IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1005

ON LOVE; PART DXCIV

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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 be continued our discussion regarding Wisdom from above, a concept that IS ONLY introduced by James and which IS likely intended to show a man that what he may believe IS the Truth of the word of God, the Truth of the Master’s words and the Truth of those seeming revelations that come into men’s consciousness, IS or IS NOT. The first criteria that James introduces may not seem connected to our words from this third chapter but they are nonetheless and this IS easily seen when one can view the plight of the aspirant, the disciple and the True seeker. As we discussed, the first topic in the apostle’s words IS the reality of temptation, the attraction and the attachment of a man to the things of the world, and we should remember that we are talking here about the man who strives to focus upon the things of God but who IS yet subjected to the illusion and the glamour of Life in form from which he is striving to escape. This IS to whom the apostle writes as he tells us to resist temptation and while this word IS generally understood as  it applies to the grosser aspects of Life in the world, we should try to see it as ALL encompassing, as referring to whatsoever attracts a man to maintain his focus upon the self and the self in the world. In this we can see the reality of the Master’s words which we used a few posts back and of which we are reminded today as they ARE the Verse of the Day from Biblegateway.com; we read: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily , and follow me.  For whosoever  will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:23-24). In this IS the objective of following the Master and keeping His words and in this the reality of forsaking IS completely evident as IS the lesser idea of resisting temptations of ANY kind which Jesus gives us in the idea that a man “deny himself“.

This IS the hard Truth of the Kingdom and of discipleship that IS not Truly seen by men whose interpretation of the Lord’s words is found in their doctrines. To deny oneself IS to deny the temptations and the habits of fulfilling the interests of the self and there IS NO criteria offered here by the Master as we find inserted in commentary:

John Gill tells us this: let him deny himself: let him deny sinful self, ungodliness, and worldly lusts; and part with them, and his former sinful companions, which were as a part of himself: let him deny righteous self, and renounce all his own works of righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation; let him deny himself the pleasures and profits of this world, when in competition with Christ; let him drop and banish all his notions and expectations of an earthly kingdom, and worldly grandeur, and think of nothing but reproach, persecution, and death, for the sake of his Lord and Master: and; take up his cross; cheerfully receive, and patiently bear, every affliction and evil, however shameful and painful it may be, which is appointed for him, and he is called unto; which is his peculiar cross, as every Christian has his own; to which he should quietly submit, and carry, with an entire resignation to the will of God, in imitation of his Lord ⁸.

As we should see here the idea of bearing one’s cross IS ONLY seen in a negative way and not in the way that this IS Truly intended in our view; that one’s cross IS ALL that holds a man in this world and for which the cross represents that the need to crucify, to eliminate those things from one’s Life. This should be understood as ALL thoughts, attitudes, and actions of the man in the world that are contrary to keeping His words and NOT ONLY as Mr. Gill shows us saying that one should “deny himself” when in competition with Christ. This idea leaves ALL in the ability of the man to decide what IS and what IS NOT in competition and allows for one’s succumbing to those temptations for which one can find cover in doctrine. It IS interesting to note that the Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible skips over these words in their commentary on all of the synoptic gospels while the Geneva Study Bible offers us this simple one line statement that has much meaning but IS NOT Truly taught to the masses: No men do more harm to themselves, than they that love themselves more than God ⁸. In this we cans see the reality of True focus as it is presented to us in the Great Commandments at the top of our essay. Matthew Henry offers us a lengthy commentary on the Master’s words and, while this IS doctrinal in nature, this does bring out a deeper understanding:

Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, tells us: A true disciple of Christ is one that does follow him in duty, and shall follow him to glory. He is one that walks in the same way Christ walked in, is led by his Spirit, and treads in his steps, whithersoever he goes. “Let him deny himself.” If self-denial be a hard lesson, it is no more than what our Master learned and practised, to redeem us, and to teach us. “Let him take up his cross.” The cross is here put for every trouble that befalls us. We are apt to think we could bear another’s cross better than our own; but that is best which is appointed us, and we ought to make the best of it. We must not by our rashness and folly pull crosses down upon our own heads, but must take them up when they are in our way. If any man will have the name and credit of a disciple, let him follow Christ in the work and duty of a disciple. If all worldly things are worthless when compared with the life of the body, how forcible the same argument with respect to the soul and its state of never-ending happiness or misery! Thousands lose their souls for the most trifling gain, or the most worthless indulgence, nay, often from mere sloth and negligence. Whatever is the object for which men forsake Christ, that is the price at which Satan buys their souls. Yet one soul is worth more than all the world. This is Christ’s judgment upon the matter; he knew the price of souls, for he redeemed them; nor would he underrate the world, for he made it. The dying transgressor cannot purchase one hour’s respite to seek mercy for his perishing soul. Let us then learn rightly to value our souls, and Christ as the only Saviour of them ⁸.

