{"id":9453,"date":"2014-04-11T18:08:01","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T22:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=9453"},"modified":"2014-04-11T18:08:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T22:08:01","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1004\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 1004"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0DXCIII<\/span><\/h2>\n
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GoodWill\u00a0IS Love in Action<\/span><\/h2>\n
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“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

We ended our last essay discussing our thoughts on the first part of the Apostle James’ words on the Wisdom from above where he speaks about what IS NOT that Wisdom saying: “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work<\/em>” (James 3:14). Here in the apostle’s words “bitter envying and strife in your hearts<\/em>” there is little clarity of what he means as these words are again among the more obscure Greek words that he could have used. In yesterday’s post we explored some to the interpretations of this part of the saying as well as the reality of the translated words and we found that there IS NO consistency in the commentaries nor IS there any agreement on the meaning of the words. Vincent tells us that he word rendered as envy<\/em> is better seen as emulation and on this the Commentary Critical\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0agrees but they see the overall saying in relation to the doctrinal idea of harsh teaching and see “bitter envying and strife in your hearts<\/em>” as boasting about one’s own Wisdom. Mr. Gill 8\u00a0<\/sup>on the other hand sees this as that the man who has this “bitter envying and strife<\/em>” is asserting himself because he is envious of others and seeks to outdo them. We posted at the end of our essay the Webster’s 1828 definition of emulation and it IS here that we find some better ideas for what James IS saying in this regard which, while similar to the ideas above from Mr. Gill and the Commentary Critical, offers us different motivation insofar as this attitude and Vincent helps us here by suggesting that this envying<\/em> IS better seen as self-devotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

That this is a difficult Greek word is evident in the usage and in the definitions afforded it by the lexicon where we read that zelos<\/em> means:\u00a0excitement of mind, ardour, fervour of spirit zeal, ardour in embracing, pursuing, defending anything zeal in behalf of, for a person or thing;\u00a0the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal;\u00a0an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy<\/em> 2<\/sup>. As we noted yesterday, these ideas of zeal and envy,<\/em> even in bitterness,<\/em> CAN NOT give us a clear understanding of what is the state of the man for whom True Wisdom does not come and here we should understand the nature of James’ words which ARE saying that the Wisdom that this man has IS NOT from above. These ideas of\u00a0“bitter envying and strife<\/em>” ARE far too limiting as regards who it would be that would be seeing Wisdom falsely and, like so many of the apostles sayings and words, we should be seeing the deeper ideas of the thoughts and the attitudes of the man; that they are oriented toward the self. Here, while the link to teaching IS included in these ideas, they should be seen in a much broader way and as a tool in helping to understand one’s own nature insofar as Wisdom is concerned. We should remember that these ideas are understood differently by the aspirant and the disciple who as a general rule DOES NOT have this sense of self but can easily be drawn into a sense of ‘my way’ and ‘my idea’ as he lives in the world of duality; the ordinary man IS NOT concerned with these ideas as he does not recognize their existence nor the potency of the self in such spiritual pursuits.<\/span><\/p>\n

The apostle tells us then that if a man believes that he IS Wise and at the same time has a strong sense of his own self and his own rightness, glamour<\/strong> is clearly seen here, he IS wrong in assuming that his Wisdom IS from above and, on the other side, he should KNOW that this wisdom IS from below, Earthly and carnal. We should see the other word that IS rendered as strife<\/em> in this same way; here Vincent tells us that strife<\/em> IS a wrong rendering of this word which should be seen as factious and which implies a man who is given to faction or support of the views of one’s own group in opposition to others; in this we can see the sense of doctrine. In the combination here we should see that if one holds strong attitudes and thoughts regrading belief in one’s own Wisdom, or in the Wisdom of his particular sect or group, and holds these in opposition to others in a sense of righteousness, that this Wisdom IS “earthly, sensual, devilish<\/em>“. In its link to teaching we should see the reality that these contentious things should not be taught to others and hence the apostle’s warning that we “be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation<\/em>” (James 3:1). In general we should try to see that it IS the sense of self that IS of importance here, that what one may think IS Wisdom DOES NOT concern the self nor one’s beliefs but rather meets the qualification that the apostle presents next as what IS Wisdom from above as we read: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy<\/em>” (James 3:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

