6
Salvation This Day
This day is salvation come to this house. Jesus to Zacchaeus Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. Jesus
I have tried to show, in the five foregoing chapters, that the Teaching of Jesus is based entirely on the perfection of conduct, and can be summed up in the one word Goodness. Jesus manifested this Goodness in his life, and his Teaching is vitally powerful because it is rooted in his life, his conduct. His command, "Follow me," is literal and actual, not in the sense of a slavish imitation of the external details of his life, but in scaling (as he scaled) the heights of Goodness and Pity and Love by the conquest of self. The glory of his Teaching is embodied in his precepts, as the splendor of his life is wrapped up in them, and he who adopts those precepts as the guides of his life will so perfect his conduct by purifying the inward springs of thought and action as to become a spiritualized and sinless being, fulfilling the whole duty of life and the purpose of existence. Herein also is contained complete salvation, namely, freedom from sin.
The word salvation is only mentioned by Jesus twice, and only one of these utterances (that to Zacchaeus) can be said to have any vital significance for us; yet in that one brief statement we are fully enlightened as to its meaning by virtue of its pointed application to the altered conduct of Zacchaeus. This man, we infer, had hitherto been hard, exacting, and grasping, but though he had not yet seen in person the new Teacher, his message had reached his ears, and he had opened his heart to the Good News that man can and should repent, and abandon selfish and sinful practices for good and sinless conduct. And this he had done, and, having proved its blessedness, no wonder that when Jesus came to his house he "received him joyfully," and told him how he had abandoned wrong-doing for right-doing; evil for good; the selfish for the unselfish life. Jesus did not inquire into the "religious views" of Zacchaeus, did not impose upon him any change of view or opinion; did not demand that he believe anything about Jesus as being the Messiah, the Son of God, etc. Zacchaeus had changed his conduct; had completely turned round in his attitude toward others; had abandoned greed for generosity, extortion for charity, honesty for dishonesty, selfishness for unselfishness, evil for good, — and this was sufficient, as Jesus declared in the words, "This day is salvation come to this house."
The only salvation recognized and taught by Jesus is salvation from sin, and the effects of sin, here and now; and this must be old selfishness, the old life of self, in any or every shape, only by doing this, and turning to the new life of gentleness, and purity, and humility, and unselfish love, can a man be said to be saved from sin; and then he is saved indeed, for, no more practicing it, it can trouble him no more. Herein also is Heaven, not a speculative heaven beyond the tomb, but a real, abiding, and ever present Heaven in the heart; a Heaven from which all the hellish desires and moods and sufferings are banished, where Love rules, and from which Peace is never absent.
Good newsindeed is that message of Jesus which reveals to man his divine possibilities; which says in substance to sin-stricken humanity, "Take up thy bed and walk;" which tells man that he need no longer remain the creature of darkness and ignorance and sin if he will but believe in Goodness, and will watch and strive and conquer until he has actualized in his life the Goodness that is sinless. And in thus believing and overcoming, man not only has the guide of that Perfect Rule which Jesus has embodied in his precepts, he has also the inward Guide, the Spirit of Truth in his own heart, "The Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," which, as he follows it, will infallibly witness to the divine origin of those precepts.
He who will humbly pass through the Gate of Good, resolving that every element of his nature that is not pure and true and lovable shall be abandoned, that every violation of the Divine precepts shall be abolished, to him, faithful, humble, true, will be revealed the sublime Vision of the Perfect One, and, day by day purifying his heart and perfecting his conduct in accordance with his vision, he will sooner or later rise above all the subtleties of his lower nature, will wash away every ignominious stain from his soul, and realize the perfect goodness of the eternal Christ.
Foreword
Along the highways of Burma there is placed, at regular distances away from the dust of the road, and under the cool shade of a group of trees, a small wooden building called a “rest-house”, where the weary traveller may rest a while, and allay his thirst and assuage his hunger and fatigue by partaking of the food and water which the kindly inhabitants place there as a religious duty.
Along the great highway of life there are such resting places; away from the heat of passion and the dust of disappointment, under the cool and refreshing shade of lowly Wisdom, are the humble, unimposing “rest-houses” of peace, and the little, almost unnoticed, byways of blessedness, where alone the weary and footsore can find strength and healing.
Nor can these byways be ignored without suffering. Along the great road of life, hurrying, and eager to reach some illusive goal, presses the multitude, despising the apparently insignificant “rest-houses” of true thought, not heeding the narrow little byways of blessed action, which they regard as unimportant; and hour by hour men are fainting and falling, and numbers that cannot be counted perish of heart-hunger, heart- thirst, and heart-fatigue.
But he who will step aside from the passionate press, and will deign to notice and to enter the byways which are here presented, his dusty feet shall press the incomparable flowers of blessedness, his eyes be gladdened with their beauty, and his mind refreshed with their sweet perfume. Rested and sustained, he will escape the fever and the delirium of life, and, strong and happy, he will not fall fainting in the dust, nor perish by the way, but will successfully accomplish his journey.
James Allen
Broad Park Avenue Ilfracombe, England.
1
Right Beginnings
“All common things, each day’s events, That with the hour begin and end; Our pleasures and our discontents Are rounds by which we may ascend.”
“We have not wings, we cannot soar; But we have feet to scale and climb.”
Longfellow.
“For common life, its wants And ways, would I set forth in beauteous hues.”
Browning.
Life is full of beginnings. They are presented every day and every hour to every person. Most beginnings are small, and appear trivial and insignificant, but in reality they are the most important things in life.
See how in the material world everything proceeds from small beginnings. The mightiest river is at first a rivulet over which the grasshopper could leap; the great flood commences with a few drops of rain; the sturdy oak, which has endured the storms of a thousand winters, was once an acorn; and the smouldering match, carelessly dropped, may be the means of devastating a whole town by fire.
Consider, also, how in the spiritual world the greatest things proceed from smallest beginnings. A light fancy may be the inception of a wonderful invention or an immortal work of art; a spoken sentence may turn the tide of history; a pure thought entertained may lead to the exercise of a world-wide regenerative power; and a momentary animal impulse may lead to the darkest crime.
Have you yet discovered the vast importance of beginnings? Do you really know what is involved in a beginning? Do you know the number of beginnings you are continuosly making, and realise their full import? If not, come with me for a short time, and thoughtfully explore this much ignored byway of blessedness, for blessed it is when wisely resorted to, and much strength and comfort it holds for the understanding mind.
A beginning is a cause, and as such it must be followed by an effect, or a train of effects, and the effect will always be of the same nature as the cause. The nature of an initial impulse will always determine the body