Monthly Archives: July 2014

ON LOVE; PART DCXCIII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is 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.

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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

In the last essay we continued our look at the ideas from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John as they regard the Master’s words that tell His apostles that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. We noted that this idea is restricted by some in the doctrinal church to the apostles and we cited John Gill’s idea that: we are not to understand these words of everyone that believes in Christ, of every private believer in him, but only of the apostles, and each of them, that were true believers in him ⁸. We showed how that our view that these “greater works” as well as the idea that we can, as disciples, be “as his master” ARE supported by the words of the Master, that we ARE the whosoever that IS included in the reality of the Wise man from the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which IS offered immediately after His telling us that we can be as He IS in His own parabolic way way of speaking in both the Gospel of Luke and that of Matthew. We noted as well the idea that He incorporates into His ‘prayer’ near the end as He Himself asks aloud of the Father that IS within Him, the Father Who IS in a strange and mysterious way One with Him. “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us“. This prayer IS for His disciples, NOT the the Eleven only however as He says clearly “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:21, 20).

This IS our inclusion into this dynamic state of being able to realize the fullness of discipleship, that we too ARE a part of the reality that He tells us saying: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). This IS NOT however a gift, this IS an earned reward, this IS the ultimate reality of grace as this idea should be understood. The requirement IS perfection which is a word that IS NOT properly understood and which in this context can ONLY mean that the disciple IS as the Master; that the disciple IS expressing the fullness of the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, to the world of men as did Jesus. The reality here IS that when a disciple of the Lord can so express the Truth of divinity, that he will also realize the Truth of His words saying “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. This IS the Apostle Peter and this IS the Apostle Paul; these are men whose total focus was upon the things of God, men who had nary a thought about their own wellbeing, their own profit or their own needs as men. We must remember here that these things come to us by degree as they came to the Apostle Peter who IS our given example of the growth of the disciple and the growth of the Kingdom Within.

While few may reach this degree of divinity as men in this world, the Master’s words DO intentionally hold out this possibility which we should see in the idea of whosoever in the parable and in the use of the idea of “every one that is perfect“. We should also see this Truth in the Master’s words on these “greater works” that we repeat again below; here the idea IS offered to us as “He that believeth on me” and we should understand here that the Eleven to whom He IS speaking ARE already in that select group of men who DO keep His words. Again we have the reality that this IS in regard to ALL men, to whosoever can accomplish this fullness of focus and keep His words. We have spoken much about this idea of keeping His words over the course of this blog and especially in regard to this current idea of “greater works” where we ARE again relating this to the True understanding of believing, that this IS NOT merely a mental or emotional affirmation but that this believing IS the Truth of KNOWING which IS the ultimate of faith. In this KNOWING there IS NO doubt or else it IS NOT KNOWING at ALL and in this we should try to see the depth of this word and how that this IS the state of the “mustard seed” and this IS the KEY to moving the mountain or planting the sycamine tree in the sea.

Again we develop these things in Life in this world by degree; there are degrees of KNOWING which are directly linked to the effort put forth by the consciousness in the world. This effort IS focus and the greater the focus the greater the Light of the Soul in the Life of the man and….the greater the KNOWING of the Way, the Truth and the Life of a disciple of the Lord. We should understand here that this KNOWING by degree IS NOT that we must learn to KNOW as Souls; as Souls ALL men already KNOW ALL things that are pertinent to the Master’s Truths of Love as stated in His words on Love at the top of our essay. This Love says that the affinity between the man in the world who reads these words and God IS that NO thing comes before the things of God….this IS the reality of one’s ability to “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 totality of focus upon the things of God. While doctrines may be right in saying that this IS impossible for men, they are ONLY right from the perspective the the carnally focused man; it IS this dynamic that changes by degree as one’s focus on the things of God increases. This ability is the grace afforded to the consciousness of the man in the world; grace that comes as realization and revelation and the ability to express divinity through form. It IS in the view of the perceived difficulty that the Master’s instruction IS that we strive as it IS in this striving that one’s focus grows as the man looks past the carnal Life and toward the divine. As one’s focus increases so DOES one’s degree of grace so that the closer one may approach God, the more readily he can see the next step in his striving. And it IS likely for this purpose that the Master shows us the reality of the True disciple, how that he can DO these “greater works” as we read below and, perhaps more importantly, how that he can see the reality of this Oneness in his own Life.

“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; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:12-20).

