ON LOVE; PART DCXXXII
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
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).ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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.ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
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)
In the last essay we began our discussion on the fifth and final chapter of the Epistle of James; here he compounds his ideas about the man who would spend his time planning and scheming regarding his self in the world rather than keep his focus upon the things of God. We should note that we mean nothing bad in referring to James words as planning and scheming as this IS essentially what happens to the man who James sees as an aspirant and a disciple who KNOWS that the Path to God IS NOT in the ways of the world; he KNOWS that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4). It IS this man then, who seeks God and IS among the aspirants and the disciples of the Lord, that James addresses in his ‘if the shoe fits’ dialogue where he says that a man in this group who IS yet seeking profit from Life in the world sins. In this IS the basis for our own terminology of planning and scheming as in this mans mind he is seeking out ways to cover his diversion from the Ways of God and to find reasons in his own words and thoughts that will provide this cover. In a way we can see James reacting to the potential of men creating their own doctrines that allow them to deviate from the Truth of the word and feel comfortable with this in their own reasoning.
In this IS the uncomfortable reality of much of the world’s doctrines which dilute and changes the Truth of the words of the Master and the law to better suit the reasoning of men and allow them to feel more comfortable in their actions in Life; and these ideas still plague humanity as they cover for ALL men the reality and the Truth by way of authoritative pronouncements. Perhaps it IS in a predictive way that the Master tells men of the difficulty of finding the Kingdom of God, that aside from the normal difficulty of Repentance there is the added difficulty of doctrinal confusion that leads men astray. We should see that James’ blunt and straightforward style DOES call out those who would purport to be among the aspirants and the disciples but who at the same time are focused upon their selves in the world. It IS to these that James offers the words that link this end of the fourth chapter to the beginning of the fifth saying: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
We should remember here that this linking statement IS NOT intended to be linked only to this idea of plans and schemes but it IS linked to ALL of the cautions and carnal behaviors that the apostle has cited throughout his epistle. ALL things from succumbing to temptation to being “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) and we should note that this single statement contains ALL else that the apostle is cautioning us against. We should especially remember here James’ words on Love and the expression of Love by the aspirant and the disciple; he says: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). In this James offers the same strength in his words as he does in that saying that we say links the fourth and the fifth; here we find that to NOT Love according to the Master’s words, as we read them at the top of our essay, IS sin and that this IS as much a sin as any other deviation of our focus; and as much sin as any offense. In the saying about “him that knoweth” we should find this same force as the apostle takes us into the realm of riches which, aside from Love for ALL, is likely the most diluted part of the Master’s Truths in the minds and hearts of men, and the most common way to keep a man from the reality of discipleship. Our current words are:
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted , and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days” (James 4:17, 5:1-3).
Here we should see that James’ words are to the man who keeps his heart in the world of things through planning and scheming for more and for better in worldly goods and treasures OR the man who had much and yet retains his worldly goods and treasures; this man IS acting contrary to his own KNOWING “to do good“. And this IS the reality of the words of the Master as well who has much to say about riches and possessions as we discussed in the last essay. Again we should point out that for the average man in the world who IS NOT seeking the Kingdom of God that this focus IS normal and expected while for the man who would be His disciple these things ARE NOT; they are sin and they put a man back into the ranks of the average man in the world. James’ message can be seen to be that this IS True regardless of the doctrinal coverage a man may provide for himself, regardless of how he may cleverly position his ideas of being entitled to the pleasures and the comforts of the things that he possesses and strives to possess. Regardless of this mans own opinion of himself, he has chosen mammon over God.
In the last post we noted that the idea of the corruption of one’s riches, the cankering of gold and silver, IS NOT meant to say that something will happen to these things physically but rather that their possession IS futile, that these have NO redeeming value to the man who seeks God. It IS from a spiritual perspective that these things must be viewed, that the man who purports to be seeking God and to be striving toward the Kingdom, can ONLY be diverted from this goal with such riches which ARE then a “witness against you“. From a spiritual perspective the rich man IS wasting his calling regardless of how much he may do that IS good and this IS the apostle’s point: “him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin“. This sin, this continued focus upon the self and the things of the world, can and will remove a man from his very act of Repentance as he sees it as more important to acquire and keep “treasure together for the last days“. And James’ message to these men who succumb to the temptation of the things of the world and who have ceased being “doers of the word” is this: that they will “weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” when perhaps they come to the realization of their error. Those who DO NOT come to realize the error of turning back to the world will take themselves out of their own journey toward righteousness and place them back into the world of the unrepentant men of the world.
