ON LOVE; PART MDXXIII
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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 a brief analysis of our trifecta, our list of three of the Master’s sayings that show us that we must keep His words in order to obtain the rewards that ARE offered for so DOING. As we have often said, these three parts of our trifecta ARE but examples of the many ways that Jesus offers us this message and, unfortunately, this IS a message that has NOT taken hold in most ALL of Christianity from the beginning. Men prefer to follow their doctrines which indiscriminately offer men the illusion of the rewards in exchange for doctrinal ‘adherence’ which IS both nebulous and ill-defined. Add to this the way that the doctrinal precepts vary from denomination to denomination and we have the current state of Christianity in the world today. We should understand that the doctrinal approach to the Lord IS based in the fear of men; it IS based in men’s wanting the promises while at the same time seeing that the work of keeping His words IS far to difficult; it IS this that leaves men without a sense of ‘salvation‘. This IS of course based in the human perspective and in the vanity into which ALL ARE born, a vanity that further feeds the illusions and glamour of humanity. The Master however tells us that the Path IS NOT difficult saying such things as “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). The Apostle John adds to this saying “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). Men however DO NOT see these ideas in their view of Life in this world; what men see IS that such ‘deviation’ from the ways of men, from the vanity, DOES NOT allow for men to be men in this world. Most ALL fail to see that this IS the entire point of scripture, ALL True world scriptures to be sure, which IS that we remove ourselves from the desires and lusts that drive us as men; an idea that James shows telling everyman to “to keep himself unspotted from the world“. It IS unfortunate that in the church this message has never stood out among the teachings of the various doctrinal approaches to the Lord, approaches that have ever failed to produce men that stand above their brothers as expressions of Truth and agape Love.
We have been warned however through the words of the Master and His apostles which show us the unvarnished Truth. His warnings however ARE NOT understood by most as they ARE ignored in favor of the doctrinal ideas of men, ideas which allow men to live as men in this world. Perhaps the most pungent of ALL the Master’s words on this flow of doctrines into the hearts of men IS found in a saying that IS little understood and largely ignored as much of the church sees the idea as pertaining to the Jews alone. The Master tells us clearly “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 men gleefully take so much of the New Testament out of context and use the results to fuel their doctrinal ideas, this particular saying IS NOT among them as most ALL see these words ONLY in the context offered. Such doctrinal ideas existed in Isaiah’s time as well and the prophet’s words ARE the source of the Master’s reference. Jesus’ condemnation of doctrinal ideas should be understood to exist yet today against which these same prophetic words should apply. The prophet’s words were NOT prophetic when they were given to the Jews however, they were offered in real time but, at the same time, They ARE considered as prophetic by the Master. From this we should see that Jesus’ words here ARE spoken to the Jews in that day and, at the same time, they ARE again prophetic as they reach into the future Christian religions including what we have today. Isaiah’s specific words tell the Jews “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:13). Isaiah’s words tell the Jews seven hundred years before the Advent of the Master that their doctrines ARE wrong and the Master repeats the theme for the Jews saying that their doctrines ARE also wrong. Yet the church up until today DOES NOT see the timelessness of Jesus’ words and they way they speak against the many doctrines that prevail today. And the greater point here should be understood as that 2700 years ago men’s doctrines DID NOT reflect the teachings of the Truth as the Jews’ manipulated the Truth to suit their needs as men; 2000 years ago this same reality of manipulation still applied and was exacerbated by the more formal organization of the Jews’ religion. ARE today’s Christian doctrines any better off as men ARE taught to ignore the pleadings of the Master in favor of the doctrines of the various denominations and sects that ARE the church today?
