IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1142

ON LOVE; PART DCCXXXI

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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 concluded our look at that selection from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John that ends with our first verse below and which shows us how that the Presence of God comes into the Life of the man who Truly Loves the Lord. We saw as well how that the reciprocal action from God IS Love as well and this Love we should try to see as grace, as the grace of God that flows into the Life of the aspirant and the disciple in direct proportion to the sense of Love for God as expressed by the man. In the last post we also tried to show how that this Love for God IS NOT found merely in keeping His words but rather in a combination of these ideas of Loving Him and DOING; that to just DO as the law or as even the Master says IS NOT a guarantee of the Presence of God but, at the same time, we should understand that this way IS better than NO way at all and IS greater that claiming such Love for God but NOT DOING. While this IS NOT a difficult idea to grasp, there ARE inherent problems in the way that this IS presented doctrinally as the Apostle Paul’s ideas on Jesus’ idea of Loving and DOING have be misinterpreted and have been used to dilute and even dismiss the Master’s own words.

We should try to understand that the apostle was trying to show how that the old way of the law must give way to the new Way of Love; how that the old way of DOING to escape the punishment or to attain the reward must give way to Loving God simply because He IS God and showing that Love by DOING as He has instructed. And this IS then Paul’s point; that we must come to KNOW the reality of our own Lives, that the Inner man, the God Within, must become the focal point of the Life of the man who seeks the Kingdom. This he tries to show by deflating the idea of merely DOING as men according to the law….the apostle IS trying to show us the better way. And not here in this idea of the law only, Paul tries to show the better way than even the newfound ways of the early church where spiritual ‘gifts’ abounded in the emotional and devotional ways of men in that day; it IS this that the apostle also tries to correct in showing them the better way which we read in his words as “yet shew I unto you a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31)….and this way IS Love. Doctrine however has NOT seen the reality of the apostle’s words and has convoluted his intent to show that NO works ARE necessary to salvation….that merely believing IS the answer; and that the grace of God IS freely given to such that believe. It has ever been our own view that men have seized upon the easier ideas and created their doctrinal view against the perceived difficulty of actually DOING as the Master instructs and, at the same time, finding words and phrases in the works of the apostles to justify their ideas. And this trend IS NO more apparent in the gospels and the Master’s words than here in this chapter that we have been studying. Here the relationship between this undefined Love and keeping His words IS cemented for us and the resulting Presence of God, His grace, IS most clearly shown as the reward.

We begin again with that rhetorical question that IS offered to us by the Master and which should show us the reality of His intent and the reality of keeping His words as an integral part of His message. The Master says most clearly: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46) and He says this as He shows the reward of DOING in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. The idea presented in these few words by Jesus IS echoed by the Apostle James who tells us of the deception of seeing things according to the ways of men; James says: “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). We should note here that the apostle IS speaking to disciples and to aspirants, to men who ARE following in the teachings of the Master, and this IS similar to the way that Paul writes to disciples and aspirants as well. James IS warning of the tendency to allow the ideas of believing to supplant the Truth of DOING and it IS in this context that we should understand the idea of hearers….that this IS NOT merely to hear with the ear but to perceive and to believe. Can we see here how that he calls this deception and how that this shows us that it IS the very illusion of Life, the vanity according to Paul, that causes this to be? We should see here how that James’ words and the rhetorical question of the Master ARE addressing the same issues; the Master IS asking why men allow this to happen while the apostle IS showing the folly of letting it happen.

In these ideas IS the reality of DOING, the reality of keeping His words which IS the underlying realty of this chapter from John’s Gospel as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, where both Matthew and Luke place this idea from Jesus, we should see the same reality of grace as the reward for one’s right actions in keeping His words as this IS made clear for us in the parable. Here we should see a parable that hides NO thing; we read: “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke  6:47-49). There IS NO difference between the idea behind this parable and the most straightforward ideas from John’s Gospel which we read as: “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” (John 14:21). In this we should see that the manifestation of the Lord IS His Presence in the Life of the man who keeps His words….this same man who IS “ founded upon a rock“.

And the same reality comes to us in the Master’s clarifying words that answer Judas’ question; here Jesus includes the whole idea of the Godhead, the Father and the Son, God and Christ, as He shows us the reward for keeping His words; we read: “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). In this IS that same reality of His Presence and we should see here the combined Presence of God and Christ which ARE ever One as we should understand this from His saying that “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:10); here we should see that they MUST come to us together, that there IS NO separation nor can there be. And here we should see again the idea of the man “founded upon a rock“; this IS the result of His Presence which IS the result of keeping His words. We should not forget how that ALL of this IS tied to Love; Love for the Master and God and His Love for us as His Presence and His grace. This IS clearly stated in the sayings above but the Master IS NOT done with this idea that shows us the necessary symmetry between the idea of Love for God and the reality of keeping His words; He shows us this in His former saying that simply states the necessary Truths that “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and He shows this from the negative perspective as well saying: “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” (John 14:24).

