Tag Archives: Pure in Heart

IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1949

ON LOVE; PART MDXLXVIII

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

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).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

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.

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

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).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

We ended the last essay with an esoteric saying that, if reflected upon in sincerity, can be seen as a True picture of the church today. These words ARE from a book published in 1947 but the idea that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^ IS as much a Truth today as it was over the centuries after “certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:3-4). While these words seem a harsh criticism of the church, and they ARE meant to be so, they ARE at the same time intended to paint a picture of the way that the carnal minds of men rejected the Truth that the Master and the original apostles and disciples of the day presented. We should understand here that this IS NOT a condemnation of ALL those who worked and risked their lives for the success of Christianity but rather a condemnation of those that changed the Truth to agree with their own carnal thoughts and then presented their doctrines as Truth. That so many believed the ‘lies’ is an indictment of a humanity that fell prey to the Master’s words saying “there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” as we read in the first part of our current selection from the twenty fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. In a previous essay we tried to show the relevance of the ‘stages’ cited in the Parable of the Sower to the abilities of men to Repent and Transform and these words play a part here as well. This IS especially True in the early church where men were faced with a direct choice; a choice to believe the unvarnished words of the apostles whose voices roared with Truth and the agape Love that flowed from their own Souls as “the sign of the Son of man in heaven“. It IS this Light of the Soul expressed by these True disciples that IS the reality of the idea of “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory“. ALL of this IS discussed in the last essay and while it can be a confusing array of ideas and words, our view IS far superior to the arbitrary assignment of the Master’s words to some man made end times theology.

In beginning with the idea that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^ we ARE highlighting the idea that the church has succumbed to the very ideas that the Master warned them against in saying such things as “many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” as well as His cautions, to His own disciples, “the very elect” if you will, that there will come a time when “they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers” saying that they should “believe it not“. In our reinterpretation of the Master’s words concerning the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD, words that are believed by many to be in regard to the end times, we ARE trying to show a Truth that has been hidden from the beginning. This Truth IS that it IS the Souls of men, acting in control of their carnal minds and bodies, that ARE “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), that ARE “the Son of man” who like lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west“. It IS “the sign of the Son of man in heaven” and “the Son of man” himself that IS “coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” rightly understood. ALL of this was our discussion in the last few essays and, as we said, these ARE difficult ideas to understand, especially when we try to DO so without the necessary measure of KNOWING that comes through our striving to keep His words. Repeating the first two parts of our selection we read:

Finishing the thought we began above regarding the state of the church, and how that this happened which we show through Jude’s words, we should remember the similar words from Peter that we cited in the end of the last essay, we cite today similar words from Paul. While Paul’s words have been taken to mean purely carnal behaviors that ARE embraced by the non-Christian man and by the sciences, there IS much more to understand. The apostle tells us “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 8:18-25). In these words IS yet another indictment of the church.

Continuing our discussion of our selection, we ARE currently on the Master’s words saying “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other“. While we have somewhat discussed the idea of “his angels“, the idea of sound and of the trumpet, we should summarize our thoughts here again. First, the idea of the Greek word angelos, sometimes aggelos, which IS rendered here as angels IS simply: a messenger 9a; it IS at times rendered as messenger in the King James Bible. The idea of angels which IS yet another word that has been popularized by men and their doctrines to pertain to ‘heavenly’ beings, ofttimes with wings and at times a halo. ALL of these ideas of angels ARE man made effects which some believe ARE loosely based on the unrelated ideas of the cherubims and seraphims of the Old Testament. While there IS NO definitive explanation of the idea of angels, we did in the last essay resolve the idea saying: What we see here IS that the Souls of men, their True identity, ARE the messengers of the Godhead to the human individual and perhaps on a broader more corporate scale through groups of disciples. The fundamental idea here IS that He, the Lord, “shall send his angels” and if we can see this through the idea that as Souls, as Spiritual Beings functioning in this realm as Souls, we ARE the messengers, the angels if you will, to our carnal selves. It IS the Soul that brings the Truth and agape Love of God into the Life of his carnal expression in this world and while this explanation relies somewhat on the esoterice idea of the Solar Angel, it IS by far a better understanding that the fantastical ideas that are bandied about in religion.

