D&C 93:14-19

93:15-18 - John’s record continues that when he baptized the Savior, “the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.” DJR quotes JS as teaching, “He was entrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his hands, to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem of token of truth and innocence.” I don’t know exactly what that means, but the next part answers a question that I had for many years. I don’t really know how to say it, but I always knew that Jesus had all things given to him, that he was equal with the Father in power and ability, etc. But I always wondered if Jesus came to earth with all that spiritual power or when he received it. John tells us that Jesus “received a fullness of the glory of the Father; And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.” To me, that answered my question, but then again, it’s just me. John’s record is pretty incredible as far as details are concerned, but the Lord tells us that “if you are faithful you shall receive the fullness of the record of John.” I think that this is like many scriptures that will come to us as a people when we are ready, it’s going to be really exciting.

93:19 - DJR comments that verse 19 is the Savior telling “us why He revealed John the Baptist’s teachings and testimony.” Jesus says, “I give unto you these saying that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fullness.” So let’s backtrack for a minute here, what did we learn from John’s record? Christ was in the beginning and the facilitator of our salvation, that Jesus created with world with his Father. We learn, I think most importantly, that Jesus did not have all knowledge and power when he was born, that he had to learn it, he had to gain it through righteousness “until he received a fullness.” He also testifies of the Holy Ghost’s sign after the baptism of the Savior. Why did the Lord quote John’s record instead of just telling us all these things himself? Maybe it’s because JS had just been ordained to the Aaronic priesthood by John the Baptist a few months earlier and so it was a tie in for them, a special connection. Maybe it was to show us that there are other scriptures out there that are of great worth and to give us a little preview to them. Maybe it’s to demonstrate the link between the ancient church and the modern church, to show that they are the same. Or maybe it was to show the expanse of the work, how many important people were involved, I don’t know if that makes sense. He showed us this so that we can know who and how we worship. I think that it was DJR that said something to the effect of worshipping God as our only activity might seem overwhelmingly boring, which is true, that’s how it seemed for me, but the IM gives the best description of “worship” that I’ve ever encountered and it clears up the concept for me quite nicely. The IM teaches, “The word worship comes from two Anglo-Saxon words: weorth, worthy, and scipe, state or condition. The Lord deserves to be worshiped because His condition is a worthy one. Elder James E. Talmage said: ‘The worship of which one is capable depends upon his comprehension of the worthiness characterizing the object of his reverence. Man’s capacity to worship is a measure of his comprehension of God.’ We worship to express our feelings about divine things. If we have reverence for God’s truth and grace and desire to be like Him, we can worship Him by keeping His commandments. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: ‘To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts. It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach that gospel of the kingdom which fells from his lips, and to heal the sick and raise the dead as he did. To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which comes because of him. It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar circumstances, to be as he is. To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above carnal things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world. It is to pay our tithes and offerings, to act as wise stewards in caring for those things which have been entrusted to our care, and to use our talents and means for the spreading of truth and the building up of his kingdom. To worship the Lord is to be married in the temple, to have children, to teach them the gospel, and to bring them up in light and truth. It is to perfect the family unit, to honor our father and our mother; it is for a man to love his wife with all his heart and to cleave unto her and none else. To worship the Lord is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. It is to work on a welfare project, to administer to the sick, to go on a mission, to go home teaching, and to hold family home evening. To worship the Lord is to study the gospel, to treasure up light and truth, to ponder in our hearts the things of his kingdom, and to make them part of our lives. It is to pray with all the energy of our souls, to preach by the power of the Spirit, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving. To worship is to work, to be actively engaged in a good cause, to be about our Father’s business, to love and serve our fellowmen. It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to comfort those that mourn, and to hold up the hands that hang down and to strengthen the feeble knees. To worship the Lord is to stand valiantly in the cause of truth and righteousness, to let our influence for good be felt in civic, cultural, educational, and governmental fields, and to support those laws and principles which further the Lord’s interests on earth. To worship the Lord is to be of good cheer, to be courageous, to be valiant, to have the courage of our God-given convictions, and to keep the faith. It is ten thousand times ten thousand things. It is keeping the commandments of God. It is living the whole law of the whole gospel.’”