Monthly Archives: May 2012

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CV

Having finally completed our look at the Fourth Chapter of the First Epistle of the Apostle John, we will no longer have it at the head of each essay where it had been for quite some time. For as many times as we each read it or referred to it as we went through the daily essay, we all should have come to the conclusion that the reality of these sayings by the apostle is no different that the sayings of the Master although they are made to be somewhat different, to stand alone, by some parts of the church. One would believe from what it is that we hear that few sermons actually relate the sayings of the apostles with the sayings and the teachings of the Master and this has become one of our many purposes in this blog called In the Words of Jesus, to relate all to His comprehensive teaching on becoming His disciple and attaining the Truth of the Kingdom of God which is for us here and now. There are many sayings in the New Testament that are not directly tied to the words of Jesus, that are the opinions and the feelings of the apostles regarding the things of everyday Life, and it is in reading and understanding much of this that one must come to that perspective of “Take heed what ye hear” (Mark 4:24) and of “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (John 14:1) that we have been discussing for the last several posts. We should remember that we have come to a conclusion regarding these sayings that we should see in the word hear the idea of believe and that the same understanding can be seen in the whole of this verse from John, that we should only believe what we are ‘seeing’ after we discern the source. We should remember also that we have also determined that for both of these words that the source is not outside of us, as a preacher either true or false or some reading that one may do, but it is rather the understanding that we get from what we see or read or hear and the choice of sources then is believing what we are understanding in consciousness what is from the personality, from the world, or what we are understanding in consciousness that is from the Christ Within, the Soul. While there may be many ways to see this idea in scripture, the revelation we get from the Apostle James best suits this discerning of the source of our hearing or of the spirit which is the Greek word pneuma and to which we have given the understanding of a motivating thought based upon its usage here and some of the defining terms regarding it. Again, Strong’s tells us that this Greek word pneuma means wind, breath, things which are commonly perceived as having no material substance, by extension: spirit, heart, mind, the immaterial part of the inner person that can respond to God³. so that we should be able to see that the understanding that we are using, motivating thought, is not a far fetched one.

So it is not what we read or hear or see that we and the apostles are speaking about here but it is rather what we as conscious Souls in form, as aspirants and disciples, believe about or from what we may read or hear or see. There is no doubt that every word of the apostles is intended toward righteousness but some of the thoughts and feelings are trapped in the time and the customs that they were in. For example we need only look at the teaching of Paul regarding women, a subject never broached by the Master or, we can look at Paul’s dissertations regarding the organization of the church which the Master also did not address. While these should be recognized as what they are, they are taught as having equal weight with those things that the Master says and the words of the apostles that amplify them; they are considered as scripture. As we noted yesterday it is unlikely that any of the apostles saw their own writings as scripture when they were writing them…..this is a convention of man. We should understand here that the ideas presented in this understanding of hearing and believing are not for everyone because not everyone can understand this concept; many there are who will believe what they are told without trying to discern the Truth because they have not yet sensed the duality that in engendered by their hearing and answering the True call of the Christ Within. This True call as well as the discerning of the source of what we hear and believe are very related in the words of James who tells us plainly:

“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3: 13-18).

What is the apostle telling us in this saying that we have used many times in our posts? He is telling us simply that there is a measure for the thoughts, the Wisdom, from above or, as we should say, from within for this is the True source of heavenly things for as and this the Master tells us saying that “behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). We may ask here why James refers then to this Kingdom within and the Wisdom from it as being above; two things are likely True here. First that the idea of heaven above was common in his day as it still is today; the words of Jesus telling us that this Kingdom is within is a revelation that He gives to the world which, up until today, is not seen by the many. James uses this idea in the First Chapter as well saying that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17) and again in this same saying we are discussing, telling us where Earthly things are not from. This understanding and resultant translations are the effect of  the time and the culture in which James was writing and, in this case, this would still be used today; not because it is True but rather that the revelation of the Master has not been understood. Second we should see the very nature of the word itself as it does not specifically mean above but is translated as such based on the belief that this is where God IS. The word translated here as above is the Greek word anothen which is used in a variety of ways:

