{"id":11468,"date":"2015-08-30T16:07:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T22:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=11468"},"modified":"2015-08-30T16:07:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-30T22:07:03","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1296","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/30\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1296\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 1296"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0CMXXXV<\/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

We ended the last essay with the Apostle Peter’s last words from our selection, his words regarding the very way to truly become “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>“. We should see here that the whole idea of the “divine nature<\/em>” IS the idea of God and that to partake<\/em> in this nature<\/em> IS to be as the Master and as the Apostle Peter who was able to DO\u00a0those “greater works<\/em>” that the Master promised to those who will keep His words<\/em>. It IS in the common understanding that men apply to the Greek words that so much of the Truth of Jesus message IS lost and so much of the ideas of the Old Testament and the words of the apostles ARE misconstrued and misapplied. And here we should try to see the apostle’s idea of “like precious faith<\/em>” as this IS the measure that he applies to becoming “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>“: that IS to have such KNOWING, which comes in the realizations<\/em><\/strong> and the revelations<\/strong><\/em> that ARE His grace<\/em> which comes\u00a0“unto you through the knowledge of God<\/em>“,\u00a0as he himself DOES.<\/span><\/p>\n

This measure IS NOT\u00a0applied by the apostle in any personal message or dictum of what men should DO to be like him; it IS rather a measure that IS ordained by Life itself and one that hinges on the ability of men to express<\/em><\/strong> the Truth in this Life through agape<\/em>\u00a0which IS DONE by escaping<\/em> “the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>“. It IS the fullness of this expression<\/em><\/strong> that IS the result of keeping His words<\/em> and it IS in keeping His words<\/em> that we come to KNOW God and to obtain that\u00a0“like precious faith<\/em>” of which Peter speaks. In the steady growth of the Kingdom of God in the Life of the man who Truly strives<\/em> to keep His words<\/em> there IS the steady growth of the Presence of God and the knowledge of the Truth which frees<\/em> men; these ARE the three parts of the trifecta<\/em><\/strong> which we repeat again below. While Peter IS speaking to men who ARE striving<\/em>, the result of fully becoming “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” IS reserved for the man who can live his mortal Life in the fullness of righteousness<\/em> which should NOT be misunderstood according to the ideas of men but should be seen in the Master words saying “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness<\/em>” (Matthew 6:33).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the apostle we see the reality of being “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” as we read of his growth from the fisherman to the True saint and see the trials and the tribulations in his Life as he works out his own problems and IS able to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>“. We should understand this phrase as having escaped<\/em> the ways of the world in thought, in attitude and in action and seeing ALL things in the Light of the Soul which IS the Light of the Christ and the God Within. Peter’s entrapment in the ways of men IS highlighted for us in the gospels as we read how that the Master frequently chastises the apostle for NOT seeing as one who IS freed<\/em> by “the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord<\/em>“, NOT seeing as one who IS “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” (Romans 8:21).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end we DO see Peter in the fullness of his expression<\/em><\/strong> of the Truth and as one who IS freed<\/em> by the Truth that comes to those who “continue in my word<\/em>” as the Master shows us. While we DO NOT read of the specifics of the apostle’s journey we DO KNOW his outcome by the measure of what he IS able to DO, by\u00a0those things that Peter could accomplish while still in the world and in the flesh as his mortal body becomes the expression<\/em> <\/strong>of the divine Light of the Soul. Peter is breaking chains, opening doors and healing by an act of will. He is a man who could move the mountain and fulfill the words of the Master who says to all men who can come to KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that: “ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you”<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 17:6).<\/span><\/p>\n

It IS in men’s failure to understand the depth of ideas behind the Greek words pistis<\/em> and pistueo<\/em> which ARE rendered as faith<\/em> and believing<\/em> that has resulted in the rather nebulous ideas that these carry in the doctrines of men. While the Master shows us the depth of faith<\/em> in His words above and in moving the mountain<\/em>, the reality of His ideas IS lost to men who see this as a function of the minds of men. We ARE not left to wander about in these ideas however as across the gospels we see that the idea of \u00a0having “faith as a grain of mustard seed<\/em>” (Matthew 17:20) IS the same idea as the Apostle Matthew later shows us in\u00a0the Master’s framing that thought as\u00a0“If ye have faith, and doubt not<\/em>” (Matthew 21:21). We can see the idea of faith<\/em> more clearly when we see these ideas together and yet clearer when we include the Apostle Mark’s reporting of Jesus’ words as He says that to move this mountain one must “not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass<\/em>” (Mark 11:23). In these ideas we have the intersection of faith<\/em> and believing<\/em> and it IS here that we should see that this IS that KNOWING that comes in one’s realization<\/em><\/strong> of the Truth which IS one’s “knowledge of God<\/em>” as Peter shows us in our selection from Peter’s Second Epistle which we read again:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:\u00a0Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,\u00a0According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:\u00a0Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>” (2 Peter 1:1-4)<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as men’s failure to understand the\u00a0depth of ideas behind the Greek words pistis<\/em> and pistueo\u00a0<\/em>which ARE positive values in Life, so they fail also to understand the depth of the more negative ideas of sin<\/em>, of evil<\/em> and, from our selection above, lust<\/em>. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible shows us a\u00a0most common view of Peter’s idea of corruption<\/em> and lust<\/em> saying that:\u00a0not the corruption and depravity of nature, which is never escaped by any, nor got rid of so long as the saints are in the world; but the corrupt manners of the world, or those corruptions and vices which, are prevalent in the world, and under the power and dominion of which the world lies; and particularly the sins of uncleanness, adultery, incest, sodomy, and such like filthy and unnatural lusts, which abounded in the world<\/em>\u00a08<\/span><\/sup>. While the reality of lust<\/em> IS desire or strong desire, this IS lost in the ways that men see themselves; they DO NOT realize the apostle’s intent which IS that the Way to become “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” IS to escape<\/em> the desires of the flesh,<\/em> the mind and the emotions for the things of the world, or the\u00a0“cares and riches and pleasures of this life<\/em>” (Luke 8:14) as the Master tells us.<\/span><\/p>\n

