ON LOVE; PART MLXI
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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).
Our last essays focused on Jesus’ words from the end of the Sermon on the Mount and in the last essay we tied His ideas on the Golden Rule, the strait gate and the fruit of the teacher and the false teacher together with the Apostle Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” and his list of “the fruit of the Spirit“. In the Golden Rule, which we should see as a descriptive aid to understanding Love as agape, we have the primacy of the relationship of man to man according to the Great Commandments; in the strait gate we have the reality of “the way, which leadeth unto life” which IS founded in the Great Commandments and, in the fruit, in the “good fruit“, of the teacher of Truth we have the greater Truth of the Great Commission so called: that His disciples should be teaching men, according to His words, “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).
These words from the Master that close out His Sermon ARE NOT seen in this light by the doctrinal church and the relationship between the “evil fruit” as the “the works of the flesh” ARE NOT understood to be the fruit of the false teacher who takes on the role of the “false prophets“. This IS missed by way of the vanity, by way of the illusion and the glamour that IS Life in this world; this IS missed by men who DO NOT see the relevance of Paul’s words saying that one should NOT “think of himself more highly than he ought to think” in their own lives. Men may believe themselves to be disciples, saints and even apostles but they ARE NOT save they ARE in accord with Jesus’ words and especially those that define the disciple. We should note that neither the word saint nor the word apostle appear in the gospels; Jesus ONLY uses the idea of the disciple. When we combine this with the way that the word disciple IS NOT used in the epistles and that saint and apostle ARE used in the epistles, we should be able to sense the overlapping use of these ideas.
The point here IS that men DO purport themselves to be disciples, saints and apostles while they ARE teaching and proclaiming their several doctrinal views of Truth rather than the clear Truths that ARE presented by Jesus. It IS these same men who have NOT found the “the strait gate“; it IS these men who DO NOT understand the reality that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it“; they rather see themselves as on the narrow and the difficult way without DOING as the Master shows us which IS to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. These words follow closely upon this selection which we repeat again and ARE a part of our trifecta of spiritual reality.
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:12-20).
NO one wants to believe that these ideas on the “false prophets” can pertain to them but the Truth of this IS ever found in everyman’s ability to “bring forth good fruit“, which IS the essence of the right understanding of “the fruit of the Spirit“, or the more negative ideas that the Master presents as “evil fruit” which IS the essence of the right understanding of “the works of the flesh“. Men DO NOT understand that the great divide of good and evil IS between the carnal and corrupt ideas of men, ideas that ARE focused on the self and the things of the self, and the spiritual ideas which ARE those that ARE in accord with the Great Commandments. Carnal, corrupt, evil and sinful thoughts and attitudes ARE NOT necessarily evil in men’s measurement; they ARE NOT necessarily the gross offenses that men commit against others; carnal, corrupt, evil and sinful thoughts ARE merely those that ARE the product of that vanity and ARE then the result of the glamour and the illusion in which men live.
But men DO NOT see this Truth as it IS easier to see oneself as above and better than the man below who may commit some gross offence even if it is a self-consuming offense of a sexual nature. And here IS the rub; most ALL men DO hide their innermost carnal, corrupt, evil and sinful thoughts and attitudes as they hide their own self-consuming ones and while they may KNOW that “God knoweth your hearts“, many yet believe that they can hide as Adam tried to DO. While this IS so; while men DO scheme within themselves to hide their carnal proclivities, they DO NOT see the deeper ideas that ARE presented in scripture. It IS these ideas that show us that ALL offenses, the proclivities of carnal men as well as those deeper ideas that ARE simply contrary to the Great Commandments, ARE “the works of the flesh” which meaning covers ALL; we read Paul’s words again:
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 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 affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).
We have spent much time analyzing “the works of the flesh” and the right understanding of the Greek words that Paul uses here. We have spent much time showing how that the common understanding of these words DOES NOT show the True intent of the apostle and how that they can be broken down into three sections. One being those thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the first of the Great Commandments which we repeat at the top of every essay; next being those thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the second of the Great Commandments and which form the major part of the “evil fruit” which we read of in Jesus’ words above. Finally there ARE those thoughts and attitudes that ARE founded in men’s believing that they ARE saints and disciples and teachers of the Truth and which ideas extend to thoughts of personal spiritual accomplishment which ARE yet unfounded.
What then IS the “evil fruit” of the “false prophets“? It IS simply teaching ideas that ARE NOT in accord with His words, ideas that DO NOT teach others to keep one’s focus upon the Godhead and off of the self, ideas that ARE factious and divisive and which feed the hatreds and the wraths that have prevailed in Christianity since the beginning. In the end this “evil fruit” of the “false prophets” IS ALL ideas that DO NOT show the fundamental reality of the trifecta which IS simply to keep His words and to strive toward this as the ONLY True goal in the lives of men; a goal that IS obnubilated by the illusions and the glamours of Life which ARE perpetuated in the doctrines of men. We read the trifecta again:
- 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).
