Day: May 8, 2014

Baptism with the Holy Spirit

Baptism with the Holy Spirit

It is said in John, that the Lord “baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and in Luke, that He baptized “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” In the internal sense, to baptize signifies to regenerate; to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, is to regenerate by the good of love,—fire, is the good of love.. (AC n. 9229)

THE HOLY SUPPER

General Doctrine

In order that every one who repents should look to the Lord alone, the Holy Supper was instituted by Him, which to those who repent confirms the remission of sins. It confirms; because in that supper or communion every one is kept looking to the Lord only. (DP n. 122)

Baptism is introduction into the church; but the Holy Supper is an introduction into heaven. These two Sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, are as two gates to eternal life. By baptism, which is the first gate, every Christian man is intromitted and introduced into those things which the church teaches from the Word concerning another life; all which are means whereby a man may be prepared for and led to heaven. The second gate is the Holy Supper; through this every man who has suffered himself to be prepared and led by the Lord, is intromitted and introduced into heaven. (TCR n. 721)

The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord that by means of it there may be a conjunction of the church with heaven, and so with the Lord; it is therefore the most holy thing of worship.

But how conjunction is effected by it, is not apprehended by those who do not know anything of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word; for they do not think beyond the external sense, which is the sense of the letter. From the internal or spiritual sense of the Word it is known what is signified by the body, and blood, and what by the bread and wine, also what is signified by eating.

In that sense, the body or flesh of the Lord is the good of love, as is the bread likewise; and the blood of the Lord is the good of faith, as also is the wine; and eating is appropriation, and conjunction. The angels who are attendant on man when he receives the Sacrament of the Supper understand these things no otherwise; for they perceive all things spiritually. Hence it is that with man the holiness of love and the holiness of faith then flow in from the Lord. From this is conjunction.

From these considerations it is evident that when a man takes the bread, which is the body, he is conjoined to the Lord by means of the good of love to Him from Him; and when he takes the wine, which is the blood, he is conjoined to the Lord by means of the good of faith in Him from Him. But it should be known that conjunction with the Lord by means of the Sacrament of the Supper is effected only with those who are in the good of love and faith in the Lord from the Lord. With these there is conjunction by means of the Holy Supper; with others there is presence, but not conjunction.

Moreover, the Holy Supper includes and comprehends all the Divine worship instituted in the Israelitish church; for the burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in which the worship of that church principally consisted, were called in one word bread; hence also the Holy Supper is its complement. (HD n. 210-214)

They come to the Holy Supper worthily who are in faith in the Lord, and in charity towards the neighbour, thus who are regenerate. (TCR n. 722)

[Every one is regenerated by abstaining from the evils of sin. TCR n. 510. The state of regeneration begins when a man determines to shun evil and do good. ibid. n. 587.]

To those who come to it worthily the Holy Supper is as a signing and sealing that they are children of God; because the Lord is then present, and introduces those who are born of Him, that is who are regenerate, into heaven. The Holy Supper effects this because the Lord is then present even as to His Human; for it was shown above that in the Holy Supper the Lord is wholly present, and also the whole of His redemption; for He says of the bread “This is My body,” and of the wine, “This is My blood.” Consequently He then admits them into His body; and the church and heaven constitute His body. The Lord is indeed present whenever man is being regenerated, and by His Divine operation prepares him for heaven; but that He may actually enter, a man must actually present himself to the Lord. And because the Lord actually presents Himself to man, a man must actually receive Him,—and not as He hung upon the cross, but as He is, in His glorified Human in which He is present. The body of this is Divine Good, and the blood is Divine Truth. These are given to man, and by them man is regenerated, and is in the Lord and the Lord in him; for, as was shown above, the eating which takes place in the Holy Supper is spiritual eating. From all this, rightly apprehended, it is plain that the Holy Supper is as a signing and sealing that they who worthily approach it are children of God. (ibid. n. 728)

Conjunction with the Lord by means of the Holy Supper may be illustrated by the conjunction of the families descended from one father. From him descend brethren, and relations in succession by marriage and by blood; and they all derive something from the first stock. They do not, however, thus derive flesh and blood; but from flesh and blood they thus derive the soul and hence inclination to similar things, whereby they are conjoined. The very conjunction indeed commonly appears in their faces, and also in their manners; and they are therefore called one flesh (Gen. xxix. 14; xxxvii. 27; 2 Sam. v. 1; xix. 12, 13; et al). It is similar in respect to conjunction with the Lord, who is the Father of all the faithful and blessed. Conjunction with Him is effected by love and faith, on account of which two they are called one flesh. Hence it is that He said:—”He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him” (John vi. 56). Who does not see that the bread and wine do not effect this, but the good of love which is meant by bread, and the truth of faith which is meant by wine, which are the Lord’s own, and proceed and are communicated from Him alone? In truth all conjunction is effected by love; and love is not love without confidence. Those who believe that the bread is flesh and the wine blood, and are not able farther to elevate their thought, may remain in this belief; but ought not to think otherwise than that there is a something most holy [in the Sacrament], that is conjunctive with the Lord, which is attributed and appropriated to man as his although it continually remains the Lord’s. (ibid. n. 727)

The Second Use of Baptism

The Second Use of Baptism

The second use of Baptism is, that the Christian may know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour, and follow Him. This second use of Baptism, which is that one may know the Lord the Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ, inseparably follows the first, which is introduction into the Christian church, and insertion among Christians in the spiritual world. And what is this first use without the second but a mere name? … To bear the name of a Christian, of one belonging to Christ, and not acknowledge Him, and follow Him, that is, live according to His commandments, is as empty as a shadow, as a smoke, and useless as a blackened picture. For the Lord says,—”Why call ye me Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke vi. 46); “Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord…. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matt. vii. 22, 23). (TCR n. 681)