We should try to see the same ideas in Matthew’s verison of the Master’s sayings just before He shows us the realities of the parable that we cite above. While we left these ideas at the end of a recent essay to show this same sameness of ideas, we repeat them here in a more expanded form; one that includes the idea of fruit as the actual operation in Life of a man whose focus IS upon the things of God. We read:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:15-27).

In this idea of fruit we should see the reality of keeping His words and note that there ARE two contexts in this series of ideas from the Master; first IS the idea of fruit itself and its relationship to keeping His words which IS here rendered as “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. Can we see this relationship in His words? Can we see that it IS the fruit that IS the reality of one’s DOING “the will of my Father” and that it IS NOT the ideas found in the hearts of men who will merely say “have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” and who perhaps even DO according to their own way of DOING in the world. In the Master’s words these things ARE meaningless and they are just as meaningless today; the reality and the importance IS found in simply DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven” which CAN ONLY be interpreted as keeping His words. And this IS the same point made by Paul that we discuss above, that even in the view of such spiritual gifts as prophecy, and healing; even in the view of “many wonderful works“, there IS a better….”a more excellent way“. This way according to the apostle IS Love and we should understand here that this Love IS the prima facie part of keeping His words and of DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“.

Secondly we should see that the Master IS qualifying this fruit in the way that He frames His words about “false prophets” which we should ever understand as those who ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7, Matthew 15:9). While this reference IS in regard to the teachers of that day, this idea IS NOT to be seen as frozen in time, and the nature of the Master’s words here have far reaching implications which reach into our present times. This IS NOT seen of course by the doctrinal church except as any particular denomination may cite that another IS teaching false doctrine while, in the glamour of Life in this world, they ascribe their own doctrine as True. In this we can see how that the Jehovah’s Witness sect IS NOT even considered as Christian by many denominations while they themselves believe that they have found the ultimate Truth. And more, there are many denominations in the mainstream that consider others to be heretical while holding their own doctrines as Truth; and this even while those seen in this heretical light see themselves as the True way to God and view their accusers as being the True heretics. Who then ARE the “false prophets“? Are they ALL that DO NOT teach the Truth of keeping His words as the KEY to the Kingdom of God? Which IS the “good tree” and which IS the “corrupt tree” IS a question that can only be answered by the denominations themselves in the fullness of spiritual Light and without any carnal attachments to the thoughts and ideas of men.

In the end, the idea here should be that of fruit and we should see that the “good tree” IS the one that will “bringeth forth good fruit“; we should see further that it IS this “good fruit” by which the True teacher IS KNOWN. This “good fruit” it IS the Truth of keeping His words and the reward for this IS “the kingdom of heaven“. This IS the same idea that we see above from John’s Gospel where the idea of the Kingdom IS framed in the idea of the Presence of God, that He will manifest Himself to the man who keeps His words….that He will make His “abode with him“. Again we return here to the idea of Love, an idea that the Master speaks on in the context of the Sermon on the Mount and which he speaks of in the context of His words here in John and, while John’s may not seem so direct a saying as we read in Matthew where the Master tells us  to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), it can be clearly seen in the context of keeping His words; the highlight of which should be understood in what He Himself tells us are the Greatest Commandments which He tells us clearly saying: “There is none other commandment greater than these“.

There IS yet more in the Master’s words from John’s Gospel however as He tells us about our Love for God which IS the first of the Great Commandments; how that we “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“. There can be NO stronger statement than this and here we should see the illusive effect of His words that say “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“; in this IS a circular reference that remains unresolved because to DO one  IS to automatically DO the other….if we keep His words we Love Him beyond measure and if we Love Him we keep His words. There IS NO escape from this logic and, this IS the Way to have the Presence of God and of Christ in one’s Life. And we should see these as self defining as well: keeping His words IS that Love for Him and there IS NO emotional or mental affirmation or attraction involved whatsoever. It IS in this way that we should also view our Love for our neighbor, our brother and the stranger who qualifies as both, that there IS NO emotional or mental affirmation or attraction involved but that this Love IS the fulfilling of His words that qualify as our Love for Him. It IS in this that we should see the greater reality of His words that show us that to care for one’s brother in Love in this world IS to Love the Master and God; we read: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). 

We did not get to begin our look at the final section from John’s fourteenth chapter which we repeat here again:

“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. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).

 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!