"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.

774. (Verse 1) And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. That this signifies reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life is evident from the signification of a beast coming up out of the sea, as denoting things of the natural man. For by beasts, in the Word, are signified the affections of the natural man in both senses, as may be seen above (n. 650). And by the sea are signified the various things in that man, which have reference to his scientifics, both true and false, and to the thoughts and reasonings therefrom; as may also be seen above (n. 275, 342, 511, 537, 538, 600). From which it is clear that by the beast coming up out of the sea are signified reasonings from the natural man.

That they are reasonings confirming the separation of faith from life is evident from this, that the dragon is further described in this chapter. His reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life are described by the beast coming up out of the sea, and the confirmations thereof from the letter of the Word; and the falsifications of that sense, by the beast coming up out of the earth; as will be seen below from verse 11 to the end of this chapter.

[2] That the dragon is further described in this chapter, and is also meant by the two beasts, is evident from the fact that it is said that the dragon gave to the beast coming up out of the sea his power and his seat, and great authority; and moreover that they worshipped the dragon that gave power to the beast; also, that the other beast that came up out of the earth, spake as a dragon, and that he exercised all the power of the first beast before the dragon. It is therefore clear that those who are signified by the dragon are described - in so far as they separate faith from life, and confirm that separation by reasonings from the natural man - by the beast coming up out of the sea. And also that in so far as they confirm the same by the letter of the Word and thereby falsify it, they are described by the beast coming up out of the earth. That this is the case, can be fully seen from the description of each in what follows.

[3] That reasonings from the natural man enter into the dogmas of those who make faith the only means of salvation, thus the very essential of the church, and so separate it from life, or from charity, which they do not acknowledge as a means of salvation and as an essential of the church, is but little seen, and, consequently, but little known by the advocates and teachers thereof, because their thought is continually fixed on those passages of the Word by means of which they confirm such reasonings. And because they are falsities which they confirm from the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, they necessarily make use of reasonings from the natural man; for without these it would not be possible to make their falsities appear like truths. This, however, shall be illustrated by an example.

[4] In order to separate life or charity from faith, they say that

"1. By the fall of Adam man destroyed all freedom of doing good from himself; and 2. that consequently a man can in no wise fulfil the law; and 3. yet without the fulfilling of the law there is no salvation; and 4. that the Lord came into the world in order to fulfil the law, and that His righteousness and merit might be imputed to man; and that by that imputation man might be loosed from the yoke of the law, so far that nothing condemns him; and 5. that man receives the imputation of the Lord's merit by faith alone, and nothing by works."

That these things, for the most part, are reasonings from the natural man confirming the preconceived principle of faith alone and its connecting particulars, is evident from a survey of the details in their order.

1. . "By the fall of Adam, man destroyed his free-will, which is the freedom of doing good from himself." This reasoning is from falsities; for the freedom of doing good from oneself belongs to no man, and can belong to no one, because a man is only a recipient. Wherefore the good which a man receives is not his but the Lord's in him; nor indeed have the angels any good except from the Lord. And the more they acknowledge and perceive this, the more are they angels, that is, higher and wiser than the rest. Much less was it possible for Adam, who had not yet become an angel, to be in a state of good from himself. His integrity consisted in a fuller reception of good and truth, and thence of intelligence and wisdom from the Lord than that of his posterity. This was also meant by his being an image of God; for he who receives the Lord becomes an image; and he becomes this according to his reception. In a word, freedom consists in doing good from the Lord; and slavery in doing good from oneself. It is therefore clear, that the reasoning above mentioned arises from falsities flowing forth from fallacies, all of which are from the natural man. Moreover it is not true that hereditary evil was ingenerated in the whole human race by the fall of Adam. Its origin is from another source.

[5] 2. . "That consequently a man can in no wise fulfil the law." This is also reasoning from the natural man. The spiritual man knows that to do the law and to fulfil it in the external form does not save; but that so far as he observes the law in the external form, from the internal, it does save. The internal form, or the internal of the law, is to love what is good, sincere, and just; and its external is to do these things. This the Lord thus teaches in Matthew:

"Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also" (23:26).

So far as man observes the law from an internal, so far he fulfils it; but not so far as he does this from an external, apart from an internal. The internal of man is his love and will. But to love what is good, sincere, and just, and, from love, to will these things, is from the Lord alone. Wherefore to be led by the Lord is to fulfil the law. But these things must be more fully illustrated in what follows.

[6] 3. . "Without the fulfilling of the law there is no salvation." This involves that if a man were able of himself to fulfil the law, he would be saved; this nevertheless is in itself false. And since it is false, and yet appears as if it were true because it is a received dogma, it must be confirmed by reasonings from the natural man. That it is false is clear from the fact that a man cannot do any good from himself, but that all good is from the Lord; and that a state of integrity such as that above stated concerning Adam, in which there is any good which is in itself good from man, is not possible. And because such a state of integrity is not possible and never can be, it follows that the law must be fulfilled by the Lord, according to what was just said above. Nevertheless, he who believes otherwise than that man is to do all things as of himself, although he does them from the Lord, is much deceived.

[7] 4. . "The Lord came into the world in order to fulfil the law, and that His righteousness and merit might be imputed to man; and that by such imputation man may be loosed from the yoke of the law to such an extent that, after justification by faith alone, nothing condemns him." This, is also reasoning from the natural man. The Lord came into the world in order to effect a judgment, and thereby bring into a state of order all things in the heavens and in the hells, and at the same time to glorify His Human. By means of that glorified Human all who have done, and who do, good from Him, and not from themselves have been and are saved; and thus not by any imputation of His merit and righteousness. For the Lord teaches:

"I came not to destroy the law and the prophets: I came not to destroy but to fulfil. Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens" (Matthew 5:17, 19).

[8] 5. . "Man receives the imputation of the Lord's merit by faith alone, and nothing by works." This is a conclusion deduced from the previous reasonings. And because those reasonings are from the natural man and not from the rational enlightened by the spiritual man, and consequently are from falsities and not from truths, it follows that the conclusion drawn from them falls to the ground. It is evident from these things, that in order to confirm any principle false in itself, reasonings derived from the natural man, and confirmations from the literal sense of the Word, are necessary. For reasonings will give the appearance of coherence to those passages which are chosen from the sense of the letter of the Word. Wherefore reasonings from the natural man are signified by the beast coming up out of the sea; and confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word, by the beast coming up out of the earth.