ON LOVE; PART DXLI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
In the last essay we spent some time on the reality that we see in the use of the word perfect in the New Testament; a reality that shows forth the Truth of the Kingdom of God as that state of perfection of the man who has gained entry. Most do not see this idea of perfect in this way nor do they see that there ARE real requirements for being accounted worthy of that Kingdom and this despite the Truth of the words of the Master and His apostles that show us this. In this we should see the reality of the parabolic way of writing by the Gospel writers and the parabolic way of speaking of the Master. None DO say what this perfection IS but they ALL do tell us that this IS what we must be to Truly realize our True nature as Sons of God. The doctrinal ideas on faith and grace as the Way to the Kingdom are NOT in the end wrong, it IS the interpretation of these idea that leads men to believe that they have NO True part in their own salvation and this ever leaves us wondering how the Master’s words can be so confounded. He tells us that “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), and in this we see the reality that to call on His name or to call ourselves by His name IS NOT the way to the Kingdom; the way IS clearly in doing “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
To us this IS clear as IS the affiliated saying from Luke; that rhetorical question that asks: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ?” (Luke 6:46) and which comes right before the Master’s Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. And this IS the same location of the saying in Matthew’s Gospel except there ARE a few interceding words that serve to clarify the reality of “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord“; Jesus says: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). The link here between the saying and the DOING of the Will of the Father and the Wise and Foolish Builders should be clear to ALL who can look past the doctrines that are arranged to protect the Life of the man in the world. Here we can read that IT does not matter that one can heal, or prophesy or speak in tongues, works that ARE NOT even definable in the reality of Life nor are they consistent; and even to do “many wonderful works” which perhaps can be seen as to give to the poor liberally, to be among those in the outreach group or even to be a missionary IS of NO use if one DOES NOT DO “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. What IS this Will? It is not defined in direct words save a few obscure examples but it IS parabolically defined in the reality of James’ saying that we must be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) which is the same message that the Master gives to those who will say “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?“.
In the Truth that keeping His words includes ALL such words; commandments, instructions and even what can be seen as suggestions ARE ALL included, we must see the reality of Love as He defines it and the words that He offers us on being worthy of Him which IS in our understanding to be accounted worth of the Kingdom of God. And these words are clear, they are that we forsake our attachments and out attractions to the world; these words ARE made clear in Jesus’ words to those who would be disciples and who would be accounted worthy. This reality IS NOT seen by doctrine however as it IS pushed off into worldly ideas; John Gill for example takes the Master’s words saying “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” (Luke 14:26) and, after offering his understanding of the word rendered as hate, interprets this as that: these are to be neglected and forsaken, and turned from with indignation and resentment, when they stand in the way of the honour and interest of Christ, and dissuade from his service 8. This IS NOT the stated intent here from the Master’s perspective as these criteria are self defined while the message IS that one be inclined to Truly understand the reality of the Great Commandments that ARE at the top of our essay. In this the hard Truth that a man must see these relationships and his own Life in the same way as one sees ALL others and that these ARE secondary to the reality of Love for God which is seen in Life as it IS expressed as Love for the entirety of His creation. This is perhaps the essence of forsaking; that a man can look past ALL relationships, ALL attachments, and ALL attractions for the Kingdom of God; that he can see ALL in the sense of equality that IS necessary in the fullness of the realization that God IS NOT a “respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) which translates for us into James’ words saying: “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). The realty here IS that if one does have “respect of persons” which includes the negative part, that one has prejudice against any or that one DOES NOT Love as the Master instructs us. This Love, which we have been discussing, refers to ANY man for ANY reason, and to NOT DO so IS that one IS NOT keeping His word and thereby IS NOT DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
In the entirety of this idea of forsaking is that Universal Love for God and for ALL men which IS expressed by turning one’s focus away from the world and the things of the world and onto these Truths of the word of God and NOT the wranglings of doctrine. In the saying on Loving less from Matthew we have those same relationships as we see above from Luke but we have the different idea of being accounted worthy of Him and in this we should see His Kingdom, as these ARE essentially inseparable. The Master’s words ARE: “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” (Matthew 10:37) and in these ARE the same ideas as above except here the ‘reward’ of DOING IS the Kingdom while above it IS discipleship. These are the same; we read above that it IS in keeping His words that we attain the Kingdom and elsewhere we read that if we keep His words we ARE His disciples. While we make these connections, many DO NOT and this IS unfortunate. We can see the unfortunate reality in the interpretations of these sayings on relationships which must play their lesser role in regard to the Great Commandments; these ideas however are diluted by doctrines that portray this as only when the ideas of family are counter to the ideas of God. We read this again in Mr. Gill comments on the sayings from Matthew: the intent of this passage is, to show, that as Christ is infinitely above all creatures, he is to be loved above the nearest and dearest relations and friends; being God over all blessed for ever, and also the Saviour and Redeemer; which itself, makes him more amiable and lovely than a common parent. That man therefore, that prefers father and mother to Christ, and their instructions, and orders, to the truths and ordinances of Christ: who, to please them, breaks the commands of Christ, rejects his Gospel, and either denies him, or does not confess him, our Lord says is not worthy of me . Here again we see the doctrinal bent of denying and confessing; ideas that ARE NOT found in the gospels save in the interpretations in doctrine of His most misunderstood words on faith and believing.
