ON LOVE; PART MCCXXXV
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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 a return to the Apostle Paul’s words “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai“. As we have discussed, the intent of these words IS far more than the common ideas attached to them, far more than “Love suffereth long, and is kind” and far more than the more common idea that “love is patient, love is kind” as “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” IS commonly understood. When the apostle recorded these words he was acting in the fullness of a disciple and an apostle of the Lord and therefore KNOWS, as DOES the Apostle John, that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). He KNOWS this because he DOES keep the Master’s words and commandments and, according to the formula of the trifecta, he then has full realization of the Truth which the Master promises to those who “continue in my word“.
The apostle also has the True Presence of God operating in his Life according to the singular reality of spiritual Truth that Jesus shows us in this same trifecta saying that: “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“. The Christian world DOES NOT understand the dynamics of this saying and regard it as being True for ALL who proclaim themselves Christian according to whatsoever doctrinal rite IS practiced in any particular denomination or sect; and this regardless that they “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” or NOT. Most ALL DO NOT see the deeper idea of His words that ARE saying that there IS a price for one’s realization of the Presence of God in one’s Life which IS dependent upon one’s focus upon the things of God….a focus through which one has NO alternative but to keep His words.
Striving then to keep His words IS striving toward that singular focus which IS the Life of the True disciple and apostle of the Lord. It IS in this condition, this condition of striving, that one’s measure of such Truth and realization grows as DOES the Kingdom which the Master shows us in parabolic words saying “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Matthew 13:31-32). DO we NOT think that Paul’s realization of the Truth, the Kingdom and His Presence began in this same way? Can we NOT see the reality that from the time of his Repentance which begins on the road to Damascus these things grew in measure in his Life?
While Paul’s experience may seem quick we should understand that he was already a ‘religious’ man who was focused upon what he thought were the things of God and for him perhaps the ONLY change in that focus was away from his indoctrination and onto the Truths that begin to be revealed to him through his experience on that road and the sequence of events afterward. There ARE many today who could perhaps see their own growth at this same pace should they be able to shed their own nurturing, indoctrination and experience and start on that new road to Truth. With this in mind we should also see that it IS perhaps even more possible for the man who DOES NOT ardently focus upon his doctrines, his consciousness can be much more clear and his way easier because he carries far less baggage.
The point here IS that the apostle hears the voice of his own Soul, a voice that he frequently heard and ignored, which IS, on this occasion, enhanced by the Power of his calling, he heeds the Truth that he now sees, a truth to which he had been blinded to for so many years. This IS NO accident in his Life but rather a part of the Great and Awesome Plan of God in which he was operating unawares until that day on the road to Damascus when the Truth emerges in his own heart and sets him upon a new path. Whatever the dynamics of the day were, the bright light and the apparent voice, DO NOT Truly matter; it IS the result that brings us the apostle of the Lord who IS acting in the fullness of a disciple and an apostle who therefore KNOWS, as DOES the Apostle John, that “God is love“.
We must remember here that the way that these ideas ARE presented means far less than what IS presented. We must remember that the words of the Master and His apostles ARE first of ALL intended for the man in those days; men ignorant of science and still bound by their barbarous and superstitious ways. In Paul’s own explanation of his ‘conversion’ on the road to Damascus we have what will forever be a mystery to men whose focus IS NOT upon the things of God and here we should pause and ask: how else could the apostle explain what happened to him that day and in the events that followed. How else could he explain these Life changing events in a way that could be comprehended by men in those days? And more, the story of Paul’s conversion IS NOT told directly by the apostle but rather related to us by the Apostle Luke who repeats it in some form three times in the Book of Acts.
There IS debate yet today as to the True meaning of some of the words and ideas used in the first two tellings of this story and much of this IS to DO with who heard and who saw as well as what they may have heard and seen. The first telling IS Luke’s account of what IS happening to Paul while the second IS Paul’s telling of his story in his own defense after he IS arrested. While much of the church chooses to frame Paul’s experience in a most supernatural way, the reality IS that the apostle IS hearing from his own Soul, his own unction if you will, as he comes to realize consciously that his own doctrinal approach to God was a deception that kept him from the Truth and urged him to act against that Truth. This IS a most difficult thing for any man to accept, especially one so indoctrinated that he actively pursued Christians; Luke tells us this saying of Paul that “he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3).
Looking at the chronology of Luke’s account perhaps we can see that Paul’s participation in the death of the Apostle Stephen, while leading him to make “havock of the church” and to inquire of the “high priest” where he “desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way,a whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1, 2), also led him to see the futility of what his own Life was becoming. In the end it DOES NOT matter and the debate over who heard, who understood, and who saw what IS happening to Paul IS moot. What matters IS that Saul becomes the Apostle Paul through the Truth of a process which begins with his Repentance where his focus changes from what he thought was Truth to the greater reality of the Truth that he IS come to realize as his conscious heart IS put under the influence of his own Soul, that unction by which he DOES “know all things” (1 John 2:20).