The Third Use of Baptism

The third use of Baptism, which is its final use, is that the man shall be regenerated. This is the very use for the sake of which Baptism was instituted, and is thus its final use; because a true Christian knows and acknowledges the Lord the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who as He is the Redeemer is also the Regenerator; and because a Christian possesses the Word, in which the means of regeneration stand plainly described,—and the means therein are faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. This is the same as what is said of the Lord, that,—”He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The Holy Spirit means the Divine truth of faith; and fire, the Divine good of love or charity, both proceeding from the Lord; and by these two all regeneration is effected by the Lord. (TCR n. 684)

From what has been said before, and now, it may be seen that the three uses of Baptism cohere as one,—after the same manner as the first cause, the mediate, which is the efficient cause, and the ultimate cause, which is the effect and the end itself for the sake of which the former exist. For the first use is that one may be named a Christian; the second, following from this, is that he may know and acknowledge the Lord the Redeemer, Regenerator, and Saviour; and the third is, that he may be regenerated by Him; and when this is done he is redeemed and saved. Since these three uses follow in order, and unite in the last, and hence in the conception of the angels cohere as one, therefore when Baptism is performed, read of in the Word, or mentioned, the angels who are present do not understand Baptism, but regeneration. Wherefore, by these words of the Lord, “Whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but whosoever believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark xvi. 16), it is understood by the angels in heaven, that he who acknowledges the Lord and is regenerated is saved. (ibid. n. 685)

As regards the Baptism of John, it represented the cleansing of the external man; but the Baptism which is at this day among Christians represents the cleansing of the internal man, which is regeneration. We therefore read that John baptized with water, but that the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire; and for this reason the Baptism of John is called the Baptism of repentance…. The Jews that were baptized were merely external men; and the external man cannot become internal without faith in Christ. It may be seen in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. xix. 3-6) that those who were baptized with the Baptism of John became internal men when they received faith in Christ, and were then baptized in the name of Jesus. (ibid. n. 690)

BAPTISM

BAPTISM

General Doctrine

Baptism was instituted for a sign that a man is of the church, and for a memorial that he must be regenerated; for the washing of Baptism is no other than spiritual washing, or regeneration.

All regeneration is effected by the Lord, by means of the truths of faith and a life according to them. Baptism therefore testifies that a man is of the church, and that he can be regenerated. For in the church the Lord is acknowledged, who alone regenerates; and there the Word is, wherein are the truths of faith by which regeneration is effected.

The Lord thus teaches in John:—”Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” In the spiritual sense water is the truth of faith from the Word; the spirit is life according to it; and to be born of them is to be regenerated by them.

Since every one who is regenerated also endures temptations, which are spiritual combats against evils and falsities, therefore these also are signified by the waters of baptism.

Because baptism is for a sign and a memorial of these things, a man may be baptized as an infant; and if not then, he may be as an adult.

Those who are baptized should therefore know that the Baptism itself confers neither faith nor salvation; but testifies that they may receive faith, and that they may be saved if they are regenerated.

From this it is evident what is meant by the Lord’s words in Mark:—”He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (ch. xvi. 16). He that believeth is he who acknowledges the Lord and receives truths from Him through the Word; he that is baptized is he who is regenerated by means of them by the Lord. (HD n. 202-208)

Baptism Commanded

That baptism was commanded is very manifest from the baptism of John, in the Jordan, to which there went out all Judea and Jerusalem (Matt. 5, 6; Mark i. 4, 5); and from the fact that the Lord our Saviour Himself was baptized by John (Matt. iii. 13-17). -He moreover commanded the disciples that they should baptize all nations (Matt. xviii 19). (TCR n. 668)

The reason why the Lord Himself was baptized by John was, not only that He might institute baptism for the future, and lead the way by His example, but also because He glorified His Humanity and made this Divine, as He regenerates man and makes him spiritual (ibid. n. 684)

The First Use of Baptism

The first use of Baptism is introduction into the Christian church, and then, at the same time, insertion among Christians in the spiritual world…. Baptism was instituted in the place of circumcision; and as circumcision was a sign that the circumcised were of the Jewish church, so Baptism is a sign that the baptized are of the Christian church. But the sign effects nothing more than that they may be known; as the swaddling-clothes of different colour placed upon the infants of two mothers, that they may be distinguished, and not changed…. Not only infants are baptized, but also all foreign proselytes, young and old, who are converted to the Christian religion, and this before they have been instructed, merely upon a confession that they desire to embrace Christianity. This too did the Apostles, according to the Lord’s command that they should “make disciples of all nations, and baptize them” (Matt. xviii. 19)…

But this is done on earth. In the heavens, on the other hand, the infants are introduced by Baptism into the Christian heaven; and angels are assigned them there by the Lord, who take care of them. As soon therefore as infants are baptized, angels are appointed over them, by whom they are kept in a state to receive faith in the Lord. But as they grow up, and come to act of their own right and of their own reason, the guardian-angels leave them, and they draw to themselves such spirits as make one with their life and faith; from which it is plain that Baptism is also insertion among Christians in the spiritual world. (TCR n. 677)

The reason why not only infants but in fact all are inserted by baptism among Christians in the spiritual world, is, that in that world peoples and nations are distinct, according to their religions. Christians are in the centre; Mohammedans around them; after them idolaters of various kinds; and at the sides the Jews.[The reader should not think of this as of an arrangement in space, but rather according to state. A little reflection will show an arrangement to some extent similar, although less perfect, in this world. Christians here are in the centre,— the centre of light and civilization; others are grouped around them, and, in a common and important aspect, are considered nearer or more remote from Christendom according as they have more or less of the light and life which characterize it.]

