ON LOVE; PART DXLVII
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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).
While it may not seem to be our position and belief, there IS great power in prayer but this IS NOT that spiritual Power that it IS believed to be. As we read in James’ words that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much“, we should be able to see the True idea of spiritual prayer and understand that those other powers which are attributed to prayer by those who ARE NOT Truly righteous are the haphazard effects of directed carnal thought and emotion. This is the same idea that we get from the words of the Master that we discussed as part of our look at those verses from the the Gospel of Mark about forgiveness; here the Master clearly tells us that it IS the man who CAN “not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass” that will “have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). This level of believing IS NOT that emotional and mental function of the man; this is the deep spiritual capacity to KNOW which comes from one’s focus upon the things of God over the things of the world. It IS in this focus that the Light of the Soul is available for expression in the Life of the man and this level of believing IS ONLY found in that expression, at the pinnacle of that expression; it would be very dangerous to entrust the ability to move the mountain to anyone whose will in the world IS NOT in accord with the Will of God. In this saying from the Master, there are many who believe that they can “have whatsoever he saith” without reaching this pinnacle and without heeding the following words that tell us “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any” and there are many who teach and believe that these words: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24) actually pertain to things of the world…worldly desires if you will.
There is a disconnect here by which many believe that the power of carnal prayer, those prayers offered by the man who IS NOT keeping His words, ARE able to allow a man to achieve “What things soever ye desire” as they fail to see the entirety of Jesus words as the complete thought, beginning with the moving of the mountain and ending with the total forgiveness of ALL and for ALL. They DO NOT the see the reality of James’ idea that it IS “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man” which IS required. Many attribute the idea of the mountain as that it IS symbolic of an obstacle or some other worldly view but this idea IS positioned for us in several ways and not ONLY as the mountain; it IS given as a sycamine tree as well and, in some places, combined with the idea of the faith of the mustard seed. It IS interesting to see how doctrine can call symbolic the more straightforward sayings of the Master and then see the parables in a literal way but this IS the effect of human nature as men strive to make of the Master’s words convenient to the Life that men have in this Earth. Similarly with the idea of forgiveness; many see this as forgiving those who have directly offended another, that these must be forgiven. In the totality of Jesus’s words however this level of forgiveness can be seen as that small part of the reality and the Truth that it IS and we can read the intent in the subject saying from our study of the Sermon on the Mount which we read as:
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
This is the greater reality of these words, the universal reality that goes hand in hand with the Master’s other words on Love, on who to Love and how to Love which we read in His words that say that a man must Love his neighbor and in this idea there IS the implied requirement of forgiveness as there IS NO specifying of which neighbor. And, so that this IS clear to ALL, the Master adds these words that we recently discussed: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). We must understand here that these are but examples meant to say that we must Love ALL men; this same idea of offered in Luke’s Gospel a bit differently as we read: “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you“. This the Master repeats for us saying: “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again” (Luke 6:27-28, 35). As we previously discussed, perhaps we should see the meaning of the apostle’s rendering of this as that he shows the Master IS addressing this as “But I say unto you which hear“; in this we can see the intent of showing that there are those who DO NOT hear and who do not find themselves among those “that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). The forgiveness that the Master teaches us here in the Sermon IS the same forgiveness that He teaches us in Mark’s Gospel and while Mark may have phrased this a bit differently which allows some to see this as those only that offend, the intent IS the same as we find in Matthew…forgiveness for ALL and to ALL. We should understand here the intimate relationship between that Love for ALL and this forgiveness as there CAN NOT be one without the other.
This still leaves us with our ideas on prayer as we began, that there is a power to that carnal prayer that is fixed in the mental and emotional aspects of man. These can be very powerful things in the world and it IS this power that is the reality of the Truth of such things as magic and sorcery in this world of men. These ARE NOT negative words in and of themselves as they are painted by doctrine, it IS the intended result that can make them evil and negative. The powers that allow for the Truth of these ideas, and most alleged uses ARE NOT True, to work in the Earth ARE the same powers that allow for the occasional healing and perhaps even what IS considered as miracles around the world. We should note here that the more emotionally based cultures have the greater incidence of these things. These are carnal powers, ALL of them, except when the Power IS wielded by “a righteous man“; it IS ONLY “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man” that CAN have a Truly spiritual effect.
The Master moves on from these words on prayer and on forgiveness to another topic that he treats in similar fashion to His words on giving and on praying; not the Lord’s Prayer but the ideas on praying in secret and the reality that asking things in prayer is not what He IS teaching as He tells us that “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him“; another of the Master’s sayings that IS NOT rightly understood. When combined with the reality of the ideas above from James and from Mark’s Gospel, we should be able to understand what Jesus tells us here which we can interpret as DO NOT pray for things of this world. Rather than to see these words as that these prayers are not necessary and ARE to no avail, doctrine appends this idea to the also misunderstood idea of “vain repetitions“; John Gill tells us that: your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him; and therefore have no need to make use of many words, or much speaking, or long prayers 8. At the same time Mr. Gill believes that prayer here IS encouraged which we read in part as: The omniscience of God is a considerable argument, and a great encouragement to prayer; he knows our persons and our wants before hand; and as he is able to help us 8. And so Life goes on and every day millions of men pray for some thing in the world, some benefit, for health and even for wealth; they pray for what numbers to play and for things that they have their minds and emotions set upon. And, when good fortune should be present; when the thing prayed for comes to pass, the credit IS given to prayer and this regardless that this one man’s good fortune IS the exception and NOT the rule as the vast majority of these millions of prayers go unanswered.
In our view here the Master tells us first that our prayers should be in secret, second that prayer should not be as is done by the hypocrites, third that it should not be for the things of this world as beforehand “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of” and, finally, if one is going to pray that he should use these words of the Lord’s Prayer, a universal world prayer for ALL. But if one believes that it IS NOT the words of the Lord’s Prayer that the Master means; if one believes that this IS but a model, then the prayer that IS used should contain the same universal, world oriented, selfless thoughts. And of course we should not forget the forgiveness. The Master now addresses the idea of fasting which likely was a popular spiritual tool used by the Jews in those days; Jesus tells us that:
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:16-18).
Here, while the words are different, the intent IS the same as the previous two ideas of giving and praying; fasting should be done in secret, it should be a private affair and others should not be able to recognize that one is fasting. Here again we have doctrine at odds with the straightforward ideas that Jesus sets forth; John Gill tells us: Moreover when ye fast; This is to be understood, not so much of their public stated fasts, and which were by divine appointment, as of their private fasts 8, and in this we see an assumption that IS NOT stated by the Master who clearly says that “when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance” which can apply to any fast. There are some Christians that believe that in these words “when ye fast” there is a commandment from the Master to fast and there are entire ministries that are built around this idea of fasting; this again is but an assumption and a belief. The essential idea in ALL of these, giving, praying and fasting, is simply that when one should do such things that they should be done according to the Master’s words in which we mainly see the Truth of secrecy.
In these three ideas from the Master we should note that only one IS related to His reality by other sayings, commandments if you will, and this IS His words on giving where we read “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42). Luke says this differently but the idea IS the same as we read: “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again” (Luke 6:30); in this combination of sayings we should try to see that giving and lending and letting go of those things taken ARE ALL similarly giving in the Master’s words. There are no such commandments or instructions on prayer or on fasting and while some may find these beneficial to their spiritual lives, there IS no instruction to do these as IS commonly understood. There IS not much to say about fasting except that that the only direct references to this in the New Testament are in the idea of the Master’s forty days in the wilderness where we are shown that even in this weakened state that He did resist the temptations of Life in the world and, there IS that time that Jesus responds as to the question of why He and His disciples DO NOT fast. We read this as “And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?” (Mark 2;18). The Master offers a rather obscure answer which IS interpreted by some as to say that so long as Jesus IS with them that they will not fast but that the will after He leaves. Now this may be a reality but it IS not in any way a commandment and while the apostles write of fasting in the Book of Acts and Paul speaks about his own fasting as among the burdens that he faced and among the burdens that his fellow disciples must endure, they make not point of instruction.
At best we can see the idea of the Master as the bridegroom and His disciples fasting after He leaves them as a sign of sorrow; their sorrow at His leaving them. As we said, fasting in some denominations IS taught as a necessity, a religious rite if you will, but there IS NO precedence for this whatsoever in the Master’s words and we should note one other thing here; it is immediately after the Master answers this question to the Pharisees and the disciples of John that He offers these words: “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles” (Mark 2:21-22). In this IS the Master’s teaching on the traditions of the Jews, that these things should end; that the new dispensation of Love CAN NOT be used as a patch on the old ways NOR can one take His new way of seeing this Love and Truth and try to put it into those old bottles of Jewish tradition as one will only lose the wine which IS that Love and Truth. There are many ways to divide these ideas but the essence IS the same; that the teachings of the Master must replace the doctrines and the traditions of old. Not the law as we understand it in its offering by Moses and its modification over time by the prophets, but the doctrines and the traditions that were made of these laws….the commandments of men.
The Master next goes on to one of the most important parts of this Sermon and one of the most important teachings that he offered to men as in this is His guidance for the Life of the man who would be accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God. He tells us:
“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).
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 |
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GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
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Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
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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
