\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<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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). <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\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, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\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).<\/p>\n\n\n\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<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We ended the last essay with some final thoughts on the concept of measure <\/em>as this IS presented to us in the gospels. As we discussed, the idea of measure <\/em>IS largely overlooked by the doctrinal church save for its karmic associations and while there may be some Truth to the karmic assertions, the idea of measure <\/em>IS much broader and affects everyman both carnally and spiritually. Carnally measure <\/em>should NOT point ONLY to karma but to the reality of cause and effect as it exists in this world. In most every endeavor the idea of measure <\/em>plays a part and this IS True both positively and negatively. Based upon the measure <\/em>of one’s effort in a marriage, a career, or in business and education, lies one’s resultant measure <\/em>of success. This IS NOT karma but similarities DO exist. Karma IS more related to ALL things that a person DOES, good or bad, while the idea that “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again<\/em>” (Matthew 7:2) should be our symbolic instruction for success. We see karma as a force of Life that IS both unpredictable and nebulous, while measure <\/em>IS just that….measure<\/em> and the idea could be equally framed in terms of effort. While measure <\/em>IS the translation for metron <\/em>in most ALL bible translations, it IS often turned to ideas of karma and retribution by those bible versions that offer thought-for-thought or paraphrasing as their model. It IS the word-for-word style of translation that allows us to better see past the ideas of men. However, as we have been discussing, karma IS NOT the intended direction of the idea of measure. <\/em>The idea of measure appears to be among those ideas that ARE intentionally hidden from clarity while, at the same time, ARE outwardly clear to those that can see past the doctrinal ideas of men. There ARE clearer indicators of karma in the New Testament and perhaps the clearest IS the words of the Apostle Paul who tells us “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting<\/em>” (Galatians 6:7-8). The apostle also adds this idea of karma as he tells us that it IS God that “Who will render to every man according to his deeds<\/em>” (Romans 2:6). It IS sowing<\/em> and reaping <\/em>that should be understood in terms of karma while the idea of measure<\/em> takes us to a higher place of instruction where we can learn that through the measure <\/em>that we exert, our efforts and our striving<\/em>, we will have an equal result in our lives. This IS an important but overlooked aspect of the Truth that the Master offers us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the concept of karma IS understood in the West as an aspect of reincarnation<\/em>, this IS NOT the ONLY view that we should take. Within the idea of karma ARE the concepts of cause and effect, reaping <\/em>and sowing<\/em>, and idea that ‘what goes around, comes around’. ALL of these things ARE True but the focus <\/em>of most IS on carnal ideas and NOT spiritual and, to be sure, the effects of each of these ideas can be nebulous. Spiritually however there IS a different construct that must be considered. Spiritually there IS a link between the ideas karma, cause and effect and reaping <\/em>and sowing <\/em>with the idea of reincarnation. However, since the Christian DOES NOT believe that this idea of rebirth IS valid, we will NOT pursue that here except to say that this Life we ‘enjoy’ in this world IS but a speck in time compared to the eternal Life of the Soul. It IS NOT feasible to believe that this live once and spend that eternity in either heaven or hell IS a Truth with NO evidence save for the teachings of doctrinal concepts and the varying stories of those who have had near death experiences. There IS more evidence to support reincarnation than there IS to deny it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality of the concept of measure<\/em>, based in the idea that “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again<\/em>“, however IS NOT karmic at ALL when rightly understood. It IS effective in this world in ways similar to cause and effect as one will reap <\/em>the ‘rewards<\/em>‘ of whatsoever one DOES effectively. Studying will reap <\/em>good grades, a good work ethic will result in promotion if one desires <\/em>that outcome. Faithfulness in a marriage will result in a marriage that endures and Truly striving <\/em>toward a goal will generally result in one’s achieving that goal. This IS measure <\/em>in this world as a carnal concept. Spiritually the idea takes on quite a different tone however. Spiritually the idea of measure <\/em>IS solely related to the inflow of Truth and agape <\/em>from the Soul. This inflow IS caused by our focus <\/em>upon the Truth and agape <\/em>Love through a variety of means and this IS to say that one need NOT be a Christian to enjoy the realities of the Master’s words. It IS the measure <\/em>of our focus <\/em>which IS the measure <\/em>that we mete and it IS the inflow of the Truth from the Soul that IS the response to that focus<\/em>. It is in this way, by measure<\/em>, that we ARE, as men in this world, treated to an ever increasing realization <\/strong><\/em>of the Truths and the mysteries <\/em>of which Paul tells us clearly that “Even 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<\/em>” (Colossians 1:26-27). As we have often discussed, the church has dulled these words in the minds of those who follow their doctrinal presentations by NOT understanding the reality of the mysteries <\/em>and to whom they ARE revealed. Paul tell us that this revelation <\/strong><\/em>IS to hagios <\/em>which word IS rendered as both saint <\/em>and most holy thing<\/em> 2<\/sup>, both accolades which the church sees fit to place upon themselves and their adherents. Nothing could be further