ON LOVE; PART MLXIII
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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 ideas on the intent of the Apostles Luke and Matthew as they repeated the Master’s ideas on those who merely believe that they ARE DOING based in their doctrinal view, those who feign DOING and the man who DOES “think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3). It IS to these that Matthew’s Gospel shows us the Life’s result for the man who DOES NOT “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” and it IS to these that Luke’s Gospel shows us what we will call the Parable of the Unopened Door. Matthew shows us that regardless of what one’s doctrinal accomplishments may be; regardless of one’s ability to prophesy, to “cast out devils” and to DO “wonderful works“, a man will NOT “enter into the kingdom of heaven” unless he “doeth the will of my Father“.
Luke offers us a parable that tells us the same thing; Jesus tells us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” in answer to the question asked “are there few that be saved?” (Luke 13:24), and then proceeds to give us the Parable of the Unopened Door. The door here IS the Way to God, the narrow Way to God, and the parable shows us that regardless of what men may believe IS True about their own ability to enter, that they CAN NOT unless they ARE Truly striving….striving to keep His words. In both of these presentations there ARE the same ideas and the same result for the man who will NOT strive to keep His words, a result that IS given to us in His words saying “depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity“. We read Jesus’ words and parable according to Luke and then our selection from the Sermon on the Mount according to Matthew:
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:24-27).
“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. 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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:12-23).
At the end of the last essay we discussed the idea of iniquity and we noted that the apostles each use a different Greek word that IS rendered as such. We noted as well that the underlying idea of both IS unrighteousness and when we consider that this IS the failure of men to focus upon the Godhead and to strive to keep His words, we will have a greater understanding of ALL that Jesus and His apostles teach us. Our selection from Matthew’s Gospel begins with the Golden Rule which IS a glorious picture of agape as this IS intended to be expressed in this world. The Master then goes on to teach us about the strait gate and while the succession of ideas IS likely purely Matthew’s, we should understand that he DID think that these thoughts from Jesus ALL belonged together. Here then the strait gate IS the Way of Love as well as it IS the Way to the Kingdom of God as there IS NO difference in these ideas; it IS when a man can Love as Jesus teaches us that He will find the Kingdom and, conversely, the man who has realized the Kingdom must per force Love as the Master teaches.
A simple look at world affairs, the interrelationships of men with their fellowman, and one’s own perspective regarding others, will most clearly show that there ARE few who have mastered the reality of agape as this idea IS intended to be expressed and in this IS the key to understanding the reality of the strait gate as this IS opposed by the wide gate and the broad way. Jesus then goes on to teach about “false prophets” and here we should try to see the idea of those who DO NOT teach the aforementioned Truths on agape and the Way to the Kingdom. We should try to see here how that men have always substituted their own sense of doctrine and that they have ever taught their own ideas over the Truth of Love and the Truth of the narrow and seemingly difficult Way to God. While it IS easy for us to look at most ALL doctrine as false teachings, we should be careful to understand that those who DO teach such ARE NOT ALL “ravening wolves” as this idea IS commonly understood.
What exactly ARE “ravening wolves“? The Greek word harpax which IS rendered here as ravening IS rendered as extortioner in its other uses in the King James Bible and it IS likely based in the negative connotation of the combination of these ideas that others have rendered this as cruel, vicious, ferocious and ravaging. Others however render halpax as hungry and as wild which ARE but the general character of the wolf. We should note here that there ARE NO extorting wolves and in this we should see that this word has some deeper meaning. Where it IS rendered as extortioner in the King James version, it IS rendered by others as greedy, as crooks, and as those “who take more than their right” which IS a more suitable idea for extortioner.
None of these ideas however will work for the description of the wolf and in the context of the Pharisee’s words saying “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (Luke 18:11), extortioner hardly seems a valid idea when combined with unjust which also covers this fault. Young’s literal Translation renders halpax as rapacious here but as the King James in other places while the Darby Translation renders as ravening in Matthew’s use and as rapacious in the other New Testament uses. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines rapacious as: Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force; as a rapacious enemy; Accustomed to seize for food; subsisting on prey or animals seized by violence; as a rapacious tiger; a rapacious fowl 1.