The answer here should be clearly NO but unfortunately it IS NOT. The churches DO NOT recognize their failure to teach the Truth and while we may seek to blame the church fathers, the blame falls squarely on ALL who have continued in their way of viewing the reality of the Master’s words. For us the motivation IS clear; from the beginning the church fathers sought to assemble a religion largely based in worship as they organized and implemented the various rites and rituals through which men could ‘interact’ with the Godhead. Yes, for many these rites and rituals resulted in a euphoric reality for the congregants but this was short lived as the Master teaches us in the Parable of the Sower where we find such men as sowing their seed “on the rock” saying that these “are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). Over time corruption seeped into the clergy which wielded much power over the masses through their assumed authority to teach and to control the spiritual lives of men. Jesus addresses this as well with His warning about “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” but, as we cite above, this message IS NOT understood as being addressed to Christians. The Master also teaches us about the volume of His teachings very early on in His ministry to use the churches term; Jesus tells us 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. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20). Here in these words IS perhaps the first precept testifying to the reality of keeping His words but, again, the message fell on deaf ears. He IS telling the world, NOT ONLY the Jews, that their sense of righteousness must “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” and, from the gospels we know that there was little righteousness in their ways and in their ranks.
Through their ecumenical councils and synods those in power in the church sought to redefine the rules of worship, the ways of their rites and rituals, and it IS through these that the church doctrines grew ever further from the Truth of the Gospels that they held as the True motivation for their faith. This of course has continued throughout the history of Christianity; the church became ever more a force of its own with world power that was NEVER a part of the Master’s teachings yet such power was claimed through the assumed authority of the clergy to be so. Still today the clergy IS largely considered as the arbiter of Truth while remaining far afield from the Master’s teachings. Relying ONLY on their doctrinal assertions they have corralled the people into their various denominations and sects and while this may appear to be a good and natural way to keep men at least partially focused upon the things of God, such focus IS but a facade covering the Truth. While we see the current failure of the churches to keep their followers as the result of the peoples lack of interest in the old and worn doctrinal ideas which have barely evolved over the centuries since the Reformation, the church has yet to recognize this. It seems that the church has pinned their failures on the attractiveness of secular living as they blame the ‘world order’ and the evolving sense of ‘wokeness’ for their own failures to teach the Truth. Far and wide the church and many of its members proclaim a ‘war’ against the evolving trends of inclusion, and diversity which, by the way, ARE unseen aspects of agape; the same agape that the Master teaches us throughout the gospels and His apostles amplify and clarify in their epistles. Simple definitions of ‘woke’ and ‘wokeness’ vary but ALL have the same central theme; some examples ARE:
- aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice). (Webster’s Dictionary)
- Woke. When this term became popularized, initially the meaning of this term was when an individual become more aware of the social injustice. Or basically, any current affairs related like biased, discrimination, or double-standards. (Urban Dictionary)
- Originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently in stay woke. (Oxford Dictionary)
- Woke is a political slang adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) originally meaning alertness to racial prejudice and discrimination. Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights. (Widipedia)
- informal, often derogatory. the behaviour and attitudes of people who are sensitive to social and political injustice. (Collins Dictionary on wokeism)
Woke then should be understood as an attitude of awareness of others and while the idea IS used in regard to discrimination and injustice, it IS the correction of such ideas that IS the epitome of agape. In agape ALL men ARE Truly equal in nature and should be viewed as such despite any and ALL apparent differences. Such differences include race, color, national origin, religion and ALL forms of societal differences based on wealth or the lack thereof. In our expression of agape ALL men must be seen the same and be understood as one’s neighbor and brother and it IS the biblical commandment that one “shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” that IS perhaps the original ‘woke’ statement. We should understand that while the church teaches this commandment they DO so without commentary on just what this Love looks like as much of the church fights against the whole idea of wokeism. This commandment IS at the heart of True Christianity and IS called as one of the Great Commandments by the Master who Himself clarifies the idea through what has become KNOWN as the Golden Rule. This of course tells us that “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12) and in these words we have Jesus’ own version of wokeism at work in this world. The Golden Rule however has become but a trite adage with little meaning in the practical efforts of most ALL men both in and out of the church. The commandment itself, while understood as a primary biblical idea, fares even worse in the hearts of men who proclaim that they DO “love thy neighbour” without even the faintest idea of what agape Truly means. In the intermingling of politics and religion the whole idea of ‘woke’ IS diminished by factions that continually fight against this attitude of awareness regarding the plight of the neighbor that we must Love. Perhaps we can say here that our True expression of agape begins with our own wokeness, our own attitude of awareness of the issues that plague our neighbors and brothers in a world where the separation between the haves and the have NOTS increases by the day.
