ON LOVE; PART MCDXXXI
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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 the Master’s words that end His Sermon on the Mount according to the Apostle Matthew. While His words ARE called the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, they ARE NOT overly parabolic as the ideas presented ARE clearly presented and should be easily understood by most ALL who seriously try to grasp Jesus’ point and intent. The comparisons offered to us ARE real and extend the ideas of choice that cover most ALL of His Sermon into the everyday Life of ALL who may make the choice that He presents. This parable IS the culmination of a long series of choices shown us according to the individual topics which range from the idea of being blessed in expressing the virtues listed by the Master against the lack of such blessing in the absence of our expressions of such ideals as mercy, peacemaking, meekness and hungering after righteousness. In each choice here there IS an inherent quid pro quo, an inherent sense that to gain the blessing one must DO what IS required or else NO such blessing IS possible; for example if we fail to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” we will NOT be filled (Matthew 5:6). Jesus’ long series of choices in His Sermon end with a different kind of choice which involves our entry into the Kingdom of God. The Master IS quite specific as He tells us that to attain the Kingdom we must “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) as He carefully adds the idea that in men’s feigning keeping His words, they will be left out. The specific point IS that we should keep His words rather than keeping up our doctrinal approach to the Lord and that our religious practices ARE worthless and deceptive as James shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). It IS this point that Jesus seeks to amplify in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which reads clearly 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 7:24-27
While this IS perhaps technically a parable, the meaning IS NOT hidden behind the story as in many other more classic Parables of Jesus. The meaning here IS clearly that the spiritual lives of the Wise builders can stand firm against the vanity into which ALL ARE born while the spiritual lives of the foolish builders, those “that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not“, will be easily tattered and rendered spiritually useless. Of course unless we believe that our spiritual lives ARE our True objective none of this matters but, to be sure, that they DO matter IS the overall topic of the entire bible as well as the scriptures of ALL world religions. In the churches the talk IS of the ‘enemy’, of Satan and his minions, which try to influence the ‘believer‘ to sway him from his doctrinal path. The reality however IS that it IS the vanity and the personality that IS bound to that vanity that IS the enemy; it IS the heart of everyman that IS embedded in the vanity of Life from which he must escape. The Apostle Peter shows us this in his Second Epistle but the idea IS NOT accepted by the churches who teach that the ‘believer‘ already has the promises based solely in their ‘believing‘ and faith, both of which ARE nebulous at best in such teachings. Peter tells us that “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 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 1:3-4). In these words which we often use we should see the goal and the Way to that goal; first we should understand that to attain the “exceeding great and precious promises” we must first understand that such “things that pertain unto life and godliness” ARE already ours as Souls, that these things ARE embodied by the Soul that IS continually prompting the heart to listen and to observe. Peter IS careful to show us that such things come into our hearts and minds “through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” and here we should tie that KNOWLEDGE to Jesus’ words 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). It IS our KNOWLEDGE of God that streams into our personalities as we DO strive to “continue in my word” as the Master shows us. To be clear, coming to KNOW the Truth from the spiritual perspective of Jesus’ words here IS “the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue“.
We must also understand that this Truth that sets us free IS the product of keeping His words, our spiritual reward if you will, and, as the Apostle John shows us, if the result of this reward IS NOT our expression of agape, then we DO err in believing that we have that reward. John tells us “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (!John 4:7-8). John’s clarity here should be deafening to the Christian world but unfortunately it IS NOT and this IS especially True when we consider that much of the emphasis on this expression of agape IS that it IS to ALL. Jesus shows us this by repeating the more original words from Moses that tell us clearly that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and two things ARE important here; first that this saying, while being seemingly downplayed in the Old Testament, IS the second of the Great Commandments that the Master presents to the Jews. In this regard we should note again that there ARE those among the Jewish leaders who clearly understood the importance of this edict despite its being seemingly downplayed in the Old Testament; this IS clear in the New Testament through the Master’s exchange with the Jews as He presents the Great Commandments to them. It IS also important to understand that the Christian world defines the neighbor according to their carnal ideas of Love despite the fact that Jesus so clearly elucidated the relationship of everyman to his neighbor. This edict IS also shown us as the Way by Paul which leads us to our second comment of importance which comes from James who 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. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). We must try to understand that it IS this expression of Love that IS the epitome of keeping His words and we would be accurate to substitute one phrase for the other. In the end it IS this expression of agape that IS the end point of our human experience and, in it fullest, this expression IS the final accomplishment in the reality of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). It IS our comments of importance that we should try to understand as instrumental in understanding agape and accomplishing the ability to express it as the Master and the apostles show us. We should note that In the idea that we should “love thy neighbour as thyself“, the idea of the neighbor has been diluted and changed from the original intent because of the inability of the carnal man to embrace this idea. And, since the precept IS taught by still carnally oriented men, the message has NOT taken hold. Much of the reasoning here IS found in men’s inability to comprehend such universal Love and this IS largely because of the interpretation of agape into the common ideas of Love. One would NOT be expected to Love the stranger in the same way that one Loves one’s wife, or child but this ONLY matters when the common ideas of Love are incorporated into the reality of agape. To break away from this carnal interpretation of agape as Love we must begin to see this idea of the neighbor as everyman and then see it though James words saying that such an expression of agape must be with NO “respect to persons“, with NO added exclusions on whom one should Love.