Moreover, all of the same religion in heaven are arranged in societies, according to the affections of love to God and towards the neighbour; and in hell, in congregations, according to the affections opposed to these two loves, thus according to the lusts of evil. In the spiritual world,—by which we mean both heaven and hell,—all things are most distinctly organized, in the whole and in every part, or in general and in every particular. Upon the distinctive organization there the preservation of the whole universe depends; and there could not be this distinctiveness unless every one after he is born were known by some sign, [showing] to what religious body he belongs. For without the Christian sign, which is Baptism, some Mahometan spirit or one of the idolaters might attach himself to Christian infants newly born, and also to children, and breathe into them an inclination for his religion, and so distract their minds and alienate them from Christianity; which would be to distort and destroy spiritual order. (TCR 678)

The Mahometans, as all the Gentiles, who acknowledge one God, and love justice, and do good from a religious motive, have their heaven; but outside of the Christian heaven. (ibid. n. 832)

Infants and children born without the Christian church, [who depart this life in infancy or childhood] after reception of faith in the Lord, are designated for the heaven of their religion by other means than baptism; but they are not intermingled with those who are in the Christian heaven. (ibid. n. 729)

Every man as to his spirit, although he does not know it, is in society with spirits while he lives in the body. Through them a good man is in an angelic society, and an evil man in an infernal society. (HH n. 438)

This first use of baptism is, that it is a sign in the spiritual world, that the baptized is a Christian,—where every one is inserted in the societies and congregations there, according to the quality of the Christianity within him or without him. (TCR n. 680) [What the author means by the Christianity without a man may be gathered from the following in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture The church is in man; the church which is without him is the church among the many who have the church in them.” (SS n. 78)]

John’s Baptism, an Illustration of the Effect of the Sign of Baptism in the Spiritual World, and thence upon the Baptized on Earth

Baptism is holy, and a sacrament, because it is a sign and a memorial that the man can be regenerated by the Lord, by means of truths from the Word,—a sign for heaven, and a memorial for man and that a man is introduced by it into the church,—as the children of Israel by passing over the Jordan were introduced into the land of Canaan, and as the inhabitants of Jerusalem were prepared by the Baptism of John for the reception of the Lord. For without that sign in heaven before the angels, the Jews could not have subsisted and lived at the coming of Jehovah, that is of the Lord, in the flesh. (AR n. 776)

John was the prophet who was sent to prepare the way of Jehovah God, who was to descend into the world and accomplish the work of redemption. He prepared that way by baptism, and then by announcing the coming of the Lord; and without that preparation all there would have been smitten with a curse, and would have perished. (TCR n. 688)

The reason why a way was prepared by John’s Baptism was, that by that baptism they were introduced into the future church of the Lord, and in heaven were inserted among those who expected and desired the Messiah, and so were guarded by angels, that devils might not break forth from hell and destroy them….

If the way had not been prepared for the descent of Jehovah into the world by means of Baptism, the effect of which in heaven was that the hells were closed, and the Jews were guarded from total destruction [they would have perished]. (ibid. n. 689)

After quotation and exposition of some illustrative and confirmatory passages from the Word, the author adds:

These few examples illustrate with what a curse and destruction the Jews would have been smitten, if they had not been prepared by the Baptism of John to receive the Messiah, who was Jehovah God in the human form, and if He had not assumed the Human and so revealed Himself. And they were prepared by this, that in heaven they were enrolled and numbered among those who in heart expected and desired the Messiah in consequence of which angels were then sent, and became their guardians. (ibid. n. 691)

Despair – How to conjure up hope?

Despair – How to conjure up hope?

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Ed

despairOn an off day, Stuart would privately think that life had little to offer him and he even sometimes felt that all he was doing was going through the motions of living. Money was tight, and in a time of recession there were poor prospects of job advancement. Although working as an estate agent, he had started to despair that he could do anything about finding any way of earning a living in a meaningful role in line with his youthful ideals.

Whatever he did wasn’t satisfying for very long and from time to time the feelings of hopelessness would return. He kept busy and this was his way of avoiding what he didn’t realize was a state of inner despair. He had been an idealist when younger, very keen to help bring about a world where the natural environment was protected, business people were honest, and social justice was the norm.

Now days he felt depressed whenever he read a newspaper or watched a newscast that clearly showed the opposite of his vision. He had switched from being very positive to very negative in his hopes. He was starting to feel like a failure and trapped by his situation, with a reducing willpower left for continuing the struggle with the disappointments of daily living.

How can someone like Stuart change this state of despair and find something to give hope and energy?

Despair resulting from lack of belief

There is nothing wrong with having a vision of a better world. Many of us like Stuart have imagined a human society uncorrupted by warfare and other social evils; or a natural environment with its beauty not exploited by greed; or a community of mutually supportive people with real concern for the public good, that gives everyone a sense of belonging and being included. Whatever idea of the future that excites us, it can serve to energise our best efforts and sustain our endurance when set-backs and adversity get in the way.

I feel Stuarts’s problem however was that he had nothing to believe in that had the power to transform society: no spiritual framework of ideas to sustain his youthful vision, to give it credibility in the long run as an achievable objective, to enable his wishes to survive a rational appraisal of what is possible. When there is nothing on which one can pin one’s hopes, then despair is likely to be the result.

If you despair, in what can you put your faith?

In other words, I am trying to argue that what is crucially needed is something beyond oneself, that transcends the material realm, and in which one can put one’s faith: an entity greater than oneself: that goes beyond the ‘little me’ with my petty concerns: that both offers a timeless vision of life.

