ON LOVE; PART DCCCXC
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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)
We should try to remember and to understand that while most doctrines teach that the gospels and the epistles ARE the inerrant and the infallible word of God, the greater reality IS that these words ARE written by men and as such they ARE the inspired thoughts and attitudes of the apostles as these are filtered through their individual personalities in the world. From our perspective the gospels and the epistles ARE the reflection of the ability of each of the writers to have revelation from their own Soul, their own God and Christ Within, and to express these realizations according to their own several ability….that IS, to express it through the personality according to each man’s own measure of such realization which IS proportionate to the measure of the Presence of God in each one’s Life. It IS one’s conscious realization of this Presence, and ALL that this divine nature brings with it, that becomes his expression to the world and it IS by the increasing measure of this that one comes to the fullness and the Truth of a Son of God.
As we have ofttimes discussed, Jesus came among us with this fullness which the Apostle Paul shows us saying “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); it IS left to each man to achieve this state of Perfection where the expression of the personality in the world IS the fullness of the unction, the anointing, which IS the Soul of everyman. Here, while we can likely see that Paul and the Apostle Peter had reached such a fullness of expression by way of the scriptures themselves which tell us of their ability to DO such “greater works” as the Master promises, we DO NOT KNOW at what stage of this process these men were when they wrote their epistles….we DO NOT KNOW what measure of their personality, their own carnal thoughts and attitudes, may be reflected in what they write. Our Point here IS simply to say that the inspiration that IS found in the gospels and the epistles of the New Testament IS clear and that in the varying approaches to Truth that each writer takes we can see what was most important to each; in this we can see some modicum of personality at play in the expression of each writers inspired realization of Truth.
As we view the more global reality of revelation and realization which ARE the grace of God in one’s Life, we can see the deeper ideas of Truth which IS expressed by the apostles and understand that ALL of them have the same intent, which IS to open a window for the reader, a window into his own Soul through which such revelation of the Presence of God can flow. Perhaps each of the writers way of expressing the Truth IS intended to attract a certain type of personality in the world and while this IS an apparent result, we DO NOT KNOW if this was the intent. Overall, they ARE saying the same things; using different words and ideas they ARE each reaching out to the disciple and the aspirant who will read their words and we should try to remember here that each of these epistles IS written to men who had some measure of focus upon these things of God. Here, while doctrines portend that these epistles are written to the average Joe, the common believer, the reality IS that they ARE written for the encouragement of men who had come to be aspirants and disciples of His Truths. It IS these persons who can understand the depth of their words and NOT merely the varying interpretations of them by men who DID NOT see the fullness of the Truth; men who interpreted the spiritual words and ideas into carnal terms.
As we often write, the doctrines of men ARE the creations of men who, seemingly for convenience and carnal benefit, interpreted the gospels and the epistles in ways that allow for the carnal life of men to continue undeterred by the Truth. While this IS NOT likely the conscious purpose of those who formulated the doctrines, this IS the apparent result as men DID NOT and yet DO NOT see the fullness of the force of the Master’s words and the underlying Truths that He teaches and which ARE amplified and clarified by His apostles. These men were blinded by their own strongholds, by their own carnal thoughts and attitudes, however pure they may seem to be. And the history of the Church IS the evidence of this; a history that largely ignores the Master’s words and finds convenient alternatives in the misunderstood and misapplied words of the apostles. And it IS in this light that we see our own view: that it IS much of the doctrines of the churches that ARE become the strongholds of men, many of whom deem themselves to be Christs but who, at the same time, DO NOT have the reality of His words in their hearts. While this may seem a harsh assessment, we should try to see the reality of Jesus own words against the doctrinal interpretations of them as well as the words of His apostles which are intended to clarify and amplify but are allowed to stand alone and out of context.
And so it IS left to the individual man to find his own place in the grace of God, a place that IS NOT taught by doctrines but one which IS revealed by his own Soul, his own Christ and God Within. It IS as this realization of Truth becomes the motivating factor in the Life of a man that he will more clearly see his own spiritual reality and this realization IS found as the prompting to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the prompting by the Inner man to the personality to see and heed the things of God. ALL men ARE prompted by their own Inner Truth but few hear this over the clamor of daily living as a man in this world; it IS perhaps to counteract this clamor that we have such things as ARE offered by the scriptures, and in this we can see doctrines and churches as playing a part. Some men DO hear the call of Truth but there ARE few who Truly heed that call which IS universal and which crosses ALL man made barriers of religions and doctrines….ALL things that separate men in this world. Others are trapped, held prisoner by what they believe as men, held prisoner by doctrines, by preconceived notions of Life and God, by the illusions and the glamour of Life in form. It IS these things that we see as the strongholds that Paul speaks of; we repeat his 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).
