ON LOVE; PART DCXVI
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 discussed what we see as the deeper meanings of the first verses of the fourth chapter of the Epistle of James. What some see as accusatory, we see as cautionary and we see that this caution CAN be taken by ALL men whose desires for the things of the world overwhelm their sense of right and of proportionality. Our words from the apostle are:
“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:1-3).
For the man whose focus IS in the world and the things of the world, we can see how that he can avoid the “wars and fightings among you” by being aware of his lusts and “desire to have” and the role that these temptations can play in one’s Life. For the aspirant and the disciple whose focus IS on the things of God, the caution IS in regard to the “wars and fightings among within you” which he must struggle through as he works his way to the Kingdom of God. Most DO NOT see this second part clearly as they DO NOT understand the nature of the True man, the Soul, who must overcome the wiles of the flesh, which the Apostle Paul frames for us as the “wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11), against which the man who Truly seeks God must stand. In the ideas of devil, flesh and world we should see the same idea, that these ARE those things that take one’s attention away from a man’s spiritual quest and can keep him attached and attracted to the self and the things in the world.
It IS these ideas, devil, flesh and world, which ARE the source of the temptations that the aspirant and the disciple must resist and it IS from these temptations that desires and lust spring forth; here we should remember James’ earlier words saying: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:14). For the aspirant and the disciple these temptations ARE ALL things that take his attention away from the things of God and return it to his own self and those things that can benefit his own self and it IS in this light that we should see the idea of lusts in our current saying which have the more appropriate meaning of pleasures. As we found in the last essay, one word rendered as lusts is better understood as desire for pleasure in two of the thoughts from James; when he says “even of your lusts that war in your members” and “that ye may consume it upon your lusts“, the reference IS NOT to lusts as this is commonly understood but this IS specific to pleasures which we can interpret as those things for the self, the personality and the body. Again, it IS unfortunate that this word IS rendered as lust as it causes ALL three renderings to be seen in the same way and we should remember that the whole of the idea of lust IS NOT properly understood as it IS intended; that lust simply IS ardent desire for things and, here in this word, for pleasures.
Most interpreters of doctrine see the idea of lust in the proper frame of reference but they hold it ONLY for the grossest of offenses much in the same way as the ideas of sin and evil are seen by most doctrine. While these ideas may suit the average man whose focus IS in the things of the world well, while these may help to keep social harmony based in religious thought, these ARE NOT suitable for the man who Truly seeks God, the Kingdom of God and discipleship. For this man, the aspirant and the disciple, these ideas of lust and temptation, of sin and evil, encompass ALL that is for the self in the world; ALL that takes one’s attention away from the work of the Master in the world of men. James takes the Truth of the Master’s words to the simplicity of DOING as he draws that line between spiritual and carnal, between God and mammon, clearly but, at the same time, couches his thoughts in words that ARE ONLY Truly seen by the seeker of Truth; by the man who can see himself in James’ words. In our words above the apostle tells us about desire and lust, that these are inherent in men and that they ARE fruitless; here we should see the extended idea that these ARE NEVER Truly satisfied; there may be momentary victories but these are temporal and DO prove unfulfilling in the end. Here we should NOT ONLY see the short side of the momentary, but the long side of a Life of wanting, a Life of moving from desire to desire and never Truly obtaining anything so long as these desires ARE for the comfort and pleasure of the man in the world; this James frames as “that ye may consume it upon your lusts“. And we should pay special notice here to the idea of “ye ask amiss” as in this we should see the reality that the things of the world DO NOT come from God; ONLY “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17)” and these DO NOT include the comforts and the pleasures of the world which are the focus of the desires of men.
These ideas are for the benefit of ALL men but these are especially pertinent to the Life of the aspirant and the disciple who KNOWS the Truth of focus upon the things of God, the Truth of keeping His words. For us these are cautions, reasoned cautions, that remind us that these temptations will come, the desires and the lusts will surface, and the confusion of duality will be present in our minds and emotions until such time as we can say with the Master that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And we should see the idea of the double entendre that IS in James’ words and in most ALL New Testament scripture; not ONLY the built in ambiguity, but that created by interpretations and doctrines as well. In many places the True message IS obscured and it IS in this reality that we should rely upon James’ words on the Wisdom from above to help us to discern the Truth, this idea of Wisdom pertains NOT ONLY to the revelations and the realizations the we believe are from God, but to every thought and attitude that we develop and believe to be right.
