IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 753

ON LOVE; PART CCCXLII

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

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).

Much of what we are saying regarding this most misunderstood subject of sin and evil may seem here to come across as preaching and in many ways it is but not it the typical way of the pastor or the priest. It is our intent to open the mind of the reader who believes that sin IS as it is seen by the average man in the world, as those gross offenses that a man can commit against another or those those things that the church believes are against the laws of God. Sin IS much more than this as we have been revealing according to the words of the Master and His apostles; sin IS ALL that a man can do that is for and of the self and the self in the world and while this may seem a hard assessment, it IS a True one. From a scriptural perspective there are but two choices offered by the Master, God and mammon, and this idea of mammon reaches from the grossest of offenses to the point in one’s Life where he ONLY sees the things of God and reacts to his brothers in that Love that the Master teaches. The criteria set by the doctrines of the churches for attaining the Kingdom of God ARE NOT founded in scripture but in man’s manipulations of scripture and while this may suffice for the many who CAN NOT or will not see the ultimate Truth today, it does not suffice for the man who Truly desires to be His disciple and to express the Kingdom, the Love and the Power of his own Soul, to the world through his Life in form here and now.

We have ofttimes said that the ideas of heaven and hell as those places that a man goes to at the death of the physical body ARE the conventions of men based in archaic traditions and legends, in superstitions and in a lack of understanding of death and, in a refusal to grasp the greater reality of reincarnation. This idea of rebirth IS NOT denied nor acclaimed in the New Testament but is hinted at in the right discernment of the words of the Master and His apostles. And, we should remember that the right discernment of these spiritual ideas is ever linked to the revelation and the realization that one will receive from his focus upon the things of God. In these sayings we can likely see the difficulty in bringing these ideas into public view as the religious public mostly heeds the ideas of their particular denominational doctrines and the non-religious public mostly does not care to address these issues. This leaves us to do this work along with those who are disillusioned by the common doctrines and who are seeking greater Truth, and those seekers who remain non-religious because there is naught in the doctrines that they can see that attracts them to it. There IS a reality in our words but this is not the only reality….there are many, many True Paths to the realization of Truth and much can be found in the non-doctrinal teachings of most any religion, that part of the teachings that has not been manipulated by men down through the centuries; that part that is the uncompromised Truth from which men escape through the creation of their doctrines and the rituals, their rites and affirmations, and which are seldom a part of the Truth except by symbol.

The Apostle James, a man from whom we have the most straightforward and blunt words on the actions of the man who has chosen to follow the Path of Truth and righteousness, these words that fit our premise here albeit not in a direct way. While offered to the disciple and the aspirant, these ideas are see by doctrine as pertaining to the ways of the man focused in the world. James tells us:

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 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. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:1-8).

We should note here that the apostle is not only speaking about wars as we understand them, this in not only nation against nation. James is writing to men who he is instructing in the Way of the disciple, the Way of the man who chooses the Lord, and in this context we should be able to see any sort of strife. The lexicon tells us that this word rendered as war is the Greek word polemos which means: a war; a fight, a battle; a dispute, strife, quarrel ²; and while Strong’s tells us that polemos means war, battle, fight ³, many of the later bible versions render this as quarrels. By example the New American Standard (NAS) renders this verse as “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?” and in this we can see much of the same ideas that we discussed from Paul’s words over the last few essays, that it is selfishness and the focus of the man on the self, his own lusts and his own sense of pleasure, that cause what James is referring to generally as strife. We should note here that the idea of nation against nation plays a large part in our understanding here as well as the cause of this type of conflict and war is also based in the selfish attitude of the perpetrator and the strong desire of those that come to the separate sides in most every conflict. Remembering that we are speaking about a much more barbarous time where killing was perhaps not seen as it is today, the next verse makes clear points; man wants, he lusts after things but generally does not achieve that which he wants by the way of conflict and of course the reasons here would be varied and James concludes here with the idea that a man tries to take and not to ask and he comes upon the resistance of those who have what it is that he wants. This is the carnal approach and this is likely what the apostle sees as fact in the relationships between men and so his caution to disciples and aspirants. James moves here quickly from his statement of the ways of men to his teaching on the Truths of wanting and asking. Here the apostle is showing that when one desires and lusts after the pleasures of the world, that he cannot ask for them as likely none will give them to him and hence there is the need for conflict; he goes further to say that one does not ask properly and in this is the transition from the carnal to the spiritual. Writing a spiritual treatise to spiritually minded people the understanding here should likely revert to the first chapter where the apostle speaks on asking for Wisdom and, of course, this asking is of God. Bringing this forward to these verses we should see that same dynamic of asking and the note by James that “ye ask amiss” which should be seen as asking for the carnal things from the Lord, things “that ye may consume it upon your lusts“; and here is the crux of the apostle’s argument. Men ask the Lord for things of the world that they may lust after and, in not getting what one may want there may become cause for conflict with those who do have and a part of this may lie in the man’s belief that he should get what he asks for. Still, even in the conflict a man does not obtain his desires; James’ point then is to tell us that we are not asking for the right things from the right places; we are coveting things and trying to take them while the Truth is that we should not be after these things at all and we can only ask God for those things that come from God, and this as the he cites for us in the previous chapters as that Wisdom from above.

