"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.

9011. 'I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee' means a state of blamelessness and so of freedom from punishment. This is clear from the meaning of 'a place' as a state, dealt with in 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 3404, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381; and from the meaning of refuge, or a place to which one who killed another without premeditation or by chance might flee, as a state of blamelessness and so of freedom from punishment. For those who struck another by chance, that is, not from set purpose, thus not because of any previous contemplation of the deed or of an evil desire in the will, were not at all culpable. Therefore when they came to the place of refuge they were freed from punishment. By them were represented those who injure, but not from set purpose, someone's truths and forms of the good of faith and as a result wipe out his spiritual life; for their state is one of blamelessness and freedom from punishment. This is true of those who have thorough trust in their religion, which however is full of falsity, and who use what it teaches to reason against the truth and good of faith, and to do this convincingly, as conscientious and consequently zealous heretics are sometimes accustomed to do.

[2] The fact that they were represented [by those] who fled to places of refuge is clear in Moses,

You shall select suitable cities, which are to be cities of refuge for yourselves, so that one who strikes and kills a soul accidentally may flee there. If without premeditation, without enmity, he pushes him; or throws at him some implement without forethought; or [strikes him] with any stone from which he may die, while not seeing him, so that he causes it to fall onto him and he dies, though he was not his enemy and did not seek to harm him ... Numbers 35:11-12, 22-23.

And in the same author,

This is the case ¹ with one who kills, who shall flee there so that he may live, when he has struck his companion unwittingly, when he did not hate him previously ² - as when he goes with his companion into a forest to cut down timber, but when his hand with the axe in it is swung to cut down wood, the iron flies off the handle and hits his companion so that he dies, ³ he shall flee to one of these cities so that he may live. Deuteronomy 19:4-5.

[3] This describes the state of one blameless and freed from punishment, who through the falsities of faith which he had believed to be truths, or through factual knowledge based on the illusions of the senses, has injured someone, and so has done harm to his internal or spiritual life. To convey this meaning such an accident or chance is described by an implement of some kind, and by a stone which he causes to fall onto his companion so that he dies, and also by the axe or iron coming off its handle, while both were cutting down timber in the forest. The reason why such details are used to describe the matter is that 'an implement' means some known fact, and 'a stone' a truth of faith or in the contrary sense a falsity; and in like manner 'the iron of an axe' and 'cutting down timber' means to argue about what is good, using what one's religion teaches.

[4] Anyone may see that but for some hidden reason a killing that occurred accidentally would not have been described by the iron of an axe coming off its handle in a forest, for such an accident happens rarely, scarcely once in many years. But that accident has been described in such a way for the sake of the internal sense, which describes the harm done to a soul by another through the falsities of faith which, because his religion teaches them, he has believed to be truths. For anyone who causes harm through falsities which he believes to be truths does not do harm from set purpose or in spite of knowing better, because he acts in accord with his religious faith and therefore out of zeal. So that these things might be meant in the internal sense they are described, as has been stated, by those who kill companions accidentally, and by 'a stone', by 'cutting down wood in a forest', and by 'the iron of the axe coming off its handle onto a companion during the process'. For 'a stone' is a truth of faith in the natural man, and in the contrary sense a falsity, see 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 8941, and so is 'iron', 425, 426. 'The iron of the axe coming away from its handle' is truth separated from good, good being meant by 'handle' or 'wood', 643, 2812, 3720, 8354; 'cutting down wood' means placing merit in works, 1110, 4943, 8740; but 'cutting down timber in a forest' means discussing these and like matters, and also calling them into question; for 'a forest' means a religious system.

[5] Like matters are meant by 'cutting down timber in a forest with axes' in Jeremiah,

The mercenaries will go with strength, and they will come to her with axes, like those who cut down timber. They will cut down her forest, said Jehovah. Jeremiah 46:22-23.

Here 'cutting down timber in a forest' stands for acting in accord with false religious practices and destroying such things as constitute the Church. For the Church is called 'a forest', 'a garden', and 'a paradise'; it is called 'a forest' by virtue of its knowledge, 'a garden' by virtue of its intelligence, and 'a paradise' by virtue of its wisdom, 3220, 'trees' being perceptions of goodness and truth, and also cognitions or knowledge of them, 103, 2163, 2722, 2972, 4552, 7690, 7692. And since 'a forest' means the Church in respect of its knowledge, thus of its external aspects, it also means religious practices.

[6] The Church in respect of its knowledge or external aspects is also meant by 'a forest', or 'a wood', in David,

The field will be exultant and everything in it; then all the trees of the wood will sing. Psalms 96:12.

In the same author,

Behold, we heard of Him in Ephrathah; we found Him in the fields of the wood. Psalms 132:6.

These words refer to the Lord. In Isaiah,

The light of Israel will be a fire, and his Holy (One a flame. It will burn the glory of his forest, and his Carmel; it will consume from the soul even to the flesh. As a consequence the remaining trees of the wood will be [so small] a number that a child may write them down. He will cut down the entangled boughs of the forest with an axe, ⁴ and Lebanon will fall by a majestic one. Isaiah 10:17-20, 34.

'The forest' stands for the Church in respect of its cognitions of truth, and 'Carmel' for the Church in respect of its cognitions of good, in the same way as 'Lebanon' and 'Hermon' do. 'The trees of the wood' stands, as above, for cognitions, and 'being a number that a child may write down' stands for the fewness of them, 'entangled boughs of the forest' standing for factual knowledge, 2831.

[7] In the same prophet,

You said, By the multitude of my chariots I will go up [to] the height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon, where I will cut down the tallness of its cedars, the choice of its fir trees, After that I will come to its remotest height, ⁵ the forest of its Carmel. Isaiah 37:24.

In Jeremiah,

I will visit on you according to the fruit of your works, and I will kindle a fire in its forest. Jeremiah 21:14.

In Ezekiel,

Prophesy against the forest of the field towards the south, and say to the forest of the south, Behold, I will kindle in you a fire, and it will devour every tree. Ezekiel 20:46-47.

In Micah,

Guide ⁶ Your people with Your staff, the flock of Your inheritance inhabiting alone a forest in the midst of Carmel. Micah 7:14.

Does anyone fail to see that in these places a forest is not meant by 'a forest', nor Lebanon and Carmel, which were forests, by 'Lebanon' and 'Carmel', but that some aspect of the Church is meant? What aspect of the Church it is however has lain hidden up to now because the internal sense has lain hidden. But how astonishing that in a world so learned as Europe - more learned than all the other continents - where the Word exists, in every detail of which the internal sense is present, there is no awareness of that sense! Yet it was known to the ancients in Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt, and Arabia, and from them in Greece, in whose books, symbols, and hieroglyphics such matters are still met with. The reason why awareness of that matter has perished is lack of belief that what is spiritual has any real existence.

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