ON LOVE; PART DCCXCI
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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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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)
As we continue winding down our look at the fourteenth chapter of John from which we have extracted much that has allowed us to see ever more clearly the reality of grace and the Presence of God in one’s Life, we should remember that Jesus’ words and the words of the Apostle John that we have been using from his epistle ARE the reality of the the Master’s teaching in a rather condensed view that shows us the effective nature of keeping His words as this relates to attaining the Truth of His Presence in one’s Life as it gives us the necessary understanding of the Power of Love as our individual vehicle for keeping His words. While much of this IS painted in rather black and white terms to His apostles as men who have achieved some degree of His Presence, we should remember that they ARE NOT yet in full accord with His words insofar as their thoughts and attitudes ARE concerned, they DO NOT fully KNOW the Truth as He has presented it and that they yet have questions that relate to the deep spiritual nature of His teaching. In the ideas that Jesus shares with them regarding the Presence of God and the reality of the Holy Spirit, the underlying cause of their realization of these things IS most clearly offered in the simple statement saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” which forms Jesus’ prelude to His introduction of the Holy Spirit which IS the Spirit of God that comes as the Presence of the Father and the Son as we read in His exchange with the Apostle Judas below:
“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” (John 14:21-24).
In the global sense of the Love of God we should see the reality of the Presence of the Master in this world under the idea that the the apostle offers us in his gospel and in his epistle where we read: “for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:8-9). This IS John’s clarification and his amplification of the words from the gospel saying “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) which some attribute to the Master and which others attribute to John. It DOES NOT matter to whom we attribute this Truth as this represents for us the global sense of grace, the global sense of His Presence and His Love in the world of men. It IS the individual sense of this Love that IS shown clearly to us by Jesus in this chapter of John’s Gospel and it IS shown as the reciprocal effect of keeping His words and, while this may be denied by the doctrinal church, there IS a resounding clarity here in the Master’s words. It IS this same idea of a quid pro quo that we should see in the apostle’s words from his epistle below as we see the same ideas of keeping His words through John’s own effective way of phrasing this as that we believe on and believe in the Master and in the idea that the True believer will confess Him. Here again we should read the deeper ideas into John’s words on believing and on confessing and understand that since one’s result of His Presence IS the same, the terms have the same effective meaning; in this we see that both believing and confessing include the idea that He IS God and, even if based ONLY in His Supremacy, we should DO the things which He says. We read our selection from the apostle’s words again:
“whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 3:17-24, 4:1-6).
The difficulty in understanding the “spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” IS found in the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world; the error IS of course “of the world” and we should see this in a broad stroke as ALL worldly thoughts, attitudes and action as these ARE against the very spiritual nature of Truth. It IS this idea that we should see in the Apostle James’ words on the relationship of the spiritual man with the world; we read: “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” (James 4:4). While James paints this idea of error as friendship, John shows us this same division of the spiritual and the natural in terms of Love; we read: “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” (1 John 2:5). These ideas ARE NOT dissimilar to those words from the Apostle Paul that we cited in the last essay where the reality of conformance IS to the world and of the world while the Truth of Transformation IS the spiritual essence of the Presence of God. Nor IS this dissimilar to the apostle’s point regarding the “wisdom of this world” which IS foolishness and thereby error; we read that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19); in this we should sense the idea of error and understand that it IS in the illusion of men that the “the spirit of error” IS ofttimes mistaken for the “spirit of truth“. This sense of confusion IS related to us in that ancient mantram which we have previously posted in our blog; we read:
Lead us, O Lord,
From darkness to Light;
From the unreal to the Real;
From death to Immortality
In the darkness, in the unreal and in the death IS the illusion that tells men that “the spirit of error” IS the “spirit of truth” and we should understand that ALL men suffer somewhat to this affliction which IS based in that vanity that Paul speaks of saying: “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). It IS this vanity, this illusion and this glamour, that cause men to see the unreal as the real and to NOT recognize the death in which his spiritual self lives. And it is in this sense of vision that John shows us the deeper Truth that “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” and his saying that “this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 1:8, 3:19). In the first saying we have the Light of Truth, the Light that IS the Christ and the Christ Within while in the second we have the reality of the illusion in the idea that “men loved darkness rather than light” which IS their preference for the worldly and the perception of their immediate satisfaction. We should see here in this word that IS rendered as condemnation the idea of judgement and of selection and, of course, we should see the reality of the word rendered as evil as worldly and in accordance with the ways of men. And we should see both of these ideas in the Master’s own words saying “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12); here we should understand this idea of following in the same way as we see keeping His words and the allied phrases that we should believe in Him and confess Him.
On the global scale the idea of the Love of God IS clearly stated but this IS confused by most with the individual sense of Love and grace that comes to the man who will keep His words and here again we must try to see that this IS the automatic and the natural result of being “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). In this reality of keeping His words there IS the reciprocal realization of Truth and of Love and this IS the grace of God, and this IS the Presence of God, in the Life of the man in this world that the Master shows us saying 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“. On the global scale we DO have the Love of God which we see in John’s words above and in our understanding that humanity IS NOT left without a sense of Redemption; it IS in this view that we see that great Truth that “God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him“. How IS it that we can live through Him IS the subject of ALL of His words and ALL of the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles which point us toward the reality of our individual sense of grace, our revelations of Truth and our realization of how that we should keep His words as we journey toward the full realization of the Kingdom of God. And this IS NOT contrary to anything that the Master nor His apostles show us in their words of Life.
It IS in our realizations of Truth that come in the revelations which spring from our own sense of God, our own God Within, that show us the way into the circular reality of spiritual living. It IS in our realizations of Truth that we find in our heeding the prompting of our own Souls to focus upon the permanency of the things of God rather that the temporal nature of the things of the world, that puts us into the upward spiral of ever greater revelation and shows us the hidden reality of the Master’s oft used saying that those who have will receive more. As we discussed two posts back, this idea IS presented in several ways according to the gospel writers and while ALL should lead us to the same spiritual reality, this IS NOT generally the case. Jesus offers us this idea in relation to our revelation of the mysteries, the growth of the Kingdom of God by the man who uses his talents, and in regard to our own realizations which we can see as our perceptions in His saying that “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath” (Mark 4:22-25). In this we have the Master’s caution to us that we should be aware of what it IS that we allow to control our lives and that it IS in our own realizations of Truth that we can grow.
It IS our realizations of Truth that come in the revelations which spring from our own sense of God, our own God Within, that IS also the subject of this Quote of the Day that we have NOT changed over many essays as we explored the reality of grace and the Presence of God.
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
In these words rendered from the ancient Bhagavad-Gita, we have the reality of the God Within and it IS the realization of our God Within that IS the subject of the Master in His words to His disciples from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John that we have above. We should see here that in the idea that few KNOW how to find God there IS the same reality of illusion and glamour, of the vanity that separates the man in the world from his own sense of Truth which IS the sense that we should get from Paul’s words that men ARE “made subject to vanity” and which idea Vincent shows us as: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. And what should we see in the idea that we should sacrifice our desires and our works but the reality of keeping His words as we come to understand the reality of the dichotomy between the spiritual and the natural, between the things of God and the things of the World. Reading further we should see the greater Truth of Life that comes to a man as he focuses upon the things of God and this idea of perfection that IS shown us here IS the same idea that we read of in the Master’s admonition to us saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) and in the words of His apostles. The rest of this IS the reality of attaining the Kingdom of God as one’s state of being in this world of men, an attainment which becomes ours as we express those things which have been revealed and realized in our lives.
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.
Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL and that it IS His Presence which a man realizes by measure as he begins his journey to the Kingdom of God. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)
From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.
The thought behind the idea above IS NOT unlike that which we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many essays; It IS in the closeness that Lord Tennyson shows us that we should see the idea that “God dwells in the inner part of every man” which we read in the previous Quote of the Day. For us this saying and the previous one show us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. Men may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn and to focus upon Him. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father“
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
