ON LOVE; PART MDXXXVIII
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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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We ended the last essay with some thoughts on our “bondage of corruption” which IS the Apostle Paul’s way of phrasing our bondage to the carnal and mundane world in which we live. This bondage IS of course our individual and corporate vanity which we can paint in terms of our illusion and glamour as these ideas ARE virtually synonymous from the perspective of the Soul which IS our Christ Within. From this point we will begin again with Paul’s words on this vanity, an idea that IS ONLY mentioned one time in the context in which we use it but one that IS of the utmost importance and IS alluded to throughout the New Testament. Paul tells us that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered made free from from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Again, we will NOT discuss the changes that we make to the King James’ text save to say that we have covered these in past essays and that they enhance our understanding. The idea here IS that ALL men, every creature as this IS framed, was born into this world as an empty slate with perhaps some inkling of his individual spiritual status hidden deep in his psyche. Born as infants men ARE then subjected to years of nurturing and indoctrination into the ways of the world and, in the case of a ‘religious’ family, indoctrinated into a particular religion, denomination or sect of a religion. This becomes what we KNOW and save for the continual prompting of our own Souls that IS most always drowned out by the din of daily living we live our lives in the vanity into which we were born, nurtured and indoctrinated. At some age a man may rebel against his indoctrination or merely choose to ignore it but when there IS naught to replace it he merely drifts along focused upon some combination of what he had learned and what he may see and we should understand here that most ALL of what men see IS carnal and mundane. Doctrinal religions DO little to help a man save to offer him an illusory comfort in such areas as death and his individual future after his death and it remains up to the individual to find his own bearing in a world that ofttimes contradicts his own inner feelings. It IS here that we should look again as the presumed authority of the leaders of the churches over the centuries and yet today that have put themselves in a position of influence over the spiritual lives of their followers often to their detriment. So strong IS this presumed and assumed authority that it IS nearly impossible to show the ‘believer’ anything that goes against whatsoever they have been taught and have accepted as Truth. Hidden in these words IS the more logical reason why so many ARE leaving the churches or never affiliating with them as adults as the offerings of the doctrinal churches and their authority over men’s spiritual lives has a far lessened effect that it did in the past. Today men ARE more and more mentally oriented and ARE leaving behind their emotional response to the world and religion IS a primary arena for this change. Churches continually teach their doctrinal ideas but these ideas ARE less and less accepted by the True thinking man who sees the nebulous nature of what IS being taught and it IS here that the Master’s words on this come into play for our generations today and for the future.
The Master tells us “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). While there may be but few that see these words from Jesus as an eternal Truth, just a basic look at the words should show men that they ARE meant for today and for tomorrow as well as for the past. The church IS in fact “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” and we should note here that there ARE many, many forms of these doctrines that exist today in the greater church. It appears that each ‘authority’ chose to put his own brand on the doctrines that he espoused and the result IS the church of today. It appears as well that the objective of most IS to attract new participants to add to their count of ‘saved‘ lives by having such newbies partake in the rites and rituals that they believe lead to ‘salvation‘. Today we have what seems to be a unifying idea running throughout the denominations and sects and that IS to take over the political sphere and create ‘countries’ that embrace these “commandments of men” through their laws and political philosophies. And, here in America, this whole idea of Christian Nationalism runs counter to NOT ONLY the reality of scripture but also the intent of the founding fathers of the nation. Those that push such ideas have become ever more vocal and forceful and in many places wield they the reigns of political power. Most ALL forget that they rail against the ways that other countries which use religion as law as they seek to DO the same.
