IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1732

ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXXI

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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).

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We ended the last essay in the midst of two separate discussions which, when seen spiritually ARE in reality but one main theme: Repentance, Transformation and Redemption through our expression of agape. Our primary discussion IS of course agape and our emphasis has been upon the Apostle Paul’s words in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. It IS here that Paul shows us that without such an expression a man IS nothing spiritually, that IS that he IS NOT seeking nor finding the Kingdom of God. Paul shows us as well that this expression of agape IS that “more excellent way” and here we should understand that it IS agape that overshadows ALL of what ARE presumed to be “spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1) gifts which ARE of NO True value in the absence of Love. “Spiritual gifts” ARE NOT things that a man can claim based in his doctrinal ideas of Truth; True “spiritual gifts” ARE founded in one’s ability to express agape which IS the essence of keeping His words which in turn IS the KEY to those True gifts that Jesus shows us in our trifecta. Repeating the Master’s words of our trifecta, we read:

• “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).

In these words ARE the reality of what Peter calls for us “exceeding great and precious promises“. It IS these promises that make of us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and it IS this “divine nature” that brings into one’s Life the Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence of God as the Master tells us in our trifecta. If we can see that those “greater works” (John 14:12) that the Master speaks of ARE based in having some measure of the “divine nature“, we can then more clearly see the reality that Jesus shows us as He compares the Kingdom of God to ideas that we can readily understand. We should see here that this “divine nature” has a price that the man in this world must pay, a price that IS outlined in our trifecta and which shows us the very nature of the True “spiritual gifts“. While there should be NO confusion found in the Master’s words, there IS. This confusion IS however created by the doctrinal thinker and NOT by the Master who shows us the uniformity of ideas that bring us such gifts. In the trifecta the emphasis IS clearly upon the idea of keeping His words but this emphasis has been displaced by doctrinal theologies that place the idea of ‘salvation‘ into some few words from Paul regarding affirmations and confessions and into the idea of sacraments providing a similar sense of ‘salvation‘. It IS keeping His words that bring us the Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence of God as we read in our trifecta and it IS this Truth that should be transported into Jesus’ other words on faith and believing from the Greek pistis and pisteuo. The nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing ignore the deeper ideas of KNOWING and here this KNOWING IS that we KNOW God; here again we lean toward Vincent’s words to show us the depth of such believing. Mr. Vincent tells us that: to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life ⁴. We should understand here that to accept Jesus as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge and even as King should result rather automatically in keeping His words but this IS NOT the case in the world. Men have ever found their own doctrinal aversions to the Truth of the Master’s words and then formed reasons that they believe allow for such aversions; ALL this from men’s misapplication and misunderstanding of the words of Paul. This is the most basic fault of the doctrines of men and it IS against this same fault that the prophets spoke; it IS against this fault the the Master speaks harshly to the Jews and it IS against this fault that the Christian should see his own doctrinal approach to God. Unfortunately the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see his fault but rather has convinced himself that Jesus’ words ARE directed ONLY to the Jews in His time; this IS the working of vanity, this IS the result of the illusion and the glamour that plague humanity. If the Christian world could see that the Master’s words include ALL men and NOT ONLY the Jews of His day, perhaps a True revival could happen in the Christian religion rather than the doctrinal manifestations of a purely emotional revivals that pose for the Truth. Jesus tells us that “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7) and it IS our realization of these words’ effect upon the whole of the Christian religion that can free men from the burden that they still DO NOT see.

