ON LOVE; PART DLXIII
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
“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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
In the last essay we offered some closing comments regarding our work on the Sermon on the Mount and these led into the reality that these instructions by the Master are largely ignored by men in the world today and have been ignored by the majority of those claiming to be religious in His Name over ALL the centuries since He was with us in the Person of Jesus. The reason for this IS basically in the doctrines that have been established. These most all start with the writings of the Church Fathers who, not many generations after the Christ, began to analyse and the words of the Master and His apostles and to restructure them from the writers parabolic ideas to ideas that were more suitable for the consumption of the masses. Unfortunately, these original writings were diluted and changed to be more in the view of the man in the world, the Church Fathers included, and DID NOT remain as the strict guidelines of the Master; guidelines for True deliverance from the ways of the self in the world, guidelines for discipleship and for being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God. While these may be seen as guidelines for the average man in the world, these ARE commandments and direct instructions for the man who intends to achieve these things: deliverance, discipleship and the Kingdom.
While we do not suggest any malice on the part of the Church Fathers, we do suggest that they DID NOT see things clearly as a group and that they inserted into their doctrines what they perhaps Truly believed to be His words which became muted enough to be accepted by the man whose lived according to the ways of Life in the world in that day. This beginning of doctrine remained and was reinforced by the councils that were organized to create such doctrines and which included those men that took authority in this new religious venture. We DO NOT KNOW the inner workings of this all but there IS much literature available for any who want to examine how this was done; our perspective IS that in any group of men there must be compromise and that the very selection of council representatives and leaders must necessarily include those whose ideas are from varied perspectives and which would influence the creation of doctrines. Our position IS clearly that doctrine as it existed in that day and as it continues in the many variations today IS NOT a True reflection of the intent of the Master’s words nor His apostle writings; that the doctrines have diluted the reality of the teachings and have served to confound many who otherwise may have been able to make greater strides in their own personal journey on the Path to the Kingdom of God. At the same time, we see the value of the establishment of the Church and then the many churches as these did serve to keep many in greater relationship with God albeit under the illusion that doctrine affords.
The Truth of the Master’s words was changed to be acceptable to the leaders of the day by those who took authority and perhaps some of this IS done to protect the fledgling church and assure its growth. In the end however it is these doctrinal views that supplant the Truth and which were used by Popes, by Monarchs and by other leaders as they conducted wars and conquests and as they diminished the rights of many of their subjects. The pomp and the ceremony replace the reality and the Truth and the ideas of faith and believing replace the DOING and this ALL despite the relatively clear cautions, warnings and even clearly stated commandments of the Lord which are reinterpreted to suit the convenience of men. In the many years where the race of men was NOT thought based as we understand this today, men dealt with Life on a more emotional basis and this dynamic has been changing steadily over the more recent centuries as can be seen in most any historical perspective. Here, while many ARE still more emotionally inclined, there IS a steadily growing number of thinking men for whom these old and worn out doctrines of the churches no longer suffice. These generations of men came and are coming into a world that IS devoid of suitable religious teachings and it IS in this that the growth of secularism has its True roots; these men find little or nothing in the doctrines of the churches that suits their needs and many there ARE who search in other religions for answers that do not come from Christian doctrine. Many of these more secular minded men are in their own way more spiritually oriented and more in tune with the Truth of Love that the Master teaches than are their counterparts in the doctrinal churches, and here we should try to see that the growth of denominations IS is many ways aimed at correcting this lack of suitable doctrine. However, most ALL of these new denominations are founded in the basic doctrines of their leaders and founders so that the degree of change from the norm is minimal.
There are of course new approaches as well but many of these are demeaned by the organized church and attract but a few who can agree with their approach. We should understand that in the absence of a disciple of the Lord personally founding a new approach that these ARE ALL the works of men in the world who, while they may have some Truly inspired ideas, DO NOT have the wherewithal to push aside their own carnal personalities. This results again in the dilution of Truths as the emotional and mental response to inspiration IS ever colored by the personality; it IS ONLY in the clarity of the disciple that the Truth will flow. Again, we should understand that this IS human nature, this IS the effect of glamour and illusion as these effect ALL men; it IS here in this thought that we should reflect on the Master’s simple words: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:6). In these words IS our reality and our measure and the ideas of this measure are simple for the man who can see some glimpse of the Light of his Soul; is this man and his teaching that one hears speaking of things that benefit the man in the world or this this man and his teaching speaking things that benefit the spiritual growth of the man in the world?