From the spark of Truth that becomes the apostle’s realization on the road to Damascus, Paul’s realization of the Kingdom of God grows in his heart and he comes to KNOW, seemingly first hand, much of what the Master had taught and the mystery of His death and His resurrection. While there IS much uncertainty regarding the timing of Paul’s experiences there IS consensus that he DID spend considerable time in Arabia, a rather large geographic area, which the apostle himself confirms for us in his Epistle to the Galatians where we read his words saying that: “ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days” (Galatians 1:13-18).
This IS ALL that we Truly KNOW regarding the apostle’s time in Arabia and how he had come to full realization of the Truth over his time there, a time in which his Life becomes his reality of the Parable of Mustard Seed. Can we see this in the Master’s words regarding the growth of the Kingdom which IS the growth of one’s measure of Truth and the True Presence of the Lord? Luke relates the Master’s words to us saying “Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed* a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it” (Luke 13:18-19). In the way that Saul transitions to Paul we should try to see the Life of everyman who allows the prompting of his own Soul to be heard above the clamor of daily living and seen as a Truth that IS greater than any and ALL divisive ideas that come from his nurturing, his indoctrination and his experience.
We should try to see here that Paul’s divine revelations and realizations ARE NOT contrary to the words of the Master; it IS the doctrines of men that have made his letters appear to be. The progenitors of these doctrines have ever sought any and ALL ideas that DO NOT infringe on the ability of a man to be a man in this world, even to the point of encouraging purely carnal behavior and defining their sense of Truth using misunderstood, misapplied and out of context snippets from Jesus’ words. Such manipulations of the Truth ARE NOT Truly lies but they ARE at the same time untruths which ARE founded in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, to which ALL ARE subjected. Here, regardless of how we see Paul’s words saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20), we should see the source of such untruths ARE the human carnal mind and, while the doctrinal ideas ARE presented spiritually, the reality IS that they ARE NOT if their foundation IS NOT the Truth of agape of which we read again in the apostle’s words saying:
“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way“. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, 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 agape, 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 agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape 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. Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Paul thought that he had the Truth before his ‘conversion’ on the road to Damascus, a Truth that “in time past in the Jews’ religion” made of him a man that “persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers“. By his own testimony we see that Paul was far beyond others in his religious zeal that was based in doctrines rather than Truth, doctrines that also sought any and ALL ideas that DO NOT infringe on the ability of a man to be a man in this world, and this under the guise of religion. In Paul’s time the Truth was in the law, NOT the ceremonial laws that governed the lives of the Jews but the part of the law that deals solely with the relationships of a man with his brother and his neighbor and his relationship to God.
It IS this that IS reflected in the prophet’s words which the Master repeats saying to the doctrinal religious Jews “go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” and then “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7). In this Jesus discounts much of the ceremonial parts of the law and this, combined with such sayings as “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28), should make that point clearly. And just as the Jews made the ceremonial parts that were offered by Moses to keep the carnal man at bey as their primary focus, the early church used the words of the Apostle Paul in much the same way….ignoring the words of the Master and His apostle which ARE contrary to their chosen doctrinal presentation.
Jesus tells the religious rulers in those days many harsh things of Truth and we should understand His reason for being harsh; most ALL that He taught to the people was refuted by the scribes and the Pharisees and others of their ilk. If we could see that His harshness IS used to convince the people that what they may think IS Truth IS NOT, we could perhaps see the greater objective. In such words as “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27-28) we should see the crux of the idea.
That they “indeed appear beautiful outward” and “outwardly appear righteous unto men” IS based on the spiritual authority that they had taken over the people who willingly allowed them such position. While most DID see them as ‘beautiful‘, not in appearance but rather as a spiritual idea as in Paul’s saying “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15), this was due to these religious ruler’s position which many presumed was sanctioned by God. Similarly most DID see these scribes and Pharisees as righteous, as DOING the will of God and this because it was they who dictated what that will was. The Master’s point in these words along with ALL of the other woes that He cites in Matthew’s Gospel IS to show the people ‘God’s displeasure’ and these religious rulers the greater Truth which they had ignored from the beginning.
The new Christian movement however acted in much the same way as they established doctrines that ARE NOT based in the Truth of Jesus’ words but in rites and rituals which, through the Reformation, became an exceeding reliance upon men’s various doctrines of salvation rather than the True words of the Master. That most of the scribes and the Pharisees Truly believed in their doctrines as Truth IS attested to by the Master who tells His apostles that “the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2). This way of thinking continued into the Christian era where so called heretics were ostracized and often tortured and killed while the Reformation brought about even worse Christian ideas leading to the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch hunting, and the denominational wars that killed millions….ALL in the name of God and Christ.