Coming back to the Master’s words comparing the Kingdom of God to things that we can see and understand, we ARE yet left with the last item on our list. This last parabolic saying IS NOT a straight comparison as ARE those that precede it but IS a more cryptic and convoluted saying that must be analyzed in its entirety. We read the Master’s words saying that: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:47-52). We should note here that at the end of what IS considered to be the parable and its eschatological leaning, Jesus asks “Have ye understood all these things?” and despite their affirmative answer which may be True ONLY on the more human levels of understanding, the Master proceeds to explain the point in yet greater detail. Most authorities consider this parables’ end IS at the Master’s question and this IS based in their preconceived doctrinal ideas. In previous essays we discussed the variable ideas behind the Greek word aion which led us into a discussion that involved reincarnation and rebirth. Today we should try to see the deeper ideas at play here. If we can see that the Kingdom as the net IS an analogy to the way that ALL IS within the Kingdom of God we can then perhaps see that ALL IS His Kingdom in which ALL things exist. Considering ONLY men in this can make this clearer as the next analogy IS the separation of the good and the bad. Remembering Thayer’s words on the Greek word aion saying that this word is: so connected with ἄημι to breathe, blow, as to denote properly that which causes life, vital force ⁹ can perhaps show us that it IS the individual lives that ARE being separated. NOT “at the end of the world” as this IS rendered but in the end of a Life when that vital force IS removed from the body which it had animated. None of this fits in the doctrinal perspectives of the churches as it takes away the ideas of the end times which for some ARE overly important. However, in the reality of Life there IS much here to consider; we should remember that the Kingdom IS the net and that it IS the Souls of men that ARE gathered. Here we should try to see how that the good ARE those whose lives progressed spiritually, those who ARE, as Souls, destined to greater pursuits while the bad ARE, also as Souls, destined to a time in the afterlife that perhaps mimics the frustrations that they had in Life. We should understand here that for the good there IS a sense of freedom from what one had become in Life, a freedom from the personality while for the bad this personality Life continues but with NO possibility of satisfaction. Admittedly this IS a rather crude way to try to explain the afterlife difference between those who Truly strive to keep His words and those that follow the ways of the world, doctrinally religious or otherwise. As men without full realization of the Truth we can but surmise the realities of the afterlife and our point here IS to try to show that the subject here IS NOT eschatology but the nature of the Kingdom and its effects upon the Souls that ARE in the Kingdom. The most important yet unmentioned idea here IS realization; the realizations that come through our trifecta, the realizations that come through keeping His words. Again, we must see the analogies and understand the parabolic nature of the net as it relates to a fisherman or a group thereof.

Continuing, the Master goes on to show us that these fishermen are “the angels” and, remembering that aion IS reference to one’s Life in this world and not the world itself according to our premise, we can perhaps understand the angel as the Soul whose afterlife role IS to judge the value of the Life lived. Again, there IS NO True foundation for our depiction of Life and death but, at the same time, there is a logical portrayal of the actions of the Soul in regard to his Life in this world. A Life where his goal was to take the attention of the carnal mind off of the mundane and carnal and place it onto the Truth which the Soul itself embodies. While the church awaits a day of judgement where each man must stand before God, our portrayal encompasses the same ideas but without the artificially applied ideas of thrones and gates and a judgement by that “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“** that IS our God, a God that IS ofttimes imagined as a man upon a throne. The reality of judgement IS founded in the way that ALL Souls, ALL Spirit, IS One with this Absolute Reality whose Life IS the lives of ALL Souls here and ALL Spirit on every plane of existance. To understand this we must dispense with the carnally oriented ideas of a God that IS a personality as ARE men but perhaps on a higher plane with omniscience and omnipotence. This IS how the Greeks, the Romans and the Norsemen saw their sense of God as they separated His potencies into lesser Gods which interacted with humanity. In the end it IS perhaps better to see the idea of gravitation rather than judgement as the Souls of men gravitate to levels of Truth based in their lives in form and this as a rather ‘automatic’ response which every Soul KNOWS and understands. Finally the Master ends these parabolic ideas as he brings the reality back to the man in this world; here we should see the definiteness of a continuation through the starting words therefore. Here the separation IS applied to the living and NOT the picture of the death where the parables’ separation begins. Here the separation of the good and the bad IS applied to “every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven” as the good and those NOT so instructed as the bad. It IS the good that IS the householder which idea should be understood as the master of a house ^{9, 9a} as both Strong’s and Thayer’s show us. Can we see the point here? Can we see that the master of a house, the householder, IS the “scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven” and this through his focus upon the things of God? Can we see how that the householder IS the Soul expressing Truth and agape through his house, through his Life here in this world? Repeating the Master’s words on the Kingdom of God we read:

• “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof“
• “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old“” (Matthew 13:31-32, 33, 44, 45-46, 47-52).

We should note here that there IS a similarity between this last parable which IS listed above in its completeness and the parabolic ideas set forth in earlier in this chapter in the Parable of the Tares. Both ARE considered by the doctrinal church to be of an eschatological nature but should we apply to the Parable of the Tares the same ideas that we applied to the Master’s words comparing the Kingdom to a net, we can perhaps gain a new perspective and one that goes well with the final idea of the householder. We should remember that the whole idea of a parable IS to show us a Truth that IS cloaked in ideas that ARE NOT readily understandable and while some parables ARE easier to discern than others, it IS unwise to place the more complex into purely doctrinal terms such as found in the literal idea of “the end of the world“. If we should try to see that the Parable of the Tares builds upon the Parable of the Sower which immediately precedes it, perhaps we can find a KEY to its understanding. We must however blend the primary parable with the Master’s explanation of it so as to understand that the man who IS likened to the Kingdom IS the “Son of Man” which idea has perplexed men from the beginning. Here we should see that this idea should NOT be in caps as the reference can be, and we believe that it IS, to everyman that comes into this world….ALL ARE the sons of men. Again, should we look here at the individual Life, particularly the Life of the Soul, we should be able to see how that the “son of man” as a Soul finds that his Life, His field, IS sown with both tares and wheat. Here the idea of the harvest can be the realization of Truth by the man who has been able to Repent and to begin his Transformation; this man can discern the tares from the wheat, a discernment that IS NOT so easy for the carnal thinker. Here again we must understand the role of the enemy, that this IS NOT a personality such as the devil or Satan but rather the forces of vanity, the forces that keep men focused upon their little lives in this world by which they DO NOT see beyond the illusion and the glamour that this Life essentially IS. This IS a very personal view of the Life of every “son of man” whose goal IS ever to be able to separate the tares from the wheat, the vanity from the Truth and here we should remember that this vanity IS that perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴ as Vincent describes this universal obstacle of the Soul. Reading the parable and the Master’s explanation with these ideas in mind can perhaps clarify Jesus’ intent; the Master says:

• The Parable of the Tares IS rendered as “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:24-30).
• To this the Disciples ask “Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field” to which the Master replies “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:37-43).

We should note here that the Kingdom IS the man which Jesus later explains is the “son of man“. While the way that this IS portrayed in most ALL bible translations IS that this IS reference to Jesus according to His own appellation of Himself, this IS NOT the way that this should be read. One bible version, the Common English Version, renders this idea as “the Human One” and here by way of the capitalization of the words we can presume that the reference IS also the Master. In order to properly understand the ideas here one must be able to see the separation between the Soul, the divine version of man, and the form Life into which the Soul IS born. In the end, the idea IS much the same as the appellation of “Son of man” equally can apply to both but, in the course of a Life here in this world, the more personal idea can be more fruitful to our understanding. In this we should remember that this IS a parable and, by its design, it relies upon the discernment of the hearer to untangle the allegory and this despite Jesus’ explaining the meaning. In His explanation there IS a different tone than there IS in the original presentation to the general audience as Jesus’ gives His disciples a bit more guidance to understanding His words but, to be sure, He IS NOT clearly elucidating the idea which we should understand as a part of the mysteries of Life. This IS similar to the way that the Master tells and then explains the Parable of the Sower which IS found earlier in this same chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. To understand such mysteries we must perforce be focused upon the Truth and this focus in turn requires that a man keep His words or, as a minimum, strives to DO so. We should understand here that this IS NOT keeping the edicts of a doctrinal approach to God but IS keeping His words and commandments as this idea IS cited in our trifecta. This “son of man” sows his seed into the field which the Master tells us “is the world” and in this it should be easy to see the idea of a Soul taking on a form in this world of vanity, this world of illusion and glamour. Here then we have the idea of separation portrayed in terms of good and bad with the “good seed” being the reality of the Soul, the True “children of the kingdom“, and the bad being the tares, “the children of the wicked one” which Jesus shows us as the devil. This idea of diabolos, when seen as it IS properly translated as a calumniator by Thayer’s ⁹ and as a traducer ^9a by Strong’s IS NOT here intended to show that personality that has been assigned to this word by the doctrines of men. Neither of these English words ARE commonly used and a look back into the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary shows their meanings as:

• CALUMNIATOR, n. One who slanders; one who falsely and knowingly accuses another of a crime or offense, or maliciously propagates false accusations or reports ¹.
• TRADUCER, n. One that traduces; a slanderer; a calumniator ¹.

