Monthly Archives: September 2017

ON LOVE; PART MCLXXVIII

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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 about the personality that IS a man in this world. While many doctrines teach that the mind, the will and the emotions ARE the Soul, this IS likely based in the desire to continue as this existence which IS the ONLY existence a man Truly KNOWS until the Truth of Repentance….that change of the focus of one’s Life off of the things of the self and onto the things of God. The personality IS a Truly carnal attribute and when we can understand that it IS the personality that must be overcome or, better, be subdued, we can then better understand the whole of the journey in which everyman lives. It is the personality that IS one’s “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:20, 21) as it IS into this that the Soul IS cast or, as the Apostle Paul shows us, the Soul IS “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:21, 20).

We should remember that Paul’s words ARE nondescript as he tells us that it IS the ktisis that IS “made subject to vanity” and this Greek word IS rendered in this section of Paul’s words as both creature and creation. We KNOW that the reference IS mankind by Paul’s words that follow where he includes himself in this ktisis saying “And not only they, but ourselves also” (Romans 8:21). Taking this idea of ktisis back to its definitions we can perhaps see that the apostle IS speaking of the originating cause of the man in this world….the Soul. We can trace this idea ALL the way back to the opening chapter of Genesis where “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27); here, KNOWING that God IS NOT a man as we ARE men but that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) as Jesus tells us, we should be able to understand this reality of the Soul as the manifest Spirit born into this world.

When we can understand the Soul as the True man, we can then understand that it IS the Soul that IS “made subject to vanity” and this vanity IS the Life of the personality in this world, a personality that IS everyman’s “bondage of corruption” so long as his focus IS upon himself and the Life of the self in this world. From the perspective of the Soul, the personality IS in: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴ which IS Vincent’s defining idea of this vanity. It IS into this condition that the Soul IS subjected and it IS from this that the Soul must, through Repentance, Transformation and Redemption, escape.

It IS the personality that IS the mind, the will and the emotions and we should understand here that the mind and the emotions ARE essentially one and that their interrelationship IS a fluid affair which IS largely based in the state of one’s mental apparatus, NOT the brain per se, but the psychic apparatus that IS beyond the physical and which, at the same time, IS NOT the Soul. We can look at this in another way to perhaps get a clearer picture, a person’s mental acuity and his emotional state ARE, along with the physical body, among those things that can be inherited from previous generations while the Soul, one’s True self, IS utterly unique. Additionally, the mind, the emotions and the body itself ARE greatly influenced by one’s nurturing and indoctrination while the Soul watches and waits for the opportunity to assert its own influence on the Life.

While these ideas ARE seemingly beyond both science and religion, we should note that there IS little scientific understanding of the nature of the mind nor ARE there any religious concepts that can adequately explain the psychic nature of man. The brain, the entire nervous system of the body plus its elaborate endocrine system enable the expression of one’s mental and the emotional state in this world but these have little to DO with the actual processes of thinking and feeling. From a carnal perspective, the body of man in ALL its complexity IS a reflector of the thoughts and the emotions and the developed attitudes of a man; he thinks, he feels and he acts accordingly.

The difference between the carnal and the spiritual DOES NOT change this basic idea of reflectivity; the carnal man reflects the measure of carnal thought and feeling that rule his Life while the spiritual man reflects the measure of Truth and Love the rule his Life; here we should try to see how that the focus factor IS of utmost importance. Behind the struggle between the carnal and the spiritual stands the Soul and the sense of self that IS one’s consciousness; it IS here that we should see what Jesus shows us as the heart. One’s conscious self awareness IS NOT the mind as we understand this thought and feeling processing aspect of man; one’s consciousness stands behind these processes as the director, informing the mind from its point of focus.

In many ways the consciousness takes on the identity of its focus and since a man’s focus IS unlikely to be totally carnal, there IS ever some admixture of what we can call a ‘higher vision’ involved in his Life. This ‘higher vision’ can be simply based in morality or it can find its roots in the doctrines of religion but it IS ONLY when this ‘higher vision’ IS seeing the Truth of Love that we can understand that focus as being on the spiritual. So then the consciousness, the heart if you will, informs the mind and the emotional apparatus, the psychic personality, of a man which in turn IS reflected in the outward expression of that man in this world.

While we DO NOT want to get technical in our view of Life, we must come to understand our nature away from the doctrines of both science and religion. Life itself IS undefinable and for us this undefinable Life IS a Truly spiritual one that IS living for a time within the constraints of the body with its personality which ARE its mind and emotional response mechanisms, and it IS these that create the will. It IS this that we should see in Paul’s words saying “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16) and in his saying that “know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

While doctrines mistreat these ideas according to their own religious glamour, these ARE the Truth of Life. Speaking to men as men in this world the apostle IS telling them that they ARE NOT this body and we should remember here that men DID NOT have the wherewithal to understand these things, these mysteries, in those days and, while many DO have the ability to understand these things today, the doctrines of men teach to the contrary leaving few that DO. Here we should remember that these mysteries of Life ARE NOT understood from any carnal perspective but ONLY through the revelations and the realizations that come by measure to the man who will keep His words or strive to DO so and here again the lynchpin IS Love as we read again in our selection from Paul:

“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”  (Romans 13:8-11).

And these ideas plus our trifecta ARE the basis of Love, of agape, as the Master teaches us. In KNOWING or even having a basic understanding that there IS One World, One Humanity and One God we have the formula for Love from a most carnal perspective. When we add to this the idea of “the Holy Ghost which is in you” and “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” and take these ideas away from the doctrinal assertions that this ONLY applies to the so called “born again” Christian, we can begin to see the reality “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

The missing piece IS NOT found in the doctrinal view of being “born again” by a ritual of baptism and the confessions and affirmations that doctrines glean from Paul’s words to the Romans; the missing piece IS one’s realization of this Truth which comes through one’s focus upon the things of God. It IS this focus that IS the reality of Paul’s words saying “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Continued focus upon the things of the self IS to be “conformed to this world” which IS to remain in the vanity which IS the “bondage of corruption” that IS inherent in the personality Life of the “natural man” of whom the apostle tells us that “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 2:14). We should note here that the things that ARE “spiritually discerned” ARE so through the revelations and the realizations of Truth that come in our trifecta….that come in keeping His words. Repeating the Lord’s words of our 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).

While most ALL doctrines fervently teach that a man CAN NOT ‘save’ himself, the words of the trifecta say the opposite; the words of the trifecta tell us that we must take an active role in our own deliverance, our own freedom from the “bondage of corruption“….we must keep His words. From the beginning the mandate has ever been to keep His words; it was in DOING so that the promises of the Old Testament were offered to the Jews but while so much Christian teaching revolves around the ideas found in this text which was meant for the barbarous and superstitious people of that day, the reality of the quid pro quo IS NOT ever made a criteria.

The Apostle Peter shows us the reality of the promises. The promises were of a more carnal nature in Old Testament but this IS NOT True of the New Testament where the rewards ARE NO longer carnal; and while the prophets tried to amend the law given by Moses in ALL of its rites and rituals, it seems that ONLY the rites and the rituals survived. Peter tells us “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) and here we should see both the offer and the price….the quid pro quo if you will.

Peter also shows us the reality of the promises as these should be seen by the Christian; these ARE NOT carnal ideas as IS taught in many churches today. There IS NO financial reward nor IS there any carnal benefit of health and long Life, and we should remember here that these Old Testament promises ARE made to a population in general and NOT to the individual. This corporate idea of keeping His words and the rewards of DOING so have also passed; in Christian terms it IS ONLY the individual that IS addressed and who IS responsible for his own salvation. We should note as well that while many teach the rewards and the promises and try to tie them to the doctrinal idea of being “born again“, few paint the picture of the original and constant quid pro quo.