There IS a reality of the struggle that the aspirant and the disciple face in the world as the attractions and the attachments continue to find him. As the temptations drive desires, the True seeker shoud ever keep in mind this from the Apostle Peter: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Here idea of strong desires IS intended as the word epitumeo is used by the apostle. Here, as in James and in other uses of this word in the New Testament, there IS that same doctrinal idea of seeing the intent as ONLY the grossest of desires and NOT the generality of strong desire that IS intended both by the Greek word and the the English where the definition seems to have taken on the doctrinal meaning. We discussed the evolution, or devolution, of this word in the English language in the last essay, and here we can see our idea clearer as we look at the various ways that this word epitumeo is rendered in the different bible translations. One renders “desires of the flesh” and while this can mean for us the reality of Life in the world as the Life of the flesh, this IS NOT likely how this is intended; we say this based upon these other renderings: “the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces“; “the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world“; “sinful desire“; “evil desires”; “sinful longings“; “the decadence all around you“; “passion“; finally “covetousness”. ALL of these ideas are put in place of the simple idea of desires for the things of the world which bring that corruption which IS the state of the things of the world as opposed to divine state of the things of God.
Our point here IS the same as it ever was; that the ideas of sin, evil, corruption and lust, ALL ideas that generally reflect the focus of a man in the self and the self in the world, ARE interpreted by men to reflect ONLY the gross offenses of select sins and NOT the reality of the words of the Master who tells us His Truth of living the Life of the man who seeks God. John Gill tells us of this saying from Peter that: having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust; not the corruption and depravity of nature, which is never escaped by any, nor got rid of so long as the saints are in the world; but the corrupt manners of the world, or those corruptions and vices which, are prevalent in the world, and under the power and dominion of which the world lies; and particularly the sins of uncleanness, adultery, incest, sodomy, and such like filthy and unnatural lusts, which abounded in the world, and among some that called themselves Christians, and especially the followers of Simon Magus 8. Can we see the point here? How that this idea of lust IS accorded to the vilest of things. Mr. Gill continues and in what follows is the general allowance of doctrine to count those whose sins ARE NOT so vile as among those who CAN be “partakers of the divine nature“; he says: Now the Gospel, and the precious promises, being graciously bestowed and powerfully applied, have an influence on purity of heart and conversation, and teach men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly; such are the powerful effects of Gospel promises, under divine influence, as to make men inwardly partakers of the divine nature, and outwardly to abstain from and avoid the prevailing corruptions and vices of the times 8.
It is evident from his earlier words that Mr. Gill DOES NOT understand this idea of being “partakers of the divine nature” as we DO, that it IS our right and our privilege as disciples of the Lord, but this IS NOT our subject here and we will only repeat his words on such partaking that: not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures 8. For us the Truth of this IS that to be “partakers of the divine nature” IS the same as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God as the Master and His apostles teach us and the failure to understand this IS one of the great failures of doctrine. The True understanding of “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” IS in the Master’s 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).
James helps us to understand the significance of this corruption that we find in the world, this corruption that IS the opposite of the Spiritual Nature of God. Again we come back to focus; that to focus upon the self and the interests of the self in the world IS to focus upon the corruption, or the sin, the evil and the flesh as, no matter what we may call this, it IS the same thing….it IS mammon. Jesus offers us the idea of this choice of God or mammon as well as the choice between the “treasures upon earth” which are corrupt and corruptible or the “treasures in heaven” which ARE divine. James tells us in our next selection of his words from this fourth chapter:
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:4-6).
Our first point of focus in these sayings IS the idea of friendship; how IS it that one can be “a friend of the world“? Among the meanings for the Greek word philos which IS rendered as friend in ALL its uses in the New Testament, we find this in the lexicon: an associate; he who associates familiarly with one 2. Here we can see the larger point in the idea of familiarity; that the man who is “a friend of the world” IS the man who associates familiarly with the world which we can see as one who is intimately involved with the ways of the world. There IS really NO other way to understand this. The Apostle John offers us this same idea according to his own way of speaking as He says:
“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).
This IS the same reality and both are the same as the Master’s offering of that choice between God and mammon, between the “treasures in heaven” and “treasures upon earth“, as well as many of His other words and parables. But this IS NOT what IS generally seen as men allow themselves the fullness of functioning in the world as men who refrain from the grossest of offenses and allow themselves the ability to define this grossness for themselves as well. The Truth IS that these ideas are already defined for us and that ALL that men do doctrinally to explain away their lives in the world IS the reality of their changing and diluting the words of Truth. The Way to the Kingdom IS ONLY found in keeping His words as He intended them to be understood and not in the machinations of men.
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.
As we approach the Wesak Festival at the Full Moon of May, it seems appropriate that we post the Great Invocation as our Quote of the Day. Wesak IS the Festival of the Buddha and it IS said that on this day the Buddha returns to us and stands with the Christ to help to focus the attention of men of GoodWill on the Truth of the Plan of God, the Plan that can come to fruition in the expression of the Light and Love and Power in the world of men.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132
The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.
Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.
The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
