(28) Christ begun the Use of the Baptism by John, who was his Fore-runner, and John was born into this World before Christ, which has its Signification, therefore open thy Eyes. As the Water is in the Originality, and a Cause and Beginning of the Life, and [then] in the Water (by the Tincture) the Sulphur is first generated, wherein the Life becomes stirring, and the a Tincture generates again the Sulphur and the Water, wherein afterwards the Blood in the Tincture comes to be; thus now, as the Beginning of the Life is, so must also the Order in the Regeneration be, that the poor Soul first receives the Water of eternal Life, and be baptized therein, and then God gives it the Grain of Mustard-Seed of the Pearl, that so, if it receive the same, it may become a new Fruit in God.

(5) Therefore the Son came down from heaven, and was incarnate of a Virgin, and took upon Him all our bodily weaknesses, except sin and folly, into which Adam had cast us; and out of all His words and works and limbs and nerves, He made a cord, and drew us so skillfully, and so heartily, that the bloody sweat poured from His sacred Body. And when He had drawn men without ceasing for three and thirty years, He saw the beginnings of a movement and the redemption of all things that would follow. Therefore He said, "And I, if I be lifted up on the Cross, will draw all men unto Me." Therefore He was stretched upon the Cross, and laid aside all His glory, and whatever might hinder His drawing men.

(163) Therefore has Christ ordained or instituted the Baptism or New Birth or Regeneration of the Holy Ghost, in the water, because the birth of the light riseth up in the sweet water in the heart.

(2) After he rose from the dead, his twelve disciples and seven women continued to be his followers, and went to Galilee onto the mountain called "Divination and Joy". When they gathered together and were perplexed about the underlying reality of the universe and the plan, and the holy providence, and the power of the authorities, and about everything the Savior is doing with them in the secret of the holy plan, the Savior appeared - not in his previous form, but in the invisible spirit. And his likeness resembles a great angel of light. But his resemblance I must not describe. No mortal flesh could endure it, but only pure, perfect flesh, like that which he taught us about on the mountain called "Of the Olives" in Galilee.

(13) He came on to the water which was arranged below the earth, and then the middle of this earth was pierced and entered by him.

One day when John the brother of James, the sons of Zebedee, went up to the temple, it happened that a Pharisee named Arimanios came up to him and said to him, Where is your teacher, whom you followed? I said to him, He has returned to the place from which he came. The Pharisee said to me, This Nazarene has deceived you badly, filled your ears with lies, closed your minds, and turned you from the traditions of your parents. When I, John, heard this, I turned away from the temple and went to a mountainous and barren place. I was distressed within, and I said, How was the savior selected? Why was he sent into the world by his father? Who is his father who sent him? To what kind of eternal realm shall we go? And what was he saying when he told us, This eternal realm to which you will go is modeled after the incorruptible realm, but he did not teach us what kind of realm that one is? At the moment I was thinking about this, look, the heavens opened, all creation under heaven lit up, and the world shook. I was afraid, and look, I saw within the light a child standing by me. As I was staring, it seemed to be an elderly person. Again it changed its appearance to be a youth. Not that there were several figures before me. Rather, there was a figure with several forms within the light. These forms appeared through each other, and the figure had three forms. The figure said to me, John, John, why are you doubting? Why are you afraid? Are you not familiar with this figure? Then do not be fainthearted. I am with you always. I am the father, I am the mother, I am the child. I am the incorruptible and the undefiled one. Now I have come to teach you what is, what was, and what is to come, that you may understand what is invisible and what is visible; and to teach you about the unshakable race of perfect humankind. So now, lift up your head that you may understand the things I shall tell you today, and that you may relate them to your spiritual friends, who are from the unshakable race of perfect humankind.

(3) "It came to pass then, when I had come into the midst of the rulers of the æons, that I looked down on the world of mankind, by command of the First Mystery. I found Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer, before she had conceived him, and I sowed into her a power which I had received from the little Iaō, the Good, who is in the Midst, that he might be able to make proclamation before me and make ready my way, and baptize with the water of the forgiveness of sins. That power then is in the body of John.

(4) "It came to pass, when the sun rose in the east, thereafter then through the First Mystery, which existed from the beginning, on account of which the universe hath arisen, out of which also I am myself now come, not in the time before my "Moreover in place of the soul of the ruler which he was appointed to receive, I found the soul of the prophet Elias in the æons of the sphere; and I took him thence, and took hi soul and brought it to the Virgin of Light, and she gave it over to her receivers; they brought it to the sphere of the rulers and cast it into the womb of Elizabeth. So the power of the little Iaō, who is in the Midst, and the soul of the prophet Elias, they were bound into the body of John the Baptizer. For this cause then were ye in doubt aforetime, I when I said unto you: 'John said: I am not the Christ,' and ye said unto me: 'It standeth written in the scripture: When the Christ shall come, Elias cometh before him and maketh ready his way.' But when ye said this unto me, I said unto you: 'Elias verily is come and hath made ready all things, as it standeth written, and they have done unto him as they would.' And when I knew that ye had not understood that I had discoursed with you concerning the soul of Elias which is bound into John the Baptizer, I answered you in the discourse in openness face to face: 'If ye like to accept John the Baptizer: he is Elias, of whom I have said that he will come.'"