ALL seem to forget that there IS a body of teaching from the Master and His apostles that should NOT allow for today’s religious trends and which speaks against such trends through a systematic push against them as IS evidenced by the written words from Jesus and others against the ways of the Jews. The reality of men’s religious lives IS found in the New Testament in the words of the Master and His apostles as they show us the Way to “the glorious liberty of the children of God” but few ARE listening and fewer still DOING as the Master instructs. This brings us back to our main topic of agape, of that form of Love that IS called by the church the ‘God kind of Love’ and which, at the same time, IS sorely misunderstood. Agape IS the Force par excellence that can and will bring men the Truth and while this Force IS covered by Jesus as keeping His words, we should understand that our expression of agape IS the fullness of DOING so. The synergy of keeping His words and our expression of agape IS well founded in scripture with some bible verses stating this in clear language. Paul tells us twice about this synergy saying in Galatians that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and in Romans that “love agape is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). Simply, while keeping His words IS the objective, our expression of agape IS our Way. It IS our expression of agape that will lead us to the rewards of our trifecta; it IS our expression of agape that IS the fullness of keeping His words. 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).
The rewards here, the Truth and the freedom that the Truth brings, “the kingdom of heaven” and the Presence of the Lord in one’s Life, His manifestation if you will, ARE afforded to the man that will keep His words. While this IS phrased in three different ways, the idea IS the same and this IS explained clearly as “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“; it IS into this that should see, through the words of Paul, that when our expression IS agape, we ARE keeping His words. Some in the doctrinal church may disagree with our statement here based in the way that Paul phrases his words saying that it IS the law that IS fulfilled and NOT the Master’s commandments. This however IS a false idea based in an intentional minimizing of both ideas, the law and the Master’s commandments. Paul tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and when we take the Greek word nomos to its defining ideas, Paul’s statement deflects any doctrinal argument. Strong’s tells us that nomos IS: from a primary νέμω némō (to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), genitive case (regulation), specially, (of Moses (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively (a principle):—law9a. In these defining ideas Strong’s includes the gospel’s own commandments. Thayer’s tells us that nomos IS: anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, usage, law9. They go on to say that nomos IS: In the N. T. a command, law; and of any law whatsoever; adding that this includes a precept or injunction9. Thayer’s goes on into a lengthy dissertation breaking down the various sayings in which the idea of law IS offered but for our purposes the above will suffice to show that bible scholars see nomos as inclusive of the Master’s words. More importantly however ARE the Master’s own words which show us that the single source of His commandments IS the same as the source of the Mosaic law. Jesus tells us that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“. To this we should add the fact that much of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount offers us an expansion and a reinterpretation of the Mosaic law from which the Christian world should proceed.
The point to be taken here IS simply that ALL references to the law and ALL references to the commandments of the Master should be understood as the same and while Jesus Himself deflects some of the Mosaic law, He IS not saying it DOES NOT matter but rather that it had been misinterpreted by the Jews. The best example here IS Jesus’ words of the sabbath and its function and purpose which the Jews misused, and continue to DO so, causing the Master to rail against their practices through such sayings as “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath, Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). From our perspective the Jews treatment of the idea of the sabbath was and still IS the greatest point of contention regarding the law; the Jews seized upon the ‘ease’ of complying with this edict in their doctrines resulting in today’s elaborate and deceptive ways to get around their ideas of its meaning. It IS in this vein that the Master says to the Jews “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7-8). These words, spoken in regard to the sabbath, brings to bear the idea of mercy an idea of which IS misconstrued yet today; here, the Master offers a condemnation of the Jews’ failure at the expression of agape. Our greater point here however IS that the Master’s reinterpretations of the Mosaic laws as well an His ignoring of so many of the ancillary additions from Moses regarding the conduct of the Jewish society in those days have had little effect upon the view of the law by both the Jew and the Christian. There IS however a basic view of the Mosaic law which should be understood as the law and this IS spoken of by the Apostle Paul in his saying above as well as his words to the Romans saying: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth 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 love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). These ARE the aspects of the law that remain for the Jews and for the Christians and we should try to see that even as many these have been incorporated into common law in many countries, they ARE essentially ignored.
