{"id":10804,"date":"2014-12-31T16:45:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T21:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=10804"},"modified":"2015-01-01T12:58:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T17:58:39","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/31\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1212\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 1212"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0DCCCI<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

GoodWill\u00a0IS Love in Action<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n
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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<\/em>” (Mark 12:29-31).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/em> which IS generally rendered as Love,\u00a0we 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\u00a0of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our\u00a0One God<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/em>” (Matthew 7:12)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the last essay we were taken to the ideas behind the Master’s words saying “I have overcome the world<\/em>” as this\u00a0relates to the rest of the Truth of our spiritual reality in this world. That IS the reality of the grace<\/em> of God as the revelation<\/em><\/strong> and the realization<\/strong><\/em> of His Truth and His Presence which IS, in its fullness, the state of the True disciple and the man accounted worthy<\/em> of the Kingdom of God. While men may believe<\/em> that the Kingdom is a place to go after death\u00a0based in the various doctrines that teach these things, the Truth of the Kingdom remains in His words as that state of\u00a0being for that man who can keep His words<\/em>; it IS this man who will find that\u00a0“glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” (Romans 8:21) which IS the reality of True discipleship. The Master’s words ARE clear but they ARE distorted by the conventions of men who seek to place themselves into His words\u00a0without DOING the necessary work. The clarity of Jesus’ saying that “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<\/em>” (Matthew 7:21) should show men the True way to His Kingdom but this idea is discounted by doctrines that teach such things as John Gill’s interpretation which says of “the\u00a0will of my Father which is in heaven<\/em>” that this IS: \u00a0This, as it may regard private Christians, intends not merely outward obedience to the will of God, declared in his law, nor barely subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel; but more especially faith in Christ for life and salvation; which is the source of all true evangelical obedience, and without which nothing is acceptable to God<\/em> 8<\/span><\/sup>. Few see the reality of this saying and fewer still understand the similar reality behind the idea that “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 5:20). Can we see the scribes and the Pharisees as among those who would say\u00a0“Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say<\/em>” as so many do yet today and can we see how that in anything short of keeping His words,<\/em> the Kingdom of God, the very Presence of God in one’s Life, IS NOT possible as we read again in Jesus words from John’s Gospel:<\/span><\/p>\n

“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.\u00a0Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?\u00a0Jesus 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.\u00a0He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father\u2019s which sent me<\/em>”\u00a0(John 14:21-24).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the intertwining of ideas that show us that keeping His word<\/em> brings us the Kingdom, we read the same regarding discipleship as the Master tells us “”If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;\u00a0And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free<\/em>” (John 8:31-32) where we also find that it IS in discipleship that we are Truly free<\/em> and it IS in discipleship that we “shall know the truth<\/em>“. To this we must add the reality of His Presence from His words above that show us this as His manifesting<\/em> Himself and as His abiding<\/em>, with the Father, in the Life of the man who keeps His words<\/em>. We should see as well how that this reality of the Presence of God relates to the reality of the Kingdom Within which Jesus shows us saying “the kingdom of God is within you<\/em>” (Luke 17:21). In ALL of these ideas we should see the reality of the Kingdom, of discipleship, and of His Presence as the state of being of the man who keeps His words<\/em>, the man whose focus<\/em> IS squarely upon the things of God. And it IS here that we also find the Truth of righteousness;<\/em> in the saying above we find the man who calls upon the Lord as the man who may believe<\/em> himself righteous<\/em> and it IS here that we find the greater reality that unless this man “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven<\/em>“, that he will NOT have that righteousness<\/em> that will “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees<\/em>“, he will NOT have the righteousness<\/em> of God which we ARE admonished to seek after as Jesus tells us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness<\/em>” (Matthew 6:33).<\/span><\/p>\n

