ON LOVE; PART CMXXIV
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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).
We concluded the last essay with the Apostle John’s words on the dichotomy between the things of the world and the things of God as it IS these words and his words on keeping His commandments that lead up to the ideas that we have been discussing: the unction and the anointing that we see as a man’s own Soul, his own Christ and God Within. In the reality that it IS ONLY spiritual things that come to a man from God, these two ideas, the unction and the dichotomy, offer us great insight into the Truth and help to reveal some part of the mysteries that Paul ties to men’s realization of the Christ Within as he tells us “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). We should see here that it IS the Christ Within that IS revealed to the saint, to the man who keeps His words and, by measure, to the man who strives to DO so; and while we assume the latter idea of striving, we DO so based in the Master’s words.
It IS in the revelation and the realization of the Christ Within that men can begin to see how that it IS through one’s own Inner man, one’s own “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12) as we read in the Prophet Elijah’s way of speaking to and hearing from God. It IS in one’s spiritual revelation that we find the grace of God and within Johns words regarding the relationship between a man and the world we should be able to understand that there IS naught of this world in such revelation….that the revelations of Truth ARE a psychic affair and they ARE the sole spiritual reality in the lives of men. And these ARE NOT the only words on this subject as we have covered these ideas regarding the nature of the things of God several times and we have cited many of the Master’s words and the words of His apostles to show this idea as it IS presented. We repeat John’s charge:
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).
In this idea of Love which comes to from John as agape we should try to understand how that it IS the very nature of men to Love the things of the world and to hold them above the things of God; but this IS NOT the whole message. The apostle show us how that “all that is in the world….is not of the Father“; that IS that ALL the things in this world ARE “of the world” and NOT of God in the context that the apostle presents. When we consider the reality of the word that IS rendered as lust and understand that this IS men’s desires for the things of the world and NOT only those harsher ideas that men commonly attribute to this rendered idea of lust, we can then understand the depth of John’s point and see the greater reality that “the world passeth away“, that ALL IS temporal. And while this IS a fact that IS commonly understood, while men DO KNOW that “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand” (Ecclesiastes 5:15) IS a Truth, they DO NOT reconcile this with their way of Life here in this Earth.
As the Master teaches us on treasure and on the division between “God and mammon“, so the apostle shows us how that it IS the “treasures in heaven” that men should strive for rather than the “treasures upon earth” (Matthew 6:24, 20, 19) as the former IS the realization of Truth while the latter IS the temporal things that ARE “not of the Father, but is of the world“. In the illusions and the glamour of Life in this world however these ideas ARE NOT seen and the words of the Master and His apostles ARE diluted and their intent changed to reflect the desires of men to have and to DO those things that make for that illusory temporal happiness of Life in form. It is in the closing words from our selection above that we should see the reality of Life as the realization of the Kingdom of God as the apostle shows us the Way; that the reality of eternal Life and the reality of the Kingdom of God ARE the same as they ARE the result of the same work of DOING “the will of God“.
In this idea that IS part of our trifecta of spiritual reality, this attaining of the Kingdom of God, we come again to Jesus words saying “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). Here we should see the amplifying and the clarifying nature of John’s words as he shows His readers this same reality of keeping His words and the resultant idea of the Truth of eternal Life which IS effectively the same as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God. And in the logic of how that this spiritual Truth works out in Life we should be able to see as well the way that this same work of the man in the world, this same work of keeping His words, results in those other parts of our trifecta as well: having the Presence of God according to His words that we repeat here again, and having that identity of being His True disciple, His “disciples indeed” (John 8:31) as the King James Bible frames this. We read:
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).
These ARE the things of God, psychic things that ARE the realizations of Truth and whether we see these in terms of the trifecta, in terms of True discipelship, of attaining the Kingdom of God or as the Presence of God in one’s Life, or as separate considerations, the reality IS that these ARE but realizations that ARE based in the revelations that come from God through that unction, that anointing, which IS the Christ Within and the “still small voice” of everyman. That these things, these realizations of Truth, ARE NOT seen by everyman IS a function of the reality of the idea of the mysteries; this IS NOT that these things ARE intentionally hidden by any but rather that they CAN NOT be clearly seen by the man whose focus of Life IS on the things of the world. It IS in the change of focus that one can begin to see that upon which he IS focused and in such continued focus things become clearer and the revelations of Truth become deeper. This IS the True function of the Master’s teaching on Repentance as the Way to see the Kingdom of God.
When we can understand that the Master and His apostles simply point the way to our deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21), we can then also see the deeper reality of John’s words above that show us the dichotomy between this corruption and the Truth which IS “the glorious liberty of the children of God“. It IS in this context of deliverance that John goes on to show men how that it IS to KNOW Him, to KNOW Christ and God, as he tells us “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). That millions of people believe that they KNOW God and KNOW Christ, the reality of this KNOWING IS the same reality as IS having His Presence and, as we have been discussing, the cost of this Presence IS that a man keep His words. John frames this in a unique way that shows us the reciprocal action of keeping His words; that in DOING so a man will KNOW that he DOES KNOW.
We should remember here that it IS in the fullness of keeping His words that we have the fullness of His Presence and here, in John’s words, the fullness of KNOWING Him as well. While we will equate these two ideas as the same from the perspective of John’s language and from our own view that without His Presence God CAN NOT be KNOWN, we should ever remember that this reality of KNOWING and of His Presence IS also the same as attaining the Kingdom of God and of being His True disciple….ALL of these stem from the same cause which IS keeping His words; and to have one IS to have them ALL. We should remember as well how that the aspirant and the disciple grow into this fullness and that it IS by measure that men whose focus IS upon the things of God will have the revelations and the realizations of these spiritual realities.
The strength of John’s words here IS missed by many and this should NOT be so as the apostle’s tone IS extremely clear and can be understood by most everyman but, like so many of the Master’s own words which ARE also clearly stated, the simple Truths ARE confounded by the doctrinal view of men who have created their own vision of what this idea of keeping His words Truly means. And the apostle gives us the extra ideas regarding this idea of KNOWING Him which we read as: “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected : hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5). Here the apostle make his statement and then shows us both the negative and the positive aspects of keeping His words in relation to KNOWING the Lord and we should note here how that John DOES tie His idea to the Presence of God as he shows us that to KNOW Him IS to be IN Him.
Jesus makes this connection for us as He tells us of the vine and the branches and we should see in His words how that when one has the Presence of God, when He abides with a man, as we see in our sayings above, that the man abides in Him as well. Jesus tells us that “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). To understand this deeply spiritual idea of His being IN a man and a man being IN Him we must look past ALL carnal considerations and understand that it IS the very nature of Spirit to be One, that ALL are part and parcel of that One Spirit that we humbly call God. And it IS one’s realization of this Truth that makes this so in the mortal Life of the aspirant and the disciple as this IS ever True in the spiritual realms of Life.
In the doctrines of men the great idea of keeping His words IS lost and while much of the blame for this can be found in men’s misunderstanding and misapplication of the words of the Apostle Paul, there IS yet the deeper conflict that men have created in their own belief that to DO as the Master tells us and shows us IS NOT possible. In example of the confusion of men we cite again the words of John Gill from his Exposition of the Bible; we read in regard to keeping His commandments this that Mr. Gill believes IS the apostles reference: not the commandments of men….nor the commandments of the ceremonial law, which are abolished, particularly circumcision, which is opposed to the keeping of the commandments of God….but either those of the moral law, and which are more particularly the commandments of God the Father; the observance of which, though it cannot be with perfection, yet being in faith, and from love to God, and with a view to his glory, is an evidence of the true knowledge of him and of his will: or else those commandments, which are more especially the commandments of Christ Jesus; such as the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, which are peculiar to the Gospel dispensation; and which being kept as they were delivered by Christ 8.
It IS in this sense of confusion regarding the reality of the Master’s words and the words of His apostles, where men have supplanted the Truth of keeping His words with the ideas that they take from scripture, ceremonial things like baptism and the Lords Supper, that have NO bearing in the Truth that brings a man to the Kingdom of God nor into any other part of the trifecta of spiritual reality.
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.
GOODWILL IS
LOVE IN ACTION
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: James 2:8
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Galatians 5:14
Our Quote of the Day is a stylized version of the footer that has been a part of this blog from the beginning. It is in a few words our motto and our slogan and as we have posted so many times, it is the method par excellence of bringing about a world in Peace and in Harmony. The words of the Master that accompany our motto here are the source for our understanding of GoodWill and our method of practice and the words of His apostles are their echo of the second part of the Greatest Commandment as enunciated by the Christ. Let us all strive to do our part for in so doing we are doing as the Master instructed; we are striving to enter at the strait gate into His Glorious Kingdom.
This idea of GoodWill takes on added meaning as we approach the third of the annual festivals this year. Beginning with the Festival of Easter which IS followed by the recent Festival of Wesak, the Festival of GoodWill IS the third and comes to us at the full moon of June, the Gemini full moon which IS on June 2, 2015. While there IS much symbolism in the full moon idea, the reality for us IS more simple and IS intended to show the relationships between the Christ and the Buddha and the Truth of Love and humanity. This festival IS alternately call the Christ Festival, the Festival of Humanity and World Invocation Day and it IS ALL of these qualities plus the unifying idea of GoodWill that should be seen flowing through the ideas behind it.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 2 from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
