ON LOVE; PART MDVII
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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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The last essay was our effort to explain the reality of discipleship as it regards the Christ. While millions of men lay claim to being His disciple, there ARE relatively few who have read, understand and practice the criteria that the Master so clearly lays out for us. At first glance Jesus’ criteria for discipleship may seem to be grievous and from a carnal and mundane perspective it IS. This however IS NOT the spirit with which the Master introduces us to discipleship as He shows us both the criteria for being one and the results as these affected His disciples 2000 years ago, especially the twelve. It IS the disciple that IS the holy and the saint which ideas ARE covered by the Greek word hagios and here again there ARE many that lay claim to these appellations as well, most ALL without DOING what IS necessary to Truly achieve such status. For clarity we should try to understand that hagios IS the word used to describe the Spirit of God which we call the Holy Spirit; through this use of the word we should be able to see the impact of being holy and of being a saint. That so many average persons consider themselves holy, saints and disciples IS Truly unfortunate as this greatly dilutes the True meaning of the words to the effect that they ARE NO longer aspired to. We use the idea of aspire here as it IS meant to be understood, as an objective for which men should: long, aim, or seek ambitiously; be eagerly desirous, especially for something great or of high value2. Being holy, being a saint and being a disciple should be understood as synonymous ideas when viewed spiritually which IS ever the way that these appellations ARE presented in scripture. To be sure, these high spiritual ideals ARE something great or of high value. Let us look again at the Master’s criteria for discipleship as we try to see that the ideas of being holy and the saint ARE included in this word from Jesus perspective. 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).
- “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” (Luke 14:26-27).
- “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 16:33).
While there ARE other criteria cited by the Master and His apostles, they can ALL be seen through these three precepts for discipleship. The first IS of course the most directly stated as it relates to the comportment of men in this world who Truly aspire to discipleship. In this first statement we have a combination of ideas which we generally address in terms of the Truth; in the end we should see that to KNOW the Truth we must perforce keep His words. It IS in keeping His words that we ARE Transformed out of our carnal sense and into “that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). There IS a prerequisite to this Transformation however and that IS our Repentance, our change of focus off of the things of the self and onto the things of God. We CAN NOT Truly Transform ourselves while we ARE yet focused on our little lives in this world and upon “what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on” (Matthew 6:25). We should understand here that these carnal ideas that men sought after in Jesus’ day ARE greatly expanded in our modern society, expanded into ALL that men today desire for themselves and those close to them. We should understand as well that in many parts of the world the ideas that the Master presents, “what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on“, still play an outsized role in the desires of men. That this disparity IS a blessing or a curse from either side IS left to the individual to decide but, to be sure, the ways of the more modern parts of the world ARE indeed the more difficult to shed. According to the Master’s words in this first statement the idea of our focus IS of utmost importance and this IS explained for us by Vincent in his description of Repentance. Mr. Vincent tells us that: Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice”4. What we should try to see here IS that whensoever we Repent, whensoever we change our Life’ focus and begin to keep His words, we ARE at the same time Transforming ourselves into aspirants to discipleship. Aspirants who can and will gain some measure of the Truth and come to understand “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” (Colossians 1:26). This IS our goal as we DO as Jesus tells us saying “If ye continue in my word“.
It IS the second statement from our list however that we should pay the utmost attention to as it IS a saying that goes against the seemingly innate tendencies of men. While we have discussed the idea behind hate as this IS used in Luke’s version of the Master’s words, that the idea IS universally accepted as to ‘love less‘, we have NOT discussed the alternative realities embedded in the ensuing relationships. To be sure the idea here IS NOT hate as the word IS generally understood but while the idea could have been framed as Matthew DOES, it would NOT have the same impact. Perhaps there IS a purposeful reason for Luke’s use of the Greek word miseo, a word that clearly means hate. This however CAN NOT be the Master’s intent as this idea of hate IS contrary to the entirety of the Master’s teachings and it IS for this reason as well as the framing by Matthew that caused Strong’s to tell us that the idea IS: to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less:—hate(-ful)9a. The idea here that the word can be extended to be to love less IS the way that we must view this statement and it IS through whatsoever measure of Truth we may have attained that we can rationalize the idea. We try to do so then by beginning with the idea that a man who aspires to discipleship should hate “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters“. The issue here IS complex but in the Light of other sayings from Jesus and His apostles we can simplify the idea through the reality of agape.
