fasting will be written down; and the service thus performed is noble, and sacred,
and acceptable to the Lord.”
Par 5, 6, 2
“God planted the vineyard, (the shepherd) said: that is, He created the people, and
gave them over to His Son. And the Son appointed the angels to guard over them;
and He Himself cleansed them of their sins, laboring much and undergoing much
toil.”
Par 9, 16, 2
“They had need to come up through the water, so that they might be made alive;
for they could not otherwise enter into the Kingdom of God except by putting away
the mortality of their former life. These also, then, who had fallen asleep received
the seal of the Son of God, and entered into the Kingdom of God. For before a
man bears the name of the Son of God, he is dead. But when he receives the seal,
he puts mortality aside and again receives life. The seal, therefore, is the water.
They go down into the water dead, and come out of it alive.”
Par 9, 31, 4
“But I say to you, as many as have received the seal: maintain your innocence,
bear no grudge, do not persist in wickedness nor in the bitter memory of past
offenses. Be of one spirit and put away these wicked divisions. Remove them from
your midst, so that the Master of the flock may rejoice in His sheep. He will rejoice
if all be found whole. But if He find some of them fallen away, woe to the
shepherds. And if the shepherds themselves be fallen away, how shall they answer
for the flock? That they have fallen away because of the sheep? They will not be
believed. It is beyond credibility that a shepherd should be harmed by his sheep;
and their punishment will be the greater because of their lie.”
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