IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1250

ON LOVE; PART DCCCXXXIX

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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)

In the last essay we continued our discussion on what we see as the deeper idea that the Apostle Paul IS offering us in his teaching on the actions of the aspirant and the disciple in the world as regards his own strongholds. It IS in this idea that we should find a deeper understanding of spiritual discernment as well as a truer understanding of how that the thoughts and the attitudes of the man in the world must be an integral part of this discernment. While the apostle IS speaking to his readers regarding how that they should view those who speak against them, we should understand that this IS ever in a spiritual sense: that those to whom Paul refers ARE those who ARE saying that they KNOW the Truth of God and that they see that whatsoever Paul and his disciples ARE teaching IS carnal. This IS much the same as the Jews regarded Jesus, that His teaching was blasphemy and against the Truth of God which the Master brought before them in His words and in His actions….in His example of the divine nature to the world.

Paul’s message here IS that his readers DO NOT fight against these men as men would understand such warfare but to fight against their assertions with Truth and with Love which ARE those things which ARE “mighty through God” and it IS by their actions and by their example that they can dissuade others thoughts about them. In the subtlety of their example there IS the reality of “pulling down of strong holds” which ARE the thoughts and attitudes which ARE against them but in this the aspirant and the disciple has NO True role to play except in his own actions and words which will reflect their own thoughts and attitudes. It IS in this idea that the True follower of the Lord has little sway upon the thoughts and attitudes of others that we should come to see the reality of Paul’s teaching here in these words that are translated as being partly parenthetical by the King James translators and several others. Here while most translations and commentary show the apostle’s words as saying that it IS to the individual reader to correct the thinking of those who DO NOT agree as they use such ideas as “We demolish arguments“, it IS NOT within the purview of any man to change the thoughts and attitudes of another….one can only show another the Truth. We read the apostle’s words again saying:

“the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

It IS in the personal nature of this idea that we find the deeper idea that Paul IS conveying to his readers. He reminds them that their weapons ARE NOT carnal but ARE spiritual and as such these ARE Love and Truth; it IS these that come to them in the Presence of God and it IS these that ARE “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds“. Again, it IS in the reality that one has NO control over the thoughts and attitudes of another that we should clearly see the more personal message that Paul IS showing: that the weapons that a man has to work against thoughts and attitudes of others ARE NOT carnal, they ARE spiritual and we should see that to use such weapons the aspirant and the disciple MUST clearly see what IS spiritual from what IS carnal in his own self. It IS here that we find the reality of one’s own spiritual discernment and see that it IS within himself that we must be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“….everything that IS NOT in Love and Truth. Similarly, we should see the closing idea in the same way; that one IS to make sure that every thought, every attitude that he may hold IS according to the words of the Master.

Can we see the point here? Can we see how that Paul IS framing this idea to show the reader, the disciples of the Lord at Corinth, that it IS by the Truth and the Love of their words and their example that they fight against those who would be against them and that to find this sense of Love and Truth one must shed ALL that IS contrary….ALL imaginations and ALL thoughts that work against the Truth and the Love. And we should see the next idea on this from Paul as a clarification of what we ARE saying: that the individual, the reader, the aspirant and the disciple, should NOT ever even try to correct another until he himself IS corrected….until he himself IS seeing clearly and has some measure of True spiritual discernment with which to fight against his own carnal imaginations and thoughts. In this most misunderstood idea the apostle IS saying to the reader, who has just been shown the way to free himself from the carnal, that he should be “having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:6); here we should see that Paul;s intent IS to assure their own ability to overcome. It IS these imaginations and thoughts that can be easily confused with the Truth and, in the illusion and the glamour of living in this world, it IS ofttimes very difficult to discern that they ARE from the Soul, the Christ and the God Within, or from the personality in the world and therefore carnal.

It IS again at the intersection of spiritual ideas that we find the deeper reality which here should be seen; that it IS  the Presence of God which brings us the reality of “the things of the Spirit of God” which provides the spiritual discernment that IS necessary to KNOW the Truth….and this ALL comes to us by keeping His words. This IS the reality of the apostle’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 try to see and to understand that save for the Presence of God that comes by measure to the man who keeps His words, ALL else IS the imaginations and the thoughts of the “natural man“. We should try to see here how that it IS the doctrinal view of the apostle’s words that ARE the very strongholds against which Love and Truth must fight; we should try to understand that ALL men ARE the “natural man” until that time that one IS in accord with His words as it IS here that the Presence of God comes into his Life. This IS the reality of the man who DOES receive “the things of the Spirit of God” and it IS these things that ARE “weapons of our warfare“; these ARE those things that ARE “mighty through God“….these ARE Truth and Love.