In this arena of our expression of agape the church has failed miserably despite the teachings of the Master and this because Jesus’ teachings have been compromised by the doctrinal assertions of men, “the commandments of men“, about which the Master clearly tells us: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). The church needs to realize the need to admit that they have fallen into the same world trap as DID the Jews and that their own use of doctrines IS as egregious as was that of the Jews. Just as the Master railed against the doctrinal ideas of the Jews as contrary to the Truth of scripture, He would today rail against the doctrinal ideas of the Christian world in its manifold forms. It IS to this end that we should read the Master’s words saying “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). We have dissected these words several times over the course of our blogposts and through ALL of our commentary the idea remains that these words ARE directed at the Christian world and NOT merely words to the Jews. We should note here how that Matthew brings us to these words through Jesus’ words on “false prophets” and how He then ends His Sermon with His words on the Wise and the foolish builders.
The message here in this saying from the Master should be clear and it likely IS to most ALL who read it. However, the whole idea IS misplaced when His words ARE considered to be against the Jews ONLY and that they have NO bearing on the ways of the Christian world from the beginning. In the end doctrines ARE doctrines and when they ARE based in the ideas and interpretations of men they clearly fall into the Master’s words that deride the “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. That the way that the Master’s words ARE offered should cause a reflection upon their own complicity which IS NOT seen nor understood by the Christian world. What Jews called on Jesus as Lord, Lord save for those that were converted so that the ideas of His intended audience should be clearly seen as those that were somewhat converted; it IS this conversion that makes them Christians. To the masses of the Jews and to their authority as religious leaders the Master says such things as “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:12) as He reflects upon the difference between the True believer and the average man. It IS to the man that feigns being a True believer that Jesus offers the reality that unless one keeps His words, except one “doeth the will of my Father“, he shall NOT “enter into the kingdom of heaven“. It IS through this that we should see the examples that Jesus sets for us, examples of worship in calling Him Lord, Lord, and examples of prophesying, healing and DOING “wonderful works“; what we should see IS that these things ARE of NO value unless one DOES keep His words. It IS to those that DO such examples, to those that claim to Love the Lord if you will, but at the same time DO NOT give heed to the reality of His words, that the Master says “I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity“. Can we see the point here? And can we tie this to Jesus’ previous words according to Matthew regarding men’s reliance on “false prophets“?
The Master warns us of heeding the words of “false prophets” 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” After some commentary on the way of the false teacher, Jesus repeats His refrain saying “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:15, 16, 20). Men DO NOT recognize the “false prophets” despite the Master’s warnings and have, from the beginning, listened to interpretations of scripture that ARE doomed to failure but which ARE offered by persuasive personalities that share little or nothing of the True fruits of the Spirit. This however has NOT stopped the steady rise of doctrinal approaches to the Lord; from the church fathers to the Reformation to today’s denominational climate, few today rely upon the Master’s words and fewer still follow them over the rites and rituals and the various teachings of the thousands of different approaches. That there ARE thousands of approaches should in itself be sign that there IS something amiss in the church yet this has NOT deterred even the creation of new denominations and sects with their various teachings and beliefs. That these ARE ALL false teachings IS of course a matter of perspective and ours IS that ALL that deviate significantly from the teachings of the Master ARE misleading at best and false when compared to Jesus’ words. This teaching on “false prophets” leads us into our subject saying regarding entering “into the kingdom of heaven” as the Master lists those ideas through which men DO NOT qualify despite their beliefs and, to be sure, the intended audience for His saying that “I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” IS the Christian who DOES such things without DOING “the will of my Father“. That this IS NOT clear IS the function of the vanity of the world of men who seek to continue in their lives as men against the duality of that Life which Jesus shows us through sayings that we began discussing in the last essay and will continue in this one.
