oliver cowdery is sent of heaven to aid the prophet—the aaronic priesthood is brought to earth by christ's forerunner—first baptisms of this dispensation.
almost a year had passed from the day upon which martin harris began his service as a scribe for joseph, when once more an earthly messenger of help appeared to the prophet.
it was at the hour of sunset on the sabbath day, april 5th, 1829, when oliver cowdery came to the prophet's door—in harmony, susquehanna county, state of pennsylvania. this young man, oliver cowdery, a school teacher, had been carried in the autumn of the year 1828, in fulfillment of an engagement, to the town of manchester, new york. hearing there of the angelic visitations to the unlearned farm-lad, joseph smith, he was led to a deep and prayerful investigation of the subject. a powerful conviction that joseph had been ministered to by heavenly beings, as he had testified, was wrought upon oliver's mind, and he asked the lord for direct guidance. his prayer was answered, and the lord made plain to him that his would be the privilege and the duty to aid the young prophet as a scribe or secretary. situated as oliver cowdery was, he needed inspiration from the almighty to enable him to decide to accept such a mission; for around and within the little village of manchester at that dark hour surged the spirits of hatred, cruelty, falsehood and even murder, and no man from any selfish wish, would have cared to ally himself in acts or sympathetic words with the cause and the man condemned by all the power of the pulpit. as soon as he could gain honorable release from his school duties, oliver journeyed to pennsylvania and presented himself to joseph as one who had a wish to serve god and aid his chosen servant.
this was the first conversion by the testimony of the spirit of one who had not seen the prophet. the church speaks for itself of the hundreds of thousands of honest souls who have had the testimony of the holy ghost since that hour.
joseph accepted oliver as the embodied answer to his prayer for help; and on tuesday, the 7th day of april, 1829—two days after they had first beheld each other in the flesh—the prophet began dictating to oliver in continuance of the work of translation. while they labored the revelations of god came to them in guidance of their daily work, in support of their hopes and in the enlargement of their understandings concerning the principles of salvation.
as they progressed, they encountered a passage of the revealed record which spoke of baptism for the remission of sins. deeply imbued with the sense of their great responsibility, joseph and oliver felt as if a personal message had come to them, requiring their compliance with some sacred observance. they talked together long and earnestly upon the subject; and one day in the month of may, 1829, they went into the woods together and knelt before the lord. they asked him for light concerning the matter of baptism for the remission of sins. while kneeling with uncovered heads and lifting up their voices in supplication, a messenger of heaven, clothed in dazzling glory, descended before their eyes. as in the other visitations which had come to the prophet alone, this personage was also surrounded by a supernal light. he stated to them that he was john, known as john the baptist at the time of christ; and that he had come to minister to them, being under the direction of peter, james and john, the apostles who still held the keys of the priesthood after the order of melchisedec. he laid his hands upon their heads and said:
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.
then this heavenly personage, concerning whom the savior himself had said: "among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than john the baptist," and whose unique and glorious privilege it had been while in mortality to administer the ordinance of baptism to the son of god, instructed them in the duties of the aaronic priesthood to which they had just been ordained. he said to joseph and oliver that the aaronic priesthood did not possess the authority to bestow the gift of the holy ghost by the laying on of hands, but that such power belonged to the priesthood of melchisedec, which in due time would be conferred upon them. john then commanded them that they should go forth unto the water: and by the authority which he had transmitted to them they should each baptize the other—joseph to immerse oliver first, and then oliver to perform the same office for joseph; and that each should, following baptism, re-ordain the other to the priesthood after the order of aaron. later, they would receive the melchisedec priesthood and be ordained as elders; joseph to be first and oliver second.
when john left them and ascended in his encircling pillar of light, they went straightway to perform the command which they had received. joseph led oliver down into the water, and, by authority which he had received, the prophet immersed his companion for the remission of sin. as soon as this was done, oliver immersed joseph in the same manner and by the same authority. they came up together out of the water; and ordained each other to the aaronic priesthood.
no sooner had they fulfilled the requirements left with them by john than they felt the power of holiness resting upon them. each one of them had instantly the gift of mighty prophecy. joseph saw and foretold the establishment of a church founded upon the rock of righteousness; having the everlasting gospel; proclaiming the truth to all the nations of the earth; fulfilling the destiny designed by god in the redemption of humanity from darkness and misery. oliver, too, prophesied of many glorious things, both for his own comfort and that of joseph.
thus filled with sublime delight, entertaining more hope and courage than ever before, they returned to their labor of translation. if anything had been wanting to banish every worldly thought from their minds and to fill them with a zealous desire to hasten the work, the promise of john supplied that requirement. having so far been permitted to partake of the blessings and ordinances enjoyed by the chosen servants of christ in another age; and having a promise that through faithfulness they should enjoy other gifts of this holy nature, nothing could restrain their ardor.
the bitter experience which joseph had endured, through communicating so freely the glorious manifestations which he had received, taught him caution. when he received his first communications from heaven, he had supposed that he could relate what had occurred and the tidings would be gladly received; but he soon learned, as so many of those who have since espoused the truth have also learned, that the words of caution given by the lord jesus to his disciples, concerning giving that which is holy unto the dogs and casting their pearls before swine, were as applicable to these times as they were when he gave them. there was a class of persons who would trample such precious things under their feet and would turn again and rend those who presented the truth to them. except, therefore, in things of this sacred character which he was commanded of the lord to make known, he kept them to himself. so he and oliver hid within their breasts the fact of john's visitation and their baptism, and the joy arising therefrom. yet, notwithstanding their caution, every step taken by the prophet in fulfillment of god's purposes in this dispensation, however quietly he had acted, had been followed quickly by a new outburst of persecution. the dawn of a new era was visible, and the evil one must exert every power he possessed to becloud the minds of men. the hatred of the people dwelling in the vicinity of harmony was kindled, unaccountably even to themselves, against the two young men. a mob spirit reigned in the neighborhood; and a murderous attack upon joseph and oliver was only prevented by the influence of isaac hale and his family, who gave sympathy and help at this hour to the prophet.
joseph and oliver, in the midst of their labors, did not fail to pray for that help and guidance which they needed. from the record itself they gathered a large store of religious truths; and their minds being opened to comprehend the principles of salvation, they also searched the other scriptures, the old and new testaments, with great profit to themselves. as a result, much blessing came to them through their devotion and industry. joseph's concentration upon the work entrusted to him had such effect upon members of the hale family, that they united in giving to him the assurance that he should be protected from the mob; and that he should be saved from all unlawful persecution, so far as their influence and strength could avail to defend him. the also extended to oliver a promise to similarly protect him so long as he remained to assist joseph.
after a little time, the spirit led the prophet to impart to his friends and acquaintances some of the information which he had gained. though at this time he was far from possessing the comprehension of the truth which he afterwards had, he was still rich in knowledge and blessings, compared with the people who surrounded him, and who were enthralled by the ignorance and intolerance which had been growing through all the ages since the ruin of the early church.
