ON LOVE; PART MCDXLXIV
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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 some thoughts on the Golden Rule and the way that these words from the Master should set the tone for our view of agape and easily override our common understanding of agape as Love. It IS NOT that the idea of Love should NOT be associated with agape, Love IS the best expressional word for agape in our language, but that agape should NOT be tied to the common understanding of Love. Love in this world IS generally our mental and emotional attachment and attraction to others and this attachment then extends to a myriad of other things from pets to possessions to positions in Life; the word IS also used to refer to sexual ideas. The reality of agape IS explained in terms of charity in the preamble to our posts and the Greek word IS rendered as charity in several places in our King James Bible as well as some other translations. The idea of charity when used by the King James translators however had quite a different meaning than what IS attached to it today. We have discussed this several times in our blogposts and the crux of the idea IS presented daily in our preamble. Perhaps what this rendering as charity DID try to accomplish IS to remove the common idea of Love from the equation; this would have been a better theory however if it was used as such throughout the New Testament. Regardless, the idea of agape as so much more than the common idea of Love has NOT stuck in the Christian world as most ALL understand it in terms of Love. While there IS little hope of backtracking the rendering of agape in the various bible translations, there IS a way to better understand the Master’s words by leaving the word as agape much like we DO with mammon and several other Greek terms that ARE NOT translated but transliterated into a pronounceable form. Our point here IS simply that so long as agape IS tied to the common idea of Love, it will be difficult to correct the meaning of the idea in the minds of men who see agape as Love in this world. Some DO see agape as ‘a God kind of Love’ but this idea IS largely undefined in the absence of the critical point that our expression of agape must be with NO “respect to persons” which may be the most difficult point for us to accept as humans.
To this we must add the idea that the whole concept of agape IS sorely lacking in the hearts of men who read the Master’s words saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” but struggle to understand their depth as well as the meaning of the Master’s explanatory saying that all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“. Jesus emphasizes the importance of this Golden Rule by saying that it IS the epitome of ALL previous teachings; He tells that “for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12) thereby summing up ALL of those teachings in this saying. Jesus appends a similar appellation to His words that have come to be called the Great Commandments; of our need to “love thy neighbour as thyself“; He says of these that “There is none other commandment greater than these“(Mark 12:31). It IS agape that IS the KEY to our salvation and this IS rather clearly stated in scripture and, as Paul tells us, if we can express agape we will have accomplished ALL of the commandments. But this expression of agape IS NOT nearly understood by the masses who ARE NOT instructed in the deeper Truth regarding this form of Love or charity which IS simply GoodWill. GoodWill IS expressing to ALL others what we would have them express to us but it must start with every individual seeing everyman in the same way that he sees himself. Granted that as carnal beings in this carnal world this IS rather impossible but it IS possible to, “by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), to see everyman as the spiritual being ALL ARE; it IS in this view that we can see everyman in the same way as we see ourselves. While there should be little or NO mystery in this idea of agape, there IS and there IS much confusion regarding the idea of everyman being the same as Souls; there IS much confusion in trying to see men that ARE deliberately carnal creatures as spiritual beings; this however IS the greater reality of Life in form. In this view of ALL men as Souls expressing a Life for a time in this carnal world and bringing into it our individual and corporate vanity, we can dispel the effects of the prejudices and hatreds that have plagued humanity from the beginning. We can DO this because we ARE looking past physical appearance, looking past color, race, ethnicity, culture and religion, ALL of which ARE the core reasons for the prejudices and hatreds that continue to plague the world of men. This IS the Master’s emphasis as He tells us “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31) and we should understand that this DOING IS NOT ONLY in our actions but in our thoughts and emotions and the expression of them to others. Repeating the Master’s words that ARE our discussion:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 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 7:12-14
Jesus follows these words that should be our guide to Life in this world by admonishing us to follow that guide to Truly “Enter ye in at the strait gate” and if we could see that this reality of agape IS that “strait gate” we could then embark on our True journey through our Life in this world. Luke helps us here by framing this as that we must “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” and in this we should be able to understand that striving IS the first step after glimpsing the importance of agape in our lives. The idea of these words that we should “Enter ye in at the strait gate” IS a composite picture of Truth; in the idea that “few there be that find it” we should be able to understand that the task IS NOT an easy one. We should NOT however see this difficulty in any way but that it IS difficult to leave behind ALL that we have come to KNOW; ALL that we have been nurtured and indoctrinated into. Few there ARE that ARE willing to make this sacrifice which the Master shows us clearly in terms of discipleship as He tells us:
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“
Luke 14:16-27, 33
In the gap between these verses the Master shows us by examples that there IS a cost for discipleship that we should be prepared to bear and we should understand here that discipleship IS ever the goal; it IS the ONLY Way to spiritually progress. And we should NOT understand discipleship as the idea IS bandied about in the churches; it IS NOT a simple task of believing than one IS such but it IS a matter of fulfilling the criteria which Luke shows us above and which IS become the first part of our trifecta where we read “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Here we find that to be among His “disciples indeed” we must keep His words and His discipleship criteria from Luke IS His words and, to be sure, the center point of ALL these discipleship ideas IS agape. We should understand that this rendering of indeed IS NOT to be understood lightly but against the meaning of the Greek word alethos which Strong’s tells us IS Truly9a and Thayer’s tells us means: Truly, of a truth, in reality; most certainly9. While Luke tells us of Jesus’ words in regard to discipleship, Matthew shows us the same ideas in a way that seemingly can be better understood by the Christian world; Matthew tells us the Master’s words as “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:37-39). We have appended the last verse to Jesus’ words on being worthy to show again the dedication that Luke shows; here the idea IS that we must pursue living for His sake which IS then tantamount to forsaking ALL. That we never connected these ideas before IS an omission based in our own failure to tie together ALL parts of scripture, an omission that we DID NOT recognize till this writing. Christian writers have equated our forsaking with renunciation but we should understand that there IS a difference in both approach and fact when the ideas ARE seen as commonly understood. Vincent tells us that the idea IS: Forsaketh [αποτασσεται] . Bids good – by to. Rev., renounceth. See on ch. Luke 9:61. “In that forsaketh lies the key to the whole passage” (Trench). Christian discipleship is founded in self – renunciation4.
The thrust of the idea from the Master’s perspective IS of course the giving up of ALL that one holds dear and here we should try to see that this IS NOT ONLY the material possessions that one may have. This forsaking IS self-renunciation from the perspective that one NO longer looks for benefits to one’s material Life in this world; this forsaking IS the reality of the Master’s admonition that we “take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25). This IS NOT however the renunciation of ONLY a right, title, person, or ambition* as the dictionary tells us, this IS the renunciation of ALL things that ARE our “treasures upon earth“; ALL things that keep our attention on the self in this world. Jesus tells us clearly that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19, 21) and in this we should better understand the reality of our forsaking. We should try to see here that renunciation IS a mental and emotional giving up while forsaking IS the actual act of DOING so and in the Master’s list of things we must love less or hate we DO find a rich combination of both things of the heart and things of the self. There ARE several ideas behind the different words regarding this act of renunciation and while the dictionary cites the ideas above for this word, they tell us that renunciate has a different tone saying that it means as a noun: any religious devotee who renounces earthly pleasures and lives as an ascetic*. However IS NOT the Master’s intent for the disciple to live as an ascetic and perhaps it IS this interpretation that has led to the fear that men have regarding the disciples’ need to forsake “all that he hath“. How then can we best interpret the Master’s admonitions to forsake ALL, to hate and to Love less and to “bear his cross, and come after me” as these ARE the criteria to both being worthy of Him and being His disciple which we should try to see as synonymous ideas.
We will begin with the ideas of hate and Love less with the understanding that the Lord IS NOT admonishing us to hate as that idea IS commonly understood. It IS unfortunate that Vincent chose NOT to comment on both of these sayings from the Master; his input may have been helpful to our understanding of the ideas set forth in both. It IS a general presumption that in Luke’s use of miseo which IS rendered as hate there IS the idea of Loving less and it IS rendered as such in a few translations and in terms of abandoning Loved ones in another; most ALL however use the translated word which in Luke’s Gospel IS hate. From the perspective of God we should see that hate as we understand it IS NOT within His scope of Unity and His being as agape. The idea that the Lord can hate IS a non sequitur if we can use that term here and we KNOW this because “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). Perhaps it IS this idea that God can hate that has led men away from the Truth of God as agape, as Love, and that has allowed for them to see the Lord as vengeful. Most ALL DO NOT understand that in the idea that “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19), the Lord’s vengeance IS karma. We must remember here that much of the idea of vengeance comes from the Old Testament where the ideas put forth were from a much more markedly barbaric and superstitious period of time, an era where ‘religious’ wars ARE a rampant plague while the stories about them cast the ideas as those of the Lord. It IS unfortunate that those that see the bible, the history, the prophets and the books of wisdom, as the infallible word of God will never look past the words written by men and then translated and interpreted into scripture; nor will most ever understand their embellishment according to the beliefs of the day. In the last essay we DID discuss this idea of karma based in the words of the Master regarding the “false prophets” and if we can tie the idea of karma with the “vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2) we can then perhaps understand the karmic effects of ALL actions. Paul shows us this saying “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8). If we could see that this karmic effect IS a continual process that takes the comportment of a man which becomes his aura if you will, we can perhaps see how that the law of attraction, the law of Love if you will, can work both in this world and in terms of the state of a Soul after he leaves this world. While the word karma IS NOT a Christian word, it IS the same as the idea of sowing and reaping as shown us by Paul….the effect is essentially the same.
While sowing and reaping ARE common themes in the bible, the idea of karma IS still missed my much of the church as it IS attached to ‘pagan’ Eastern religions. Solomon wrote about it in Proverbs saying “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity” (Proverbs 22:8) and the Prophet Hosea tried to teach the idea to the Jews saying “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). Also, in addition to Paul’s words above, he tells us “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6) but unfortunately this IS seen as referring ONLY to matters of giving. All of these show us the karmic effect albeit from different perspectives and this IS a point to be understood: sowing and reaping have their effect in most every Life’ perspective. We should note here that these ARE examples of bible scriptures that specifically mention sowing and reaping and that the idea runs throughout the text without calling it such; it IS most evident in the many quid pro quo statements throughout where one’s reward depends upon what they DO. Perhaps the most important example IS found in Deuteronomy where the clarity IS deafening but the idea IS resisted and has been resisted for thousands of years. Moses writes “it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God“. Then, after citing his examples of the blessings that should overtake the nation and the people, Moses shows us the opposing idea of NOT hearkening diligently. Moses says “it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee” Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15) after which he shows us examples of those curses. This IS an early presentation of the idea of sowing and reaping and there ARE yet earlier examples that ARE NOT seen as such. The New Testament too IS filled with examples but perhaps our best view of this IS in the Master’s words that ARE 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).
In these words from Jesus we have a classic example of sowing and reaping and the effects cited here ARE strictly spiritual effects. If we keep His words we can have the Truth that sets us free; if we keep His words we can have entry “into the kingdom of heaven“; and, if we keep His words we can have the Presence of the Lord in our daily lives. While these ideas ARE clearly spoken, the Christian world has rather ignored them and have taken to themselves the rewards while claiming that they need NOT keep His words….that DOING so IS unnecessary in the lives of doctrinal Christians. Hence, most DO NOT see the need to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” and in this failure they have constructed their own alternate plan for ‘salvation‘, their own “another gospel: Which is not another” (Galatians 1:6, 7). Perhaps it IS in opposition to this establishment of “another gospel” that Paul most clearly shows us that to follow the True Gospel one need ONLY express Love, express agape to ALL, as the singular way to sow righteousness and to live in accord with the Golden Rule that so clearly tells us “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“. Our overriding point here IS that agape IS the “strait gate“, the narrow Path that leads to True salvation here and now. Agape IS the Way par excellence and while many may believe that they ARE able to enter in at the “strait gate” as an ‘after life’ reward, save that they DO express agape as that Truly selfless act, they most likely will NOT. Paul tells us that without our expression of agape our words ARE hollow and we ARE spiritually nothing as our reward IS nothing. It IS Truly unfortunate that his words ARE ignored in relation to any interpretation of agape as a human virtue. And, to be sure, the apostle’s words ARE clearly stated; he says “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) as he goes on to define the actions of agape. His words however have become but trite sayings that ARE put onto plaques as they refer ONLY to the carnal ideas of Love and his defining ideas ARE interpreted into people’s actions rather that the very nature of agape. It IS agape that IS ALL these things Paul lists saying:
“
1 Corinthians 13:4-8)CharityAgape suffereth long, and is kind;charityagape envieth not;charityagape vaunteth[a] not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.CharityAgape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away”
What we should try to understand here IS that agape IS the Aspect of God that overcomes the vanity into which ALL men ARE born. Agape IS the Lord as the Apostle John tells us saying that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) while vanity IS the affliction of ALL men which Paul shows us saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Despite conflicting opinions regarding Paul’s words, the idea IS that this NOT the choice of men nor any carnal forces; this IS the reality of Life ordained by Him “who hath subjected the same“, ordained by God. This IS the reality of Life which IS accepted by most bible scholars. And what IS this vanity? As Vincent shows us this vanity IS a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4; this IS the condition of everyman born which IS then enhanced by their nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of Life in this world by those who DO NOT themselves see the Light. It IS from this condition of vanity that we must “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24) as Luke frames Jesus’ words, and the very nature of this condition IS our greatest inhibitor. That much of the church sees our vanity as the ‘influence’ of Satan DOES NOT change this dynamic; regardless of what we call our condition, it must be overcome and it IS this sense of overcoming that the Master references saying to His disciples “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This overcoming IS the reality of salvation, the reality of being able to “Take no thought for your life” and the result of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” where we should understand that to be “conformed to this world” IS to remain in our vanity. While Jesus clearly shows us the reality that “few there be that find it“, few that will find that “strait gate“, this message has been interpreted into the idea that every Christian IS among those few thereby halting the progress of the many who see NO need to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate“. While most seem unfazed by the Master’s words that tell us of the difficulty of entering “in at the strait gate” and His telling us in Luke’s Gospel that “many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24), most Christians believe that the many ARE others. Other people of other religions or the irreligious and most believe that they, as doctrinal Christians, ARE the few. Jesus’ next words ARE in regard to “false prophets” which we have already discussed as to allow us to go from our current selection from the Master’s words to this next one that shows us the hypocrisy of calling Him Lord while NOT living in accord with His words. Luke takes on Jesus intent here by simply saying “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) while Matthew elaborates and tells us:
“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
Matthew 7:21-23
In our understanding these words ARE more closely related to the idea of striving “to enter in at the strait gate” than they ARE to “false prophets“. They show us the difference between those that may believe that they have salvation and those that actually DO although the latter point IS ONLY seen through the converse of Jesus’ words. The point here IS the same as the point to be taken by our striving and that IS that we should keep His words. Our striving IS our diligent effort to keep His words and to live in accord with His commandments and we must understand here that His commandments ARE NOT found in the doctrinal understanding of sin which outlines mostly carnal rules. We should try to see the reality of Paul’s words here as he tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). Can we see that our prophesizing in His name, our casting out of devils and our DOING “wonderful works” ARE spiritually worthless in the absence of our expression of agape? This too IS adequately covered by the Apostle Paul as we note above but unfortunately men have rendered his words into carnal ideas as they fail to see the worthlessness of their endeavors when DONE in the absence of one’s expression of agape. In this essay we have used many of Paul’s sayings to support our positions on the reality of Christianity yet this IS to NO avail as the authority of the church has taken Paul captive. Most ALL denominations and sects use Paul’s words to justify their varied doctrinal positions but few use them as the amplifying and clarifying words of a disciple of Christ. Most ALL denominations and sects have taken but snippets of Paul’s words, most out of context, and built their doctrines around them ofttimes in total disregard of the words of the Master. For us however Paul’s words ARE clearly enhancements to the teaching of the Christ as ARE the words of the other apostles’ epistles. As the Master cautions men about their believing that they can “enter into the kingdom of heaven” but DOING such things as He examples for us, He IS at the same time showing them the ONLY Way which IS to “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. This however has also been diluted by the authority of the church, a dilution that IS apparent in the commentary of John Gill who says this regarding “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“: This, as it may regard private Christians, intends not merely outward obedience to the will of God, declared in his law, nor barely subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel; but more especially faith in Christ for life and salvation; which is the source of all true evangelical obedience, and without which nothing is acceptable to God. The dilution IS of course in the bolded words that replace men’s striving with doctrinal ideas of faith and believing. Taken as a whole we should see the idea first of our striving along with the Master’s comment that “few there be that find” the “strait gate“; and we should remember as well that Matthew places Jesus’ words directly after His words that have come to be called the Golden Rule. In these words there IS a caution issued that clearly divides men into those that DO strive, the few, and those that DO NOT, the many. Taking this into our current selection we should try to see how that the ideas ARE the same; by striving to “Enter ye in at the strait gate” we ARE effectively DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. It IS because of this dynamic link that we chose to combine our discussion of these two seemingly separate instructions from the Master. These ARE our instructions: that we strive to enter in and that we keep His words and we can reduce these ideas to the more simple idea that we should strive to keep His words.
The rest of our selection here should be seen as Jesus’ factual reality on NOT DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” and we should try to understand this as that those that DO NOT strive to keep His words ARE standing before the ‘wide’ gate where the many DO go and this IS regardless of whether we prophesied in HIs name, cast out devils in His name or in His name we have done many wonderful works?” While these words seem to end the Master’s Sermon on the Mount instructions, Jesus’ IS careful to add another cautionary idea and one that IS little appreciated in doctrinal Christianity. Jesus next offers us a parable which IS NOT really a parable but rather an actual comparison between those that keep His words and those that DO NOT; He offers us this as a story that relates the “doers of the word” (James 1:22) to the Wise builder and those that DO NOT so strive to the foolish. Jesus tells us:
“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
While we have discussed these words that ARE the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders in some detail in previous posts, it IS important to DO so again as we close out the Master’s Sermon. We should try to see that the entirety of His words ARE the subject and whether we see them as His words, as sayings as the King James renders, or as His commandments DOES NOT Truly matter. Nor should the relationship between His words and the “the will of my Father which is in heaven” be a hinderance to our understanding as Jesus’ covers this in two sayings. First IS the Master’s words saying “I and my the Father are one” and second IS His words from our trifecta saying “and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:24)
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
