ON LOVE; PART MDI
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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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In the last essay we moved on from our original topic regarding agape as our Love for God and the Love of God which we often cite as the Love that IS God. We DID NOT however move very far off of our topic as we were led to see how that agape has several components which Paul lists for us as “the fruit of the Spirit“. While Paul includes agape as one of the fruits, we ARE taken by Vincent’s commentary where the idea of agape IS explained to us as that: Love, in this passage, is that fruit of the Spirit which dominates all the others4. It IS in this domination that we should try to see ALL of the other fruits that the apostle cites as included in agape and it IS this that offers us some added insight into Paul’s previous words saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). Here we should try to recognize that the individual components of “the fruit of the Spirit” ARE indeed attached to the law, the commandments if you will, by which men should live. Of course the paramount idea here should be understood from the perspective of the Great Commandments which tell us that “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” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. In the former we should see the need to keep His words as the Way to Loving the Lord as we also keep in mind that this idea IS the essence of agape and that it IS our ONLY certain way to express agape toward the Godhead. The Master shows us this saying such things as “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” adding later that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” (John 14:21, 24).
We should note here that the prima facie Way to keep His commandments and His sayings, which idea IS better rendered as His words, IS through the second of the Great Commandments where ALL IS wrapped up for us in our understanding that it IS our expression of agape to ALL that IS the essence of keeping His words. It IS also the singular Way to fulfill “all the law“. What we should see here is that while we have drifted off of our focus upon agape Love, we have NOT drifted far at ALL as ALL the word ideas that we ARE considering ARE, as “fruit of the Spirit“, components of our expression of agape. Our expression of agape brings with it the spiritual ideas behind the Greek words that ARE rendered into Paul’s words saying “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22:23). In the last essay we ended with some thoughts on the idea of meekness; we remined ourselves that this word IS largely misunderstood as we explored the common understanding which IS purely carnal. At the same time we DID find some additional clarity in Vine’s commentary where we read that: It must be clearly understood, therefore, that the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to the believer is the fruit of power. The common assumption is that when a man is meek it is because he cannot help himself; but the Lord was ‘meek’ because he had the infinite resources of God at His command9b. These words capture the essence that we have been presenting regarding the Greek word praotes which IS always rendered as meek in the King James Bible but in terms of gentleness by most others. While there may be some gentleness in the idea of meekness, it IS NOT the predominant characteristic but rather a perceived effect. Vincent tells us that: The equanimity, mildness, kindness, represented by the classical word, are founded in self – control or in natural disposition4 and while there IS some Truth here, this IS NOT the spiritual perspective of the word. Additionally, the idea of self-control IS the subject of the next word listed by Paul.
Praotes, the Greek word that IS rendered always in terms of meekness in the King James Bible IS best defined by that English word. This Vine’s agrees with saying: The meaning of prautes “is not readily expressed in English, for the terms meekness, mildness, commonly used, suggest weakness and pusillanimity to a greater or less extent, whereas prautes does nothing of the kind. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a rendering less open to objection than ‘meekness’9b. While there may NOT be an adequate English word to express the idea of praotes, we can understand it as meekness while redefining the word to meet our needs; this IS easy based upon the Master’s use of the idea and its use in describing “the man Moses” of whom we read that “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). This idea plus Jesus words saying “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29) should allow for an easy redefinition away from the dictionary idea that to be meek IS: humbly patient or quiet in nature, as under provocation from others; overly submissive or compliant; tame*. While there may be a humble patience in our meekness there IS NO submissiveness or compliance as the idea IS here presented; these would suggest weakness and pusillanimity to a greater or less extent. We should look at the spiritual idea of meekness as the reality of the very nature of the Master who IS “meek and lowly in heart” but NOT overly submissive or compliant. As we follow the story of Jesus we see that He IS ofttimes confronted with situations that could bring Him harm but we must understand here that ALL is under His control. His spiritual Power IS awesome and this we should see in His command over ALL in His environment. Jesus can and DOES heal through this Power and this same Power IS that which ‘withered’ the fig tree (Matthew 21:20) and allowed for the Master to easily ‘escape‘ the clutches of the Jews. By example we look to Luke’s Gospel where, after Jesus’ reading in the synagogue, the Jews “rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way” (Luke 4:29-30). By His spiritual Power He IS able to elude His oppressors rather than take a stand and unnecessarily inflict harm upon them.
