Jesus recognized no religion outside of conduct; and truly there is none. Pure Goodness is Religion, and outside it there is no religion. There are innumerable doctrines, and there is much strife and heated controversy, but a man is only truly religious when he succeeds in rising above these and this, and reaches that loving place in his heart where all hateful distinctions are burnt away by the pure flames of compassion and love. And in this divine place Jesus stood, and he calls other men thither to receive rest and peace.
That Jesus was meek, and lowly, and loving, and compassionate, and pure, is very beautiful, but it is not sufficient; it is necessary, reader, that you also should be meek, and lowly, and loving and compassionate and pure. That Jesus subordinated his own will to the will of the Father, it is inspiring to know, but it is not sufficient; it is necessary that you, too, should likewise subordinate your will to that of the overruling Good. The grace and beauty and goodness that were in Jesus can be of no value to you, cannot be understood by you, unless they are also in you, and they can never be in you until you practice them, for, apart from doing, the qualities which constitute Goodness do not, as far as you are concerned, exist. To adore Jesus for his divine qualities is a long step towards Truth, but to practice those qualities is Truth itself; and he who truly adores the perfection of another will not rest content in his own imperfection, but will fashion his soul after the likeness of that other. To us and to all there is no sufficiency, no blessedness, no peace to be derived from the goodness of another, not even the goodness of God; not until the goodness is done by us, not until it is by constant effort, incorporated into our being, can we know and possess its blessedness and peace. Therefore, thou who adorest Jesus for his divine qualities, practice those qualities thyself, and thou too shalt be divine.
The teaching of Jesus brings men back to the simple truth that righteousness, or rightdoing, is entirely a matter of individual conduct, and not a mystical something apart from a man?s thoughts and actions, and that each must be righteous for himself; each must be a doer of the word, and it is a man?s own doing that brings him peace and gladness of heart, not the doings of another.
Millions of people worship Jesus and call him Lord, but Jesus does not leave us in any difficulty or doubt as to who are his disciples, as to who have entered into Life! His words are directness and simplicity itself, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." And again, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" And they are the doers of the Father?s will who shape their conduct to the divine precepts.
The doer of the word demonstrates and proves its truth in his own mind and life. He thus knows the Eternal Rock as a substantial reality within himself, and he builds thereon the Temple of Righteousness which no rains of grief, no winds of temptation and no floods of sin can destroy or undermine. It is only the doer of forgiveness who tastes the sweets of forgiveness; it is only he who practices love and mercy and righteousness who receives into his heart the overflowing measure of their blessedness; and none but he who dwells in peace toward all can know the boundless and immeasurable peace. Thus is the doer of the word the disciple indeed, and continuing in that word, becoming one with it in heart and mind, he knows the Truth which frees the soul from the bondage of sin.
5. The Vine And The Branches
I am the Vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.
Jesus
Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Jesus
The Christ is the Spirit of Love, which is the abiding and indwelling Reality in man. Yet though its perfected Temple is the human form, and it can only visibly and consciously manifest itself in and through the human personality, it is impersonal in its nature, is a universal and eternal Principle, and is at once the source and the substance of Life.
