ON LOVE; PART MCCCXCIII
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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.
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the Epistle of James. We should note that this epistle IS NOT regarded with the same esteem as ARE Paul’s and this IS likely because of James rather blunt views which ARE NOT nearly as subjectable to interpretation as ARE Paul’s. Add to this the reality that James’ writing closely adheres to the teachings of the Master and that some of what he has to say can appear contrary to the writings of Paul. Three main points from James show us first that we ARE to keep the words of the Master and while there ARE some that may wish to apply this to the law of Moses, the reality IS that the overall context of James writings IS tuned to Jesus words and to His expansion of the themes that Moses first introduced. For this we cite James saying from the first chapter where we read “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) Here we NOT only have the idea of being “doers of the word” but also the deception that plagues most ALL of the church which hears the Master’s words interpreted into the doctrines of men. This deception IS based in the vanity of men, it IS the functioning of the illusion and glamour through which men ‘choose’ to see God. In the second chapter of James’ Epistle we have a most important lesson and one the reflects the Master’s teaching on the nature of God regarding men. Jesus shows us that the Lord, from a worldly perspective, “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” as He instructs us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:45,48). Two principles come to light here that ARE found throughout the Judaeo-Christian bible; one IS that nature of God which Paul repeats to us as “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and second IS that we ARE instructed to ‘mimic’ that nature….to be as the Lord IS. James captures this most important component of agape as he tells us “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. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). What we should see here IS that our failure to Love, our failure to express agape to, ALL men with NO exception, IS as great a sin as any other. And we should note here that these words encompass both the expression of agape and the way that this expression IS offered. A third point IS found in the next chapter where we have James teaching on Wisdom, a concept that IS grossly misunderstood. This Wisdom IS NOT of the world but of the Godhead and it IS the former wisdom that IS the subject of our discussion of zelos and eritheia which ARE rendered as “bitter envying and strife” but ARE better understood as “emulation and factious division“. This Wisdom IS closely allied with agape and from a spiritual perspective can be seen as the same dynamic in the Life of the man whose focus IS upon the Lord. James tells us that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:14, 17) and we should try to see that ALL of these aspects of Wisdom ARE also aspects of agape while both ARE the intimate Truth of pistis, the Truth of faith which IS our KNOWING God.
These three points from James Epistle ARE little understood by the doctrinal thinker but ARE of the utmost importance in the spiritual journey of everyman. But these ARE but guideposts that show us the importance of KEY concepts from the Master’s own teaching. There IS much more in James’ seemingly short epistle including his words on the dichotomy between the world and the things of God, words which reflect how that men should ever choose God over mammon and “treasures in heaven” over “treasures upon earth“; both of these spiritual ideas function under the banner that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:20, 19, 24). We would be remiss to NOT mention James’ point from the fifth chapter which begins with his acknowledging Jesus’ own teaching on riches and how that both our possession of wealth and our choice of mammon over God, which most often brings such riches, IS a great detriment to our True Repentance and Transformation. James begins this saying “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (James 5:1). We should try to understand here that ALL of these points and ideas from James ARE in regard to agape; ALL of these ARE fundamental to our expression of Love in this world of men. This brings us then to our discussion of our new selection from John where we read that:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby* know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is borna of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4).