And this IS the point made by Vine’s: the Lord was ‘meek’ because he had the infinite resources of God at His command9b. True meekness as a biblical term requires that one, Jesus included, DOES NOT use the infinite resources of God that ARE at His disposal to inflict harm on others; this would be contrary to the highest reality of agape. Of course to engage in such meekness one must KNOW his position and his Power in the great spiritual scheme that constantly unfolds in this world. Perhaps a bit if insight into this idea of the infinite resources of God can be found in the Master’s words regarding moving the mountain; a feat that would surely wreak havoc on the world. The Master tells us that “Verily I say unto you, 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). Jesus IS speaking of the awesome Power of the Godhead here that CAN be achieved by men; in this achievement one will have the infinite resources of God at his command. In his meekness however, through the essence of this “fruit of the Spirit“, a man will NOT use this Power which comes to the man who can “have faith, and doubt not” which IS the essence of that KNOWING that comes to him through keeping His words. Can we see the point here? Can we see that the man who can follow the words of the Master which He DOES show us in such sayings as “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) can have such KNOWING. This KNOWING IS the reality of the Greek words pistis and pisteuo. We should see here that Jesus was capable of moving the mountain through the awesome Power of God that he wielded in this Earth and there ARE many examples of His ability and His meekness on display for us in the gospels. We should see also that the church itself DOES NOT see meekness in many of these gospel ideas nor DOES the church afford any of these Powers to mere men. But it IS NOT mere men that the Master speaks of in giving us this example of Power; it IS to those that Truly “have faith, and doubt not“; an ability that DOES NOT come easily.
The Apostle Mark frames the Master’s words as “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). While much of the church aligns these words with their nebulous ideas of faith and believing and teaches that one can ‘name it and claim it’ based upon this verse, they fail to see that the reach of these words goes far beyond the carnal and the mundane things that people desire. Most ALL who subscribe to such ideas concerning the carnal and the mundane desires of men fail to see that the words of the Master ARE spiritual and NOT carnal and that the nebulous nature their views on pistis and pisteuo ARE NOT the intent that should be attached to these word ideas. Most ALL fail to see that there IS enormous Power involved in True pistis and pisteuo, Power that IS afforded to men under the reality that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). While this IS NOT an accepted idea in most ALL of the church, it IS a Truth that can be discovered by everyman who IS willing to pay the price, a price that IS clearly elucidated throughout the New Testament. Jesus shows us this cost of discipleship in terms that ARE easy to understand albeit difficult to accept as men in this world. The first IS of course the Master’s words from our trifecta 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“. Here, while we generally cite His words to point out our source of the Truth that “shall make you free“, there IS another reward if you will for keeping His words….True discipleship. The Master further clarifies this idea for those that may believe that they merely have to follow some rules and this clarification comes in two ways. First there IS the idea of agape as the central point in ALL of His words; it IS our expression of agape as Jesus instructs us that creates the reality of keeping His words so that the idea of merely following some rules IS utterly destroyed. It IS this that befell and continues to befall the Jews. The second view of the cost of discipleship IS even less accepted as fact by men and here we must include men in the church who believe that they ARE keeping His words. Jesus tells us that “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“. Then, after some words on how that we can measure the cost of discipleship, He tells us “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 26-27, 33). There IS NO lack of clarity in these words and while we have often discussed this cost of discipleship we will here link His words to the most basic reality of spiritual meekness.
