ON LOVE; PART MXXXV
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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 discussed again the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthians. We looked at his words in relation to the ideas of Love and keeping His words that we find in our trifecta and we showed several places in these words and in the other words of the apostles and the Master which show the equanimity of thought regarding Love. In the trifecta Love brings us the Presence of God and ALL of the revelations and realization that come in this Presence and this IS NO different that the unction that the Apostle John speaks of and which IS otherwise rendered as anointing. In previous essays we discussed this Greek word chrisma which IS rendered as anointing and we noted how that this IS related to charis which IS always rendered as Christ, but which means anointed.
In this we can see deeper into the relationships that ARE constructed for us in the various texts. In the last post we drew upon the idea of the revelation of the mysteries to equate the unction with Paul’s saying “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and here we can go yet further by showing how this unction, this anointing IS the Christ Within which we KNOW as the Soul. The whole idea of anointing IS rather misconstrued and misunderstood and IS subjected to a wide array of doctrinal ideas. For some there IS the presumed anointing of God which IS defined by some as “A physical experience where we feel the warm presence and glow of God upon our body” (www.doveministries.com); others may see what IS called a ‘prophetic’ anointing for which one first person definition IS “So when you experience the anointing, realize that it is going to bubble from deep inside. I feel it right in the pit of my stomach. I feel it sometimes like butterflies” (www.prophetic-network.com).
In our view both of these ideas are physical manifestations but they ARE NOT necessarily manifestation of a spiritual nature. While John shows us that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need* not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27), we should see that the whole of the matter IS NOT so simple as this IS made out by doctrines….this IS NOT to be found in the mere physical manifestations that we read of above. That people DO feel things IS fact, and the key word IS IS feel; and whether it IS warmth, or tingling or electric like sensations DOES NOT mean that one has a spiritual anointing.
For the Truth of anointing we need ONLY to refer again to our trifecta. When we take John’s words that say “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you” and see these together with Jesus’ own words from our trifecta 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“, we can see the Truth of this anointing more clearly. Both the abode and the abiding ARE from the same Greek ideas; meno which IS rendered as abide IS from mone which IS the root word and IS rendered as abode. We should note as well that another doctrinal idea, that of mansions in heaven, uses this same root word mone which IS rendered AS mansions and that there ARE some who teach that there ARE actual mansions in heaven. If we can look past his idea and see only the idea of mone as abode and then relate this to our ideas here on abiding and abode, we can then see the deeper idea which IS intimately tied to the reality that comes in the third part of our trifecta which we repeat again:
- “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).
- “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” (Matthew 7:21).
- “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).
Can we see the relationships here? Can we see how that the Presence of God, His abiding with a man, IS the same as the anointing and both ARE the realization by the man of the Presence of God, which IS the Christ Within, which IS the God Within, which IS the Holy Spirit and which IS the unction? Can we see as well how that it IS in the KNOWING, the faith, that comes in the same way as this abiding that IS the True revealer of having such anointing? And can we also see how that behind ALL of the parabolic ideas there IS a single thread of Truth that becomes the realization of the man who keeps His words; in this realization IS the Truth, the Presence, and the Kingdom and it IS the combination of these ideas that IS the Christ Within being realized and expressed by a this man in this world.
And such IS the reality of the mystery of the Christ Within to the man who IS Truly become the saint, the man who keeps His words and the man who strives to DO so. And we should relate this ALL to these other words from the apostles where we read of teaching; above John tells us that “the same anointing teacheth you of all things” while below we read that “the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual“. If we can read this selection according to our ideas above rather than according to the ideas of doctrine, we can better understand the apostle’s last words where he shows us the difference between spiritual and carnal from yet another perspective. We read again:
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But 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 2:9-14).
So who DOES have this anointing? IS it the man whose doctrines show ALL believers to be saints and which see this in the terms that we show above: as warmth, or tingling or electric like sensations. Or IS it the man who keeps His words who Jesus Himself shows us will have the Presence of God, the abiding Presence of God, in his Life? While much of doctrine teaches that keeping His words IS impossible and that it IS NOT necessary according to the various doctrines of grace, they DO NOT see nor understand the reality of measure nor DO they understand that it IS Jesus who set for us the Way, and the Truth and the Life….and ALL of these ARE in His words and His example and herein IS the clarity of His 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“.
When we can understand that Jesus’ words ARE the Way, the Truth and the Life and that He IS representative of these, we can then see the error of constructing doctrines that use His words as a wedge and as a divider. While so much of doctrine has created a wall from the Masters’s most simple words saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), a wall that has been the cause of so much of men’s factious behavior and the hatreds, the wrath and the strife that such divisions cause, they fail to see that these words ARE what He, His words and His example, represent in spiritual terms. Here we should try to see how that these doctrinal ideas ARE evidence of the Truth of Paul’s words above on spiritual discernment; and here we should try to see how that the way that Jesus’ words ARE interwoven into the context of the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel IS sorely missed.
As we cite above, it IS here in this fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel that we find the idea of abiding from the Greek word mone and it IS unfortunate that this whole idea IS rendered into most carnal terms like mansions, rooms, dwelling places and the like. We should see here the deeper idea of abiding as this IS shown to us later in this chapter, in the trifecta, and as this IS shown us in John’s Epistle in his words on the anointing as we have above. This abiding and this anointing ARE spiritual ideas regarding the very Presence of God….they ARE words that have NO carnal significance as IS applied to them in the doctrinal view. In this we should be able to see how that Paul’s ideas, ideas that ARE strongly against such carnal view of spiritual ideas, DO apply here where the deeper Truths ARE NOT discerned by those who have formulated such doctrines.
Of course NO one in the doctrinal church, NO one who formulates or teaches these doctrines of men, would accept Paul’s words as applying to himself and this IS of course the result of that illusion and glamour that encumbers men’s lives and causes them to NOT see even the clarity of the Master’s words. NO one will readily accept themselves as the subject of the apostle’s saying that “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“. Here, while they see our thinking as such foolishness, they DO NOT yet see how that their own view of the Master’s Truths IS in error and they DO NOT connect the idea of Truth from the apostles’ words to the Master’s.
The Apostle John tells us, in that great fourth chapter on Love from his epistle, that “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 4:6). In these words we will find most ALL believers seeing themselves on the positive side of these ideas without connecting the idea of Truth, and the “spirit of truth“, to Jesus words that tells us that it IS the man who keeps His words that “shall know the truth“. Indeed many ‘righteous’ men have played a part in developing the doctrines of men and while our words may seem to disparage them in this respect of True discipleship, we should try to see how that their interpretations of Jesus’ words and the words of His apostles, IS filtered through carnal personalities. It IS this inherent carnal sense of men that fails to see the most basic Truths that ARE brought to us in the Great Commandments which stand far from the political and social objectives of even the Church Fathers.
In the intended context, the Master’s words saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life” serve to show how that the Presence of God in one’s Life as the revealed mystery of “Christ in you” IS that Way, that Truth and the Life that overwhelms and overcomes one’s carnal existence. Vincent offers us some insight into the deeper meanings of this saying as he gives us these words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou shouldst pursue; the truth which thou shouldst believe; the life which thou shouldst hope for” (Thomas a Kempis, “Imitation of Christ,” iii., 56).
In these words we can find the essence of Jesus’ words as they ARE intended; that they should lead a man to pursue His Way much AS Jesus admonishes us in such saying as “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) which He says to Peter and Andrew and in this we KNOW that He DOES NOT refer merely to simply going with Him. Similarly the Master tells others that would be His disciples such things as “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22) and we should NOT forget that this IS also how Jesus calls Matthew to His service saying simply “Follow me” (Mark 2:14). There IS also His admonition to ALL that would be His disciples; to these Jesus says “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
This IS the Way: that a man follows the Lord which IS to keep His words and live by His example. This IS the Truth behind His words saying “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26) and in this we should see the depth of the Way: that this IS the Way of service to the Lord and focus upon the things of the Lord. The Truth IS of course in His words….His words ARE Truth and the One Truth by which men should live. The Master tells us that “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63) and, in our trifecta above, He tells us that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” thereby linking ALL Truth as One. And we should remember Jesus’ own prayer near the end of His time with us saying “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Can we see the idea of Truth that Jesus IS showing us?
Finally we should see the reality of Life, how that it IS in following Him and heeding His words as the One Truth that we find the True Life of the spiritual man, the Soul, expressing through that formally corrupt form. This IS the reality of being “born again” as we take full advantage of the Way, the Truth and the Life as a disciple of the Lord. While doctrines use His words as a divide between them and others who DO NOT see Jesus as Lord or who DO NOT KNOW of Him at ALL, the greater reality IS found in the unity that IS the expression of the Truly spiritual man, the man who keeps His precepts regardless of the source. And this expression IS that of Love which IS to focus upon the things of God and to see ALL men as fellow Souls on this journey through time and space.
We close today with our selection from Paul which we have been studying and here we should try to see how that ALL of this that we write above IS bound up in Paul’s ideas which ARE the “fruit of the Spirit“. The apostle tells us:
“For 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. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:17-24).
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.
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 a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