Agape IS the force that compels one to hate “his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters“. We should understand that it IS the Master that explains this ALL to us in terms of agape as He parabolically describes the functions of this unique form of Love. We begin however with the words of the Apostle John, words that ARE accepted but NOT clearly understood by the church. John tells us that “God is love agape” in his first epistle where he weaves a view of agape that IS little appreciated or followed save in spoken words. The first instance of these words IS in his telling us that “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8). Here the idea should clearly be understood as he that DOES NOT express agape DOES NOT KNOW God because “God is love agape“. John offers us this same idea in several ways in his epistle and it IS likely that the idea IS little appreciated simply because we interpret agape into our common understanding of Love. We CAN NOT nor would we be expected to express Love as it IS commonly understood to ALL men and especially that ‘form’ of Love that IS reserved for one’s “father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters“. Clearly this IS NOT the idea that John presents nor IS it the idea behind the ageless idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. When we change our view of agape away from the common idea of Love, or even the church’s way of framing this as the ‘God kind of Love’, and onto the reality of what this word Truly means, we can then understand the emphasis put on this word idea. But where can we go for the proper understanding of agape, a word that IS the KEY to ALL of our spiritual pursuits and which can be substituted for keeping His words as His commandments and the law. While there ARE book definitions for agape, in our view they ALL fail to show us the most basic reality of the word as most ALL tie the idea to our common understanding of Love. Google, using AI, defines the idea for us in two ways:
- Agape is an ancient Greek word that means “unconditional, sacrificial love”. It is often defined as love that is felt when someone is willing to do anything for another person without expecting anything in return.
- In the Bible, agape is the highest of the four types of love. It is a Greek word that is frequently found in the New Testament. Christians use agape to express the unconditional love of God for his children.
The ancient Greek defining idea for agape DOES show us the idea through the word unconditional; this IS what agape must perforce be if it IS to meet the reality of the second defining idea which applies the idea to the Godhead. We CAN NOT however apply the idea of agape ONLY to the Godhead; rather we can use the Godhead as our example of how it should be expressed by men. Jesus tells us in words that ARE NOT given much weight of the unconditional nature of God’s Love and compares it to what He admonishes men to DO. The Master tells us “I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48). What ARE we told here? Simply that the Lord expresses agape to ALL, to “the just and on the unjust” and to “the evil and on the good” equally and that we should DO the same if we ARE to receive our reward. While the idea of reward IS frowned upon by the church, it IS a valid Christian idea. Reward IS rendered from the Greek word misthos which IS defined by Strong’s as: pay for service (literally or figuratively), good or bad:—hire, reward, wages9a. Here we should see that in Jesus’ terms our rewards ARE earned, an idea He also presents to us saying “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). Our point here however IS NOT the reward but the necessary expression of agape as this IS DONE by the Godhead, Universally and unconditionally, and that we ARE so encouraged as well.
From this we should conclude that agape IS to be expressed; it IS to be the expression of a man who desires to pursue his own spiritual reality. Understanding that agape IS to be expressed however DOES little for our understanding of what agape IS and how that we should express it; for this we need to see the idea spiritually. We KNOW that “God is love agape” and should we understand as well the reality behind the Truth of John’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world“, words that follow the second instance of John’s words telling us that “God is love agape”. The apostle tells us “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” (1 John 4:16-17). The point here IS that if “God is love agape” and if “as he is, so are we in this world” IS Truth, then we too ARE agape. This IS of course from a spiritual perspective; as incarnate Souls we ARE “as he is….in this world” and it IS through our Repentance and Transformation that we can bring this sense of agape into our conscious minds. As Paul tells us to do, we can be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Here then we should try to understand that at our core we ARE Souls which IS for ALL men the Christ Within and that it IS this that IS agape. It IS the Soul that already expresses this Love and which DOES see ALL men equal. the challenge IS to bring this sense into the conscious mind.