We should try to understand that meekness IS an important concept for those who will Truly follow the Lord. As we keep His words the revelations and the realizations that we receive ARE of much spiritual importance to us ourselves and, through our expression of our realized ideals, to the world with which we interact. By measure we DO gain Power and while this Power may NOT level up to an ability to heal instantaneously as could Peter and Paul or move the mountain as the Master tells us we can, it IS spiritual Power nonetheless. And ALL such Power must be safeguarded through our meekness which negates our ability, and perhaps propensity, to use it selfishly or against others. This IS the reality of meekness: that we can DO such things as could the Master and His apostles but we DO NOT; we refrain from any action that IS contrary to the Master’s words. We should understand that such action IS NOT merely physical action in this world but includes our thoughts and most importantly our words. Jesus teaches us to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6) and while much IS offered in commentary regarding these words, NONE that we have seen come to the level of our meekness. Giving “that which is holy unto the dogs” has naught to DO with giving: the meat offered in sacrifice4 to dogs although that IS Vincent’s interpretation of the meaning which IS perhaps the most prevalent meaning applied to the Master’s words here. Similarly the idea has of casting “your pearls before swine” has naught to DO with the theory that prevails in much of the church; it has naught to DO with pearls. Vincent shows us the wrong idea saying: Small pearls, called by jewellers seed – pearls, would resemble the pease or maize on which the swine feed. They would rush upon them when scattered, and, discovering the cheat, would trample upon them and turn their tusks upon the man who scattered them4. There IS NO spiritual quality in either of these commentaries and here we should remember that Jesus’ teaching IS always spiritual.
We should remember also that the Master IS speaking to His disciples in this part of the Sermon on the Mount and while others could hear His teaching, most of it was and still remains parabolic to the masses. Again, Jesus tells us that this IS so; He tells His disciples directly that “it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables” (Mark 4:11). We should understand here that the words that the Master speaks ARE the same to disciples and to “them that are without“, it IS their ability to see the spiritual import that IS different. It IS disciples who by measure can see through the carnal ideas and into the spiritual based upon their individual measure of revelation and realization. In His words above saying that they should NOT “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine” we should try to envision the spiritual ideas that ARE contained therein. It IS our realizations and revelations that ARE holy whensoever we ARE Truly following the Master’s teachings and such things revealed, such mysteries, should NOT be divulged to those who lack the capacity to understand. In this the value of things holy and our own individual measure of Truth, our pearls of Wisdom if you will, ARE essentially the same and while Jesus IS surely NOT calling the masses dogs or swine, these animals represent them in His parabolic words. We should note here that in most ALL of the biblical ideas regarding pearls, NONE reflect what we have said here, that such pearls ARE our accumulated spiritual Wisdom which we should guard against revelation to those who would manipulate them or plainly NOT understand them. This IS then the Master’s caution regarding things holy and such pearls of Wisdom that we may possess. To our own protection however IS the fact that few will accept spiritual ideas if they ARE NOT ready to understand them; for many such spiritual ideas that go against orthodoxy can create that situation where those hearing can and will “trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6). This IS much like the words we cite above regarding the Master’s words that resulted in that situation where the Jew’s hearing Him “led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong“. It IS in meekness that the Master simply slips away from them which IS likely an exhibition of the infinite resources of God at His command.
