Chapter XLVIII.—Let Us Return to the Practice of Brotherly
Love.
Let us therefore, with all haste, put an end
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to this [state of things]; and let us fall
down before the Lord, and beseech Him with tears, that He would
mercifully
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be reconciled to
us, and restore us to our former seemly and holy practice of brotherly
love. For [such conduct] is the gate of righteousness, which is
set open for the attainment of life, as it is written, “Open to
me the gates of righteousness; I will go in by them, and will praise
the Lord: this is the gate of the
Lord: the righteous shall enter in by
it.”
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Although,
therefore, many gates have been set open, yet this gate of
righteousness is that gate in Christ by which blessed are all they that
have entered in and have directed their way in holiness and
righteousness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be
faithful: let him be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let
him be wise in judging of words; let him be pure in all his deeds; yet
the more he seems to be superior to others [in these respects], the
more humble-minded ought he to be, and to seek the common good of all,
and not merely his own advantage.
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Literally,
“remove.”
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Literally,
“becoming merciful.”
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Ps. cxviii. 19, 20
.