IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 960

ON LOVE; PART DXLIX

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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 discussed what we see as one of the most revealing parts of the Master’s words; words that set the stage for the Truth of spiritual Life and which ARE a great Key to the Kingdom of God. This theme continues to the end of this chapter of Matthews Gospel, this second of three chapters covering the Sermon on the Mount, and, as we discussed in the last post, much of these words ARE NOT seen as we see them but they are seen from the perspective of wealth and possessions and some inject the idea of covetousness. The authors of the Commentary Critical that we used parts of yesterday do see some of what we see but they seem to see it in a different way; as that the Lord is advising against the “treasures upon earth“, that will take a mans attention away from his Love for God. The stronger and more realistic look here IS that there IS a choice in Life and Jesus is admonishing His disciples and those listening that they should NOT value the temporal things of the world. From the perspective of attaining the Kingdom this IS a commandment and, as ARE ALL commandments, these are the signposts on the Way to the Kingdom; much like most ALL worldly pursuits, one’s focus upon the things of the world distracts a man and keeps him captive and this IS the theme that the Master carries forward. Perhaps the biggest problem with the doctrinal view in that most see this idea of treasure as only the wealth and the possessions, as only the physical things of the world, while the very nature of the Master’s language should show us that this IS NOT so; there are no such material things in the Kingdom nor in the heart…there is only a man’s thoughts and attitudes about these things and ALL that attracts and attaches a man to his carnal Life. The idea of treasure should ever be seen as what is of importance to a man; what he attends to and what IS the focus of his Life and in this we can see the entire panoply of worldly pleasures which include family, career, hobbies, possessions and whatsoever one sees as desirable pursuits and activities.

Here we should understand that word with which the first part of this Sermon ended: perfect. This IS the way to the Kingdom of God as in this word IS the reality of keeping His words; the disciple and the man accounted worthy of the Kingdom IS the man who is keeping His words; there IS NO other way to see this and the words of the Master and His apostles DO tell us this. It is in man’s tendency to see the Master’s words through the lens of doctrines which distort, dilute and change His intent so that men believe that attaining the Kingdom and discipleship are simply a function of some affirmation and a belief in some aspect of the Master as dictated by doctrine. Some include baptism as the rite and not as the Truth of immersion into the things of God which idea Can also be seen in our subject saying on the treasures of the heart. The reality IS in His words and in this saying we have some of the most revealing:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

These are instructions that are have the same intent as the first of the Great Commandments which we are still carrying at the head of our daily posts; that there IS nothing that has more importance than the things of God to which one must give his entire being. This IS the reality of these words on treasure; that one NOT attend to the things of the world that have become so important to men but which ARE temporal and corrupt and subject to all kinds of deterioration; and this means ALL that takes away ones attention, ones focus, from the precepts of the Greatest Commandment. In these words from the Master is also the reality of judgement, of self judgement as there IS NO Saint Peter at the Gate; judgement IS an continuous measure that a man makes of himself. It is up to each man to KNOW where his heart IS, on the things of the world or on the things of God or at some part of each. This IS a difficult idea to understand as a man’s day in the world DOES take his attention to those things that he does and perhaps here is the reality of the more pointed word focus; focus in the intentional attention given to aspects of Life as they mold the expressed identity of each man while that other attention can be given to preparing a meal or driving a car. While we use these word interchangeably at times, we generally use them together when the subject IS focus as it IS the focus of one’s Life that IS of importance as we strive toward the Kingdom of God; in focus we should see motivation and tomorrow while in attention we should see here and now. Thus, when one is at work, one should attend to his work and perhaps try not to lose his spiritual motivation in the process but this same idea of work should not be the basis for his future, the Kingdom of God should be. In this we can insert most any thing in place of work and career; we can include family and friends and most ALL things personal which can easily supplant one’s thoughts of spiritual Truth or prevent them from forming.

Again this is a difficult concept but one that IS the essence of and the subject of His words and the words of His apostles and the decision to go in the Way of the Lord, to strive toward the Kingdom of God, IS the essence of True Repentance and the beginning of one’s Transformation from a man in the world to a disciple of God’s Truth. Here we find the reality of the Master’s cautions about the difficulty and His message about striving as He understands our plight; He understands that as men we see our lives in the world first and foremost. Until we can recognize the illusion and the glamour, we are trapped and it IS in sayings such as these on that treasure that we can begin to understand His Truths. To do this however one must see through the doctrinal approach and see the reality of His words; a difficult task for the man in the world. And so there is the end phrase of these words on treasure; a phrase that should invoke our own self questioning as to where it IS that our heart IS, where IS our consciousness and our motivation…where IS our focus? For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Our next sayings from the Sermon follow upon these same words and this same idea but this IS NOT seen in this light by many and it IS this seeing that IS the True idea that the Master is trying to get us to understand. His parabolic saying IS:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23).

