ON LOVE; PART DCCCXVII
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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)
In the last essay we took the Master’s words that show us that the Eleven ARE NOT asking Him “Whither goest thou?” as He tells them again of His immanent departure into a discussion on the reality of the Kingdom of God. Two posts back we outlined the three times that this theme had been discussed by the Master: in the first He tells them “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come” (John 13:33) which we see as His teaching to them that they ARE NOT yet ready for the Kingdom, that they ARE NOT fully in accord with the realities that He will continue to teach them; realities that ARE covered under the Master’s saying that in order to “enter into the kingdom of heaven“, one must “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). We should understand here that while these Eleven ARE those to whom He says that “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11), that this DOES NOT include their ability to enter which IS based in their own sense of DOING in the fullness that IS required to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
As the Master tells them “Whither I go, ye cannot come“, the Apostle Peter questions Him saying “Lord, whither goest thou?” and in this question we see the idea that Peter DOES NOT KNOW, or yet realize, the deeper Truths. And the Master answers him saying “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards” (John 13:36); it IS in this that we should try to see that it IS at that point of perfection where the disciple IS complete and that it IS in this completeness that the disciple IS free from the fetters of the illusions and the glamour of this world. While this view of the Kingdom of God goes unseen in the doctrinal church, there ARE many of Jesus words and the words of His apostles that show us the Way and the reality that the Kingdom of God IS that final destination in the long journey of the True man, the Soul, through his work as the man in this world. In the doctrinal view the whole idea of perfection is diluted and changed so as to infer maturity although the deeper Truths ARE found in the idea that Jesus shows in His own prayer saying “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one“. It IS in the context the the Master presents this saying: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us“, which shows us the reality of our singleness of focus, a focus where ALL of one’s thoughts, attitudes and actions ARE on the things of God. And it IS here that we find our own inclusion into this divine state of being; it IS here that the Master says “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:23, 21, 20). We should understand as well how that this idea IS the same as Jesus offers us in the first of the Great Commandments which says that one’s focus upon the Lord and the things of God must be with “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“
It IS in this sense of perfection that we can find and attain the Truth of the Kingdom of God and it IS to this point of perfection that we ARE but travelers upon the Way. While the reality of this perfection has been taken by men to mean so little in comparison to that great dictum by the Master saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), may have given many some greater degree of hope, this hope fades in the greater Truth of DOING which the Apostle James so clearly shows us saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). It IS this sense of deception that the Truth IS covered by men in their zeal to interpret the spiritual ideas of Jesus and His apostles into carnal thoughts, attitudes and actions; interpretations that are based in the illusion and the glamour which the Apostle Paul calls vanity as he tells us that men ARE “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). It IS this idea of vanity that we should see in its deeper meanings which Vincent shows us here as: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 rather than the more common English understanding of this word or the rendered ideas of other translations. While other translations show us this Greek word mataiotes as frustration, futility, being “put under the power of change“, “condemned to lose its purpose” and being “subjected to God’s curse“, none of these capture the simplicity of Vincent’s observation nor the reality of the illusion and the glamour, both of which ARE eradicated in the steady shift of one’s focus from the carnal to the divine.
It IS on the other side of this vanity, this illusion and this glamour, that the Truth of deliverance IS found and it IS in this deliverance that men become free, free from the ways of men and of the world; this IS the Truth of discipleship where, of its fullness, the Master says: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). This IS the reality of discipleship that we work towards; it IS in this deliverance that we ARE free and that we ARE perfected; it IS in this deliverance that we ARE accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God…..it IS in this deliverance that we “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“. As we discussed in the last essay, we must view these ideas of the Kingdom and of discipleship in the fullness of keeping His words as both of the Master’s sayings above show us: it IS in keeping His words that we can enter the Kingdom and it IS in keeping His words that we ARE His “disciples indeed“. And it IS this same reality of keeping His words that brings us His Presence which IS His grace and our own realization of divinity as the revelation by the Soul, the Christ Within, to the consciousness of the Life in this world. This IS the deeper meaning of Jesus words that we repeat here again saying:
“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).
It IS in the Master’s parabolic use of the idea of “Whither I go” that leads so many to see His words in a carnal sense of going even when it IS understood that His intent IS spiritual. Jesus IS predicting His death and His absence from the Eleven in the flesh and this IS seen by many, but His further meaning, the Truth of His Presence in one’s Life, IS missed from the perspective that IS intended. And this IS likely the Master’s intent: that these words that require spiritual discernment ARE ONLY unlocked in the heart of the man who has begun the long journey to the Kingdom, the man whose focus has changed to the things of God….the man who IS striving toward that “strait gate“. And yet some of the apostles still DO NOT clearly see, NOR DO they Truly understand, despite the their apparent spiritual focus. In this we should be able to see and to understand the depth of the commitment that must be made to Truly see the Kingdom of God and the greater reality of being His “disciples indeed“. In the reality that Jesus goes NO where save from their physical presence and in the Truth that the Spirit of Christ that lives through the Master can live as well through His True disciples, IS the reality of His teaching on the Presence. We see this above in His words on manifesting and abiding and we see this in His showing them that in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God of which He tells them that “ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you“, IS their own Unity with the Godhead. It IS in one’s realization of this Unity that he can see the meaning of His words saying “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:17-18) which IS a reiteration of the meaning of His words on His Presence which we should try to understand as being according to the measure of a man’s ability to keep His words as we read above.
In the understanding that the apostles gain from the continued teaching of the Master we should try to see how that they ARE coming to see the deeper Truths that were heretofore covered as the mysteries and which ARE now being revealed to them in Jesus own parabolic tone. It IS in this light that Jesus cautions them to NOT react to the ways of men in the world but to hold their course, to continue in His words of Love. And we should see here that in His comment to them that “none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?” that there IS likely a combination of bewilderment and of certainty among the Eleven who, while they may be glimpsing the deeper meanings of His Presence, ARE yet somewhat carnally focused; it IS in this sense that Jesus tells them “sorrow hath filled your heart“. In this sorrow the Eleven ARE focused upon their own thoughts and emotions and it IS here that the Master again shows them how that the Presence of God, their own realization of the Truth, will come upon them when He IS gone, when He has left their physical presence. We should try to see here how that the Eleven rely upon the Master as He IS with them and teaching them what they must come to understand and that the closer that they ALL come to His departure, the deeper the meanings that He conveys. We read Jesus words from our selection again:
“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).
In the idea of expediency there should be the greater idea that it IS necessary; Vincent explains this Greek word sumphero this way: It is expedient (συμφέρει); From σόν together and φέρω to bear or bring. The underlying idea of the word is concurrence of circumstances 4 . While many translations refer this idea as being better, to their benefit or advantage or that it IS for their good, the greater understanding comes in Vincent’s idea which shows us the necessity….the way things ARE to be. Here then, away from the doctrinal ideas of the whole of the meaning of Jesus death, we have the simple statement by which the Master says that ‘if I DO NOT leave your presence in this world, you will NOT have the greater realization of my Presence, the Presence of the Spirit of Truth….the Spirit that IS God.
The Master continues in His teaching on the very nature of the Presence of God and the assurances and the certainties that the Presence brings into the Life of the man who keeps His words or, in the case the the Eleven, the man who will “continue in my word“. It IS in their individual realizations of the Truth that they will see the ways of the world exposed for what they Truly ARE, that they ARE sin and that they ARE contrary to righteousness. Here again we rely on Mr. Vincent to show us the better understanding of Jesus’ words; in the idea that in the Light of the Spirit of Truth that “he will reprove the world of sin” we should see the operation of the Spirit in the Life of the disciple which IS His realization of the Truth of the ways of the world….it IS these ways of the world ARE exposed. Vincent shows us here that this idea of reprove is: To bring to light or expose 4; we should see this as a personal experience in the lives of the Eleven and NOT as a universal conviction as this IS seen in the ideas of many of the other translations. It IS the exposure in one’s consciousness to the Truth that dispels the illusion and the glamour, that vanity of which Paul speaks, and here the Master IS showing the apostles how that it IS in the Power of the Presence of God that the Truth IS seen. Here we must understand that the apostles have such realization but that because they ARE reliant upon Jesus physical presence they DO NOT yet see as clearly as they will when they have the greater realization of His Presence in their lives.
While we see these ideas in the presentation of His words, we DO NOT KNOW how they each of them thought and addressed the Master’s teaching; we DO however see how that these ideas work out in the lives of men here and now….how that it IS in the realization of the Presence of God in one’s Life that ALL things become clearer and that the fuller one’s realization, the deeper one’s focus on the Truth of His words, the clearer ALL of the mysteries of Life will become. In the ideas presented in the King James Bible where we have Jesus words rendered as “he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment“, we should again look to Vincent who tells us that the word rendered as of IS: Literally, concerning. Rev., in respect of. Of gives a wrong impression 4. While the rest of Mr. Vincent’s ideas here fall clearly according to his sense of doctrine, we should try to see that his understanding of the words used helps us in our better understanding of the Master’s intent. We should understand here that it IS in the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Power of the Presence of God, that the apostles, and us as well, can realize the Truth of the ways of the world, the reality of righteousness and the Truth of the focus of men as their individual judgement, their individual selection, between these two polar opposites.
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
