Monthly Archives: April 2014

ON LOVE; PART DCVI

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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 continued our discussion on the words of the Apostle James on what IS and what IS NOT Wisdom from above which we see as a very important part of one’s overall understanding of what IS happening in his own heart and mind. The True Wisdom from above IS revelation and thought that comes from the Soul, from God if you will, as it IS the Soul that IS in contact with the divine. It IS in this view the apostle sets for a list of attributes for what one can KNOW as Wisdom from above: that such Wisdom IS “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy”. James’ point here IS rather straightforward: that Wisdom from above IS from God and therefore IS in the nature of Love and IS holy and pure. This idea IS NOT however seen nor understood by men in the world who ofttimes attribute thoughts that come to one’s mind as that they ARE from God ,when in fact they are but the product of one’s own personality in the world. It IS in opposition to this way of the man in the world that the apostle writes and this IS likely because there were men in his time who believed that they were righteous and that they were disciples and who were acting upon what they presumed to be thoughts from God but which were NOT; and this IS the same thing happens yet today. We should note here that the apostle offers us his words in conjunction with his words on teaching and on the expression of a man in the world which he calls the tongue and which we KNOW IS much more; the tongue IS but the example for the expression of attitudes and thoughts in the actions of the man in the world.

Today there are many who believe that their thoughts ARE from God and that they are righteous while they ARE yet focused upon their own self and the way of that self in the world; these ideas from James are directed at that man. They ARE NOT directed at the man who gives little or no thought to the things of God as he would seldom presume that he is hearing divine thought. The apostle’s message however has been diluted and changed by the translations and the common understanding of the words that he chose to use and it IS our view that he purposely chose the more obscure Greek words to express his thoughts. As we noted in the end of the last essay, his choice of words alone IS not the whole of the problem in understanding James’ intent as there IS also the matter of the common understanding of some of the more generally accepted words and translations and in this class we should see the idea of mercy, and perhaps also the idea that the Wisdom from above would be “first pure“. This word mercy IS generally seen as compassion and pity for the poor and downtrodden instead of the expression of Love for ALL as we would find in the Old Testament ideas where this same mercy IS seen as lovingkindness and where there IS NO mention of the poor; this English idea DOES NOT afford the proper emphasis to James use of the Greek word.

Men seem to forget that the topic here IS Wisdom from above as they fail to look at the words in that light; they fail to see that Wisdom from God has NO special direction toward the poor and downtrodden but rather would be addressed equally to ALL men. This should be easily seen in James’ previous words regarding the “royal law” and the need to NOT have “respect to persons“. Similarly the idea of “first pure” IS seen by many as a numerical count; that pure IS the first on the list rather that as Vincent shows us saying: First: Emphasizing its inner quality, pure, as distinguished from its outward expressions. The idea is not first numerically, but first essentially. The other qualities are secondary as outgrowths of this primary quality ⁴. For us the essence of ALL Wisdom that IS from above, that IS from God, MUST be pure and this because it IS from God. We should see the reality that ALL of the other terms ARE NOT ONLY outgrowths of this but are essential parts of this purity; they explain purity for the understanding of men. Perhaps the most important part here IS that the ideas of what IS NOT this Wisdom are allowed to be seen in such common and limited a fashion, that men do not look any further than jealousy and selfish ambition as their understanding of those words that are so poorly rendered in the King James Bible as “bitter envy and strife“.

From the view of what IS NOT Wisdom from above, we have followed the ideas of some commentators and we see these better as ideas of emulation and faction which we can understand as self-devotion and then devotion to one’s own views or the doctrines of one’s faction and, while we have to draw out these ideas as conclusions, we should remember we are ever limited when seeking the True meaning of these ancient Greek words within the limitations of the English language. This aside however we should be able to reach the same relative conclusion, that the Wisdom from above would have naught for the self and the self’s interests in the world, from the list of what IS Wisdom from above. In this list of attributes there IS ONLY the idea of things from God; first in the title of Wisdom from above and then in the list of words and phrases which we have been discussing and which we summarize in the last essay.

In the end however this list IS a way to see properly ALL thoughts and attitudes that a man may have as this can be the True measuring gauge for assessing the Truth of one’s own plans and schemes. DOES what one thinks about any subject meet with these criteria or IS is for the self in the world, IS the question that an aspirant and a disciple MUST ask. And this IS the idea that the apostle IS trying to convey to us as he writes to men who presume to be disciples:

“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).

