ON LOVE; PART MCCXLVII
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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. 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).
In the last essay we began with the most illogical ideas of satanas and the diabolos which have become the Christian’s ‘fall guy’, the outside influence that causes Christian men to think and act contrary to the tenets of their doctrinal approach to the Lord. For many Christians it IS these that bring sickness and disease and these that bring lack while others see these as the force that keeps one in sickness and disease or in lack. Many believe that it IS satanas and diabolos that must be fought against using prayer and other invocations as it IS these that hold one’s mind captive in sin and it IS these that prevent one from exercising the fullness of one’s own faith. These ARE spoken of as personalities by most ALL denominations and sects and one would assume by their rhetoric that the ‘unsaved’ man IS completely controlled by these ‘demons’.
There ARE many millions of ‘unsaved’ according to doctrines which tell us that the ‘unsaved’ IS the man who has NOT accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by way of some doctrinal rite which for some may be in affirmations and confessions while for others it may be in the acceptance of certain ‘sacraments’. In the view of some those many millions of ‘unsaved’ have ONLY satanas and diabolos to lead them; these fail to see that much of this group IS among those whom Christ Himself would call saved according to the parable that we discussed in the last post. Were we to compare such populations of believers and unbelievers according to Jesus words saying “I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me” including the point of this whole dissertation saying “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40), which group would have the greater number of men expressing this fullness of Love….of agape?
As we discussed, this IS NOT a pick from the list scenario, the man who truly Loves will DO ALL these things; these would become his Life’s attitude. And we should NOT be mistaken here; there IS NO expectation that one would or could feed, harbor, clothe and visit ALL men but rather that this become the very thought process and attitude of the man whose expression IS that Truth of agape that offers such things without any “respect to persons” (James 2:9). We purposely leave out the idea that “I was in prison” in our list here as this idea, as ALL of them, can be interpreted in more spiritual terms than just being a prisoner according to the law; there IS also the prison of one’s own vanity, one’s own “bondage of corruption“, and while many in a physical state of imprisonment ARE so bound, there ARE yet more that ARE found in that perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 as Vincent defines vanity for us.
The idea that “I was in prison“, as well as the other points that Jesus IS making concerning the way that one would or could feed, harbor, clothe and visit, must be seen from a larger perspective than merely the physical as He IS speaking about spiritual matters and the expression of one’s own spiritual attitude which flows from the Inner Man….the Christ Within which IS the Soul. These carnally meaningful ideas ALL have a spiritual counter point which must be discovered and IS discovered by the man who Truly sees and this IS much the same as we find in such simple sayings as “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Some doctrinal teachers, especially those who have taken on the ‘prosperity gosple’ so called, take this idea literally and teach that to be poor have the Kingdom with ‘all its riches’ and this they DO so without tying this to Matthew’s version which reads “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), the first of the Beatitudes in his gospel.
The greater point here IS that it IS the attitude of a man that matters and if we can relate this to Jesus’ words saying that it IS “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34) we can then better understand the whole idea behind this parable….that this IS NOT eschatological but the practical expression of the man who Truly seeks the Lord. Perhaps Jesus’ adding in the idea that “I was in prison” IS intended to bring men to a more spiritual view or perhaps this idea IS meant to super enforce the prime directive of agape….that there should be NO “respect to persons“. In the end, both ARE True as IS the spiritual view of hunger and thirst and the other ideas listed; spiritual relationships can be discovered for ALL.
