IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 379

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CLX

“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:44-45).

“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).

We spent our time in the last post on the words of the Apostle Paul to the Romans and did so in elucidating our last point regrading the idea of vanity as it is used in the context of these sayings. At the same time we took a more careful look at the way that the idea of creature or of creation is used and we noted the various renditions of these words from the Greek into English. We saw that the entire phraseology of the two verses that we studied has been changed to suit the doctrine of the churches and the groups that are the motivators of each of these bible translations. We noted how the idea of vanity, a rather personal word in our language today was removed from this effect by ascribing the whole of the saying to the creation and not to the individual creature thereby removing much of what the apostle is, in our opinion, telling us of this Wondrous Creation of God. At the same time the idea of God being the cause of the this that the apostle tells us occurs, that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly” (Romans 8:20), is done by God in hope that there would be a good end and this is simply not a plausible reality. That the consummation of this all WILL BE according to His Plan, that the “ the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” remains to be seen from our perspective as there is the force of this vanity in the world which, in conjuction with the limited free will of the man in form, can not be predicted by us who live within its scope.

Now we ascribe this vanity to the ideas that we have been presenting of illusion and of glamour and there is much of truth in these words that effects the human family by the fact that they are subjected to these worldly forces that we see and live in but do not understand. However, being a part of the subjection, it is difficult to see the reality and this is of course illusion; being a part of the subjection it is also difficult to grasp the idea that we as men fight off the suggestion that this is not real and place ourselves into a position of authority so as to be able to define our own reality and this is what we here call glamour for lack of a better term. These forces are real and we are subjected to them and they are much better seen as vanity than they are seen in the words of the other translations that we cited who change this idea of vanity to frustration, change, futility and the curse of God. We noted that Vincent, although he agrees with the doctrines in his writing, gives us some of the reality of the words in his final part of his discussion on vanity saying that: therefore, the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends⁴. And in this sentence we should clearly see the plight of man in form, that he is subjected to this vanity which we call illusion and glamour.

We must ever remember that the Master and His apostles were speaking to and writing to men with the mental and emotional makeup of more than 2000 years ago and that the framing of our doctrines that interpret these sayings and writings for us was done for a similar people in the first through the fourth centuries. It should also be understood that even the most modern accepted changes in doctrine are from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and were written to people by and for the mental and emotional makeup of that era. In their wondrous use of language and the authors of these gospels were able to send forth messages into the future for men of a different mental and emotional makeup to discern and this is been a progressive truth throughout history. However, because the “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly” as was his combined individuality which we can see, from the perspective of man, as the creation as well, this right discernment has been thwarted by the subjection of the man and of men in this vanity, in this illusion and in this glamour. Men think that they KNOW and in this thinking is the illusion which effects the mind and men believe that they are what they are and this believing is the glamour that is the man’s emotional response to the world and to others. This is pride and this is vanity and this is most importantly the effect of the glamour and the illusion that we are subjected to through our incarnations in form in this world.

There are two biblical sayings of note that can go well in our context here:

• This first is presumably from the pen of King Solomon but this is not a certainty and this has been accepted as canon for many centuries in both the Jewish and the Christian traditions. The emphasis of the author is in the same vein as we are trying to establish here from this saying by Paul regarding vanity which is the basic subject of this entire work called Ecclesiastes. It is said that the Book of Ecclesiastes  emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently “vain”, “futile”, “empty”, “meaningless”, “temporary”, “transitory”, “fleeting,” or “mere breath,” depending on translation*, and this is apparent in its reading. We should note here however the relationship of these words to the context of our current topic and see the author’s perspective as that of the man who is subjected to this vanity which is not to be seen from the perspective of our modern usage but by way of Vincent’s argument above. Our text from this book tells us that: “Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it” (Ecclesiastes 8:17). This is of course from the perspective of the man in form which is to say that one can seek to know the things of God but that he will not find them by looking among the things of the Earth. We should remember that the Life of Solomon was nearly a thousand years before Christ and neither he nor his people did not have the understanding imparted to us by the Master which is apparent by his Life story. Solomon was a man that was severely struck by that same sense of duality that we endure today, he wavered much as a man of God between the things of God and the things of the flesh and many times the flesh won out. This same idea of looking for the things of God here on this Earth is still as true today as it was in Solomon’s time and in the time of the Master and this idea plays a large part in His teachings. The things of God are hidden in the words of the Master and it is in doing His words that we find them.
• This same idea is put forth by Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians and again it is a thing that we should take to heart here and not regardless of how high one may place himself spiritually. Here again we should understand that these words are spoken to the man in form who is in Paul’s audience at Corinth and presumably a man of God; an aspirant if you will. He says to them that “And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him ” (1 Corinthians 8:2-3), and in this there is much to be understood that may pass us by if we are not looking from the perspective of the True man. If we read the second sentence first this saying begins to take on new meaning in that the criteria for True KNOWING is bound up in the Love for God and this we must interpret as the Master tells us which is simply stated as “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 14:23). Can we see this working out in Life? If a man keep His words then the Power and the Love of the God within can flower forth in the Earthly Life of the man; he can express the Love and the Power of the Soul through the conscious personality which is ever the goal of all who walk the Earth. This is the reality of God and the Christ coming to the man in form and living through him and not some mystical theory that God comes and live in the believer. Back to Paul’s saying we should see this same reality, that when a man Loves God by keeping His words the man in form is KNOWN by the Christ Within and here Paul is paying tribute to the sense of duality that all men face; short of this we see then the reality of the first sentence and that a man may think that he knows but he does not because he is looking at the world based upon the knowledge of the world and thereby the apostle says that “he knoweth nothing yet“. Again we repeat the same sentiment as above which is that it is fruitless to look for the things of God in the things of the Earth.

So here we have come to the end of yet another essay on these same words by the Apostle Paul, words that a few weeks ago likely meant little to any of us. We came upon this as a topic because of the first line regarding Son’s of God and in this way this saying came to Life for us and we have been speaking on it now for many weeks. We have found in this series of verses the reality of Life in form and the reality of that goal which is to “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” which is to say delivered from the illusion and the glamour and into the glory of discipleship. Can we see this reality away from the doctrines of the churches which give man a false but much easier way to salvation or are we still bound in the vanity to which each is subjected by incarnation into this world of form.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:14-23).

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.

We have left this saying for several days now and what to here say that within this reflection is the reality of a True Son of God, a disciple if you will, and it is by accomplishing these things that a men can be seen as disciples and, for those who try to achieve, those who strive, as aspirants.

Evening Reflection

May the Power of the One True God flow through His group of all true servers;

May the Love of the Christ characterize the lives of all who seek to aid in His work;

May I fulfill my part in the one work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech

(Evening Reflection)