ON LOVE; PART DCIII
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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).
We took some time off from our discussions on the Epistle of James where we were nearing the end of a lengthy look at the apostle’s words on what IS Wisdom from above and on how this IS a very important tool in one’s spiritual armor as it shows us that ALL thoughts and attitudes that ARE for the self in the world in ANY way, ALL things that benefit or profit the self or the interests of the self, ARE NOT from above. They ARE rather “earthly, sensual, devilish” and NOT “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” which are the attributes of what IS Wisdom from above. We have noted that several of these words used by James should be seen in a more spiritual way than IS common and this because we ARE speaking about spiritual Wisdom and that Wisdom from above which IS essentially Wisdom from God; such Wisdom CAN NOT have any Truly worldly qualities regardless of what a man may believe. Too many men believe that it IS within God’s purpose to make his Life in this world comfortable and profitable; for us this IS contrary to the Truth and contrary to the greater vision found in the Master’s words.
Before we continue here however we should close out our Easter discussion and see how that it relates to our ideas here from James. There IS an overriding message in the death and resurrection of the Master, and in the events that follow upon this things, that IS missed by the doctrinal churches in their varied views of the Truth. Jesus DID die and the Christ was resurrected as the continuing Life of that Soul, that Great Soul, who had lived in the world as Jesus and who had expressed through that Life “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). We should understand here that among those greater things of which the Master tells us that we ourselves can DO as disciples, IS this ability to express divinity in this same way and in His Life and His teachings we should be able to see that we too ARE divine in nature….not as men in the world, but as the Souls that give Life to these men;, and that we too can develop this same level of expression as we overcome the world. It IS in this light that we should view His words saying “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12); we should understand that these are not just reflective of the healing and the miracles but to the cause of these through one’s fullness of the Love and the Power of God, of the Soul, through a Life in this world.
And so with the message of the death and resurrection of the Master as the lesson here IS that this IS also a part of that fullness and thereby a part of those “greater works“, that the Life of the Soul continues and that it DOES lose ALL relationships that it had through Life in this world. This IS the reality of the Master’s appearing in different forms that are unrecognized by those who were closest to Him in His time in the Earth and this is the reality of the apostles’ purposeful telling of this part of the Easter story in such graphic detail. Here we can see the reality of His ability to come into and leave closed rooms and that seemingly eerie ability to take a form in this context which is substantial and touchable. The apostles offer no explanations they just report in that same parabolic way as the Master has taught them and regardless of how doctrine and commentary choose to paint these things, there explanations fall short of even common sense. These ARE spiritual effects in the world and CAN NOT be explained carnally but only in the Power of the Soul who has found the wherewithal to overcome the world and the forces of the world as a man who IS yet in the world. This IS what we strive to develop; this ability to so focus and express the power of the Kingdom of God, of the Soul, that we can move among men in the fullness of divinity and it IS this that few men have achieved; it IS this reality that the Master speaks of when He says: “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).
Much of the key to the success for any man to realize his True self and to focus upon that Truth IS found in his ability to discern that Wisdom from above that James speaks of as he tells us what IS NOT such Wisdom and what IS and, in the reality of Life, it IS this Wisdom that must become the expression of the man in the world. In his epistle the apostle IS speaking to men who have seen the “narrow way” and who are attempting to enter that strait gate which opens into the Kingdom of God, men who ARE trying to be among the few. And so he offers us the lessons that we have been discussing; on resisting temptation in which we should see ALL of the temptations of the world from the grossest of offenses to the more nebulous ideas of understanding the source of what one presumes IS Wisdom; this he offers us as part of his discussion of teaching, what one says to others as Truth. And he speaks to us on the power of the tongue which should be seen as the totality of a man’s outward expression. The reality here is likely only clear to the man who can glimpse the ideas of discernment as the apostle is presenting them and NOT in the carnal way of the focus of most men in the world; James’ ideas span the entire scope of divine expression; being a DOER of the word, the Truth of True religion as being untainted by the thoughts and attitudes of the self in the world, to the reality of KNOWING the Truth of faith by the works that that such faith produces while hinting to us that such works ARE the divine expression of the man in the world.