While there IS a hint of eschatology embedded in Jesus’ words, this IS ONLY so because of the doctrinal fascination with such ideas, a fascination that finds eschatological links to ideas that ARE NOT intended as such. Here, as we discussed, we should see the “son of man” in the more simple idea of identification as a man here in this Earth. If we can understand that the “When the Son of man shall come in his glory” need NOT be the return of the Christ ONLY but also the awakening of the Christ Within a man, both individually and corporately, we can then begin to see how that the idea of “and all the holy angels with him” shows us the reality of “the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31). This awakening of the Christ Within IS NOT that the Inner Man awakens but that he awakens as the expression of the Life of the “son of man” in this world; this IS his “throne of his glory“
We should try to see here a picture of the coming of agape into this world and understand this from the perspective that “God is agape” (1 John 4:8, 16). 2000 years ago Jesus brought to us “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) and in this IS the fullness of agape….again, “God is agape“. He shared this fullness with us through His words and His example as well as through the awakening of His apostles and disciples and He charged them with bringing this awakening to the world of men. This IS the reality of the Great Commission, an idea that has devolved into the doctrinal teachings of individual denominations and sects while leaving behind the original impetus which IS the Truth of Love. Here then, if we can see that “his glory” IS to come in this same fullness in conjunction with “all the holy angels“, we can then understand that such angels ARE those whose expression IS this fullness and NOT some grand parade of angelic beings based in the imaginings of men.
We should understand here that this IS NOT a physical grand parade but rather a movement of Truth grasping the hearts of men and that this movement, in and of itself, IS the Power that “shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). This IS a self-fulfilling event of separation; it IS NOT a physical one but rather a practical one that distinguishes the follower of the Shepherd from the non-followers….the sheep from the goats. And the separation IS agape; the separation IS the expression of agape by the sheep who Truly follow the Lord as opposed to the self-willed carnal determination of the goats. And we should remember here that most ALL ARE self-willed goats; few there ARE that find the Way and this IS as the Master tells us saying “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 7-13:14)
We should note here that this difficulty IS a natural one and, from the perspective of the vanity into which ALL men ARE born, nurtured and indoctrinated, this IS the expected outcome from which one must escape. The Apostle Luke shows us a similar idea which IS Jesus’ answer to the question asked after He offers them some parabolic ideas on the Kingdom of God; we read “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:23-24). Jesus DOES NOT say that they should wait for Paul’s words to become the doctrinal way of salvation, The Master simply tells them to strive and if we can understand this striving in terms of Paul’s other words saying that men should “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And 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 12:1-2), we can perhaps glimpse the Truth.
To remain conformed to this world IS the same as remaining in the broad way of the wide gate and it IS this conformance that keeps a man in such a state where he “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able“. We should understand that “to enter in” one must become as one of the sheep….one must follow the Master in His words and in His example and NOT trade these off in the belief that salvation can come in any other way. The broad way of the wide gate IS the chosen path of the goats in which should be seen everyman who DOES NOT Truly follow the Lord….everyman who DOES NOT keep His words or Truly strive toward that end. It IS ONLY in keeping His words that one can hear the words of the Master saying “ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). In this we should see that men who believe that they have this inheritance without being “doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22) ARE Truly deceived. This brings us again to our trifecta where we can see just what this inheritance IS; 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).
- “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).
The New Testament choice IS ever conformance versus renewal and we should understand here that both ideas ARE in respect to the personality of a man, his mind as Paul tells us along with his emotions….these CAN NOT be separated. This choice IS made by one’s focus which should be seen in Jesus’ terms of treasure and here again we must see past the carnal ideas attached to the Greek words. Jesus tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” and we should try to understand here just what IS the heart which, according to these words from the Master, can lean both ways….carnally and spiritually. And the Truth of Jesus’ words DOES NOT leave us without understanding; He shows us how that the heart IS the ‘informed’ consciousness which which uses the personality of the man in his body. While the personality IS of the world and informs the consciousness so the Soul IS NOT of the world and this too can inform the consciousness and express through the personality which, at any point in time, IS formed by the combined effects of one’s physical equipment, his nurturing, his indoctrination and his experience. The Soul IS ever one with God and IS that unction of which the Apostle John tells us saying “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20).
When we can merge these ideas of heart, personality and consciousness into Jesus’ words concerning treasure, we can then understand the deeper Truth and the essential goal for everyman. The Master tells us to “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). It IS unfortunate that most Christians see this idea of treasure and the following idea of mammon simply as wealth and riches and NOT according to the corresponding spiritual ideas that show us that the idea IS attitude and focus; it IS ever what IS important to a man that IS his treasure….it IS this that will populate his consciousness.