The transition from James to John IS an easy one as both DO reflect rather bluntly on the Master’s teachings and here, in our selection, we should try to see the relationship between the idea of Wisdom and the first idea from John’s writing above. John IS telling us to “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” and in this we must understand the apostle’s intent in using the Greek word pneuma which IS rendered here as spirit. The King James rendering of this word is in a broad range: it could be the Spirit that IS God or His attributes, the Holy Spirit, and one’s own individual Spirit, of the more general ideas that ARE carnally based and, of course, the ‘evil’ spirt or a spirit reference to demons and devils. ALL of these ideas ARE determined by the usage of the word pneuma whose technical meaning IS: a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze9a according to Strong’s which clarifies the spiritual view saying that these ARE: by analogy or figuratively determined. While there IS NO doubt that the subject of pneuma IS rarely according to Strong’s definition, the uncertainty of what Spirit actually IS makes it difficult to determine the actual intent with which the ideas have been applied in doctrines. On the spiritual levels of consciousness and higher mind there IS but One Spirit and that IS the Spirit that we call God. This IS our Transcendent God Who IS ALL encompassing, that IS that everything that exists on every spiritual level IS found within our God….naught exist but His Presence. This IS phrased esoterically as that God IS: “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“**. This IS God as Spirit and it IS this reality that IS Jesus reference as He tells the woman at the well “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), and this because He IS “beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“. That God IS beyond the cognitive reach of men should be understood as a general rule and NOT a specific one; while the man whose focus IS yet carnal CAN NOT reach beyond this veil of mystery because he CAN NOT comprehend ought beyond his physical existance, this IS NOT so for the Repentant and Transformed man. This man whose focus IS upon the Truth and the things of God IS having the mysteries revealed to him in a way that IS proportionate to his focus until the fullness of revelation comes. Paul shows us this by showing us that the nature of the mystery IS “Christ in you” as he tells us to whom the Truth IS revealed saying that “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Colossians 1:27, 26). These words show us the Immanent nature of God, that He IS within us, and while the church has interpreted this to mean that ONLY the Christian follower of doctrine can have access to this Immanent God, the reality IS that few if any of the doctrinal followers throughout history have Truly been saints as this idea IS properly defined. The reality here IS that the idea of God Immanent means that God IS the functioning Spirit of ALL things….ALL ARE part and parcel of the Lord and while this IS a difficult concept to understand through the finite human mind, this IS the True nature of men who come into incarnation through the use of a physical body born into the vanity that IS Life in this world.
God being both Transcendent and Immanent in His creation IS the reality of the common understanding that ‘God IS everywhere’ and while this IS difficult to understand, it IS NO more difficult that other realities applied to the Lord such as His being both infinite and eternal. It IS this very nature of God, His being Transcendent, Immanent, Eternal and Infinite, that we must take from the Greek word pneuma which IS defined as a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze9a and it IS this idea that Jesus shows Nicodemus saying “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The idea of the word pneuma IS covered by many carnal and spiritual definitions according to its usage and we should note here that the perceived usage IS ofttimes based in the ideas of those who ARE interpreting scripture. While this word can be used to cover a multiplicity of ideas, our focus IS upon the spiritual aspects of its usage. Spirit can perhaps be best understood as a controlling interest in the Life of a man. Everyman can be and IS controlled by his own thoughts and emotions and when the idea of the Soul and the Spirit that IS man is introduced, the reality of ideas like “Spirit of adoption” or “spirit of bondage” (Romans 8:15) can help to show us again the dichotomy between the spiritual and the carnal. We should note that there IS a distinct difference between these two poles; the first IS understood as coming from the Godhead while the latter IS definitively carnal and coming from the carnal mind and there ARE many such inferences found in the both the Old and the New Testament. Applying these ideas to our selection we can try to see that John’s point IS to show us that we must discern between the carnal and the spiritual and while the inference IS that he IS writing about teachers, the idea of which Spirit we ARE hearing, the carnal or the spiritual, IS solely a personal view. Many will hear a false message, a carnal one to be sure, and believe it to be spiritually sound while others can hear the same message and KNOW that it IS NOT spiritual but carnal and in this IS the choice that comes to everyman. John of course IS speaking to people which he believes have moved their focus off of the carnal and onto the spiritual things of God and, to be sure, men who have heard and somewhat accepted the words of the Master. We should note here that the point of discernment IS a function of one’s focus and the apostle IS showing us that there ARE “many false prophets” and that their message of truth IS NOT Truth and should be discerned as such. It IS through the “many false prophets” that the message of the Master has been diluted and changed over the last 2000 years and should we look at the way that this IS happening in John’s time, we can better understand his meaning.
There ARE likely several layers of what John calls “many false prophets“; there ARE the Jews that outright reject Jesus’ message based on their purely carnal and selfish reasons; there ARE the Christians, newly minted to be sure, that change the Master’s message to one that better suits the ways of men, and there ARE the ‘political’ forces that seek to end the Christian movement before IS can seriously affect the social powers of the rulers. These ARE but examples of what “many false prophets” DO and should we apply these ideas throughout our changing history, we can find similar effects in each of these ideas. While the church gathers such ideas as “many false prophets” into its doctrinal ideas of antichrist we should remember that it IS the Apostle John who coined this phrase in this epistle. The apostle IS NOT writing about an antichrist that is instrumental in the varied doctrinal interpretations regarding the end times; he IS NOT writing about the strangeness of beings found in his Book of Revelation; he IS writing about persons and ideas that ARE contrary to the very idea of the Christ and the teachings of the Master. John IS showing us that such people ARE that “spirit of antichrist” and while this phrase IS rendered from the single Greek word antichirstos with the idea of spirit furnished by the translators, the idea of the phrase DOES suit the context that John IS writing on. The simple message here IS NOT in regard to the idea of the antichrist as understood by the church but it IS intended to show us just what we should believe regarding the Christ.
