ON LOVE; PART MXCVII
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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 idea that Jesus offered us when He IS told that His family was come to see Him. The Master’s words here ARE NOT to welcome His family but rather to show to the people who His True family IS….it IS the man who can express the Truth through Life in this world which He frames for us saying “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:48-50). In these words we should see how that the very meaning of the Earthly family pales in comparison to one’s True family of fellow Souls in form.
There ARE many people who spend much time and much money today tracing their lineage; many who want to KNOW their heredity; this is but information about the body which can only feed one’s pride if the lineage IS significant or one’s disappointment if it IS NOT. What would be more important to KNOW and to understand IS the lineage of oneself as a Soul, to KNOW when where and the result of previous incarnations; we should KNOW however that even this information IS rather meaningless when measured against the purpose of one’s own Life. While there ARE some religions that DO teach that the Soul, the Inner man, IS the True man and that the body IS but his vehicle of manifestation, this reality IS NOT seen in the Judeo-Christian world where the idea of man IS his current body and personality which many believe will remain as so in that place that they call heaven.
Much of Christian doctrine IS directed at their understanding, a nebulous one at that, of the idea of heaven and the ‘glorified bodies’ that men will possess in that place after death. Much of this IS interwoven with the eschatological views which differ by denomination and sect and while many see these ‘glorified bodies’ as the same body that one has in this Earth, little thought IS given to those born deformed or those that suffer tragedy. There IS little or NO biblical sense in those ideas that fail to see that the True man IS NOT this body but IS the Soul, the spiritual man, who IS before this body and IS after it IS dissolved as Paul frames this idea, an idea which IS understood by most as death. Repeating Paul’s words we read:
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:1-9).
Perhaps some of the confusion in Paul’s words IS to DO with the rendering of kataluo as dissolved. Others render the idea according to Old Testament ideas of taking down a tent and in the idea of a tabernacle this could be the clearer picture. Still others render in terms of destroy but most ALL do see this idea in terms of a tent. Vincent shows us a relationship here to Ecclesiastes where the writer speaks of: the figure of the parting of the silver cord on which the lamp is suspended 4 and this IS an interesting point as occultly this silver cord IS one’s own attachment to His body in this world. Speaking in reference to one’s time of death the writer, presumably Solomon, tells us “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7).
Our point here IS NOT to invoke some occult ideas regarding Paul’s words but rather to show that greater depth of this idea which, while it may be seen in the death of the body, can also be seen in one’s Life where it IS the focus that changes. This same word Greek word kataluo IS used to refer to the stones of the temple as Jesus says “there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Mark 13:2); it IS used to denote the destruction of the temple in ALL three synoptic gospels. This same word IS also used in Luke’s Gospel in terms of lodging and of being a guest; lodging in Jesus’ words as He sends out the twelve and guest in the murmuring of the people when the Master tells Zacchaeus that He will be his guest that day.
If we can relate these ideas of lodging and being the guest to the other ideas of dissolving and destruction we can perhaps see Paul’s point more clearly. Can we see how that “tabernacle were dissolved” can be readily seen in the idea that this IS NO longer the lodging, that the guest, the Soul, has put his attention upon that other place, that “building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens“. This IS ALL much more complex than the simple idea of dying which idea DOES NOT work well with the rest of Paul’s words here where we would then have to understand that the apostle IS “earnestly desiring” his own death as well as the death of ALL who DO so groan.
Doctrines DO NOT see our perspective because they DO NOT see that the eternal Life IS of the Soul and that this body IS but one’s “earthly house of this tabernacle“. And it IS in their strong desire to see Life as this form that results in the translations, interpretations and understanding of the words of Paul here and the words of the Master that speak of Life and the duality of it. It IS the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected as Souls coming into this world that hides the Truth from the consciousness of men, a Truth that IS far buried by one’s nurturing and indoctrination into his worldly Life. It IS this vanity that results in the translations, interpretations and understanding of the words of scripture as men fail to see and understand the great KEY to their spiritual reality which we call the trifecta. Repeating our trifecta again we read:
- “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).
It is this vanity that also that hides the Love that IS central to that great KEY; it IS vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world, that causes men to see themselves as men and NOT as spiritual beings and to interpret scripture in most carnal ways. And it IS this vanity from which men must escape as the apostle tells us saying “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18). It IS this vanity in the form of glamour that causes men to see ONLY their own perspective without ever realizing that they themselves ARE those who have “the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart“.