from the Truth which most will never realize because their focus <\/em>IS upon their churches’ doctrines and NOT upon the Truth of the Master’s words. The Master’s intent in saying these things about measure <\/em>and the incorporation of them into the gospels IS NOT to merely cite idle words related to judgment<\/em>, hearing <\/em>and the misinterpreted ideas of giving <\/em>as they ARE presented. The Master’s intent IS to show us, as a separate idea, that “with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again<\/em>” (Luke 6:38) IS a fundamental reality in the spiritual lives of men, a reality that also has real world effects as we discussed above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest Way to understand this concept of measure <\/em>IS to understand the reality of keeping His words<\/em>. We ARE presented throughout the New Testament with admonitions to DO so but these admonitions ARE also neutered by much of the churches” doctrinal philosophies. Our clear example of the admonition to keep His words<\/em> IS found in our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>but there ARE many, many more verses and ideas that tell us this and that imply it without using the words. Let us look again at our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>and some of the other admonishments to keep His words<\/em> as we try to understand that in so DOING, we are giving our measure <\/em>of effort and ARE receiving an equal measure <\/em>of Truth from ‘above’. The Master tells us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should see first that it IS in keeping His words<\/em> that we become True disciples which IS the better understanding than becoming His “disciples indeed<\/em>“. The Greek word alethos <\/em>which IS rendered here as indeed <\/em>IS rendered in similar ways in other bible translations; “disciples for sure<\/em>“. “truly my disciples<\/em>” and “really my disciples<\/em>” ARE among the different ways that the idea IS rendered. The lexicon defines alethos <\/em>as: truly, of a truth, in reality, most certainly<\/em> 2<\/sup> while Strong’s defines it simply as Truly <\/em>9a<\/sup>. Alethos <\/em>IS rendered as “of a truth<\/em>” in several other appearances and “in truth<\/em>” once and it IS the relationship to Truth that we should see in the Master’s words. We should understand here as well that based upon the other criteria that the Master gives us for discipleship, it IS ONLY in keeping His words<\/em> that one can actually be His disciple. In Luke’s gospel we read that “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple<\/em>” and, after some examples outlining the ‘cost’ of discipleship, Jesus says “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple<\/em>” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). This IS the essence of True discipleship and we should understand here that these things ARE ONLY possible when we DO keep His words<\/em>. Discipleship IS NOT the ONLY ‘reward<\/em>‘ for keeping His words<\/em> however, there IS also the reality that “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free<\/em>\u201d. We should try to see that the idea of measure <\/em>moderates these ideas of discipleship and Truth so that we can KNOW a measure <\/em>of the Truth and be His disciple by measure<\/em>, aspirants if you will, as we strive <\/em>to keep His commandments<\/em> as it IS “with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again<\/em>” (Luke 6:38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the next part of our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>we have a very different dynamic that IS also a function of keeping His words<\/em> and, contrary to doctrinal religious thought, can be attained by measure<\/em>. That the idea IS framed in terms of the Father and His Will DOES NOT alter the Truth that we can “enter into the kingdom of heaven<\/em>” while we ARE yet in this world. This IS yet another of the mysteries <\/em>that IS partially revealed in scripture and actually spoken in one place in words that the doctrinal church DOES NOT accept as they choose to reframe them according to their beliefs. Jesus tells us that “behold, the kingdom of God is within you<\/em>” (Luke 17:21). Standing alone these words may be easy to deflect by doctrinal believers but when we conjoin them with Paul’s words above saying that the mystery <\/em>IS “Christ in you<\/em>“, the Kingdom Within becomes much clearer. If we can understand that the Christ IS ever in the Kingdom, our realization <\/strong><\/em>of the Christ Within IS the same as the realization <\/strong><\/em>that “the kingdom of God is within you<\/em>“. It IS our realization <\/strong><\/em>of these Truths that we gain by measure <\/em>as we move our minds from having an inkling of the Truth, to having some degree of certainty, to finally KNOWING the Truth. Can we see the point here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last part of out trifecta <\/strong><\/em>IS a clearly stated reality that IS ignored by most ALL of the church that believes first that they Love the Lord and second that they have the Lord within based in their doctrinal affirmations. This however IS NOT what the Master tells us as He says clearly that these things ONLY pertain to \u201cHe that hath my commandments, and keepeth them<\/em>“. Jesus could NOT be more clear on this which follows upon His admonition that “If ye love me, keep my commandments<\/em>” (John 14:15). We should try to understand here that it IS the one that Truly Loves the Master, Truly Loves God, that DOES keep His words<\/em>; the one IS NOT possible without the other. When we keep His words<\/em> we ARE expressing<\/em><\/strong> our Love for God and when we keep His words<\/em> we perforce also Love our neighbor<\/strong><\/em>. The greater point here however IS that when we keep His words<\/em>, when one “hath my commandments, and keepeth them<\/em>“, we have His Presence. It IS this realization <\/strong><\/em>that IS the same as our realization <\/em><\/strong>of the Christ Within and the Kingdom Within and, here again, our realization <\/strong><\/em>comes to us by measure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There ARE many more sayings that show us the reality of keeping His words<\/em>; let us cite