The first thing I find upon the subject of salvation is in the fifth
chapter of Matthew, and is embraced in what is commonly known as the
Sermon on the Mount. It is as follows:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Good!
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good! Whether
they belonged to any church or not; whether they believed the Bible or
not?
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good!
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven." Good!
In the same sermon he says: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law
or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." And then he
makes use of this remarkable language, almost as applicable to-day as
it was then: "For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no
wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." Good!
In the sixth chapter I find the following, and it comes directly after
the prayer known as the Lord's prayer:
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also
forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your father forgive your trespasses."
I accept the condition. There is an offer; I accept it. If you will
forgive men that trespass against you, God will forgive your trespasses
against him. I accept the terms, and I never will ask any God to treat
me better than I treat my fellow-men. There is a square promise. There
is a contract. If you will forgive others God will forgive you. And it
does not say you must believe in the Old Testament, or be baptized, or
join the church, or keep Sunday; that you must count beads, or pray, or
become a nun, or a priest; that you must preach sermons or hear them,
build churches or fill them. Not one word is said about eating or
fasting, denying or believing. It simply says, if you forgive others God
will forgive you; and it must of necessity be true. No god could afford
to damn a forgiving man. Suppose God should damn to everlasting fire a
man so great and good, that he, looking from the abyss of hell, would
forgive God,--how would a god feel then?
Now let me make myself plain upon one subject, perfectly plain. For
instance, I hate Presbyterianism, but I know hundreds of splendid
Presbyterians. Understand me. I hate Methodism, and yet I know hundreds
of splendid Methodists. I hate Catholicism, and like Catholics. I hate
insanity but not the insane.
I do not war against men. I do not war against persons. I war against
certain doctrines that I believe to be wrong. But I give to every other
human being every right that I claim for myself.
The next thing that I find is in the seventh chapter and the second
verse: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Good! That
suits me!
And in the twelfth chapter of Matthew: "For whosoever shall do the will
of my Father that is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and
mother. For the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with
his angels, and then he shall reward every man according.... To the
church he belongs to? No. To the manner in which he was baptized? No.
According to his creed? No. Then he shall reward every man according to
his works." Good! I subscribe to that doctrine.
And in the eighteenth chapter: "And Jesus called a little child to him
and stood him in the midst; and said, 'Verily I say unto you, except ye
be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven.'" I do not wonder that in his day, surrounded by
scribes and Pharisees, he turned lovingly to little children.
And yet, see what children the little children of God have been. What
an interesting dimpled darling John Calvin was. Think of that
prattling babe, Jonathan Edwards! Think of the infants that founded the
Inquisition, that invented instruments of torture to tear human flesh.
They were the ones who had become as little children. They were the
children of faith.
So I find in the nineteenth chapter: "And behold, one came and said unto
him: 'Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life?' And he said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? There is none
good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments.' He saith unto him, 'which?'"
Now, there is a fair issue. Here is a child of God asking God what is
necessary for him to do in order to inherit eternal life. And God said
to him: Keep the commandments. And the child said to the Almighty:
"Which?" Now, if there ever has been an opportunity given to the
Almighty to furnish a man of an inquiring mind with the necessary
information upon that subject, here was the opportunity. "He said unto
him, which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not
commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false
witness; honor thy father and mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself."
He did not say to him: "You must believe in me--that I am the only
begotten son of the living God." He did not say: "You must be born
again." He did not say: "You must believe the Bible." He did not say:
"You must remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." He simply said:
"Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy
mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And thereupon the
young man, who I think was mistaken, said unto him: "All these things
have I kept from my youth up."
What right has the church to add conditions of salvation? Why should we
suppose that Christ failed to tell the young man all that was necessary
for him to do? Is it possible that he left out some important thing
simply to mislead? Will some minister tell us why he thinks that Christ
kept back the "scheme"?
Now comes an interpolation.
In the old times when the church got a little scarce of money, they
always put in a passage praising poverty. So they had this young man
ask: "What lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him: If thou wilt be perfect,
go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven."
The church has always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for
cash down. And when the next verse was written the church must have been
nearly bankrupt. "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God." Did you ever know a wealthy disciple to unload on
account of that verse?
And then comes another verse, which I believe is an interpolation: "And
everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall
receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
Christ never said it. Never. "Whosoever shall forsake father and
mother."
Why, he said to this man that asked him, "What shall I do to inherit
eternal life?" among other things, he said: "Honor thy father and thy
mother." And we turn over the page and he says again: "If you will
desert your father and mother you shall have everlasting life." It will
not do. If you will desert your wife and your little children, or your
lands--the idea of putting a house and lot on equality with wife and
children! Think of that! I do not accept the terms. I will never desert
the one I love for the promise of any god.