Simply put the apostle IS cautioning us to NOT believe whatsoever one may hear, NOT to believe every ‘wind’ of change which for us can be seen as the doctrinal pronouncements of men from the very beginning. We should understand that there ARE few that Truly understood the Master’s message and who could repeat it to others yet, like today, there ARE many opinions formed; some by well meaning men and others by men’s self serving ideas. We should try to see that while so much of the Master’s words ARE clearly elucidated, the church has ever focused upon the parabolic and the mysterious and, as we have often said, this IS largely because the clearly elucidated sayings of the Master ARE those that point men to their responsibility; to their Repentance and Transformation. Paul shows us this saying that “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“. The reality of this idea, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, IS the same reality that we find in Jesus’ teachings and we should understand that this presentation requires that we keep His words. Our striving to DO so, our striving to keep His words, IS the hallmark of our Repentance which IS our spiritual responsibility….which IS “your reasonable service“. Paul continues saying that we must “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 12:1, 2). Contrary to this IS our conformance to the doctrines of men and whether these ARE self serving or well intentioned matters NOT if their words convey any presumed Truths that ARE NOT in accord with the clearly elucidated words of the Master. Such men who have taken to themselves the authority to teach others, whether self serving or well intentioned, ARE NOT “of God” but ARE teaching carnal ideas while purporting them to be spiritual. Here we should see that based in the presumed authority that they claim to have being priests, rabbis, pastors or any sort of evangelical leaders, ONLY qualifies them according to their own doctrinal ideas and NOT according to the Truth of the Master’s words nor the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles. In John’s words the admonition IS to NOT believe such but this has been contorted to mean that men should NOT believe any others; that the priests, rabbis, pastors and evangelical leaders ARE “of God” according to their own view of themselves. It IS this contortion that has been taught for 2000 years and the effect IS that the ‘believer‘ sees the religious authorities in his Life as being “of God“, especially those of his own denomination or sect. We should remember that Jesus shows us how we can KNOW who IS “of God” and who IS the “false prophet” as He tells us “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
John’s message IS much the same but from a different perspective. Jesus IS speaking to Jews and warning them that those who teach them, whether self serving or well intentioned, can be KNOWN “by their fruits” and we should note here that while such ‘prophets’ can believe themselves to be well intentioned, most often they ARE at the same time self serving. While Jesus IS speaking to the Jews, John IS speaking about the Jews; the apostle IS speaking against those “that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” and here we should see the words as the Jews would, as Jesus the Messiah. Most ALL of the Jews’ religious leaders denied that Jesus IS the Messiah and taught this to their followers from their positions of authority in a Truly self serving way which many of them believed was well intentioned. Remember the words of the High Priest of whom we read in John’s Gospel: “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation” (John 11:47-51). Can we see John’s point here regarding the Jews and their religious leaders? Can we see that they ARE his reference to the antichrists of his day? While this may be understood by some in the Christian churches, the whole idea of antichrist has be taken out of this context and placed into a mostly eschatological context for which there IS little or NO scriptural basis save John’s earlier words saying “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18). Of course we DO KNOW that John was mistaken in saying that “it is the last time” and this regardless of how this idea IS perceived. If we can see that the idea of antichrist had NO meaning before these times when the Jews denied that the Messiah had come among us with His teaching regarding the Jews’ religious leaders, we can perhaps see how that John’s reference IS those leaders. Jesus tells us that these leaders ARE but “blind leaders of the blind” and we should see here how that John’s warning against believing them IS akin to Jesus’ continuing words saying “if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14). From John’s perspective we should try to see that the Advent of Jesus brought with it the advent of the antichrist.