Both the ideas of keeping His words and keeping the law should be understood as synonymous statements and it IS both that ARE fulfilled by our expression of agape in this world of men. This expression however must be sincere; it must become a part of our worldly attitude that sees ALL men the same, that sees that ALL outer differences and ALL differences in culture and comportment ARE meaningless in regard to our expression of agape to ALL. Surely this takes practice and constant effort as we try to obliterate ALL into which we were nurtured and indoctrinated and ALL that impinges our minds through the words of those that DO NOT have such an expression of agape Love. It IS here again that the Master’s words on “false prophets” play their part and this in both the religious arena where so many teach doctrines that DO NOT comport with the teachings of the Master, and in the carnal world where lies ARE so often repeated that they take on an false aura of Truth. Both can be equally egregious. The importance of our expression of agape IS easily seen in Jesus’ words and especially in His words that directly address the idea of agape. Jesus tells us clearly that “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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:43-45). In these words we have the Truth of agape from both the individual perspective and the perspective of the Godhead. Here, regardless of how we view another carnally we ARE told that we must express agape Love and, again, we must remember that the reality of the neighbor IS EVERYMAN. Perhaps there ARE NO greater words that show us the spiritual importance of our expression of agape than the Way that the Master elevates the idea of agape to the level of the Greatest Commandments. Jesus tells us “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).
Of course these words ARE mostly ignored by the masses as they have taken to ‘worshipping‘ the Lord rather that expressing His very nature toward Him. Again this relates us to the Master’s words on the doctrines of men where we read “Howbeit in vain do they worship me” and perhaps here we should look deeper into this idea of worship. The Greek word sebomai IS rendered as worship and although some cite the Greek word as sebo, the defining ideas ARE the same. Strong’s describes sebomai as the: middle voice of an apparently primary verb; to revere, i.e. adore:—devout, religious, worship9a. The natural idea here IS to revere while the idea of worship IS but an example of such reverence according to its usage. In English the idea of worship IS counted among the synonyms for revere but according to the definition of revere the idea IS muddy. Revere IS defined as: to regard with respect tinged with awe* while worship IS defined as: reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred*. We should note that the defining idea for worship here follows the usage in the church but DOES NOT Truly portray the idea that we revere God; the idea seems more closely allied with homage paid to God rather than respect tinged with awe. None of these ideas refers to the reality of keeping His words. We should try to see here that the ideas attached to worship in this context ARE spoken against by the Lord in favor of DOING what He says rather than acceding to what IS called “the commandments of men“. In the end it IS NOT worship that the Lord requires or desires but rather that we DO as He instructs and here we should look at His words that tell us clearly “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), an idea that IS followed by more specific ideas which ARE part of our trifecta above. Can we see the implications of ALL this? Can we see the link that the Master establishes between our expression of agape for God and Christ and our ability to keep His words? These aspects of spiritual Truth ARE indelibly linked through Jesus words saying “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth agapao me” and His confirming words saying “If a man love agapao me, he will keep my words“. The first instance IS a precept that one should follow, the second IS a commentary on that precept and the last IS Jesus’ definitive statement that links our agape Love for the Lord with our keeping His words.
From the perspective of so much of the church this idea of Loving God IS an integral part of their doctrinal ideas but few if any combine this Love with keeping His words as He Himself tells us IS the necessary result. The Master’s words ARE NOT ambiguous and they ARE NOT subject to interpretation; He clearly tells us that “If a man love agapao me, he will keep my words“. While Jesus Himself DOES NOT lay out for us the alternative to keeping His words as a rote exercise, He DOES allude to it by the context of His words, words that elevate the idea of agape above ALL other ideas. Perhaps it IS for this reason, the reason of maintaining some degree of parabolic speaking, that the Master DOES NOT directly call agape the Way par excellence as we DO and as the Apostle Paul eloquently shows us in his words to the Corinthians. Here we should NOT forget that Paul also directly shows us this link in clear language saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). While this IS clear, it has been subjected to doctrinal scrutiny because of the church’s ideas about the use of the law as the comparison for agape in this saying as well as his similar words to the Romans. As we discuss above, the idea of the law should NOT be restricted to the law as it applied to the Jews but rather to the expansion of the law as well as Jesus’ critical commentary against some aspects which for centuries were misinterpreted and misused by the Jews in their doctrinal presentation. Again, the classic example of this misuse IS in regard to the commandment on the sabbath, a commandment held high by the Jews in Jesus’ time and yet today. Jesus continually railed against this aspect of the Jews’ religion; as we cite above the Master shows us that “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” and while the idea of the sabbath IS a low level idea in much of Christianity, there ARE some that continue to use it as a religious test. Seeing how Jesus treats the Mosaic law should have given pause to the church fathers and caused some degree of realization regarding the law of which Jesus tells us “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18).