As we see above, the idea IS to bring this agape into our conscious minds as Paul shows us saying “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. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). There ARE two things here to try to see clearly; first IS the idea of presenting “your bodies a living sacrifice” which idea we should conflate with the Jesus’ words on forsaking from His words on discipleship above. Compare also Paul’s words from the last post that men should “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). This forsaking satisfies the third criteria for discipleship that we have listed above. Second IS that the apostle sees this as “your reasonable service” where the Greek word latreia IS rendered as service, a word that Thayer’s defines for us as: the service or worship of God according to the requirements of the levitical law9. Strong’s calls latreia divine service9a and from these defining ideas we should be able to see past the carnal and into the way that such latreia brings forth the nature of the Soul, our individual Christ Within. Finally we should try to see that this IS an act of conscience; that to “be not conformed to this world” requires a effort from the man who so desires to reach his spiritual reality. It IS this that we strive toward as we “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24). Again, we should look to the Apostle Peter’s words that show us this very same idea from a different perspective. Peter tells us of the Lord 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).
It IS as we refuse to be “conformed to this world“, as we escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” that we ARE in the process of Repentance and Transformation and it IS in this way that the reality of agape IS allowed to permeate the entirety of our conscious being. Again, it IS a matter of focus. Being “conformed to this world” IS the general way of men in this world and this sense of conformity reaches far beyond what we may want to think. Our every thought and attitude IS worldly oriented; from those things that we possess or desire to possess to our social status and familial relationships. We should note here that this conformity also reaches into our sense of religion as most ALL world religions ARE carnally oriented and the doctrinal teachings point most always to the betterment of our lives in this world. Few there ARE that DO break out of this conformity and, again, this escape IS a matter of our willpower; it IS a purposeful striving toward the greater glory that IS found in the Master’s words. To be sure it IS ONLY in our escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” that we can achieve the “exceeding great and precious promises” which make of us “partakers of the divine nature“. In the end it IS our vanity that we must escape. Our vanity IS shown us rather clearly by Paul who tells us that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). To be sure this “glorious liberty of the children of God” and the promise of becoming “partakers of the divine nature” ARE synonymous ideas. Both require some action from the man who aspires to discipleship and while Peter shows us what that action IS in his statement, Paul shows us earlier in the chapter saying 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” (Romans 8:13). This idea of living IS our living in the “glorious liberty of the children of God” where we ARE becoming “partakers of the divine nature” and where we wait with Paul for “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). This IS the teaching of the apostles and we should ever understand that the Way to this spiritual reality IS through keeping the Master’s words.
It IS in our Repentance that we seek the better Way and to change the focus of our lives away from the carnal and the mundane and onto the things of God, His precepts and here again the reality of agape. It IS in our ensuing Transformation that we bring the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, into our conscious minds as we allow that Power to Transform our thoughts and attitudes into the necessary mindset of the aspirant to discipleship. To be sure this must begin with an act of Will and this IS perhaps the hardest part of our Journey: “to enter in at the strait gate” while realizing that “many….will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). While it IS difficult to leave behind ALL that one holds dear, this should NOT be our initial concern as the steps that we take ARE gradual and with each step we see the Truth a bit more clearly. While Repentance IS defined for us as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice”4, we should try to see that Repentance IS but our decision to make that virtuous change in the life and practice. This IS where our Repentance begins: under the auspices of the prompting of the Soul; but these promptings ARE NOT always heard by the man who IS embedded in his carnal and mundane Life. The opportunities must be seized and not relegated to the lengthy list of thoughts that cross our minds and we should try to understand that the Soul IS ever prompting a man to the Good, the Beautiful and the True.
