ON LOVE; PART DCCCXXV
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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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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 discussion on the Master’s words from the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, we should remember that our primary topic IS still grace and our defining of grace as the revelations and realizations of divine Truth as these come to men through the Presence of God and of Christ in one’s Life. We should remember and understand that ALL things that come from God ARE spiritual in nature and that it IS a man’s realization of divine Truth in one’s heart, one’s consciousness in the world, that IS the True reality of His Presence in one’s Life. In this view we should try to understand the deeper idea that the True man, the Soul, IS ever in the Presence of God and that the Soul IS the link if your will between divinity and the world; it IS from the Soul that men receive revelation and then the realization of the Truths and of the mysteries of Life. And it IS important to try to see the reality that IS presented by the Master and His apostles away from the doctrines of men which dilute and change much of the basic Truths of Life.
When we can understand that the Soul IS the Christ Within and the God Within each man and that this sense of God and of Christ ARE the basis for Life itself, that these ARE the Aspects of God Transcendent and that these ARE God Immanent, we can begin to see the deeper Truths of our own divine nature. It IS in this view that we must try to see the reality that each Soul IS part and parcel of the One God and that it IS this very nature of Life that IS referenced in the words of the Master and His apostles. It IS in this reality of Truths and mysteries that we must try to see the parabolic view that IS offered to men through His words, a view that IS carried forward in much of His apostles’ writing, and here we should try to understand the twofold approach that we discussed in recent essays. It IS to protect the very Truth and the mysteries from the carnal minds of men that the Master speaks in parables to the “natural man” and it IS to protect these same Truths that the Master shows His own apostles how that while His words to them are deeper in purpose and meaning than those offered to the “natural man“, that these too ARE parabolic as we read His words from our current selection below: “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father“.
It IS in this idea that we can better see the reality of the confusion that exists in the minds of the Eleven who DO NOT understand the deeper meanings of His words to them regarding the very nature of Jesus and of the Christ and their relationship to the Father; it IS in this reality that the Master answers the questions posed by Thomas and Phillip and we should try to see that even in Jesus’ answers there IS confusion….that they DO NOT see nor understand the deeper meanings. It IS in this that we find it unfortunate that men have come to believe that they DO KNOW His meaning and the deeper realities of the Truths and the mysteries that the Master so carefully covered. In the reality of His words to them saying that “whither I go ye know, and the way ye know“, we should understand that this IS True, that they DO KNOW; yet they ask because they DO NOT yet have the realization of this KNOWING. Nor do they have the revelation of the deep Truth that “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him“; this IS NOT yet theirs nor IS the True meaning of His words “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:4, 7, 6).
In these parabolic ideas that the Master presents to His Eleven, ideas that they DO NOT yet grasp, we have much of the confusion of the early church and much of the confusion that persists yet today. And much of this confusion IS based in the way that Jesus’s words are parsed as individual sayings rather than in whole of the Master’s thought as He continues with His discussion with them. It IS in the reality of the continuing discussion that we find the revelation of the Truth of the Holy Spirit as the very Presence of God that will come into their lives as the realization in their hearts of those ideas that will be revealed to them as they continue in His words in His absence. It IS in the reality of the continuing discussion that Jesus reveals their Truth, the reality that their being in His Presence has taken away their deeper realizations of Truth; deeper realizations that will come to them in the spiritual Presence of God and of Christ in their lives; it IS this Presence that IS the idea presented in these words that we have been repeating:
“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).
This IS the realization of the Presence of God in the Life of the man who will keep His words and here we should try to see that this DOES work out in the lives of the Eleven by measure in much the same way as it works our in the lives of ALL men. And while men have ever shown us that these ideas are separate, that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt are individual and separate entities according to many doctrines, the greater reality IS found in the progressive nature of the Master’s teaching to them. He tells them of the relationship between Himself as the Christ expressed in the Life of Jesus and the Father. He tells them that it IS in following the Ways of the Christ that the Truth IS found and that it IS in this Truth that the reality of Life IS shown, a reality that IS NOT different than that presented in His 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“. This IS the Presence of God and this IS the Spirit of Truth….this IS the Holy Spirit; this IS the reality that IS found hidden in the parabolic nature of His words to the Eleven. It IS in this that we should try to see the other part of what we see as the twofold approach; not that Jesus teaches the people in parable and His disciples in more revealing parables but that the combination of these two ideas IS set apart from the natural action of even the spiritual man in this world.
It IS as each individual IS ready that the revelations of Truth ARE realized and we should try to see this in the way that the lives of the apostles are presented to us in the gospels and in the Book of Acts. It IS some time after the death, resurrection and ascension of the Master that the Apostle Peter Truly comes into His own. When we can tie this idea to the fullness that He shows in keeping the Master’s words and DOING the Will of the Father, we can then see the operation of True spiritual discernment….we can see the reality that it IS by measure that men receive their individual sense of grace. And in this we can perhaps glimpse how that ALL men are “natural men” in some respects until they reach their own time of Perfection, their own fullness of which we read in Jesus Life that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). It IS in the reality that Jesus was born in this fullness, that the divine man that came among us as Jesus was able to express this fullness from birth while we must achieve this realization of our own divine nature, that we should read Jesus words to the Eleven, and to us through them, saying “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” (John 14:12).
