IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1147

ON LOVE; PART DCCXXXVI

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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 grace and, over the course of the last several essays, we have found additional ways to view this idea both as that which comes into the Life of the man in the world as well as the inherent grace of God which ALL men possess as Souls and which becomes then the source of grace for His worldly Life. To this we have added the idea of global grace which IS grace that IS bestowed upon ALL men in the form of that which issues forth from the Godhead and enables a man more easily see the Truths of Life. In this last idea of grace we should see the Advent of the Master and the teaching and the example that He brings and, while the original intent was not Truly global, these ARE become the vision of the divine Presence of God in the world. This same IS True of the Avatars of ALL religions as each has brought that same sense of divinity to men in different times and in different ways and, most importantly, to different cultures. This IS the reality of the “free gift” of grace that comes to us from God and it IS in this reality that the idea of grace should be understood; it IS this grace which IS freely given to men in this world with the intention of awakening them to the greater Truths that stand behind the example and the teaching of the Avatars who themselves had been graced and who have come before us in Love. And we should try to understand this idea in greater detail and view this from a broader perspective than simply the divine teachings on the relationship between man and God; we should try to understand that ALL great revelations and realizations that ARE offered, be they science or philosophy, and which enhance the Inner Life of the man in the world ARE in some way the product of the grace of God. While this IS a broad stroke, the reality IS that no thing of world consequence comes to the carnal minds of men that DOES NOT originate in the Soul….that place where God and man meet.

ALL that flows to the waking consciousness of man IS however filtered through and somewhat changed by the personality in the world; it IS the personality with its attendant mind and emotions that puts the mark of the self and of the leanings of that self onto most every thing that comes to him from above. We should understand here that these leanings vary according to many carnal factors but chief among these IS one’s nurturing and the degree to which, even at a young age, a man was able to let some Soul Light come through to his conscious awareness, unfiltered by the sense of self. We should try to see here as well the realities and the Power of divinity; that while men may have the ability and even the hidden mission of bringing some degree and form of global grace into the world, it IS the divine form of grace that has the most Power….not to change the lives of men in the world as science and philosophy but to change their relationship to their own Souls. In this there IS NO greater grace that what comes from the Master and from His apostles as the last Truly divine message from God. And we should understand here that while the personalities and carnal leanings of men in this world become the filter for the Light of the Soul, NOT ALL men are subjected to this reality, a reality which IS a part of the Truth that we see in the Apostle Paul’s words that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). One great exception IS Jesus who came among us as the last Great Avatar and in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); a fullness that was NOT subjected to the vanity of the Plan of God nor which could be dissuaded by nurturing or experience. This IS the deeper Truth that we find in the words of the Apostle John who tells us in the Prologue to his gospel that: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

There are many theories in the doctrinal church regarding the Life of the Master and about the degree of and the use of His Power in this world and much of this revolves around His own baptism by John the Baptist. Many believe that it IS here that the Power was given Him from the Father and, while this may have been the beginning of His mission of Love to the world, this view IS rather shortsighted. In our view of the Immanence of God in the world, an Immanence that IS the reality of the Soul as that divine Presence, there would be NO sudden influx of divinity in the Life of the Master; there would more likely be a Life long mission of bringing the divine to bear through the Life of the personality and a Life long awareness of this. In this we should try to see the reality of the Virgin Birth and the divine Life of the Master. We should note here however that ALL who claim to KNOW the Life of the Master before His baptism in the Jordan are merely stating what the believe may have been True or they are espousing doctrines that claim this or that as their own Truth. Regardless of the theories, there IS the reality of the Christ in this world and that He came among us as Jesus; a Great Soul in form in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily“.

And this IS our own promise of grace which we find in His words from this fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John which we have been studying. This grace comes as the Love of God to the man who keeps His words; this grace IS the revelations and the realizations of divinity; this grace IS the ability to DO by degree that which these revelations and realization bestow upon the conscious minds of men. It is by this degree, by the measure of grace that we receive, that we ARE able to DO and it IS in this DOING that we can achieve yet greater measure of grace; and it IS in this idea that we should see the reality of keeping His words….this IS the DOING. It IS this sense of DOING that sets our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions onto the things of God. This IS clearly stated for us throughout the Master’s words and the words of His apostles and here, in our current discussion on John’s Gospel, we find this framed as the Presence of God; not in these words but in words that we must come to see in this Light. We repeat here again the Master’s words that reflect this Presence of God in the Life of the man who keeps His words and, from our perspective, there IS NO other way to view His intent; we read:

• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him”  (John 14:21).
• “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”  (John 14:23-24).

