ON LOVE; PART DCCXXXIV
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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 relationship between the concept of grace with the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the man who keeps His words. We noted again how that ALL things spiritual work out in Life by degree and in this we should see that it IS by the measure of one’s focus upon the things of God, the measure of one’s striving toward the “strait gate” that opens into His Kingdom, that brings the resultant measure of grace and, by degree, the Power that IS the Holy Spirit. As we come to see the reality of grace, that this IS the reward or the wages of this focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, we can come to see the greater realities of our own divine nature and our own spiritual abilities which ARE NOT necessarily the doctrinal ideas of the “spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1) but ARE rather the reality of our expression of Love and our keeping His words. And this the Apostle Paul shows us as he offers the idea of Love which IS split by doctrine and translation into two separate chapters; we read:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned , and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3).
In these ideas we have a single thought; the apostle DOES NOT break these into chapters and verses, men DO. In these ideas we find the value of Love which, while expressed as Charity, IS from the same Greek word agape which IS Love; and, IS the same sense of Love that we have in the Master’s ideas presented in our current chapter from the Gospel of John. This IS the same Love that Jesus expressed for us saying:
- “If ye love me, keep my commandments“
- “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“
- “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“
ALL of these ideas from the Master’s words (John 14:15, 21, 23-24) show us the same reality, a reality that IS missed by many yet today. In the Truth of the Master’s words here we should see the reward of DOING and, from our previous discussions of His words from the Sermon on the Mount, we should see the same idea. While Luke shows us that the reward for our expression of Love IS grace, which doctrine has rendered as thanks and as other rather diluted terms, Matthew shows us the reality of reward or wages in the same context. We should remember here that Luke’s choice of words IS charis and that this Greek word IS most always rendered as grace and, where it IS NOT, it likely should be. There IS a doctrinal idea of grace however that prevents the proper understanding of it as the reward, a reward that we should more clearly see in the words of the Master according to John above; it is the misapplied and misunderstood words of Paul that have allowed many to see grace as that it comes to men as a “free gift” and while this may be True globally as in the Advent of the Christ, individually there IS NO such provision. Both Matthew and Luke relate their ideas on the words of the Master on Love which IS here as Love for others; we read:
- Luke shows us Jesus words as: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:31-35).
- Matthew frames this for us as: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” (Matthew 5:44-47).
It IS in the combination of these ideas from Jesus that we should be able to discern the reality of grace; in the words from John’s Gospel in regard to Love for God and for the Master and in the synoptics as that Love for ALL others. We should understand however that this latter Love IS evidence of the former idea of Love…that our Love for God IS shown by our Love for “one another“; our Love for the neighbor, the brother and the stranger who qualifies as both. The Apostle John shows us this in his own words saying: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen. And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21). There IS NO way to separate these ideas of Love for God and for the Christ from Love for one’s neighbor or, in the True intent of the words, Love for everyman.
And, in the True understanding of the intent of these sayings from the Master, we should be able to see the reality of grace; that it IS the reward, the wages if you will, for Love which IS the essence of keeping His words. And we should be able to see the greater reality of grace as the Presence of God and of Christ in the conscious Life of the man in the world who can so Love. We see this idea of His Presence in the Master’s words that He “will manifest” Himself to such a man and that we, the Father and the Son, “will come unto him, and make our abode with him“; this IS the Presence of God in the Life of man and this IS that same realization and revelation of such, the revelation of divinity, that IS grace. this IS the ability to DO in this world and to attain evermore grace: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). If we can see that grace IS the ability that comes to a man in the revelations and realizations of Truth, then we can understand that this IS the very nature of things spiritual and that it IS the activity of these spiritual things as the “fruit of the Spirit” that IS the reality of the Holy Spirit….the Power to DO, the Power that IS expressed in Love and in keeping His words. And, ALL of this IS covered under the Truth of the Presence of God in the conscious Life of the man in the world; a Presence that comes from our focus upon that very Presence as it exists in the reality of the Soul….the Christ and the God Within….the True man. It IS the Presence of God that IS grace and it IS the Presence of God that IS the reality of the Holy Spirit….one side of this IS the realization of His Presence and the other side IS the expression of this by the consciousness of the man in the world. 