13b and that all things may have their likeness, and that they may accord one with another; that which is earthly conforming to that which is heavenly, as Paul hath declared. (I Corinthians 15:46-48.)
14a "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly."
14b And as are the records on the earth in relation to your dead, which are truly made out, so also are the records in heaven. This, therefore, is the sealing and binding power, and in one sense of the word, the keys of the kingdom, which consists in the key of knowledge.
15a And now my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation.
15b For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers, "that they without us cannot be made perfect"; neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
16 And now in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul. I Corinthians 15:29. "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"
17a And again, in connection with this quotation, I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel; namely: the baptism for the dead:
17b for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5 and 6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
18a I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands.
18b It is sufficient to know in this case that the earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and, behold, what is that subject?
18c It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect.
