Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CLVIX
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1-15).
Much of yesterday’s ideas related our thoughts on the Kingdom of God to the negative aspect of the Master’s and His apostles teachings; negative from the perspective that they are framed to tell us what it is that does not allow one to attain His Kingdom. The Master told us that merely calling Him Lord, Lord is meaningless and that it does one NO good if he is not doing “the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Now this particular saying is in our list below of the Ways to His Kingdom and this is how we used these words from the positive perspective in the previous post but we should see that this is framed in the perspective of what will not allow one to be accounted worthy as well. The message however should be clear from both sides; if we call Him Lord, Lord, if we stand among the followers and believers but are not doing “the will of my Father which is in heaven” it is an empty and meaningless pursuit which brings us back to James’ words that bluntly advise us that we must be “…doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Looking closely at our list below will also reveal other sayings that are framed from the negative side including the Master’s words to Nicodemus.
In the story of the rich young man that we discuss frequently there is the rather positive framing of the Master’s words that say to him clearly “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matthew 19:21). There is no mistake in these words but at the same time the general idea taken from this is that Jesus us speaking to that man and is not speaking to us ALL. When measured however against the Master’s teaching on discipleship and being worthy of Him we find that these are more universal words and directed to us ALL. This position is clarified for us by the Master’s words according to Luke where we read the similar thought framed in a negative rhetorical question saying: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). So we see the Master and his apostles framing the sayings in the negative from which we must derive the positive and we also find them doing the opposite from which we must discern the aberrant behaviors. Then of course there are sayings in which we find both the positive and the negative stated in such a way that they stand alone and in our example of this from the last essay there should be great understanding of the consequences of both sides; this example is in the Master’s discourse to His disciples on the Mount of Olives as given by the Apostle Matthew and from which we should take the True intent of the message which is to tell us that it is our expression in this world that matters in our Journey to and on the Path. Jesus tells them of expressions of Love via parable that: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 24:40).
There is much said in parts of the church that tends toward telling man that it is faith that saves and these ideas are based upon selected sayings by the Apostle Paul and are for us an example of the framing of doctrine to the convenience of man; making it achievable in their own minds and this has worked out in the world despite the clear edicts of the Master and the Apostles that serve to contradict the doctrines. We should repeat here that these words that we write are not intended to disparage any who believe these ideas of doctrine, they are meant only to correct and frame properly mans responsibility in Life and the True way to His Kingdom here and now. We do not write for any but those who can understand and accept, at least as a valid theory, our words and conclusions and it is to each reader to decide the validity of what we say for their own lives.
We have completed all of the sayings in our list but one which we will deal with today; it has been our intent to show that each and every Way to the Kingdom that is given in these sayings is equal to the others and this based upon our mathematical approach which we repeat here along with the sayings that we have covered in the last few posts: if A is equal to B and B is equal C then A must be equal to C, and the relevance to the Way to the Kingdom as outlined by the Master follows in this by saying that if being born again can make one accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God or is equal to that attainment and doing the Will of God can make on accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God or is equal to that attainment, then being born again and doing the Will of God are equal and the same. The previously covered sayings are:
- “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God“.
- “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God“
- “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said , Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20) AND “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
- “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27) AND “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).
- “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
- “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Our premise is that if a man Truly accomplishes any of these ideas that he has accomplished them ALL. Now this is apparent in this last one, that a man do the Will of the Father and it is our contention that ALL of these are of the same import if they are approached in the reality with which they were formulated. True righteousness is the Way of the man that does the Will of God and one that is Truly righteous per force IS doing His Will. The same can be said regarding being perfect, the only way to be perfect is to do the Will of God so that if one is perfect in the eyes of the Lord, he is per force doing the Will of God. Similarly born again, born of the Spirit, and our understanding of being ‘poor’ as we have discussed it in the last few posts. We have said the same things about discipleship, and it is our understanding that this High Calling is also the same as being accounted worthy but there are no direct scriptures that tell us this. There are however parallel teachings such as the words that we discussed from the Master’s speaking to the rich young man who is told “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Comparing this to the Master’s words on discipleship saying “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33) we can see the same dynamic at play. “
While it may be True that the reality of being His disciples may require more than the Way to the Kingdom alone, it is unlikely that the differences are significant and this we take from the Master’s teaching on being perfect. On the one hand, the Master, speaking on the individual ways of the man who desires to attain the Kingdom, tells His disciples and the gathered people “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And on the other, speaking to those who are His disciples, the Master says: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40) “. This is a point that should also be considered in the Master’s similar sayings in Luke’s Gospel as compared to Matthew’s Gospel. In Luke the Master specifically talks about disciples and the criteria for being such while in Matthew’s these same ideas are concerned with being worthy of Him which we can consider to mean worthy of His Kingdom as well.
- In Luke we read: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27)
- In Matthew we read: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38).
