CHAPTER 79.
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Levi
John, the harbinger, at Salim. A lawyer inquires about Jesus. John explains to the multitude the mission of Jesus.
Now, John the harbinger, was at the Salim Springs where water was abundant, and there he preached and washed the bodies of the people who confessed their sins.
2 A Jewish lawyer went to John and said, Has not this man from Galilee, he whom you washed and called the Christ, become your foe?
3 They say that he is at the Jordan ford; that he is building up a church, or something else, and that he washes people, just as you have done.
4 And John replied, This Jesus is indeed the Christ whose way I came to pave. He is not foe of mine.
5 The bridegroom hath the bride; his friends are near, and when they hear his voice they all rejoice.
6 The kingdom of the Holy One is bride, and Christ the groom; and I, the harbinger, am full of joy because they prosper so abundantly.
7 I have performed the work that I was sent to do; the work of Jesus just begins.
8 Then turning to the multitudes he said, Christ is the king of righteousness; Christ is the love of God; yea, he is God; one of the holy persons of the Triune God.
9 Christ lives in every heart of purity.
10 Now, Jesus who is preaching at the Jordan ford, has been subjected to the hardest tests of human life, and he has conquered all the appetites and passions of the carnal man.
11 And by the highest court of heaven, has been declared a man of such superior purity and holiness that he can demonstrate the presence of the Christ on earth.
12 Lo, love divine, which is the Christ, abides in him, and he is pattern for the race.
13 And every man can see in him what every man will be when he has conquered all the passions of the selfish self.
14 In water I have washed the bodies of the people who have turned from sin, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul;
15 But Jesus bathes forever in the living waters of the Holy Breath.
16 And Jesus comes to bring the savior of the world to men; Love is the savior of the world.
17 And all who put their trust in Christ, and follow Jesus as a pattern and a guide, have everlasting life.
18 But they who do not trust the Christ, and will not purify their hearts so that the Christ can dwell within, can never enter life.