The Order of the Kingdom. (Part IV.)
1. AND another asked him, saying,
Master, how wilt thou that we bury our dead?
And Iesus answered,
Seek ye council (of the deacons) in this matter, for it concerneth the body only. Verily, I say unto you there is no death to those who believe in the life to come. Death (as ye deemed it) is the door to life, and the grave is the gate to resurrection, for those who believe and obey. Mourn ye not, nor weep for them that have left you, but rather rejoice for their entrance into life.
2. As all creatures come forth from the unseen into this world, so they return to the unseen, and so will they come again till they be purified. Let the bodies (of them) that depart be committed to the elements, and the Father-Mother (who reneweth all things) shall give the Angels charge over them, and let the Presbyter pray that their bodies may rest in peace, and their souls awake to a joyful resurrection.
3. There is a resurrection from the body, and there is a resurrection in the body. There is a raising out of the life (of the flesh) and there is a falling into the life (of the flesh). Let prayer be made For those who are gone before, and For those that are alive, and For those that are yet to come, for all are One family in God. In God they live and move and have their being.
4. The body that ye lay in the grave (or that is consumed by fire) is not the body that shall be, but they who come shall receive other bodies, yet their own, and as they have sown in one life, so shall they reap in another. Blessed are they who have worked righteousness in this life, for they shall receive the Crown (of Life).
5. AND another asked him, saying,
Master, under the law Moses clad the priests with garments of beauty for their ministration in the Temple. Shall we also clothe them to whom we commit the ministry of sacred things as thou hast taught us?
And Iesus answered,
White linen is the righteousness of the Saints, but the time truly cometh when Zion shall be desolate, and after the time (of her affliction) is past, she shall arise and put on her beautiful garments as it is written.
6. But seek ye first the Kingdom (of Righteousness) and all these things shall be added unto you. In all things seek simplicity, and give not occasion to vain glory. Seek ye first to be clothed with charity, and the Garment (of Salvation) and the Robe (of Righteousness).
7. For what doth it profit if ye have not these? As the sound (of brass and tinkling of cymbal)[1] are ye, if ye have not love. Seek ye righteousness and love and peace, and all things (of beauty) shall be added to you.
8. AND yet another asked him, saying,
Master, how many of the rich and mighty will enter into life and join us who are poor and despised. How, then, shall we carry on the work (of God) in the regeneration of mankind?
And Iesus said,
This also is a matter for the deacons (of the church) in council with the elders.
9. But when my disciples are come together on the Sabbath (at even or in the morning of the first day of the week) let them each bring an offering (of a tithe, or the tithe of a tithe of their increase) as God doth prosper them, and put it in the treasury, for the maintenance (of the church and the ministry) and the works thereof. For I say unto you, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
10. So shall all things be done, decently and in order, And the rest will the Spirit set in order who proceedeth from the Father-Mother in Heaven. I have instructed you now in first principles, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the Age.
LECTION 94. 7. -From this, as from other words of the Master on previous occasions, it is evident that his servant Paul borrowed from him many of the ideas, and similes and wise sayings scattered through his Epistles, and not Paul only, but also the other Apostles. (See also verse 9).
v. 10. -It has been alleged that the laying down of rites and ordinances for Christianity has been the cause of division and strife in all countries. Nay, rather have not these divisions and dissensions been caused by the omission of the directions given by the One Head acknowledged by all during the period between his resurrection and ascension and the generation immediately after, and the handling of them down by that tradition so liable to corruption in place of the written record. But much more were these divisions and dissensions caused by the interpolation of dogmas not making for goodness and unity, by the suppression from the records of the vital essence in the holy law given by Iesus on the Mount, which, had it been preached and known and obeyed by all, would have made the earth a paradise in place of a hen for the weak and the helpless.
Read: 1 Corinthians 13:1