This is what we see in our opening statement: the Love of the Father and the Love of the Christ come into the Life of the man who keeps His words and this IS the reality of His Presence; and this IS the reality of grace; it IS Him manifesting Himself that IS the effective idea of this Love. We have the same idea expanded for us in Jesus answer to Judas question which we should understand in this context of His Presence; here we read: “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22). As we have discussed, it IS important to understand the idea behind this rendering of manifest; that this word IS intended to show the revelation of the Christ to the man who keeps His words; this IS His Presence and this IS grace. It IS in the Master’s expanded answer to the Eleven that we can see the deeper reality of this, a reality that IS NOT clearly seen however without a proper understanding of the intent of the Greek word emphanizo which IS rendered as manifest. In the first instance then we can see the Master revealed to the disciple….in his heart and his mind, as the Christ Within revealing greater Truths to the disciple in the world. In the second instance, in Jesus clarifying statement, we see the very nature of this manifestation which IS found in the idea of abiding; this IS the reality of His Presence in the Life of the man in the world. And more, Jesus tells us here that it IS NOT ONLY He that IS manifest, it IS NOT ONLY He that comes to abide in the Life of the man who keeps His words, it IS He and the Father, the Oneness of the God and the Christ Within. 

And so we see this idea of grace as Love, as the Presence of God in one’s Life and this IS seen and understood by the man in his revelation and in realizations of Truth; this IS the ability of the man in the world to DO those “greater works” and here, in this idea of DOING, we should see the reality of the Master’s teaching on the Holy Spirit. We should try to see that the Holy Spirit CAN NOT be separated from the Presence of God; we should understand that as the Father and the Son ARE inseparable, so IS the expression of these in the Life of the disciple, and expression which CAN NOT be separated from one’s realization, revelation and ability to DO….and this expression IS what we see as the Truth of the Spirit of God. In the context that “God is a Spirit” which is better rendered as “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), we should understand that the Holy Spirit IS God and, from the perspective of the Trinity, IS the very Power of the Godhead and IS the reality of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world. These Three ARE inseparable and if we read the Master’s words regarding His Presence above, as that this IS the reality of God in the Life of the man, then we can see that the Holy Spirit IS One with them….that He IS One with the Presence of the Father and the Son….and the differences here ARE ONLY for the understanding of men. The Master says that “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18) and in this we should see the overall relationships and the reality that the ideas behind His words “the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive , because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him” (John 14:17), and His words above on His own manifestation ARE the same. It IS in Judas’ question that we see the completeness of this idea and some insight into the perception of the apostle who DOES see these relationships.

It IS in the ideas presented regarding the Holy Spirit in the New Testament that give rise to our view that this Aspect of the Trinity of God IS the very Power that we see; the spiritual Power that IS wielded by the Master, by the apostles and by we ourselves IS the Holy Spirit and it IS in this way that we see the reality of the Godhead in our chart below. It IS here that we see that grace IS the very Presence of God in one’s Life, the realizations and the revelations of that Presence and the ability to use that Presence in the Life of the man in this world. And, it IS the Third Aspect of the Trinity of God, the Holy Spirit, which IS a part of that Presence and yet represents the DOING, the expression of the divine Power in this world. This Power IS what DOES the “greater works” as it flows through the Life of the disciple; it IS the healing and it IS the teaching and it IS the example of divinity and, in its Truest form, it IS the Power that can move the mountain and cast the sycamine tree into the sea. And this Power IS made possible by grace, by the ability to realize the Power in one’s Life as one focuses upon the reality of the God and the Christ Within, the very Being and the Love that IS part and parcel of God. 

Over the last several posts we have tried to approach these ideas from every angle and to show the unity of these in the Life of the man who keeps His words; the same Unity that exists in the reality of our One God; our One Indivisible and Inseparable God. It IS in this reality that we should try to see Paul’s words to the Romans saying: “For I am persuaded , that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present , nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-38). 

And ALL this sets the stage for our completion of our work on this fourteenth chapter and His final words which we repeat here again:

“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).

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!