The way you think affects the way you feel – a psychological process used in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). Consequently, it is key to examine whether the belief that sustains your hopes is a reasonable one? Stuart’s despair seems to come from his disbelief in any divine spark within and beyond humanity that can help us think further than self.

But how to be convinced? How to find a rational faith that could challenge the setbacks and illusions that destroy hope? The illusions of meaninglessness, alienation and self-condemnation?

Persuasive belief and despair

One answer comes from the spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. He writes about a limited type of belief that results from being persuaded by some ideology such as a political or religious teaching: often this is a belief of convenience so our attitudes unconsciously fit in with those of our family and friends. He claims that such a belief may be part of the thinking mind, but not also part of the feeling heart: if so he says it cannot endure. For example being persuaded that it is wrong to steal cannot transform a person from being a robber at heart unless there is a desire to be honest – unless thought and feeling are in harmony. Incongruity between head and heart accounts for the hypocrisy seen in some of the history of religion including Christianity. It can also account for lost hope and despair.

Swedenborg contrasts persuasive belief with a genuine faith in a higher power. He maintains real faith is to do with trust and confidence: it is knowing in your heart with an inner conviction for example that there is a divine providence behind the universe beyond all the ability of material science to observe. So just how can one find such an inner conviction that sustains hope? What do you do to be convinced deep down?

Despair or receiving confident hope through faith

His answer is that such a faith is a spiritual gift – not something we can create for ourselves but rather something that we can receive: a gift only for those who are ready to receive it: who are willing to give something of themselves in order to receive.

But give what? Things that occur to me are:

  1. Giving an open mind to the possibility of a higher spiritual power that we can source to change things for the better,
  2. Giving the time to try to understand what this would mean,
  3. Giving our effort to try to lead a way of life in line with what we are persuaded is true.

If all this is correct then to find confidence in justice and peace, one needs to start behaving fairly with others. Likewise to have a deep trust in a creative force within the universe, one needs to oneself start nurturing the natural environment. Also to believe in the reality of the power of compassion, then one needs to begin practicing a caring attitude towards those with whom we come into contact.

Without confidence and conviction there can be no sustainable hope. Without hope there is despair.

“Give and you will receive”
“Search and you will find” (Jesus Christ)

Copyright 2014 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems

This entry was posted in Healing attitudes, Latest post, Spiritual healing and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

All Things made New

All Things made New

“And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful” (ver. 5). This signifies the Lord saying these things, concerning the last judgment, to those who should come into the world of spirits, or should die, from the time when He was in the world until now; namely, that the former heaven with the former earth, and the former church, with each and all things in them, should perish, and that He would create a new heaven with a new earth, and a new church, which should be called the New Jerusalem; and that they may know this of a certainty, and keep it in remembrance, because the Lord Himself has testified and declared it. The things contained in this verse, and in the following as far as the 8th inclusive, were said to those in the Christian world who should come into the world of spirits,—which is immediately after death,—to the end that they might not suffer themselves to be seduced by the Babylonians and dragonists. .For, as was said above, all congregate after death in the world of spirits,—and they incline to association with one another, as in the natural world,—where they are in company with Babylonians and dragonists, who continually burn with the desire to lead astray; and who were also permitted to form heavens, as it were, for themselves, by imaginative and illusive arts,—by which, too, they were able to mislead. Lest this should be done these words were spoken by the Lord, that they might certainly know that these heavens with their earths would perish, and that the Lord would create a new heaven and a new earth; at which time those that did not suffer themselves to be led astray would be saved. But it should be known that these things were said to those who lived from the Lord’s time down to the last judgment, which was executed in the year of our Lord 1757,—because these could have been led astray. But this they cannot be hereafter there, because the Babylonians and dragonists have been separated and cast out. (AR n. 886)

The Vision of the Holy City

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (ver. 10). This signifies that John was translated into the third heaven, and that his sight was there opened, and the Lord’s New Church was manifested before him, as to doctrine, in the form of a city. “He carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain,” signifies that John was translated into the third heaven, where they are who are in love to the Lord, and in- the genuine doctrine of truth from Him. Great is also predicated of the good of love, and high of truths. Carried away into a mountain signifies taken up into the third heaven, because it is said “in the spirit,” and he who is in the spirit as to his mind and its sight is in the spiritual world; and there the angels of the third heaven dwell upon mountains, the angels of the second heaven upon hills, and the angels of the lowest heaven in valleys among the hills and mountains. When, therefore, any one in the spirit is taken up into a mountain, it signifies that he is taken up into the third heaven. This elevation is effected in a moment, because it is done by a change of state in the mind. “He showed me,” signifies that his sight was then opened, and manifestation. “That great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” signifies the Lord’s New Church; for this reason it is called holy, and is said to descend out of heaven from God; it was seen in the form of a city, because a city signifies doctrine, and the church is a church by virtue of doctrine and life according to it. It was seen as a city also in order that it might be described as to its every quality; and it is described by its wall, its gates, its foundations, and various dimensions. The church is described in a similar manner in Ezekiel, where it is also said that the prophet was led in the visions of God upon a very high mountain, and saw a city on the south, which the angel also measured as to its wall, and gates, and as to its breadth and height (xl. 2, and following verses). The same is meant by these words in Zechariah: “Then said I unto the angel, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof’, and what is the length thereof” (ii. 2). (AR n. 896)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