While the earlier ideas of what Wisdom IS NOT from above center around the type of person who IS seeking this Wisdom which we interpret here as the person who IS self-devoted, as Vincent frames this, rather that devoted to the things of God, the apostles ideas on what IS Wisdom from above center upon what IS the nature of the Wisdom itself. Here we can link James words on the type of person, the person given to the Truth of\u00a0“bitter envying and strife<\/em>” rather than the doctrinal ideas of envy and contentious rivalry as strife, to the ideas from the first chapter where he can ask God for Wisdom but that he must “ask in faith, nothing wavering<\/em>” in order to receive. In this idea of “nothing wavering<\/em>” we should understand the single-minded man as the apostle defines for us the reality of the man who wavers saying that a “double minded man is unstable in all his ways<\/em>”\u00a0(James 1:6, 8). The spiritual impact here IS that the single-minded man IS focused<\/em> upon God and God alone while the double-minded man IS focused<\/em> upon himself as a man in the world who may hear the call of his own Soul but chooses to ignore it or pay it little attention. While we try to paint this in a broader way for most men, we should remember that James IS speaking to aspirants and disciples for whom this can make better sense as this man should be focused<\/em> on the things of God but chooses at times to entertain the temptations of the things of the world. We should understand here that these temptations need NOT be the to the gross things of the world, they just need to be those things that distract a man from the Truth, and ALL of these attractions will be for the lower self, the personality in the world; the ideas of self-devotion, the idea of keeping and promoting ones own thoughts and attitudes or those of ones ‘faction’, ARE a part of the attractions of the lower self. And this can be the teacher who teaches his own version of reality, the teacher who has convinced himself that his views are right, that slavery is allowed under the law for example, or this can be any man who believes such things and believes that they are Wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

James says that this man who believes those self-oriented things should “glory not, and lie not against the truth<\/em>” and in this idea there IS much that IS unsaid as this includes ALL thoughts and attitudes that a man can have which are “against the truth<\/em>“. In this one can see his True place whensoever he looks at things in the light of day and NOT in the self-prepared cover of protection with which he deludes<\/strong> himself. Slavery here IS a good historic example and there ARE many similar ideas that afflict man yet today and most ALL of these are contrary to the Truth of Universal Love; that Love for one’s neighbor, ALL neighbors, that DOES NOT have even a tinge of partisanship nor favor; Love that has NO “respect to persons<\/em>“. The apostle’s point here and in the first chapter IS that if a man IS NOT focused<\/em> upon God, that the Wisdom that he may believe IS True Wisdom from above IS NOT; it IS “earthly, sensual, devilish<\/em>“. Here again we should note the reality of these things operating by degree and that there IS revelation<\/strong><\/em> to the man who Truly strives<\/em> to focus<\/em> upon the things of God and it IS the bits of realization<\/strong><\/em> that one receives that help him to keep his focus<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our words we ARE offering teaching and we are subject to these same things that the apostle speaks about; we wrangle with temptation and we at times waver and we believe that our view IS the more correct one. We DO what we DO however in full understanding of the words of the Master and his apostles and we DO so without building cover or creating doctrines of cover behind which we can practice the convenient things while making allowances for the inconvenient ideas of Love. But what of our words here about things spiritual working out in Life by degree? There is no specific scripture for this save that one we adopted to cover our idea as we use the Master’s words “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able<\/em>” (Luke 13:24). While we see this by experience, while we see the continued revelations<\/strong><\/em> and realizations<\/strong><\/em> while we are still wavering and prone to temptation, these ARE for those who hear<\/em> us but words. Perhaps the difference IS that we DO naught for our own benefit; the ideas on degree DO NOT make us any more worthy of the Kingdom as we KNOW that the reality of the Kingdom IS in the totality of keeping His words<\/em> and that it IS toward this that we strive….not<\/em> the Kingdom per se but the totality of keeping His words<\/em>. Aside from our own ideas here our words are just words and we ourselves must beware of our own teaching and understand that there IS a greater burden upon us for doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n

ALL this aside, we have James’ words as guidance and while he does tell us that the person whose focus<\/em> is in the self and things of the self DOES NOT receive the revelations<\/strong><\/em> of Wisdom, he tells us also of the qualities of those things that ARE from above, those things that are the revelations<\/em><\/strong> and we should note that his list includes naught that is for the self in the world. These ARE the qualities of the thoughts and attitudes from above that we develop and have; they are: “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy<\/em>“. There IS much confusion regarding some of these words as some are rendered differently by translators and viewed differently in commentary but here, even in the more restrictive meanings that may be applied, we should see the reality of the apostle’s intent. For us these words of of great importance as they define what we KNOW as Truth and if what we KNOW as Truth DOES NOT meet this criteria, then it IS NOT Truth. There are many versions of Truth but there IS ONLY one Truth and the reason that there ARE versions IS because men have selected alternatives that better match their own view and their own Lifestyle. In an effort to best understand these ideas on what IS Wisdom from above, we look again at the words and their meanings; we use here some ideas from previous posts with along with our more current thinking on these things:<\/span><\/p>\n