IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 851

ON LOVE; PART CDXL

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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The Gospel of Thomas

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.

(68) Jesus says: “Blessed are you when(ever) they hate you (and) persecute you. But they (themselves) will find no place there where they have persecuted you.“

(69) Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their heart. They are the ones who have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are those who suffer from hunger so that the belly of the one who wishes (it) will be satisfied.“

(70) Jesus says: “If you bring it into being within you, (then) that which you have will save you. If you do not have it within you, (then) that which you do not have within you [will] kill you.“

(71) Jesus says: “I will [destroy this] house, and no one will be able to build it [again].“

(72) A [person said] to him: “Tell my brothers that they have to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to him: “Man, who has made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples (and) said to them: “I am not a divider, am I?“

(73) Jesus says: “The harvest is plentiful, but there are few workers. But beg the Lord that he may send workers into the harvest.“

(74) He said: “Lord, there are many around the well, but there is nothing in the <well>.“

(75) Jesus says: “Many are standing before the door, but it is the solitary ones who will enter the wedding hall.“

We finally realized our Roman Numeral error as we checked on line for the proper format for todays edition, number 440, and this is now corrected. In the last essay we discussed the first part of the sixty ninth saying from the Gospel of Thomas and, while we left some ideas hanging, we put off the obscurity of the second part until today. In the first part we worked with the understanding that we were offered by one of the Thomas commentaries, a saying from Clement of Alexandria, that says: the most difficult persecution is from within,’ from pleasures and passions: ‘The one being persecuted cannot escape it, for he carries the enemy around within himself everywhere.’ In this saying we were able to see more clearly the intent of the Master and of Thomas as this saying is otherwise a repetition of the previous idea which IS also in regard to persecution. Here, the rendering of “those who have been persecuted in their heart” plus the ideas from Clement allow us to see that this saying IS indeed speaking about one’s own persecution of himself, a persecution of sorts by the lower Life forces against the Higher Life forces; of the personality in the world against the Soul in the struggle to control the conscious awareness of the man in the world.

We noted here how some of the defining ideas offered by the Master regarding the Truth of persecution can apply to this inner struggle that most ALL men must go through as they make their approach to the Kingdom of God. In the Repentance and the Transformation of the man who has sensed the prompting of the Soul and entered into the period of duality, the lower self continually resists the change and in many ways causes that internal conversation of conscience where the lower attempts to convince the consciousness to continue in the ways to the world and the satisfaction of the “ pleasures and passions” that are noted by Clement above. Here, along much more personal lines, the ideas of the Master on the nature of persecution as we read in Luke and Matthew who tell us: “men shall hate you, and they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil“ AND “men shall revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely“; can be seen in the Life of the man especially as he begins this period of duality and Transformation. These ideas of hate and separation, of reproach and evil speaking, can be seen by the man as the lower carnal self rebels against the growing force of the Higher spiritual self and in this internal conversation of a man with himself, the lower carnal mind speaks such things to the consciousness in regard to one’s own avoidance of the Higher impulse. We can see here again the little angel with his halo and the little devil complete with pitchfork and pointed tail each trying to get the attention of the consciousness of the man to do his particular will.

This IS a difficult thing to put into words and it is likely that variants of this are responsible for a good deal of the mental and the emotional problems in the world today as men do not understand nor are they even aware of the nature of this struggle. The Apostle Paul tells us something of this in his words to the Romans that many believe are in regard to the Jewish ideas of the law versus doctrinal ideas of the Spirit and grace of Christ. These ideas are a large part of the doctrines of many parts of the church and can be seen as based in Paul’s ideas that the law is secondary; but without realizing that it is secondary to Love and to keeping His words. From our perspective we should see Paul’s words here below as his testimony of this struggle of the lower nature against the Higher with the lower representing the interpreted the law and the letter of it which thereby allows for those things that the Master teaches us against. Here we should try to see the objective of this man under the law as doing those things that the Higher Calling is telling him that he should not do; here we should see that man taking IS cover in the words of the law and the ways of his doctrine in the world. We should remember here that we ARE NOT speaking about the gross offenses that a man may commit as these ARE NOT in the view of the man who would be the subject of this saying from Thomas’ Gospel, we are speaking about the more subtle things that keep a man’s attention in the things of the world. By example the Higher Calling prompts the man to give ALL that he has to the poor as the Master tells us to do and at the same time, the lower forces of the man in the world try to compel him to not do this thing as he may have need for this ALL later on if this or that does not work out. Can we see here the struggle? Then we can likely see the same by degree in most every worldly pursuit; the Higher Calling says that the small efficient car will suffice for a man’s needs while the lower forces try to compel the man to the luxurious car that will allow the man to stand out above others and this sometimes whether the man can afford the luxury or not. Can we see the point here? Can we understand the nature of self persecution?

The apostle words on this should be clear in this light and should make one able to see the error of this doctrine as Paul’s words follow upon most ALL that the Master has to say about the treasure of one’s heart, about riches and about the desire for them and the things of the world. We must remember here that the apostle is speaking to disciple and to aspirant and that he is speaking about the more subtle aspects of the law and of the doctrinal interpretations of it. Paul tells us:

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as  he liveth? … For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said , Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found  to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding  sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more  I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve  the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:1, 5-25).