The New Heaven and the New Earth

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. xxi. 1) signifies that a new heaven was formed by the Lord from among Christians, which at this day is called the Christian heaven; where they are who had worshipped the Lord and lived according to His commandments in the Word,—in whom therefore there is charity and faith. In this heaven are also all the infants of Christians. A natural heaven visible to the eyes, and a natural earth inhabited by men, are not meant by a new heaven and a new earth; but a spiritual heaven is meant, and the earth of that heaven, where angels dwell. That this heaven and the earth of this heaven are meant, every one may see and acknowledge if he can but withdraw himself somewhat from a merely natural and material conception when he reads the Word. It is plain that an angelic heaven is meant; for it is said in the verse immediately following, that he saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; by which no Jerusalem descending is meant, but a church. And the church upon earth comes down from the Lord out of the angelic heaven, because the angels of heaven and men on earth in all things relating to the church form one. It may be seen from this how naturally and materially they have thought and think, who, from these words and those that follow in this verse, have fabricated the dogma of the destruction of the world, and of a new creation of all things. This new heaven is several times previously referred to in the Apocalypse, especially in chap. xiv. and xv. It is called the Christian heaven because it is distinct from the ancient heavens, which were composed of the men of the church before the Lord’s coming. These ancient heavens are above the Christian heaven; for the heavens are like expanses one above the other. It is the same with each heaven; for each heaven by itself is distinguished into three heavens, an inmost or third, a middle or second, and a lowest or first heaven. So it is with this new heaven. I have seen those who are there and conversed with them. In this new Christian heaven are all, from the first formation of the Christian church, who have worshipped the Lord and lived according to His commandments in the Word, and who therefore were in charity and at the same time in faith from the Lord through the Word,— and thus who were not in a dead but a living faith. All the infants of Christians are likewise in that heaven, because they are educated by angels in those two essentials of the church; which are, an acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and a life according to the commandments of the decalogue. (AR n. 876)

It is according to Divine order that a new heaven should be formed before a New Church on earth. For the church is internal and external, and the internal church forms one with the church in heaven, that is with heaven; and the internal must be formed before the external, and afterwards the external by the internal. That it is so is known among the clergy in the world. As this new heaven which constitutes the internal with man increases, the New Jerusalem, that is the New Church, comes down from that heaven. This cannot therefore come to pass in a moment, but takes place as the falsities of the former church are removed. For what is new cannot enter where falsities have previously been ingenerated unless these are eradicated; which will be effected among the clergy, and so among the laity. (TCR n. 784)

How the Lord’s Advent becomes effective in the Individual Man

How the Lord’s Advent becomes effective in the Individual Man

The Lord’s presence is perpetual with every man, the evil as well as the good; for without His presence no man lives. But His advent is to those only who receive Him,—who are those that believe in Him, and do His Commandments. The effect of the Lord’s perpetual presence is, that man is made rational, and that he can become spiritual. This is effected by the light proceeding from the Lord as a sun in the spiritual world, which man receives in his understanding; and that light is the truth by which he has rationality. But the Lord’s advent is to him who conjoins heat with that light, that is, love with he truth; for the heat proceeding from that same sun is love to God and towards the neighbour. The mere presence of the Lord, and enlightenment of the understanding thereby, may be compared to the presence of the light of the sun in the world; unless it is conjoined with heat all things on earth become desolate. But the advent of the Lord may be compared to the advent of heat, which takes place in the springtime; and because heat then conjoins itself with the light, the earth is softened, seeds shoot forth and bear fruit. Such a parallelism exists between the spiritual things in which a man’s spirit dwells, and the natural things in which his body lives. (TCR n. 774)

THE FIFTH, OR NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH

General Character

It was foretold in the Apocalypse, chap. xxi., xxii., that at the end of the former church a New Church would be established, in which this should be the primary doctrine: That God is One, both in person and in essence, and that the Lord is that God. This Church is what is there meant by the New Jerusalem; into which no one can enter but who acknowledges the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth. Wherefore this church is there called the Lamb’s Wife. And this I am able to proclaim: That the whole heaven acknowledges the Lord alone, and that whoever does not acknowledge Him is not admitted into heaven; for heaven is heaven from the Lord. This acknowledgment, from love and faith, itself effects that those who are in heaven are in the Lord and the Lord in them; as He Himself teaches in John: “At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you” (xiv. 20); and in the same: “Abide in Me, and I in you, … I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me he is cast forth” (xv. 4-6; also xvii. 22, 23).

The reason why this was not seen before from the Word, is that if it had been seen it would not have been received; for the Last Judgment was not yet accomplished, and before that the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven,—and man is in the midst between heaven and hell. If therefore this had been seen before, the devil, that is hell, would have plucked it from the hearts of men, and moreover would have profaned it. This condition of the power of hell was entirely broken by the Last Judgment, which has now been accomplished. Since that, that is, now, every man who will can be enlightened, and be wise. (DP n. 263)