It IS in our Transformation that we Truly change based upon the ‘strength’ of our Repentance and we DO NOT use this word lightly. Our Repentance CAN NOT be for a day or a season but must reflect that virtuous change in our psyche which IS the beginning of our Transformation; The general idea IS laid out for us by Paul who tells us clearly 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“. This IS the first task of our Transformation where the Light of the Soul enters into our conscious minds; it IS this Light that offers us our initial revelations of Truth so that we can have the necessary realizations that continue to work in our hearts and allow us to ‘see the Light’. Transformation IS the KEY part of our journey. Repentance IS the decision to change and for many this IS the most difficult part; for the apostles it was made possible by the appearance of the Master in their lives and for some yet today a teacher or guru can help to spark the necessary change. We must ever be aware however of the Master’s words on “false prophets” and this IS a word idea that IS more universal than one may believe. Such “false prophets” can be the teachers at the local church, synagogue or temple who can ONLY teach what it IS that they KNOW; for the most part this IS the teaching of their own sense of doctrine. Such “false prophets” can also be those that intentionally mislead others for their own personal gain and here again we should try to see that among these ARE those teaching doctrines as Truth for their own fame and fortune. While we could name those that we see in these categories we will NOT but will rather leave it to the reader to discern who falls under the Master’s words saying “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?” (Matthew 7:15-16). Remember here that ALL wolves ARE ravenous, Jesus IS NOT applying a special idea of wickedness. The point IS that ALL teachers must be measured against “their fruits” and their fruits should be measured against Jesus words on discipleship.
Further to our view of the expressed fruits of the teacher IS the clear reality that ONLY disciples can make disciples of others; ONLY those that possess and express the Truth and the Love that IS God can Truly spark the necessary changes in another. Whether these changes be toward Repentance or towards the Transformational goal of discipleship, a valid teacher IS required if one IS going to rely upon others for their forward progress. We should remember here that the Master’s words saying “Go ye therefore, and teach make disciples of all nations people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20) ARE spoken to His disciples. While the church at large has put themselves in the position of teachers, they ARE ONLY teaching what they KNOW; they ARE ONLY teaching their doctrines. The Master offers us instruction on this as well saying “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). While much of the church sees these words as addressed ONLY to the Jews, they DO err; these words ARE timeless. They were True in the days of Elijah, they were True in Jesus day and they have been True through the centuries since the Master’s Resurrection of the Truth. ALL religions ARE riddled with doctrines and doctrinal approaches to the Lord and the effect of this IS found in the difficulty of finding a True prophet or teacher or guru upon which one can rely.
Understanding the above we should try to see that the Way of the disciple IS one that must begin with our decision to Truly Repent unaided by the church at large which IS entombed in their doctrinal philosophies, ofttimes to the exclusion of the Master’s precepts. We should remember that the Soul, the Christ Within, IS ever prompting the consciousness to the Good, the Beautiful and the Truth….to the things of God. We can call this conscience but it IS more than that; conscience can be simply the understanding of right and wrong mentally applied to a situation. Our prompting IS deeper and while the sound of our Christ Within IS drowned out by the clamor of Life in this world, it IS ever possible to hear the call to the Truth and to Love. At the same time it IS easier to dismiss the call to righteousness and this for a variety of carnal reasons which ARE most often the product of our individual self-serving nature, the product of our vanity. As we see in Paul’s words above, ALL men ARE born into this vanity which the apostle equates with our “bondage of corruption“. This sense of vanity IS the product of being born as men and while it may NOT be evident in the infant and young child, the sense of me DOES develop along with ALL of its carnal attributes. Our vanity IS then exacerbated by our nurturing and our indoctrination into the ways of the world and further exacerbated by our own Life experiences. For most men our vanity IS ALL he will ever KNOW. While it IS difficult to describe just what this vanity IS beyond our acceptance of the ways of the world as modified by the culture into which we ARE born, there IS a spiritually oriented definition offered to us by Vincent. Mr. Vincent tells us that this vanity IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4.