Our next sayings can be most confounding and while many see this first idea as speaking against the actions of the rich in the previous sayings, we ARE NOT so sure. We see a deeper meaning here that goes more to what these rich men have neglected that that which a rich attitude might provide. We read:
“Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth : and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:4-8).
Translation here IS a problem as well as the apostle’s continued use of the more obscure words which are readily misunderstood. If we can see here that the apostle has said what he means regarding the sin of riches, the way that they hold as man captive in the world and keep his focus occupied with the things of the self; how that to strive after and keep riches IS contrary to the Master’s instructions for the man who would seek God, then perhaps we can see the greater reality of these next words. The man who maintains his focus, the man for whom James’ shoe DOES NOT fit, IS the man who works for the Lord in the field of the world of which the Master speaks saying: “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth , and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours” (John 4:34-38). Can we see the relationships here between the Master’s teaching and James ideas? Here James is telling us that what the Master says IS what should be happening and that this IS NOT happening in the Life of the man who has diverted his focus from the Truth of the things of God.
In the word rendered as hire we should see wages or reward and it IS this that one should behold; that the True laborers in the fields has his reward of “fruit unto life eternal” and in the Life of the man who has lost his focus, the man who DOES NOT Truly labor, has no such reward. In the phrase that IS rendered as “kept back by fraud” we should see only idea of fraud and the overall idea that this man will NOT see this reward because of the fraud found in the at reality that he “knoweth to do good, and doeth it not“. While this IS NOT an easy verse to discern, what we are offering here IS much more sensible than the more common understanding that the rich man will intentionally defraud workers in a real field of their fair wages. The reality here IS that there IS a deeply spiritual message for the aspirant and the disciple who may lose their way in the morass of temptations and desires for the pleasures and the comforts of Life in the world and that these words are intentionally obscure so that it IS ONLY the man who Truly hears James’ cautions against reverting to the ways of the world who will understand. And there IS a message here as well for the man for whom the shoe fits, the man who has reverted, that he can again Repent.
Many of the other translations take what can be seen as implied in the King James Bible and make scriptural fact of it as we cite above and we should note that their words are based upon their misunderstanding of the previous verses. We will NOT go back to look at any of these but we will take the time to look at this current verse and how this IS perceived:
- American Standard Version: “Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth“.
- English Standard Version: “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts“.
- GOD’S WORD Translation: “The wages you refused to pay the people who harvested your fields shout [to God] against you. The Lord of Armies has heard the cries of those who gather the crops“.
- New International Version: “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty“.
- New Living Translation: “For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty“.
This IS the common understanding as it is painted in these various translations of the Bible and we should note here that while they are similar, some are more indicting of the rich man and in this John Gill tells us, speaking of the laborer, that: they are made use of in cutting down the corn when it is fully ripe, and in great plenty; wherefore, to detain their just wages from them argues great inhumanity and wickedness; and yet this was what was done by rich men 8. We should note that Mr. Gill is likely speaking about evil rich men and NOT ALL rich men as we read in his words regarding the earlier passage about them that: Go to now, ye rich men; All rich men are not here designed; there are some rich men who are good men, and make a good use of their riches, and do not abuse them, as these here are represented; and yet wicked rich men, or those that were the openly profane, are not here intended neither; for the apostle only writes to such who were within the church, and not without, who were professors of religion; and such rich men are addressed here, who, notwithstanding their profession, were not rich towards God, but laid up treasure for themselves, and trusted in their riches, and boasted of the multitude of their wealth; and did not trust in God, and make use of their substance to his glory, and the good of his interest, as they should have done 8.
Here in Mr. Gills words we should likely see that it is the rich man who IS in the church but who IS NOT rich towards God that James IS referencing in our current saying; it IS this man who would defraud the workmen. Our point here IS that the whole of the topic IS rather meaningless when it IS rendered and understood in the commonly accepted way; there IS NO value to this saying nor those that follow and one should easily see that this behavior of defrauding IS NOT the apostle’s intent as while this may work once nor even twice, there would NOT be many willing laborers. Our point IS the more logical and it DOES have some teaching value; and it IS in line with the previous and the following remarks from the apostle.
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.
This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse those forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