This New Church is signified by the New Jerusalem

That a New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (Rev. xxi), is because Jerusalem was the metropolis of the land of Canaan; and there were the temple and the altar, there the sacrifices were offered, and thus there the actual Divine worship was performed to which every male in the land was commanded to go up three times in the year; and because the Lord was in Jerusalem, and taught in its temple, and afterwards glorified His Human there. Hence it is that the church is signified by Jerusalem. That the church is meant by Jerusalem, is very evident from the prophecies in the Old Testament respecting the new church to be instituted by the Lord, in that it is there called Jerusalem. Only those passages shall be adduced from which every one endued with interior reason may see that the church is there meant by Jerusalem. Let these passages only be cited therefrom: “Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth; the former shall not be remembered…. Behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, and I will rejoice over Jerusalem, and joy over My people…. Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together; … they shall not do evil in all the mountain of My holiness” (Isaiah lxv. 17-19, 25). “For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Then the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all icings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. And thou shalt be a crown of glory … and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God…. Jehovah shall delight in thee, and thy land shall be married…. Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him…. And they shall call them The holy People, The redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called A city sought for, not forsaken” (lxii. 1-4, 11, 12). “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem,…. The people shall know my name in that day, for it is I that speak, behold, it is … Jehovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem” (lii. 1, 2, 6, 9). “Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; wherefore Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, and the Mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, the Holy Mountain” (Zech. viii. 3). “Then shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion the mountain of holiness; and Jerusalem shall be Holiness…. And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, … and Jerusalem shall abide from generation to generation” (Joel iii. 17, 20). “In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious…. And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem” (Isaiah iv. 2, 3). “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the Throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered into it, on account of the name of Jehovah at Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart” (Jer. iii. 17). “Look upon Zion, the city of our festivities: Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet Habitation, a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken,” (Isaiah xxxiii. 20). That by Jerusalem here the church is meant which was to be instituted by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, is manifest from every part of its description in the passages adduced; as that Jehovah God would create a new heaven and a new earth, and also at the same time Jerusalem; and that this Jerusalem would be a crown of glory and a royal diadem; that it was to be called Holiness, and the City of Truth, the Throne of Jehovah, a Quiet Habitation, a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down; that there the wolf and the lamb shall feed together; and there it is said the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and that it shall abide from generation to generation; and, besides many other things, it is also said of the people there that they should be holy, every one written among the living; and that they should be called the Redeemed of Jehovah. Moreover, in all these passages the coming of the Lord is referred to; especially His second coming, when Jerusalem will be such as is there described. For before she was not married, that is, made the bride and wife of the Lamb, as is said of the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. The former church, or that of the present day, is meant by Jerusalem in Daniel; and its beginning is there described by these words: “Know and perceive that from, the going forth of the word for restoring and building Jerusalem, even to the Prince Messiah, shall be seven weeks; after that in sixty and two weeks the street and the trench shall be restored and built, but in troublous times” (ix. 25). And its end is there described by these words: “At length upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation, and even to the consummation and decision it shall drop upon the devastation” (ver. 27). These last are what are meant by the Lord’s words in Matthew: “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, foretold by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let him that readeth observe well” (xxiv. 25). That Jerusalem in the passages above quoted did not mean the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, may be seen from the passages in the Word where it is said of this that it was utterly lost, and that it was to be destroyed. (TCR n. 782)

This Second Coming of the Lord is not a Coming in Person, but in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself .

This Second Coming of the Lord is not a Coming in Person, but in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself .

It is written in many places that the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven; but as no one has known what was meant by the clouds of heaven, men have believed that He would come in them in Person. That the clouds of heaven mean the Word in the sense of the letter, and that the glory and power in which He will also then come mean the spiritual sense of the Word, has hitherto been hidden; because no one hitherto has even conjectured that there is any spiritual sense in the Word, such as this in itself is. Now, since the Lord has opened to me the spiritual sense of the Word, and has granted me to be in company with angels and spirits in their world, as one of them, it is disclosed that by the clouds of heaven the Word in the natural sense is meant, and by power the Lord’s might through the Word. That the clouds of heaven have this signification may be seen from these passages in the Word:—”There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven, and in His greatness upon the clouds” (Deut. xxxiii. 26); “Sing unto God, praise His name, extol Him who rideth upon the clouds” (Ps. lxviii. 5); “Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud” (Isa. xix. 1).

That the Lord is the Word is very certain from these words in John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, … and the Word was made flesh” (i. 1,14). The Word here means Divine Truth; for Divine truth among Christians is from no other source than the Word. It is the fountain whence all churches bearing the name of Christ draw living waters in their fulness although it is as in a cloud, in which its natural sense is, yet it is in glory and power, in which its spiritual and celestial sense is. It has been shown in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture, and in the chapter on the Decalogue or Catechism, that there are three senses in the Word, the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial, one within another. It is therefore clear that in John the Word means Divine Truth…. From all this it is plain that now also the Lord will appear in the Word. The reason why He will not appear in person is, that since His ascension into heaven He is in the glorified Human and in this lie cannot appear to any man unless He first open the eyes of his spirit; and these cannot be opened with any one who is in evils and thence in falsities; thus not with any of the goats which He sets at His left hand. Therefore when He manifested Himself to the disciples He first opened their eyes; for it is said, “And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight” (Luke xxiv. 31). The same occurred with the women at the sepulchre after the resurrection; and therefore they then also saw angels sitting in the sepulchre and talking with them, whom no man can see with the material eye. Neither did the apostles see the Lord in the glorified Human before the Lord’s resurrection with the eyes of the body, but in the spirit,—which appears after waking as if it were in sleep. This is evident from His transfiguration before Peter, James, and John, in that “their eyes were heavy with sleep” (Luke ix. 32). It is therefore vain to think the Lord will appear in person in the clouds of heaven but He will appear in the Word which is from Him, thus which is Himself. (TCR n. 776, 777)

This Second Coming of the Lord is effected by means of a Man, to whom the Lord has manifested Himself in Person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrines of the New Church from Himself, through the Word

Since the Lord cannot manifest Himself in Person, as shown just above, and yet has foretold that He would come and establish a New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, it follows that this will be effected by means of a man, who is able not only to receive the doctrines of that church into his understanding, but also to publish them by the press. I testify in truth, that the Lord manifested Himself to me His servant, and sent me to this office; and that afterwards He opened the sight of my spirit, and so intromitted me into the spiritual world, and has granted me to see the heavens and the hells, and also to converse with angels and spirits, and this now continually for many years; likewise that from the first day of that calling I have not received anything whatever relating to the doctrines of that church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I was reading the Word.

