IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1143

ON LOVE; PART DCCXXXII

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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 with our discussion of the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John as it shows us the grace of God in His Presence in the Life of the man in this world. From this perspective, this Presence IS grace, this Presence IS the realizations and the revelations of spiritual Truths and this Presence IS the working out of the Truth of the Holy Spirit in the consciousness of the disciple. This idea of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the disciple IS stated for us by the Master says that “he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” as we read in our selection of verses from John’s Gospel below. All of this IS the greater Truth of grace as we understand it and this IS the reality of the Unity of God as we have been discussing from this same chapter which shows us Jesus words which tell us “I am in the Father, and the Father in me“. This reality IS brought to our level as aspirants and as disciples by Jesus words on “greater works“; we see this in His words saying “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” and His promise to disciples that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:10-12). In these ideas we see the Truth of our own spiritual existence in this world; we see that the same Power of God, the same indwelling God, that operates in the Life of the Master, shall operate in the disciple as well. And it IS the same Spirit of God, the same Spirit that IS God, that operates in the Life of Jesus that the Master promises to us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Again we should see the parabolic value of His words as He explains the divine nature of the Godhead to His disciples in spiritual terms that must be “spiritually discerned“. While this IS NOT the way that the words of the Apostle Paul are generally understood, we should try to see this saying as the reality of the Master’s parabolic speech, as the protection against men seeing the Truth before that they ARE ready; we read: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Over the last 2000 years many have made claim to KNOWING the Truth of the words of the Master and the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles and this sense of KNOWING has led to the multiplicity of different denominations and sects of Christianity of which most ALL claim to have the One Truth. In this IS the evidence of the fact that none have the fullness of the Truth and some likely have very little of it; at the same time, most ALL claim that they have the necessary spiritual discernment and that it IS the other guy, the other denomination or sect, that IS wrong. And this IS the underlying idea that we found in the Master’s words on the “false prophet“, the false teacher, in the last post; in this we should see that so many claim to have the Truth in their own view, that they have come to fight and argue among themselves and teach followers of the others error. And this IS the reality of the Master’s use of the idea of “good fruit“; that in regard to spiritual teachers it IS “by their fruits ye shall know them“. In past essays we have painted these fruits according to Paul’s ideas on the “fruit of the spirit” and this IS a valid way of understanding this; that it IS the expression of the man in the world in “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). In the last essay however we expanded upon this idea and brought it down to the evasive simplicity of the Master’s words as they are found in His most simple saying that “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). It IS here in this idea of keeping His words that we can find the ultimate Truth of the fruit of which He speaks and it IS this DOING that results in the “fruit of the spirit” as the expression of the man who DOES.

And this can be seen as the Master’s point as He speaks about false teachers and the fruit of those who ARE True…that if one IS a True teacher of the divine things of God, that he will be keeping His words and teaching the same in ALL things and, in so doing, he will realize the unction, he will realize the Truth of the Holy Spirit who “shall teach you all things“. The Master says that it IS the Holy Spirit, which the Spiritual Presence that IS God will “send in my name” and here we should see the reality that this IS in the Name of Christ, in His qualities and in ALL that this Name represents, and with this we should try to see the Master’s other words that say: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). In these words that Jesus offers us regarding the Comforter, we should be able to see the Unity of the True Trinity of God, that it IS in the Presence of God and Christ in the Life of the man who keeps His words that the Power of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, IS KNOWN. This, from the perspective of the man in the world, IS the grace of God in his Life in form; the ability to DO by the revelations and realizations of Truth and the DOING by keeping His words. None of this has carnal implications as this IS seen by some who believe and teach that this grace will result in greater comfort and pleasure in this world; ALL of this IS spiritual, ALL of this IS divine, and ALL of this grace IS “spiritually discerned” from His words; words which are diluted and changed and even twisted at times by men who purport to KNOW and who believe that they DO KNOW. In this we find our own view of Life and of divinity; that the ONLY Truly divine ideas come to us from the God and the Christ Within, through the Light of God which IS the Holy Spirit, as He impacts the consciousness of the man who can keep His words or strive to DO so. Teachers may teach what they believe that they KNOW but it IS the Inner man, the anointed of God who KNOWS the Truth in what IS taught; it IS the Christ Within, which IS awakened by those things that ARE perceived, that can “teach you all things” and make divine sense of the Truth of God. And this IS our point of purpose; that we can awaken in the reader some deeper sense of Truth; a sense that IS ever with us but which is blocked by the carnal mind and whatsoever preconceived ideas that have been planted therein.

The Apostle John links for us this idea of the Holy Spirit as shown by the Master, as He that “shall teach you all things” and the Master’s words on the reality of this Spirit as He Himself as He says “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you“. While we must extract the deeper meaning here, not from the rendering of orphanos as comfortless but from the context of Jesus’ words, the apostle offers us the same idea in another way which, while this IS still shrouded by the translations, should show the overall idea of this same Unity between the Christ, the Christ Within and the Holy Spirit. While we have discussed this in previous essays, it seems here to be an important point which we allude to in the word unction above. We should remember that this word IS the same Greek word, chrisma, that IS also rendered as anointed later in this same group of sayings from John and IS rendered as such by other translations. While many see this idea of unction here as that it IS the Holy Spirit, we look past this and into the idea of anointing as this word IS used as the very Name of Christ. Here we should see the Apostle Peter’s acknowledging that Jesus IS the “Christ of God” as the “Anointed of God” as this IS the meaning of the word Greek word Christos. The link here IS NOT seen by most but the link IS real and, from our perspective, it IS purposeful; it IS doctrine that renders this word as Christ, and as the Christ, in every usage in the King James Bible while this IS also rendered as Messiah by some others. We should remember here how Vincent explains this for us saying that Christos IS: Properly an adjective, not a noun, and meaning anointed (Χρίω, to anoint). It is a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, the king and spiritual ruler from David’s race, promised under that name in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:2; Daniel 9:25, Daniel 9:26). Hence Andrew says to Simon, “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ (John 1:41; compare Acts 4:27; Acts 10:38; Acts 19:28). To us “Christ “has become a proper name, and is therefore written without the definite article; but, in the body of the gospel narratives, since the identity of Jesus with the promised Messiah is still in question with the people, the article is habitually used, and the name should therefore be translated “the Christ”⁴.

From our perspective the doctrinal ideas of the Christ and the Messiah have been brought to bear from the traditions and the doctrines of the Jews; Jesus the Christ IS the promised Messiah and the word has been rendered as Christ in the doctrinal view of His person; in this the defining idea of anointed IS ignored although this IS the meaning of the Greek word. It IS also the idea presented by John in his epistle as he speaks of the anointing which we DO ALL have and which can be more clearly seen in the words of the Apostle Paul whose words are more direct. John tells us that “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things…..the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27) while Paul frames this simply as “Christ in you, the hope of glory“. The idea here IS the same and, as we can see from the full text of Paul’s words, this IS “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” (Colossians 1:26-27). It IS to protect this mystery that the words ARE NOT clearly stated and it IS in men’s lack of  spiritual vision that the words are yet further confounded by translation and doctrine. It IS in this same combination of ideas; the anointing that IS the Master that John tells us “abideth in you” as DOES the Father and the Son within the man who keeps His words; it IS to this man that we read of the Father and the Son, that “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Here in these ideas we see the Christ and the Christ Within; from the perspective that “the same anointing teacheth you of all things” we should see the reality of the Master’s words that we have again in our selection below; that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things“. Repeating our current selection:

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 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. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).

In ALL of this we should try to glimpse the total Unity of God; of the Father who dwells in the Son as God in Christ and of the Christ who tells us that “I am in the Father” (John 14:11). We should see as well the reality of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit that IS God, and try to understand the deeper meaning of the idea that “the Father will send in my name“….that in this we have the Spirit that issues from the Father with the ALL of the Qualities of the Son. That IS the Spirit of God and the Love of Christ which Love we MUST understand IS of the Father as “God is love” (1 John 4:8). And we should see here as well that it IS the combination of ALL of these Aspects of the Godhead that IS the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world; that this Presence IS the realization by man of his own part in what IS the Will of the Spirit that IS God. This IS the very Life itself which IS the Love that holds together in a single Unity ALL things spiritual and upon which he IS carried by the activity of Life in the Kingdom of God. Man IS part and parcel of this Great and Awesome Presence that we humbly call God and this part should not be seen as the body nature with its attendant personality; this part IS the spiritual man who incarnates in this Earth for purposes that ARE beyond on view and our comprehension; this part IS the Trinity of man who IS “made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). This IS the Trinity and the Unity that the Master IS teaching us here in this part of the Gospel of John.

Most importantly we should understand that this Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world IS his own realization and revelation; this IS the grace of God which comes to him in the Love of God; this grace IS that this idea of Love expressed as “I will love him” and as that “my Father will love him” (John 14:21, 23) by the Master. This IS the grace of God which flows into the Life of man from his own sense of God as the God and the Christ Within. This IS the mystery that IS protected by the Master in His parabolic tone and that IS covered in the words of the apostles in obscure language as we see in the Epistles of John and Paul above. And the protection IS simple; these things ARE not understood by the man whose focus IS upon the carnal things of Life in this world….they ARE “spiritually discerned” as Paul tells us; and it IS the very nature of the deeper truths of these ideas that IS reflected in the minds of men whose focus IS not on God as foolishness. It IS important to understand here that ALL men suffer from the illusions of the world in the same way; ALL men are “made subject to vanity, not willingly” but by the very Plan of God and that it IS only when one can glimpse the things of the Spirit, the Truth of Life, that he can begin to break free from “from the bondage of corruption“. It IS here that we find the Presence of God and we should see that this Presence IS the “glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). The very Kingdom of God IS here in the realizations of grace and it IS in this context that we should try to see Paul’s words to the Corinthians saying: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And the overwhelming message of the cost of this being “in Christ” IS found in the reality the Master’s words in this fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel… that we keep His words; it IS this that brings us the Presence of God; it is His Love and grace that brings us the ever greater ability to DO so; and it IS the expression of these Truths in the world of men that IS the fruit of the Spirit under the Power of the God Within….the Power that IS the Spirit of God expressed through the man in this world. ALL things are unlocked by the striving of man to focus upon the things of God and ALL things ARE realized in his ever growing ability to keep His words.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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!

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888