It IS likely the rarest of families that Truly teach the Truth of Love for God over ALL things as the interest of the family IS the family and the betterment of it especially in the future of the children in the world. The reality here is that it IS in the Truth of Love, in the reality that this Love IS for God and the things of God and IS “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“; this IS the reality of the commandment. In this reality IS the Truth of our relationship to God and our True nature as Souls living through forms in this world and that the very nature of the world IS secondary to the Truth of God. In this IS the Truth of the height of this achievement of the Kingdom and of discipleship and why “few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:17). And this IS the reality of perfect; it is the Truth of keeping His words and DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” which ARE essentially the SAME. So long as a man’s focus IS upon his self and his self in the world, there CAN NOT be this perfection and the Master tells us this in His words that relate our perfection to being as “your Father which is in heaven is perfect“. The right understanding IS that this perfection IS the end point of man’s long journey to the Kingdom of God and that by degree he achieves and in achievement he comes to realize the Truths that are revealed to him and, much as signposts on the roads in Life, point him to his True destination; a destination that is reached during one’s Lifetime in this world as the result of man’s growing realization of his own divinity.
The reality in our words today IS that in the Master’s admonition that we be perfect IS the evidence and the proof that we can accomplish this as there would be no such admonition to things that are not possible. And His saying that “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40) IS NOT a saying offered to those who are aspirants and disciples of other men but these ARE for the aspirants and disciples of the Master Himself and this IS a Truth that IS missed by many. These words ARE our testimony that we can and will do as He has done but that this requires our being as He IS, another idea that IS discounted by doctrine. This IS a difficult task and intentionally so as to come to this state of being gives a man the functioning Power and Love of the Christ and the Christ Within; Powers that can only be entrusted to those who DO NOT deal selfishly in any way whatsoever. In this IS the reality again of forsaking, of giving up claim to everything of the world; ALL thoughts and attitudes and ALL possessions, attachments and attractions; in this IS the reality of being His disciple. And this IS the reality of faith, the reality of KNOWING without a doubt, that when one Truly can walk away from the world and the sense of self; that a man KNOWS that ALL things ARE accomplished. We should remember here however that it IS NOT that a man ceases to participate in the world, it is just that whatsoever happens to him and around him are seen in the Truth of their temporal nature. As a disciple the man goes on in the words of the affirmation that we have below, that He, as a Soul in the world, will foster love among the sons of men; that he will stand and serve his brothers on the darkened way.
This IS the reality of Life and the message of the Master and His disciples and to ALL who would join in their ranks. The Master tells us to “take no thought” (Matthew 6:25), a most meaningful saying which we will discuss again in greater depth as we reach these words in our study of the Sermon on the Mount. The reality here IS however in regard to the things of the world and this includes the ideas of these things as well so that the meaning IS to “take no thought” even for the thoughts, attitudes, attractions and attachments that mean so much to the man whose focus in in the world. And the apostles tell us as much about the world:
- The Apostle John tells us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:5).
- The Apostle James tells us: “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
- The Apostle Paul tells us: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
- The Apostle Paul also tells us: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
- The Apostle Peter tells us: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
ALL of these carry some form of our ideas on the world as it relates to the Truth of our spiritual reality; in the first saying we should see the attachment and the attractions to the things of the world as one’s Love for the world. In the second we should see James’ idea of friendship in much the same way; that as ‘friends’ we see the world as our true place and we live accordingly. Paul tells us not to be conformed and while doctrine paints this as being conformed to the sins of the world, the reality IS that ALL such conformance IS sin; the apostle gives us NO special criteria here but simply tells us of the world and in this we should see ALL of its ways. Then there IS the wisdom of the world; here we should see that ALL such wisdom IS foolishness and this includes ALL things of the world; not just select wisdom but the totality of wisdom in the world; and this foolishness IS not that this wisdom does not work for the man who focuses upon the world, the Master tells us that it does, but that from the perspective of Truth, the perspective of spiritual living, that such wisdom has NO True effect. Finally we read from Peter of the promises which ARE the Truth of the Master’s words that we find in the Love and keeping of His words; how it is in so doing that we are made partakers of divinity and and can escape from the corruption that IS the world.
Ponder on these things in relation to the third verse of the affirmation below.
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.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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 puts 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, 13:1-3,13 (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. As in the ideas above from Sermon on the Mount and our comments on the affirmation that had been our Quote of the Day, these words from Paul impart a better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, through a True understanding of the power and the purpose of Love and we should note here as well that this expression of Love IS the Will of God and this we should see clearly in the Truth that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8).
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
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
