IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1190

ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXIX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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.

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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)

Over the last several essays our focus has been on the words of the Apostle John and his first epistle. It IS here that we find much of the clarifying ideas and amplifying tone, which IS the Truth of ALL of the apostles’ writings on the message of the Master which IS Love. John expands upon our understanding of Love and the only requirement for our understanding of this IS that we accept the Master’s own tone as He gives us the Great Commandments that we have again at the top of our essay and His many words on how and who should be Loved which we read throughout the gospels. In the words that we brought to our essay a few posts back regrading Love for enemies and GoodWill toward those who may seem against us, as well as the giving attitude that this Love brings, we should see the crux of the gospel message that we ARE intended to hear; a message that IS lost in the clamor of doctrines that fail to see this Truth; and, aside from this clamor, there IS the misconception of just what this gospel idea of Love Truly means. Although the Truth is clearly wound up into the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule and despite the importance placed upon the Truth of Love as the Master and His apostles frame this for us by their words, the reality IS lost in the carnal minds of men. Many DO NOT understand the reality of Love for ALL away from the carnal ideas of just what Love IS and in this there IS much reason for the way that this High Ideal IS treated in the world yet today. Some give lip service to the idea of Love while others offer small tokens of this High Ideal in charity and in charitable work but few there ARE that see through the carnal notions and into the Truth that this Love IS NOT related to that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others and to the things of this world.

The reality of Love IS GoodWill, the Truth of Love IS that a man will accord to ALL men whatsoever he would accord to himself. In these ideas we see the needed understanding of seeing ALL men equally and NOT according to their social strata, their color, their religion or their nationality; we see men as Souls working out their own lives just as we ARE, men who are lost in this world of vanity, this world of illusion and glamour. Some men have NO idea of the reality of Life and while some others may have seen a glimpse of Truth, most ignore it because it IS difficult to pursue the Truth and to understand the leanings of the heart when such IS contrary to the ways of the world and the habits of men. Few there ARE who have the Truth of grace to understand and to see, the Truth of revelation and realization that this grace IS….few there ARE who Truly have the Presence of God in their lives. While the Master tells us to strive, most DO NOT understand the significance of this idea nor the reality that most ALL men pass up the strait gate as they are deluded by the seeming reality of the world around them. The Master tells us:

• “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
• “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved ? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:23-24).

In these words we should see the stark reality of Life in form and perhaps the basic reasoning for the way that doctrines look past the Truths that the Master teaches, Truths that seemingly offer men ONLY the option of being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). The Apostle James warns us here of the deception found in looking past these Truths and seeing only the carnal way of Life; it IS this delusion that creates and maintains those doctrinal ideas that tell men of the shortcuts and the carnal benefit of their own created truths. While we see this under the reality of the Master’s words to the Pharisees and other religious rulers of the Jews saying “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7), that these ARE far reaching words that touch ALL men and societies across the centuries, most doctrinal Christians CAN NOT see themselves in this role. Most can see the relationships here as that Jesus IS ONLY speaking to these Jews when the reality of these timeless ideas shows that ALL doctrines that dilute or change the Truth are His subject. Perhaps it IS in seeking immediate ideas of salvation that men look past the reality of striving and toward the immediacy that the doctrinal approach affords to the man who adheres to this or that doctrinal teaching and here we find that men who are ‘saved’ according to some doctrines, remain lost according to others.

In the Master’s words above we see the interpretation of His thoughts and ideas by the two apostles, Matthew and Luke. Here the Apostle Matthew tells us that we should choose the right gate and in this shows us that the strait gate IS narrow, that this strait gate IS difficult to find, and we should try to understand that the Greek word that IS here rendered as destruction IS, according to one of its other renderings, waste. that it IS a waste of a Lifetime to continue in the ways of the world IS the greater message and one that is missed by those who see the broad way ONLY as the way of the grossest of men. In many other places this same Greek word, apoleia, IS rendered as perdition ² and here we should also see the broader idea of loss and waste as this relates to the Life of the man in this world who DOES NOT see and pursue the glimmer of Truth. We have often said that it IS this strait gate that opens into the Kingdom of God and, while we see the Truth in this idea, there IS yet another view of this that IS presented to us by Vincent who says: Leadeth (ἀπάγουσα); Lit., leadeth away, from death, or, perhaps, from the broad road. Note that the gate is not at the end, but at the beginning of the road ⁴. In this we should try to see the idea that it IS this strait gate that IS Repentance, that it IS choosing this strait gate that begins one’s journey on the Path of Life, the Path to the growth of and then the final realization of the fullness of the Kingdom of God which IS the fullness of the Presence of God in one’s Life. We should note here that regardless of how we view this idea of the strait gate, that there IS the reality that this ends in ones being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God and we should remember that the Way to this IS found in keeping His words as we read in the Master’s accompanying 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” (Matthew 7:21). Here we can see the dividing line between those who take the Path of the strait gate versus those who DO NOT in ever clearer fashion.

It IS the Apostle Luke however that tells us to strive and this IS a word that can have much meaning for the man who sees more clearly the realities of Life in this world. When we can envision the idea that there IS little likelihood that a man can overcome the ways of the world, the ways of vanity, of illusion and glamour, in a single Lifetime, we can better understand the teachings of the Master and His apostles and the reality of the growth of the Kingdom Within. And in the steady march of Life in this world we should NOT view ONLY this single Lifetime in this arena of achievement; the action of overcoming MUST begin at the beginning of one’s journey and in this we have the reality of reincarnation. Here IS another stumbling point for the doctrines of the churches as they DO NOT see the reality of Life; that there IS any human reality beyond his being born and dying here in this Earth in a single Lifetime; and here we have yet more reason for much of the doctrinal pronouncements of heaven and hell. We must wander back here to the reality of Life across this Earth, how that there are men at every stage of human development, and at the reality of that great Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). And so Luke tells us of the Master’s admonition that we strive, that we steadfastly try to see the ever increasing Truth that comes in the revelations of the man who entered into Matthew’s idea of this strait gate, the man who has Repented, who has changed his focus away from the broad way of the world. It IS in Luke’s framing of this that we can see the strait gate opening into the Kingdom of God and perhaps here in the combination of these ideas we can see that it IS our understanding of the idea of the gate being a single stationary thing that can confuse our perception of the Way to the Kingdom of God. In the idea that this strait gate IS the entry to a state of being, we can view this differently and understand the reality of striving toward that reality; in this the gate IS NOT a single stationary idea but rather a series of ‘gates‘ that we advance through by the same measure as our focus upon the things of God.

The greater idea here however IS the reality of the difficulty that this choice presents to the man who IS grounded in the world of things. We should understand here that while most ALL men will get a glimpse of Truth from the prompting of their own Souls, their conscience if your will, ALL who read the Master’s words should have some greater glimpse of the Truth in their own hearts, a glimpse of the Love that Jesus shows us and teaches us. It IS this glimpse of Truth that leads a man to that strait gate and this when he can see the reality of the Master’s words in his own heart, away from the ease of doctrinal teachings and away from the broad way that IS the ways of Life in this world. And there ARE NO greater words of Truth than these that we have been repeating for many posts now; words that clearly define the Master’s teaching on Love for Him, His Love for us and the reality of being DOERS of the word of God; we read again:

“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).

This IS the reality of the grace of God, the Truth of His Presence in the Life of the man in this world and in this we ARE able to construct the related Truths regarding the Kingdom of God and of discipleship as the same criteria of keeping His words applies to ALL things spiritual. We must understand here that it IS the realization of Truth that IS the Presence of God, that IS the grace of God, and that IS the reality of the strait gate or the narrow Path that leads to our deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). It IS the broad way that IS the reality of this corruption and it IS the strait gate that IS ever leading us away from it. And in this idea of entering into the Kingdom we should see the same idea that we should “enter in at the strait gate“; again this IS the entering into a state of being and NOT a place and it IS in the ideas behind our admonishment to strive that we should see the reality that this sense of overcoming IS NOT a single thing that IS done by the Soul through Life in this world…it IS our constant effort that brings us to the Kingdom of God. While this word rendered as strive IS also rendered as fight, it would be better to view this as a struggle; here in Luke a struggle would show us the effort that IS required in our striving “to enter in at the strait gate” as men struggle against the illusion and the glamour and the ways of the world. While this difficulty IS most clearly brought out by the Master’s words according to Matthew as the difficulty in finding the Way, the deeper view IS that this IS that struggle to see past the seemingly easier ways of the world of men. Regardless of how it IS that these ideas of difficulty, struggle and striving ARE seen, the reality of the Truth of ALL these ideas remains for the man in the world who has once glimpsed the Truth of Life and accepted that challenge to Repent. It IS the reality of seeing the Truth, as the Buddha framed this for us, that shows a man the greater measure of Truth and it IS this seeing that IS the realization found in the grace of the Presence of God in one’s Life. It IS against the ways of the world that men strive and struggle and in this striving we should see the ardent effort that IS necessary to step upon the Path to the Kingdom of God; on this the Buddha tells us “The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven!” (Dhammapada; on The World).

In previous posts we have looked at a part of the third chapter of the Epistle of John as this deals with this same idea of seeing, of our realization of Truth as this comes to us as the Presence and grace of God. We should remember here that this grace comes by measure to the man who has changed his focus away from the darkness of the world of men and onto the things of God and it IS this idea that we can find in the Apostle John’s words below as we combine the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth chapters of his epistle.

“whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 3:17-24, 4:1-6).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.

Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita

It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888