ON LOVE; PART DCCCXII
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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 concluded our discussion of the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John as we noted that the continuity of Jesus’ words from the previous chapter shows us the deeper realities of keeping His commandments and the greater Truth of the Master’s own view of Love as the Way. When we see the many results that come upon a man in this world by keeping His words and how that the reality of Love IS paramount in DOING so, we can get the clearer picture of His intent which IS shown us by the Apostle Paul who tells us that
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:8-11).
In these sayings as well as in his letter to the Galatians the apostle shows us the dynamic relationship between the reality of the word of God and the single idea incorporated in the Truth of this Love that the Master teaches us as agape. To the Galatians Paul writes that “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:13-14). In this letter’s inherent testimony on the Power of this Love we should try to see that the apostle is speaking in the context of those who would vex his readers as he refers to those “which trouble you“. Here Paul IS admonishing the reader to NOT take his newfound liberty, his newfound realization of spiritual reality and the Presence of God, to serve the carnal mind, the flesh as the apostle frames this, but to “by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:12, 13). It IS here that we can find some deeper meaning in this Love as the apostle shows his readers that they must look past the ‘vexing’ and understand that it IS the ways of men that ARE at play against them…of men who DO NOT yet see the Truth. Paul goes further too as he relates this greater Truth of Love, this reality that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” to the spiritual Truth; that to Love so IS “Walk in the Spirit” and to “bite and devour one another” IS to “fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, 15).
In this message we should see the intent of his discussion on Love, how that Love IS the consideration of ALL things….how that to Love ALL men IS to go directly to the heart of God without ever having to consider again the precepts of the law. In Paul’s words saying that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” we should take the idea that to “fulfil the lust of the flesh” IS contrary to the Ways of God; that this IS the ways of men. In these ideas we should see that to Love IS to “Walk in the Spirit” and that this IS the final reality that should be seen in his words saying “if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18)….here again the reality IS that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. In a recent post we cited the ways of the flesh that Paul lists in the next verses as well as our own reference to past essays where we discuss these “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19) from the perspective that many of these ARE but the normal ways of men in this world. Here we should try to see and to understand that it IS in our expression of Love to ALL men that we fulfill the law rather than to “fulfil the lust of the flesh“. This IS the apostle’s simple and straightforward message, a message that IS ofttimes misconstrued to show that there IS NO need for men to DO and to infer that the law has NO relevance for the man who believes, even in the simplest of ways, in the Christ. In the doctrinal interpretations of the Truth IS the dilution and the changing of the Master’s words and the words of His apostles as they are seen by the “natural man“, the carnal man, in such ways that they benefit the human psyche rather than the spiritual reality.
And the message to the Romans IS much the same; in the words we read above we see the same force of Love; that “he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law“. In our verses above we left the final idea from Paul regarding the time….that the time to awake to the reality of Love IS NOW. We should understand that Paul’s idea of sleep here is the state of men who ARE NOT yet focused upon the things of God and on Love while his reference to awake IS that one IS focused upon the Truth. We should see as well that the reality of salvation in this context IS in the here and now as the realization of the Presence of God that comes in keeping His words which ARE fulfilled in Love. It IS the Presence of God that comes to the man who Loves as it IS in this Love that ALL other things of God are accomplished; thus we read again the Master’s own view of attaining His Presence…..in the presence of Love for Him which IS Love for ALL:
“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 his words to the Romans Paul admonishes the reader to “cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12) and in the context of these sayings we should clearly see that it IS Love, Love for ALL men, that IS the “armour of light” and that it IS in this Love that men can “walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:12, 13-14). Here again, as in the apostle’s list of the “works of the flesh“, we have a list that includes many most common human failings which, when DOING such, count as making “provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof“. Our point here IS that it IS Love that conquers ALL carnal instinct and ALL carnal ways…..ALL “works of the flesh“.
It IS in men’s lack of understanding of the whole of the precept of Love as the Master offers it in His words on the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule that so much IS missed in the reality of Life. In the simplicity of the Love that we should express there IS NO mental or emotional attachment or attraction but the deeper reality that “love is the fulfilling of the law“. In the reality of Love there IS NO killing, NO adultery, NO stealing and NO false witness; in the reality of this Love there IS naught that will harm another in any way and this IS the basis of the phraseology that we find as “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“: none would DO such things to himself. And so we can add the rest of the Commandments of God, not the Ten Commandments only but ALL of the ancillary commandments that deal with the interrelationship of men. Here we can exclude the ceremonial and the ritual commandments that have NO interpersonal effect while we include such ideas as that we should “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Matthew 19:19) as Jesus points out to the rich young man. In the reality of Love there IS NO thing that one can DO to harm another any more than one would harm himself and in this IS the force of Love. In Love one sees ALL men as he sees himself and a understands that whatsoever has ever confounded him will likely confound ALL; and in this we should see ALL of the ideas that can be imagined to be in the “works of the flesh“. And this IS the Power of the Golden Rule as well, in this precept one IS shown to accord to ALL men what he would accord to himself, both the good and the bad. Here we see that we DO not inflict or wish that anything come upon another that we would NOT welcome upon ourselves and that we will DO to and for others what we would want done to and for ourselves….this IS the deeper meaning of Love.
We should remember Paul’s words saying that it IS ALL of the law that is accomplished in Love and that this includes the first part of the Ten Commandments regarding the degree of one’s focus upon God and the things of God. In the ideas of strange gods, of idols and of the way that one perceives God in Name, we should see the reality of the words from Deuteronomy where the Lord Jehovah says through Moses “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). It IS this idea that IS repeated by the Master as the first of the Great Commandments and it IS in this, which can be seen as a summation of the beginning of the Ten Commandments, that we should see the reality of the focus of the Truly spiritual man, the focus of the man who Truly seeks God. These ideas ARE also covered in Love as this IS Love for the Lord which IS found in the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the man who keeps His words; words that ARE ALL covered by Love. There IS a great circular reference here in these ideas of Love and this IS much the same as the reality of attaining His Presence, the Kingdom and the Truth of discipleship.
Of the Ten Commandments the most illusive for us is the commandment on the Sabbath where men accept the Jewish idea that this IS but a day that should be kept ‘holy’ for the Lord. The Master DOES NOT accept the Jewish ideas on the Sabbath and openly flaunts His own reality that “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27) as He DOES many things that ARE contrary to the accepted role of this idea in His day. One should ask why out of ALL the commandments the Master openly breaks this one commandment while at the same time telling us of the law that “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17), as He embarks upon a series of teachings that expand the other parts of the law so that most ALL can be seen in the context of Love. When we can see the idea of the Sabbath as that this IS a DAY to DO the work of the Lord and NOT the work of men, we will see much. This IS NOT however in the context of the things that a man may DO as the Jews still reckon this, not in the ideas of physical labor, nor sacrifice, nor attending to the worship of God for some brief time during a day; the reality of the Sabbath should be seen in the focus of the man upon the things of God. In this earliest of ideas that come from the Old Testament we should see that as part of the decree that men be ‘holy’ IS this decree that men should, at a minimum, focus upon the things of God this one day of every week.
It IS here, as we take this idea from the carnal view of the Jews in those days fourteen hundred years before the Advent of the Christ to the new dispensation of Love and of the reality of spiritual promises and rewards rather than the more worldly rewards afforded to men in that time, that the greater reality of the Sabbath should be understood. It IS here that we should try to see and to understand that in the teaching of the Master and of His apostles everyday IS the same, everyday should be held in the service of God which IS to keep His words and to Love. And it IS in the context of here and now, the context of “now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed“, that we should see the deeper reality of the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. We close here today with Jesus words that tell us that men should “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17); it IS in Repentance that we will “awake out of sleep“; it IS in Repentance that we find the Truth of our own salvation which IS our own realization of the Presence of God in our Life.
We leave our next selection from the Gospel of John which we will get back to in the next post.
“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).
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“
