ON LOVE; PART MCDXLXII
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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 our thoughts on the Master’s words that we should “Take no thought for your life” and His final words saying that “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof“. The point of these opening and closing statements has never been fully understood through the doctrinal ways of the church as they see evil as evil IS commonly understood and the idea of “thought for your life” ONLY in terms of worry and anxiety regarding so many things of which tomorrow IS but a part. It IS when we can see evil as ALL things carnal, ALL things that ARE focused on the self in this world, that we can make sense out of Jesus’ admonition and it IS here that we can perhaps glimpse His purpose in framing His words between these two sayings. As far as the idea of evil IS concerned, the word IS defined for us in such sayings as “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13). In these words we should understand that Jesus IS NOT accusing ALL men of being evil as the idea IS understood and, for us, the alternative idea IS that He IS accusing them of being carnally focused. Can we see His words as saying that if you in your carnal mindset “know how to give good gifts unto your children“, how much more will God give and of special note here IS Luke’s representation of the gift of God as “the Holy Spirit“. This saying IS a part of our further discussion on Matthew’s Sermon on the mount where we will further elucidate what we understand as His meaning. Understanding evil according to these words from the Master will go a long way in understanding the fuller intent of the entire New Testament as Jesus and His apostles try to get us to see that our focus much change. That we must Repent, from taking thought regarding a myriad of things involved in our carnal existance to a focus on the spiritual things that come to us through the “Holy Spirit” thereby Transforming our mindset by “the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). Between the bookends of “Take no thought for your life” and “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” we should see His words as predominantly telling us to NOT concern ourselves with tomorrow and this according to His Parable of the Rich Fool which we discussed in the last post. As Vincent pointed out, the Greek word merimna, which IS rendered in the King James Bible as thought, may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily4. For us the concern IS the much broader view of fixating our thoughts on our carnal existance and that of those we Love in this world.
While the next chapter IS a continuation of the instructions from Jesus regarding our comportment in this world, it IS at the same time focusing on a more specific range of ideas that keep men in their bondage to this world, their “bondage of corruption” if you will. In the last chapter we learned how to give, to pray and to fast in ways that DO NOT involve the pride of men who seek to impress others and, to be sure, this pride IS as active today as it was in Jesus’ day. We learned as well that our focus must be upon the things of God and NOT the things of the self in the Master’s words on treasure, on mammon, on the single eye and finally on the idea that we must NOT be so focused upon our daily lives that the Truly spiritual things ARE obnubilated. Here in this seventh chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we begin to see Jesus’ words on how it IS that we can tell where our own hearts ARE as well as where ARE the hearts of those that seek to teach us. We should try to see that Matthew rather intentionally places ALL of Jesus’ words that we see as the Sermon on the Mount into a single absorbable speech while Luke spreads the Master’s words throughout his gospel. We DO NOT KNOW, nor should it matter, if Matthew’s reporting IS correct insofar as the chronology of events. We DO KNOW that his report IS an assimilation of instructions to everyman on the quality of Love, a reveal of a new and deeper understanding of the law that existed in the Jews’ doctrines and Jesus specific instructions on keeping ourselves focused upon what IS important to the True man, the Soul and Christ Within. With this in mind we begin our discussion of the seventh chapter where the lead teaching IS on judgement; the Master tells us:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye“
Matthew 7:1-5
We should try to see that these seemingly different teachings ARE intimately related and while the ideas men take from His words on judgement may be subject to much interpretation, they ARE adequately explained by Jesus’ words on having a hypocritical view regarding the ways of others. These ARE NOT stand alone ideas as much of the church sees them but work together to show us the very nature of the judgement against which we must fight. Such judgement IS a natural part of our vanity, a natural part of the thinking process of most ALL men whose focus IS yet on themselves and their ‘place’ in this world according to the Life’ arena in which they see themselves. We constantly focus our thoughts on the wrongs of others without properly measuring our own wrongs against them. And these wrongs need NOT be related. The Apostle James tells us that wrongs ARE wrongs from a spiritual perspective as He tells us about various sinful ideas; James says that if we fail to Love ALL with NO “respect to persons” we are as guilty of sin as the murderer or the adulterer. From a spiritual perspective then ALL wrongs ARE equally wrong and while men have made distinctions that call murder grievous and see adultery as a moral failure rather than a wrong, they DO NOT consider the idea of Loving ALL with NO “respect to persons” as a wrong at ALL. The apostle however clearly tell us that “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:8-11). It IS this same measure that should be applied through Jesus’ words on judgement and His explanatory words on the hypocrisy of men who will call out another for some perceived wrong while he himself