It is far more important to love your wife than to love God, and I will
tell you why. You cannot help him, but you can help her. You can fill
her life with the perfume of perpetual joy. It is far more important
that you love your children than that you love Jesus Christ. And why?
If he is God you cannot help him, but you can plant a little flower of
happiness in every footstep of the child, from the cradle until you die
in that child's arms. Let me tell you to-day it is far more important
to build a home than to erect a church. The holiest temple beneath the
stars is a home that love has built. And the holiest altar in all the
wide world is the fireside around which gather father and mother and the
sweet babes.
There was a time when people believed the infamy commanded in this
frightful passage. There was a time when they did desert fathers and
mothers and wives and children. St. Augustine says to the devotee: Fly
to the desert, and though your wife put her arms around your neck, tear
her hands away; she is a temptation of the devil. Though your father and
mother throw their bodies athwart your threshold, step over them; and
though your children pursue, and with weeping' eyes beseech you to
return, listen not. It is the temptation of the evil one. Fly to the
desert and save your soul. Think of such a soul being worth saving.
While I live I propose to stand by the ones I love.
There is another condition of salvation. I find it in the twenty-fifth
chapter: "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I
was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in;
naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison
and ye came unto me." Good!
I tell you to-night that God will not punish with eternal thirst the man
who has put the cup of cold water to the lips of his neighbor. God will
not leave in the eternal nakedness of pain the man who has clothed his
fellow-men.
For instance, here is a shipwreck, and here is some brave sailor who
stands aside and allows a woman whom he never saw before to take his
place in the boat, and he stands there, grand and serene as the wide
sea, and he goes down. Do you tell me that there is any God who will
push the lifeboat from the shore of eternal life, when that man wishes
to step in? Do you tell me that God can be unpitying to the pitiful,
that he can be unforgiving to the forgiving? I deny it; and from the
aspersions of the pulpit I seek to rescue the reputation of the Deity.
Now, I have read you substantially everything in Matthew on the subject
of salvation. That is all there is. Not one word about believing
anything. It is the gospel of deed, the gospel of charity, the gospel
of self-denial; and if only that gospel had been preached, persecution
never would have shed one drop of blood. Not one.
According to the testimony Matthew was well acquainted with Christ.
According to the testimony, he had been with him, and his companion for
years, and if it was necessary to believe anything in order to get to
heaven, Matthew should have told us. But he forgot it, or he did not
believe it, or he never heard of it. You can take your choice.
In Matthew, we find that heaven is promised, first, to the poor in
spirit. Second, to the merciful. Third, to the pure in heart. Fourth, to
the peacemakers. Fifth, to those who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake. Sixth, to those who keep and teach the commandments. Seventh, to
those who forgive men that trespass against them. Eighth, that we will
be judged as we judge others. Ninth, that they who receive prophets and
righteous men shall receive a prophet's reward. Tenth, to those who do
the will of God. Eleventh, that every man shall be rewarded according to
his works. Twelfth, to those who become as little children. Thirteenth,
to those who forgive the trespasses of others. Fourteenth, to the
perfect: they who sell all that they have and give to the poor.
Fifteenth, to them who forsake houses, and brethren, and sisters, and
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and lands for the sake of
Christ's name. Sixteenth, to those who feed the hungry, give drink to
the thirsty, shelter to the stranger, clothes to the naked, comfort to
the sick, and who visit the prisoner.
Nothing else is said with regard to salvation in the gospel according to
St. Matthew. Not one word about believing the Old Testament to have been
inspired; not one word about being baptized or joining a church; not
one word about believing in any miracle; not even a hint that it was
necessary to believe that Christ was the son of God, or that he did any
wonderful or miraculous things, or that he was born of a virgin, or that
his coming had been foretold by the Jewish prophets. Not one word
about believing in the Trinity, or in foreordination or predestination.
Matthew had not understood from Christ that any such things were
necessary to ensure the salvation of the soul.
According to the testimony, Matthew had been in the company of Christ,
some say three years and some say one, but at least he had been with him
long enough to find out some of his ideas upon this great subject. And
yet Matthew never got the impression that it was necessary to believe
something in order to get to heaven. He supposed that if a man forgave
others God would forgive him; he believed that God would show mercy
to the merciful; that he would not allow those who fed the hungry to
starve; that he would not put in the flames of hell those who had given
cold water to the thirsty; that he would not cast into the eternal
dungeon of his wrath those who had visited the imprisoned; and that he
would not damn men who forgave others.
Matthew had it in his mind that God would treat us very much as we
treated other people; and that in the next world he would treat with
kindness those who had been loving and gentle in their lives. It may be
the apostle was mistaken; but evidently that was his opinion.