Our point here IS that the time has always been when the doctrinal mind did “think that he doeth God service” and this IS True yet today although in a much less brutal way. Most ALL doctrinal thinkers DO believe that they have the essential Truth of Jesus message and this while diluting, changing and even ignoring the Truths of which He speaks. Here we should understand that the most ignored Truth has always been the Truth of Love, of agape, which IS still NOT recognized as the essence of His teaching nor of the teaching of Jehovah through Moses. Why? because the very idea of “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” and the companion commandment that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” DO infringe on the ability of men to be men in this world, an objective founded in the vanity of Life and promoted by the religious interpretations of men through the nurturing and indoctrination of generation after generation.
Much of this can change quickly, there can be a sea change if you will, and the ONLY ingredient to this change IS agape, or, better, a True understanding of just what agape means. This IS the missing ingredient that can allow men to begin to see the greater Truths of Life and prevent the modern day Christian campaign of division from succeeding according to the beliefs of the few, both archaic and modern beliefs to be sure. And so we come back again to the Apostle Paul’s words “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai“. In these words that show us the defining quality of True agape, that it IS the Truth of the Spirit that IS Love as “God IS Love” reaching out through the consciousness of a man in this world. This reaching out IS makrothumeo and chresteuomai IS the expression of agape by the man through whom the Power of Love flows from the Spirit.
How IS this accomplished? According to the Master’s words above on the growth of the Kingdom of God….from a seed. For most men this seed IS ever present in the heart and IS reflected in the consciousness by what IS called the conscience; but it CAN NOT grow in the midst of the divisive ideas of the doctrines of men which ARE both religious and political barriers to Truth. Without the divisive ideas into which men ARE nurtured and indoctrinated we find the opportunity for the Truth which some DO find despite their own nurturing and indoctrination; here we should try to see how that the more religious and the more political a man IS, the further from the Truth he will stand. In this IS the Truth of the Master’s words to the religious Jews saying “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31); it IS “the publicans and the harlots” that have NOT established their doctrinal defenses against the Truth.
The New Testament IS filled with Truths that ARE clearly articulated by the writers but which ARE ignored by the doctrines of men which frequently turn the words of Truth against others by proclaiming themselves as among those that “doeth God service“. It IS easy for us to see the reality of those who lay claim to the authority but who, at the same time, DO NOT heed the Truth, those that seldom even recognize the Truth. It IS these who dilute and change the Truth of His words and who teach others to ignore the clarity of Jesus’ words under the dictates of their own doctrinal approach to God. This IS DONE through the indoctrination of men into the many doctrines that pose as the Truth, doctrines that become the Truth to the man who IS told that he must believe this or that in order to be ‘saved’. Such doctrinal assertions supplant the Truth and hide the True Way that IS clearly enunciated by the Master in such sayings as ARE 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).
In place of these Truths that show us the Way to the Truth, to the Kingdom and to having the Presence of God in one’s Life, men ARE shown doctrines which, while based in His name, ARE NOT based in His words. They ARE based instead upon the misunderstood, misapplied and out of context words of His apostles, words that DO allow for men to be men in this world with few exceptions which ARE generally based in some moral viewpoint that IS ofttimes NOT founded in His Truth. So then doctrinal thinkers believe that they have the Truth, that they will enter the Kingdom and that they have the Presence of God; ALL this according to their doctrines. Here then IS the dilemma: how can one be shown the Truth if he believes that he already has it based in his doctrinal approach to the Lord.
The KEY IS ever in agape and in the expression of agape by those who ARE able to see past the doctrines of men and “into the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25) which needs NO doctrinal guidance to understand. The KEY IS “agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” which IS the expression of that Love that flows from the Soul. It IS this expression of agape that sees past the diversity of forms, of religious beliefs, and of the station in Life of everyman; it IS an expression that sees ALL men as they Truly ARE….Souls living for a time in a body in this world. “Agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” sees past ALL the divisions erected by men and in this Truly understands the meaning of the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule which ARE its examples. “Agape makrothumeo chresteuomai” IS the Love of God for His creation, the Love of men toward God and the Love of man toward ALL men universally and with NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9).
And here we must try to see that such an expression of agape which IS accomplished by measure as the Kingdom grows from a seed, DOES lead a man to the Truth, to the Kingdom and to having the True Presence of God in one’s Life, ALL of which IS the reward of the trifecta….the reward for keeping His words. We close today with Paul’s words that equate these ideas, words that should show us that it IS NOT impossible to “please God“. We read again:
“Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao 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 agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape 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).
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 |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