We should remember that most ALL of what the Master says IS either parabolic or IS clearly announced. If we look at His sayings individually we would find that those that ARE in regard to the actions of men in this world as they try to Repent and Transform ARE in clear language while those that pertain to the more mystical ideas and the inner workings of our Transformation are most always parabolic. The use of the Master’s parabolic language IS to protect the mysteries so as to ‘force’ men to develop the means to understand some measure of the Truths that the mysteries unveil. We should note that even when a mystery IS unveiled, it IS NOT understood by those that have NOT yet the measure of Truth in their lives that will enable them to comprehend the depth of the message. We need ONLY to look as some of the actual parables where even when they ARE explained ARE yet mysteries to most ALL despite their claim to understand the Master’s point. Such sayings as that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) ARE but words to most of the church which either CAN NOT understand the reality of the Kingdom being within, or IS using the idea to denote some doctrinal philosophy for which it was NOT intended. Similarly Paul’s words to the Colossians remain but words without depth of meaning for most ALL of the church. When Paul speaks of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27), he IS revealing a great mystery that remains a mystery to most ALL of the church.

So too ARE the words we ARE discussing where the idea that “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” has resulted in the various doctrinal ideas regarding an end times although this IS NOT the subject nor even alluded to by the Master’s words. Having said what we can about the idea of angels based in our own measure of Truth we should also address the idea of these angels being sent. The idea that “he shall send” IS rendered from the Greek word apostellō which IS the verb form of the noun apostolos which IS most often rendered as apostle. What we should see here IS that there IS a definite affinity between being sent and being an apostle which idea IS defined by Strong’s as: a delegate 9a before they go off into doctrinal ideas that ARE NOT contained in the word itself. Thayer’s tells us that apostolos IS: a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders 9. This idea then of being sent reflects upon the one being sent which in this case IS called “his angels“; this should be seen as an intentionally elusive idea. Again we must remember the context of these words which IS in relation to “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory“. The Master IS NOT telling us that in addition to “the Son of man” there will be angels despite the way that the ideas ARE perceived by most. His words on angels ARE a continuation of that preceding thought which can easily be understood as referencing the same idea; easily understood as that “the Son of man” IS the angel that IS sent. To understand this better we need ONLY look as the broad array of meanings behind the Greek word kai which IS rendered here as and. The entries defining this word kai are long and not suited for repeating here but we will cite the way that kai IS rendered in the King James Bible according to our lexicon. They list kai as being rendered as: and (8,173x), also (514x), even (108x), both (43x), then (20x), so (18x), likewise (13x), not tr. (350x), miscellaneous (31x), variations of ‘and’ (1x)2.

Next we come again to the Greek word phone which IS rendered as sound. As we said in the last essay the words “with a great sound of a trumpet” have been used by many doctrinal ‘scholars’ to be a sort of harbinger of the end times; the words ARE seemingly understood as that the ‘angels‘ will be sounding on a trumpet. This idea IS also a part of the Apostle John’s fantastical vision or dream as recorded in the Book of Revelations. Of course in the context of John’s writings the seven trumpets ARE sounded as warnings of fantastical happenings and we should note that despite John’s words being based in a dream or a vision of some sort, they ARE taken by many quite literally. Perhaps there IS some relationship between our current verse and John’s writings but, to be sure, neither should be taken literally. The Greek word phone IS defined by Strong’s as: a tone (articulate, bestial or artificial)9a. While this can be any sort of noise the idea of sound IS chosen over voice or another similar idea because the next word IS rendered as trumpet. The phrase “of a trumpet” IS rendered from the Greek word salpigx which IS always rendered as trumpet or trump but to arrive at this rendering took some creativity as the meaning of salpigx IS vague. Strongs tells us that salpigx IS: perhaps from G4535 (through the idea of quavering or reverberation) where G4235 IS salos, a word used ONLY once in the New Testament and rendered as wave while Strong’s defines it as a vibration 9a. The idea of a wave IS rather easy to arrive at from this obscure word because the context IS “the sea and the waves roaring” (Luke 21:25); in this phrase the idea of the sea IS rather fixed and waves works as the rendering of salos despite its supposed definition. We ARE spending this time on these words again to show that they may NOT even mean what they ARE translated to show thereby putting the doctrinal ideas to even greater question.

Remembering that the entirety of this section IS in regard to the sacking of Jerusalem, we should be able to discern a more accurate meaning. If we can see that the angel IS yet another reference to “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” which we discussed in the last essay, we can likely see that this “great sound of a trumpet” could easily be the voices of the sons of men, the disciples of the Lord…..His messengers if you will, making KNOWN the Truth. Again, regardless of how this verse IS viewed, doctrinally or as we cite here, the ideas ARE definitely parabolic and ARE NOT intended to be easily understood. The next idea presented by the Master IS yet more obscure as it tells of just what “his angels with a great sound of a trumpet” ARE DOING as they “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other“. Remember here that this IS after the tribulation that IS the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The phrase “they shall gather together” IS rendered from the Greek word episunago. For sure the Master IS speaking about “his angels” hence the addition of the idea “they shall” being added to this word that means gather and perhaps the added word together IS just a result of any gathering. We should understand that in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem none of this makes much sense but, as we did with the prior words regarding “his angels” and the sounding trumpet, we DO need to find a better understanding than the literal ideas available. As we have often said, much of the New Testament that IS taken literally by the doctrinal church IS parabolic and NOT subject to literal interpretation; at the same time much that IS clearly stated and should be taken literally IS NOT. Our trifecta IS a prime example of this as the Master’s words in the trifecta ARE clearly stated but either NOT understood or NOT accepted by much of the church as the Master’s literal instructions; repeating 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).

