jesus Christ.
This is not accepted as His.
All
the denominations are presently astray. But God still offers baptism.
There
are some few authorized by Christ, performing baptism with His authority,
teaching the doctrine of Christ, and giving freely an ordinance to any willing
to accept the Doctrine of Christ and repent.
The
LDS Church does not offer an acceptable baptism any longer….The baptism offered
by LDS Church missionaries is based on an adulteration of Christ’s doctrine, is
not effective, and will no longer be accepted by Christ as His.
He does, however, require baptism. The acceptable means was outlined in my talk
in Phoenix and can be read as a paper on this blog, or the talk can be
downloaded here or streamed on YouTube.
Baptism
is necessary. A record is likewise necessary. Baptism is offered freely,
without obligation, and without initiating you to follow another man or men.
You are free to thereafter worship as you see fit. But it is essential. A
record is kept by a central recorder. The website is
www.recordersclearinghouse.com. It is a necessary process.
The
only condition for baptism is to accept the Doctrine of Christ, set out by
Christ in His own words. Christ commanded it be done, and has reiterated that
it is to be done anew in our day. We will be disappointed at His coming if we
fail to obey.
The
Doctrine of Christ is recorded in 3 Nephi 11. Once we have accepted the gift of
baptism that is freely offered through authorized servants of Christ we must
record our names in the book that is being kept as an earthly record in order
that our names should be found in the heavenly record. The
Lord requires the names of those baptized to be recorded. No other information,
personal or otherwise should be collected.
The Lord requires only your name.
Baptism does not need to link a person to any legal church
organization. The Lord wants us to be
baptized in the way that He has set forth and He allows us the privilege of
worshiping Him according to the dictates of our own conscience, we should allow
all men the same privilege, let us all worship how, where, or what we may.
Malachi
3:17-18
17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of
hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then
shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him
that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
What
great love and mercy the Lord extends to us if we but do His will. In order for Him to return there must be a
place prepared to receive Him. In order
to establish Zion we must be of one heart, one mind and there must be no poor
among us. We must all know the Lord. We
must repent and be baptized. We must
record our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
We must fellowship together to support each other, to teach each other,
to lift each other and to encourage each other in our desire for
redemption. If we can succeed the Lord’s
promise is great indeed:
And
the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the
everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should
keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of
Enoch which I have caught up unto myself. And this is mine everlasting
covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward,
then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness,
and the earth shall tremble with joy; And the general assembly of the church of
the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall
have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I
made with thy father Enoch.
3 Nephi 11: 18 And it came to pass that
he spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him
that he should come forth. 19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself
before the Lord and did kiss his feet.
20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and
stood before him. 21 And the Lord said
unto him: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am
again ascended into heaven. 22 And again the Lord called others, and said unto
them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them:
On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you. 23
Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and
desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold,
ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.
24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by
name, saying: 25 Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 26 And
then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.
27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say
unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in
the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. 28 And
according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no
disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be
disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have
hitherto been.