And the apostle DOES leave us more to work with, more Truth with which we can see the reality of our struggle to overcome, our struggle to be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ“. As we have discussed, we have the reality of the “armour of God“; in this we should see the relationship to the reality of those spiritual thoughts and attitudes which ARE “mighty through God“; it IS this armour that enables us to stand against the ways of the world, against the illusions and the glamour, the vanity that Paul speaks of. These ARE the powers, these ARE the principalities and these ARE the “rulers of the darkness of this world” which we should see as spiritual darkness. In the apostle’s words here we should try to see the reality of “spiritual wickedness in high places” we should try to look away from the doctrinal assertions of devils and the like and see the deeper reality of those who DO have such imaginations and thoughts “and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. It IS against these very same ideas that we must stand in opposition to our own carnal selves and, by our words and our example, against those who may DO and teach what IS contrary to His words. We read the apostles words again saying:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11-17),

The idea of wickedness here IS combined with the idea of spiritual and it IS in the combination that we should try to understand this as that this “spiritual wickedness” IS: evil purposes and desires ², as the lexicon tells us; for us these ARE worldly purposes and desires, carnal if you will. While it IS difficult to understand the apostle’s reference to “high places” as this IS rendered in the King James, we should try to understand that the translator’s motivations were likely to dispel the idea that IS taken by other translations which render this as “heavenly places” or other like ideas. If we can consider that heaven IS “God’s throne” (Matthew 5:34) as the Master tells us, then we must understand the incompatibility of this rendering of this idea; if however we can see this idea through the Greek word ouranos which means heaven as it IS coupled with the Greek word epi, perhaps we can see the deeper idea of before heaven or against ² heaven which ideas are among the lexicon’s definitions for this preposition. Can we see here that the greater Truth in this idea that this IS worldly purposes and desires that ARE against the ideas of heaven….against the “throne of God“?

While this IS contrary to the common understanding and the doctrinal ideas which we can glimpse in John Gill’s commentary, there IS a greater reality in our view as it lends itself to the Truth of the Master’s words and the overall teaching of the apostles. Mr. Gill tells us: against spiritual wickedness in high places; or wicked spirits, as the devils are, unclean, proud, lying, deceitful, and malicious; who may be said to be in “high” or “heavenly places”; not in places super celestial, or in the highest heavens, in the third heaven, where God, angels, and saints are; but in the aerial heavens, where the power or posse of devils reside, and where they are above us, over our heads, overlooking us, and watching every advantage against us; and therefore we should have on our armour, and be in a readiness to engage them ⁸. Our reality here IS that such “spiritual wickedness” IS those “imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. Other commentaries take a similar view to Mr. Gills and while there IS yet much said in the doctrinal church regarding demons and devils and the influence of Satan in one’s Life, the greater reality of this ALL IS found in that deeply personal view that we have above. The greater reality IS found in the idea that men must, as individuals, use their measure of the Presence of God as the weapon which IS “mighty through God“; it IS this Presence that gives men the necessary spiritual discernment to KNOW the source of their own imaginations and thoughts as well as the imaginations and thoughts expressed by others who would try to influence them. It IS through the Presence of God that one can have “the things of the Spirit of God” by measure and these things ARE Love and Truth and, we should add here, this IS the reality of KNOWING God, the reality of “the knowledge of God“.

We should try to see here how that “the knowledge of God” IS an integral part of the Love and the Truth which come to a man who attains His Presence; that IS the man who has come to the realization of His Presence. This KNOWING, this Love and Truth, IS the product of such realization which come to a man who will keep His words and it IS in this that a man will have such a weapon that IS “mighty through God“. And this IS ever our subject and this IS the reality of the Presence of God that we have been discussing for many posts; a Presence that comes to a man as the reciprocal action, the most natural action, for the man who will keep His words. It IS by measure that men receive this Presence, this realization of His Presence, and it IS by measure that men increase in their ability to express this Presence by pulling down any strongholds and showing forth Love and Truth in words and in example to the world of men. This IS the reality of Jesus words that show us the way; words that we repeat here again:

“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. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 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 14:15-24).

As we close today we bring again the Apostle John’s words on KNOWING God which we should try to see in the same context which we see in Paul’s reference to “the knowledge of God” and we should also try to see the whole of the context of John’s words here in a similar light to Paul’s; we read:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 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” (1 John 4:1-8).

We leave again our sayings from John’s Gospel which we will try to get back to in the next essay:

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, 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. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:31-34).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	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.

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.

The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)⁵; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.

And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom