"Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:3

Additional readings: Isaiah 1:1-20

In the childhood of the human race, before men had departed from right ways of life, heaven was near to them. They could be led directly by the Lord, for their hearts and minds were open to him. Of this Golden Age of the human race it is written, "Man walked with God." But we have all read in the history of the human race as revealed in the Scripture the account of how many departed from the way of life and, following the devices of his own heart, closed his mind to the direct reception of goodness and truth from the Lord, until finally he reached a state in which all true knowledge of God and heaven was lost.

Then the Lord came to bring salvation to mankind, and preparation for His reception was made through John the Baptist, the messenger sent in fulfillment of a prophecy given centuries before. John’s message is our text: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And when John was put to death, and the Lord began His active ministry in the world, the words of our text were also His first message. For He came to make clear the way of life, and wrong ideas held possession of the minds of men then, as they do of many minds today.

It is not by chance that this first message turns our thoughts to heaven. The purpose of our creation is that we may so live that we shall find our homes in heaven. Belief in heaven had been lost, along with the knowledge about it. And today belief in heaven is for the most part vague, and many think that eternal life does not mean personal existence in the spiritual world, but only the persistence of one’s influence in this world. Great men like Homer, Plato, Moses, Shakespeare, Gladstone, Lincoln, Pasteur, and many others perpetuate themselves in the influence they exert in the minds of living men. This, they say, is what is meant by immortality, by everlasting life. But we should realize that this type of everlasting life is open to the evil as well as to the good. A Diocletian may be remembered forever as well as the beloved Apostle. We need to know the truth that men and women, as individuals, live forever after death in the spiritual world.

But this is not the implication of the text which I have chosen for consideration this morning." The kingdom of heaven is at hand." We know that heaven is not in some remote part of the natural sky, that we cannot say, "Lo, here, or Lo, there" (Luke 17:21). But we are still apt to think of it as far away. We are also inclined to think of it as remote in time. We speak commonly of the "future" world. In the thought of some even, it lies at the indefinitely remote time, when they expect a general resurrection along with others; death is the gateway of heaven, but heaven still seems too distant to be of much practical and present interest.

But the truth is that heaven is far away neither in space nor in time. It is here, it is now, it is "at hand." We live in it now, or we may do so. It is a present reality, the most real and the most important element of the life we are now living. When we speak of heaven, and of living for heaven, we are not, as some charge, setting our hearts on something far away, and despising the real world in which we now are. If one lives for a far-off heaven — and no doubt some have lived so — he may be careless of this world’s joys and sorrows, of opportunities for usefulness, keeping his eyes fixed on some vision of the future. But we may live for heaven and still live thoroughly in the present. We ought to value heaven as the most real of present realities. The Gospel is true: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

We are taught in the New Church that heaven is essentially a state of human feeling, thought and life, a state in which love to the Lord and love to the neighbor are the ruling motives. We are taught that no outward paradise which could be made by human or by Divine skill would be a heaven if those affections were absent from the heart, that there is no real or lasting satisfaction except in the exercise of these affections. It follows that we can come into heaven in this world, and live in heaven while we live on earth, for we may learn here to love the Lord and one another, and to find our chief enjoyment in the exercise of these heavenly loves.

But this is an abstract way of speaking. Concretely, heaven is not merely a heavenly state in ourselves; it is the great world of human beings who are living in that state, those people in whose hearts are heavenly affections, whose minds are bright with spiritual light, and whose hands are busy with heavenly works. There are many such people in this world. There are countless more who have gone from the earth to the spiritual world, and are there living the same good life under freer and happier conditions. All these people are heaven.

When we have love to the Lord and the neighbor in ourselves, we are brought spiritually near to those in like affections, both of this world and of the spiritual world. It is not a figure of speech when we say that heaven is about us when we are in heavenly states. It is a literal and positive fact. Heaven is so really around us at such times that if it were granted to us, as it was to Elisha’s servant and to others in Bible days to have our spiritual eyes opened, we should see the angels who are our companions and the beautiful land in which they dwell. Among them we should see and recognize some who were dear to us on earth, who still love and help us, and there would be some whom we had not known before but who would from the first glance seem to us as old friends, because they have similar desires and thoughts. And we should recognize them as the source of our happiness.

The Lord created the world and all things in it. All things in the world were made for man to use and enjoy, from the very materials of the earth to all the myriad things of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, the beast of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. For man’s needs of food, clothing, shelter, for gratification of his senses, and the improvement of his mind these things were made. All these were created and given to man for blessings. But they are subject to one important condition: man must indeed labor to make these things of service to himself, but he must also use them in the service of others. Only so can he have any security or peace. The world of nature and of human beings is not for one man, or a few men, or a nation to control or exploit. Indeed we cannot rightly claim sovereignty over ourselves. We need the guidance of the Lord. And whatever under the Divine Providence we have been able to acquire, whether of material wealth, or of skill, or of learning, we did not acquire it by our unaided efforts. Our daily knowledge of the happenings in the world, our libraries, our schools are made possible by the labor of mind and body of other men and women, great or humble, living or dead. We depend on others and they on us, and life and security today, as always, depend upon the honesty and good will of the community in which we live.

Yet we should also realize that behind the labors and sufferings and the honesty and good will of men stands the Lord. Through His power alone man achieves progress. It is a law of the Divine Providence that man must act in freedom according to reason. This applies to the life of nations as well as to the life of individuals. But the Lord is present and operative always.

For infinitely wise and good reasons, the Lord does not draw the veil aside for us and allow us to see the heavenly world. Some argue that if only they could see heaven, they would believe in it. But to see that world as an outward, objective reality would destroy our freedom. We should be lured by its outward attractiveness, and it would be less possible for us to come into its true spirit.

When we are living in selfish and evil affections, we are in hell. Not only is hell within us at such times but it is also about us, not by a figure of speech, but actually. We are breathing its poisoned atmosphere and, if our eyes were opened, we should see the forms and faces of those who find their life in evil and who exult in influencing others to evil. Why, at least then, does the Lord not draw the veil aside and show us the terribleness of evil? The sight might for the moment frighten us, but we should be less able to shun evil freely because it is evil, and our power to escape permanently from it would be greatly lessened.

If we are tempted to question the Lord’s Providence in not revealing to us more openly the conditions of the good and evil in the spiritual world, we do well to remember His words, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them….If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:29-31).

The Lord said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). We should seek those good things which endure forever, and should not sacrifice them for the sake of money or health or life itself. To acquire love to the Lord and to the neighbor is the only thing worth living for. Our business dealings should have as their motive the love of use, of service to others. The most necessary thing in making a home is having in it the sunshine of heaven. The only absolute requirement for our happiness as we go to and fro in the ways of the world is that heaven shall go with us. This is to live for heaven, and yet to live must fully in the present. This is the practical meaning of living for heaven.

It may be stated still more simply. Heaven is not heaven from locality, neither is it heaven from anything which belongs to the angels as their own. It is heaven from what is received from the Lord into the lives and hearts of the angels. To be near the Lord, not in place merely, but in heart, to feel the protection and peace of His presence is heaven. Heaven is being near to the Lord and keeping near to Him. There is no other heaven for men or angels.

"The kingdom of heaven is at hand." When John first spoke this message, the kingdom of heaven was in a special sense at hand, because the Lord had come to live with men and to make Himself accessible to them. A power to heal and bless went forth from the Lord during His life on earth. Men obsessed felt his saving power and sat at His feet clothed and in their right mind.

At the Transfiguration Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Matthew 17:4, Mark 9:5, Luke 9:33). In following the Lord, in hearing His Word and in doing His work, they were tasting of heaven. But we need to note that the mere physical nearness of the Lord did not make heaven. Some cried out with fear at His approach. It was not heaven to them. It was not heaven to those who followed Him to accuse and to betray Him. His presence was a blessing only to those who in some measure drew near to Him in spirit.

Even in the Lord’s coming on earth the kingdom of heaven was not forced on me. It was made accessible to them; it was brought within their reach.

It is brought within our reach. Just as there is no royal road to knowledge, there is no royal road to heaven. We must cease to do evil before we can learn to do well. Repentance, the willingness to recognize and acknowledge our faults and weaknesses and to struggle to overcome them opens the door. Heavenly life comes into the soul when selfish desires are replaced by kindly thoughts and the desire to serve. The Lord tell us to seek these heavenly virtues now, not for the sake of honor for ourselves, but that we may be really kind and helpful to others, that our lives may have something of the Lord’s love in them. Then we shall find that life here makes one with heavenly life, and that our Heavenly Father is the Source of happiness in both alike.

426. Verse3. Saying, hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, signifies lest the good perish with the evil wherever they are. This is evident from the signification of "hurt not," as being lest they perish (of which presently); also from the signification of "the earth, the sea, and the trees," as being everywhere in the spiritual world, even to its ultimates, with those who have any perception (See above, n. 420), consequently the good with the evil, wherever they are. That this is the meaning of these words is evident from the series of things in the spiritual sense; for what now follows treats of the separation of the good from the evil, and this separation is signified by "the sealing of the servants of God on their foreheads," and by the "twelve thousand out of every tribe," and by those who were seen "clothed in white robes," for this chapter treats of all these. By both the latter and the former the good are meant who are to be separated from the evil before the evil are cast down into hell. And as the separation of the good from the evil and the casting out of the evil into hell is effected by Divine influx from the Lord as a sun, the separation of the good from the evil by a gentle and moderate influx, and the casting down of the evil into hell by a strong and intense influx (as may be seen above, n. 413, 418, 419), so these three verses treat of the former influx by which the good are separated from the evil, while the good who are separated are treated of in the rest of the chapter even to the end.