And this idea IS the same that Vincent shows us as the right defining idea for this vanity; that this IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. While doctrines show men to believe that Paul’s words here ARE about the other guy who IS NOT the believer or IS less of one, or the one who IS a member of some other denomination or sect that DOES NOT believe as he does, the reality IS that he IS speaking of ALL who ARE NOT “the saints which are at Ephesus” (Ephesian 1:1) and then in general to saints. That doctrines have minimized the meaning to this Greek word hagios to where some believe that ALL who ARE saved according to doctrine ARE such DOES NOT change the import of the word nor the True understanding of the idea of the saint.
Paul clarifies this for us as he gets closer to his saying above; he speaks of “the perfecting of the saints” and how that this IS the single objective of spiritual teaching. He shows us as well that the result of such teaching IS that “we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). This IS the goal that IS accomplished when men can escape as the Apostle Peter shows us saying that we must escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) which IS men’s Life of desire for the pleasures and plenty of Earthly Life….which IS that vanity.
Paul goes on to describe the opposite of this goal which should NO longer be the way of one’s Life and if we could see that he IS talking to ALL who DO NOT see the reality of keeping His words as the Way, we could then see the entirety of his meaning. The apostle tells us to “henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:14). We should see that the sleight, the cunning craftiness and the deception ARE part and parcel of the vanity and that these ARE the reality of much of the doctrines of men; doctrines that lead us to James saying again that we should be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
Can we see the idea of the self-inflicted cunning craftiness that interprets the Truth into ideas that we can live with? Can we see the self-inflicted deception that IS the result of our failure to keep His words? And can we see the greater point of Paul’s message which IS that we should be “speaking the truth in love” that we “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ“. It IS to this point that the idea of the idea of “the body of Christ” refers: it IS “the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Here in this “the body of Christ” we should see the singular idea of “every part” making “increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” and we should try to see this in the singular idea that IS presented. And this IS NOT the increasing of the size of the body by adding ‘souls’ to one’s denomination, this IS the increase of “the edifying of itself in love“. It IS in understanding and in DOING this that we cease to cease to walk “as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” and again this idea of “other Gentiles” IS the reality of other men who ARE NOT yet “awake out of sleep“.
In the way of men and their doctrines we should be able to see that most ALL ARE contrary to this idea of “every part” making “increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love“; there IS little or NO unity with most every part seeing themselves through their own glamour as being the True part of “the body of Christ“. Few if any see the way that the overall separateness of perspective takes them out of the intended idea of “the body of Christ” and few see Paul’s other words in this context saying: “that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).
We should see here that the apostle’s point IS that same unity; that there be NO contentions nor divisions as they prevail in the so called “body of Christ” yet today. And we should see as well Paul’s other similar idea which he frames in terms of “another gospel“. The apostle tells us that “if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:4). Here the idea of “another gospel” IS clear as ARE the other differences from Paul’s own Truth; the end part however IS unclear regarding his intention. Others render this idea in terms of the ease with which “another gospel” IS accepted; here again Vincent gives us some idea of Paul’s intent saying that: The Rev. follows the reading ἀνεχέσθε , present tense, and puts it as a fact: ye do well to bear. Lit., ye endure them finely. The expression is ironical. You gladly endure these false teachers, why do you not endure me?4
Can we see the point here in Paul’s message that shows us the ease with which men ARE moved away from the Truth which appears more difficult and which the Young’s Literal Translation renders as “well were ye bearing [it]“. This IS the same message that we should take from Paul’s words that we previously discussed saying “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel” but men DO NOT see this idea in regard to themselves. We close today with the idea of Love and we should understand how that this idea IS central to Paul’s words above regarding the True “body of Christ“. He tells us that the “the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love“. He tells us also that to live contrary to the deception one must be “speaking the truth in love” which IS the Way that one “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ“.
This Love IS also the central point of our selection from Romans where we should see that “to awake out of sleep” IS to Live in that True Unity of the True “body of Christ“. This IS the underlying reality of agape and here we should see that reliance upon “every wind of doctrine” DOES NOT allow for us to “put on the armour of light“. We read the apostle’s words again saying:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:10-14).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
| 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