IS guilty of other sometimes ‘more grievous’ wrongs. We ARE purposely using the idea of wrongs instead of sins because of our view that sin from a spiritual perspective IS but our focus upon our carnal and mundane lives and of this most ALL ARE guilty. Paul tells us that “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one….For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10-12, 23). Understanding Paul’s words leaves us with an untenable position regarding our judgement of others yet we consistently DO so. In the idea of “Judge not, that ye be not judged” Jesus appears to be pointing out a karmic reality regarding the mindset of those who readily judge others but the church interprets His words into the idea that we should NOT judge rashly. This doctrinal idea IS NO place present in Jesus’ words on judgement while His follow up explanatory words ARE both NOT connected nor ARE they practiced or taught. This IS a great failure of the church. The whole idea of the Master’s words on men’s hypocrisy should show us that the measure of one’s wrongs DO NOT matter in this context as He shows us using the examples of the splinter or the mote in another’s eye while there IS a plank or a beam in one’s own eye; there IS much difference between these two poles. This sense of measure IS given to us for our understanding of our nature and NOT as a measure of the wrongs of ourselves or others but neither the idea of measure nor the idea plainly judging the wrongs of others ARE practiced nor taught in most of the churches yet today. This despite the way that Jesus frames our responsibility to clear our own lives of wrongs before we embark on correcting others; it IS in only so DOING that we can “see clearly“.
The Apostle Paul picks up on this theme with words that ARE NOT understood against the Master’s. Paul tells us from a spiritual view of men’s carnal behaviors that: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Paul IS addressing his words to men who “walk in the flesh” but “do not war after the flesh” which should show us that these ARE in the process of Transformation, aspirants to discipleship if you will. He IS giving them instructions on how to accomplish “the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) as he adds a ‘special’ caution at the end of his words. This caution agrees with the Master’s point that we ARE discussing, Paul IS saying that one should NOT judge others or be critical of others whensoever one’s own Life IS in a state of disobedience. We should try to see here that the same ideas apply as those we find in Jesus’ words where the mote and the beam ARE NOT identified nor ARE they quantified. The simple message that has NOT taken hold of the Christian world IS that we should refrain from such forms of judgement so long as we ourselves ARE in a similar place of judgement, that IS a place where others would find fault with our comportment. In the end this edict IS intimately related our the primary idea of Jesus’ teaching; that “ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mark 12:31) and the part unspoken by the Master but shown us by James that says that such Love must be with NO “respect to persons“. While unspoken in the reports of His apostles, the Master DOES show us this idea in the more parabolic idea that “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). Can we see the point here? Can we see that it IS our attitudes and our hearts that matter in these ideas and that the Way to our freedom from this sense of judgement IS simply 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 12:1-2). While many believe that they have such a renewed mind based in their doctrines, the reality IS that this IS NOT True whensoever one DOES not “love thy neighbour as thyself” with NO “respect to persons“. To DO this IS to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” and in this we should see Paul’s other words saying “ if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).
As we go through these words from the Master that ARE His Sermon on the Mount we should try to see and to understand how that the way that doctrines have painted the apostles’ writings, especially Paul’s, IS in error and that most ALL of their words directly support, clarify and amplify Jesus’ own words. Over the centuries much of the church has learned to discount Jesus’ words of instruction ofttimes claiming that they ARE addressed to the Jews and it IS this shortsighted approach to the Master’s words that has been the bane of Christianity from the beginning. Jesus’ next saying IS both misunderstood and perplexing and IS a definitive caution against trying to DO what Jesus’ IS seemingly DOING in His rather constant railing against the Jews. Jesus tells us:
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you”
Matthew 7:6
Jesus continually speaks of the Kingdom and the Truth as well as His own relationship to the Godhead and while much IS couched in a parabolic tone, much IS NOT and this IS especially clear in the Master’s pronouncements in John’s Gospel. In Jesus proclamations of His own divinity as well as His citing the Way for others to reach that same divine experience, to become “partakers of the divine nature” as Peter frames it, we can see His own giving “that which is holy unto the dogs“. That few saw the Truth in His words IS apparent in the gospels and that the Jews DID trample His words “and turn again and rend you” IS the reality of the gospel story. The Master’s caution here IS that men who DO come to KNOW some measure of the Truth should refrain from publicly espousing that Truth and perhaps it IS in the quietness of those who DID KNOW that the doctrinal views have been allowed such latitude in the religious world. In the many esoteric and occult movements over the centuries much of their secrecy has been maintained by keeping such movements sense of Truths secret. These too however have become steeped in doctrines and rituals which ARE what most observers see. That some few have maintained their sense of Truth IS our hope and many of the books on such esoteric and occult subjects ARE either wrong in the way that their views ARE but their doctrines or they ARE convoluted enough to make understanding unlikely for ALL but those who DO already grasp some measure of it. We should try to see here that the Truth IS NOT in the doctrinal ideas of men and while they may believe that they have the Truth, the reality of that Truth remains hidden from ALL but those who Truly follow the next words presented by the Master, words that themselves ARE misunderstood by most. Jesus tells us:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give* him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give* him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?“