[2] But something shall first be said on this point, that unless the good were separated from the evil before the evil were cast down into hell, the good would perish with the evil. For the good who are not yet raised up into heaven, but are to be raised up after the evil have been cast out, have a very close communication with the evil through the external worship of the evil. For (as was said above, and also in the small work on The Last Judgment 59, 70) the evil, who were allowed to remain till the Last Judgment, were in external worship but in no internal worship, for they made a show and simulation of the holy things of the church with the mouth and gestures, but not from the soul and heart; and by means of this external worship they maintained communication also with those who were inwardly good. Because of this communication the evil could not be cast down until the good had been separated from them, for if they had been left together, the good with whom the evil had been conjoined by external worship would have been hurt, that is, would have perished, for the evil would have drawn them away with themselves.

[3] This, too, is foretold by the Lord in Matthew:

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares [among the wheat], and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. But the servants of the householder coming said unto him, Lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, A foe hath done this. But the servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we going gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn (Matthew 13:24-30).

"The man that sowed" means the Lord; the "field" means the spiritual world and the church, in which there are both good and evil; the "good seed" and the "wheat" mean the good, and the "tares" mean the evil; that they could not be separated until the time of the Last Judgment, because of the conjunction described above, is meant by the answer to the servants who wished to gather up the tares before, meaning to separate the evil from the good, namely, "lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them; let both grow together until the harvest," the "harvest" meaning the Last Judgment. That this is the signification the Lord Himself teaches in the same chapter where He says:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the [good] seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As then the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:37-40).

This makes evident that "the householder that sowed the good seed" means the Lord, who here calls Himself "the Son of man;" and that "the field is the world" means the spiritual world and the church, in which there are both good and evil. It is clear that this means the spiritual world from its being said "The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field;" "the kingdom of the heavens" meaning the spiritual world and the church; it is clear from this also, that this is said of the Last Judgment, and the Last Judgment is accomplished not in our world but in the spiritual world, as can be seen in the little work on The Last Judgment. This latter passage makes evident also that the "good seed" and the "wheat" mean the good, who are here called "the sons of the kingdom;" and that the "tares" mean the evil, who are called "the sons of the evil one;" also that the "harvest," when the separation is to be effected, means the time of the Last Judgment, for it is said "the harvest is the consummation of the age." ("The consummation of the age" means the time of the Last Judgment, as may be seen above, n.397.) That "then the tares shall be gathered into bundles to be burned, and the wheat be gathered into the barn," signifies that the evil, according to the genera and species of the evil that is with them, are to be gathered up and cast into hell; this takes place with the evil when they are cast out, and is meant by "gathering into bundles;" that the good are to be preserved is meant by "gathering the wheat into the barn," the "barn" meaning where the good are collected.

From this it can be seen that a complete separation of the good from the evil takes place at the time of the Last Judgment, and that it cannot take place before because of the conjunction described above, and that otherwise the good would perish with the evil; for it is said "lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them;" and it is further said "let both grow together until the harvest," that is, until the consummation of the age. Now, because the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and moderate influx of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, while the casting out of the evil into hell is effected by a powerful and intense influx of the Divine, it can be seen how all the particulars contained in the first three verses of this chapter are to be understood, when it is known from the spiritual sense what is signified by the "winds" that were to be held back, that earth, sea, and tree be not hurt until the servants of God had been sealed on their foreheads.

[4] A few words shall be said about how this separation is effected. When the good are separated from the evil, which is done by the Lord by means of a moderate influx of His Divine, and by a looking into those things that are of spiritual affection with angels and spirits, then the Lord causes those who are interiorly and thence also exteriorly good, to turn themselves to Him, and thus to turn themselves away from the evil, and when they so turn themselves they become invisible to the evil; for this is a common thing in the spiritual world, that when anyone turns himself away from another he becomes invisible to him. When this is done the evil are separated from the good, and at the same time from the sanctity that they had simulated in externals; and thus they look towards hell, into which they are presently cast. (Concerning this turning about more may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561; that the evil who were able to continue in external worship, or in external piety and sanctity, although not in any internal, were allowed to remain till the Last Judgment, and no longer, and why, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment 59-70.)