{"id":9123,"date":"2014-02-27T18:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=9123"},"modified":"2014-02-27T18:20:59","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T23:20:59","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/27\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-961\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 961"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0DL<\/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
\n

“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

“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<\/em>” (Matthew 22:36-40).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the last essay we moved from the Master’s words on treasure<\/em> which offer is an understanding of focus<\/em> as one can attend to the treasures<\/em> of the world or to the treasures<\/em> in heaven. We must understand that these ARE NOT the same thing, that the ideas of the Master do not include ideas wealth and possession as those treasures<\/em> in heaven regardless of what we may do with what we have here in the Earth. The reality IS that these heavenly treasures<\/em> are the immediate Peace and Love and the presence of God in one’s Life here and now; they are the freedom from the ways and the temptations of the world and from the sometimes overwhelming dissatisfaction and disillusionment with one’s temporal success and existence in the world. Yes the man whose focus<\/em> is on the things of God IS still in the world but he IS NO longer of the world. It IS here that a man realizes those words of the Master in His prayer to the Father saying: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world<\/em>” (John 17:16). It IS here in His words on treasure<\/em> that a man should come to realize that it IS what is in one’s heart,<\/em><\/strong> what governs one’s consciousness, that IS his expression<\/em><\/strong> to the world and this He tells us in the simplicity of “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>“. We must ever understand the parabolic value to His words; here in the words treasure<\/em> and heart<\/em><\/strong> and also in the ideas Truly projected in His saying that:<\/span><\/p>\n

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh<\/em>” (Luke 6:45).<\/span><\/p>\n

This IS the way the Luke offers us the Master’s words which he includes as a part of his version of the Sermon on the Mount. When these words are said by Jesus does not matter as we seek here to take our conclusion that the Master’s use of this idea of speaking IS NOT limited to one’s speech but to the totality of a man’s expression<\/em><\/strong> to the world. Here we can relate the good treasure<\/em> to those “treasures in heaven<\/em>” and the evil treasures<\/em> as those “treasures upon earth<\/em>“; one of these IS a man’s expression<\/em><\/strong> to the world and while the shift to\u00a0“treasures in heaven<\/em>” does come by degree, it IS at the end point that a man IS complete.<\/span><\/p>\n

From this we moved to the Master’s words on the Light and His parabolic use of the idea of the eye, that it IS the eye that perceives the world and it IS the eye that also deflects this perception in favor of the promptings of the Soul. This IS NOT how we framed this in the last essay where we saw the eye as the perception but the reality here is the same. In this however we can perhaps see another way of understanding the use of the eye in this saying which we repeat here in combination with the previous so that we can get a better glimpse of how these work together:<\/span><\/p>\n

“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: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But 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!<\/em>” (Matthew 6:19-23).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the words about the Light and the eye we should see that single<\/em> eye as the man’s focus<\/em> upon the\u00a0“treasures in heaven<\/em>“; that the things that ARE important and that are the focus<\/em> of the man’s Life are the things of God and this IS or IS becoming His expression to the world as this becomes the “abundance of the heart<\/em>“. It IS this “good treasure of his heart<\/em>” that brings forth the Light of the Soul as one’s expression<\/em><\/strong>. Conversely when a man’s focus<\/em> IS on the\u00a0“treasures upon earth<\/em>“, when his thoughts, attitudes and actions are concerned with the self and the self in the world, this then IS his expression<\/strong><\/em> and from a spiritual perspective this IS darkness. It is important here to rightly understand the idea of evil as one’s focus upon the things of the world and this reality IS painted clearly for us by the apostles who tell us:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • “know 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>” (James 4:4).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • “And 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>” (Romans 12:2).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • “Love 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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”<\/em>\u00a0(1 John 2:15-17).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Can we see the point here? Doctrine generally does not as we can see in this commentary from John Gill on the quote from James:\u00a0know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God<\/em><\/strong>?\u00a0that an immoderate love for the good things of the world, and a prevailing desire after the evil things of it, and a delight in the company and conversation of the men of the world, and a conformity to, and compliance with, the sinful manners and customs of the world\u00a0<\/em>8<\/sup>. This of course IS NOT what the apostle says, this is the dilution of doctrine that seeks to protect the ways of the man in the world. While it may not be the intent of doctrine to dilute these words, this IS the message that comes across to the man in the world…that to live in the world one can and should partake of what some call blessings, worldly goods and favors. Most ALL men are instructed in both the religious and the secular worlds to strive<\/em> for the more and the better in the world and to even pray for such things as one would want of the world. This however IS not the idea presented by the Master nor by the apostles and here we should see that this idea of evil, of focus<\/em> upon the things of the world, IS NOT in and of itself a bad thing; from the perspective of the man in the world this IS just the way of Life. The idea of evil IS bad when is affects one’s brother, when it does harm to another; other than this evil IS merely misplaced focus<\/em> from a spiritual perspective and this evil IS what prevents a man from being accounted worthy<\/em> of the Kingdom. And this IS the point here in ALL these sayings; if a man is seeking the Kingdom and discipleship, then he MUST change his focus<\/em> to the things of God, the\u00a0“treasures in heaven<\/em>“, and his eye, what he looks at and for in Life, must become singularly focused <\/em>on\u00a0the Good, the Beautiful and the True.<\/span><\/p>\n