a few here with some brief commentary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There ARE several other sayings and inferences regarding the idea of keeping His words<\/em> but these should suffice to show the force of the idea as the Way, the Truth and the Life of the disciple and the aspirant to discipleship. Here IS our dilemma; how to accurately show the church how that their doctrines neuter the words of the Master whose message IS agape <\/em>Love through the idea of keeping His words<\/em>. It has been the purpose of our blog posts to highlight this hypocrisy on the part of the church which seems to leave it to its members to be both hearers <\/em>and DOERS without any significant motivation offered by the church. Surely there ARE churches, and ministers and priests, that DO highlight the reality of keeping His words<\/em> as the KEY to True salvation <\/em>but these ARE too few and too far between. The church, rather than delving into the reality of teaching the Truth of the Master’s words, has chosen to teach doctrine. Many of these substitute the Truth with rites and rituals while others choose to get into social, political and cultural wars based on their own worldview rather than the worldview of the Master which IS highlighted by the singular idea that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. Still others have completely muted the line between carnal and spiritual by focusing their doctrines carnal things that ARE contrary to what the Apostle Peter shows us saying that we can “be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>” (2 Peter 1:4). This corruption<\/em>, this “bondage of corruption<\/em>” (Romans 8:21) as Paul frames the idea, IS further exacerbated by those who preach the prosperity gospel which IS but an adaptation of “the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>” presented in ‘biblical’ terms. These combine Old Testament ideas with selected New Testament sayings to create the illusion <\/strong>that the Lord wants men to be wealthy when so much of His actual words ARE contrary to this. In many cases the ONLY persons that Truly benefit, carnally to be sure, ARE the pastors and their families that run such churches and perhaps some members of the denomination’s hierarchy. It IS based on this diffusion of the Truth and the carnal aspects of most ALL doctrinal religions that we often post the idea that \u201cThe church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre<\/em>\u201c^. Of course when doctrinally oriented people read this statement from esoteric writings, they call the ideas occult and demean them, but any True look at the state of the church over the centuries and yet today will bear out this claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That the church ‘worships<\/em>‘ the Lord, IS yet another idea that can be disputed based in the failure of the church to teach the Truth of the Lord’s words. And Jesus cautions us against this saying clearly 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<\/em>” (Mark 7:6-7). Here the Master shows us that in “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men<\/em>” any sense of worship <\/em>IS in vain<\/em>. This warning however IS NOT heeded by any in the church, many of whom have convinced themselves that these words ARE ONLY directed at the Jews in His day. There IS however NO logic in this assertion nor any assertion that the words of the Master ARE directed at the Jews and it IS hypocritical that this ‘excuse’ IS used by some to favor their own doctrinal approaches. Surely, 2000 years later, it IS difficult to shed one’s doctrinal traditions but this was the Master’s point. His words on “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men<\/em>” come together with Jesus’ commentary on the ways of the Jews and their traditions<\/em>. To be sure, the ideas as “the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables<\/em>” and the manipulation by the Jews of the idea that men should “Honour thy father and thy mother<\/em>” (Mark 7:4, 10) ARE but examples of the ways that the Jews used doctrine over Truth. It IS this that causes the Master to tell the Jews’ leaders “If you had known what these words mean, \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice,\u2019you would not have condemned the innocent<\/em>“, repeating the words of the Prophet Hosea. This the Master tells the Jews after previously saying to them that they should “go and learn what this means: \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice<\/em>‘ ” (Matthew 12:7, 9:13). And what IS different today in both the Jews’ religion and the Christians? Just the nature of the traditions and perhaps the newness of some of the doctrinal ideas of both. So where IS the True worship<\/em>? It IS nowhere to be found according to the Master’s words and the message that we should take IS that True worship <\/em>IS a function of keeping His words<\/em>. We should remember here the Master’s only other words on worship <\/em>ARE in His conversation with the woman at the well in John’s Gospel; it IS there that we read His words saying “God is How then can the Lord be Truly worshipped<\/em>? The answer lies in how we define the idea of worship<\/em>. In the lexicon the idea of worship <\/em>IS offered to us in mostly carnal terms; they define the Greek word proskuneo <\/em>as: to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence; in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication<\/em> 2<\/sup>. These defining ideas seem more suitable to one’s greeting for a king or other high authority than one’s attitude toward the Lord. Today’s dictionary has a better view of the idea as it affects the psyches of men; we read that worship<\/em> IS: reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred<\/em>; formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage; adoring reverence or regard<\/em> *. While the lexicon offers us the ‘actions’ of \n
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a<\/s> Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth<\/em>” (John 4:23). In this we find the most basic Truth that “God is a<\/s> Spirit<\/em>” and we find the idea that True worship <\/em>CAN NOT be a carnal event and that it must revolve around the Truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n