Instead of embracing the law based upon the Master’s words, the church, seemingly from the beginning, leaned hard on the singular idea of ‘fulfilled‘ with many still claiming that Jesus’ death and resurrection had ‘fulfilled‘ the law. There IS however NO scriptural reality to this claim despite the wrangling in the church where such a claim IS made; the ONLY biblical idea IS what we have cited above where the Master tells us that “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” with NO explanation of the meaning. Here again IS an example of the church seeking refuge behind their doctrinal views rather than holding to the Truth that “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled“. To be sure, “heaven and earth” have NOT passed and the work of the Master IS eternally seeking “to fulfil“. This fulfillment must be measured in the comportment of men Universally and NOT in the archaic theories of the church. The fulfillment IS yet the goal of humanity, unseen as it may be, and the Way to fulfillment of the law IS laid out for us in the high ideal of our expression of agape which must start with the individual before it can spread to the Universe of men. The church has blinded itself to the realities of the Master’s words on the law and on agape; most ALL have ignored His admonition that we should keep His words even as He shows us that it IS ONLY this that will lead us to the Truth, to the Kingdom and to having the realization of His Presence in our lives. And this IS NOT a current problem ONLY, this has been the situation for many years. While the church at large has sought to stop most of the infighting of the past that culminated in the Reformation Wars and other like ‘religious’ atrocities, most ALL have NOT yet accepted the Master’s words that tell them that they vainly worship Him while promoting their own individual agendas and their own “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men“. This IS reflected for us in a esoteric idea promoted by what the church may call heretics but which ARE in reality those that hold a part of the KEY to the Truth. This seeming condemnation of the church at large IS but a reminder of the way that the church has veered from the teachings of the Master to whom they feign homage; we read that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^. This was True when it was written decades ago and it IS True yet in today’s world where much of ‘religion’ has become but a business venture and a political platform rather than an embrace of the humble nature of the man that they call the Son of God. The man Jesus who tells us “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light“(Matthew 11:28-30)
We should try to understand that this sense of humbleness IS a part of the reality of agape and that whensoever one Truly expresses this ‘God kind of Love’, being humble IS one of the fruits by which such a man can be KNOWN. This brings us back again to our discussion on agape where we have gone through the Apostle Paul’s words on the state of a man in his failure to express agape Love; a failure that results in one’s being NOTHING when considered in spiritual terms. While Paul shows us the idea that without our expression of agape Love in this world that ALL religious pursuits ARE for naught, that there IS neither spiritual profit nor spiritual substance in our supposed walk with the Lord. But we should note here that Paul shows us so much more that this; he shows us that “charity agape never faileth” and this IS a most important discovery for the man who Truly seeks the Lord. We have discussed the idea that “God is love agape” (1 John 4:8,16) and while this IS an accepted idea in much of the church, it has taken on but a trite meaning rather than being the resounding idea which, when combined with the idea that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17), should be the Christian guide to glory. We ARE, according to doctrine, created in “the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) as men in this world and this agrees then with a superficial reading of John’s words. There IS however a deeper reality to ALL this that IS understood ONLY by those who DO apply themselves to keeping His words in order to, by measure, gain some realizations of the Truth, of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints“. This mystery IS of course “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26, 27) and when we apply this with John’s words saying “as he is, so are we in this world” we can perhaps gain some insight into the reality that the Soul IS indeed that “Christ in you“. ALL of these ideas work together in the minds of those who KNOW some measure of the Truth that comes whensoever we can allow that “Christ in you” to Truly live through our carnal existence in this world. We ARE created in “the image of God” but NOT as men in this world. We ARE created in “the image of God” as Souls, spiritual beings who, like the Lord Jesus, have a physical body that IS ruled by His own “Christ in you“, by His own anointing. Here we should remember that the idea of the Christ, the meaning of Christos, IS the anointed2 and while this has been applied as a Name to the Master, the reality of the word IS NOT diminished. This “Christ in you” IS our anointing which ever awaits manifestation in our heretofore carnal lives.