From our perspective there is a most simple answer to the needs of the people today and that answer IS simply the Truth of what the Master and His apostle teach, the reality of Love and the proper view of the world as that it IS worldly experience that we must overcome and here we are reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul who tells us rather clearly “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). The simplicity of these words IS missed by most ALL doctrinal approaches; John Gill sees this as: And be not conformed to this world; By this world is meant, either the Mosaic dispensation, and Jewish church state, so called in opposition to, “the world to come”, the Gospel dispensation 8; this IS a purely doctrinal presentation that is against even some of the newer translations’ approach to this. Many others see only what is considered as evil here, Paul’s works of the flesh are cited by some, and while this IS a part of our own Truth, we see the greater reality that this means ALL things of the world. We see that a man should not live his Life according to them but according to the Truth which IS found in one’s own Soul’s prompting to the Good, the Beautiful and the True. We should add here that most ALL men who seek the Kingdom do get the inkling of right and wrong as concerns the Truth of His words but ofttimes this fails to register this in the mind. For example we can see the idea of slavery which IS and has always been wrong but which at the same time was accepted by doctrine; here a man’s natural inclination of the wrongness of slavery as being against the Truth of the Great Commandments at the top of our essay and the Golden rule is mitigated and even absolved by the doctrines that he is taught as a man in the world. Here the carnal thoughts of doctrine overcome the divine thoughts of Truth.
We can be pretty much sure that the changes to the teachings of the churches and their doctrines IS NOT going to happen anytime soon and that there IS still some need for the simpler meanings that doctrine affords to the man who does not want to or CAN NOT put forth a True spiritual effort; the man who accepts the simplicity of the doctrinal promises and his carnal existence. But the change must come from somewhere and here in this blog it IS our intention to, at a minimum, offer the reality of these Truths as we see them in the intent of the words of the Master and His apostles. It IS our intent to awaken as many as we can to the reality and the Truth of the Master’s words and to encourage ALL to see these Truths in their own hearts and lives as they flow freely from their own Souls when the focus of one’s Life is put upon them. Here again we must add the greatest of our Truths for living and that IS of course Love; ALL begins in Love; in the last essay we highlighted some of the individual and corporate ways that this Love can be expressed and we repeat here our concluding ideas regarding the reality of keeping His words:
On a personal level this IS to express that Love that He teaches us; in business it IS the Golden Rule that treats ALL, employees, customers and even competitors in the same way that one would want to be treated. And in politics it is the expression of Love and Goodwill toward ALL in honesty and truthfulness and, in the combination of Love and the Golden Rule, to work for the benefit of whom the Master calls “the least of these my brethren” (Matthew 25:40) both at home and abroad; and, to work for legislation that enhances the rights of ALL over the selfish interests of money and political leverage.
The reality of ALL things IS found in Love. In Love a man will NOT be bothered that His taxes are going to feed the hungry and this even where there is some amount of fraud; this IS the True Christian way. In Love a man will afford to ALL men the same rights and privileges that he affords to himself and this even to the ‘illegal’ alien, the man who came to find that freedom and a better Life for His family; this IS the True Christian way. In Love a man will NOT discriminate against others for some perceived wrong, especially in those ideas that ARE NOT singled out by the Master as we see with abortion and with homosexual behavior, but he will understand that not ALL men are born as he IS, think as he does nor have similar Life circumstances; this IS the True Christian way. These are simple things that afflict our social and political lives today and these things, being bothered by the idea of feeding the hungry, speaking our against one’s brothers who may be here illegally and showing prejudice against those whose lives are different, ARE unfortunately practiced by those who most loudly profess that they are Christian. These things ARE NOT found in a Truly Christian attitude.
In these sayings below from the Apostle John we should be able to see the reality of the message of Love that the Master teaches as this IS interpreted by the apostle. There IS no room in these words for any of the prevalent attitudes that we cite above. God IS Love is our message and in this idea, if we are to be close to God, we must be Love as well. John tells us that it IS “he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him“; and there IS no way to dwell in Love except that we Love as we see in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule and there IS NO exception cited in these ideas, NO reason for any to be excluded. And we should try to understand the very nature of this Love that we must express; it IS NOT that emotional attraction and attachment to others, it IS that same “love that God hath to us” which IS expressed in the Master’s words as “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). It IS in the end the first responsibility of every Christian to Love his brother as we see in our words below and the time has come for honesty in viewing these words and others; ALL men ARE brothers in the reality of the teaching of the Master and ALL men ARE our neighbor.
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:16-21).
And, as a reminder of just what Love Truly should be from a human perspective we leave our ideas here. In these we should only see the basics as the ultimate reality IS much more intense; from a spiritual perspective Love IS the ultimate Truth.
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’. To this we add the ever important High Ideal as taught 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 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.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8)
Today’s Quote of the Day is in regard to the new birth which Nicodemus did not understand and which many today do not understand either. The words of the Master tell us of a total commitment to the Lord as the way to the Kingdom and these verses say that as well. This total commitment is being born again. The differences in language aside, we should try to see the relationship between these ideas of being born again which is the essence of discipleship for it is only in discipleship that one can Truly see the Kingdom. These are much misused ideas because they are seen from the perspective of the man in form and no from the perspective of the Soul living through form.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
