IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1134

ON LOVE; PART DCCXXIII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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).

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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.

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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 continued with our thoughts about the story of the two disciples that walk unawares with the Master which we should try to see as His showing us the nature of and the Power of the Soul. To understand this in that day was perhaps a bit harder than it may be today as the general understanding of the Jews seems to be as it IS yet today for most: that the Life of a man IS His mortal Life rather than our view that the Life of the man IS the Life of the Soul, the Christ and the God Within. Christianity built its ideas upon the foundation of the Jew’s traditions even though this was contrary to the Master’s own parabolic teachings as we find in His parables…most notably the Parable of the New Wine and the Parable of the New Cloth. Our view today can be a more reasoned approach to Life, a view that can see the reality of Life away from the emotional issues associated with death and the archaic teachings on heaven and hell. It IS unsure that the apostles understood these ideas completely but there IS much evidence in their teachings regarding the Power if the Inner man and the expression of this Inner man as a disciple of the Lord; an expression that IS founded in that Love that the Master teaches and which IS encapsulated in the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule that we have again at the top of our essay. In our more reasoned approach to Life we can better see both the possibilities of the view that the Master IS teaching us about the eternal man, the Soul and the problems associated with the ongoing teachings of doctrines that are yet founded in the archaic teachings of the Early Church.

In our study of grace and what we see as the associated topic of the Holy Spirit as this IS portrayed for us in John’s Gospel, we should be able to discern that the very nature of the subject IS that these come to a man from above, from within, and in this we can see that this IS the divine part of the Life of men in this world. When we can see that it IS the revelation and the realizations of Truth that come into one’s Life, from above or from within, that move the consciousness of men in the world closer to God, then we can better understand the very nature of Life. None of this however IS clearly stated by the Master nor His apostles but, at the same time, the contrary view that man IS this form who has a Soul that may go to heaven or to hell IS NOT clearly stated either. The latter doctrinal views ARE built upon the foundation of Judaism and have yet great power as they have been in the minds of men for many centuries. And this IS a part of our purpose here in this blog: to shed additional light upon the words of the Master and His disciples as they DO show us in obscure and parabolic terms the greater realities of Life in this world and the approach to God by men who can sense these Truths. There are likely countless men in the doctrinal churches today whose devotion to God IS True and sincere and who find themselves within the constraints of doctrines that have been defined for them by the early church fathers and by the reformers. And, while there may be newer movements within Christianity that teach the more unconventional ideas, most of these ARE also founded in these same doctrines albeit modified to fit a new belief trend. The reality for each of us IS found in the stream of Truth that comes from within, from the Christ and the God Within, and this stream IS grace and this steam IS the very Spirit of God whom the Master tells us “shall teach you all things“. We repeat again our current sayings from the fourteenth chapter of John:

“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, 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. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:20-26).

In the greater understanding of One God we should be able to see the reality that the Trinity of God IS One and that the separations cited in the varied doctrines of the world ARE but attempts to show the ideas of the Aspects of God to men. Jesus teaches us about a fourfold idea of God and He shows us that ALL of these ARE indeed one God viewed in different ways and from different perspectives; and He teaches us that ALL of these ARE within the man in the world. We should begin here with the idea of the Kingdom Within as the Master shows us saying “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21); here we have the abode if you will of God in man. We should understand this in a number of ways: that there IS NO place called the Kingdom of God or of heaven to which one will go, that the Kingdom IS here and it IS now. The greater idea here IS that we must realize that this IS a Truth of revelation that IS found in the reality of Jesus most early saying….”Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). In this we should see the greater reality that death IS NOT the gateway to the Kingdom….Repentance IS. This of course IS NOT how this is seen in doctrines that DO NOT see the reality of Repentance nor its True relationship to the Kingdom of God.

When we can see this idea of the Kingdom Within, we can have a greater understanding of grace, that grace IS one’s realization of the Kingdom of God. And it IS in this Kingdom that we find the Father…this IS His Kingdom, and this IS where we find the Son, the Christ, who IS said to “sit on the right hand of the power of God” (Luke 22:69). The lexicon tells us that this idea of “right hand” metaphorically means: a place of honour or authority ² and this IS what we should see in these inferences, that there IS NOT an actual throne as this IS depicted by some. Our point here IS that the reality of God should be seen in relation to His Kingdom and that the use of this idea of kingdom IS pertinent to the times and, while there are but few Kingdoms left in this Earth, the idea IS still a valid one. We should see the sovereignty of the Kingdom as the Place of the King, and this regardless of whom we see as the King, the Father or the Son, because these ARE essentially and eternally One. We can see this idea of King in two ways: that Jesus IS called “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2) IS a reference to His humanity, His divine Presence here in this Earth while the idea of the Father as the King can be seen in His reign in heaven, in His Kingdom which Jesus refers to saying: “he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon” (Matthew 23:22).

The point here IS that the Kingdom IS within and that the Father and the Son are within that Kingdom and this should be seen more clearly in Jesus words from John above as well as in the preceding ideas that were presented to His Eleven. We should see this in the interrelationships that the Master defines for us as He shows us that “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:11); and, in His words that tells us that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12), we should see that the Father IS in us as well because it IS “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). This IS the reality that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). While these things ARE NOT clearly stated as we see them, they ARE a part of the reality that the Master and His apostles paint for us but which IS obnubilated by the claims of doctrines that refuse to see these ideas as Truth. And it IS these interrelationships that ARE furthered as the Master continues in His talk with His apostles as He shows them that these Truths are released to them as the realizations and the revelations that come to them as grace, that come to the man who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“….the Master tells them that it IS to this man that keeps His words that He “will manifest myself to him“. We should note here the Master DOES NOT leave us without the reality of the Father that we see above; as Jesus continues in His talk and His answer to the question from Judas, we find that it IS both the Father and the Son that come into one’s Life. He tells us that “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“; in this we see the realization that comes IS of the fullness of the God Within and the Christ Within and we should understand that these ARE inseparable.

Many millions of men believe that they have God or the Christ, or Jesus within them, living in them, who at the same time DO NOT keep His words and this IS a conundrum of sorts as the Truth of the Master’s words IS clear; they ARE NOT however clearly understood. At the same time, most doctrinally oriented men DO NOT see the idea that this Presence of the God and the Christ Within IS present in every man although unrealized by most and this most includes many that we cite here as believing. It IS in the basic and fundamental idea that ALL men ARE the same from the perspective of being created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) that the Greater Truth IS KNOWN; ALL men have the same makeup and the same essential nature as the microcosmic Trinity…a picture if you will of the Macrocosm that we call God. And, as the Apostle Paul tells us, ALL men have been made to live here in this Earth and have been “subject to vanity, not willingly” (Romans 8:20) which can be seen as that mankind, as Souls, has been cast into this existence and embedded in the illusion and the glamour of Life in form. This IS our reality: we ARE Souls in form, the Trinity of Spiritual Life to be more accurate, and we are deluded by the vanity to which we ARE subjected. It IS ONLY in breaking these chains of illusion that bind us to Life in form that we can “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) and we should understand that this corruption IS the vanity of which Vincent tells us as: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴. This IS ALL men until that time when the DO Repent as the Master teaches; it IS at this time that we can Truly strive. 

It IS Repentance that begins a man’s True approach to God and makes him able to see the reality of grace as this flows into the consciousness of the man yet bound by corruption. We should try to take from the story of the Christ’s walk with the two disciples after His resurrection the same realities that we can see in the ideas of these interrelationships; that it IS the Presence of God, the God Within and the Christ Within, that ARE the reality of the Life of man. In the story the Master shows us that it IS NOT merely the body of Jesus that IS the Divine Son of God but that it IS the Inner man, the Christ, who IS divine and who can take on whatsoever form when once He has “overcome the world” (John 10:30). This IS to be our vision of Truth, the Truth of the God Within who has ALL the Power of the Godhead, who can appear and disappear and appear in different forms….as the gardener that Mary perceives or as the fellow waking on the road with the two disciples. And we should remember here that the reality of this ALL IS to show us the Way. We should see ALL that He does and ALL that He IS in the context of His little understood words that assure us or our divinity: “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. This IS our destiny and this IS our deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“.

And we should NOT forget here about the Holy Spirit which IS a largely undefined idea that the Master presents as the Comforter, as the Spirit of Truth and as the Holy Ghost as this IS ofttimes rendered. This IS the Spirit that IS God and the Spirit that IS Christ as this IS understood from the relationships above; this then IS also the Spirit that IS in a man, that IS in the Kingdom Within; this IS the Spirit that IS the God Within and the Christ Within. The Master shows us that this Spirit IS or shall be in you and here we can find some semblance of Christian reality. While the Soul IS the Inner and True man, his divine nature as the God and the Christ Within, the Holy Spirit IS the activity of these in the Life of the man. We can see in this that the Holy Spirit IS latent in the Kingdom and in the God and the Christ Within in the Kingdom and it IS here that we should see the deeper relationship between the Holy Spirit and grace; grace comes into one’s Life by focus upon the things of God, which brings us the ever greater ability to keep His words, which then result in the realization of the God and the Christ Within as we see above in the Master’s words. Here, while the appearance of this in scripture IS black and white, we should understand the gradient quality of this realization, that it IS proportionate to one’s focus and results in one’s DOING. The achieving of ever greater measures of grace is the result of striving toward the Kingdom of God and it IS the Presence of this grace in the Life of a man that IS the Holy Spirit as the activity of God.

It IS the Holy Spirit that “shall teach you all things” as the Master tells us above and this IS offered in same way as the Apostle John offers us the reality of the anointing, the Christ Within, in the Life of a man in the world; this too IS grace as it IS earned by the disciple; the man who IS a disciple by way of keeping His words. Here, while the anointing IS the “Christ in you, the hope of glory” it IS also a realization and a revelation; it IS grace and it IS the Holy Spirit as He works in the Life of the man. It IS in this way that we should understand the idea that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” and we should understand that this unction IS the same Greek word that IS rendered as anointing in the rest of the apostles words saying: “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27). In this view today we can try to expand our view of the Trinity, that it IS God and it IS God in man and that it IS ever with us unrealized. It IS the realization of the God Within that IS the greater reality of grace and it IS in this realization that we find the activity of God in man which IS the reality of the Holy Spirit….the Spirit that IS God and Christ.

We close today with these ideas from John which we will add to our understanding in the next essay: “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 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” (1 John 4:12-16).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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 repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.

Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita

It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888