Before this however we should look at the Master’s words that follow our subject saying on keeping His words through DOING “the will of my Father“. These next words ARE considered by most as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders but the idea behind His words have naught to DO with building anything but a foundation for the inflow of Truth and agape Love through keeping His words. The church DOES NOT understand that the idea of Jesus’ initial point shows us the depth of their doctrinal beliefs from their inception; the Master tells us clearly “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man“. These ARE NOT idle words and this idea of a “wise man” IS seemingly wasted as the word IS NOT understood as it should be, as a companion idea to the agape Love that we must express. That we always capitalize the words Wise and Wisdom when used in a spiritual context should show the importance that we place upon this aspect of spiritual Living; we should note as well that in our chart of the Aspects of God and man, Love and Wisdom ARE considered an Aspect of the Christ and the Christ principle that IS the Soul. On a more practical level we should see the Master again casting a choice that men should make and the disticnt reality behind His words IS simply that if we DO NOT “heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them“, then we ARE the “foolish man“. The ONLY parabolic idea here in this parable IS the comparison to the builder and should we substitute building our Life in this world for the house, we can likely understand exactly what the Master IS offering us as a choice. When we DO keep His words the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, flows into our lives and the form that this takes IS agape Love and Wisdom; NOT worldly wisdom, NOT the wisdom that James refers to saying “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:15). When we can understand the factors that James uses in their proper interpretation we can then see that worldly wisdom IS replete with zelos and eritheia which ARE rendered as envying and strife but should be understood in terms of emulation and factions. Regarding zelos Vincent tells us that: Emulation is the better general rendering, which does not necessarily include envy, but may be full of the spirit of self – devotion4 and in this we should see ideas of the self in this world, ideas that ARE contrary to agape. Emulation conveys the idea of our striving for self-betterment and even superiority regarding our DOINGS in this world. Vincent also tells us that strife IS: A wrong rendering, founded on the mistaken derivation from eriv, strife4 as he concludes that the idea refers to: those who serve in official positions for their own selfish interest, and who, to that end, promote party spirit and faction4. This too IS contrary to our expression of agape individually and corporately; from the corporate view eritheia can be seen as the harbinger of the divisions that exist in the church, in social circles and in politics to name a few. For clarity we should read the Master’s parable saying:
“Therefore 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
In the above words from the Master we should see a number of things beginning with our awareness of the “false prophets“, our awareness that NOT everyone who claims to be religious and to have access to the Truth of scripture actually DOES. In reality there ARE but few that can teach the Truth because there ARE but few True disciples of the Christ in this world. Our hope IS that there ARE many aspirants to discipleship, men who ARE striving to keep His words and it IS a purpose of these blogposts to try to encourage others to Truly seek the Lord. Jesus goes on to show us the way of the man who heeds the words of the “false prophets” and takes them as commandments. From calling the Master Lord, to doing healing work and teaching others to DOING “wonderful works“, men ARE shown the doctrinal way which they come to see as a part of their ‘salvation‘. Jesus has another view however: He will say “in that day” that “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity“. This He applies to ALL that DO NOT keep His words; ALL that DO NOT “the will of my Father“. Finally the Master adds to the dilemma of those that DO NOT keep His words, those that heed the noise of men in this world and equate it with spiritual Truth, as He tells them that they have been fools, that they ARE the “foolish man“. Do we see the point here? Do we see that the whole Christian idea from Jesus’ perspective may have been to prevent the doctrinal malaise that afflicted the Jews? From His caution regarding what we believe from our teachers, false teachers as He calls them, to the practices that we adopt from their teaching, to the result of following in our found doctrinal ways instead of the ways of the Lord, the Master IS showing us the right Way. Over the course of history the church has ordained many ideas that ARE NOT in accord with the Master’s own teachings and while we affix the word doctrines to these teachings in a often derogatory way, the church itself has adopted these teachings as Truth. And an evolving Truth it has been as the church has changed much over the centuries under the influence of different ordained ideas and the splitting of the One church into its thousands of component parts; this IS the essence of the idea of factions that James shows us above. And this IS the purpose of our trifecta; our three sayings from the Master that show us the reality of keeping His words and how DOING so will result in those things that the current Christian world claims to have as they continue to teach and practice their doctrines. The church DOES NOT have the Truth and the variability of the ideas presented as the Truth through their doctrines should suffice to show that the One Truth IS missing throughout. The church DOES NOT have access to the Kingdom of God despite their claims that they DO; even their presentation of this paradise after the death of the believer should suffice to show that they have little True information regarding the Kingdom. Finally the church IS NOT the sanctuary of the Lord, an idea built from the single Temple in Jerusalem; the Lord has NOT been split up into a jillion pieces with each being housed in the churches of the world. Rather, we should try to see how that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^. Nor IS the idea of the Presence of God in one’s Life commonplace; it IS indeed a rarity and this based upon the words of the Master from our trifecta which we repeat 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).