These words, that come on the end of James’ dissertation on a man’s expression and his control of it in Life, are intended to show the reality of duality in the Life of the man in the world who has glimpsed the Truth and IS striving toward it and, it IS in this sense of duality, that these words ARE extremely important; it IS by these that one can distinguish between the Truth of God and the wrangling of the personality. For US as aspirants this IS a critical instruction and one that can and should be understood and used by any who perceives himself to be hearing from God or from his own Soul; it IS however directed to US. The simple Truth IS that it IS only the pure thought that can be from God and in the reality of scripture the things of the world, the corrupt things of Life, ARE NOT pure. We should be able to find these same ideas in the Apostle Peter’s words saying:

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 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 1:2-4).

It IS in the Truth of the Wisdom from above that we have access to “the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord“; “the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue“, which we hear in our hearts through the prompting and the Wisdom of our own Souls, our own God Within. And this brings us to that last word used by James in regard to the Wisdom from above; a word that has a depth of meaning and which IS perhaps the most personal of them ALL. In this word that IS rendered as hypocrisy there IS more that the idea of saying one thing and doing anther or, as the dictionary offers: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess ⁷. In these ideas there is the tone that a man will KNOW and even admit to himself that he is hypocritical but ofttimes there is a blocking of this message by the man himself as he paints scenarios for his own conduct which allow for that conduct. An example here can be found in the man who professes to be a Christian and a follower of Christ and who at the same time does such things that are against the Master’s words; this man DOES NOT see himself as a hypocrite when he DOES NOT Love as the Master instructs in those sayings at the top of our essay; this man DOES NOT put God first as these command nor does he see his neighbor according to the “royal law“.

And our point here IS that this man DOES NOT see himself as a hypocrite because he has painted for himself relief from these commandments in his doctrinal beliefs. This IS the same hypocrisy that the Master accuses the Jewish rulers of and we should note here that they DO NOT see this at ALL as the Master presents because their own doctrines and traditions allow for the idea that Jesus rails against. But this should not be seen only in the way of the Pharisee and the scribe; this should be understood as an affliction of ALL men who find cover for their own thoughts, attitudes and actions in any way and especially men who use their authority as a part of that cover. We should understand there that most ALL men exercise some kind of authority over someone and in this we should see the husband or the parent, the supervisor or the city leadership, the teacher and the priest. Here it IS important to understand that the reality of this idea of hypocrisy grows in proportion to the knowledge of the man; as he realizes more and more of the Truth, he should realize more and more how his thoughts, attitudes and actions are at variance against that Truth.

The Wisdom from above IS free from hypocrisy and in this we can see the ultimate Truth that NO thing that comes to a man can be in any way at variance to the words of the Master nor the commandments of the Law. Here we can see the simple idea that the Master tells us about; the idea of treasure which we see as whatsoever IS important to a man but which many believe IS simply wealth and possessions. Let us say here that this treasure IS wealth and possessions and then look at His words that say: “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” (Matthew 6:19-20). In James’ saying that there IS NO hypocrisy in the Wisdom from above, one can readily see that any thought for the benefit of the self financially in the world; be it what to invest or anything that one could do for financial or material increase, IS NOT Wisdom from God but is simply the wranglings of the personality in the world. Few would think this hypocritical nor would many see the variance on Love in this way but can we see the reality? Can we see that most every thought and idea that concerns the self in the world IS a hypocritical one?

And this IS our point about the depth of the meanings here. Do we think that the Jew who took the time on the sabbath to “loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering” believed that he was as hypocrite? The Master certainly did as He says to the ruler of the synagogue who complained about Jesus healing a man on the sabbath: “Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?” (Luke 13:15). These Jews likely never gave this as second thought nor realized that do thus was at variance with that commandment that says: “In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein” (Leviticus 23:7). Do we see here that these men were generally unawares of their own hypocrisy?

And DO we think that the Pharisees and other Jews saw hypocrisy in their doctrine that allowed them to give to God rather that to the support of their aging parents? They likely saw only doctrine in Corban and not the variance against the law of God that the Master sees as He tells them: “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:9-13). It matters not that we agree with these ideas of how it IS that one honors one’s parents, it matters only that the Jews thought what they did and then created a doctrine around it so that the doctrine supplanted the commandment. This is hypocrisy as we can see in the Master’s words that lead up these words on Corban: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do” (Mark 7:6-8).

There are many more examples that we can cite regarding the Master’s finding hypocrisy in the ways of the Jews and in most of these we can be rather certain that the Jews did not see this same hypocrisy as that the Master points out to them. We should try to note here that it IS not so much the act of Corban nor the loosing of the cattle that IS the offense that the Master cites but rather the idea that these men portend to be Godly and to KNOW the commandments and that they see and remark on how others may be at variance while they themselves do things that ARE equally variant. We close here for today with these other words from the Master that offer us instruction on how not to be hypocrites, at least in this fashion as we cite here:

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).

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
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011