While this ALL sets the stage for John continuing words, these ideas ARE rather frozen in time because of their relationship to the Jews’ religious leaders. They ARE however still active ideas in the world today because of the doctrinal approaches of men that DO NOT conform to the Master’s words and which can be readily seen as being in opposition to His Truths. Today denying that the Jesus IS the Christ IS NOT the signet of the antichrist but rather IS simply the signet of the non-believer. The antichrist IS actively against Christ and against His Truths and this puts the burden of being so upon everyman who actively teaches spiritual ideas that ARE contrary to His teaching. Can we see the point here and can we see that regardless of the outward appearances of such teachings, appearances that have become the accepted Christian norm, there IS yet “that spirit of antichrist” in the world today which IS likely to be both well intentioned and self serving? Jesus cautions us against this in His words that follow His own words on the “false prophets”; the Master says: “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” (Matthew 7:21-23). Can we see here the differences between men’s appearance of spirituality and actual spirituality as evidenced by DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.
Having shown us the idea of the antichrist, the apostle goes on into his deeper message which is addressed to those that have overcome the antichrists, those that have overcome the teachings of men that ARE contrary to the Truth. To these John says “Ye are of God” and goes on to show us the idea of Christ Within saying “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world“. While “he that is in the world” IS doctrinally attributed to the devil by many, the reality IS that the reference IS to those that teach things that ARE contrary to the Truth, that ARE contrary to the clearly elucidated words of the Master. John Gill shows us the doctrinal idea of “he that is in the world” as: either the devil, the prince and god of the world, and who goes up and down in it, dwells in the hearts of the men of it, under whose influence they are, and in whom he works effectually; or antichrist, whose spirit was now in the world, and whose doctrine was propagated by the false teachers, in whom he began to appear8. Only the idea of false teachers IS here a valid point and the contest here IS between the prompting of the Soul to Truth and the acceptance of doctrinal assertions that DO NOT conform with the Truth of the Master’s words. It IS in the reality that the True man, the Soul in this world, KNOWS the Truth that we can better understand John’s point but this requires contact with that Presence of God in the Life of everyman; a Presence that IS our realization of the Truth against which we can measure the the anti-truth. We should understand as well that to be antichrist IS to be anti-Truth and anti-agape as these ARE both qualities of the Godhead; first because “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8, 16) and second because, as John tells us of Jesus, “the Word Logos was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). These ARE qualities of the Godhead and thereby qualities of the Soul of everyman which IS the apostle’s message as he earlier tells us that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). Here we should remember that the rendered word unction comes from the same Greek word as the rendered word anointed and is a derivative of the same root word that gives us christos which IS always rendered as Christ. In this we should try to understand our most basic link to the Master who IS technically Jesus the anointed; in this we should try to see the possibilities for ALL men who can bring that anointing into their lives in this world. This IS our realization of Truth and of agape and our escape from the vanity to which ALL men ARE subjected; and it IS this realization that we should see in Jesus’ words to His disciples that ARE the third part of our trifecta which we repeat here saying:
- “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 must remember that while the mystery of Christ Within IS revealed to us by Paul, the dynamics of this ARE yet hidden from ALL that ARE NOT saints while this flow of Truth IS increased by measure for ALL who Truly strive toward that state of holiness. We must remember as well that this state of sainthood and holiness IS the product of the same thing that Jesus shows us above….that we keep His words which IS at the same time our evidence of our Repentance and of our Transformation. It IS our own responsibility to connect the dots, the bits of clear Truth found throughout the New Testament, and we should understand that this connection, this ability to KNOW, will ONLY come to the man who DOES strive to keep His words. It IS only in the act of losing oneself, one’s carnal self to be sure, that we find the True Life and Jesus tells us this several times in His words. Paul tells us of these mysteries saying “I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:25-27). We should remember that Jesus also shows us these things that ARE NOT understood in this world of men, especially those that have made themselves believe that they ARE saints and ARE holy despite bearing NO fruit. Far too many Christians have taken on the mantel of holiness and sainthood by simply applying the words of the Master and His apostles illegitimately to themselves and this begins with Jesus’ words saying “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables” (Mark 4:11). The Christian world has come to see themselves ‘equal’ to the apostles when it comes to such ideas as this; most will never realize that they ARE really among “them that are without“‘; this of course IS based in the doctrinal teachings which tell men that it IS by their affirmations and confessions, by their rites and their rituals, that they ARE ‘saved‘. To this end we repeat again the Parable of the Prodigal Son where the Christian world sees itself as the ‘Redeemed‘ son who has come home to the Father rather than the reality that the church IS comprised mostly of his brother who seeks ALL the benefits of the Father based ONLY on his carnal thoughts and actions. The Master tells us:
“A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:11-32).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- ^ From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust
- ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