(107) And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven.

(3) But the Son of Man came forth from Imperishability, being alien to defilement. He came to the world by the Jordan river, and immediately the Jordan turned back. And John bore witness to the descent of Jesus. For it is he who saw the power which came down upon the Jordan river; for he knew that the dominion of carnal procreation had come to an end. The Jordan river is the power of the body, that is, the senses of pleasures. The water of the Jordan is the desire for sexual intercourse. John is the archon of the womb.

(10) And he prayed before the Lord his God, and said : " God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me, And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition ; * For Thy grace hath been great towards me, And great hath been Thy mercy to my soul ; Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons, And let not wicked spirits rule over them Lest they should destroy them from the earth.

(70) And it came to pass after this that his name during his lifetime was raised aloft to that Son of Man and to the Lord of Spirits from amongst those who dwell on the earth.

Jesus revealed himself [at the] Jordan River as the fullness of heaven’s kingdom. The one [conceived] before all was conceived again; the one anointed before was anointed again; the one redeemed redeemed others.

(7) In like manner also the spirit went forth from the heart into all the qualifying or fountain veins of the body, and kindled all the seven spirits, and so the royal body was glorified instantaneously, and there he stood as a king of God, in an unsearchable clarity or brightness, transcendently excelling the whole heavenly host or army.

(107) And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to me to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him. And 1 said unto him: 'Behold, here am I, my son, wherefore hast thou come to me?'

(3) I visited a bodily dwelling. I cast out the one who was in it first, and I went in. And the whole multitude of the rulers became troubled. And all the matter of the rulers as well as all the powers born of the earth were shaken when they saw the likeness of the image, since it was mixed. And I was the one who was in the image, not resembling him who was in the body first. For he was an earthly man, but I, I am from above the heavens. I did not refuse them even to become Christ, but I did not reveal myself to them in the love that was coming forth from me. I revealed that I am a stranger to the regions below.

(41) And out of this heart JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, in the womb or body of the Virgin Mary, went into all the three births or genitures, and assumed them really, that he might, through and with his innermost birth or geniture, take the devil, death and hell captive in the outermost birth, and overcome the wrath of God, as a king and victorious prince; and, in the power of his geniture or birth in the flesh, press through all men.

(5) There where the name thereof becometh void Did I arrive, pierced through and through the throat, Fleeing on foot, and bloodying the plain; There my sight lost I, and my utterance Ceased in the name of Mary, and thereat I fell, and tenantless my flesh remained. Truth will I speak, repeat it to the living; God's Angel took me up, and he of hell Shouted: 'O thou from heaven, why dost thou rob me? Thou bearest away the eternal part of him, For one poor little tear, that takes him from me; But with the rest I'll deal in other fashion!' Well knowest thou how in the air is gathered That humid vapour which to water turns, Soon as it rises where the cold doth grasp it. He joined that evil will, which aye seeks evil, To intellect, and moved the mist and wind By means of power, which his own nature gave; Thereafter, when the day was spent, the valley From Pratomagno to the great yoke covered With fog, and made the heaven above intent, So that the pregnant air to water changed; Down fell the rain, and to the gullies came Whate'er of it earth tolerated not;

(67) You must not say that whole Christ with Body and Soul came from Heaven. He brought no Soul out of the holy Ternary; the heavenly Virgin was the Soul in the holy Ternary; and that he brought with him for a Bride to our Soul, as this whole Book does treat of it. For what would it help me, if he had brought a strange Soul with him? Nothing at all. But that he has brought my Soul into the holy Ternary, I rejoice at that; and thus I can say, that Christ's Soul is my Brother, and his Body is the Food of my Soul; as he says in the sixth Chapter of John, My Flesh is Meat indeed, and my Blood is Drink indeed.

(3) Understand it right; his Soul in the Creature was not first glorified, but his whole Body, or princely Throne; there went forth out of the Center of the Holy Trinity the Holy Spirit, as you see clearly, that those (who had put on the Spirit of Christ) were highly enlightened; for the Holy Spirit went forth from the Center of the Trinity into the whole holy Element, and flowed into the Mercy of God; and as he triumphed in the Body of Jesus Christ, so also in his Disciples, and in the Believers.