    These ARE difficult things to do as in these instructions IS the basis of forsaking and it IS this thought that the Master carries through in His next sayings. As we proceed we should keep in mind the Truths that are in the words of the apostles above regarding the world, how it and the things of Life in the world are to be eschewed by the man who is seeking the Kingdom; there IS NO halfway to accomplish this; there IS ONLY True Repentance<\/strong><\/em> which IS that decision<\/strong> to change the focus<\/em> of ones Life from the evil to the good, from the things of the world to the things of God. The Master’s next words are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    “No 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<\/em>” (Matthew 6:24).<\/span><\/p>\n

    For us these few words speak volumes but in this parabolic idea of serving<\/strong><\/em> the doctrinal world seems to be confounded; most do not understand the simplicity of the Master’s idea of the\u00a0treasures<\/em> of one’s heart<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0nor the reality of His words that “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness<\/em>“. And many DO NOT understand the Truth of sin and of evil as this is portrayed in the New Testament nor the true nature of treasure<\/em> and here of \u00a0mammon,<\/em> that these ARE NOT wealth and possessions only. There is no criteria attached to any of these ideas by the Master that would allow for an interpretation that includes or excludes certain things that are objectionable to man, there IS only the reality of the words; An example can be seen in this idea of mammon;<\/em> this word is generally understood as physical treasure and riches and, regarding this word as riches, the lexicon offers that mammon<\/em> IS:\u00a0riches (where it is personified and opposed to God)2<\/sup>. There IS no such criteria offered by the Master in this simple choice which can be seen as His presentation of the final idea as regards the preceding sayings on treasure<\/em> and the single<\/em> eye. Here IS the idea of God or mammon<\/em> which are representative of the\u00a0“treasures in heaven<\/em>” versus the\u00a0“treasures upon earth<\/em>” and the choice between the single<\/em> eye seeing the things of God against the evil eye seeing the things of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the reality that these words, mammon<\/em> and treasure,<\/em> DO NOT mean only the physical ideas of treasure,<\/em> riches and possessions is a great key to our understanding of the Master’s parabolic message. However, if these were to do only with the physical treasure, men have still found clever ways of divining the idea that one can have these and still attain the Kingdom; and this in the face of so many of the words of the Master and His apostles against being rich. But this IS NOT the extent of His meaning; the reality IS that these ideas are parabolically written and ALL have reference to ALL that a man will focus<\/em> upon, the things of the world or the things of God; a man’s treasure<\/em> can be from either side as can those things that he looks towards and here we see that in both of these ideas of focus<\/em> there IS that element of serving.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0In this idea of serving<\/em><\/strong> God we should remember the Master’s words saying: “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour<\/em>” (John 12:26); this IS the reality of serving<\/em><\/strong> God and, if one IS Truly following the Master, what is there of mammon<\/em> that would attract him?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Again we should say here that these ideas ARE for the man who would be accounted worthy<\/em> of the Kingdom; it IS this man that will strive<\/em> to keep His words<\/em> and it IS in striving<\/em> that a man will come to understand the True meaning of these ideas of treasure<\/em> and mammon<\/em> and the way that one looks at Life; seeking the Light or content in the darkness. This whole endeavor is a difficult one from the perspective of the man in the world but His words ARE His words and any clever ways that a man can invent that allow him to seek out and ‘enjoy’ the pleasures of the world will prove in the end to be futile efforts as the Way to the Kingdom IS in the Truth of His words. And it IS this self delusion of men that the Master addresses with His words on the difficultly of attaining the Kingdom and on the spiritual futility of NOT keeping His words<\/em>. On the former idea of the difficulty we read:<\/span><\/p>\n