Returning now to our discussion that we began in the last post, we come again to the idea of the duality of Life that the Master shows us. There IS little or NO real understanding of the nature of this duality of Life but it IS pointed out to us in many sayings and biblical concepts. We began by saying that the mere frequency of this idea in the four gospels should suffice to show the importance of the concept and while the ideas ARE clouded by their parabolic tone, the reality can be easily seen should we apply the reality of Life in this world. While men may say that they ARE Spirit, few understand the meaning of this idea. More popularly the idea has become that a man has a Spirit, a human Spirit if you will, but this IS a misnomer at best. Spiritually there IS One God, “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“**. It IS within this One Boundless Immutable Principle that ALL that exists finds its place and should we look to other religions where these ideas ARE somewhat explained, we would be able to learn much. That scripture IS written to portray God as a singular being IS more intended to address the reality that God IS beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression than it IS to express a Truth. We speak of God as though he were a person, a man to most, but this IS NOT a reality; nor IS the idea that Jesus IS the only Son of this ‘person’ we call God. While the idea that Jesus IS the “only begotten Son” (John 3:16) DOES show us a glimpse of the Truth, it IS yet beyond the reach of any human thought and the KEY here IS in the word begotten. Strong’s tells us that monogenes which IS rendered as “only begotten” means the ONLY born and in this respect the statement IS True; NO other human being was born into this world with the full capacity of a Son of God as this phrase IS understood. Everything else that IS said about this IS but doctrinal jargon that supports the Christian belief that it IS ONLY through Jesus that men can be ‘saved‘. Jesus IS a man, a far more spiritually advanced man than had heretofore been present in this world, but a man nonetheless. Jesus IS anointed if you will with the Power of God and we should remember here that the word Christ, from the Greek christos, means just that, the anointed. That we have made Christ a part of the Master’s name IS again but doctrinal jargon that supports the church’s doctrinal ideas; the reality IS that the appellation IS Jesus the Christ.
When we can understand God as “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality” and can see ourselves as part and parcel of this reality, we can begin to understand the duality that the Master addresses. “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24) and as part and parcel of this reality we too ARE Spirit. The idea of our inclusion in the Godhead IS NOT an alien thought; it IS supported by the Master’s words that show us this interaction through such ideas as “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). While these words show us the realization of this Truth to the human mind, the reality IS ever True and it CAN NOT be otherwise if ALL things Truly exist within the Godhead, within that “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality“. Another aspect of this duality IS on display in the Master’s words above, in the third part of our trifecta, and in such sayings as “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). This last saying shows us the effect of realization which IS when we come to KNOW the interrelationships as men in this world. Such ideas DO NOT suggest that these relationships DO NOT precede “that day“, the day when our relationship to the Lord IS understood.
As Spirit we ARE ever present with the Lord but this IS NOT the realization of the man in this world who yet sees himself as a man with a Spirit rather than a Spirit manifest as Soul and giving conscious Life to a body in this world. None of this IS easy to comprehend and it IS rather impossible without some foundation for understanding and perhaps this IS the reason why these ideas ARE a part of the Master’s words to His disciples and through them to the world. The gist of the idea that “He that findeth his life shall lose it” IS found in the idea that when we find comfort in our carnal selves we lose any vision of our spiritual selves save perhaps for the illusory effects of any doctrinal adherence. Conversely when a man “loseth his life for my sake” he “shall find it” (Matthew 10:39) offers us a view of the man who forgoes his focus on his carnal self allowing for the spiritual to overcome the carnal and bring forth a spiritually oriented being through Repentance and Transformation.
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 |
- 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.or
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- ** 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
