IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1500

ON LOVE; PART MCXXXIX

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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).

This essay IS the 1500th essay that we have written on this blog and for us this IS a great milestone. In the last essay we completed our thoughts on Easter, on how the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection leaves out the greater Truth of His Life and His example in favor of the doctrinal views which DO NOT see that in His death and His resurrection ARE great lessons on the Life of the True man, the Soul, the Christ and God Within. This lesson can ONLY be seen when one can look past the doctrinal ideas and see His death and resurrection as His proving that He IS who He claimed to be while showing us the reality of His spiritual Power, the same Power that He tells us that we too can wield in terms that ARE NOT nearly understood.

Jesus tells us “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12) and it should be basic common sense that tells us that merely believing that He IS Lord IS NOT the KEY. The KEY IS found in the proper understanding of the reality of pistis and pisteuo, that these ARE NOT the nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing. And this IS especially True when we see the phrase pisteuo eis which IS rendered as “believe on” in Jesus words above. In a simply complicated way, these words mean “he that KNOWETH me” along with the idea that to KNOW the Lord IS the product of keeping His words and here Vincent gives us some help as he shows us the meaning of believing on and believing in the Master. Vincent tells us:

To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life .

In the last words which we most always highlight IS the crux of the idea and here we should see that to DO this, to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life, IS to keep His words. While so many millions simply believe that because they have that nebulous doctrinal belief according to the Apostle Paul’s words of Romans 10:9-10, or whatsoever doctrinal understanding one may have, that they ARE ‘saved’, the Truth IS ever found in Jesus’ words and especially His words on keeping His words. This IS the lynchpin; this is the Way to the Truth, this IS the Way to the Kingdom, this IS the Way to the Presence of God in one’s Life; and ALL of these make the reality of being Truly saved. This IS our trifecta which we repeat here 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).

We should understand here that there IS great difficulty in keeping His words as these go against most ALL human endeavor and most ALL pursuit for carnal gain as a man in this world. We should also understand that this difficulty IS KNOWN by the Lord and by the Soul that IS the True man, the Christ and the God Within. This has always been difficult; it was difficult to keep the law because the ways of men sought out their clever doctrinal ideas that overcame the heart of the law and in this IS a basic reality of Jesus the Christ coming among us. The Master brought us a new revelation that was NOT new but which was buried in the law that Moses revealed to men.

This revelation IS that it IS Love, that it IS agape, that IS the solution; however, for 2000 years now, it IS still the ways of men and their clever doctrinal ideas that keep buried the Truth in the doctrines of men. It IS ironic that with ALL of the Truths in the Master’s words, the clear Truths to be sure, that men, in their effort to be ‘saved’, still look past His words and seek out clever doctrinal ideas that overcome the heart of Jesus’ law of Love. And this IS despite the fact that the Master gives us clear example of the error of the ways of the Jews and especially their leaders who had become “blind leaders of the blind“.

Still today men DO NOT see how that their varied doctrinal approaches to God constitute the same reality that Jesus speaks against and which leads Him to proclaim to His disciples that “if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14). And this reality IS clear, and should be clear, to ALL who can see Jesus words according to His saying that “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life“. In this we should see the timelessness of His words and understand that as He speaks to the Pharisees in that day, He speaks as well to the generations that follow and that He speaks to ALL men and NOT ONLY the Jew.

Jesus IS speaking to ALL whose sense of doctrine overwhelms the Truth of His words, words that ARE Spirit and ARE Truth. We should understand this in the context that He shows us as He speaks about the dichotomy between things of the Spirit and things of the flesh; He says “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). In this we should see that the value of His words IS spiritual, they they have little to DO with the flesh save for the spiritual effect of His words on the Life of the man in this world.

In every generation there ARE those who DO NOT see and who yet seek to guide others and we should see here that in Jesus dealing with the Pharisees He quoted the prophet who had spoken his words to the Jews many hundreds of years before even the idea of the Pharisee existed. We should understand that the words spoken by Isaiah were NOT ONLY pertinent to the Jews in his day but were directed at ALL who fit into Jesus’ words which say “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).

And Jesus made this case as He gives the Pharisees and the other Jewish rulers who had taken authority over the people Isaiah’s same message and while doctrinal thinkers believe that the Master IS speaking ONLY to those Jews, the reality IS that He IS speaking to ALL who fit into this idea. Jesus IS speaking to ALL those whose sense of worship IS vain because their hearts ARE yet involved with the things of this world rather than the clear Truths that come in the Spirit and the Life of His words. Jesus explains how that the sense of worship can be vain and how that the heart of any who claim Him as their True focus can be misplaced: He clearly shows that this IS DONE by “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“.

In the clarity of this idea that IS first presented to the Jews by the Prophet Isaiah and then by Jesus regarding the totally different doctrinal views of the Pharisee, the Sadducee, and the Jewish rulers of the day in the Sanhedrin, none of which existed in Isaiah’s day, we should be able to see how that this same reality stretches forward into doctrinal Christianity. But doctrinal thinkers DO NOT see this because of that vanity, that illusion and glamour, that encumbers men’s ability to see the True spiritual Light that was given to them 2000 years ago.

The Greek word maten which IS rendered as vain in Jesus’ words carries the same idea of vanity as the Greek word mataiotes that Paul used in our oft used saying from Romans: that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20). The lexicon tells us that maten means: in vain and fruitless ² while Thayers adds that maten is: a futile attempt, folly, fault ⁹. Strong’s goes yet deeper saying that maten IS: accusative case of a derivative of the base of G3145 (through the idea of tentative manipulation, i.e. unsuccessful search, or else of punishment); folly, i.e. (adverbially) to no purpose:—in vain ^9a; the root of G3145 IS masso which IS defined as to handle or squeeze ².