In his words on Wisdom the Apostle James shows us the reality of what to believe as Truth versus what IS false and his words closely align with Paul’s words which we have been studying. James tells us about the Wisdom that IS from above and compares this to the wisdom that IS NOT, that wisdom that IS of the world. ALL that has as its objective the Life of a man in this world IS carnal and while this IS a difficult thing for men to see clearly, this difficulty IS NOT because of a lack of Truth in scripture; it IS because men DO NOT want to see the Truth. It is their preference to live in the illusion and the glamour that IS perpetuated by their nurturing and indoctrination that IS the single cause that prevents men from seeing and from seeking the deeper Truths that ARE laid out in Jesus’ words and the words of His apostles. James tells us:
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:13:18).
Just as we have in our words from Paul on the “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit“, there IS much misunderstanding regarding the intent of James’ words and this IS evidenced by the way that his words ARE translated. This we have discussed several times in our posts but here today we ARE looking at the apostle’s words as they relate to the Master’s words on “false prophets“. The True prophet, the True teacher, must perforce teach the Truth which IS ever “the wisdom that is from above“. James shows us the difference between the sources of Wisdom and of wisdom and we should understand here that that “the wisdom that is from above” has naught to say about the Life of the man in this world; it ONLY relates to the interactions of a man with his fellowman which IS to live in accord with the second part of the Great Commandments.
This “wisdom that is from above” IS not different from “the fruit of the Spirit” in its intent nor IS the wisdom that “descendeth not from above” different from “the works of the flesh” and we should note again that the word that IS rendered as strife here IS that same idea of factions and divisions that we find in Paul’s list. In Jesus’ caution that we should “Beware of false prophets” we should be able to see that His intent IS more than simply pointing out the evident “ravening wolves” but the more subtle ones as well; His caution IS that men discern the Truth from the false teaching….it IS ONLY the Truth that enables men to awaken the Truth that IS within. In regard to the Golden Rule, the strait gate and the “false prophets“, we should understand that we ARE speaking about Jesus words and while the context IS from the Apostle Matthew, we ARE seeing his thoughts on how that these ideas ARE related.
The Apostle Luke offers us his view of the strait gate without Jesus’ words on the “false prophets” but he DOES give us yet another view of the result of their teaching. Both apostles show us those who seek to enter the Kingdom and while Matthew gives us a rather straightforward view of how those who DO NOT “the will of my Father which is in heaven” will NOT enter, Luke gives us a parable. Many combine the idea of the strait gate and the parable that follows from Luke’s Gospel and while we DO NOT see that they ARE the same thought, a deeper message can be found in either view. Jesus words saying “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” ARE His answer to the question asked saying “are there few that be saved?” (Luke 13:24, 23) while the parable offer us largely the same ideas as DOES Matthew’s view of who will NOT.
But before we go into these ideas that ARE rather clearly presented by both Matthew’s and Luke’s framing of the Master’s words we should complete our ideas on the way that the whole idea of the “false prophets” gives a deeper meaning to the whole of the ideas of salvation and entering “in at the strait gate“. There IS ONLY Truth in the reality that IS the things of God and there IS ONLY falsehood in the things of the world as these relate to the things of God. We should remember here and understand that the things of God ARE NOT the things of the world; the things of God ARE the thoughts and the attitudes of men that ARE in accord with His words. It IS by striving to keep His words that men DO develop the thoughts and the attitudes that ARE in accord with His words and which ARE “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
When we can see these ideas together, we can then unlock the deeper Truths. His admonition IS to “Enter ye in at the strait gate” and it IS this idea that follows upon the Golden Rule which should identify for us just what that gate IS. Understanding that the gate IS agape and that the Golden Rule IS the defining quality of Love gives us the foundation for the next idea: that we “Beware of false prophets” and see them as those who DO NOT teach men to live according to His many words on Love. Jesus offers us the idea here of fruit and shows us that we can KNOW the teacher of Truth by the very fruit of the teaching and this idea of “good fruit” IS shown to us in the words of our trifecta….the “good fruit” IS found in teaching men to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
That the doctrines of men DO NOT see “the will of my Father which is in heaven” as the reality of keeping His words and as the Way of Truth and salvation ONLY adds to the plight of men in this world. When the ONLY spiritual teachers ARE NOT “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20) but ARE rather “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9), we can see the ever greater Truth in Jesus’ words saying that “few there be that find it“.
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.
