ON LOVE; PART MCCCXIX
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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).
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We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the what Vincent calls the
three characteristics of the good hearer as he interprets this idea into the way that the three synoptic gospel writers describe the man that IS the “good ground” from Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. For us these ARE synonymous ideas as the word sown IS kept, understood and received by the man who IS Truly focused upon the Lord and while the doctrinal thinker may believe that his doctrines make him the “good ground“, we should understand that most ALL ARE yet caught in that vanity by which the “cares and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14) choke out the Master’s words of Truth. While the “cares and riches and pleasures of this life” take up the attention of most everyman, this IS justified by a doctrinal approach to God that substitutes their interpretations of the words of the apostles for the clear Truths of the Master’s words. Most ALL men, in and out of the church, refuse to give up their worldly cares and their striving for riches and pleasures and while those out of the church see this as their normal, those in the church rely upon their carnal interpretations of the misapplied and misunderstood words of the apostles that have formed their theological crutch by which they stand against the Truth of Jesus’ teachings. We came to the Master’s words from this parable through our discussion of the words of the Apostle Paul from the eighth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans where the apostle points us to the reality of having the Presence of God in our lives. Paul poses for us a question that that asks “if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you” as he gives us the answer to the affirmative reply saying that if this IS so that He “shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you“. Taking this into Jesus own words from our trifecta we should be able to see that God’s and Christ’s dwelling within a person relies upon the an affirmative answer to Jesus’ 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” which creates a narrow Path to His True Presence. It IS this same narrow Path that the Master refers to saying “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). We should try to see here that the broad way IS path for ALL that ARE bound by “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in” (Mark 4:18) as we read in Mark’s version of the Sermon, while the “strait gate” reveals the Path of those that understand, receive and keep His words of Truth. This IS the Path of those that Paul tells us willingly “mortify the deeds of the body“, those that ARE Truly “led by the Spirit of God“. Repeating Paul’s words we read:
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 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, Becauseexpectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:11:23).
Our point in ALL this IS to show that Paul’s words DO agree with the Master’s, that the apostle’s writings ARE intended to amplify and clarify the words of the Master which were often parabolic and, when clearly stated as we have in our trifecta, NOT understood as they ARE offered but rather through a filter of men’s doctrines. Jesus tells us that we must keep His words if we ARE to find the Truth, the Kingdom and His Presence and Paul tells us much the same thing albeit in terms that have been misconstrued by those who have taken authority over the spiritual lives of the masses. Paul tells us that in order to have our “mortal bodies” quickened, that IS made alive spiritually by “his Spirit that dwelleth in you“, one must NO longer “live after the flesh” but must “mortify the deeds of the body“. Such deeds ARE the thoughts, the attitudes and the actions that ARE wrought out in the vanity of Life into which men ARE nurtured and indoctrinated and if we could call this sense of self a part of the treasure of which Jesus speaks, we can perhaps find another way to understand His words. Jesus tells us “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). We should try to see here how that our sense of self can be our most prized treasure as men in this world and few would think of forsaking this. This sense of self IS ALL-consuming as we focus our minds upon the things of this world, things that include the thoughts, attitudes, emotions and actions by which we measure both our successes and our failures. IS the cessation of this predilection toward the self in this world NOT what Paul refers to in saying that “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“? IS he NOT saying that we should live “through the Spirit“? In the Greek text the idea here IS stated simply as Spirit from the Greek word pneuma so that we can read this as that “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” which IS the better understanding of the apostle’s words. While we begin our selection with the eleventh verse, we should KNOW that prior to this Paul DOES tell us that “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7) and here we should see his similar idea to that which the Apostle James presents saying “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