Can we see here that the apostle’s words are intentionally verbose and obscure, that there is that definite parabolic tendency in his choice of words and phrases through which there is a single message to be discerned that has naught to do with the law itself but rather on one’s use of the letter of the law to offer oneself safe harbor in which to attend to the ways of the world which idea should be seen in every instance where the apostle uses the words sin and evil. Here we should see we are speaking of the Apostle Paul and as such we can see no evil or sin as we commonly understand these words The first point here is that the apostle is telling us that were a thing not defined by the law as sin or as evil it would not be so or rather we would not recognize it as  so. Without the law then we could take what we want and treat others as we would but, under the law, we come to know that these are wrong things to do. Here we can see the difficulty in the language as the apostle is not saying that it is because one knows that a thing is wrong that one will do it but that in the understanding of the commandment “sin revived, and I died“. The understanding should be that knowing right from wrong by the law, the natural law of understanding and Love as well as the written law, prevents a man from doing ill to his neighbor but, when it comes to the interpretation of the law and of the commandments according to the letter and not the spirit, then the man sees safe harbor in doing this or that as it appears to be permitted. This is the overview to these words while the more specific is to the man who is approaching the Path to the Kingdom; it is this man who, like Paul, can say “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not“; in this is that struggle that we discuss above. Here the will of the Soul is with the apostle but the wherewithal to do right is obscured by the ways of the personality which he calls the flesh in the world.  Signs of this struggle are scattered throughout this part of this chapter and in many other places in Paul’s writing he alludes to these same ideas and in sayings like “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” we should be able to see our own reality. Again, we must see sin and evil in the right perspective, that these are our attention to the ways of the personality in the world as opposed to our focus upon the things of God and, at the same time we should understand the nature of Paul’s writing, the nature of who it IS that he is writing to. In this sense of duality that the apostle tells us of here we should see as well Paul’s direct experience and, in his words, that cry of the aspirant who IS ever striving as he says “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death“. Of course he KNOWS the answer to this rather rhetorical question framed in that conversation that one has with himself as we see in this saying from Thomas’ Gospel and the answer IS clear; it is in his focus that he will be delivered and the essence of the struggle of duality is framed for us in the last part of this saying from Paul, that when the focus is right he serves the law of God which IS Love and when the focus IS upon the self and the self in the world he serves the law of sin and follows in the ways of the world.

And perhaps we can find some resolution to the last part of this saying from Thomas in our many words from Paul and our understanding of them that we have above. First we need a perspective here as the renderings do offer different framework and for our purposes here today we will use Lambdin’s rendering which says: “Blessed are the hungry, for the belly of him who desires will be filled“. As we ended in the last post we should here introduce the Master’s words according to Matthew as in this we find the definition of what one would hunger for as we read: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled“. There can be no other logical idea here as in this spiritual saying and in the reality of this idea of blessing, what else would the aspiriant hunger for? what would be his own desires? We should try to see here that in this idea of hunger that there IS a positive undertaking and not just natural assent; this IS wanting with vigor and with force and hence the idea in Thomas that “him who desires will be filled“. The Greek word peinao that is rendered as hunger can be seen to mean: to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire ², aside from the normal ideas of hunger according to the lexicon’s entry from the accepted gospels. Vincent, in regard to the saying from Matthew gives us this idea on this hunger and on being filled: Shall be filled ( χορτασθήσονται ): A very strong and graphic word, originally applied to the feeding and fattening of animals in a stall. In Revelation 19:21, it is used of the filling of the birds with the flesh of God’s enemies. Also of the multitudes fed with the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:20; Mark 8:8; Luke 9:17). It is manifestly appropriate here as expressing the complete satisfaction of spiritual hunger and thirst. Hence Wycliffe’s rendering, fulfilled, is strictly true to the original ⁴. The idea of belly here should be seen to represent, in the Master’s parabolic way, the very being of the man who hungers thus, that his being will be satisfied, fulfilled if you will, with the righteousness that the man comes to crave ardently and to seek with eager desire.

This parable, this Beatitude is then a picture of the journey of the disciple in the world of men. The man who finds this duality in his Repentance and his Transformation and who is struggling with this in his heart; he IS blessed and he will come to KNOW the Truth and the Father. In the same tone, blessed also is this same man who is struggling in his heart because he IS expressing this hunger, this ardent craving, and this eager desire for his own deliverance which comes upon a man in that righteousness that is a criteria for discipleship. Overall, blessed is the man who is striving toward the Kingdom of God.

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.

As the Lord’s Prayer is given to us by the Christ for our use 2000 years ago, the Great Invocation, according to esoteric sources, was give from Him as well and whether we believe that this IS True or not we should look at this prayer as containing the same selfless invocative style as does the Lord’s Prayer and then any that are modeled after their style. We again encourage ALL to read and reread this Great Invocation and our comments as in these words can be found keys to our spiritual reality.

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132

The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.

Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.

The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/