We should note here how that the apostle himself was such a prisoner as he saw the Master’s work and knew of His teachings but was, at the same time, beholden to his own sense of doctrine….the doctrine of the Pharisees in which he refused to see the Master’s message and His Truth. Here, while it IS easy to see how that Paul’s own strongholds of religion through the doctrines and the traditions of the Jews IS that “high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“, it IS NOT so easy to see one’s own strongholds which play in much the same way as Paul’s as they keep men separated from the True “knowledge of God“. It IS the illusions, and the glamour of them, that form these strongholds and which ARE become a mans prison, and it IS these same strongholds that prevent a man from seeing the Truth. This IS a difficult situation for men and it IS this that we should try to see in these next words form the apostle; although he IS writing to men who better understand these things, his words can become “the weapons of our warfare ” for ALL men who seek to stand against such things as he speaks which we discussed in some detail in the last essay. It IS vanity, it IS illusion and glamour, which offer men the ways of the world as the best road in Life and this IS Paul’s “wiles of the devil“; this IS the principalities and the powers and the “rulers of the darkness of this world“, and ALL of these come to us through our own carnal personality as we attend to our own sense of self in this world; a sense of self that IS contrary to the Master’s words. We repeat Paul’s words 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),
Paul tells us about “the whole armour of God” and while this armour IS defensive, it IS also offensive in that this IS the weapon that DOES “the pulling down of strong holds“. It IS this armour that allows a man to stand, to stand firm “against the wiles of the devil“, to stand firm “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places“….to stand firm against the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world. We should see here how that the weapons and the armour ARE much the same, how that it IS the Truth and righteousness that overcome the strongholds, how that it IS the “gospel of peace“, which IS the Truth of Love, that brings the revelation of the Presence of God and how that it IS in this revelation that we find the faith, the KNOWING, which can overcome ALL that comes against a man…..both from within and from without. It IS the man who has this armour, who has these weapons at the ready, who finds the reality of salvation which IS his own deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). Finally the apostle tells us that we should take to ourselves “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” and here we should understand that to take such sword IS to wield it and to be in accord with it…. with His words, with “the word of God“.
And this takes us back to the Master’s own words that reveal to the man whose focus IS upon the things of God that it IS by keeping His words, by wielding that “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God“, that we achieve His Presence in Life, which IS the realization of ALL that Paul IS saying. It IS in keeping His words that by measure we can Truly stand. It IS in the spirit of Paul’s words to the Galatians that we should see the reality of Jesus’ admonition that we keep His words; that it IS by this that we attain the realization of the Presence of God. It IS here that we find the spiritual Presence in conscious Life and it IS here that we can Truly see ourselves according to the apostle’s words saying: “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). We read the Master’s words again saying:
“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).
We should note here that Paul’s words to the Galatians above ARE a continuation of his words to them regarding the “fruit of the Spirit“. It IS this fruit that IS the expression of the realization of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in the world. It IS in this expression that we Truly “live in the Spirit” and this expression IS the very nature of the man who DOES “walk in the Spirit“. In these words from Paul we can again see how that ALL these spiritual ideas intersect and how that ALL carry the same meanings and objectives which ARE the Presence of God in one’s Life and the expression of that Presence to the world of men. And it IS this expression that IS the end result of ALL of our efforts and ALL of the grace that comes into the Life of the man whose focus IS upon God. This IS Paul’s message as he shows us the breadth of the carnal ideas that ARE contrary to the words of the Master, the word of God, and it IS unfortunate that so many of these words and ideas are misrepresented and cleverly defined so as to allow men to conduct their lives according to the ways of the world. This IS much the same as the mistaken ideas regarding the Master’s words on treasure and mammon and especially on Love. It IS men who say that such spiritual things CAN NOT be DONE according to Jesus words and it is men who then devise definitions and doctrines to support their views. This is the meaning of Paul’s words to the Galatians: that they NOT DO those things that ARE contrary but rather that they express the Truth and the Love, that they express the “fruit of the Spirit“…..it IS in so DOING that we “walk in the Spirit” and become “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
We close today with a fuller view of Paul’s words to the Galatians followed by our selection from John’s Gospel which IS pertinent in ALL of our discussions and which we will again try to get back to in the next essay:
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affectionsa and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-25).
“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 |
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
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