This IS a most difficult endeavor for everyman that IS yet tied to his carnal thinking and this regardless of how spiritual one might consider himself to be. The cure IS found in our striving to see everyman as a Soul, undistinguished from other Souls. As Souls ALL men ARE equal save for their ability to control their carnal natures and we must understand that ALL Souls ARE striving to say as the Master DOES “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This however starts with small steps, steps that minimize the observational differences among men as we begin to see through the flesh into the basic nature of everyman as a spiritual being on our very same Path. Again this IS a most difficult endeavor for ALL regardless of one’s religious training or indoctrination but the KEYS to success ARE founded in Jesus’ words which ARE amplified and clarified by the words of His apostles. Here, while the idea of meekness plays an important part, the more important part IS played by our vision of what such universal Love Truly IS. The reality of this Love IS shown to us by the Master as He equates killing with hating, anger and judgment; Jesus also shows us the give up the carnal fight, that we should “Agree with thine adversary quickly” where the idea of agree IS defined by Strong’s as: give thyself wholly to9a; an idea with much greater spiritual meaning. Vincent shows us the idea of the Greek word isthi as: Lit., be well – minded towards; inclined to satisfy by paying or compromising. Wyc., Be thou consenting to4. Can we see the expanded idea according to these definitions? This IS of course contrary to the carnal nature of most everyman as ARE the Master’s words on adultery through which we should see both the carnal and the spiritual sides of this seemingly carnal tendency of men. If we should be able to see men and women beyond their carnal appearance; if we should be able to see through the flesh and view ALL as Souls, carnally oriented adultery would NOT be an issue in the lives of men. It IS ONLY when we see though our carnal and lustful eyes that adultery IS an issue and here we should try to see that ALL such interests keep our hearts and minds in our carnality, which idea IS contrary to the Master’s Great Commandment. We should try to see that it IS our focus upon the carnal and mundane aspects of Life that keep us from glimpsing the Truth and it IS our change of focus that IS the sole intent of the Master’s admonition that we should “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). It IS in Repentance that we change the focus of our lives from the carnal to the spiritual and it IS in Repentance that we come to fully understand the Master’s words on a variety of topics. Jesus tells us rather clearly that “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19) but, much like the Christian response to the end of His Sermon cited above as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, the response here also fails to change the course of many. This saying by the Master should be seen as our guide to the commandments that follow, our guide to how they should be understood. Let us look again as some of Jesus precepts of Truth:
- “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22). Here the Master equates killing with anger but we should be careful to understand His intent; while the King James offers us an out by implying that anger with a cause IS acceptable, other translations DO NOT include this idea at all and we should try to see that the inclusion of this IS counterproductive to the theme. The idea of anger however seems to need more help for our understanding as the Master includes the idea of raca, a word of Chaldee origin meaning: O empty one, i.e. thou worthless (as a term of utter vilification)9a according to Strong’s as well as the idea of calling one “Thou fool“. In both of these ideas that Jesus relates to killing we should try to see the overall idea of belittling another or, perhaps better, disparaging another. Paul helps us here in telling Titus to teach that we should “speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men” (Titus 3:2). At the same time however the apostle feeds into the idea that anger IS acceptable saying “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). The Greek word orgizo that IS rendered as “be ye angry” IS perhaps better viewed in regard to being provoked to anger9 as the word IS defined by Thayer’s. Here Paul’s thought seems better understood as ‘being provoked to anger, sin not‘; this would agree with the Master’s commandment against anger. Regarding the idea of a man saying “to his brother, Raca” or saying “Thou fool“, these remain a mystery save for the idea of idea of belittling another or disparaging another which would then likely provoke one’s brother to anger thereby causing him to sin. Can we see the point here? We should also relate His words on anger to the next verses where He commands us to let ALL things go and reconcile with one’s brother and to come to agreement with any that oppose us for any reason. Here we find the epitome of meekness.
