our Lord, at the beginning of his active ministry, said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," He made no allusion to any remote locality, any planet, star, or sun coming into proximity with the earth; but He referred to the coming power of Christian truth and righteousness. When He declared to the scribe who answered Him so discreetly, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven," He had no reference to his nearness to any particular place, but to a heavenly state of mind. And when He was demanded of the Pharisees concerning the coming of the kingdom of God, He answered, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you!" Now, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God mean the same thing. This is evident from the fact that, in several instances, in relating the same event, one evangelist quotes Jesus as using the expression kingdom of heaven, and another that of kingdom of God. As notice the Beatitude, which, as given by Matthew, reads, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."[1] But in Luke, we read, "Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."[2] Paul expressed the truth in happy phrase when he said to the Romans, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."[3] Purity, peace, religion, the Lord's spirit within the soul —these constitute heaven there.
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