This IS the Power of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world, the Power of one’s own realization of divinity. And this is the second part then of the twofold idea that the very Nature of God and of the Christ and the mysteries of Life itself are protected: that they ARE protected from the man who IS NOT yet ready to see the Truth. The man whose focus IS carnal sees little or none of the deeper realities of Life which come as revelations and realizations to the man who by measure IS keeping His words and here again we must come to see the reality that the very Presence of God in one’s Life IS these revelations and realizations and that these ARE the grace of God. And we should understand here as well that the very nature of the doctrines of men serves to protect these mysteries….that men whose focus IS upon the manifold doctrines that try to interpret the One Truth, will NOT see the deeper meanings and the deeper Truths.
And this brings us back to our selection from the sixteenth chapter of John’s Gospel where we read Jesus’ words on the nature of His teaching to the apostles. In the deeper ideas of “the time cometh“, in the individual ideas behind His words “At that day“, we should try to see the individual realizations that come to the Eleven in the absence of the Master. It IS this individual sense of the realization of the Presence of God in one’s individual Life that shows forth the measure of each man’s being in accord with the fullness of the Master’s words….with the fullness of Love which comes in one’s fullness of focus upon the things of God. In the end we must express the reality of the Great Commandments that we have repeated at the top of our essay and we should see here how that Peter comes to be able to achieve this Perfection and IS presented as our example of this great achievement. Peter IS held our for us as our own example of the Truth of discipleship and we should understand here how that he IS also among those to whom the Master speaks in proverbs or parabolic tone. Much on the Life of Peter can be found in our blog and there IS a rather complete view in In the Words of Jesus part 311. We repeat our current selection:
“These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold , the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:25-33).
While much of doctrine sees the Master’s words here in the idea of the Pentecost, the greater reality IS found in the volume of His words regarding the apostles’ realization of the Presence of God in their lives. It IS their individual sense of greater revelation which comes to them in His absence that IS the Master’s topic in the many ways that He portrays this Presence of God. It IS in Jesus’ first mention of the idea of keeping His words as the KEY idea for expressing one’s Love for God that He promises them the Holy Spirit and while the translations and the interpretations of His words break His thought apart, the greater Truth can be found in seeing the whole of His meaning and His intent as He leads them and us to our sayings above on this same Presence. And while this IS NOT understood by the Eleven who have shared so much with the Master, men today still insist that they have this key to Life and that it IS NOT in the idea that Jesus presents to us….that we keep His words.
In our view of the Master’s meaning and intent we see that He IS telling the apostles that there IS, in His leaving them, their opportunity to abide in the Truth of God; that while He IS leaving them in the physical presence that He will return to them as the Presence of God for those who continue in His words. It IS this Presence of God which comes to each of them by measure that prepares them for yet greater realization of His Presence and this IS the tone that IS set and which IS questioned by the apostles. In the idea that He shows them: that “whither I go ye know, and the way ye know“, they and we should see that as Souls, as the True and Inner man, that they KNOW but DO NOT yet realize this Truth and it IS in the Master’s answer that so many yet today CAN NOT see the deeper Truths behind the glamour that they have painted for themselves. As Jesus tells them that the way to the Father IS through Him, He also offers them confirming words to His earlier saying that “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) as He shows them that “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father“. We should see here how that the idea of believing, which He shows us saying “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake“, should show them that it IS “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:9, 11, 10) and that the extension of this believing IS that they keep His commandments?
And neither they nor we ARE left to wonder His meaning as He tells us ALL how that whatsoever He IS and whatsoever He DOES becomes their privilege and ours in the promise of “greater works“. Here in the idea of believing on Him as that they and we accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4, we find the reality of His Presence and His Promise; it IS in this reality of keeping His words that we should see that it IS the Presence of God in one’s Life that accommodates His words saying “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do” (John 14:13) and that it IS what we ask that can become our realization and our reality. Jesus continues here to define the reality of how that this works our in their lives and how that this believing on IS the reality of keeping His words; here again we must see the totality of Jesus’ thought and NOT the individual verses as He says:
“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:a I will come to you” (John 14:15-18).
Can we see the point here? Can we see how that this IS the reality of the Presence of God as offered to the Eleven and can we see how that Jesus alludes to the idea that this Presence IS and will be He Himself? And can we see how that the Master shows them that they will KNOW these things “At that day” of their own realization of Truth which we read in His further explanation of the very Presence of God saying “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). It IS here that Jesus shows them in most complete terms the Truth of the Presence of God as the reciprocal action in the Life of the man who keeps His words as we read above in those most important words that we have been repeating. And it IS after ALL of this explanation and more that we can see that they still DO NOT understand as we read in our last selection where the Eleven talk among themselves concerning the Master’s meaning and intent. It IS in their uncertainty that the Master shows them the parabolic nature of His teaching as we read in our selection above and it IS in their continued uncertainty that they answer him saying “now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God“.
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.
Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL and that it IS His Presence which a man realizes by measure as he begins his journey to the Kingdom of God. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)
From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.
The thought behind the idea above IS NOT unlike that which we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many essays; It IS in the closeness that Lord Tennyson shows us that we should see the idea that “God dwells in the inner part of every man” which we read in the previous Quote of the Day. For us this saying and the previous one show us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. Men may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn and to focus upon Him. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father“
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
