This is adapted from a presentation I gave in church some months back.

Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!

This is D&C 128:19. Joseph and the Saints are in Nauvoo, working on building the Nauvoo Temple. Section 128 is a letter from the Prophet on the subject of Baptism for the Dead; this doctrine fills him with such joy that he practically bursts out in song! The Gospel, the Good News of Christ, does indeed give us great reason to rejoice.

The Saints had been trough some hard times up to this point–driven out of New York, Ohio, and Missouri; the Prophet Joseph had gone into and come out of Liberty Jail; at the time of this letter Joseph was in hiding due to the intense persecution–and yet he speaks of “A voice of gladness” and “glad tidings of great joy”. Joseph continues:

And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!

Here Joseph reflects on some of the great events of the Restoration. In May, 1829, Joseph and his scribe Oliver Cowdery had been translating the Book of Mormon for just over a month, when they felt they needed to inquire of the Lord concerning “baptism for the remission of sins” that they had been reading about. It was while they were praying that an angel appeared to them. Joseph described the events:

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: 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. (Joseph Smith History 1:68-69)

This angel was John the Baptist, the same who baptized Jesus Christ, now a resurrected being. John the Baptist gave Joseph and Oliver the Aaronic Priesthood. After this Joseph baptized Oliver, and Oliver then baptized Joseph. The words of John the Baptist are also recorded in D&C 13. I’ve always wondered somewhat about that last promise, though: “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.” “[G]ospel of repentance” and “baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” I understand, but what about the “offering unto the Lord in righteousness”. What is the offering? What does it have to do with the Priesthood today?

Section 84 of the D&C tells us more about the Priesthood; it contains what is known as the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. This section makes reference to the offering mentioned in section 13. In verse 30 Christ is explaining some of the different offices of the Priesthood:

“…the offices of teacher and deacon are necessary appendages belonging to the lesser priesthood, which priesthood was confirmed upon Aaron and his sons. [31] Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses–for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord…”

Now skip to verse 33-34:

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron, and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.

“They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron”–we can become the sons of Moses and of Aaron, and thus we share in the responsibility of preparing this “acceptable offering and sacrifice”, this “offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”

We’ve learned something else about the offering as well–that this offering is to be offered “in the house of the Lord”.

Well, D&C 128 was talking about Baptism for the Dead, which happens in temples—let’s look back there:

Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation. (D&C 128:24)

This offer which John the Baptist spoke of is, or at least part of it is, genealogy and temple work: “a book containing the records of our dead”, presented “in his holy temple”.

Now, in order for this to happen, we need to be worth to enter the temple. And because there’s so much work to be done, we need to preach the gospel to increase the number of hands doing this work. That’s the three-fold mission of the Church, redeeming the dead, perfecting the saints, and preaching the gospel. And it all ties back to the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.

Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free. (D&C 128:22)