What DO we see in this idea of vain as Jesus uses this word to repeat the saying of the prophet? Isaiah says it this way: “the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” and in Jesus’ repeating of his words we should see the larger intent….the clearer message. In vain we should try to see the idea of intentional removal and manipulation and behind the Greek words we should see the same as folly.

In ALL this we should try to see the human condition and the reality of the ways of men whose focus IS NOT upon God. We should try to see here that it this whole idea of vanity IS that: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴ that Vincent shows us. Most of ALL however we should see that it IS the teachings of the Master that ARE the tool by which we can overcome this sense of vanity….this spiritual foolishness. We should understand here as well that it IS this same vanity, this same illusion and glamour, that prevents men from seeing the Truth and it is by this same vanity that they continually seek out ways to manipulate the Master’s words and the words of His apostles to suit  their own human condition.

Although Jesus and His apostles reduced the burden on men to a single word and idea, their message IS still obnubilated by the vanity, by the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world. And that single word IS agape which IS rendered as Love and which IS confused with the idea of one’s mental and emotional attachment and attraction to others and to things. The modern dictionary defines Love as: 1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; 2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; 3. sexual passion or desire ⁷. Except for the sexaual idea, there IS little here that applies to that Love that IS to be shown to everyman as we read in that most spiritual idea “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives us a much more detailed view of Love but except for the idea of benevolence and GoodWill, which both dictionaries show in relation to God and with few words, the ideas ARE the same. Love IS that mental and emotional attachment and attraction to others and to things. None breach the spiritual barrier although both DO cite scripture in their defining ideas; none see the reality of how it IS that one can Love his neighbor, how one can Love everyman, as he Loves himself.

This IS the greatest failure of men and the greatest failure of their doctrinal approach to the Lord and it IS in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, that men continually delude themselves. It is this delusion that IS “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20) from which men must be freed and it IS this delusion that IS “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) that men must escape. It IS one’s escape that IS his freedom and the simplicity of this IS found in Love, in agape. While the idea of lust which IS used in these words from the Apostle Peter IS viewed most often in doctrinally abhorrent ways, the greater reality IS that lust IS but desire….desire most often for the things of the self and for the self.

And one’s self IS the greatest hindrance to Love as most ALL men put the interests of the self ahead of the interests of others which IS ever contrary to the True dictum that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and the corresponding words of the Master which should serve to explain and enhance this sense of Love: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“. In these two ideas we have the hope of the world; if every person, group of people, religion and denomination, and nation could view others in ways that they would like to be viewed and act accordingly, there would be NO strife, NO disharmony, NO religious stance of right and NO wars.

If everyman could see every other man as he sees himself, as a traveler upon the Path who IS subjected to the same sense of illusion and glamour as he himself, there could then be the expression of Love. This IS the heart of the Golden Rule and it IS against this that most ALL men live in defiance of this most simple precept, a precept that requires ONLY some small amount of understanding but yet IS so elusive. This understanding, this sense of Wisdom, eludes men mainly because of their nurturing and their indoctrination and then because of their individual experience of being lost in the same illusion and glamour, an experience that makes one see carnal human nature as the norm.

Few realize that this understanding IS one’s expression of Love, and in this we have the divine relationship between Love and Wisdom, and fewer still realize that this understanding IS beyond religion. This understanding IS an innate quality that IS the reality of the Soul and if we can see such ideas as “God is love” (1 John 4:8) as that this Love IS and includes understanding we can begin to break away from the doctrinal and common views of agape as Love. And more, if we can bring together this idea of understanding with the affiliated idea of KNOWING we can then see Love in a new way.

To understand something one must KNOW that thing and here we should NOT think that one must KNOW every person whom he would Love; but rather that one must KNOW, even in broad generalities, the ways of men, a KNOWING that comes in KNOWING, even in broad generalities, oneself. It IS in understanding that one can begin to accept others in the True idea of the neighbor which IS everyman. In this understanding ALL divisive and factious thoughts and attitudes can disappear; in this understanding men can look past color and see just other men and this same looking past will apply to culture, to religion, to caste, to nationality and to ALL that divides the human race including sex.

In this understanding one looks past what he can see in the human family and looks upon everyman as the Soul or Spirit which gives Life to the form; it IS ONLY in this understanding that one can realize the Truth of the brotherhood of man and the great struggle to manifest this brotherhood in the world. Some DO have some measure of this understanding and in this measure they have a measure of Love, of agape, as their expression to the world. It IS these who ARE keeping His words and this regardless of religion or place in this world. And it IS in this understanding that one will DO naught against his neighbor, his brother, and thereby be in accord with ALL of the commandments.

This understanding IS the True measure of Love and this understanding IS our stepping stone to the fullness of agape; a fullness that negates the overwhelming sense of self which IS perhaps the greatest obstacle presented to men by that vanity to which ALL ARE subjected; that vanity which IS our “bondage of corruption” both individually and corporately. It IS in the fullness of agape, which IS the height of understanding and Wisdom, that one can see the Truth of Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount and DO them. We read:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:38-44).

This IS the reality of Love, of agape and here we should NOT forget the words that precede these for they ARE also tenets of Love. In avoiding anger, adultery, divorce and oaths there IS the reality of agape at work and while this may be more obscure than the ideas above, the same reality applies to ALL: in the Truth of Love one will follow these precepts, not because they are precepts but because they ARE NOT possible to DO in the Truth of agape. We close today with this from the Book of Proverbs: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 19:10).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God	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

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts