IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1332

ON LOVE; PART CMLXXI

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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. 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).

In the last essay we continued our discussion of the words that the Apostle Paul uses to describe “the works of the flesh“. As we have been discussing, the first four words from the Greek ARE NOT translated nor interpreted according to the apostle’s intent but ARE positioned by doctrine according to the sexual ideas that have been mistakenly assigned. We should remember here that the word rendered as adultery IS NOT a part of Paul’s list of words according to most translations and that it IS likely this idea that feeds much of the sexual connotations that have been applied to the whole group of words. As we have in the last several essays, we should try to see how that it IS infidelity toward the Godhead that IS the crux of the apostle’s list which IS addressed to men whose lives ARE free from the gross ideas that doctrines have applied. 

It is with this in mind that we should also try to understand the apostle’s intent in saying “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“. When we can see the reality of this idea that IS rendered as”affections and lusts” by the King James translators as suffering and desires as we discussed in the last essay, we can then see how that the reality of being Christ’s should play out in the Life of the aspirant and the disciple. It IS in the doctrinal view of the sexually oriented ideas that has caused men to miss this idea of suffering or affliction which should be seen in the context of one’s flesh being crucified. It is in this crucifying that there IS suffering and affliction, not from the perspective of the Soul but from the perspective of the flesh and one’s thoughts and attitudes that ARE difficult to change. Repeating the apostle’s words again we read:

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians  5:17-24).

We should try to see here how that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” IS in direct relationship to that sense of infidelity that encumbers men’s thoughts and attitudes regarding God; how that men will focus themselves upon the things of the world even while believing that they ARE free from its fetters. While the sexual component that doctrines imply IS definitely a part of this dynamic, it IS NOT the True hindrance for the man whose desire it IS to be “led of the Spirit“. His True hindrance IS found in the continuing desires that ARE one’s Life in form even when such desires ARE NO longer for the things of this world and it IS this that we should try to see in the example that we have in the Life of the Apostle Peter. His True hindrance IS also found in the sense of suffering and affliction that IS True Repentance as the carnal mind’s thoughts and attitudes fear leaving off ALL that a man has KNOWN….ALL that IS contrary to the Truth of keeping His words as we see again in our trifecta:

  • “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 ended the last post with our ideas on the word that IS rendered as idolatry and it IS in Vincent’s commentary that we find the deeper meanings that the apostle intends for us to see. When we can see, as Vincent shows us, how that in idolatry that the New-Testament usage does not confine the term to the worship of images, but extends it to the soul’s devotion to any object which usurps the place of God 4, we can then understand how that it IS a man’s focus upon the things of the self and the self in this world that can Truly constitute this idea. Here we should be able to glimpse how that ALL of the apostle’s previous words on a man’s infidelity towards the Godhead ARE incorporated into this idea.

We should try to see also how that idolatry, in this context, IS the result of one’s basic infidelity toward the Godhead and that this sense of idolatry IS the True meaning of treasure as Jesus uses this word as He tells us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Here we have the reality of that choice between God and mammon and here we should understand that it IS this choice that most men will never make as the entirety of their lives ARE oriented toward their own physical, mental and emotional state as men in this world. And, while the more religious man man see this dichotomy, he will seldom see the depth to which it must be taken, a depth that IS shown to us in the first part of the Great Commandments which we repeat again at the top of our essay.

This unseeing of the depth of the Master’s injunction IS NOT realized even by most of those whose lives ARE in their sense of church and for whom the reality of being in accord with the Master’s words IS but an impossible task as this IS seen through carnally focused eyes. It IS with the looming idea of the impossibility of keeping His words that doctrines have constructed their own tenets of atonement and the like that have become a rally cry for the Christian world. At the heart of so many of these Christian beliefs about the atoning quality of the death of the Master we can find the deeper reality of the idolatry that Paul teaches against, an idolatry that keeps men’s focus upon themselves and the things of the self in this world.

This idolatry IS obnubilated in the illusions and the glamour of worldly Life to which even the most religious of men can easily succumb. And the sense of self upon which men will focus need not be for the concrete things of the world but rather can be found in any thoughts and the attitudes that take a man away from the Truth of keeping His words….especially His words on Love which the Apostle James expands for us in the simplicity of his saying that “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).

We end our discussion on this idea of idolatry as this IS intended by Paul by linking this idea to the overall idea of factions which we see as the culmination and the cause of so much of the problems that the apostle shows us in the next segment; and we should remember here that in this idea of factions we have the cause and the result of glamour as this plagues the minds and the emotions of men. And we should remember that it IS glamour and illusion that IS that vanity of which Paul tells us that ALL of mankind “was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20).

Our next word, and the last one in this segment of the apostles words that ARE “the works of the flesh” that ARE contrary to the Truth of the first part of the Great Commandments, IS rendered by the King James translators as witchcraft and as sorcery. Here we have another word that IS taken away from the apostle’s intent and put into a doctrinal understanding as an evil thing. When we can see how that ALL of men’s ideas of witchcraft and sorcery ARE but the psychic powers of men in this world, powers of the emotional and the mental abilities of men, we can then begin to see how that these ARE a natural part of the human experience. And, when we can see this, we can then also begin to understand how that the “spiritual gifts” that Paul teaches about ARE these same psychic powers when they ARE NOT accompanied by the Truth of Love, of agape, as the Master teaches us.

That there IS much fakery in the world regarding such psychic powers IS a Truth and that there ARE those who direct their psychic abilities toward base and selfish results IS a reality which itself IS but a furtherance of the human failure to see the Truth. There IS however a basic reality that CAN NOT be escaped and that IS that were it in the carnal power of men to control events through psychic power with any consistency, the entire landscape of humanity could be and would be altered. As the psychic powers of men ARE carnal, there IS NO consistency but rather occasional haphazard results. It IS in the Presence of Love, in the True Presence of God in one’s Life that there IS the consistency of DOING as the Master shows us saying: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

The reality of Jesus’ words IS lost in the nebulous ideas that come to men in the word rendered as faith but this whole idea IS clarified by the Master as He tells us also that “If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:21). Here we have the clarity of men’s ability when they can “doubt not“; here we have the reality of that KNOWING which comes in the trifecta, in the Truth of the Presence of God in one’s Life. This idea IS further clarified by the Apostle Mark’s writings on the Master’s words which we read as: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).

This IS the reality of KNOWING, the reality of “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“; it IS in this KNOWING that the normal psychic abilities of men leave off and the reality of Jesus’ words takes hold in one’s Life. Paul shows us this Truth as he writes to the Corinthians about the “spiritual gifts” and about the power of agape as he tells us that without agape, without Love, “I am nothing“, that “I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal“. Paul DOES NOT tell us that the powers that a man has developed in tongues, in prophecy and even in the ability to DO such things as would be covered in his saying regarding “all faith, so that I could remove mountains” will disappear without one’s expression of agape which IS to keep His words; he rather tells us that these things ARE spiritually worthless….that “it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2, 1, 3). And this IS NOT unlike Jesus’ own words which show us this spiritual worthlessness of the psychic powers of men in the absence of keeping His words which we should read in His saying that:

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).

While these words ARE NOT understood as they ARE presented and as IS clarified by the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders which follows, this IS because they ARE lost in the doctrines of men that refuse to see how that it IS in keeping His words that they ARE Truly “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). That the Master’s intent IS lost in the doctrines of men that DO NOT allow men to see themselves and their doctrines as they ARE IS a function of the vanity, of the illusion and the glamour, of Life in this world. It IS this same illusion that prevents men from seeing the Truth of ALL these words that Paul uses to express “the works of the flesh“; it IS this same illusion and the accompanying glamour that prevents men from seeing the fullness of the apostle’s ideas and especially the role of idolatry as we discuss above and in the last post.

As we complete this section of Paul’s words, the section through which he speaks against ALL things that ARE contrary to the first part of the Great Commandments, we should try to see how that ALL these Greek words ARE interconnected and how that ALL can be incorporated into the final ideas which ARE rendered as idolatry and witchcraft. In the one we have the True idea of men’s propensity toward the carnal which Vincent shows us as the soul’s devotion to any object which usurps the place of God 4. In this we have the most basic human instinct which IS to be human and to see oneself in terms of the body, the mind and the emotions through which men function rather that to see oneself as the divine part, as the Spirit that inhabits the body and which uses the mind and the emotions to express the Truth that comes in keeping His words

In the other we have the True idea of men’s reliance upon their several abilities as men in this world; their reliance upon the psychic powers of the mind and the emotions. These powers are wielded by most ALL men to some degree and in some direction through their lives and ARE responsible for much of what a man can become in this world. When we can see how that it IS the man who has “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” that IS Truly free, we can then understand how that it IS the whole sense of human desire that IS the motivator to either pole of Life…..to God or mammon.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God

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

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.

This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse these forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do n

o the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

  • 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888

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