- Jesus’ commandments continue as He tells us “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). First we should see that adultery, as a carnal offense, IS wrong but in the Master’s enhancement of this idea we see that simply thinking about adultery has the same effect. It IS the matter of adultery in one’s heart that IS the primary offense as the cause of the physical act and we should try to see that this expansion of the idea can pertain to many types of adulterous motivations. James links this idea of adultery to men’s “friendship of the world” and here we should understand again the matter of focus. As men focus upon the things of the self in this world they DO NOT focus upon the Godhead and this IS their primary spiritual failure. The apostle tells us “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, 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). While the Master clearly shows us the physical act of adultery and our thoughts leading us to that act, He also shows us that as a matter of the heart such thinking can pertain to ALL carnal desires. It IS in this regard that Jesus continues to show us that we must be able to control our thoughts to keep out lust and covetousness which stream from the carnally focused heart and ARE contrary to our ability to focus upon the things of God. We should understand that His reference to the offending eye and the offending hand ARE but examples of offenses that begin in thought, offenses that begin in the carnally focused heart.
- Jesus’ next commandment IS one that IS largely misunderstood as a commandment and here we should try to see just what a commandment IS from the perspective of a man in this world. ALL commandments can be taken down to matters of right and wrong; for the most part there IS little or NO in-between. The whole idea of sin taken literally IS error; the lexicon tells us that sin IS: 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, sin2a. We should understand that there IS naught here that reflects the common understanding that has evolved from the Greek words harmartano and hamartia. We should try to see that if the objective of Life, the mark if you will, IS to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21)” as Jesus tells us in our trifecta, then ALL that DOES NOT meet this admonishment IS error and IS sin. In such error we miss the mark but we ARE continually encouraged to try again and again. This IS our journey to the Path and as we can attain some degree of proficiency at DOING “the will of my Father“, at keeping His words, we then enter onto the Path. This IS the reality of Repentance, the reality of striving to keep His words. Divorce then IS error, it IS outside of “the will of my Father” based in Jesus’ words saying “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery” (Matthew 5:31-32). If we could see Jesus’ words as showing us the cascading effect of the act of divorcing, the act of failing to keep one’s own commitment, perhaps the whole of these passages would be better understood. Much of the church DOES NOT see this however as many who ARE divorced ARE considered as ‘sinners’ and left out of the mainstream of the church. This alienation however IS NOT always enforced save perhaps in words that continually condemn the divorced. We should add to this the idea of Jesus’ way out of this sinful act and understand that it IS NOT as it appears to be presented and should we look more closely at Paul’s views on this matter we can perhaps better understand that ALL IS NOT black and white. The cascading effect of divorce IS easily seen in today’s modern world and we should try to see that the effect of NOT seeking one can ofttimes be as debilitating. We have often discussed how that while the ideas of fornication and adultery as doctrinally attached to sex and sexual behaviors, these ideas DO expand into other areas; this should be clear based in James uses of the idea of adultery above where the reference IS to ALL that men lust after the things of this world. Here the adultery IS against the commandments of the Lord as men see the things of the self rather than the things of the Lord. In this relationship the idea of fornication IS the activity of such adultery and while the marriage relationship IS the primary subject of the Master’s words, the activities of a husband or a wife that ARE contrary to the Truth of one’s commitment to the Lord should also be considered. In ALL regards fornication and adultery ARE sinful and it IS the sin factor itself that should qualify for this idea of fornication rather than a strictly sexual approach that has been with us for thousands of years. Here again we can look to the Great Commandments as a guide to keep us from such sinful acts on ALL levels. Perhaps the most basic part of the Master’s teaching here IS commitment and keeping one’s oaths and promises; it IS surely NOT simply an instruction on sexual matters.
- Next the Master’s gets into the idea of oaths and here we should try to see that the way to refrain from breaking one, marriage or otherwise, IS NOT to make one. Jesus’ tells us “ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:33-37). The point here IS simple but not clearly understood; the implication of Truth telling IS NOT applied by many to the Master’s words nor has the idea of Truth been applied to His words which men have restricted to oaths and then ignored the whole precept.
