Page:The World Beyond.djvu/20

 again until it is thoroughly grooved into the mind; that heaven is within us. All its first principles are there; all its outcomes flow from them. The word heaven is derived from one that signifies high. Whatever is high, lofty, elevated—in desire, in thought, in aspiration, in purpose—that is heaven within. Our Lord came into the world for the express purpose of elevating the human mind, then so thoroughly debased; of ennobling the human character, then so miserably degraded. He preached repentance; He preached regeneration; He preached self-abnegation—love to God and man. In doing this He preached the kingdom of heaven. When He found those who did his commandments and lived near to the spirit of his law, He said that they were not far from the kingdom of heaven. Of the humble in spirit, and of those who were persecuted because of their righteousness, He said, "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It was not a thing of the future; it was a thing of the present. It was not a reward to come, but an existing condition of the heart. It was not, "theirs will be," but "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And when He summed up the qualifications of those who were the blessed of the earth, the blessing was not of the future but of the present; it was not "Blessed will ye be," but it was "Blessed are ye;" and He did not add as the great incentive to religious life, "Great shall be your reward in heaven," but '"Great is your reward in heaven." Heaven was a present thing; heaven was within them.