IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1186

ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXV

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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).

As we continue with our ideas on Love and grace which IS the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world, a Presence that IS afforded to the man who can focus upon the things of God and, based in this focus, strive toward that strait gate and the reality of discipleship, we must perforce continue with our understanding of the reality of keeping His words as the gateway to deliverance if we can use that word here. Our view of this idea of deliverance IS in the context of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans which we use often to show the state of True Discipleship and of being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and we should see this idea as well as that its reality IS the same as what the Apostle John shows us in his epistle. As we discussed in the last essay, it IS in the combination of these ideas that we should understand the reality of spiritual Life, that in overcoming the world as the Master tells us saying “I have overcome the world” (John 10:30) we have our destiny as men whose focus is upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True; and we have the fulfilling of Jesus’ promise to us that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). In this sense of overcoming the world we have but one of “the works that I do” and perhaps one of the most important and while this idea may not be seen as a work of the Master, it most surely IS….the sense of overcoming IS the message that we must take from His example.

It IS in this way of overcoming that we should look at Paul’s words that tell us that we “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). And, when we can see this in conjunction with John’s words saying “let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God” and then that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world“, we can understand the deeper meanings, the deeper revelations, of this idea of deliverance. Here, if we can see this reality of deliverance, we can see as well the Truth of salvation as this word IS used by the Master and His apostles and we can KNOW that our salvation is a part of our Life in this world where we stand as disciples who have accomplished this, disciples who have “overcometh the world“. In John’s words we find that this IS the result of Truly being “born of God” which, when we equate this to the Master’s words to Nicodemus on being “born again” should show us the equivalence of overcoming the world and attaining the Kingdom of God. Here then we can see more clearly how that these ideas MUST be accomplished by the man in this world. And we should see further into these ideas as well; we should try to understand the reality of these things as the work of the Spirit of God, as the work of the Christ and the God Within the Life of the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. It IS this man that has the Presence of God, His Spirit if you will, at work in his Life and this we call the Holy Spirit; this we see as the activity of the God Within in the world of men and the overcoming as the Truth of keeping His words and Loving ALL men equally. We must see here as well that it IS in the growth of this Presence, the growth of the grace and Love of God in the Life of the man in the world, the growth of his revelation and realizations of Truth, that carry the man along the Path on his journey toward this deliverance, this salvation and his realization of the fullness of the Kingdom of God. While this IS a gradual growth that IS dependent upon each man’s measure of grace and ability to shed worldly thoughts, attitudes and actions, it IS the end point of this realization and the fullness of His Presence that the Master shows us in His words to His apostles, men who had already traveled far along the Path to God. We read again:

“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. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto 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” (John 14:21-24).

Regardless of how we call the Truth of His Presence, whether we call this grace, the Love of God, our own realizations and revelations of Truth, we should understand that these ARE ALL the same and that they are afforded to men by measure and according to their ability to express these things in this world of men. And this IS the Master’s point in showing us the quid pro quo, the reciprocal exchange, of our keeping His words and the revelation of His Presence; while there IS much doctrinal denial of this Truth, this IS rather clearly stated in His words. This IS a reality that is seen evermore clearly as one travels upon the Path to the Kingdom of God, a Path of revelations and realizations of Truth, and it IS in this way that we should understand His words saying: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). It IS here that we come back again to Love as the KEY to these realities of Life which we find at the heart of Jesus teaching and the center of the law as the Great Commandments that we cite again at the top of our essay. And His apostles place this idea of Love at the center of their words as well as we read in Paul’s words saying “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10) and his words to the Galatians that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). The Apostle James shows us the Master’s added meaning and the breadth of this Love, how that this IS offered to ALL men equally; this we read as: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:8-9). And, while the Apostle Peter’s words on Love may not be so specific, those from John ARE as we read again from his epistle:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. 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. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we now that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 4:7-5:5).

John shows us much the same relationships between keeping His words and His Presence as he tells us clearly that “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments“. While it IS up to the reader to connect the dots in John’s words, this endeavor IS NOT so difficult for the man who can understand the Master’s intent; in the apostle’s words that relate this Love to His commandments we have the reality that “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us” and it IS in this idea that we have the Presence of God in the same way as we find in the Master’s words saying “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“. And John DOES NOT leave us wanting for the fullness of his ideas here as he tells us as well that “this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also“. While doctrines choose to parse the Master’s words and those of the apostle, NOT to find deeper meaning but to find meanings that are more affable to men in this world, we should be trying to discern their intent which for us IS the reality of keeping His words and the highlighting of this endeavor in Love for ALL men. This IS the point simply made by Paul above as he tells us that “love is the fulfilling of the law” and of the Apostle James who shows us that this Love IS universal and offered to ALL equally; it IS the endpoint of this idea of having NO “respect to persons” that we find in Jesus’ own words on how that we should Love father, mother, children and others who are close to us. Here we should again remember that dividing line between Love as the Master intends this in the depth of the Golden Rule and the reality of the Great Commandments, and that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world.

These ideas on Love ARE separate entities, separate realities, and the gist of the Master’s message on Love, a message that IS strongly echoed by His apostles, we should see the Truth that although we may have this emotional and mental attraction to others, to parents, to wives and to children, we MUST have as well this unequivocal sense of Love as it exists in the Truth of GoodWill for ALL men. In this idea we should see the reality of addressing ALL with the same sense of respect and GoodWill and accord ALL men whatsoever we would accord to ourselves and our ‘Loved ones’ in this world. This IS the True sense of Love that IS found in the reality of the first of the Great Commandments on Love for God; this IS the entirety of our expression of Love and we must remember also the Master’s Truth that this sense of Love is measured by our expression of it to ALL men. While the Truth of this Love IS captured for us in the words of John above, a greater sense of this can be found in his words that tell how that we MUST show this Love to ALL men in ways that are quite contrary to the normal view of Life; we read: “whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:17). In this we have the idea that men may have, and that some may have more than others; this IS however mitigated by words that find the True gist of the Master’s words from the Sermon on the Mount. Here we DO NOT see that the brother in need must be destitute or a beggar but merely that he has a need for whatsoever another may have and it IS in the fullness of the Love that the Master teaches us that we should give as for the disciple the things of the world have NO True importance.

Jesus tells us this in His own parabolic way which varies a bit between the presentation by the Apostle Luke and the presentation offered by Matthew. In both however the giving IS real and complete and we should try to see that this giving IS NOT only of substance but it IS of the totality of worldly considerations. It IS the True disciple who can realize these Truths and who can accomplish these things that the Master teaches us; it IS the True disciple who can accept the Master’s words as they are intended; it IS the True disciple who can discern these Truths. Here we should see the more graphic example of Paul’s words saying “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). Here we should see that the idea of the man who IS the “natural man” DOES NOT understand the Master’s point on giving nor the ideas that are intended by John above; the “natural man” protects his resources and measures how, to whom and what he will give while the True disciple simply gives. It IS in this light that we should see these ideas from the Master:

• “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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” (Matthew 5:39-44).
• “I say unto you which hear , Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again . 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 6:27-35).

It IS the combination of ALL of these ideas that ARE the fullness of the Master’s words, a fullness that IS not seen by the man whose focus IS upon the self and the self in the world and we should see here how that this is likely one of the last parts of the disciple’s Life that to be fully realized and accomplished.

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