- Next we have the idea of meekness which IS another ill understood term. There IS more to the Master’s words in this next commandment than meekness however and again His words ARE largely ignored as they ARE contrary to the tendencies of men in this world. Jesus tells us “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:38-42). There ARE many references to revenge in the Old Testament and there ARE rules surrounding certain types of revenge, rules which include the establishment of “cities of refuge” to which a person could flee and be under those rules. Moses instructs the Jews saying “Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment” (Numbers 35:11-12). We should understand that ALL who may have killed someone would likely seek protection against “the avenger” and become subject to trials for which there were also written laws. Such laws offered by Moses ARE what we see as the ancillary laws of the Torah, laws that may compliment the True commandments but ARE given for societal organization rather than spiritual consideration. The Jews however conflated the ancillary with the real and concentrated their spiritual objectives in the ancillary; it IS against this that the Master often rails. We should try to see the idea of mercy creeping into the harshness of the law that engendered the “eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” mentality that still prevails in the hearts of many. Jesus acknowledges this as He clarifies the idea of mercy and changes the idea into meekness which He DOES explain for us but to deaf ears. The depth of His words here DO NOT reflect the idea of meekness that still pervades our languages; todays dictionary defines meekness as: the quality of being patient or quiet in nature; the quality of being overly submissive* with the latter idea prevailing as the defining quality of the word. Older defining ideas show meek as: Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries. Appropriately humble, in an evangelical sense; submissive to the divine will; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations1. While some of these ideas ARE applicable the greater idea IS found in our willful control of our mental and emotional reactions under the quality of agape but this idea IS a far cry from actual doctrinal and worldly reactions.
We should try to see that this idea of meekness IS a commandment that falls under the Master’s words saying that “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven“. Unfortunately this IS NOT the way Jesus words ARE understood over the last 2000 years. Although His words ARE clear, they have become meaningless in the hearts of most ALL men as the whole idea of being meek has been continually discounted as a virtue or as an ideal. Few if any fully accept the idea that “ye resist not evil” accepting instead the dictums of whatsoever doctrines that they might follow. The point here IS simply that men must refrain from ALL forms of hostility against others as ALL acts of aggression or of vengeance ARE contrary to the reality of our expression of agape and it IS this expression that must dominate our lives. We must understand at the same time that this meekness IS NOT from fear, nor IS it being submissive for the sake of submitting; this meekness IS an attitude that embraces being Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated. Moreover, this idea of meekness should be understood as a strength and NOT viewed as a weakness as it IS by many. In meekness we have the ability to DO as we please but the wherewithal to NOT DO so. It IS in this that we should see Jesus’ Way in this world; He certainly had the wherewithal to prevent many things from happening to Him through the force of His Power but He chose NOT to because of meekness. And we also should remember here how that Jesus praises the meek saying “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5) while willfully taking on this appellation for Himself saying “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Perhaps the KEY to understanding this meekness IS found in some of the Master’s words the next section of His Sermon where He tells us to “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25).
We should try to see that it IS in our meekness that we DO NOT kill nor express anger; that it IS in our meekness that men will “Agree with thine adversary quickly“. We should try to see as well that this idea of meekness also plays a role in such offenses as adultery and divorce as in meekness the whole of one’s personality becomes aligned with his Soul through the deep reality of agape. This brings us back to our thoughts on agape where such commandments as “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” should rule the lives of Christians. It can be said that our failure to Love as the Master instructs IS tied to our lack of meekness, tied our self centered ideas of Life that ARE contrary to being meek, their antithesis if you will. Paul tells us that “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28) and while most ALL claim that they DO Love the Lord, few meet the criteria that Jesus Himself places on that Love. The Master tells us in our trifecta that to express our Love for the Lord we must be keeping His words and the Apostle John takes this a bit further telling 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 4:20-21). It IS the reality of agape that IS behind ALL of the commandments we discuss above; from His words on adultery to His words on turning the other cheek, it IS in the reality of our expression of agape that we Truly keep His words. Paul shows us that the Way to keep His words IS agape but despite the church’s heavy reliance on the apostle as the foundation of their doctrines, his words ARE basically ignored. It IS a combination of church doctrines and men’s lack of understanding of what agape represents that ARE the keys to this failure to see the interrelationship between keeping His words and expressing agape and this despite the clarity that Paul offers. The apostle tells us “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” (Romans 13:9). We should remember here that it IS these commandments that Jesus expands upon in His teaching as we see above. Paul’s point IS simple: we can as men in this world accomplish keeping His words through our expression of agape and this because a True expression of this Love will in itself put us into a position where such offenses can NO longer be in the repertoire of any whose focus IS Truly on the Lord. Simply stated “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). We close today with our trifecta which shows us the result of keeping His words which IS effectively the result of our expressions of Love as the Master teaches us. We read:
- “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.
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 2a New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