We should try to see how that this manifestation IS the same as that which the Master speaks to in our trifecta. In the third part Jesus tells us that “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” (John 14:21). We should understand here that this manifestation IS in reality our realization of the Presence of the Lord, the Presence of the Christ Within, in our lives in this world. Here we should remember that the Christ Within IS our individual Soul and this manifestation IS of the anointing which IS Christ both Universally and individually. The entire body of work for the man who Truly seeks the Lord IS that we keep His words which the Master frames here as “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them“. It IS this man that has access to the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) as this fruit flows into the awakened mind allowing us to fulfill Paul’s words that tell us to “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). It IS in our Transformation that this realization occurs; by the same measure of our effort to keep His words IS the measure of our Transformation and the resultant manifestation of the Lord, His Presence if you will, in our lives. We should remember here that our Transformation begins with our Repentance, with our decision to Truly follow the Lord and to have His commandments and, to be sure, having His commandments IS based in our decision to come to KNOW the Lord. We must be careful here to see that His commandments ARE NOT the doctrines of men as the latter will NOT lead us to the Truth and to the expression of agape that IS necessary to have manifestation of the Lord in our lives. And the same idea applies to the mysteries of Life as these ARE made manifest to His saints according to Paul’s words saying that “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints“, the mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory“.
We must also be careful to understand the relevance of the idea of “his saints“. These ARE NOT any ordinary man who chooses to take on that appellation through his affiliation with a church; the doctrines of men CAN NOT make saints of any man save for those who choose to Truly Repent and Transform. As we have discussed in previous essays the rendering of saint IS from the Greek word hagios which IS most often rendered as holy and a few times in direct relation to the Lord. How that any man who IS NOT in accord with the commandments of God can call himself a saint IS the result of a lack of understanding and one that IS often promoted by the doctrines of men. Here again we should see the idea of measure at work as we understand that the saint, the holy and the disciple of the Lord ARE synonymous terms. We DO NOT easily become holy nor DO we become a saint or a disciple of the Lord; we gradually accomplish this goal as we DO as the Master instructs, as we continue in His words and this according to the first part of our trifecta where we read that “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). We should remember that the Greek word meno which IS rendered here as continue IS most often rendered as abide and here we should try to see the link between abiding and manifestation which ARE used together in the third part of our trifecta. Above the Master tells us that “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” and this manifestation we somewhat explain above. Against this statement however the apostles have questions; here we read that “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” and it should be apparent that the apostles, in their advanced state of spiritual being, DO NOT understand this manifestation. From this we should try to see that Judas individual measure of KNOWING DOES NOT allow for him to readily understand and so the Master answers saying “ 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” (John 14:22, 23). Here IS the relationship between the manifestation of the Christ in one’s heart and the abiding of the Christ in the heart IS shown to us. Can we understand the point here? Can we understand that the manifestation of the Lord in one’s Life IS the same as the having the Lord abiding in one’s Life?
This IS then our objective; to have the manifestation of the Christ Within in our hearts, in our daily lives. This again happens by the proportionate measure by which we DO keep His words and this manifestation IS, in fact, the abiding of the Christ in one’s heart. Our part IS that we keep His words beginning with our decision to DO so which itself IS based in the prompting of our own Souls, our own Christ Within. This decision IS our Repentance, it IS our willingness to allow the Truth to flow into our heretofore carnal minds; this IS our first step, our first act of works. We should remember here that this first act of works IS itself made easy by our understanding that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love agape thy neighbour as thyself” so that our expression of agape suffices to show that we DO “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” as Jesus frames this. This first act of works then cascades us into the reality of keeping His words as we continue to Transform ourselves into saints, into disciples of the Christ, which can be understood best according to Paul’s words saying “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
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.or
- * Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
- ^ From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