We should try to understand here that meekness IS a much broader idea than it IS presumed to be by most; meekness IS in many ways another attribute of agape as it enforces the fullness of our expression. Our individual expression of agape IS dynamically tied to our conversation, our comportment if you will. As we strive to keep His words it IS inevitably agape that IS the first signet of our success and it IS a sign that CAN NOT be mistaken by the intelligent observer. It IS our sense of agape and its expression of it that “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” and it IS unfortunate that this IS NOT the view of most ALL of the church. It IS this expression that comes to us through our Repentance and IS enhanced by our Transformation according to Paul’s words saying “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 12:2). As we strive to look away from the ways of the world and begin to resist the modelling of our lives that our nurturing and indoctrination has caused, we can begin to Transform our lives and it IS in this Transformation that we come to see and to understand both agape and its components, including meekness. Again, this IS a process then begins with our Repentance and here we must better understand what our True Repentance IS. In Repentance we choose another course that tears us away from being “conformed to this world” and here we should understand that the common idea of Repentance IS one that IS “conformed to this world“. For clarity we repeat Vincent’s defining ideas on Repentance; he tells us: Metanoia (repentance) is therefore, primarily, an after – thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word4. Our point here IS that to properly understand meekness we must first understand our Repentance and our ensuing Transformation; it IS these that allow for meekness to become a predominant aspect of personalities. It IS in meekness that we ARE able to both understand and practice such edicts as the Master shows us saying “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:38-42).
Understanding that the idea of meekness IS ingrained in the words of the Master along with our KNOWING that the Lord IS our example of meekness should help us to see the importance of this aspect of agape as we enter onto and travel the Path to “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). We move on now to the Paul’s final word idea in his list of “the fruit of the Spirit“: temperance. The Greek word egkrateia which IS rendered as temperance in the King James Bible IS rendered as self-control in most other translations. While self-control DOES answer to the idea presented in the Greek word, it IS NOT a complete idea. Thayer’s expands upon the idea of self-control saying that egkrateia IS: the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites9 and here we should see the context as the fullness of men’s desires and passions without the added note regarding sexual ideas. While doctrinally the idea of temperance IS seen in regard to sexual matters, our modern culture sees it in terms of men’s appetite for alcoholic liquors; neither of these idea show us the spiritual import of the words. The mastering of one’s desires and passions IS the objective of Paul’s words above; our desires and our passions ARE a part of our being “conformed to this world“; they ARE KEY components of that vanity into which ALL ARE born. We should remember here that our desires and our passions, our lusts if you will, ARE from the emotional aspects of our personality and have naught to DO with any impulses that emanate from the Godhead and that flow from our Souls. Most ALL ARE carnal in nature and they run the full gamut of our emotional response to the world; there IS NO restriction. Subduing these IS a major part of most every world religion and this IS the high teaching of the words of the Buddha. In His Dhammapada the Buddha shows us the Way of the master which idea should be understood in terms of discipleship; we read: “The master makes for himself an island which the flood cannot overwhelm. The fool is careless. But the master guards his watching. It is his most precious treasure. He never gives in to desire. He meditates. And in the strength of his resolve
He discovers true happiness. He overcomes desire – And from the tower of his wisdom he looks down with dispassion“. There IS little difference between these ideas and that which IS conferred by the idea of temperance. In the Way of the disciple the aspirant must overcome desire and here the relevance IS the same, it IS desires of ALL forms for the carnal things of the world. We should remember here that to Truly be a disciple of the Lord one must keep His words and a KEY part of DOING so IS found in our ability to forsake ALL. These things Jesus tells us clearly and while the first IS regarded as NOT necessary by much of today’s doctrinal church, the second IS frowned upon by most ALL; None ARE eager or even willing to forsake ALL that he has.
In both of these ideas we find most ALL that hinders men’s desire to Truly follow the Lord and in IS in this light that we should try to see how that the doctrines of men have overwhelmed these ideas. Here again we must look at the parabolic nature of Jesus’ words and understand that to keep His words IS NOT to DO as He commands in rote fashion nor IS it to interpret His words into carnal terms that ARE approved by men. This was the Jew’s approach and as we can see from the Master’s interactions with the Jews this approach DID NOT and DOES NOT satisfy any part of the reality that we should keep His words. This has also been the Christian approach as they have discounted the Truths of the Master’s words choosing instead their own ideas, carnal ideas to be sure, that ARE approved by men. Jesus highlights the Way of Love throughout the gospels in parabolic tones but we should NOT forget that the Apostle Paul breaks down the parabolic ideas as he shows us that the Way of agape Love DOES, in and of itself, accomplish the goal of keeping His words. Certainly to “love thy neighbour as thyself” IS still a difficult task for the man in the bondage of his vanity but it IS at the same time the Way par excellence to fulfill ALL that IS necessary to be His disciple. It IS this that we should see in Paul’s words saying “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. To be sure change IS ofttimes hard and rather slow and it IS here that we should see the value of our striving; it IS in striving that we gain, measure by measure, the wherewithal to to live by the Golden Rule which, according to Luke, tells us “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). Keeping His words then IS a part of our Way to discipleship and in striving toward this goal we ARE ALL aspirants who strive to DO as the Master says as He tells us to “continue in my word“. The second ‘requirement’ for discipleship IS seemingly offered to us in clear language but we should look for the parabolic ideas presented by His words. The Master tells us “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“. These ARE seemingly hard words for a man to understand but when we look more closely at the underlying idea, we can perhaps see the Way. The main idea in these words IS that the man who chooses to be a disciple of the Master, a True disciple or as Jesus frames this “disciples indeed“, CAN NOT be distracted by the things of the flesh. The aspirant must forsake ALL such things that can remain as a distraction from the True goal and it IS in this that the aspirant IS Truly striving.
Paul shows us this rather clearly saying “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5) and the point here should be easily seen. The Master’s approach IS seemingly harder as He shows us the Way of the fullness of discipleship; He says to the ‘rich young man’ “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me“. The KEY here IS found in the idea that this man lacks “one thing” which we should see from the previous verses where he tells the Master regarding the commandments that “all these have I observed from my youth” (Mark 10:21, 20). This apparently rich man claims success as keeping His words through the commandments save for the idea behind many of them….selflessness. It IS this selflessness that for this rich man became his barrier to discipleship and the rewards thereof and it IS selflessness that becomes the barrier for most ALL men. The concept IS however much misunderstood; the reality of our selflessness lies in our expression of agape, and expression through which our right understanding of such concepts flow. Selflessness IS the result of our temperance, of our avoidance of the desires and passions that seem to govern our lives. Here we should look again at Thayer’s defining idea saying that our temperance IS: the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions. Perhaps the main point here IS that there IS NO need to “sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor” as a starting point for being an aspirant to discipleship; we begin with KNOWING that the objective IS to strive toward that goal. We begin with a firm understanding of the road ahead, the Path if you will, as well as an understanding that there IS a cost as the Master points out for us in His rather vague examples. These we read in context as:
“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. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This* man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“
Luke 14:26-33)
ALL of these ideas should be seen through “the fruit of the Spirit” that Paul calls egkrateia. What we should try to see in these words from the Master IS that there IS a perceived cost to the man who Truly follows the Lord, the man who keeps His words, the man whose expression becomes “the fruit of the Spirit” headlined by his expression of agape to ALL and without reservation. As we end this review of “the fruit of the Spirit” we should try to fully understand that these ideals ARE not according to the carnal definitions of the Greek words but that the whole of the apostles message IS spiritual. Paul also includes for us a list of “the works of the flesh” and this list can also be misleading. While these “works of the flesh” ARE carnal and mundane, they should be looked at for their spiritual counterparts, their spiritual properties if you will, rather than just a group of human behaviors to be avoided. The apostle tells us that “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” (Galatians 5:19-21) and it IS these ideas that we will discuss in our next blogpost. We close today with our trifecta, the Master’s words upon which we should ever reflect on our own expressions of “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit“. The Master tells us:
- “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.
| Aspect | Potency | Aspect of Man | In Relation to the Great Invocation | In relation to the Christ |
| GOD, The Father | Will or Power | Spirit or Life | Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN | Life |
| Son, The Christ | Love and Wisdom | Soul or Christ Within | Heart of God | Truth |
| Holy Spirit | Light or Activity | Life Within | Mind of God | Way |
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9b Vine’s Expository Dictionary 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