In the carnal and mundane world of men we ARE subjected to a constant barrage of indoctrinating ideas that tend to bring us ever deeper into our carnal selves as our lives progress. Social media has greatly exacerbated this trend as did every worldly scientific and cultural advancement and while some parts of the world may be behind the West regarding some of these advancements, they ARE NOT free from the impact of their own societal norms. The dichotomy between the world and the Lord has been a frequent subject in our blogposts and this IS a dichotomy that IS shown to us rather clearly in scripture. However, instead of addressing the reality of the necessary separation between these tow poles, the church at large has chosen to rationalize the Master’s and the apostles’ words through their various doctrinal approaches to the Lord. Scripturally we can begin with Jesus’ words regarding treasure, and mammon as well as the admonition that we should “Take no thought for your life“. The Master tells us, along with some other ideas regarding the eye that we will NOT address in this essay, that:
“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….No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot* serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?“
Matthew 6:19-21, 24-25
While Jesus’ words here ARE clear to most ALL, they ARE NOT a part of the doctrinal ideas; in fact doctrines tend to foster opposite ideas. While words DO have specific meanings, much IS changed by the context in which they ARE written and by the aversion of men to the details involved. The clear example IS treasure which IS almost universally seen in terms of wealth and possessions. This IS an accurate idea to be taken from the Greek word thesauros which IS rendered as treasure by the King James Translators. Strong’s defines the idea as: a deposit, i.e. wealth (literally or figuratively):—treasure9a leaving NO space for alternate ideas based upon context. Thayer’s defines thesauros as both: the place in which goods and precious things are collected and laid up and the things laid up in a treasury; collected treasures9; again leaving NO space for alternate ideas. This however IS NOT the Master’s intent regarding His words when viewed in the context offered and this despite the way that the reality of thesauros IS clearly defined by the text. Others render the idea in a similar manner with most ALL rendering thesauros as treasures while some go directly to wealth and riches. Let us develop the alternate idea here based upon the context and the words of the Master.
First there ARE NO physical treasures in heaven although many in the church see heaven as a duplicate of Earth Life without the tendency to sin and without the presence of sinners. This idea of sinners seems doctrinally inclusive of ALL who have NOT accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior according to the various doctrinal rules and in some doctrinal interpretations ALL who DO NOT perform according to those doctrines. While the idea of heaven IS for most a duplicate of Earth Life were one can see the patriarchs and saints that have passed and reunite with family and friends, this IS but a created illusion accepted by men for the comfort it provides. It IS ONLY when we can understand that Jesus’ words saying “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) IS a factual Truth that we can Truly understand the mysteries that ARE attached to this saying. Second we should try to understand that the comparison between “treasures in heaven” and “treasures upon earth” IS more than a matter of the location of our wealth and possessions, the Master’s words should reveal the realty that the treasures in the Earth ARE NOT available in the heaven. This IS shown us clearly by Solomon who tells us of mankind, unnecessarily so, that “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand” (Ecclesiastes 5:15). As men we DO KNOW that our things of the Earth stay in the Earth after our death but this has NOT stopped the doctrinal ideas that pertain to our existence in heaven, ideas that CAN NOT be proven by men in this world. Next we should look at the whole of the Master’s words on treasure through the summation of His words where we read that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also“. Granted that for some their hearts ARE with their riches and their possessions but, for most, their hearts ARE with the totality of their lives accomplishments which differ widely among men and their cultures. Where IS one’s heart IS the matter that the Master addresses here. What IS it that we treasure in this world? What has our attention and upon what IS the focus of our lives? Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the understanding of treasures as simply wealth and possession has hurt the church’s understanding of the Truth that Jesus point us to? What then ARE our “treasures in heaven” should be the remaining question and this we will address in the next essay. We close today with our trifecta which DOES show us the idea of these “treasures in heaven” through Jesus’ words:
- “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.
| Aspect | Potency | Aspect of Man | In Relation to the Great Invocation | In relation to the Christ |
| GOD, The Father | Will or Power | Spirit or Life | Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN | Life |
| Son, The Christ | Love and Wisdom | Soul or Christ Within | Heart of God | Truth |
| Holy Spirit | Light or Activity | Life Within | Mind of God | Way |
- 2 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
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