Some of Mr. Henry’s remarks here are in regard to the continuation of the Master’s words in Matthew’s Gospel and we leave them for their picture of Truth which again IS according to his doctrine and which shows us the nature of his view. His idea here IS discipleship and while we DO NOT see here that Mr Henry sees this as we DO, that the objective of the Master IS that ALL men be disciples, we can see that he understands that the disciple IS one that walks in the same way Christ walked in, is led by his Spirit, and treads in his steps, whithersoever he goes. The remainder of the Master’s words here are likely important for understanding Mr. Henry’s perspective; the whole of these sayings tell us:

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:24-27).

From our own perspective, aside from the doctrinal pronouncements, the only missing thing here is a recognition of the full reality of transgression and the reality that to walk in the same way Christ walked in and to be Truly led by his Spirit IS to see the spiritual Life as the ONLY Life as regards ALL thoughts and attitudes regarding one’s self in the world. While the Master’s ideas are better elucidated here than in other commentaries, there IS still reliance on the saving grace of Christ over the reality of one’s own keeping His word and Mr. Henry’s strange notation regarding the world; that nor would he underrate the world, for he made it; which seems to discount worldly living as a transgression so long as it IS NOT what IS perceived as sin.

Our point here IS that in the Master’s words that the man who follows him must “deny himself” IS the same thought that James IS expressing as he tells us to resist temptation and that the reality of both concern ALL things of and for the self; ALL those things of which we ARE to “take no thought” (Matthew 6:25). It IS in this Light that we should understand the apostles ideas regarding Wisdom as it IS in this Wisdom that we KNOW that the things of God ARE Truly the things of God and NOT those things that a man may try to convince himself ARE from God. And this would include ALL that tempts a man carnally including James’ later ideas of attitudes that would promote oneself over others in his own thoughts and attitudes and the doctrines to which he may align himself. Now it IS True that this IS NOT clearly stated in James’ words and in our view this IS his intent as it IS the intent of the Master; to speak at times in obscure language and parable. But the apostle goes on to offer us some degree of clarity in his list of the attributes of what would be that Wisdom from above; what would be in accordance with His words and among the things of God. We repeat our saying again:

“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:11-17).

This list of what ARE the attributes of Wisdom from above IS NOT an either/or list; it IS a list that in its completeness identifies that Wisdom, those thoughts that ARE Truly from a man’s Soul and NOT from his personality in the world. In the ideas of “bitter envying and strife in your hearts” we have seen the reality of the self in the better understanding of these Greek words; that this man who harbors these things in his heart IS the man who IS prone to succumb to the temptations of Life as they appeal to his sense of self; this IS the man who wavers in his approach to God and the man who holds his own carnal views above the Truth. It IS this man who IS the hearer and NOT the DOER of the word and the man who may “seem to be religious” according to his own rite by who DOES NOT “keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26, 27). This IS the constant theme of James’ words as he moves into the ideaof Love where he calls out the man who has NOT the Universal Love that shows NO “respect to persons“, and to the idea of faith and works where the apostle calls out the man who DOES NOT show forth his presumed spirituality by the fruit that he bears in the works that he does. And, this is the same idea that the apostle cautions against regarding the man who would teach; that he teach the Truth and NOT what he merely believes in doctrine. In ALL of these ideas James paints a picture of the True disciple as the man who IS the DOER of the word, the man who DOES “keep himself unspotted from the world“; in the True disciple we see the man who DOES express that Universal Love and whose faith, whose KNOWING of the things of God, is expressed in his works. And key in this picture IS the apostle’s first point; that he IS able to resist temptation. It IS in this part of a man’s striving that the need to KNOW that the reality of what one sees for himself to think or to DO IS actually from above; that it IS a part of that Wisdom from above and NOT among those many thoughts that can come to a man which ARE  “earthly, sensual, devilish“.

So we have our list which begins with the idea that this Wisdom from above is “first pure” and if we see this as Vincent instructs, that pure IS the paramount idea in the list, then we can see that ALL else can be found in this idea; in this light it IS important to understand just what this pure means and in the end of the last essay we concluded that there IS a strong relationship between the Greek words rendered as pure and holy. We ended then with this idea that: we should look at these ideas of pure and holy together as they are related and ARE perhaps the same idea from different perspectives; holy speaks of God’s nature and perhaps the nature of the man who has achieved the Kingdom and its perfection while pure, in James’ context, is not speaking of the man but of the thoughts of the man, that they are in accordance with this sense of perfection. KNOWING the intent of the Master’s words and the picture of the disciple as painted by the apostle we should be able to easily see this idea of perfection as the Truth of this purity and holiness as this effects men and those thoughts and attitudes that they may hold. A man whose expression to the world IS the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, IS the disciple and IS the man whose every thought IS pure and it IS for us as aspirants and yet wavering disciples that this idea of what IS Wisdom from above is of importance and why we must understand that such Wisdom IS pure.

Our next word here after pure IS rendered as peaceable and we should try to see that this IS a part of that purity and can help to define the apostle’s intent. This word peaceable perhaps should be seen as exactly what it says in English; Strong’s tells us that the Greek word eirenikos means: peace-loving, peaceable, peaceful, with a focus of having freedom from emotional worry and frustration ³. The lexicon tells us that eirenikos means relating to peace: peaceable, pacific, loving peace; bring peace with it, peaceful, salutary ². Can we see that all thoughts of aggression, all guidance and revelation that could put on into mode of strife from virtually any motivation is contrary to this saying? Can we also see the entirety of these definitions resting within the reality of the word pure. Peace can be seen as that it comes from God and this we can see in the Master’s words saying “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27); and this may be what Strong’s misreads as freedom from emotional worry and frustration. This reality of Peace IS not a carnal sensation but rather a spiritual reality as the greater KNOWING of the Truth and, if this same reality can come forth in that Wisdom from above, it serves as that certainty that the thoughts and the attitudes engendered ARE Truth.

In relation to this idea of what IS Wisdom from above, we can see peaceable as that sense of certainty within one’s consciousness that Truth IS being heard; there IS NO doubt and this would be a natural result of the purity of that which enters one’s consciousnesses and is processed by the mind as Wisdom. Can we understand this? Can we see that the what seems as revelation but DOES NOT come with certainty IS NOT revelation at all but IS rather coming from one’s personality and IS likely for the benefit of the self in  the world? At the end of our current group of sayings in another verse, which we did not list here with these as in our view it IS NOT Truly related, that discusses the reality of Peace from another perspective and we will come to see more of the reality of Peace when we discuss that saying. We close today with this from the Apostle Paul that can perhaps help us to see this idea of peaceable a bit clearer: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phillipians 4:6-7).

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.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is called by some of the church the Great Commission and so it is. It is however hardly understood and at times grossly misapplied. Somewhere in the centuries that have passed since the Master left us we have come to think that the meaning of this is just to preach the word through any particular doctrine and baptize according to any particular belief. Vincent tells us that the word translated as teach here should be seen as make disciples of ⁴ and the lexicon bears this out. There is nowhere in scripture an actual defining understanding of the concept of baptism and we generally think of it as the immersion into or the pouring on of water and that somehow this clears us of sin. This is but an outward sign however of real spiritual undertaking by the conscious man and it is only when a man is ready to commit to the Master that a baptism can be considered real. We will leave this as the Quote of the Day for a few days and try to find in it some true meaning. Keeping in mind our four points, we should ponder on this.

The Master is speaking to disciples and not the multitudes and these are those that do believe on Him and follow Him and keep His words. Hard sayings for man in the world but claimed by many nonetheless. There IS a reality in the idea that the disciple should be “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” which IS His words that ARE to be kept and in this light we add these ideas from the Buddha: “Love yourself and watch – today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, Then teach, and so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked you must first do a harder thing – straighten yourself” (Dhammapada; on Yourself)⁵.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com