l
describe in such glowing terms, is in the man himself, in his
adaptation to the bliss-inspiring garniture of heaven. It is "Christ
in him the hope of glory."

This exalted and blissful state of man redeemed is what Peter calls
his "_inheritance which is incorruptible_." Think of it, Brethren. No
more sin to bewail; no more sickness to suffer; no more death to
dread! It is also "_undefiled_." No more "filthiness of the flesh;"
"neither idolatry, nor adultery, nor whatsoever loveth and maketh a
lie." And "_that fadeth not away_." The luster of the eye; the bloom
of the cheek; the facial expressions of beauty and love, purity and
truth, know nothing of decay in the amaranthine bowers of spotless
purity.

We often wonder about heaven. But I will tell you, Brethren, what I
believe about it. I do believe in my very soul that every Christian
man, after the death of his body, finds himself in the very heaven he
takes with him from this world; and that every man's heaven is the
LOVE and the TRUTH that abound in his mind and heart. If his heart is
filled with _love_ to God and to his brother, and his mind stored with
the _truth_ of God as revealed in his Son Jesus Christ, that man's
heaven is _in_ him. Do you remember, Brethren, that when Jesus was on
earth he said that he was also at the same time in heaven? Now let me
show you this. He says to Nicodemus: "No man hath ascended to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, _even the Son of man_ WHICH IS IN
HEAVEN." John 3:13.

And right here a difficulty confronts us which we must try to settle.
Did not Elijah ascend to heaven? How about Moses? These two redeemed
saints were both of them in heaven at the very time our Lord said this
to Nicodemus. Very shortly after this conversation they made their
appearance, not only to Jesus, but to Peter and James and John on
the holy mount in glory. How had they gotten there? I will tell you
just what I think our Lord meant. He meant to teach that stupid,
_materialistic_ Nicodemus that people do not go to heaven by merely
ascending, like as one would ascend or go up from a lower room in a
building to a higher one. He meant to teach him that heaven must be in
the man, inwrought into his character and life. This follows in
perfect harmony with what he had just before told him about the new
birth and a change of heart. "That which is born of the flesh is
flesh," and nothing more. But Paul says: "Ye are not in the flesh, but
in the spirit