"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.

9468. 'And twice-dyed scarlet' means mutual love. This is clear from the meaning of 'scarlet' and 'twice-dyed' as celestial truth, which is the same thing as the good of mutual love. There are two kingdoms into which the angelic heaven is divided, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. In both there is an internal and an external, the internal in the celestial kingdom being the good of love to the Lord and the external the good of mutual love. This external good is what 'twice-dyed scarlet' serves to mean, 'scarlet' the actual good and 'twice-dyed' its truth. But in the spiritual kingdom the internal is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the external the good of obedience that is the product of faith. 'Twice-dyed scarlet' means the good of mutual love and its truth on account of its appearance in the next life; for when the sphere of that good and truth is revealed visually in the lowest heaven it appears there as the colour scarlet. For what comes down from the celestial heaven and appears on a lower level begins as flaming red but is turned into scarlet on the lower level by the whiteness of light in the middle heaven through which it passes. This explains why twice-dyed scarlet was to be used among the other colours on the curtains of the dwelling-place, Exodus 26:1, on the veil before the ark, Exodus 26:31, on the screen to the door of the tent, Exodus 26:36, on the screen to the gate of the court, Exodus 27:16, on the ephod, Exodus 28:6, on the belt, Exodus 28:8, on the breastplate of judgement, Exodus 28:15, and on the hem of the robe of the ephod, Exodus 28:33.

[2] The fact that 'twice-dyed scarlet' means the good of mutual love, which is the external good of the celestial kingdom or Church, is evident from the consideration that over the table where the loaves of the Presence were laid a twice-dyed scarlet cloth was to be spread, which was then to be covered with a covering of badger skin, Numbers 4:8. The inmost things of the celestial kingdom or Church were meant by what lay on the table, chiefly the loaves, but more external things by its coverings. This also accounts for the order in which the materials that were to be gathered together are listed, that is to say, the inmost things, which were the violet and the purple, are mentioned first; the more external things, which were the twice-dyed scarlet, the fine linen, and the wool of she-goats, are mentioned secondly; and the completely external things, which were the skins of red rams and the skins of badgers, are mentioned last. The like applies everywhere else in what follows.

[3] Since external celestial good and its truth is meant by 'twice-dyed scarlet', this colour is used to portray the outward sense of the Word and teachings derived from it. The reason for this is that the Word is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, appearing as flaming light in the inmost heaven and as brilliantly white light in the middle heaven.

[4] The Word and teachings derived from the Word are portrayed in this way in the second Book of Samuel,

David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, and entitled it, To teach the children of Judah the bow. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in twice-dyed delicately, ¹ who placed an ornament of gold on your apparel. 2 Samuel 1:17-18, 24.

'Clothing in twice-dyed' stands for providing with truths that go with the good of mutual love, thus with truths from a celestial origin. This prophetic utterance refers to teachings about faith separated from teachings about love and charity; that is to say, it refers to truths which are snuffed out by such a separation but are then restored by those teachings about love and charity. For by 'the Philistines', who killed Saul and Jonathan, are meant those who champion teachings about faith separated from teachings about love and charity, 3412, 3413, 8093, 8096, 8099, 8313; and 'teaching the children of Judah the bow' means providing those who are governed by the good of love and charity with the truths that compose religious teachings.

'The children of Judah' are those governed by the good of love, see 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 5794, 5833, 6363.

'The bow' is teachings that send out the truth, 2686, 2709.

[5] In Jeremiah,

You who have therefore been laid waste, what will you do? If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed, if you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, in vain will you make yourself beautiful. Jeremiah 4:30.

This refers to the Church when it has been laid waste. 'Clothing oneself in twice-dyed and decking oneself with ornaments of gold' means pointing out the truths of doctrine from a celestial origin and the good ways to live, consequently pointing out truths and aspects of good derived from the Word. Something similar occurs in the same prophet,

Those who ate delicacies are desolate ² in the streets; those brought up in scarlet have embraced the dunghill. Lamentations 4:5.

'Being brought up in scarlet' stands for receiving instruction since early childhood in the good of mutual love derived from the Word.

[6] Because those things contained in the outward sense of the Word appear in heaven as the colour scarlet, for the reason stated above, people who use the outward sense of the Word to substantiate falsities arising from the evils of selfish and worldly love, thus ideas contrary to truths and forms of the good of love to the Lord and of mutual love, are said to be clothed in purple and scarlet. For their externals, being from the Word, display such an appearance; but their internals are profane. Such things are meant by 'scarlet' in John,

I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names. She was clothed in purple and scarlet. Revelation 17:3-4.

This refers to Babylon, which means a religion in which the holy things of the Word are made profane by the use of them to support false ideas that favour the devilish kinds of love, which are self-love and love of the world, and so to exercise control in heaven and on earth. Like things are also meant in another part of the same book, [where it is called,]

The great city, which was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and covered ³ with gold and precious stones and pearls. Revelation 18:16.

Therefore also fine linen, purple, and scarlet are listed among Babylon's wares in Revelation 18:12.

[7] Since the outward aspect of the Word appears in heaven as the colour scarlet, and since there is an influx from heaven into the human memory, in which the things derived from the Word appear in that shade of colour, scarlet was used with objects that served as a reminder of something, as in Moses,

The children of Israel shall make for themselves a fringe on the hems of garments, and they shall put on the fringe of the hem a violet ⁴ thread, that by means of it they might remember all the commandments of Jehovah and do them. ⁵ Numbers 15:38-39.

[8] For the same reason also it was customary in ancient times, when meaningful signs were in common use, to tie on a scarlet thread as the memorial or reminder of something, as one reads about Tamar's son Zerah, ⁶ on whose hand the midwife tied a twice-dyed thread, Genesis 38:28, 30, and about the prostitute Rahab, who tied a scarlet thread on the window, so that the spies would remember the promise, Joshua 2:18, 21.

[9] Since a person cannot be released from evils and falsities except by means of the truths and forms of good that reside with the person from the Word, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop were used in cleansings from leprosy, Leviticus 14:4-7, 49-52. For 'leprosy' means truth when it has been rendered profane, and so has been falsified, 6963, and 'being cleansed' means being released from those ills by means of truths and forms of good which are derived from the Word. Scarlet was in like manner used in the preparation of the water of separation and expiation involving the red cow, Numbers 19:6; the water of separation and expiation served as well to mean purification and release from evils and falsities by means of truths and forms of good that are derived from the Word.

[10] As the majority of things in the Word can have a contrary meaning, so too can 'twice-dyed' and 'scarlet'. Then they mean falsities and evils, which are the opposites of those truths and forms of good, as in Isaiah,

Though your sins are like twice-dyed, they will be as white as snow. Though they are as red as scarlet, they will be like wool. Isaiah 1:18.

The same applies to 'red', 'blood', 'flame', and 'fire'. In the true sense they mean forms of the good of love and faith, but in the contrary sense the evils which are their opposites.

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