ON LOVE; PART DCXLI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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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.
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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)
In the last essay we continued with our thoughts on James’ use of the Master’s words on swearing oaths from the Sermon on the Mount where we see that the apostle IS doing as ALL apostles do in their writing: they amplify and they clarify the Master’s words. Relating James’ words to the previous sayings on patience, that it IS by the work of patience that a man will endure his current temptations and the nurtured tendencies developed in his former carnal Life, we can see the apostle’s words on swearing oaths. That they are intended to show that this approach to dissuading his own lower forces IS NOT the right option and this for the reasons that the Master elucidates for us saying: “Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black” (Matthew 5:36). In these words we should see the reality that a man has NO control over these things of the Earth; this saying IS but an example of the totality of that theme and, combined with Jesus other examples of swearing by heaven or by Earth, we should be able to see His point which IS “Swear not at all” (Matthew 5:34).
Here we should try to see that the reality of their words IS to show the meaninglessness of this exercise which may have been used by men to help them to promise and profess to certain things but which ARE rather meaningless as whatsoever oath one may swear by IS NOT in his own control and this IS the point that we made in the last posts. We can see the similarity here to the apostle’s words on planning and scheming for tomorrow, that this IS a worldly exercise that IS futile because a man has NO control over tomorrow nor over his own fate in the world; and this is as the Master points out in the Parable of the Rich Fool. And we should understand that the Master, while saying “Swear not at all” IS at the same time showing that the source of these oaths IS NOT spiritual but rather “cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:37) which IS that these are carnal thoughts based on one’s carnal focus. And this same point should be taken from James’ words which we repeat here for clarity including our most current sayings as these ALL do work together:
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold , the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient ; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:7-15).
Here James uses the idea that to swear such oaths one will “fall into condemnation” and we should note here that this word that IS rendered as condemnation IS generally rendered as hypocrisy; that this IS the only place that the idea of condemnation is offered for this Greek word. This IS an unfortunate choice of renderings as IS the choice of most other bible versions where judgment is used even though there IS NO apparent relationship between these rendered ideas in this Greek word. There ARE other Greek words that should be rendered as judgement but ARE ofttimes rendered as condemnation. The word that James uses here IS hupokrisis which the lexicon defines for us as: an answering; an answer; the acting of a stage player; dissimulation, hypocrisy 2. Strong’s defines this as hypocrisy and comments that it is: an extension of an actor in a play, not found in the NT, implying arrogance and hardness of heart, utterly devoid of sincerity and genuineness 3. Can we see the apostle’s intent here in telling us these things on swearing an oath? Can we understand why that an aspirant or a disciple should NOT do such a meaningless thing or believe that it can be of any help over his working of patience?
While doctrine will see these oaths as evil in a carnal sense and this condemnation in the same light, we see the reality of evil as one’s focus upon the things of the world and that there IS no condemnation; there IS only hypocrisy. We see then that compared to patience this idea of swearing an oath IS NOT an alternative, that to make ‘deals’ with God regarding one’s behavior as an aspirant or a disciple is a meaningless gesture and we must remember that James sees much importance in saying this as he starts his words saying “above all things, my brethren, swear not“. This would lead us to believe that this is a common practice in those days as it likely IS yet today where the swearing of oaths should be seen in the same light, as meaningless hypocrisy in the hands of the man who Truly strives. We ARE NOT here concerned with the more general use of this idea of swearing except to say that this should NOT be done by any and that this reality should be taught over the ideas that some oaths ARE not only allowed by even promoted as we read in John Gill’s words yesterday.
We have spent much time on this idea which for us has never been seen as an option to DOING the work of striving in patience and longsuffering while KNOWING that the road IS long and hard. We have spent this time because of the apostle’s words that this should be seen as “above all things” and in this we see the possibility that men DO use this swearing of oaths in the process of seeking and striving as a way to ameliorate the effect of those things that one may have done in falling back into the ways of the world. We are told to be patient, which we understand is to work in patience, and we KNOW from experience that this DOES NOT help us in relations to specific temptations in thoughts, attitudes nor actions that are contrary to our focus upon the things of God. It IS here that we find this idea of prayer as the apostle goes on to say that when afflicted, when caught in the temptations found in the duality of the Life of the aspirant and the disciple, that one should pray. In this most misunderstood word we find many doctrinal ideas that ARE NOT Truly according to the ideas presented by the Master and His apostles. We offered the idea of communion with God as our better understanding of the act of prayer and in this communion we should see the God Within, the communion of the man struggling in the world with his own Soul from whence ALL Truth will come.