And it IS at the intersection of ALL of these ideas that we find the Truth of being “born again<\/em>” which idea describes the state of the man who IS accounted worthy<\/em> of the Kingdom of God. In Jesus words to Nicodemus we find this reality which shows us that being\u00a0“born again<\/em>” IS the same state of being as that of the disciple, the man who has the Presence of God in his Life through the common link to keeping His words<\/em>. As the Master tells us that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God<\/em>” (John 3:3) we should clearly see that to be “born again<\/em>”\u00a0IS to keep His words<\/em> and although the apostle uses different terms, we should see this same in the words of the Apostle John as he speaks of the man who IS “born of God<\/em>“. In John’s saying that “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him<\/em>“, we should see the relationship between believing<\/em> and keeping His words<\/em> via the very fact that both result in this same reality of being “born again<\/em>“, and we should NOT forget the deeper reality that if one believes<\/em> that He IS God, that He IS Lord, that we should keep His words\u00a0<\/em>as one would per force DO for any ruler. And John gives us further ties as well\u00a0saying: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God<\/em>” (John 3:9); in this we should see the state of being of the man who IS Truly “born again<\/em>“, that “he cannot sin, because he is born of God<\/em>” and in this we should see the deeper reality of righteousness<\/em>. We should see the importance of this idea as the apostle repeats it for us saying “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not<\/em>” (John 5:18). We should note here that the Greek word rendered as the phrase “that wicked one<\/em>” IS poneros<\/em> which IS generally rendered simply as evil and while doctrines have chosen to ascribe a personality to this evil, the greater Truth IS found in understanding this as the ways of the world and of men in the world; here we could see that it IS these things that DO NOT touch<\/em> the man who IS “born again<\/em>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

It IS with this in mind that we come to the idea of overcoming<\/em> which we began our essay with; the reality that the evil “toucheth him not<\/em>” IS the result of overcoming<\/em> the wiles of the flesh<\/em> and of the world and this IS the deeper Truth to the Master’s own saying that “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world<\/em>” (John 16:33). Again, as we discussed in the last essay, the gateway IS found in keeping His words<\/em> which IS the reality that must be seen in the way that John uses the ideas of believing<\/em> and of confessing<\/em>.\u00a0It IS in keeping His words<\/em> that we ARE able to do those “greater works<\/em>” and perhaps the greatest of these IS that we can “overcome the world<\/em>“. While the severity of these ideas of confessing<\/em> and believing<\/em> ARE missed by most and accounted as the simple carnal ways of men’s emotional and mental approach to God, the reality of His words IS evident in the idea that there ARE NONE who can DO such “greater works<\/em>” as He as there ARE NONE that Truly keep His words<\/em> and in this idea of NONE we reflect only upon the general population and NOT the few who have accomplished these things. If the simplicity of believing<\/em> and confession<\/em> could bring these things to bear on the Life of the man, that he could “overcome the world<\/em>“, be His True disciples and be accounted worthy<\/em> of the Kingdom of God, then the world would not be in the shape it IS in and has been in over the centuries of strife and wars. Similarly, if faith<\/em> in the common understanding, a Greek word that is closely allied to that rendered as believing<\/em>, were sufficient to move the mountain, there would be among us many who could change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so the apostle tells us that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world<\/em>” and then shows us that it IS the man who sees the Lord as the Son of God, the man who believes<\/em> that He IS God and thereby keeps His words<\/em>, that this IS the man who can DO as the Master, this IS the man who can “overcometh the world<\/em>“. This we read as John’s words saying “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?<\/em>” (1 John 5:4, 5). John furthers the reality of this intersection of words and phrases as we read “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God<\/em>” (1 John 4:15) and in this we should see how that this idea of confessing,<\/em> like the idea of believing,<\/em> ARE the reality of keeping His words<\/em> as this IS the way to have His Presence according to the Master’s own words above. There are many intersections of these words and here in these last few essays we have added the idea of overcoming<\/em> the world to the list of things that ARE equal in the spiritual reality of man. It IS the man who has overcome<\/em> that IS the Son of God in full realization<\/em><\/strong> of His own reality, the man who has attained to the Kingdom of God and the man to whom the promises that we find in the Book of Revelation will come; we read these again and extend our list:<\/span><\/p>\n