• Speaking about the veil being rent it is used to signify the top: “the veil of the temple was rentin twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51).
• It is translated as first in the opening to Luke’s Gospel and is used to signify beginning: “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3).
• It is translated as above to signify where the Master is come from and is used here with another Greek word, epano, that is translated as above which has the intent of being over: “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all” (John 3:31).
• Speaking about the source of Power in this world the Master says: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin” (John 19:11) and here is is used in a similar fashion to the preceding example and to our verse above from James.
• It us translated again as top referring to the way that Jesus’ garment was woven: “now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout”  (John 19:23).
• Paul uses the word antohen twice; in one place we translate it and understand it as again: “whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:9) and in another it is translated as beginning: “Which knew me from the beginning” (Acts 26:5).

There is another Greek word that is also translated as above, huper, and in this there also is no direction intended but rather the feeling of greater than is implied: “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord” (Matthew10:24). This particular word is used well over one hundred times with a variety of meanings ranging from for to above to more than². The point here is that this word anothen should not be understood as above or with an idea of direction in mind.

Why have we gone here in such depth? again for two reasons. First to show a bit more graphically that we read and we understand a scripture according to what it is that we believe and in this case of James saying about the “wisdom that is from above“, it is seen by many millions of believers as streaming down from a heaven which is somewhere ‘up there‘. For us who KNOW and can appreciate and understand the Master’s telling of of the Kingdom Within, we see this as a mistranslated idea that should be more regarded as Wisdom that is from God and from the God Within. In our ears we all hear the same thing but in our thoughts our pneuma we believe something very different. There is not any evil in this but the realization that some thoughts are of God and therefore we should “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” and that trying is discerning the source of the thought. Taking this deeper we can see that if we believe that above is somewhere ‘up there’ while knowing that the Master tells us otherwise we should be able to realize that this is “the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6) and this simply because it contradicts the teaching of the Master. To believe this contradiction is to believe the doctrines and the teachings of men and this leads us to the second point which is simply that unless we understand this saying by the Master, that “the kingdom of God is within you“, it is much more difficult to understand the entirety of His teaching in the way that He intended it…..to make of us all disciples who are accounted worthy here and now. So how do we break down this barrier to right understanding of the Master’s message? by repeating it as often as we can to as many as we can and this too is a difficult task.

Let us look at this saying by James in its entirety so that we may understand better what it is that he is telling those in his audience and us today:

• “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom“. The first part of this statement is a question to each of us to declare if we believe we are wise and knowledgeable. Vincent tells that depending on who is speaking and who is spoken to this could mean many things from the cleverness of worldly wisdom to practical wisdom in pious living⁴. It likely does not matter here as this is posed as a question to the intended readers who were the early followers and believers. The statement of note is in the instruction; the idea here of conversation should be understood as “manner of living” which does of course make much more sense. For a feel of how this becomes conversation, let us look at Vincent’s statement on it from 1 Peter: From ajna>, up, and stre>fw, to turn. The process of development in the meaning of the word is interesting. 1. A turning upside down. 2. A turning about or wheeling. 3. Turning about in a place, going back and forth there about one’s business; and so, 4. one’s mode of life or conduct. This is precisely the idea in the word conversation (Lat., conversare, to turn around) which was used when the A.V. was made, as the common term for general deportment or behavior, and was, therefore, a correct rendering of ajnastrofh>…..Our later limitation of the meaning to the interchange of talk makes it expedient to change the rendering, as Rev., to manner of living⁴. This is rendered in the American Standard Version as “let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom” which we should adopt for our understanding so that can see the question and then the answer that if you believe you are wise in any way then show that Wisdom by your “good life“, in your “works in in meekness of wisdom“. Works here means ALL that an man can do and we should understand meekness in the way that we have developed over time in these posts which is, in a phrase, humble restraint. Vincent tells us simply here the meekness which is the proper attribute of wisdom⁴. For a better sense we could look to Paul’s dissertation on Love and realize that these two, Love and Wisdom are intimately related. As you may remember from our chart these are both the potency of the Son, the Christ Aspect of God. Briefly then we can see this Wisdom in this adaptation: “Love wisdom suffers long and is kind; Love wisdom does not envy; Love wisdom does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love wisdom never fails“
• “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth“. The first part of this is clear and straightforward and takes us back to the Masters words regarding the heart which we understand as the conscious personality of the man. Jesus tells us that: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45) and we should understand this as the choice of what is feeding the consciousness; the Christ Within, the Soul, or the personality self, the carnal self the world. In James saying we would know that these things, bitter envying and strife, are not from the Soul which is the source of the Good, the Beautiful and the True but the source is the lower self in the world of things. So then if this is one’s state, he should glory not“, he should not think it good nor be happy about it for in doing so the man is deceiving himself which James paints as “lie not against the truth“.

Can we see the contrast in these two verses? first if one is wise in any way, worldly or spiritually, that he should not use this to his advantage over others but in meekness he should show forth good works, living a good life thus accomplishing the admonition of the Master who tells us to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16) and we should know that in this Light, this Light of the Soul, is Love and Wisdom which should shine forth in good works, living a good life. The second verse is saying that if this is not you, if a man has  “bitter envying and strife” in his heart and therefore his mind that he should not be happy in this condition and not pretend that it is a good way to be; not to be deceived by the illusion and the glamour that may bring a man to believe these worldly things.

We will continue with these thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We leave our Quote of the Day from yesterday again today and likely for several days so that we can understand the intent of these affirmations which are intended for use by aspirant and disciples such as we believe that we are. Our opening and general statement on these verses has been moved to the bottom.

This first verse or stanza is a statement of fact and the reality of it is found in the other three although on reading this we cannot readily find the reference to power. But to begin here we say that my soul has purpose and as we proceed we will find that that purpose is the same as the purpose of the work of the Christ; to foster Love among the sons of men. Webster’s tells us of this word foster that it means: 1. To feed; to nourish; to support; to bring up. Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. Shak. 2. To cherish; to promote the growth of; to encourage; to sustain and promote; as, to foster genius¹. This is the work of Christ as He taught and lived a Life that did such fostering; this is the intended work of the church as taught by the Christ and outlined by His apostles and this is our work as aspirants and disciples. How is this done? much like Jesus did it which is by speaking of it consistently and living His own Life according to His teaching. When we say here that my Soul has we should understand that this is not the question or the issue at hand. The Soul IS as God IS in manifestation and the Soul ever has all of the attributes of God in some relational way. However, to foster Love among the sons of men the Soul must work in the world through its consciousness that is in the world, the personality in time and space. We must understand that this idea of personality is an ambiguous one for although it is the receptacle for the Life of the Soul it also has its own Life in the world that feeds off of the worldly ways of Life. It is said that nothing exists in a vacuum and that saying can be seen in effect here by understanding that if the Life of the Soul is not IN the conscious personality then the personality must per force draw upon the world for its Life.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.

My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.

I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.

My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.

As we approached the time of the Wesak Festival we noted that there are Three Spiritual Festivals in three consecutive months each falling on the day of the Full Moon in the respective month. The first is the Festival of Easter, the second is the Wesak, the Festival of the Buddha and the third is the festival of the Christ which is coming next at the Full Moon of Gemini which will occur on June the 5th and which is alternatively called World Invocation Day. There is a little more that three weeks between now and the Christ’s Festival and we will try to use that time to attain a better understanding of what this day should mean to us. We will start here today with this set of affirmative sayings regarding discipleship and its requirements from the perspective of the willing disciple. We will get into the source of this saying as well as our thoughts on its meaning and intent over the next few posts and we will leave it here as the Quote of the Day until we can accomplish this. Spoken as the aspirant or disciple in form who is invoking fullness of the power of the Christ Within, he first acknowledges what he must bring to bear on the personalty, then what he must do with this purpose, power and will……LOVE.

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888