The reality of the promises for the Christian IS simply that these “great and precious promises” ARE for that those who keep His words; it IS these that can “be partakers of the divine nature“. And the cost of this IS to have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“, a feat that IS ONLY possible through overcoming or, better, subduing, the lower nature….the carnal nature that IS nurtured and indoctrinated into the ways of this world. The carnal nature that IS NOT subdued, or in the process of being subdued by striving to keep His words, IS but the same “natural man” of whom we read above.

While the Christian may claim to have received “the things of the Spirit of God” and to have such spiritual discernment, the reality IS that unless his expression IS Love, an expression that implies that a man keeps His words, he IS yet but a “natural man“. This IS True regardless of how high one may believe he has climbed in the religious world of the churches; so long as a man has NOT “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“, has NOT subdued the vanity into which everyman IS born, he IS as Paul shows us saying: “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

The message here should be clear and that IS that without agape, which IS rendered here as charity, the prophecy, the understanding, the knowledge and the faith ARE naught and if we can see deeper into the apostle’s intent we will find that they ARE NOT real in the Life of the man who DOES NOT Love. This leads us back our words from the previous post; we should try to see here how that these presumed spiritual gifts ARE NOT real in the Life of the man whose expression IS NOT Love or, at a minimum, some measure of the True agape that Jesus teaches us. Here we should see as well that if these ARE NOT real from the spiritual perspective, they ARE but the same psychic powers that so many doctrinal thinkers rail against.

A large part of the doctrinal problem here IS that the “born again” Christians continue to see themselves as having such gifts and of having “the things of the Spirit of God” while at the same time NOT even Truly understanding the complexity of agape as the expression of the man whose focus IS Truly upon the things of God. An example of our point IS found in the relationship between Peter and the Master; ALL must admit that they ARE quite far behind the apostle as spiritual men and that their ideas of spiritual discernment pale in comparison to his.

We read Peter’s words regarding himself and the other apostles saying “we have left all, and have followed thee” (Mark 10:28) and through these words we should be able to see the reality of the disciple of whom the Master says “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). So the Christian today, being so far below the spiritual stature of Peter, should understand the deep reality that he CAN NOT possibly have ALL that he claims he has. In Truth and in being an honest judge of oneself we KNOW that we DO NOT compare to the apostle to whom Jesus says “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 1623).

Jesus reference here IS to Peter’s words regarding his desire to protect his Master; can we imagine His position regarding men who ARE NOT Truly focused upon the things of God, a focus that IS ONLY evidenced in keeping His words and in one’s expression of agape. And here IS yet another large part of the doctrinal problem: those who presume to be “born again” Christians scarcely KNOW what agape IS; while they hide behind their doctrinal beliefs they fail to see the Truth of Love that the same apostle that they use to frame their doctrinal ideas expresses in his words.

Paul tells us that without Love his words ARE “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal“, they ARE but noise, and we try to relate this to the many who teach their doctrines over the reality of His words. The apostle tells us that without agape “I am nothing” and this in regard to the idea that the gifts and the mysteries that one may trust in ARE for naught; here we should try to see that gifts and mysteries that ARE for naught ARE NOT the True gifts that come in one’s realizations and revelations of Truth and Love.

And finally he tells us that ALL that men DO as men; ALL that they give and DO in humanitarian and philanthropic causes ARE also for naught without the expression of Love….he tells us that “it profiteth me nothing” and here we should see the worthlessness of having and giving. Many doctrines teach on the idea of prosperity: that the more one has the more he can give and here Paul shows us the value of this idea if there IS NO Love. The apostle’s words are rather clear but they ARE NOT seen in the doctrines of the churches in the way that the these were intended; Paul says:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

We should see here the worthlessness of ALL human religious endeavor when it IS offered in the absence of agape. And here, when we can see the expression of agape on the same terms as we should see the idea of keeping His words. Here we can see the plight of religion and understand that for everyman that IS NOT in accord with His words, that their words are also noise, that their sense of gifts IS meaningless and carnal, and that their charity IS profitless. Paul goes on then to define Love and here we should see that his words ARE a reflection on what he sees as the religious expression of agape in his DAY. The apostle tells us:

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;c whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

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

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 change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556.  These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us  to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.

Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.

….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition