ON LOVE; PART DLXI
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
“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
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
In the last essay we arrived at the end of the Master’s words from the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon in its entirety IS a treatise on the right conduct of the man in the world who IS seeking the Kingdom of God; the right conduct of the man who would be His disciple. We should understand that this IS NOT the complete picture; it is but the first building block upon which the Master continues to build; in the many other words that Jesus offers us there IS much more to be understood and accomplished for the reality of both of these High Callings and there are many parabolic teachings on the way that these ideas from the Sermon work out in the world and in the Life of the man who strives. That these words are addressed to His disciples IS a fact that IS borne out in the beginning statement that “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying” (Matthew 5:1-2) but any thought that these are addressed only to them IS NOT True; His words are intended for the multitudes and here we should try to understand the reality of His disciples, that they already KNOW and understand most ALL of these things that they are being told.
Even the Beatitudes which, while they ARE a picture of the nature of the disciple, are as well a picture of the promise to disciples for the benefit of the masses. While we have not looked at the Beatitudes in this way before, this view can add some Truth those little understood ideas of “poor in spirit,” or just poor as Luke tells us, and also the idea of mourning. To be sure these ideas have always confounded us and we have always recognized their parabolic value but in the idea that they are intended as the nature of a disciple comes added meaning. Here we can more clearly see that the disciple must make himself poor in this world in order to be rich in the spiritual reality that he strives toward and while we do not understand the relevance of the addition of spirit here, we should remember that this IS Greek word pneuma IS a word that IS little understood. Similarly the idea of mourning can be seen in a different light from the perspective of the disciple as he sees the plight of his brothers who are yet trapped in the world of illusion and glamour and KNOW NOT how to get out.
It is difficult to tell to whom the specific ideas of the Sermon are directed and instead of trying to divide this from that, perhaps it IS the better idea to see His words as directed toward ALL who can hear which would be much the same as things are today. NOT ALL hear His words the same; NOT ALL can see through the parabolic value of many of His sayings and not ALL interpret His words as they are intended to be interpreted which we KNOW IS spiritually. In the end then we should likely see the Sermon as addressed to ALL with the caveat that IS unspoken here of “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15); a caveat that still applies to His words today. Much of what Jesus tells us in this Sermon IS clearly stated but are perhaps ideas that can only be Truly realized in Life by the disciple who understands His Truth but, at the same time, these ideas ARE out there for the man who would attain the Kingdom, for him to see and to ponder if he so wishes. None could be so clear as those that He offers us on Love and on giving which we read again as:
“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” (Matthew 5:42-44).
“But I say unto you which hear, 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” (Luke 627-31).
In both versions we see the same clarity and while Luke may be more pointed in this group of verses, the same ideas are presented by Matthew across the whole of the Sermon. Our point here is to show these few ideas that ARE plain and clear and unencumbered by parabolic language; these words and ideas ARE already understood by the disciple and are likely presented in part for their reinforcement and in part to show to those gathered the Way of the disciple and the Way to the Kingdom of God. At the end of the Sermon as it IS presented by Matthew we have his own comments which tell us: “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Here, aside from KNOWING that the people heard the Master’s words and understood some part, we get the reality and the Truth of His teaching; that “he taught them as one having authority” and in this we should take the idea that Jesus IS teaching what He KNOWS to be True while the scribes teach what they had been taught. In this we should see and understand the nature of the disciple versus the nature of the ordinary teacher; the disciple KNOWS; the disciple is instructed from within as were the disciples in Jesus day who KNOW the Way of the disciple; our position on this idea IS as we have always said, that these men came among us as advanced Souls with a mission to be the Master’s ready help.
And this IS the reality of the idea of faith as the Master uses this word; that it means that KNOWING from within which we spoke of in the last post from a slightly different perspective. The disciple then and yet today KNOWS by way of the Christ Within, the anointing of which the Apostle John tells us “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). ALL men have this anointing, this unction, but few there are that realize it and express it through Life in this world. So the disciples KNOW much of the Truth, they realize it in their everyday consciousness and they express it. But, as we have seen in the Life of the Apostle Peter which IS carefully painted for us in the gospels and the Book of Acts, we should understand that there IS yet much for the True disciple to KNOW and to practice as he strives toward the yet greater reality of Christ Consciousness; that point of being as the Master. This IS that point of perfection that Jesus tells us of saying: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). We can see this as well in these words to His disciples from John’s Gospel: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, 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 31:32). Here we should understand that this Truth comes to the man who keeps His words, the man who IS focused upon the things God; this IS the disciple who continues in His word.
The Sermon on the Mount helps to keep the disciple on the Path focused on the Truth as he hears those things which, while he already KNOWS them, can be confused and confounded by the forces of the self in the world. As we previously discussed, we do see this in those times when the disciples quibble over their individual greatness and in the actions of James and John who desire a greater standing than the others. We see this as well in the seemingly simple comments that these same disciples make about those who are acting contrary to the Master’s presence; we read: “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:54-56). Here these disciples loose touch with the reality of that Love that they must express and this perhaps in anger against the attitudes of those men. We should see that while they DO KNOW, and while the Master has instructed them anew in the Sermon on the Mount, that they still need reinforcement and correction and this we see as well in the Life of Peter albeit on a more spiritual level. For the disciple this Sermon IS a lesson in forsaking ALL things which theme the Master revisits several times; here we find His Truth in the reality of “take no thought” a most difficult endeavor for ALL.
The Sermon on the Mount helps the aspirant, the man who IS striving to keep His words and to become the disciple and here we should see the acute and pointed parts of Jesus’ speech regarding Love and giving and ALL those other things that are required of a man in discipleship; here, as we have discussed, the overall theme in many parts of His words is the idea of forsaking; not only of things but of one’s thoughts, attitudes and actions in the world. The Master addresses Love and that one must NOT resist evil and He draws those comparisons between thinking a thing and doing it; He teaches not to be hypocritical in giving and in prayer and that one should do certain spiritual things in secret. He teaches that one should not choose the things of the world over the things of God and He teaches at the same time that there Truly IS a choice to be made. For the aspirant perhaps the most important part of His words are those that tell him to beware, to seek the fruit of His word in the teaching of others, and the reality that it IS ONLY by DOING that a man can achieve. Most ALL of this the disciple already KNOWS as these ideas are a part of being a disciple and a part of making a man a disciple; the aspirant however IS NOT so strong and for him these ideas ARE his signposts along the Way to the Kingdom; signposts that point the man who strives toward that strait gate.
For the ordinary man in the world the Sermon on the Mount stands as a reminder that there IS as cost and a price to pay if one desires to approach God in any meaningful way; this cost IS of course that a man strive to keep His words, that a man move from the ordinary to the aspirant and the ideas of the Sermon point the way with the promises of the Master’s words. From the Beatitudes to the idea of “treasures in heaven“; from His words on the Truth of Life for the man who can tread the narrow path to the benefit of keeping His words and standing as the house build on the rock; ALL of His words are directed at the Inner sense of the man in the world. It IS this Inner sense that must be awakened to the Love and the giving and to ALL things spiritual that the Master offers in this Sermon which IS intended for perhaps one single purpose which IS seen as He instructs His apostles in the end; to make disciples of ALL men. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear“.
That there IS something in the Sermon on the Mount for everyone who is Truly interested in his spiritual reality can be seen by any who will intelligently look at the Master’s words. Part commandments, part enlivening the commandments, part Jesus ideas on how one can make His words work in one’s Life and part caution about what one may believe and gaining entry into the Kingdom of God, the Sermon on the Mount covers many aspects of a man’s journey to that Kingdom. Most of ALL the Sermon centers in Love, in how one should treat his brother and how one should think of his own place in the world; it IS this sense of Love that IS the cornerstone of ALL of the Master’s teachings as well as the teachings of His apostles and we should remember that it IS in Love that a disciple stands as “the light of the world” and sees himself as “the salt of the Earth“.
The Sermon on the Mount IS instructions for divine living; it is a treatise on right conduct and a concise manual on nature of discipleship; how one would act and think. Most ALL else that the Master teaches is built upon the words of this Sermon. Perhaps we can look at His words here in this Sermon as the seed, the seed that brings forth the spiritual fruit in the Life of the man who can listen to His words and see himself in them.
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.
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:16-21).
Today’s Quote of the Day from the First Epistle of John is his reflection on God and on Love. John tells us that God is Love and, as we have discussed, Love is certainly as aspect and an attribute of the Godhead and one which is supremely represented by the Christ. John tells us further that without Love there is no relationship with God and likens the Truth of dwelling in Love to being in His Kingdom and in His Presence. He draws for us the idea of Love for ones fellowman being the prime prerequisite for Love of God for although one may say that he Loves God, it cannot be True unless he first Loves his fellowman. In John’s words the equation is certain: “he who loveth God love his brother also“. And, lest we forget that the idea of Love that the Master teaches in not the emotional attraction that we live with daily, we repeat again: LOVE is….
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’. To this we add the ever important High Ideal as taught by the Christ: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