These words have naught to do with the physical eye; these words are parabolic and refer to a man’s psychic ability to see; this IS NOT intended in a occult way but rather that psychic sense by which a man perceives reality. The man focused upon the world will see the ideas of Life in form; he will see his career, his Love live, his family and his carnal motivations through this eye of perception and here we should understand the Truth of the eye that IS evil, the eye that IS focused upon the world. The common idea of evil is similar to that of sin and perhaps we can separate these so to say that sin is an event and evil is an attitude and these same ideas can carry forward to our spiritual understanding. Spiritually both are focus upon the self and the self in the world and both are contrary to the words of the Lord and if one would review the use of these words in the New Testament openly, he would come to this same conclusion. Spiritually we can see this in much the same way as the carnal view that we suggest above; sin is the event of self focus while evil is the attitude of the man who IS so focused. In this spiritual view there is little that separate these two ideas except perhaps for the aspirant who IS generally seeing double and choosing frequently.

The ideas here are intentionally obscure in the same way that the idea of treasure is obscure in the previous sayings but while the Greek word rendered as treasure IS NOT not seen as anything but the physical wealth and possessions or the place that one keeps these, the word eye does carry a metaphorical meaning which the lexicon tells us is: the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowing ². This is the psychic component of the eye which we see more clearly as perception. This parabolic saying then IS about what it is that we perceive consciously through our personality, with our mind and our emotions and the question IS whether these things perceived are the things of the world which are covered under the word evil or if the things perceived are the things of God which are covered by the word single which is rendered from the Greek word haplous. This word IS used only two times in the entire New Testament; here in this saying and in the similar saying from Luke’s Gospel which we read as: “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34). The lexicon tells us that this word can mean: simple, single; whole; good, fulfilling its office, sound of the eye ², and these are likely derived from the perception of the doctrinal use; Vincent tells us this about this words: The picture underlying this adjective is that of a piece of cloth or other material, neatly folded once, and without a variety of complicated folds. Hence the idea of simplicity or singleness (compare simplicity from the Latin simplex; semel, once; plicare, to fold) So, in a moral sense, artless, plain, pure. Here sound, as opposed to evil or diseased. Possibly with reference to the double-mindedness and indecision condemned in Matthew 6:24 .

We should understand here that while there is confusion about how this word should be understood, the rendering of single may be the closest to the Master’s intent as it IS a man’s single minded focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True that make a man a disciple and render him worthy of the Kingdom of God. This idea of single minded IS referenced by Vincent above and this idea IS a part of this ongoing topic which we see clearer in the next sayings regarding God and mammon. This idea is also spoken of by the Apostle James who, speaking on that Wisdom from above, tells us that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). Here we should try to understand that James’ point is similar to the Master’s, that it is the single minded man, the man focused upon the things of God, who will Truly receive. While James words seem especially harsh regarding this, we should try to understand his idea as it pertains to events and not to the totality of being single minded and this because it IS by this Wisdom that a man can grow; we should see James saying that when one is asking or invoking something from God, that he must stay focused upon that thing. The Master is saying largely the same thing but in His language we see a combination of the event and the overall focus of the Life. In the Master’s sense both ideas are covered; the idea of Light in the single eye covers both the sin and the evil while the idea of evil covers the overall attitude of the man in the world. Thus, when a man acts spiritually his “whole body shall be full of light” and this even if this IS a momentary response to some righteous act. When this can become the attitude of the man, then this Light will become his permanent way of expression; of course here again we must work in the reality of degree and understand that the fullness on Light, of the permanent expression of Light, IS the end point; the point of discipleship.

Here then we have Light and darkness and in darkness we should try to see the absence of the spiritual Light as the man whose focus IS fixed in the world does not give opportunity to the Light of the Soul, the Light of the Christ Within, in his expression to the world. Again we should see this by degree and remember that the idea of evil here IS NOT that common understanding but it IS the way of the man who IS focused upon his self and the world. Perhaps every man has some occasion to be in in the Light and while some may take this opportunity to move forward spiritually, others may not recognize this at ALL. We should see as well that it IS the aspirant, the man who is striving toward the Kingdom and striving to keep the Master’s words, whose Life of duality can place him in alternating positions while the man who does not strive remains in the dark and continues seeing his Life as it IS in the world. In His final words here the Master acknowledges that ALL men DO have this same Light, this same unction, this same anointing; this same Christ Within, and His words are reflective of the reality that when this Light is not allowed to be a man’s expression to the world, that the darkness takes on a profound greatness. Luke offers us this same idea in different words as he says that “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness” (Luke 11:35); here we should see the Master’s intent that we let that “light which is in thee” flourish and shine and be True to the way of the disciple which IS as the Master instructs, that one will: “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).

These ideas on the Master’s words from Luke and from Matthew ARE both the same except for the expression of the Truth; one tells us of the peril of NOT letting the Light shine while the other admonishes us to NOT let this blocking of the Light happen. Both give us this Truth however: that there IS Light in ALL men and that this Light should be expressed. We close for today with these words on darkness and Light:

• “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
• “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth” (John 12:35).
• “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46).
• “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).

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 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!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888