For us the idea of “greater works” should be seen as an encouragement much as this was intended for Phillip and Thomas and the rest of the Eleven who ARE perhaps still unsure of many things. Here we should understand that while they KNOW they DO NOT yet KNOW without doubt and while this may seem contrary to our words above, we should try to understand that the Light IS there, the Light IS focused within them, but at the same time the wrangling of the mind and the emotions ARE at play and it IS in these personality attributes that such doubt comes. It IS on these things that the Master keeps teaching them, on the ways to overcome the self in the world and the prompting of the personality to partake in the illusion and the glamour that still somewhat beset them. In previous posts we cited the idea of moving the words “because I go unto my Father” from the first verse here to the next as IS done in the Catholic versions which are rendered from the Latin rather than the Greek and which employ some differences in the breaking down of the apostles’ writing in to chapters and verses. The original intent IS to read the Master’s words here as a single statement of ideas and the break of ideas here in the different translations and breakdowns IS a matter of the view of the individual authors or groups of authors through negotiation. For the most part these individuals and groups worked along the lines of their own doctrinal beliefs and we should look here again at the way that this IS portrayed by New American Standard Version and the Catholic Knox Version:

• “11 If you cannot trust my word, when I tell you that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, 12 let these powerful acts themselves be my warrant. Believe me when I tell you this; the man who has learned to believe in me will be able to do what I do; nay, he will be able to do greater things yet. 13 It is to my Father I am going: and whatever request you make of the Father in my name, I will grant, so that through the Son the Father may be glorified; 14 every request you make of me in my own name, I myself will grant it to you” (Knox Version 2013).
• 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (New American Standard).

We should note here that there are more differences than this one that we are discussing where the choice IS that the idea of “because I go unto my Father” IS a cause of the ability to DO “greater works” or if this IS the cause for His telling them that since this IS so that they can ask any thing in His name. As we have said, we DO see this as that His going to the Father IS NOT a cause for the ability to be “as his master” but IS rather a consoling statement that they will still have Him, have His Presence, and that they can ask in His Name as though He were with them…..nothing will Truly change in their relationship from that perspective. We should remember here the parabolic value of His words and understand that He IS NOT going to another place to be with the Father but that He is leaving their physical presence. He has already told them the greater reality of “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) and He has told them that “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:11); He has even told them that His very words as Jesus and the works that He has done before them ARE the Father’s DOING and not His as the man in the world. We should sense that in ALL this some of the apostles are yet confused and it IS in this light that we see Jesus trying to show them these Truths in a way that they should understand based upon their own Inner Light.

We should try to understand the deeper ideas of the Master’s words here and not the literal and doctrinal approaches only. The first point in our view in IS His words saying that He IS going to the Father, figuratively and not physically, in the idea that He IS leaving them for the divine, that He assures them that whatsoever they may ask that they will receive. There are a number of important ideas here and for us the first one IS ask; Jesus IS speaking to His Eleven closest disciples, His apostles, who understand by now that this IS NOT asking for the things of the world nor of the self. Their individual concerns have been dealt with in the Master’s words to them when they seek for who would be greatest and when John and James seek the greater position than the rest. That they may not have completely learned these things is apparent in the example of Peter, who despite the warning prediction, still denies the Master. The point here IS that these men, as True disciples, understand the nature of the things of the world and they have forsaken ALL as we read that that must DO and as we read in Peter’s words that they have DONE as part of this most misunderstood exchange between the disciple and the Master:

“Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:28-30).

These things that they should ask for ARE NOT like replacements for  the things forsaken or worldly compensation for them as some believe this to mean; these things that they ask for ARE spiritual things…greater revelation and greater realizations of Truth, greater grace, as men in this world living in the Light of the Soul, the Christ Within. This IS the nature of the hundredfold in the Master’s reply above and this IS the nature of those things which will be asked for and granted. So they ARE to ask and we read above that they ARE to ask in His Name which IS interpreted by many in a far too literal fashion as they end and begin prayers saying that they are doing so in Jesus Name. This Greek idea has greater significance than the mere idea of mention as we read from Mr. Gill who says: in my name, either calling upon it, he being equally the object of prayer with the Father, or making mention of it, pleading the merits of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice ⁸. The right view of this phrase is yet another parabolic idea that can be seen in the defining idea for the Greek word onoma which IS rendered as name; from the lexicon we read that this can mean: the name is used for everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name, i.e. for one’s rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc. ² Can we see the point here?

This idea IS furthered by Vincent who tells us that the phrase “in my name” should be seen thus: The first occurrence of the phrase. See on Matthew 28:19. Prayer is made in the name of Jesus, “if this name, Jesus Christ, as the full substance of the saving faith and confession of him who prays, is, in his consciousness, the element in which the prayerful activity moves; so that thus that Name, embracing the whole revelation of redemption, is that which specifically measures and defines the disposition, feeling, object, and contents of prayer. The express use of the name of Jesus therein is no specific token; the question is of the spirit and mind of him who prays” (Meyer). Westcott cites Augustine to the effect that the prayer in Christ’s name must be consistent with Christ’s character, and that He fulfills it as Savior, and therefore just so far as it conduces to salvation ⁴. We should try to see that this phrase IS NOT the name itself but the meaning behind the name which, in this relation, IS the Christ Aspect of the Trinity that IS God and NOT the person Jesus; here to call upon His Name as the Second Aspect of the Trinity IS to call upon the divine manifest nature of the Love that IS God. This idea is further developed by the Master as He proceeds to show the the reality of the Holy Spirit and the Onensss of God.

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.

We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.

Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita

It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.

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
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com