ON LOVE; PART DCCCXIV
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. 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
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 post we turned our attention to the way that the Holy Spirit IS presented in the gospels by the Master. In the reality that the Presence of God in one’s Life IS the Holy Spirit in one’s Life we should be able to see through the parabolic ideas and into the deeper Truths that the Master IS showing to the Eleven. In the very idea of the Presence of God, in the reality of the Master’s words saying that He “will manifest myself to him” and then His repeating this in a different tone in response to the Apostle Judas’ question saying “we will come unto him, and make our abode with him“, we should see the Presence of God as the reciprocal action to keeping His words. There IS a keen importance to our right understanding of this parabolically presented idea of His Presence and the Presence of the Father and that within the reality of this Presence of God we should see the underlying idea of the Holy Spirit which the Master alternately calls the Spirit of Truth and the Paracletos which IS rendered in a variety of ways including the King James idea of Comforter. Jesus presentation of this idea IS offered to His apostles without any reservation as to the meaning of His words that show that this Presence comes to the man “that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” which He rephrases for them as “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“, yet men refuse to see the correlation and the quid pro quo that IS most clearly presented. In these words IS the measure of the spiritual reality of His apostles and of us as aspirants: that it IS by the measure of our ability to look past the carnal and focus upon the things of God, that we will have the Presence of God in our lives. We repeat our words again from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John:
“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 this we must understand as well that there IS NO physical presence of the Lord that comes into the body of a man and that this reality of His Presence IS a psychic affair as the man who keeps His words comes to realize this Presence as it IS revealed to Him by his own Soul, his own reality of Life as the God and the Christ Within. And we must understand as well how that this Presence IS the grace of God in the Life of the man who earns it by keeping His words. The Master tells us such through His words according to the Apostles Matthew and Luke and, as we have previously discussed, it IS in the combined ideas presented that we see the further evidence that the grace of God IS earned, it IS the reward and the wages of keeping His words. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus shows us the Power of Love and the effective practice of this Love by the man in the world….He tells us how that this Love should work in the hearts of men….that the man who seeks God should Love ALL men. It IS in this dialogue on Love that we find the reality of Loving ALL which Jesus presents in His own parabolic way as a set of commandments and then His question; the Master says:
“Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again . And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive , what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again . But love ye your enemies, and do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again ; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).
In this we should see the fullness of the Master’s intent which IS reflected in His apostle’s confirming ideas that show us that in this Love, ALL other commandments ARE kept. And while the Apostle Paul tells us that “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10) and that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) to show us the very Power of this Love, the Apostle James goes yet further as he includes the reality that this Love has NO “respect to persons” which more fully shows us the Master’s intent. We read James’ words as: “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). While we have the Master’s words above that tell us the reality of this Love and we have the confirming and the amplifying ideas of His apostles; we are missing the yet deeper reality of the reward which we see in the Master’s words above regarding keeping His words as the effective cause of having His Presence. This idea however IS NOT missing; this idea has been covered and convoluted by the doctrines and translations of men who render the Greek word charis as thank in Luke’s rendition of the Master’s words. In this particular group of sayings charis IS also rendered as credit, commendation, benefit, praise and receiving a blessing, in other translation; in our library of translations ONLY the Young’s Literal Translation renders charis as grace.
When we can see grace as ALL things that come from God and understand these things as the revelations and realizations of Truth that ARE the Presence of God in one’s Life, we can better understand how that these ideas ALL work together….how that our expression of Love IS keeping His words and that the reward, the reciprocal action from DOING so, IS grace and the Presence of God in one’s Life. Matthew’s rendering of the Master’s thoughts gives us greater insight into this reality of grace as he shows us the Master’s words as:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:38-48).
Here Matthew shows us the deeper idea of reward as such as he uses the Greek word misthos which IS rendered into English as both reward and wages; and here have a greater view of the idea of having NO “respect to persons” through the Master’s words on the sense of provisions offered by God to ALL. We should note here that Luke also shows us the reality of the reward as part of his version of Jesus words above; as he repeats the Master’s charge to Love ALL, Luke shows us that in DOING so that “your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil“. We should note here as well the apostle’s inclusion of the reality that the provisions of God are offered to ALL….with NO “respect to persons“. While we have discussed these ideas in previous essays, there IS an importance that should be seen in the overall view of the grace of God as the reciprocal action that comes upon the man who keeps His words and while much doctrine DOES NOT see the correlation between grace as one’s realization of the Truth and the Presence of God and while many seemingly refuse to see the reciprocal action or the reward for Love and for keeping His Words, the reality IS rather clearly stated. It IS with this in mind that we should view our current selection from the sixteenth chapter of John’s Gospel; we read:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh , that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:1-16).
The reference of Jesus’ words saying that “These things have I spoken unto you” should be seen in the context of ALL that He has told them beginning at the Last Supper. The more immediate, according to the Apostle John’s account, however IS His words on the Presence of God, the Holy Spirit and the reality of Love as the supreme commandment that Jesus repeats several times which we read as:
- “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 133 4-35).
- “If ye love me, keep my commandments“…..”He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“…..”If a man love me, he will keep my words” (John 14:15, 21, 23).
- “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends“….”These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:12-13, 17)
It IS this Love which IS explained for them in the Sermon on the Mount and in so many other parts of Jesus’ words that IS the focal point of the Master’s warning to the Eleven; not that they should beware of what others may DO to them but that they should beware of their own response to that idea that IS rendered as offended. The Greek word skandalizo should NOT however be seen in the common English idea of offended; Vincent tells us that: The word offend carries to the English reader the sense of giving offence, provoking. Hence the Rev., by restoring the picture in the word, restores its true meaning, causeth to stumble 4. Here we should try to see the idea that others may DO to the Eleven those things which could cause one to react in ways contrary to the Truth of Love and the Master’s words; here we should try to understand that the True caution IS to their response and NOT to the action of others. Jesus shows them the reality of the carnally focused man and we should see that this includes the religious as well as the man whose focus is more fully on the self and the things of the self. It IS in regard to the religious that Jesus says “whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service“.
We should understand in this the reality of glamour and of illusion; the reality that the “natural man” DOES NOT see the spiritual reality that IS in front of him and we should try to see that this phenomena IS NOT present in that time ONLY but carries forward through the centuries even to today. It IS in one’s sense of spiritual discernment that he IS able to see the Truth of Christ and of Love in those days and this IS the same idea that we should see yet today; an idea that Paul presents to us saying “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Here we should again see the idea of fruit and understand that by the same measure as one expresses such fruit IS one’s measure of spiritual discernment which IS those same revelations and realizations of Truth.
And so the Master tells them these things that may happen against them for the deeper purpose of their understanding that they should NOT resist; that they should live by the greater Truths that “ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” and that regardless of the circumstance that they should “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“. Can we see the point of the Master’s words; that the greater reality is found in the idea that they keep His words in the face of ALL that may come upon them, this IS much as we have in the story of the Apostle Stephen of whom we read that after recounting the True story of the Jews, he was subjected to the wrath of the people of whom he says: “lay not this sin to their charge” as his dying breath. This IS the greater reality of Jesus warning and caution to the Eleven and this IS the same message that we should take yet today.
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
