ON LOVE; PART MLXX
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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 our last essay with these most simple words saying that if we Love God we DO keep His commandments and if we Love our fellowman we DO keep ALL of His words and, thereby we Love God. While this idea IS NOT clearly seen by the doctrinal church, these Truths ARE firmly based in the words of the Master and His apostles. From our trifecta we have the reality of Love for the Master, the Christ and thereby God, in His words that clearly show us that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“. As we have previously discussed, this idea IS repeated several times in the Apostle John’s Gospel and it IS furthered by the words of His apostles that show us the True value of this Love as agape and its expression by the man in this world.
Jesus repeats this idea as His answer to the Apostle Judas’ question which asks about His manifestation to them and here we should see how that the answer IS ONLY about agape and its relationship to keeping His words; the Master says “If a man love me, he will keep my words“. In these ideas we have the manifestation of God in the Life of a man which we should ever see as His Presence and, with this in mind, we should see also how the converse idea that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” shows us that for this man His Presence IS precluded. And we should NOT forget here the Master’s admonition to ALL men saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)….we should understand this as the test that everyman should apply to his own Life and his own sense of Love for God.
This however IS NOT the way that this idea of Love for God IS applied by the doctrines of men and while there ARE those who DO keep His words or strive to DO so, these ARE yet few as the Master tells us regarding the strait gate saying that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Despite these words from Jesus and the amplifying and clarifying words from His apostles, men still believe that they DO Love God and Love Jesus without DOING as we read above; and most ALL doctrinal Christians see themselves as a part of the “few there be that find it“. ALL of this attitude of men who believe that they ARE a part of that few IS based in the illusions and the glamours of Life which IS the vanity that Vincent tells us IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4.
It IS in this sense of separation that most ALL men DO live and we should try to see here how that to be One with the Lord, to be “led of the Spirit” and to “Walk in the Spirit“, as the Apostle Paul shows us in our selection below, one MUST strive to keep His words. The reality IS that to have His Presence IS to be “led of the Spirit” and behind this idea we have the simple Truth that it IS the man who Jesus says “will keep my words” that DOES “Walk in the Spirit“. And while many millions see themselves in these ideas, while millions believe that the ARE “led of the Spirit“, ALL that DO NOT keep His words or strive to DO so ARE deceived as the Apostle James shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
This IS the message of the Master and this IS the clarifying and amplifying message of His apostles: that we keep His words. While the ideas that we present ARE contrary to doctrine and while our ideas here may cause discomfort for those whose view IS strictly doctrinal, the most basic Truths remain….and they ARE clearly found in Jesus’ own words. And it IS in the clarity of His words that ARE our trifecta of spiritual reality that men will find “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). We repeat again our 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).
That men DO NOT see the force of these ideas in the bluntness of James saying IS a function of the illusion and the glamour that separates men not ONLY from God but from their own reality as Souls, as spiritual beings, as well. Here, while believing that they DO hear the words of God in their hearts, men continue to rely upon their own emotional and mental response to Life in this world and miss the point that to KNOW the things of God one must be “led of the Spirit” in the reality of the Presence of God in one’s Life. It IS the Life of the Soul, the True Life of man, that IS plunged into the vanity that IS Life in this world and if we could see Paul’s point here we could perhaps glimpse his message.
The apostle speaks of the “the glory which shall be revealed in us” and if we can see this glory as the Christ Within, as the very Soul that IS man, we can then better understand his words saying: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope expectation that Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21). We again change the idea of hope because to expectation that according to the meanings of the Greek words, Vincent’s commentary, and the factual idea that the Lord DOES NOT hope….He simply KNOWS.
If we should then see the great mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” in this same way of KNOWING, that this IS NOT a hope but IS a realization that comes in the Presence of God in one’s Life, and understand the reality of glory, we can then begin to see the simplicity and the complexity of his point. It IS the vanity that hides the mystery that IS the glory of the Christ Within and it IS this vanity that IS the source of “the bondage of corruption” which IS the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world. We should try to see that the idea here of doxa which IS rendered as glory IS the very act of KNOWING that comes into the Life of the man who has Truly found God.