When we read the Master’s words saying that it IS “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” we should understand that the heart IS the impetus to action in the Life of the man in this world. This idea should call into question just what IS in the heart, what IS one’s sense of treasure. IS it wealth and riches? IS it family and social status? IS it some combination of these ideas or fame, and achievement? Or IS it the things of God. We need NOT look far for the answer to this idea of what should be in one’s heart from the perspective of the Lord and a man’s search for the Truth; the answer IS simply stated in the first of the Great Commandments which have been with us in writing for 3500 years: “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“. Can we see the point here?
We should try to understand that whatsoever informs the heart becomes the essence of the man and that through Life in this world men DO tend to see ONLY the ways of the world as their source of such informing. In this the personality, the actor in the world, lives Life according the the worldly ways and, regardless of what ‘religious’ direction one may have, this Life of the personality IS his True religion. This IS Life in the vanity, Life in the illusion and the glamour which clouds the Truth that IS ever trying to flow into the consciousness, the heart, from the Soul. Distinguishing the personality from the consciousness can be a difficult task as they seem the same to the man who IS living, who IS thinking and feeling his way through Life. There ARE however marked differences.
In the carnal Life the personality relies upon his nurturing, indoctrination and his experience and this IS what informs the heart, the consciousness of the man….this IS his Life’s focus. In the spiritual Life it IS the Soul, the Christ Within, that informs the heart and in this the man drifts away from ALL that his nurturing, indoctrination and experience had shown him; here ALL worldly desires begin to vanish as the futility of such IS ever more clearly seen. Generally men are in one state or the other and this regardless of how one believes that his sense of religion IS spiritual; the ONLY Truly spiritual religion IS the Truth which IS found in one’s expression of agape according to the second of the Great Commandments that so clearly says “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“.
This IS the True and the ONLY dividing line between the “God and mammon” and here we should go to Jesus continuing words that tell us that “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Whether carnally focused or spiritually focused it IS however the personality of the man that IS exhibited to the world; it IS the personality that IS the vehicle of expression of whatsoever IS in the heart and here the ideas can become rather confusing. The personality IS the both the source of carnal thoughts and attitudes and the expression of spiritual thoughts and attitudes to the world; the personality IS the great battleground.
Here we should remember that the personality IS NOT the True man but rather a part of his human existence which will be left behind at the death of the body and in this Truth IS a large part of the reason why men DO NOT readily accept any such ideas that DO NOT see his personality’s continuation; he believes that this personality IS what he IS. In the idea that the personality IS the actor to the world of men IS NOT hard to see how that ALL of the perspectives of the apostles as these ARE recorded in the New Testament DO flow through their individual personalities which color both the tone and the content of their writings. In this we should be able to see that while it IS the unction that informs everyman spiritually, it IS the personality that must express what IS his revelation and his realization; thus, whensoever the focus IS NOT fully shifted to the spiritual, some of the content of one’s personality may come through.
It IS difficult to ascertain, even on a personal level, the source of one’s ‘revelation‘, whether it be from the unction or from the personality which IS still grounded in the world of things and here we should remember two ideas…..Love and Wisdom. Love IS the coloring of ALL that comes from the Soul, it IS the coloring of ALL Truly spiritual thoughts and attitudes; ALL else finds it source in the personality….in the carnal thoughts and attitudes developed by a man’s nurturing, indoctrination and experience and added to by the condition of his own mental and emotional equipment. Can we see the point here? Can we see that when colored with agape that the thoughts and the attitudes of a man will be in accord with the Master’s teaching and he will Truly reap the rewards of the trifecta? And, we should remember here that the Apostle Paul’s writing that tells us that to Love IS tantamount to keeping His words; we read the apostle’s words again saying:
“Owe no man any thing, but agapao one another: for he that agapao another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt agape thy neighbour as thyself. Agape worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore agape is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:8-11).
