Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCXLVIII
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•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•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
In our essay yesterday we included the words of our Tibetan brother on his topic of Enquire the Way which depicts for us the nature of the adept, a title that we relate to the stringent criteria that the Master sets for being His disciple, a word that is in turn misunderstood by many who believe that by ardent believing and church work, that they have become such. Continuing a bit with this idea of adept and disciple we offer the following remarks as well. We should read these in the Light of the Tibetan’s repetition of another’s words, another True disciple of the Master who IS unnamed; he says: We are told by one of the Masters that a whole generation of enquirers may only produce one adept. We should try also to see in this saying the severity, if we can use that word for a spiritual endeavor, of the the Master’s words on being His disciple and try to recognize though our own lives how this IS so.
- First let us consider the meaning of the word adept as we published some time ago and some of our comments from that time; the full text is found in In the Words of Jesus part 372. There is an esoteric saying that tells us: We are told by one of the Masters that a whole generation of enquirers may only produce one adept. We should look at this in our view of the True disciple being the Adept, adept in the teaching of the Christ and this is the only important use of the word. The common understanding of the word isone fully skilled or well versed in anything; a proficient; as, adepts in philosophy and, as an adjective, Well skilled; completely versed; thoroughly proficient1 and we can use this definition insofar as the teachings of the Christ, that is rather in the performance thereof.
While the idea of being an Adept or a disciple may be a hard thing to consider we should understand that the road, the Path if you will, starts here and now. It is only as individuals can accomplish the various levels of seekers and enquirers, that they can aspire to the ways of the Lord and can fulfill the basic principals of Love, that the words of Vincent become true for the whole, that the Kingdom can be seen to be expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed and working toward the pervasion of society like the leaven in the lump. We add here today that while this may be a difficult thing to see in the world, it is a reality; from our perspective it IS as we said in closing yesterday: we would go so far as to say that the opportunities for True spiritual advancement have never been greater than they are in our more mentally focused humanity today.
- Comparing these ideas to the words of the Master on discipleship, we should be able to understand the rarity of this event, this making of a disciple in the world of men, and this IS how it has ever been and history reveals that from generation to generation we can count those whose impact has been such that they could be considered in this class of men; especially based upon Jesus’ words:
- “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. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath , he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33).
- In the allied saying from Matthew’s Gospel 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. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:37-39).
- The Apostle John tells us this of the Masters words on discipleship: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31) and again He tells us: “Herein is my Father glorified , that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).
We traced the reality of these first two points to another isolated saying in yesterday’s essay where we see the Master’s words: “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God” in response to the aspirants request that asks “Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father” (Luke 9:62, 59-60). Here we see the message to His disciples and aspirants that ALL pales in importance to the reality of discipleship and in these words we should see a part of this reality of forsaking ALL. We should understand that the context here IS NOT that one should preach the Kingdom of God over burying one’s father and comforting one’s family but this reality is found in the entirety of the True context which is discipleship; that one CAN NOT be a True disciple if any worldly thing takes precedence. Reading all of the words we find: “And it came to pass , that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62). Again, here we must see this idea of following Him in the same Light that we see that we believe on or believe in Him, that this is more than a mental affirmation but is rather an act of DOING and in explanation of this we use again Vincent’s words which tell us:
- To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4.
- On this word follow we find this from Vincent; here writing on John’s Gospel and the Master’s exchange with the Apostle Phillip we read: Follow ( ακολούθει ) Often used in the New Testament with the special sense of following as a disciple or partisan. See Matthew 4:20, Matthew 4:22; Matthew 9:9; Mark 1:18; John 8:12. Also with the meaning of cleaving steadfastly to one and conforming to his example. See Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24; John 12:26. The verb occurs but once outside of the writings of the Evangelists, 1 Corinthians 10:4. It appears in the noun acolyte, or acolyth, or acolothist, a church-servant ranking next below a subdeacon, whose duty it was to trim the lamps, light the church, prepare the sacramental elements, etc…..
In both of these ideas, believing on or believing in and following Him we should take the word example to heart and understand that this IS the point of discipleship and this IS the point of being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God. To think of these Life accomplishments in any other Light diminishes the meaning of the Master’s teachings, especially as we read them above in the context of discipleship. And looking at this criteria that the Master puts forth in combination with the understanding that Vincent brings us, can we see the Truth of the rarity of this, the rarity of a True disciple or a True adept?
Our point here is the same as it always IS and that is that to be considered as a disciple and to be considered as accounted worthy of the Kingdom, we MUST be living in accordance with His words, there are no shortcuts and Vincent explains this for us in our terms insofar as the reality of spiritual Life IS concerned. This is a willing conduct that we undertake; we purposefully and willfully accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4; and we ARE cleaving steadfastly to one and conforming to his example 4; there IS no other way to achieve our goal and we should understand that there is no church body, no committee, no Master of the Wisdom and no Heavenly Host or any other outside force that will pronounce a man a disciple nor count him worthy; there is only the natural action of one’s own Soul, the God and Christ Within each man that WILL KNOW and this KNOWING is by the ability for the Light, the Love and the Power of the Soul to be continually expressed through one’s Life in form in this world.
We should understand here that there is no requirement to accomplish anything in this Lifetime and that it IS the sole responsibility of the Soul to try to wrest the attention of the man in form away from the self and the things of the world and to have that attention focused upon the Truth of Life, the Soul. This IS the very nature of Life, of incarnation after incarnation; and this is the result expected by the Plan of God as it works out through Life in form. Why and how this all works is one of those mysteries that the Master and His apostles tell us about and we should realize here that this premise of ours is no more strange than any offered by the religions of the world. In fact, when viewed logically and away from doctrine and preconceived ideas, our premise makes ever more sense as it is supported by the deeper meanings in scripture. That there are mysteries is a recorded fact and when we read that they are about the Kingdom we should understand that they ARE about Life itself and the man in the world because, as the Master tells us, “behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Some biblical thoughts on this mystery of Life include:
- “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11). Here the Master is speaking to His disciples about the reason for His teaching by parable and we see that the maintaining of the sense of mystery is the Master’s Plan and one that has not likely changed; still today there is but confusion in the world regarding this Kingdom and while opinions abound, it is only the True disciple who does understand the Truth.
- “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:25-26). The very nature of the Apostle Paul’s words here are in themselves a mystery as he writes to the disciples and the aspirants at Rome and it is in this same epistle that we have uncovered much mystery regarding the nature of Life and the reality of our deliverance which we cover so often. From our perspective this IS the mystery or a part of the mystery to which the apostle refers as it regards the reality of our existence in this Earth and the understanding of the end result for the man who can be Transformed, as well as a glimpse of the reason for this Earth existence as a part of the Plan of God. We should see here the apostle’s affirmation that the “the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” has been revealed and, we believe that in our state of being aspirants to the High Calling of discipleship, that we can see it clearly. This of course does not mean that any who read this can understand as, in the same way as the parables of the Christ, this revelation becomes but words to ALL but the ardent seeker.
- “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:5-14). In this rather lengthy excerpt we find the word mystery as it refers to ALL those things that are spiritually discerned by those who Love God and we should remember here that to Love God is to keep His words as is clearly told us by the Master saying “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Can we see the reality of this understanding? That to Love Him is to keep His words and this results in the revelation of the mysteries to the consciousness of the man in the world and this revelation comes to us in that Wisdom from above as the Apostle James teaches.
- “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep , but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). We should note here that this saying is entirely taken our of the context that it is offered by many and relegated to the eschatological view and this with the words of the apostle telling that this IS a mystery. In the change from the corruptible to the incorruptible we should be able to see some of the reality of the change, the Transformation, of the Life of the man in the world while he is still in the world. We should try to see in the idea of the dead, the man who can fit into this other saying: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). This Transformation IS the entirety of our objective in this Life in this Earth.
There is much more written regarding this word mystery and it is unfortunate that many believe that they have unraveled most of these while not accomplishing the True KEY to their understanding, True discipleship. It is unfortunate because as men they have stopped looking for the True meaning; that in the glamour and the illusion of the world it is believed that the simple affirmation that one IS a Christian entitles one to the revelations and that these revelations are rightly espoused by the priest and the pastor…..that ALL understand and, in this case, that these are only mysteries to the non-Christian, to the ‘heathen’. The reality IS of course that they are still mysteries to ALL except the True disciple who receives the Wisdom from above as his revelation of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
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.
Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that put this Love into perspective.
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13,13 (New King James Version)Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. In our theme today regarding Paul’s writings to the Romans and in the previous discussions on them we seek to impart the better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, as it is from this perspective that we can gain that revelation of Truth and, as Paul says above, be free from the condemnation and the vanity of Life in form, free from the illusion and the glamour. We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post:
Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. This defining of Love is covered in some depth in a previous post; In the Words of Jesus part 47.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
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4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- ** A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC OR THE WAY OF THE DISCIPLE BY ALICE A. BAILEY COPYRIGHT © 1951 BY LUCIS TRUST