Matthew 7:7-11)
One CAN NOT give “that which is holy unto the dogs” unless they have some holy Truths in their possession and here we should see that Jesus’ caution IS for the few that DO have some measure. It IS to these same that the Master tells us rather clearly that we should ask, seek and knock and the idea that these things that men should ask for ARE carnal and mundane has led the church astray for many centuries. While it IS True that those who DO NOT have some measure of the Truth can also ask, seek and knock, their problem would be just what they should ask for and while the Master answers this here by telling us that the Lord will “give good things to them that ask him“, the very idea of good has been aligned with the carnal and mundane. The Apostle James tells us of “good things” saying that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning“. We should note here that these words follow upon James words on the temptation and lust that lead men to sin; He tells us “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren“. The line here IS drawn between the lusts of men for the carnal and the mundane and “every good gift and every perfect gift“(James 1:17, 14-16) which come from God. It IS important to understand that His giving “good things to them that ask him” has naught to DO with the things of this world; men’s prayers will NOT bring them possessions or wealth or fruitful relationships and that some DO attain what they pray for should NOT be an indicator of the Lord’s grace. And the fact that some few DO attain leaves those that DO NOT ever questioning their own doctrinal faith which IS yet another fault line in the church. James goes further to help us to understand the Master’s words on asking, seeking and knocking as he tells us “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be* a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:3-4). Here the apostle IS speaking in general on this subject cautioning men to understand that it IS ONLY “Every good gift and every perfect gift” that “is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” and NOT those things “that ye may consume it upon your lusts“; it IS unfortunate that these words have not resonated in the church still today. While most doctrinal Christians may believe that they can and should ask, seek and knock for the carnal and mundane things of their desires and lusts, Luke offers us a clarification of Matthew’s statement that the Lord will “give good things to them that ask him” as he defines the “good things” as the “Holy Spirit“. Luke tells us:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give* him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?“.
Luke 11:9-13
We should note here that commentaries on these passages cite the idea that some manuscripts frame the words from Luke as “good spirit” which in and of itself makes little sense in a spiritual context and that some translations frame Matthew’s “good things” as “good gifts“. We see these as dilutions of the intent of the apostle’s words however; dilutions which ARE motivated by men who want to believe in the doctrinal ideas that things of the world ARE among the ‘gifts‘ from God. There IS one more point that we should take from Luke’s version of Jesus’ words and that IS that they follow upon a parable, the Parable of The Friend At Night. The text of this parable tells us:
“Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth“
Luke 11:5-12
While the idea of the importunity IS seen by most as the moral of this story, the nature of that importunity IS skewed by ideas of prayer rather than the diligent striving which we see as the whole context of the Master’s words. The emphasis on prayer IS likely because the Master’s words follow upon Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer but that prayer prays for naught for the separated self; the Lord’s Prayer IS an affirmation of the Sovereignty of God, a request that our daily needs be fulfilled and for our forgiveness as we forgive others. There IS NO asking as this idea IS commonly understood save for our asking for our ‘deliverance‘ from our conformance with the ways of the world. We should try to understand the relationship in our importune asking, seeking and knocking for the “good things” and the “Holy Spirit” and our striving to focus upon the things of God. For us this IS the message: to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking for the “good things” of God and the “Holy Spirit” IS to keep our focus upon striving toward the goal of receiving them and we ARE confident that this IS the Master’s message to ALL. To those who DO have some measure of Truth especially and to those who ARE seeking what they may NOT understand but DO hope for. Paul shows us a glimpse of this saying as a generality, to those who have some measure and those that DO NOT, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:24-26). While much of the church sees the idea of speaking in tongues in these words, the reality IS much deeper as men with and without a measure of Truth DO hope to see and to understand the reality of Life and Paul tells us that against this hope “we know not what we should pray for as we ought“. We should note here that the Greek word astheneia which IS rendered as infirmities IS defined by Strong’s as feebleness (of mind or body)9a while Thayer’s shows us that this infirmity IS, in regard to the Soul, to: want of the strength and