hy, such are they
that are earthy, and as is the Heavenly, such also are they that are
Heavenly."

I said, too, that many think of Heaven in a wrong way, as did the lady
of fashion, who fancied Heaven would be like the London season, only
better, as there would be no disagreeable people. Now, if we are to
think rightly of Heaven, we must do as S. John did. He heard a voice
saying, "Come up hither, and I will show the things which shall be
hereafter. And immediately he was in the Spirit." We must ask for the
Holy Spirit to lift our hearts and minds to Heaven; we must try to go
up higher in our thoughts, words, and works; we must try to get above
the world, above ourselves, so shall we be able to look, though with
bowed head and shaded eyes, through the open door. Let us reverently
do so now, and see what we can learn of the things which shall be
hereafter. First, I think we learn that Heaven and earth are not, as
some people fancy, two very different places, very far apart. The
Church of Christ is one family, bound together by _one_ faith, _one_
Baptism, _one_ hope, acknowledging one God and Father of us all. This
family has one Home; here in earth it dwells in a lower chamber, after
death it passes into a higher room of God's great House. The Apostle,
speaking of the Church, says, "Ye _are_ come, (not ye _will_ come,)
unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the Heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in Heaven, and
to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

In a word, our Heavenly life should commence when we are baptised, day
by day ought we to grow in grace, and when we have grown sufficiently,
God takes us to the upper Room above. It is this mistake of separating
Heaven and earth which makes people careless of their lives. If you
want to dwell with God through all eternity, you must walk humbly with
God all the days of your earthly life. Look again through the open
door, and learn that in Heaven God is the central figure. So, if we
are living here as Christ's people, God will be the central figure in
_our_ life, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all our
work, our wish, our plan. My brothers, if you feel that with you
_self_ is the