To be clear, the ideas of our trifecta show us the reality of the rewards that the church believes that they have acquired in the absence of following Jesus’ words. Most believe that they have the Truth in their doctrines, most believe that through their doctrines they will ‘go to heaven‘ and most believe that they have the Presence of the Lord in their lives. None of these beliefs can be True however without following in the Master’s words….without keeping His words; this IS the criteria. We have then clearly phrased ideas with specific benefits that ARE either NOT understood or simply NOT accepted as Truth. Returning to our rather obscure text which much of the church simply believes literally; many see: a pivotal end-times event where Jesus returns and sends angels, accompanied by a loud trumpet blast, to gather his “elect” (chosen believers) from all over the earth—represented by the “four winds” and “one end of heaven to the other”. This signifies the final assembly of God’s people from every corner of the world upon Christ’s return**. Of course none of this can be understood in the context of the events of 70 AD; for the purposes of the doctrinal ideas it seems, as it often does, that these verses have been removed from their context to be standalone ideas. Two essays back we did cite John Gill’s words for another verse in this chapter where he DOES place the ideas into the happenings of 70 AD and he DOES the same here; Mr. Gill tells us in regard to the whole phrase “and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” that: that is, by the ministration of the Gospel; the Spirit of God accompanying it with his power, and grace, the ministers of the word should gather out of the world unto Christ, and to his churches, such persons as God had, before the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ, unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; wherever they are under the whole heavens, from one end to another; or in any part of the earth, though at the greatest distance; for in ( Mark 13:27 ) it is said, “from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of the heaven” 8.

While His words here seem to lack the context of the destruction of Jerusalem, and while they DO show us other doctrinal ideas NOT related to the end times, they ALSO show us that it IS men, ministers of the word, that will do this gathering. This agrees with his earlier ideas on the nature of these angels where he says: Not the angels, i.e. ministering spirits, so called, not from their nature, but their office, as being sent forth by God and Christ; but men angels, or messengers, the ministers and preachers of the Gospel 8. We should note that Mr. Gill gives much power to the ordinary minister. In a context that seems removed from the events of 70 AD, he gives them power that we reserve in this context for the disciple and the saint. For those that Truly have some measure of the Powers shown us by the Master and qualified under His saying that “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). Here we have a clear statement that IS NOT accepted because it IS NOT understood as men DO NOT understand that the idea of “He that believeth on me” has a specific value; a value that we cite as: 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. Can we see the point here? Can we see that it IS the disciple that DOES this, that keeps His words, and that it IS the disciple that Truly DOES have such Power.

Again, putting the disciple, the saint if you will, into this context allows us to understand the idea that “and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” in terms similar to the ideas given to us by Mr. Gill; men angels, or messengers, the ministers and preachers of the Gospel. The context that Mr. Gill uses in these verses seems erratic as it at times sees the context as the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and at others sees some future time where he DOES NOT mention the end times but speaks in similar language to those that DO. Mr. Gill also adds in the Calvinistic view of predestination saying that the elect ARE: such persons as God had, before the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ, unto salvation. For us this idea of predestination makes NO sense as it sees an inequality in the world where those that ascribe to Calvinistic doctrines ARE considered predestined while the fate of others IS in limbo and apparently with NO recourse through Repentance and Transformation. It is NOT our intent to get into this here save to say that even among believers in predestination there ARE several schools of thought on how this would work. Also, it IS this idea of predestination that has led to the more general doctrinal view that man CAN NOT save himself; this for us IS but a misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture….ONLY a man can save himself through Repentance and Transformation. The idea of “his elect” IS tied to this predestination philosophy in much of the church but the reality of the Master’s intent IS NOT this. The Greek word autos which IS rendered as his has many meanings; it IS a most general pronoun that IS rendered in several ways while NOT being translated at ALL in nearly one third of its appearances in the New Testament. Here the idea IS rendered as his because of the presumed context where the elect ARE the elect of God. Similarly, in the beginning of the verse the idea that “he shall send” IS rendered from the single word apostellō which we discuss in some detail above.