capacity requisite; α. to understand a thing; β. to do things great and glorious; γ. to restrain corrupt desires;; δ. to bear trials and troubles9. Can we see here the nature of our infirmities, that they ARE our bondage to this world and the things of this world. This of course makes much more sense when we read the entirety of the eighth chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans where our state as men seeking to be closer to the Lord IS revealed. In the end it IS ONLY when we realize that there IS nothing carnal or mundane that comes from the Lord and that under the reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) men should NOT expect preferential treatment from the Godhead regarding their lives here in this Earth. That some may achieve whatsoever Earthly goals they may pray for IS NOT an indication of God’s grace but either the result of one’s focus on those goals or sheer happenstance. What comes from the Lord IS ONLY those “good things” which Luke interprets for us at the “Holy Spirit“. That James shows us this in his words about asking amiss and the dichotomy between the things of God and the things of the self in this world IS readily dismissed by the doctrinal thinker as IS the True intent of the Master’s words that we ARE here discussing. We should try to see one more thing regarding this subject of asking, seeking and knocking and this too IS from James; we read that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). In this we should try to see and to understand that without our sincere striving and focus upon the Wisdom we may desire even this as the “good things” and the “Holy Spirit” will NOT flow into our lives.
As we skip over the Master’s next words for a time, we come to Jesus’ words of instruction regarding religion and what it IS that we believe; His caution to us here has NOT been used by the masses for the 2000 years since the Master’s advent. We ALL tend to rely upon the words of those who have taken upon themselves the authority to teach on spiritual matters regardless of their own comportment. We tend to believe what we want to hear and there ARE and have been many who will tell us just that, what we want to hear. There IS a line regarding this in a Paul Simon song where he says “Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” and this IS ever True regarding the ways of men, most of whom yet live in their vanity and ARE “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) by way of their birth into it, and their nurturing and indoctrination into its ways. This IS a sad indictment of humanity as a whole and afflicts us NOT ONLY in our religious beliefs but afflicts us in a myriad of different ways, political and economic, as such beliefs shape our views on everything in our lives. Millions have followed the instructions of despots throughout history without questioning their motives as they blindly follow thieves and murderers and DO their bidding. Jesus’ words DO cover ALL of this but much goes unseen because most have followed the ideas of those that could fit squarely into these words from the Master. Jesus tells us:
“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? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them“.
(Matthew 7:15-20)
We have intentionally skipped over the three verses that precede this next selection for discussion, we will take these on afterward as they DO fit better along with Jesus’ words regarding our view of Him as our Lord. Here then we will take up His caution that we should be ever careful what and who we DO listen to and while the church has turned His words to reflect ALL but their own words, the reality IS that this caution IS against any that pose as His church and that offer their own doctrinal views over His words. While we often rail against the doctrines of men, we DO at the same time recognize that such doctrines have kept many thinking in terms of God and religion and this in itself IS a good thing. That such doctrines DO NOT show men the Truth however IS a fault that IS difficult to correct because so many ARE so deeply entrenched in their doctrinal views that such views have become their Truths. This IS why we say that it IS easier for the secular man to accept and understand the Master’s Truths and why the Master says to the Jews’ religious leaders such things as “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31). It IS this same idea that we should carry into Jesus’ words that reveal His views on the doctrines of men; the Master says: “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 the church has constructed a view of the Pharisees as pariahs that preyed upon the people, they were actually the religious of the day teaching as it were “the commandments of men” with great sincerity. That they ARE viewed as being self serving may be True of many of them as they enjoyed the privileges of their rank but their motivation and the motivation of the priests was in their own view the right way and the path to God. Jesus’ tried to show them the error of their ways, the error of their carnal interpretations of spiritual ideas, but they would NOT listen and we should try to see that when He comes among us again the Christian religious hierarchy will act in much the same way by denying that such a ‘prophet‘ must be a false one because He disagrees with their doctrinal Truths. This IS an important point that IS denied by both the Jews and the Christians who each pick apart ALL other approaches to the Truth. That the Master speaks here in the negative should NOT deflect the responsibility of the church today, a church that denies that their teachings can be even considered as false despite the doctrinal variations between denominations and sects. We will continue our discussion on Jesus’ words regarding “false prophets” in the next post and then begin to address the remainder of the seventh chapter. We close today with our trifecta, our selection of three sayings that embody the reality of keeping His 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.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