The similarity and difference here is not unintentional but are rather given to promote the reality of the sameness of discipleship to being accounted worthy of the Kingdom and perhaps this is because there are those for whom discipleship is not an attraction but who only are concerned with the Kingdom. Here, in the Master’s words they can be the same and yet different and at the same time require much the same of the man desirous of attainment. Thus we have throughout our posts said that these are the same, if a man is worthy of the Kingdom he is worthy also of discipleship. In fact, it is our assertion that the entirety of the New Testament teachings of the Master have discipleship as their intent and the writings of His apostles are in support of that effort; discipleship is the objective and the goal of ALL men.
Attaining the Kingdom of God or being accounted worthy of that goal is the byproduct of doing the Will of the Father and it IS NOT really the objective in the minds of those who approach the strait gate as in having this attainment in mind is, from the perspective of the man in form, an exercise of the self and not of the Soul, the Christ Within. While we are discussing this from the perspective of the Kingdom being a the sort of reward for being born again and the other ideas presented, the reality is that we keep the Master’s words, we do the Will of god, live in righteousness, become ‘poor’, and achieve that perfection because this IS the Way of the Soul; as a man expresses this Way, this Light of the Soul, all these other ideas come to bear in his life. We should understand that the ONLY True motivation for this change in the focus of a man, his repentance if you will, it that it IS the only thing that a man can do when the reality of the Christ Within is his realization. So while we may speak about the Kingdom and about discipleship in a way that makes them appear to be an objective and while we may say that discipleship and the Kingdom ARE the objective and the goal of ALL men, we do not mean that these are our motivations but rather that they are the effects of the True motivations which stream forth from the Soul for ALL who are attendant to the constant call from the Christ Within to the Good, the Beautiful and the True.
The total focus of the disciple is on the things of God, this is what we believe should be the Truth and this is what we get from the words of the Master on discipleship above. For us as aspirants we should be moving toward this reality of total focus and the Master does tell us of the difficulty in realizing this goal. In His words we find:
- “Enter ye in at the strait gate:for wide is the gate,and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate,and narrow is the way,which leadeth unto life,and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14-15).
- “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).
- And we should note here that in between the verses above on discipleship regarding a man’s holding to worldly relationships and bearing one’s cross in verses 26-27 and the saying in verse 33 that tells us we must forsake ALL, there is a parabolic saying that tells us by example that we must “counteth the cost” (Luke 14:28). From here is naturally follows that verse 33 may well be the cost to which the Master refers and this reality of forsaking ALL is a very difficult bridge to cross.
We end today with this from our Tibetan brother which tells us of the same difficulty; he tells us that: We are told by one of the Masters that a whole generation of enquirers may only produce one adept. By Master reference is made to those High Disciples of the Christ, for He IS Master of ALL; these are Souls who have reached the point of perfection in most ALL things while we are looking for perfection in our Earth expression only. These are also they who, having the opportunity to be totally free from this Earth existence, continue to endure whatsoever is required to stand and to help their brothers who ARE the remainder of humanity. What they may do and how this all works is beyond our understanding. From our perspective the adept is the disciple of the Christ and the one accounted worthy of the Kingdom; the adept is what we strive for and as we can see from the Tibetan’s statement and the words of the Master, this is a difficult task.
We did not get to our last sayings on the Kingdom and will try to pick up with these in the next post:
- “And said , Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted , and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
- “But Jesus said , Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
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Aspect of God |
Potency |
Expressed as Fire |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Christ |
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GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Electric Fire |
Spirit or Life |
Life |
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Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Solar Fire |
Soul or Christ Within |
Truth |
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Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Fire by Friction |
Life Within the Form |
Way |
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:
This is the Prayer of Saint Francis which we repeat again from a previous post as our Quote of the Day. If we were all to accept these ideas as guiding Lights in our lives, we would be expressing the Love and the Faith that the Master teaches. The last time that we presented this we called it the Prayer of Saint Anthony in error; It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912*. Regardless of the True authorship, the sentiments revealed in this prayer are genuine and are in keeping the intent of the teachings of the Master and His apostles. We should note here that the dying is not necessarily the death of the body but the death of the carnal man in the world when one is born again. In this context we read this about Saint Francis: Francis was the son of a wealthy foreign cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life**. Here is the antithesis of the rich young man of the gospels.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
This is a prayer that is Truly in line with the teachings of the Master and the ideals encapsulated in this should be those that govern our lives and our prayer should be that ALL can see Life in this same way. We should try to see the reality of these words in the verses above regarding feeding and visiting the least of His and our brethren; in these words is a deeper meaning, as clearer expression of Love and, we should look at the Master’s words above as an expression of Love and not merely in the terms that He presents as this is the intent of the entirety of His teachings.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- * Wikipedia contributors. “Prayer of Saint Francis.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
- **Wikipedia contributors. “Francis of Assisi.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