This IS a difficult point to make as both the Greek and the English words ARE confounded by doctrines but we should try to see the idea in the many ways that this idea of glory IS related to God throughout the bible; and especially in the Apostle Peter’s saying: rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (1 Peter 4:13-14). Here then we should try to see past the doctrinal ideas of glory and see that this glory IS an aspect of God; an aspect that reflects His omniscient, ALL KNOWING, nature. Vincent tells us that the word doxa here should be seen in this way; that: The repetition of the article identifies the spirit of God with the spirit of glory: the spirit of glory, and therefore the spirit of God: who is none other than the spirit of God himself. Hence Rev., better, the spirit of glory and the spirit of God 4.
If we can relate the various sayings together we can see the greater picture. When DOES “the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you” but in “the glorious liberty of the children of God“. And when ARE men “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” but when they ARE Truly freed by the Truth according to Jesus words saying “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“. Until there IS some measure of this Truth in one’s Life through keeping His words, a man IS left to flounder in the vanity, to flounder in his: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4.
Men DO NOT see the reality of this vanity, the reality of this illusion and this glamour which afflict ALL men, because they ARE a part of it; they will fail to see the Truth so long as they rely upon the doctrines of men for their salvation. And the stronger one’s sense of doctrinal salvation IS, the more difficult it will be to see and then to strive toward the Truth. This IS made apparent in the gospels where we can clearly see that those who ARE drawn to the Master ARE NOT the religious leaders who ARE bound by their doctrines; they ARE NOT even the religious; they ARE “publicans and sinners“. Here we should see the Apostle Matthew’s words saying “Many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples” (Matthew 9:11) as the nature of Jesus’ audience and the foundation of those who believed as well as the other gospel sayings that reflect this Truth.
In the idea of publican we should see reference to those who ARE hated and distrusted by the Jews and in the idea of sinners we should see ALL men who ARE NOT in accord with His words although the intent in these sayings IS those who ARE NOT in accord with the Jewish view and their doctrines. These ARE sinners according to the Jew while ALL ARE sinners according to the Lord. This same dynamic has played out in the many generations since the Master left us and it IS this same dynamic that plays out yet today as those who ARE dominated by their doctrinal sense will be among the last to seek for and take hold of the deeper Truths that conflict with their doctrines….and this regardless of how Truly spiritual the presentation may be. This is the ultimate role of vanity, the ultimate role of illusion and glamour and the reality of Paul’s words from the last essay which we repeat here again:
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But 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 2:9-14).
Who IS the “natural man” that sees the deeper Truths as foolishness? Doctrines believe that these ARE the other man, the next person, the one who DOES NOT believe according to their individual doctrinal beliefs. The greater reality IS a harsh one to take to oneself; the greater reality IS that the deeper one’s doctrinal convictions ARE, the greater his own foolishness becomes and the further from the Truth he will move. This IS the reality of illusion and the heart of glamour where one becomes so convinced that the unreal IS the real that he becomes, in his glamour, unmovable. This IS of course a most general view and, to be sure, there ARE many in the doctrinal church that DO intermingle the Master’s Truths with their own doctrinal sense; these ARE the ‘progressive’ Christians whose motivation IS Love and whose view of Love IS with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9).
And it IS to be in this state: to have the motivation of Love and the expression of that Love with NO “respect to persons“, that IS the gateway to glory, to realization of the Christ Within as the director of one’s Life. It IS in this state and in striving toward this state that one IS Truly free from “the works of the flesh” as these relate to the Great Commandments which we again present at the top of our essay. It IS in this state that men DO express some measure of “the fruit of the Spirit“. Here again men must look past their doctrinal understanding and into some measure of Truth to see that these “works of the flesh” which Paul lists ARE NOT in regard to the gross offenses of men, but that they ARE ALL thoughts, attitudes and actions that ARE NOT in accord with the reality of Jesus words.
And here again we should see and understand that his list of “the fruit of the Spirit” ARE NOT the common moral virtues and niceties of men but that these ARE the very nature of the man who has the fullness of the Presence of God in his Life. It IS by measure that we are freed from “the works of the flesh” and it IS by measure that we DO express “the fruit of the Spirit“; and this measure IS ever intimately tied to the measure of one’s striving to keep His words. Repeating the apostle’s words 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).
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
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