What we should see here IS that there IS NO relationship between these defining ideas for the Greek word diabolos and the doctrinal idea of the devil which IS but a transliteration of the Greek word. Perhaps the reality of this idea IS found in the same idea that the Master IS teaching us in this parable where the ‘twofold’ nature of man can be both the seeker and the denier of Truth. The carnal idea of personalizing diabolos and satanas as “the wicked one” IS a product of the doctrines of men who have ever sought some other personality to blame for their own shortcomings; the defining ideas DO NOT accord with doctrines while the transliteration of both allows for whatsoever men wish to apply. The essence of the idea IS captured by Paul who tells us 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” (Galatians 5:17) as he itemizes for us the very nature of each. To say then of the tares, “the children of the wicked one“, that “The enemy that sowed them is the devil” IS NOT Jesus agreeing with doctrinal ideas but rather that it IS the Greek diabolos that IS responsible. In this we should be able to see how that the “one who falsely and knowingly accuses another of a crime or offense” IS one’s own flesh represented by the carnal personality that IS yet caught in the vanity of Life, a personality that continually ‘rejects’ the prompting of the Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True….to the things of God. Seeing this parable in this way can break down a bit of the mystery that the Master embodies in His words but one must look away from the eschatological doctrinal ideas in order to see his own plight. We should add here that to understand this presentation against the doctrinal ideas, we must see that the Greek word aion IS NOT ONLY a reference to the world but also to Thayer’s revelation that this word is: so connected with ἄημι to breathe, blow, as to denote properly that which causes life, vital force ⁹. While our points here seem a ‘stretch’ of interpretation of intentionally parabolic ideas, they ARE NOT so against the Greek text and the meanings of the Greek words; they ARE ONLY a ‘stretch’ against the translated words which ARE rendered according to the preconceived ideas of men. In the end we should try to see that in the Life of everyman there IS the wheat, the “good seed“, that IS sown into Life by the Soul and the tares that ARE the result of being born into the vanity of Earthly Life compounded by the nurturing and indoctrination that everyman must endure. Can we see the point here? Can we understand that the opposition to Good IS found in our own selves, in the flesh that “lusteth against the Spirit” and keeps men bound. While the eschatological ideas attributed to this parable by most ALL doctrinal views can be rather easily seen by those of like mind, there IS a greater reality that IS Truly hidden and it IS this that men should try to see; it IS this that we ARE describing. Most ALL men DO NOT want to attribute such ideas to themselves and the eschatological view of the Master’s words alleviates such attributions by casting Jesus’ words as generalities which many see themselves free of based in their doctrines. If however we can see the purely personal ideas shown us here on the heels of the Parable of the Sower which shows us the differing spiritual attitudes of men, we can then see more clearly. These attitudes ARE shown us in the idea of the “way side” where the man DOES NOT hear at ALL from the Truth, the idea of the “stony places” where the man may hear but pays little attention as the din of his daily Life overcomes any of the Truth that he may have entertained. The next idea IS seed sown “among the thorns” where the Master shows us a man who DOES hear and attend to the Truth but NOT with enough force to overcome “the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:19, 20, 22); in this IS a picture of the rich young ruler of the gospels who would not give up his riches in exchange for the promise of “eternal life” but rather “went away grieved: for he had great possessions“(Mark 17, 22). Finally IS the idea of the man who hears, attends to and follows in the Truth (understandeth the word, receiveth it, and keepeth it as the three synoptic gospels show us this); it IS these four states of humanity that should be understood in the Parable of the Tares.

It IS the effects of the tares, the vanity in one’s Life that IS exacerbated by one’s nurturing and indoctrination, that result in three of these four states and in the potential to eliminate these states from one’s Life. In the Parable of the Tares we should try to see that these tares ARE incorporated into the Life of everyman and that they ARE NOT to be just pulled up as they ARE growing with the wheat “lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them” as it IS difficult to tell the one from the other. In this parable these tares and the wheat ARE the thoughts and attitudes that ARE growing in one’s Life, the wheat as the prompting of the Soul to the Truth and the tares as the prompting of the vanity, the product of the ways of this world. We should try to see that “the time of harvest” IS an arbitrary time in which we there IS the maturing of the man, the maturing of both the wheat and the tares, that point where one can be more easily distinguished from the other. In the Master’s explanation of this parable He speaks in more global terms but the essence IS the same. A man IS born into this world as a Soul in form with ALL the potential of a Christ-like Life; here is the analogy of the idea that “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man“, the Soul, and that “the field is the world“, the world of vanity, of illusion and of glamour. It IS ever a matter of choice whether to pull the tares from the field, from one’s Life in the world, or to allow them to live as one’s ongoing thoughts and attitudes which ARE yet mixed together with the wheat. Here we should note that unattended, the tares can overwhelm the wheat leaving as it were a field of weeds. ALL of the words that end Jesus’ explanation of the parable can be seen according to the individual ideas that we present here yet the doctrinal church has chosen to see ONLY the global ideas that can relate to their various theories of eschatology.

While we diverted our thoughts to cover the Parable of the Tares, we have yet to finalize our thoughts on the Parable of the Net, especially the final idea which most DO NOT see as a part of the parable. However, this IS with some purpose; the ideas garnered from the Parable of the Tares will help us to understand the deeper meanings of the Parable of the Net and perhaps allow us to see how ALL of these comparisons to the Kingdom of God ARE related to the Parable of the Sower which begins the Master’s discussion according to Matthew’s Gospel. We close today repeating our selection from Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians which IS our primary subject in these recent posts….agape. We should understand that it IS agape that IS the thread that runs unseen through ALL of these parables as there IS NO reality to the Kingdom of God for those who CAN NOT express this Love. Repeating Paul’s words we read:

“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity agape, it profiteth me nothing. Charity Agape suffereth long, and is kind; charity agape envieth not; charity agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ^9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
• ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher