ON LOVE; PART DCCVI
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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 discussed our view of the Master’s own miracles and how that these should be seen as in the reality of His words from the Gospel of John below, that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. These works ARE the withering of the fig tree and the way that He “rebuked the winds and the sea” as the Power of a Son of God over the Earth; These works ARE as well the Master’s healing of the multitudes, His feeding of the thousands and His raising of Lazarus from the tomb after being dead several days. And these ARE NOT unlike the works of Moses who parted the Red Sea, performed many miracles in Egypt and sweetened the waters of Marah for the people to drink; ALL by the hand of God who worked through Him much as the Presence of God worked through Jesus. And this IS NOT unlike the powers that develop in the Twelve who heal and teach the Truth of Repentance when they are sent out among the people. And this IS NOT unlike those things that we KNOW about the developed Powers of the Apostles Peter and Paul, how their Power was equal to the promise of the Master, that “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).
Much of these Truths are clouded by the interpretations and the doctrines of men and by the parabolic nature of the way that these stories ARE originally told; and we should understand that the hidden part IS hidden with the intent of protecting the “mysteries of the kingdom of God” from those who ARE NOT yet ready to KNOW, those whose focus IS yet carnal. The Master says to His disciples that “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see , and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10) to show the dividing line between the KNOWER and the man whose focus IS on himself and on his self in the world. We should understand here that this idea of KNOWING, of True faith and believing without doubt, IS the end point which we can see in the Life of Moses and in Jesus and in works of Peter and Paul and, we should remember at the same time that this sense of grace comes to us by degree. We see this in the previous verses from John’s Gospel where Phillip and Thomas DO NOT yet Truly KNOW the Truth of the Master and this apparently to the Master’s dismay; we read these ideas in His own words as He says to Phillip: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?“. Similarly Jesus tells Thomas that which he should have KNOWN the reality of God saying: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also” (John 14:9, 7).
And we should remember that in the Life of Peter, while there IS NOT any questioning such as this, the ARE the yet more profound ideas of Peter’s denial and His desire to fight against those who had come to take the Master. Here we should try to see that in Peter there IS the degree of KNOWING that the Master likely expects, as Peter IS among the special three who are privy to the most secret things, and yet he IS weak in the Master’s eyes as he allows his own carnal tendencies to overwhelm his KNOWING of the spiritual Truth. It IS in ALL of these ideas and in the stories of the continued growth of grace in the Life of Peter that we have devised our own understanding that grace itself, the revelations and the realizations of Truth, come to us by degree, a degree that IS proportionate to our focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, our focus upon the things of God. While doctrines seek to separate us from the reality of Jesus Life in this world, we should try to see, to at least glimpse, the similarity that can be found in the ways of the Master and the ways of the apostles Peter and Paul and to understand this ALL in relation to Jesus own words to us regarding our own DOING of these “greater works” and His most straightforward telling us that “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40).
He IS the Master, the teacher of angels and men alike, and He came among us to save us through discipleship and not by the atoning quality of His death. And the Truth of this salvation IS offered by Him in many ways in words that reflect our own ability to see the Kingdom of God. And this IS the reality of salvation that IS far beyond the doctrinal idea of believing and which IS centered in the reality of DOING and there IS NO greater place to see this reality than in His words saying:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:13-23).
In this more complete view of His words from the Sermon on the Mount we should try to see the that the ultimate Truth in the instruction of that we “Enter ye in at the strait gate” which IS intended to reflect upon the narrowness of the view of the disciple; that HIS focus IS keen and IS set upon the single goal of the Kingdom of God which IS the Presence of God in his Life. He shows that most men will NOT go this way, through the “strait gate” and we should try to see that for many this IS NOT because they DO NOT want to DO so but because they CAN NOT “find it“….some DO NOT KNOW where to look while others are deceived by the teachings of others. The reality here IS that “few there be that find it” because “few there be” that Truly look, that Truly “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). And this IS the reality of the Master’s next words on false teachers which IS rendered as “false prophets“; here we should try to see the idea that the prophet teaches the inspired Truth of God and he sees and understands this in his own sense of grace, his own revelations and realizations of Truth, which stream into his Life from his own Soul, his own God and Christ Within. This IS the reality of Wisdom from above as the Apostle James teaches us and we should see here our idea from our recent study of James’ words, that this “wisdom that is from above is first pure” which we have interpreted as Godlike.
We should see here then that this idea of “false prophets” is a reference to those who purport that they ARE teaching the Truth of God but who ARE teaching that which IS NOT; this is then the Truth of men and here we should be careful to understand that NOT ALL such teachers are “ravening wolves“. Some undoubtedly ARE but for the most part these “false prophets” ARE the product of “blind leaders of the blind” (Matthew 15:14). Here, while much of the Master’s words are directed toward the Pharisee and the scribe and the other religious teachers and authorities of the day, His intent IS timeless and ALL men must beware of the perils of deception, the ways of those who have assumed some religious authority to teach in the same way as told us by the Prophet Esaias: “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). So much of this should be apparent from the fragmented and segmented teaching of the thousands of denominations and sects that ALL purport to KNOW the Truth of the ONE word of God. But deception rules for the average man in the world who KNOWS NOT where to seek or how to ask or on what door to knock; here while we KNOW the reality that “by their fruits ye shall know them“, we ARE yet lost because it IS these very men whose fruits we are examining who ARE telling us what IS the Truth, who are telling us what IS the fruit to be seen.
This IS a most perplexing condition for the man in this world who IS seeking greater grace, who is striving toward that “strait gate” and wanting for more revelation and realization and it IS in this sense of dilemma that we read of these mysteries of Life and of the Kingdom of God and how that these Truths are protected from the very man to whom they ARE addressed. We ARE shown the way and we are shown the perils of deception but few there are that DO put this ALL together; few there are who break down the barriers erected by the good intentions of doctrine and who Truly seek the better Way. In the Master’s words on fruit above we should try to see the hidden ideas that effect our own sense of reality; in His words here on good and corrupt above we should be able to see the ideas of “God and mammon“, the idea of the “treasures in heaven” as opposed to the “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt” and we should see as well the intent of the apostles who ever link the reality of this corruption with the things of the world. This IS the reality of our ability to discern the Good and the corrupt: that the Good IS of God and the corrupt IS of the world. It IS in this sense that we must try to see the Master’s point regarding the fruits of the teachers to whom we may listen and we should try to see here how that the idea of degree and proportion can enter into this as well….there IS very little in this Life and in this world that IS Truly so black and white.
And the Master goes on to tell us the way to the Kingdom, that it IS NOT for the men who merely call upon Him as their Lord based in whatsoever they have learned and believed from teachers who purport to teach the Truth of His words but who at best have only a bit more of a glimpse than their students. While we say this we should ALL understand that there ARE teachers of Truth among us and that these words are attached to those many thousands who may believe that they have the Truth and teach it as such and who at the same time ARE yet carnally focused and ARE NOT in accordance with the realities of His teachings; these ARE rather teachers of the many doctrines that have served to dilute His words for many centuries. It IS to these men who teach and learn the varied doctrines that He says the final words in this selection from Matthew’s Gospel; it IS to those who DO NOT have the reality of the fruit that IS found in the hearts and lives of those who “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. This IS the reality of that fruit that He speaks of and in our own view of these things, our view of degree and proportion, we should be able to understand that there IS a reality to fruit that coincides with the reality of striving; that it IS in striving that we focus and increase our focus, and it IS in this focus that we attain our sense of grace which IS in many ways the reality of our fruit as it waits to be our expression.
While we seem to be removed from our selection from John’s Gospel below, we are NOT Truly; we are speaking of grace and the reality of grace in our lives and in the Master’s words from Matthew above we have the same dynamic from a different perspective. In His words on the “strait gate” we should see our understanding of focus and in His words on teachers we should see the things that keep men away from their own Truth and sense of grace. We should see here that this grace and the fruits of the True teacher are the same in effect in the world, an effect which IS the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the man whose focus IS True. In the end we should see that it matters not what one may think of his own fruit, his own sense of grace or his own spiritual nature in the world, the measure IS sure and it IS in His words that show us the reality of being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God: that this IS reserved for “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
We repeat here our selection from John’s Gospel and we will get back to centering our discussion in this in the next post.
“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).
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.
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.