In the confluence of these ideas we should be able to see that Jesus IS referring to the general character of the wolf as one who seizes what it IS that he needs and here, in the context of the “false prophets“, we should be able to see a man who IS more feeding himself than he IS feeding those whom he teaches. With this idea we should be able to see how that the Pharisee as well as some New Testament teacher may “come to you in sheep’s clothing“, appearing as bearers of the Truth, while the reality IS that they ARE rapacious and “ravening wolves” whose Truth IS their own; and, in their teaching they ONLY enforce their own sense of doctrine and feed their own ego. We should try to see here how that the “ravening wolves” in the Master’s parabolic way of showing Truth ARE NOT necessarily cruel, vicious, ferocious and ravaging as some translations render this; they ARE rather merely wolves DOING as wolves DO and here they ARE men DOING as men DO.
It IS ever in the illusion and the glamour of Life that men fail to see the greater Truths that Jesus shows us and that His apostles amplify and clarify but we should understand here that this IS also men being men. This IS men who ARE yet caught up in the vanity of which the Apostle Paul tells us “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20) and it IS when we can see this sense of vanity as the illusions of Life that we can begin to break its hold. And much of the key IS found in Vincent’s words that tell us that this idea of vanity, that it IS: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. This IS the reality of the ‘fall of man’ and the story of Adam and Eve IS intended to relate this sense of vanity to the superstitions and barbarous man of thousands of years ago.
The point here IS that it IS the corruption that IS Life in this world that IS the root cause of ALL things that separate men from God and while we DO NOT see a clear purpose, this IS yet the Plan of God. And the solution has ever been made clear in scripture; NOT only the Judaeo-Christian scriptures but ALL world scriptures: that men must look past their own selves and focus their lives upon the things of God. The Apostle Peter shows us this saying that “ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” and we should understand that it IS by this escape that men “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
It IS when a man can flee from his own sense of nurturing and indoctrination, when he can look past himself and focus upon the things of God that these ideas can become the Truth of his Life. It IS this “glorious liberty” that IS the promise of the trifecta and it IS ONLY in keeping His words that one can Truly become “partakers of the divine nature“. It IS in striving to be “doers of the word” that one can realize some measure of this “divine nature” which comes in KNOWING the Truth and having realization of the Presence of God in one’s Life. These ARE the promises of the trifecta and these ARE the promises that Peter shows us saying “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Repeating the trifecta:
- 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).
Realization of these promises IS the destiny and the goal of ALL mankind and while there ARE many who DO realize these Truths, we should note that this sense of many fits into Jesus words on the narrow and the difficult Way to God. What He calls few should be seen in relation to the volume of Souls on this Earth at any point in time and it IS ever up to the few to encourage the many and perhaps to lead them to the promised land; a land that IS NOT on this Earth but IS rather our realization of “the divine nature“. And this IS the message of the apostles; this IS the message of Paul’s words that we have been studying. That these words ARE misunderstood and misapplied IS apparent to ALL who can look at his words spiritually and see that they DO NOT relate to the separated lives of men in this world but to the higher sense that comes in one’s focus upon the Godhead. Repeating our selection from Galatians we read:
“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).
Paul begins with a series of cautions interlaced with the Truths that men will uncover as they heed his warnings. He tells those who have some measure of freedom, the freedom that comes in KNOWING some measure of the Truth, that they must use this liberty to “by love serve one another“. Here, regardless of one’s sense of doctrine, the words of the apostle ARE clear; and while we see the deeper meaning of liberty, these words should surely apply to the lives of any who may believe themselves free. Here Paul tells us the most basic Christ principal; that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. This IS the second part of the Great Commandments.
Paul goes on to show us, through his word on the dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual, the essence of the first part of the Great Commandments, and here we should understand that to “be led of the Spirit“, to “Walk in the Spirit“, IS to have one’s focus upon God. It IS when a man can have such focus “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” that he will have the fullness of the realization of Truth, of His Presence and of His Kingdom; it IS when a we can have such focus that we will Truly be “partakers of the divine nature“; it IS when we can have such focus that we ARE Truly “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of 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.
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
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