If then the content of one’s ‘revelation‘ IS NOT in accord with this idea nor according to the framing of agape in the teaching of the Master who tells us such things as: “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. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:38-44), then such ‘revelation‘ IS based in the developed thoughts and attitudes of the carnal personality’s mind and emotions….these then ARE NOT revelations at ALL.
The second point here IS Wisdom and we should try to see that these two, Love and Wisdom, ARE intimately connected. To understand the way that Wisdom must be seen in regard to whatsoever one believes IS revelation we need ONLY to go to the words of the Apostle James who tells us first 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. 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. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8).
James’ words here imply that a man will KNOW that he DOES or DOES NOT lack Wisdom and here we should understand that this idea IS offered in the context of temptation and requires KNOWING the source of such temptation and the purpose of it. The point IS that if one IS unsure of the source of his own thoughts and attitudes that he should “ask of God” and NOT just accept the working of his own mind or emotional response to anything. Far too many people claim that ‘God’ speaks to them about purely carnal matters and included in this IS many doctrinal teachers and preachers who sway entire congregations with their words. God DOES NOT speak to man regarding carnal matters. In James’ reference to the “double minded man” we should see everyman whose focus IS fixed. If this focus IS fixed upon the things of God, the response will be from God and, conversely, if one’s focus IS fixed upon the things of the world, the response will be from the world.
This IS the idea behind James’ words and, more importantly, IS his point that the “double minded man” will NOT receive from God, through the God and Christ Within, and will ONLY receive from the world through happenstance. These ideas pertain to everyman and this regardless of one’s own presumed spirituality; it IS ONLY the man who IS committed and focused upon his goal that will consciously attain it. There IS a seemingly missing part here however as there IS in Jesus’ words on “God and mammon” and that IS the variability of the heart of a man. Jesus says that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” and if we look at this according to this variability we can likely understand that moment by moment the heart IS serving one or the other. James’ words imply the same idea, that if one IS seeing both carnal and spiritual goals at the same time that he will achieve neither; goals ARE achieved in single-mindedness, ALL else IS happenstance.
And it IS in the world of happenstance that most ALL men live and whether one recognizes this as such or chooses to place the good into the realm of receiving from the Lord and the bad in the realm of satanas and diabolos, this IS nonetheless True. James tells us here to ‘ask’ of the Lord but behind these words IS the stark reality that it IS the single-minded man that IS ever asking by way of his focus and without his saying we should see the converse IS equally True. Perhaps it IS because the apostle KNOWS that the “double minded man” will generally NOT see himself as such that he gives us a further understanding of Wisdom and the Way par excellence to KNOW what it IS that one IS Truly receiving and this either as that “double minded man” or as the single-minded one whose focus IS on the things of the self and the self in this world.
James gives us many practical lessons and while his words may seem to be rambling from subject to subject, they ARE tied together by the dual thread of Love and Wisdom and the expression of these which IS the reality of keeping His words. James frames this for us in a rather forceful way saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). We should try to see here that this deception IS found in the failure of men to see his prior point of single-mindedness; that regardless that a man will “think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord“, unless he IS single-minded he will NOT….and in this single-mindedness IS embedded the reality of being “doers of the word“. James goes on to teach us on the Truth of Love and the essence of agape which he shows us in regard to “respect to persons“; that “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” and that this sin IS NO less that any other….that any one makes a man “guilty of all” (James 2:9, 10).
From here the apostle tells us of the deception that IS taught by many who DO NOT see the deeper Truths in Paul’s words on faith and works. Whether James’ words ARE in response to the doctrinal ideas regarding such from Paul’s words or that they ARE in anticipation of this doctrinal trend DOES NOT matter; the apostle succinctly shows us the True relationship of these doctrinally opposed ideas as he tells us that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). If we can see the reality of the deception of men in this idea as well as in the failure of men to understand the role of Love, we can then see how that the apostle IS building his case against such deception. This brings us back to the idea of Wisdom which James reintroduces to us through his comments on the expression of a man which he shows us by way of the ‘power’ of the tongue. We close today with his words saying: “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body” (James 3:1-2).
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 |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