We should try to see here that whether we are speaking of the death and the resurrection of the Master or the words of James which seem at times to be ignored by mainstream doctrine, that we ARE speaking about the same thing: a man’s expression of the divine Soul in the world. And perhaps this IS why the words of the apostles regarding the resurrection of the Master are offered but not explained, so that the man who has eyes that see and ears that hear will be able to KNOW the True message of these words and we close this part of our Easter presentation with these final words from the Gospel of John where, after much interaction with the resurrected Master, the apostle gives us yet another vague reference to these realities that require that same Wisdom of which James teaches us:
“After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead” (John 21:1-14)
Here we see the Master’s closest apostles, Peter, James and John, who see the Master on the shore but DO NOT recognize him and this after the stories that we read in the last essay. But the Master speaks and in this they KNOW that they should do as He says and they cast the net and catch many fish; they then bring them to shore and present them to the man who IS preparing the food who John and Peter now KNOW IS the Master. We should understand here that they do not recognize His appearance but they KNOW Him by what He says to them. So they bring in the fish and it IS unclear that these are the same fist that the Master is cooking or that those on the fire are others that the Master had, but this IS NOT important; what IS important IS that here they are with Him on the shore, invited to dine with Him, and it IS here that John notes that “none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise“. Can we see the unspoken mystery here? A mystery that is not unlike those we presented in the last post. John calls the Man on the shore Jesus as this IS how they KNOW Him and we should note as well that they ARE NOT afraid here nor in the other instances where they realize His presence in another form; there is only one report of such fear when He suddenly appears in their midst, apparently for the first time in such a manner; we read that as the two disciples who had walked with the Master and had eaten with Him tell their story to the others that: “And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit” (Luke 24:35-37).
In ALL of this there is the essence of the Master’s message for the disciple, that Life IS, that Life continues without the form and that there can be interaction in the world by the developed Soul who has, in the fullness of the Love and the Power of his own divinity, overcome the world. How this ALL works we CAN NOT say but it DOES work out in the lives of the apostles, and likely to varying degrees of which we KNOW little save for the story of Peter and the alternate approach to the Lord that we see in the story of the Apostle Paul. In Peter we have the disciple who was with the Master in His Life and in Paul we have the disciple who becomes such by the action of the Christ speaking to Him through his own Soul, his own Christ Within; in both we have a picture of the man who keeps His words and follows the Path that IS charted for us in the words of James.
And James’ Epistle IS NOT unique except in its generality and it completeness; the same ideas are presented across the Epistles of Paul where he individually addresses the sometimes wayward nature of the aspirants and disciples in Corinth and in Ephesus, in Galatia and in Phillippi. The intent IS the same and while John and Peter have a different method in their writing, their intent and IS also to reinforce the aspirant and the disciple who must come to KNOW this Wisdom from above in his own heart and learn to NOT succumb to the contrived meanings ascribed to scripture by groups of men who reason them out carnally. This IS NOT a stated objective in the epistles but if one can look at and understand the realities presented, it IS apparent that each man must individually accomplish these things and individually come to terms with the meaning that the words of the Master and His apostles have on the individual lives of men. No man can explain to another the Inner secrets and the deeper meanings of the Truth of Love for example and how it IS that one must view this as a disciple; another man can ONLY set forth a case for his own impressions of such Truths and leave it to the hearer to understand and believe.
James unique and direct way is perhaps the clearest for the man that can see Truth as he leaves little room for misinterpretation as even in the carnal meaning of much of what he says; there resides a logic that CAN NOT be destroyed by the wranglings of men and of doctrines. At the same time his choice of words is intentionally vague so that the man who DOES NOT see clearly can hardly glimpse the Truth and the man who IS the True seeker will seek out the Truth. In James’s words the idea of temptation or of the tongue can be understood in the carnal ideas or extended to his more spiritual intent which takes them from the gross temptations of Life and the words that come off the tongue to the largeness of ALL thoughts and attitudes of worldly temptation and the entirety of a man’s expression of his thoughts and attitudes in the world. In either case there IS a lesson that effects the Life or the reader and the hearer. In this regard we should not forget the reality presented in the apostle’s words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” where so many believe that this effects what one hears of the word of God in one’s ear or, in more practical terms, the sermons and the doctrinal pronouncements of men rather than the Truth that the aspirant and the disciple hears from his own Inner man, his own Christ Within.
Most ALL men have some True realization of good and bad as these things are understood in the world and in this we should see that the good stems from the spiritual man while the bad is from the carnal thoughts and attitudes of the self in the world and, from a very practical view, this saying from James can be seen True even in this Light: that a man DO what he believes to be good and that he NOT just believe it as a thought and an idea. Men KNOW that stealing and adultery are bad yet men do these things routinely while deceiving themselves by clever reasoning which covers their sin. And it IS just this attitude that James speaks against on every level of human thought as this effects as well the man who KNOWS that he should Love ALL but finds, in his clever reasoning, why he should not express this Love to such and such as well; and yet further to the man who KNOWS that he must forsake his hold on worldly Life but finds ways to justify his NOT doing so.
ALL of the apostles’ words are lessons for the man in the world, guidance if you will, for his successful Transformation and ALL of the Master’s words as well as His actions have the same intent; Jesus death and the resurrection of the Christ ARE NO exception…they are for our learning as we strive toward that strait gate that opens into the Kingdom of God. In the next essay we will get back to our discussion of the Epistle of James.
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.
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.