So long as lust<\/em> is interpreted as the desire for grosser things in Life ONLY, the point that both Jesus and Peter ARE making will be lost. Similarly, as men see sin and evil in ONLY the grossest terms, so they miss the greater point behind the apostle’s words saying “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God<\/em>” (Romans 3:23) as this applies to ALL men who DO NOT have the fullness of KNOWING\u00a0which\u00a0IS one’s\u00a0fullness of the realization<\/strong> of the Truth. The reality IS found in the spiritual view of Life which IS a view that shows that dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual as shown to us by the Master and His apostles. Our escape<\/em>, our being made free<\/em> and delivered<\/em><\/strong> from the corruption<\/em>, IS based in this separation and it IS “through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue<\/em>” that men will come to see this reality and understand the deeper ideas of the apostles which we repeat here again along with Peter’s words:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • The Apostle John tells us: \u201cLove not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him<\/em>\u201d (1 John 2:5).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The Apostle James tells us: \u201cknow ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God<\/em>\u201d (James 4:4).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The Apostle Paul tells us: \u201cAnd be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God<\/em>\u201d (Romans 12:2).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The Apostle Paul also tells us: \u201cFor the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness<\/em>\u201d (1 Corinthians 3:19).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • And the Apostle Peter shows\u00a0us, in our selection above,\u00a0the Way to become “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>“; that this IS DONE by escaping<\/em>\u00a0or, better, fleeing from or to escape\u00a0by flight<\/em> 4<\/sup>\u00a0as Vincent shows us, “the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>“.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    These words are the apostles’ iterations of the Master’s own words of freedom<\/em> which He frames for us in terms of treasure<\/em> and our own choice of the focus<\/em> of our lives. While somewhat parabolic the intent of Jesus’s words should shine trough as He tells us about the”treasure of the heart<\/em>“, both in terms of good<\/em> and evil and in terms of our focus<\/em> which we should clearly see in His words saying: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal : 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>” (Matthew 6:19-21). That this Greek word\u00a0thesauros<\/em> IS seen only as riches and possessions misses the Master’s parabolic point and this misunderstanding flows into Jesus’ other use of thesauros<\/em>\u00a0where we read “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things<\/em>” (Matthew 12:35). In these words that show the further relationship of treasure<\/em> and the heart,<\/em><\/strong> the consciousness of the man in this world, men should be able to see Jesus’ intent and understand that this treasure<\/em> IS what IS important to a man….what IS his focus<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    There ARE NO riches and possessions in heaven<\/em> and it IS NOT the physical things that the Master speaks against here but rather it IS the thoughts and the attitudes of men….that they ARE focused<\/em> upon the things of God or upon the things of the world. And there IS NO fine line here but a very broad delineation\u00a0between the carnal and the spiritual as we see in the apostles’ words above. There IS NO corruption<\/em> of the things of God, NO corruption<\/em> in the thoughts and attitudes that ARE focused<\/em> in God and in the Truth of His word, but there IS much corruption,<\/em> much of the working of vanity,<\/em> of illusion<\/strong> and of glamour<\/strong>,\u00a0in men’s thoughts and attitudes about the self and the things of the self and this regardless of how lofty one may perceive his own ideas to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

    These ideas are shown to us in a rather repetitive way in Matthew’s Gospel and while His words on the “light of the body is the eye<\/em>” can seem rather cryptic, the reality can be found in His showing us how that the single eye<\/em>, the eye<\/em> that IS focused<\/em> in the things of God, can bring the Light of the Soul into the body while the evil eye, the eye that serves<\/em>\u00a0two\u00a0masters, keeps the body in darkness as the lust<\/em>, the desires, for the things of the world keep men in corruption<\/em>. We read His continuing words saying “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.\u00a0But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!\u00a0No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.\u00a0Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life<\/em>” (Matthew 6:22-25).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Similar to the misunderstood meanings of treasure<\/em> in Jesus parabolic tone and similar to the misunderstood idea of evil, we have the misunderstood and misapplied ideas given to the Greek word mammonas<\/em> which IS rendered as mammon<\/em> and, again, IS thought to refer to treasure<\/em> and to riches in a physical sense. In the context of ALL these words from the Master we should be able to see how that mammon<\/em> IS this same idea of corruption<\/em>, this same idea of the world, and the reality here IS that a man will serve<\/em>, with focus<\/em>\u00a0on if you will, one or the other….that one\u00a0“cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>“; and again this IS regardless how lofty one may perceive his own ideas to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

    We close today by showing that\u00a0the Master IS NOT done with this idea of focus<\/em> as he goes on to yet another misunderstood idea as He tells us to “Take no thought for your life<\/em>“. When we can see the True intent here and understand that this IS a continuation of His theme, we can see yet another way that He shows us to keep His words<\/em> which IS the result of one’s focus<\/em> upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True….ones focus<\/em> upon the things of God. We repeat here our trifecta<\/em><\/strong> of spiritual reality which we mention above and which we will continue with in the next post.<\/span><\/p>\n