To emphasize his argument, the apostle continues to give us in a sentence one of the more important teachings that we can have regarding the Truth of discipleship and the working platform for those like us who strive toward that goal as aspirants. The Master tells us that we must choose and, as we say here above the choice between God and Hmammon is not complete until our focus us completely on God; this IS our process of Transforming. Here James makes our understanding of this a bit easier as he shows us the space between these poles is one of attraction and affiliation. Friendship is an odd word to use and James continues with this further on in the word rendered as friend which Strong’s tells us means Love as well as friend as taken from the Greek word philia ³. We should note here then the hint of Love in the idea of the apostle’s saying although not in the strength that the word agape would show nor the idea that we would get from philadelphia which is directed at another. Vine’s tells us that: akin to philos, “a friend”, is rendered in Jas. 4:4, “the friendship (of the world).” It involves “the idea of loving as well as being loved” (Mayor)⁶, and while we may not agree here we do get confirmation of the idea of Love in James’ saying. James give us the proper understanding that this friendship or Love of the world at any degree is enmity with God and here we should understand this idea of enmity from the Greek word echthra is like the last where philia or friendship is Love that is short of agape, this then could be displeasure which is short of hate which is how this is rendered in other translations and is short of enemy as it is rendered here and or at the end in others. We should understand that this idea of God Loving or hating a person or even an idea is alien to our understanding of these realities and here we see James’ clever use of language to show this borders of these ideas: that there is no agreement between Loving the world and Loving God, one CAN NOT do both except alternately which gives us this same choice of serving God or mammon. The close here in this verse is the same as the beginning save from a different perspective and the overall understanding should be one of agreement and pleasure; if a man IS in agreement with the world and the ways of the world, if he is attracted to these and enjoys them, then he is acting contrary to the ways of God and is showing his own disagreement with the things and the ways of God; and this whether constant or intermittent as this is not covered here by the apostle who tells us simply that to do so, to be a friend of the world, is contrary to the ways of God and here we should see our understanding of focus. This has been a rather long way around a seemingly simple saying but the explanation may prove worthwhile as we address other parts of scripture and as a clarifying and amplifying thought for the Master’s own teaching that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon”  (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13).

We should note here that the apostle addressing this idea to “adulterers and adulteresses” is not accurately depicted according to Vincent who tells us that the word adulterers is omitted in the best texts ⁴; overall, we should see this as the blunt addressing of the apostle’s words to those who do such things and who the apostle believes KNOW already not to. We should note as well that doctrine misses this point as we can see in these few words from John Gill who tells us that this friendship and enmity are: an immoderate love for the good things of the world, and a prevailing desire after the evil things of it ⁸; this is in our view the dilution and the changing of the True intent of the apostle’s words and the words of the Master regarding God and mammon. If the apostle had considered his point in this way of moderation and the evil things, he most likely would have said so and would NOT have offered his words this seemingly harsh and unforgiving fashion.

We should see here the difficulty of a man in the world being told that his focus upon the world is not in agreement with the with the ways of God and for the average man in the world this difficulty IS True. We however who are aspirants to that High Calling of discipleship must see clearly the Truth, that the ONLY way to achieve our High Calling and the Kingdom IS to see clearly the things of God and eschew the things of the world which the Master teaches by those equally diluted and changed words: “take no thought” (Luke 12: 22). While the doctrinal ideas may offer safe harbor for the masses they do also at the same time prevent a man from seeing the Truth except as he can find it elsewhere and we should be able to understand that this slanting of doctrine to be less critical of a man’s actions and reactions in the world is based in those core beliefs that a man IS his form in the world and that since he is such he must be encouraged to live his Life away from the gross offenses and be happy. This is the interpretation of doctrine which we can also see clearly in the doctrinal interpretations of the words of the Master that we use so often….”take no thought“.

We close today with two commentaries that should depict for us the doctrinal interpretation of these words that we see as they are offered, that we not only not to worry nor show concern but that we also do not focus our attention on anything of the world as it IS in the Master’s words tha,t if we attend to the things of God, ALL else will take care of itself.

• John Gill tells us this for this saying as it appears in Matthew’s Gospel where it appears immediately after that other saying “Ye cannot serve God and mammon”: Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life: Since ye cannot serve both God and “mammon”, obey one, and neglect the other. Christ does not forbid labour to maintain, support, and preserve, this animal life; nor does he forbid all thought and care about it, but all anxious, immoderate, perplexing, and distressing thoughts and cares; such as arise from diffidence and unbelief, and tend to despair; which are dishonourable to God, as the God of nature and providence, and uncomfortable to men ⁸. There is of course no hint of these ideas in the words of the Master and, again, for the average man this may suffice for a time but, for those who Truly desire the Kingdom and that High Calling, there is the ultimate reality of “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” and “take no thought“, both are essential components of fixing the focus of one’s Life upon God and the things of God.
• Vincent tells us in regard to this same saying and in the same place: Take no thought (μὴ μεριμνατε) The cognate noun is μέριμνα , care, which was formerly derived from μερίς , a part; μερίζω , to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life, This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily. See, for example, “careth for the things of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32). “That the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). “Who will care for your state?” (Philemon 2:20). In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. In other cases that idea is prominent, as, “the care of this world,” which chokes the good seed (Matthew 13:22; compare Luke 8:14). Of Martha; “Thou art careful” (Luke 10:41). Take thought, in this passage, was a truthful rendering when the A. V. was made, since thought was then used as equivalent to anxiety or solicitude ⁴. Vincent goes on to offer us more and his final understanding as he says: The word has entirely lost this meaning. Bishop Lightfoot (“On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament”) says: “I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future.” It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious. This phase of the word is forcibly brought out in 1 Peter 5:7, where the A. V. ignores the distinction between the two kinds of care. “Casting all your care ( μέριμναν , Rev., anxiety ) upon Him, for He careth ( αυτω μέλει ) for you,” with a fatherly, tender, and provident care.” ⁴
  

Two things we should note in Vincent’s interpretation here; first that he sees in the value of the words as they were offered the reality of our perspective that we not focus upon the world and the things therein but, he goes on to agree that this CAN NOT be what the Master intended and in this light he agrees with the common understanding that It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

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

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

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

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

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁶ Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com