IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 264

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part LI

In yesterday’s post we spent much time on the Master’s teaching on True discipleship and we call it True discipleship because there is so much in the world that would be called as such but which does not meet the criteria set forth by the Master. Many would see what we have to say as too harsh and too strict as they fail to understand the High Calling that this actually is. The Master’s words are clear as well and are the sole source of our words and so many fail to see and to understand these same things; that it is only through ardent effort that one is worthy of Him and that one is to be called a True Disciple. There is and there has been much dilution of the facts of discipleship as well as on one’s entry in to the Kingdom, which is essentially the same thing, and perhaps this is the reason for the diversity of doctrines that pervade the church today. Perhaps the reason for the church’s reliance on the isolated words of the Master and His apostles that drive these doctrines is found in the ease of accomplishment of the little things that make a man feel good in his spiritual, though more religious, pursuits and this is well and good as it does keep the minds of millions upon the Lord and the Right way; many of whom are likely not ready for the reality of the True Path of which the Master so clearly speaks. For us who read and write these posts and other similar articles on the reality of the Master’s call, regardless of what the nature of the wording may be, there is a reality of discipleship which we understand and strive towards. Regardless of the nature of the teaching, if it is centered around universal Love for ALL men and for ALL of OUR GOD’S Awesome and Magnificent Creation, then it should be seen as an entry way to the True Path of Salvation; not personal only as this should likely not be the purpose of any’s journey but the Salvation of the World.

Today we will continue our discussion on these ideas of discipleship and again we can qualify this under our general heading of the Holy Spirit as we realize that that the Holy Spirit is the Activity in one’s Life of the Christ Within; it is the power of God which through the Christ Within flows through and animates our Life as disciples. The Holy Spirit is, for all practical purposes, the fulfillment by each of us of the command of the Master who tells us “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The illumination that proceeds from this Light as the spiritual activity of the conscious man in form, his good works if you will, is the Holy Spirit. The good works are of course, every one of them, acts of Love. We looked at this in a rather crude and simple way in a previous post in saying that we can liken the Trinity to a Lamp with the Father being the Source of the Light while the Son, the Christ, is the Light itself and the Holy Spirit is the effect of the Light in the world. The Master speaks much about sending and receiving the Holy Spirit and we should see this all as the journey to discipleship. The essence of the Christ Life flows through to a man’s consciousness through his focus upon the Soul Life and not on the carnal life and this is the Master’s admonishment of Peter that we saw yesterday. It is not the meaning of the words “Get thee behind me, Satan” that is important in His saying and that deserves our focus but His saying that “thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23) that carries the force of the Master’s thought; the reference to Satan is merely a single word that should be seen to exemplify His displeasure with Peter’s attitude, his yielding to the ways of the flesh and not the ways of God. Vincent tells us that savourest is better understood as this: Savorest not (ouj fronei~v). Rev., better, mindest not. Thy thoughts and intents are not of God, but of men. Savorest follows the Vulgate sapis, from sapere, which means 1st, to have a taste or flavor of: 2nd, to have sense or discernment. Hence used here as the rendering of fronei~n, to be minded. Thus Wyc., 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child I savored (ejfro>noun) as a child.” The idea is, strictly, to partake of the quality or nature of. Can we see the idea better through Vincent’s interpretation of the word? Can we see here our idea of focus?

There are more than six billion people on this planet Earth today and each and every one of them is a distinct and unique personality which is based upon the sum total of the ability of each, as a Soul. That is

• His ability to build and use a physical body and its accompanying emotional and mental apparatus which we call the personality, his nature; plus
• His ability to overcome the nurturing that a man will experience in this world of free will; plus
• His ability to gain the attention of that personality in a way that it will reflect the quality and the nature of the Soul, the Christ Within; plus
• The karmic responsibility that each may have accumulated form past Earth experience.

This is a crude and incomplete summation of the Soul as the man in time and space and it is intended to show only the vast and diverse possibilities. To this all we must see also the ideas inherent in a personality’s refusal to heed the call, any national or regional issues that may effect a single lifetime of a man in form and the the free will of others as it many affect the Life of any man. Most of all, regardless of the nature and the nurture, regardless of any karmic responsibility, regardless of the issues that surround a man and the effect of the free will of others, are the remaining ideas of focus and heeding the call. In this we should see the True understanding of the church doctrines regarding being called; it is not called to be this or that, it is the calling is from one’s own Soul, his own Christ Within, and that call will be framed by the ideas of the Apostle James regarding the Wisdom from Above. James tells us: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure , then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). If any man presumes he is called and that calling is not in Love and according to this by the apostle, it is likely only the call of his own personality, a calling to a comfortable thing to do. This is a strong statement but it is, form our unique perspective, True. Our point here is that there are men at many, many stages in their own journey to God and regardless of what and how they may believe at present, this is the reality of the journey; it is to God.

For those who do see the bigger picture and do understand the veracity of the Master’s words on discipleship as well as its responsibilities, we should understand also that these many, many millions are to be the focus of our Love and our efforts in our work of salvation. What is the point of striving and foregoing and becoming a disciple if it does not have some practical use in the world that will benefit our brothers who walk behind us on the Path. Christ came to lead us ALL and He chose twelve to help as His primary focus; through their efforts and the efforts of those others affected by their Love we have been affected and now it is our turn to effect more and more and we should be assured that every thing that we do to promote Love and the Kingdom of God builds upon the efforts of ALL who work for the same goals in service to humanity.

Yesterday we listed many of the Master’s criteria as expounded in the gospels on being a disciple and on being worthy of Him. Today we list some additional sayings by the Master and Apostles that may help us all to better understand His intent and our responsibility.

• “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) This is one of the most profound sayings in all of the New Testament and should be our guide.
• “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Does this not tell us that we need to be more than just recognized by others as ‘religious’ or as a part of the church?
• “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). Can we see the same thing here as above and can we see the total commitment of keeping His words; all of them?
• “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Do we get the inclusion in this simple saying of all that we listed above and can we see the deception of many who do not see the reality and the Truth in the words of the Master but see only the comfort of doctrine?
• “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 7:9). Can we see the reality in this saying as well as the idea that the Master presented to Peter above? Sowing to the flesh is not to be seen as evil or bad but as anything that takes ones thoughts and actions away from the ideas of God and in this can be found most anything that is for personal benefit.

As we read these things we should think on those that point one in the direction of True discipleship and the Kingdom of God and reflect upon the responsibilities of discipleship.

We will continue with these thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day