While there may be alternatives to seeing autos as his, let us assume that we ARE talking about God, that these elect ARE his. What then IS this idea of elect which IS often rendered as chosen. Because there IS “no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11); because “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34), it seems quite illogical for there to be any who ARE elect or ARE chosen above others. The Greek word here IS eklektos and while the defining ideas in the lexicon and Thayers ARE strongly doctrinal ideas that result in the ideas of elect and chosen as these ARE fundamental to much of Christian doctrine, there IS a simpler way to see the idea. Strong’s tells us that eklektos IS an adjective and IS from the verb eklegomai which IS defined as the active idea of choosing. We could just presume that in our context the idea IS that which IS chosen but this would NOT be an adjective but rather a noun. While we ARE NOT Greek scholars, we can apply logic to our idea here and when we DO trace the lineage of the Greek word to a noun it IS eklogē which, while noted as a noun IS defined as a verb, as the act of picking out, choosing 2 by the lexicon. We should note that ALL the defining ideas for this group of Greek words ARE defined in terms of election and, from our perspective, this IS based more upon the doctrinal ideas of predestination than on actual definitions and can be seen as a source for the idea of predestination as it exists today. Bringing these ideas into our philosophy of the True Christian intent where it IS man, the carnal man in this world who IS awakened to the Presence of his own Soul, that Repents and Transforms and, in this view, he IS the one that chooses. Here then we could try to see that the disciples and saints will gather those that have chosen to follow the Truth “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other“. Can we see the point here?

The idea of the end times IS so baked into Christian doctrines that it IS impossible to change the minds of any who subscribe and this IS NOT our intention. Our intention in addressing these verses, verses that we had before avoided because of the complexity of the issues, IS to show the open minded a different view of Life in this world. Much of our writing has always been a combination of being anti-doctrine and pro the abilities of men to Repent and Transform and bring to Light the Truth and the agape Love that was the original message of the Master. Along the way we have tried to dispel the dogma of Christianity and promote the words of the Master and the clarifying and amplifying words of His apostles. Most ALL of what we have to say IS contrary to doctrine and for this we ARE likely seen as heretics, as among those that hold opinions or beliefs that contradict established doctrines. From this defining point of view we ARE heretics and we should try to see that from the time of the early church there were many who wholeheartedly disagreed with the doctrinal ideas set forth by those who has assumed authority over the spiritual lives of the masses. These too were called heretics and many were killed by this doctrinal reign of authority.

The church today IS stagnant and while some denominations ARE growing, this could be short-lived as the new adherents will soon become disillusioned as did those before them. Few seek the Truths that ARE beyond the doctrines of the churches and should they seek, there ARE few that can help them save for their own Souls and the words of the Master. To further the deterioration of the church there IS the politicization that is becoming rampant in some parts and, to be sure, those fighting against this must perforce also delve into a political agenda. Add to this the selfishness that abounds in much of the Pentecostal denominations that endorse a prosperity gospel. A selfishness that exhibits itself in the expectation that good will come to those that give based upon the idea that God wills believers to be rich, healthy, and happy. It IS in with these ideas in mind that we again repeat that esoteric saying that “The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre“^.

Our rant here IS based on the way that we see the ideas that we have been discussing over the last several posts. Ideas that put forth the reality that our subject verses ARE ONLY in regard to the sacking of Jerusalem while the church sees the roots of their end times theology. Moreover the Master’s words ARE a testimony and a prediction of the Power of the disciple in the world, a Power that was realized by many of the apostles and likely many since who in their humility DID NOT announce their discipleship. This disciple however IS NOT what the church believes; this disciple keeps His words and forsakes his carnal and mundane Life in pursuit of the Truth as he becomes an expression of that Truth and agape Love in this world. These discipleship ideas ARE NOT idle words, they ARE the criteria set by the Master, criteria that IS ignored by so many that claim that mantel.

We come now to the end of the second part of our selection where we read “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only“. We will begin with our discussion of these words in the next essay.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  GodPotencyAspect of ManIn Relation to the Great InvocationIn relation to the Christ
GOD, The FatherWill or PowerSpirit or LifeCenter where the Will of God IS KNOWNLife
Son, The ChristLove and WisdomSoul or Christ WithinHeart of GodTruth
Holy SpiritLight or ActivityLife WithinMind of GodWay

  • 2 New Testament Greek lexicon on biblestudytools.com
  • 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
  • 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
  • 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
  • 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
  • ** Google AI on Matthew 24:31
  • ^ From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust

Leave a Comment

Filed under Abundance of the Heart, Born Again, Bread of Life, Children of God, Christianity, Disciple of Christ, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, Light, Living in the Light, Reincarnation, Righteousness, Sons of God, The Beatitudes, The Good Shepherd, The Kingdom, The Words of Jesus