In the words of James and Paul we should see the same theme as the Master shows us in His words on treasure and His following thoughts on mammon, the single eye and the ALL inclusive instruction that we should “Take no thought for your life“. ALL of these things: seeking “treasures upon earth“, choosing mammon over God, having an eye, a perspective on Life, that IS NOT singularly focused on the things of God, an eye that Jesus shows us saying “if thine eye be evil” which IS to be focused upon the self, and the most general way of men whose thoughts ARE upon their own selves and the things of the self ((Matthew 6:25, 19, 24, 21, 22), ARE the product of Paul’s “carnal mind” which IS at the same “enmity against God” as IS James’ “friendship of the world“. This IS the reality of the “carnal mind” and while the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT believe that he IS using his “carnal mind” based in his doctrinal beliefs, it takes ONLY a review of one’s own thoughts, attitudes and actions to show the Truth. The “carnal mind” IS one that IS actively controlled by one’s own sense of vanity, one’s own sense of that illusion and glamour which greatly vary among men. It IS in Vincent’s defining ideas of vanity that we should see that “the carnal mind….is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be“; Vincent shows us that this vanity IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. Paul lays this ALL out for us without much explanation as he IS writing to those that should have some measure of the Truth that comes in keeping the words of the Master and here we should understand that his writings come before the pollution of the Truth that IS the doctrines of men. Perhaps Paul and the other apostles were the last vanguard of Truly spiritual men who left for us the gospels and the epistles as a guide. Unfortunately, these have been misconstrued by those who have taken authority over the spiritual lives of the masses, those whose interpretations ARE based in the “carnal mind“, the minds of men yet caught in the vanity that IS Life in this world. And it IS this illusion and glamour by which the doctrinal thinker believes that in his carnal mind he has “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16); this idea IS but one of the many out of context ideas that the Christian world has taken to themselves. We should understand here that to have the “the mind of Christ” one would think as Christ and any look at the world today will reveal there ARE few or perhaps NONE that can meet this qualification. In the context of Paul’s words on the “carnal mind” we should see the basic reality that IS ignored by those who arbitrarily put themselves into “the mind of Christ” while KNOWING that their thoughts on Life DO NOT at ALL agree with the Master’s. Paul tells us that:
“they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:5-10).
While there IS NO mystery in these words from Paul, the doctrinal world has still misconstrued them and has taken them into their theological view of Life. The ‘saved‘ Christian believes that he DOES NOT “mind the things of the flesh” but rather the “things of the Spirit” which, if we should look again at the apostle’s defining ideas of the “fruit of the Spirit“, would show a different manner of living. It IS again in the illusion and the glamour, the vanity of Life in this world, that the Christian and most ALL men DO NOT ever look at the reality of their own comportment; for the Christian, he DOES NOT see that his Life IS far afield of the reality of the “things of the Spirit” which Paul presents for us saying: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance“. There IS NO difference between these ideas of fruit and the reference in Romans to “things of the Spirit” nor IS there any difference between Paul’s “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:22-23) and his reference in Romans to “the things of the flesh” and we should remember here that the English translations of the Greek words of both lists are but a carnal glimpse of his True intent which IS spiritual in nature. We have discussed these words several times over the course of this blog and searching for the Greek words from the blog’s home page will bring you to these discussions. The greater point here IS that while many Christians believe that they ARE being “led by the Spirit of God” they ARE NOT expressing the Truths that such a leading would provide, most ALL ARE yet trapped in the vanity and, through the very nature of this illusion and glamour, most ALL fail to see their own carnal state of mind and attitude which most often DOES NOT even meet the carnal ideas interpreted from Paul’s list of the “fruit of the Spirit“. In the verse just prior to our selection the apostle says that “if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” but this verse can me misconstrued against Paul’s continuing ideas. We should try to understand that “if Christ be in you” it IS because one keeps His words as Jesus shows us in our trifecta. In these words we should see that the idea that “the body is dead” through sin according to his continuing words saying that “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die” and herein we should get a glimpse of Paul’s defining of sin as to “live after the flesh” rather than those gross human offences that doctrines see. Similarly we should see the idea of righteousness according to Paul’s continuing words saying that “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“. Here we should try to see that to “mortify the deeds of the body” IS to cease the results of vanity, which IS to “live after the flesh” and to focus upon those things that the Master speaks against in His words on treasure and His following thoughts on mammon, the single eye and the ALL inclusive instruction that men should “Take no thought for your life“. It IS through this sense of mortification, which IS akin to the apostle’s words that follow his list of “the fruit of the Spirit” saying “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24), that we find the Truth of that righteousness that IS the effect of the flow of Truth and Love from the Spirit and the Soul.
We should try to understand that the apostle’s words ARE NOT pointing us to the doctrinal ideas of confession and affirmation that doctrinal thinkers deduce from his writings later in this epistle. They ARE pointing us to the reality that it IS by the effort of men that they can “mortify the deeds of the body“, by a True realization of “his Spirit that dwelleth in you“; it IS in this realization of His Presence that IS fostered by one’s striving to keep His words that we can crucify “the flesh with the affections and lusts” which ARE the vain desires of men for the things of this world. This IS the simplicity of Paul’s message that IS lost in the wrangling doctrinal approaches to the Lord: “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“. And this IS the Way of the True disciple which Jesus defines for us in saying “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot* be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot* be my disciple….So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). This IS the singular message of the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, a message that IS founded in a sense of Love and Truth that goes far beyond our carnal thinking and emotional response to the world. In IS in this vein that Paul tells us that “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” and here we should understand that ALL “affections and lusts” that concern the self and the things of the self in this world ARE from the “carnal mind“. And it IS from this that the Apostle Peter tells us that we must escape saying “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). While the doctrines of men claim that a man CAN NOT save himself, the reality IS that it IS ONLY by one’s own effort that one can so escape to become “partakers of the divine nature“. It IS in the vanity of Life, in the illusion and the glamour, that the doctrinal thinker believes that he IS such a partaker and we should try to see here that the doctrinally religious man IS most often overflowing with this vanity which IS exacerbated by his continuing indoctrination into a world that he sees in error.
The Master often reveals to the doctrinally religious Jew such things as “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31) as He decries their lost sense of Truth into which they were themselves indoctrinated. This IS NOT however a stale message meant ONLY for the Jew and if we look carefully at the Master’s words that accompany the second part of our trifecta we should be able to see a sense of prophecy that pushes his words into the doctrinal Christian church. Jesus tells us “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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity“. We should note here that the Master offers us these words before telling us a parable that shows the parabolic fate of those who DO NOT keep His words. In this Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders IS a simple message that IS overlooked by the doctrinal thinker, overlooked in favor of those words from the apostles that bring comfort…. carnal comfort to be sure. Jesus tells us that “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:21-23, 24-27). While Jesus parable here IS quite clear and easy to understand as it simply draws parallels between keeping His words and being Wise versus NOT DOING so and being foolish, the import of his words ARE NOT accepted by most ALL of the doctrinal church. For the church the contrast here IS between the reality of keeping His words and the churches interpretation of sin, an interpretation that IS NOT at ALL attuned to the defining ideas for the Greek words hararatia and paraptoma which ARE most always rendered as sin. Having discussed this frequently over the course of our blog posts, we should be able to see that sin IS much more complex than the church’s view of sin as those gross human offences; it IS this complexity that Jesus shows us in His teaching where the very thought of adultery and anger ARE equal to the act of adultery and killing. Again, we should look at the lexicon’s defining ideas which tell us that in hamartia we have the ideas of: to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin 2. This far reaching idea of sin transcends the common ideas which have been shown us over the centuries by the church and in these defining ideas we should be able to see the role of focus. It IS in focus that men can see the mark and hit it and it IS in focus that one can have his share as Peter shows us in his words on becoming “partakers of the divine nature” which IS the share of everyman who will keep His words. The Apostle James adds yet another facet to this idea of sin as he tells us that “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors“. While Paul gives us itemized list of some of the components of sin which ARE interpreted by doctrines according to their carnal bent, James offers us a comprehensive view that says that our failure to Love, to rightly express agape to ALL, IS as great a sin as ARE those ideas of adultery and killing. James continues to say that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:8-11).
The whole of the reality of sin has been missed by the church for 2000 years and this while it IS clearly laid out for us to understand. That we DO NOT understand IS again a function of vanity, of the illusion and the glamour that, for the Christian, IS greatly exacerbated by the continuing indoctrination of men into such doctrines as we have yet today. Again, there IS a cause here that IS based solely upon the doctrinal precepts that ARE seemingly so much easier to fathom than the Truth. We should understand that much of the Christian dogma IS related to the ‘forgiveness‘ of sins that IS offered in the gospels and the epistles but again here we have a failure in understanding just what such forgiveness means. Many Christian teachers equate the idea of forgiveness to the atonement offered by their doctrinal approach to the Lord; many teach that the Lord will NOT any longer hold our sins against us as they look forward to a day of ‘judgement‘ where, for the non-believer, his log of sins will be reviewed by God or Christ depending on one’s doctrinal affiliation. The doctrinal thinker can point to several bible sayings that seem to support their view but, if the right understanding of Life and death were in view, the meaning of these sayings would be very different. Paul points us to a part of the Truth of Life and death in our selection as he says “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” and this IS much the same as in the Genesis story where vanity begins in the Lords words to Adam saying “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). In both instances there IS an understanding taken that relates to the relative level of understanding of the people to whom such words ARE written. In Genesis the idea depicted IS a spiritual death and eating of the tree IS the equivalent to men’s desire to “live after the flesh” in a world where the senses overwhelm the reality of Life….in a world of vanity. Jesus uses the ideas of Life and death in the same spiritual way but the ideas ARE NOT taken by most to show the reality of Life that He teaches; the Master says to “a certain ruler” (Luke 18:18) that “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17) and here we should see that Jesus IS both showing us this man as dead, as that he DOES “live after the flesh” in Paul’s terms, and the True Way to Life in keeping His words. Paul shows us this reality as that this ruler should “through the Spirit….mortify the deeds of the body“; in this story we KNOW the history, we KNOW that he has chosen NOT to DO this and NOT to “keep the commandments“. We should see here that these ideas ARE synonymous in both the positive and the negative views but, more importantly, we should see also that as the Master lists the Ten Commandments and the ruler acknowledges that he has kept them, another idea IS added….that he should forsake what he has and follow Him. This idea of forsaking IS NOT hidden from our view; it IS shown us by Jesus as an integral part of True discipleship and, if we look at Matthew’s approach to this same issue, that this idea of discipleship IS equivalent to being “worthy of me“, we can see the more complete picture. This Jesus shows us saying “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38).
Jesus compounds this idea of forsaking with His words on Life saying that “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). In this we should see the clear implication that to remain unworthy of Him IS to remain spiritually dead in this world while to be worthy IS a Life, a spiritually significant Life, that IS freed from “the bondage of corruption” in which one’s worldly thoughts, attitudes, actions and things reign supreme. It IS this bondage, this vanity to which ALL ARE subjected, that IS become the choice of the doctrinal thinker as he plots his Life in carnal terms rather than in the terms that the Master offers us, terms that ARE firmly based in the Great Commandments. And this IS the apostle’s point in telling us that “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“; this death and this Life ARE the same as that of which the Master speaks as He tells us to follow Him. There IS a deep Truth in following Him, a Truth that the church has failed to see as they constructed their doctrines around the carnal lives of men rather than the deeper ideas of Truly following Him, a following that IS much more significant than maintaining a martyr like position of belief. Jesus shows us this deeper reality saying such things as “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34-37). While these words ARE clear and the idea of following Him IS clear, most ALL of the church looks past them; few see the reality that a man must “deny himself” which IS the same as his forsaking, and fewer yet understand the reality of His words saying that a man should “take up his cross, and follow me“. This last idea IS NOT offered in anticipation of Jesus’ crucifixion as Vincent tells us saying that: This was no Jewish proverb, crucifixion not being a Jewish punishment; so that Jesus uses the phrase anticipatively, in view of the death which he himself was to die 4. It IS rather according to Vincent’s other view from Jesus’s words on the Way of the disciple where he says: More correctly, his own. An important charge. All must bear the cross, but not all the same cross: each one his own 4. If we can equate the idea that a man should “take up his cross” with Jesus portrayal of the cost of discipleship, perhaps we can gain a better understanding that to “take up his cross” IS to willingly pay the price for discipleship; a price that causes one to Truly leave off of the thoughts, attitudes, actions and things that associate one with the things of the world….to leave off being “a friend of the world“. Jesus shows us this in examples as he tells us to forsake, to hate in King James language, ALL that ARE close and then to forsake ALL; He says “which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace” (Luke 14:28-32). There IS much here to understand as we close today with our trifecta of spiritual reality; the Master tells us:
- “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 will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
- ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust
- 12 Expositions of Holy Scripture–Project Gutenberg’s and Baker Book House’ Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren–(1826-1910)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