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 the verses from John’s Gospel which we cite above, we should see the Truth of the Presence of God in the way that the Master tells us that “and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him“. If we can see this as a single thought, that they operate together and that this idea of Love IS not the attractions and the attachments nor even the devotion that it IS ofttimes seen as, we can see that this sense of Love IS the grace given; and, that this grace IS His Presence as He shows Himself to the consciousness of the man in the world. This IS the reality of this idea of manifest: that what DOES exist becomes apparent and can be seen which, in this case of spiritual things, we should see as the realization of His Presence. The view here IS hidden behind Jesus’ words and this IS the reality of the Master’s parabolic way of speaking….that He will manifest Himself to the man who Loves Him, the man “that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“, IS NOT some magical thing but the normal course of spiritual Life and the action of this normal course IS in direct proportion one’s degree of focus and keeping His words. Keeping His words IS the part that must be played by the man in the world who has awakened to the thought that there IS more than this carnal presence in the world; it is this awakening that brings a man to Repentance and it IS Repentance that sets the new course for the man as an aspirant and then as a disciple; it IS in the course of Transformation that the measure of grace in a man’s Life increases and this IS the growth of the Kingdom Within. And we should not be confused here….the Kingdom DOES NOT grow but the realization by the man of that Kingdom Within grows as DOES its influence upon the carnal Life. And, if we can see that this Transformation results in the outward display of this grace in Love and in keeping His words, we can see the underlying reality to the Master’s words from Matthew and Luke that we cite above. We can see that grace IS the reward for the expression of Love in an endless spiral of ever more grace until we come “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” Again, this expression of Love and this Way of man in keeping His words IS the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the man who has realized the Presence of God to some degree and in this we can see the idea of the Holy Spirit as the activity of the Christ and the God Within through the Life of the man in the world.
The same ideas come through in the explanatory statement that the Master offers in response to Judas’ question regarding the idea of the manifestation of Jesus to those “that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” and we should note the way that Judas frames his question as he asks “how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us” (John 14:22). We should see here how that Judas affirms that he and the other Ten are among them that Love Him and keep His words, and, while this IS NOT in doubt, we should see the deeper context that they DO NOT completely understand and in this we should try to see that they ARE NOT yet “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” as Paul frames this for us. In this we get a greater feel for the degree of realizations that IS involved and we should understand that each of these Eleven IS likely at a different place upon the Path to the Kingdom of God. The Master’s answer IS clear, that for the man that Loves Him and keeps His words there IS the reward of grace, that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“; it IS in the abiding that we find His Presence, or rather the Presence of the Father and the Son. We should remember here that the Greek word mone that IS here rendered as abode IS rendered as mansions in the second verse of this chapter and that in both of these uses we should see the Presence of God. Here in this saying, a saying that IS intended to clarify the previous idea in answer to Judas’ question, we see the combined Presence of the Father and the Son, the Presence of God and of Christ.
This IS the reality of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world; there IS NO separation nor IS there any distinction from the perspective of the man who receives such grace….this IS simply God. The distinctions are based in the ability of the human personality to comprehend the Truth of God in a meaningful way and it IS to this end that the Master frames God as the Father from the beginning. It IS in the idea that the Presence of God can be present in the body of a man that brings us the reality of the Son as this embodiment, as the Love of God, the Love that IS God, being expressed through the form of a man in the world. And, as we discussed in the last essay, the Christ IS this Love and Jesus IS the expression of this Potency of God which we call the Anointing….the Presence of God in form. And so we learn from the Master of our own ability to be this same expression as He says that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12); can we understand that it IS this very expression of divinity that IS the “greater works“; that this expression can come through the Life of the man who can come “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ“.
Finally, we should see the total Unity of these Aspects of God in the reality of the Holy Spirit; that as the Father and the Son are the Presence of God within the Life of the man who Loves Him and keeps His words, so the Holy Spirit IS with them as the Power of DOING in the Life of the disciple in the world. This IS the reality of our expression of “greater works” and of ALL things spiritual which must begin and end in Love. Can we see how that the Holy Spirit IS the Love of God, it IS the Spirit of God which IS Love, active in the Life of the man and thereby active in the world of men? Can we see how that it IS this Spirit, this Power of the Godhead that flows through the disciple, that DOES, that heals and that Loves as God Loves? Can we see that it IS this Power of the Spirit, and ONLY this Power of the Spirit, that can Truly move the mountain or cast the sycamine Tree into the sea, and can we see that it IS this Power of the Spirit that frees us from “the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21)….which IS the Unity of the expression of the man with the God and the Christ Within.
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.