James says simply “is any among you afflicted? let him pray” and here we see our own reality as men who ARE striving; we see this affliction as the pangs of the temptations that flow into our consciousness and which can bring us back into, or farther into, a focus upon the things of the world which ARE in opposition to the things of God. We then see that the reality of prayer is to bring our attention back to the things of God; to make a conscious effort to dismiss the temptation by turning the thoughts and the emotions back to the True goal. This makes much sense in the context of the ideas that the apostle has presented to us and while patience, even working patience, can be seen as a passive way to achieve, prayer IS an active way to take one’s stand against the wiles of the flesh and the world. And what IS it that we pray for? Here we should try to see the ideas presented by James at the beginning of his epistle and specifically his saying that: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:3). This asking IS prayer, it IS solicitation and this IS a petition; this asking for Wisdom IS the reality and the essence of prayer as there IS naught for the self in the world except spiritual favor that one will receive by his proper focus upon the things of God. And it IS this proper focus that IS the reality of communion.
We should remember that James goes yet further into the idea of asking which we are identifying as this same idea as prayer as he says: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:6-7). Here we should see the ultimate reality of focus, that it IS by one’s focus that there IS “nothing wavering“; this IS the Truth of faith in this sense where faith IS KNOWING; in KNOWING there IS “nothing wavering” and in this ALL IS focus. This DOES NOT say that one should not ask, it DOES say that it IS when one’s focus IS True that one will receive. So we pray for Wisdom, for the Truth as it IS KNOWN by the Soul, to be revealed to the consciousness in the world and in this we should see the idea that such Wisdom CAN NOT come to the man whose focus IS on the self and the interests of the self in the world.
In the Christian world the idea of prayer, like many words that have been adopted by doctrine, is used in ways that ARE NOT found in the words of the Master nor of His apostles and the generality of prayer has taken away the ideas that are presented by James regarding asking. Prayer IS used to ask for intercession by God or by the Power of God over the sometimes petty affairs of men and prayer IS used to ask for favor from the Lord which most times ARE for the worldly and the carnal things of Life. This IS NOT the intent and we should ever note that the only True example we have of prayer that IS called as such IS the Lord’s Prayer. In this, regardless of which side of the argument one holds, that His words are the actual prayer to use or that they are a model to use, we should be able to see the selfless example of prayer as offered by the Master. Can we see the communion, the focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, in the Master’s example of prayer? And in His personal prayers that are recorded for us in the gospels this same idea of communion should be readily apparent as well; His ardent focus upon the things of God. Similarly we should see this sense of communion in the Apostle Paul’s prayer with which we closed the last essay.
We should see this as that it speaks to the Christ Within, the apostle’s own Inner self, and to the Christ Within the reader whose focus IS True as he prays “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). This prayer, ALL of it, IS fulfilled by the Soul, by the Christ Within that comes to dwell in the heart, the consciousness, of the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. And this IS God from the perspective that the Soul IS part and parcel of God, that the Soul IS a spark from the divine flame.
ALL of this must be understood by the aspirant and the disciple, by the man who strives, to be the meaning of James simple words that “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray“. To ALL that are afflicted by the pangs of worldly desires and their associated thoughts, attitudes and actions, to ALL who try to work that patience but are still troubled: let him be more ardent in his focus upon the things of God as it IS in this focus that there IS communion and in this communion IS the fixing of one’s conscious attention away from the affliction. Again, this IS NO easy task but it IS another tool to be added to the ideas that the apostle has already given as his guidance to us regarding how that we should look at our own Way in discipleship.
The apostle brings us next to the idea of being merry and we may wonder how that this would fit with our premise above regarding prayer and how that Jame’s intent in in offering us another tool as we see in our writing above. Here again we must look at the apostle’s words in their context for the right sense of his message which in our view IS NOT as Mr. Gill presents this saying: Is any merry? in good heart and spirit, in a good frame of mind, as well as in prosperous circumstances, in soul, body and estate: let him sing psalms; let him not only be inwardly joyful, as he should be in prosperity, and be thankful to God for his many mercies, temporal and spiritual, he enjoys; but let him express it vocally, and melodiously, by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs: not that these are the only persons that are to sing psalms, or this the only time, any more than that afflicted persons are the only ones that are to pray, or the time of affliction the only time of prayer; but as affliction more especially calls for prayer, so spiritual joy, and rejoicing in prosperous seasons 8. We should note here how that despite the apostles words regarding a man’s relationship with the world and the things of the world, Mr. Gill includes worldly things in his idea of being merry.
While Mr. Gill’s motivation may not be right according to our sense of the context, we too see that this idea of merry can reflect worldly ideas. In the context of the whole of the apostle’s words however the motivation of the apostle IS quite different than Mr. Gill’s. Can we see here that if one IS merry in relation to the world, if he may have benefited by his carnal focus, that the idea of singing psalms would be to counter this sense of worldly joy? Here we would have the singing to bring our focus away from the carnal and back to the spiritual; here we can perhaps relate this idea back to James’ previous thought saying: “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness” (James 4:9).
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 |
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.
This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse those forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
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
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
