ON LOVE; PART MXXIII
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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 ended the last essay with some thoughts on the Apostle Paul’s words that follow upon the idea of being awake, words that give us yet another list that IS misunderstood in carnal terms. While the idea of being awake or of awakening DOES NOT enter into doctrinal Christianity in any large way, the reality of this idea IS such that it IS the gateway to ALL spiritual Truth. Without being awakened by the Truth that ever flows from one’s own Soul, a man will remain in that state of sleep where his only reality IS the illusion and the glamour, the vanity, of Life in this world. And when we can consider this state of sleep in the same way as we see the idea of death, we can then come to understand what it means to “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. There IS that same sense of duality in these words that we have in Jesus’ words which show that it IS the man who will lose his Life that will find his Life and this IS a duality of perspective, the duality of how one sees his own being.
We should try to see how that as a man focuses upon his carnal Life and self in this world, he IS asleep spiritually and we should understand that this carnal focus IS inclusive of ALL thoughts, attitudes and behaviors that ARE NOT in accord with the Master’s words of Truth and of Love. That one may follow his own doctrine DOES NOT awaken a man and we should see this in the example of the Life of the Apostle Paul who was asleep spiritually until that great awakening on the road to Damascus. The man whose focus IS yet carnal IS the man who IS asleep or dead from the perspective of the Soul and the fullness of the awakening of this man IS found in crucifying the flesh. While this man IS asleep or dead, it IS the reality of death that provides the awakening.
It IS the conscious act of the man to focus upon the things of God that IS the awakening and it IS in the fullness of this focus that he will “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“; it IS this man who then IS Truly “led of the Spirit“. The man who IS focused upon the things of God IS the man who IS striving to keep His words and it IS this man who IS awakened to the spiritual impulses that ARE the promptings of his True self, the Soul. This man IS spiritually alive in this world and IS in the process of DOING what the Master shows us in His words saying: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).
In the simplicity of this view of the duality of Life in this world so much IS missed by those who teach doctrines. What we should see here in the totality of the context IS that to save one’s Life, one’s Life in this world as a man, IS for that man to NOT “deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” but rather to keep on his own carnal course. Here this man loses the opportunity to the realize the True Life, the spiritual Life of the man focused upon the things of God. Conversely, it IS the man who will “lose his life for my sake“, the man who will forsake his Life in this world as a man which IS his carnal existence, will find his True Life and begin to live as one who IS “led of the Spirit“. This IS the True goal of everyman.
Doctrines DO NOT see this however and by example we go again to John Gill who tells us this: For whosoever will save his life….Whoever is desirous of preserving himself from troubles, reproaches, persecutions, and death; and takes such a method to do it, as by forsaking Christ, denying his Gospel, and dropping his profession of it; and by so doing, curries favour with men, in order to procure to himself worldly emoluments, honour, peace, pleasure, and life; shall lose it….he will expose himself to the wrath of God, to everlasting punishment, the destruction of soul and body in hell, which is the second death, and will be his portion; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake….that is, is willing to forego all the pleasures and comforts of life, and be subject to poverty and distress, and to lay down life itself, for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, rather than deny him, and part with truth; shall find it….in the other world, to great advantage; he shall enjoy an immortal and eternal life, free from all uneasiness and affliction, and full of endless joys and pleasures 8.
What we should see in Mr. Gills commentary IS based in the depths of doctrine and in this there IS NO view of the essential duality that IS offered in Jesus’ words, a duality that IS missed in the more singular idea of Life as the man in this world rather than the Soul. This duality IS NOT missed by ALL however; in the Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible, the authors see this in two ways. The first, from Matthew’s Gospel, shows a more carnal theme which IS unlike Mr. Gills; we read: For whosoever will save–is minded to save, or bent on saving. his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake “A suffering and dying Messiah liketh you ill; but what if His servants shall meet the same fate? They may not; but who follows Me must be prepared for the worst”8. This interpretation misses the entirety of the point that Jesus makes.
In their commentary on a previous passage from Matthew and on the above words from Luke’s Gospel, the authors tell us: will save–“Is minded to save,” bent on saving. The pith of this maxim depends on the double sense attached to the word “life,” a lower and a higher, the natural and the spiritual, temporal and eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, or a willingness to make it, is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the other shall eventually lose both 8. In this idea there IS that sense of duality but the idea IS still tied to the carnal Life and misses the greater point; they miss as well the idea that Paul presents to us as he says that “that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“; and they miss the idea that the Master presents saying “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
When we can see that the whole of the idea of following Him IS found in the singular idea of Repentance, we can then understand how that this change of focus brings a man to “deny himself” and to “take up his cross daily” both of which ARE his looking away from the thoughts and the attitudes of carnal living and looking toward the Truth of the Kingdom of God and His Presence in one’s Life; it IS these that ARE ARE the rewards as we see in our trifecta. Again we should try to see the perceived difficulty in giving up ALL that one has KNOWN and at the same time understand that this giving up IS the Truth of Jesus’ words that tells us to “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on” (Matthew 6:25). It IS this idea that IS the Truth of faith which Paul shows us IS a “fruit of the Spirit” as we read again in the apostle’s words which begin with that same duality in the struggle between the carnal and the spiritual; we read:
“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 affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).
While doctrines DO NOT see, nor want to see, the Truth of this dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual and while so many believe that they ARE Christ’s according to the end of Paul’s words above, the greater reality IS that without one’s expression of this “fruit of the Spirit“, a man IS expressing the carnal aspects of Life “with the affections and lusts“. Here again we must understand that these “affections and lusts” ARE NOT only the gross and evil things that men may DO in this world but rather these ARE the totality of whatsoever keeps a man from the reality of the Great Commandments; these ARE ALL things that ARE NOT focused upon the Godhead but which feed the human psyche and human accomplishments. In this idea IS the greater reality of the last part of Jesus’ words on the duality of Life as He tells us “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?“.
While these words go to the reality of the duality of Life and the choice between “God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24), they ARE yet encumbered by the doctrinal view of the righteousness of the man who follows his doctrine, so many of which allow for one’s Life’s pursuits to be in the things of this world. They ARE encumbered as well by the doctrinal teachings on the Soul or, better, the lack of doctrinal ideas on just what the Soul IS. That we see the Soul as the real, the True man, most doctrinal teachings see the Life of the man here in this world as the real and True man; at death they see the departing aspect of Life as the fullness of the personality and see naught behind this. There IS much mystery in death and the varied reports from persons who where clinically dead but then were returned to their bodies only testify to the dreamlike state of the recently deceased.
If we can see that the personality, the mind and the emotions, ARE but a part of the existence of the flesh as most ALL scriptures DO indicate, we can then see how that these would continue after the physical body and understand that one’s ‘state of mind’ can be much the same as when that man was in his body. And this IS the greater Truth that should be seen in the reality of having the Presence of God in one’s Life; not the doctrinal presence but the Presence that comes to everyman who will follow the Master’s words as these ARE presented in our trifecta. For the man who keeps His words and for the man who Truly strives to DO so, it IS this Presence, this KNOWING, which accompanies the personality into the afterlife. It IS the faith of the man who Truly relied upon his realization of the Truths of Life and the Kingdom which will allow him to step out of the dreamlike state much as he was able to step out of his carnal focus in this world. This IS the Truth of the trifecta: that a man will come to realize the Truth and be freed from his carnal existence; and it IS this freedom that will carry over into whatsoever IS the afterlife. We read our trifecta again; the Master says:
- “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).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “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).
What we should try to see in Jesus words that a man whose focus IS upon the things of this world, which ARE the physical things along with the psychical things of the mind and the emotions, can “lose his own soul“; that it IS this focus which IS being pursued “in exchange for his soul“. Although there IS NO general awareness of this based in a man’s nurturing and indoctrination, the reality IS yet there and it IS this that IS the subject of so much of the words of the Master and His apostles. And while the Soul IS NOT understood in human terms and IS generally misrepresented in doctrines and other literature as the psychical man and as the personality, it can be better understood in trying to grasp the fullness of the duality that Jesus presents to us in his words on Life. While there IS but one Life, it IS at the same time dual. NOT dual in nature but dual in the way that it IS lived.
This IS a difficult subject to broach with clarity but the reality of it IS spread throughout the New Testament where we ARE made to see the dichotomy between the opposing poles of the Spirit and the flesh. While the Spirit IS Life and it IS one, it DOES give its livingness to the form for so long as the form can support it. It IS in this giving and in the nurturing, and the indoctrination, and in the resulting experience, that a man loses sight of his own Truth as his own consciousness is overwhelmed by the mind, the emotions and the physical nature. This IS the state of men’s lives until such time as one can see past these carnal aspects of Life and heed the prompting of his own Soul. It IS here that the Truth of faith comes into play and one must come to Trust his Inner Self, his Soul, the unction of the Apostle John, which leads him to the Truth of the Master’s words and away from ALL that he had KNOWN and thought to be that Truth.
It IS unfortunate that most ALL men DO NOT hear the prompting of their own Souls over the clamor of daily living and over the hold that their nurturing, indoctrination and experience have upon them. And, if nothing else, this is the lesson that we should take from the Apostle Paul’s story as he himself tells us in the Book of Acts.
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.
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 a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