To the end that the Lord might continually be present, He has opened to me the spiritual sense of His Word, in which Divine Truth is in its light. And in this light He is continually present; for His presence in the Word is no otherwise than by the spiritual sense. By the light of this He passes through into the shade in which the sense of the letter is; comparatively as the light of the sun in the daytime does through an interposing cloud. (TCR n. 779, 780)

THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD

THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD

General Doctrine

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven” (Matt. xxiv. 30), signifies the appearing then of Divine ‘Truth; a sign denotes an appearing; the Son of Man is the Lord as to Divine Truth. It is this appearing, or this sign, about which the disciples inquired when they said to the Lord, “Tell us when shall these things come to pass, and what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age” (ver. 3). For they knew from the Word that when the age was consummated the Lord would come, and they knew from the Lord that He would come again; and they understood by this that the Lord would come again into the world, not knowing as yet that as often as the church has been vastated, so often the Lord has come. Not that He has come in person, as when by nativity He assumed the Human and made this Divine, but by appearings,—either manifest, as when He appeared to Abraham in Mamre, to Moses in the bush, to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, and to Joshua when he entered the land of Canaan; or not so manifest, as through the inspirations whereby the Word [was given], and afterwards through the Word. For the Lord is present in the Word; for all things of the Word are from Him and relate to Him, as is evident from what has been so frequently shown before. This is the appearing which is here signified by the sign of the Son of Man, and of which this verse treats. “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,” signifies that all who are in the good of love and in the truth of faith shall be in grief. That mourning has this signification may be seen in Zechariah, chap. xii. verses 10-14; and tribes signify all things of good and truth, or of love and faith, consequently those who are in love and faith. They are called tribes of the earth, because they that are within the church are signified; the earth is the church. “And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heavens, with rower and great glory,” signifies that then the Word shall be revealed as to its internal sense, in which the Lord is. The Son of Man is the Divine Truth which is therein. The clouds are the literal sense power is predicated of the good, and glory of the truth that are therein. This is the coming of the Lord which is here meant; and not that according to the letter He will appear in the clouds. What now follows concerns the establishment of a New Church, which takes place when the old is vastated and rejected. “He shall send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great voice,” signifies election; not that it is effected by visible angels, still less by trumpets and by great voices, but by an influx of holy good and holy truth from the Lord through the angels. Therefore angels in the Word signify something appertaining to the Lord; here things which are from the Lord and concerning the Lord. By a trumpet and a great voice evangelization is signified, as also elsewhere in the Word. “And they shall gather together the elect, from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end of them,” signifies the establishment of a New Church. The elect are they who are in the good of love and faith; the four winds, from which they shall be gathered together, are all states of good and truth; the end of the heavens even to the end of them are the internal and external things of the Church. These things then are what are signified by those words of the Lord. (AC n. 4060)

There have been in general four Churches on the Earth

There have been in general four Churches on the Earth

That there have been four churches in general on this earth since its creation, one succeeding another, can be seen both from the historical and prophetical Word; especially in Daniel, where these four churches are described by the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream (chap. ii), and afterwards by the four beasts coming up out of the sea (chap. vii). The first church, which is to be called the Most Ancient, existed before the flood; the consummation or end of this is described by the flood. The second church, which is to be called the Ancient, was in Asia, and in part in Africa; this was consummated and destroyed by idolatries. The third church was the Israelitish, which began with the promulgation of the decalogue upon Mount Sinai, and continued through the Word written by Moses and the prophets, and was consummated or ended by the profanation of the Word; the fullness of which profanation was at the time when the Lord came into the world,—and therefore Him who was the Word they crucified. The fourth church is the Christian, established by the Lord through the evangelists and apostles. Of this there have been two epochs; one from the time of the Lord to the council of Nice, and the other from that council to the present day. But in its progress this church was divided into three parts, the Greek, the Roman Catholic, and the Reformed. They are all however called Christian. Besides, within each general church there have been several particular churches, which, although they have withdrawn have yet retained the name of the general; as the heresies in the Christian church. (TCR n. 760)

General Character of these four Churches

In the most ancient times men were informed concerning heavenly things, or the things which relate to eternal life, by immediate intercourse with the angels of heaven. For heaven then acted as one with the man of the church, for it flowed in through the internal man into their external; whence they had not only enlightenment and perception, but also converse with the angels. This time was called the golden age, from the fact that men were then in the good of love to the Lord; for gold signifies that good. These things are also described by the Garden of Eden in the Word. Afterwards information concerning heavenly things, and concerning the things that relate to eternal life, was given by such things as are called correspondences and representations; the knowledge of which was derived from the most ancient men, who had immediate intercourse with the angels of heaven. Heaven then flowed into these things with them and enlightened them; for correspondences and representations are external forms of heavenly things. And men were then enlightened in proportion as they were in the good of love and charity; for all Divine influx out of heaven is into the good in man, and through the good into truths. And because the .man of the church at that time was in spiritual good, which good in its essence is truth, those times were called the silver age; for silver signifies such good. But when the knowledge of correspondences and representations was turned into magic, that church perished; and a third succeeded, in which all worship was indeed performed by things almost similar, but yet it was unknown what they signified. This church was established among the Israelitish and Jewish nation. But as information concerning heavenly things, or the things which relate to eternal life, could not be communicated to them by influx into their interiors, and thus by enlightenment, therefore angels from heaven spoke by the living voice with some of them, and instructed them concerning external things; and little concerning internal things, because they could not comprehend them. Those who were in natural good received these things devoutly; and those times were therefore called the brazen age, for brass signifies such good. But when not even natural good remained with the man of the church, the Lord came into the world and reduced all things in the heavens and in the hells to order; to the end that man may receive influx from Him out of heaven, and be enlightened, and that the hells should not prevent and let in thick darkness. Then a fourth church began which is called Christian. In this church information concerning heavenly things, or concerning the things that relate to eternal life, is communicated solely by means of the Word; through this man has influx and enlightenment. For the Word was written by pure correspondences and pure representatives, which signify heavenly things,—into which the angels of heaven come when man reads the’ Word. Hence by means of the Word a conjunction of heaven with the church is effected, or of the angels of heaven with the men of the church; but only with those therein who are in the good of love and of charity. But because the man of this church has even extinguished this good, he cannot therefore be informed by any influx, and by enlightenment from the Word,—except concerning some truths which are not connected with good. Hence these times are what are called the iron age; for iron denotes truth in the ultimate of order. But when truth is such it is of the quality described in Daniel: “Thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay; they shall mingle themselves by the seed of man, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay” (ii. 43). From these facts it may be seen how revelations have succeeded, from the most ancient times down to the present; and that at this day revelation is only given through the Word. But genuine revelation is with those who are in the love of truth for the sake of truth, and not with those who are in the love of truth for the sake of honour and gain as ends. For, if you will believe it, the Lord is the Word itself, since the Word is Divine truth, and Divine truth, because from the Lord, is the Lord in heaven. They therefore who love Divine truth for the sake of Divine truth love the Lord; and heaven flows in with those who love the Lord, and enlightens them. But they that love Divine truth for the sake of honour and gain as ends, turn themselves away from the Lord to themselves and to the world; and therefore with them there can be no influx and enlightenment. They also, because in the sense of the letter they keep their minds fixed upon themselves and upon their own fame and glory, interpret that sense in conformity with such things as favour their loves. (AC n. 10,355)

The Necessity that there should always be a Church

The Necessity that there should always be a Church

The human race, even those who are out of the church, derive life from the church of the Lord on earth. The reason is entirely unknown to any one. But that something may be known of it, it may be stated that the whole human race on earth is like the body with its parts, in which the church is as the heart; and unless there were a church, with which as with a kind of heart the Lord might be united, through heaven and the world of spirits, there would be a disjunction; and if there were a disjunction of the human race from the Lord it would instantly perish. This is the reason why from the first creation of man there has always been some church; and that as often as the church began to perish it still remained with some. This also was the reason of the Lord’s advent into the world. Unless in His Divine mercy He had come the whole human race on this earth would have perished; for the church was then at the point of destruction, so that there was scarcely any surviving good and truth. The reason why the human race cannot live unless it is conjoined with the Lord, through heaven and the world of spirits, is because in himself regarded man is far viler than the brutes. If he were left to himself he would rush headlong to his own destruction, and that of all others; for he desires nothing but the ruin of them and himself. His order of life should be that one should love another as himself; but now, each loves himself more than others, and consequently hates all others. With the unreasoning animals it is quite different. It is their order, according to which they live. Thus they live entirely in agreement with the order in which they exist; but man altogether contrary to his order. Unless therefore the Lord should have compassion upon him, and conjoin him to Himself by the angels, he would not be able to live a moment. Man does not know this. (AC n. 637)

The Church in Heaven could not subsist without a Church on the Earth

It should be known that there is a church in the heavens as well as on earth; for the Word is there; there are temples, and preachings in them; there are ministerial and priestly offices. For all the angels there were men; and their departure out of the world was only a continuation of their life. They also are therefore perfected in love and wisdom, every one according to the degree of affection for truth and good which he took with him from the world. The church among them is meant here (Rev. xii. 1) by the woman clothed with the sun, who had upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And because the church in the heavens cannot subsist unless there is also a church on earth, which is in concordant love and wisdom, and because this was about to be, therefore the moon was seen under the feet of the woman; by which here in particular a faith is signified,—of such quality as it is at the present day,—by which there is no conjunction. The reason why the church in the heavens cannot subsist unless there is a church on earth, in conjunction with it, is that heaven where the angels are and the church where men are act as one, like the internal and external in man. And the internal in man cannot subsist in its state unless an external is conjoined with it; for the internal without the external is as a house without a foundation; or as seed upon the ground and not in the ground; and so like anything without a foothold; in a word as a cause without an effect in which it may exist. From these considerations it may appear how absolutely necessary it is that there should be a church somewhere in the world, where the Word is, and by means of it the Lord is known. (AR n. 533)

The Church Universal

THE CHURCH

The Church Universal

The church of the Lord is scattered over the whole terrestrial globe, and thus is universal. All they are in it who have lived in the good of charity according to their religious belief. (HH n. 328)

As regards the Lord’s spiritual church, it should be known that it is throughout the whole terrestrial globe. For it is not limited to those that have the Word, and from this have obtained a knowledge of the Lord, and some truths of faith; but it is also with those who have not the Word, and are therefore entirely ignorant of the Lord, and consequently do not know any truths of faith (for all truths of faith refer to the Lord); that is, with the Gentiles remote from the church. For there are many among them who from rational light have come to know that there is one God; that He created all things, and that He preserves all things; as well as that all good, consequently all truth is from Him, and that similitude with Him makes man blessed; and who live, moreover, according to their religious belief, in love to God and in charity towards the neighbour; who from the affection of good do the works of charity, and from the affection of truth worship the Supreme. It is those that are of such a character among the Gentiles who are in the Lord’s spiritual church. And although ignorant of the Lord while they are in the world, yet they have within them the worship and tacit acknowledgment of Him, when they are in good; for in all good the Lord is present. (AC n. 3263)

The Specific Church, and its relation to the Church Universal

It is called the church where the Lord is acknowledged and where the Word is. For the essentials of the church are love and faith in the Lord from the Lord; and the Word teaches how a man must live in order that he may receive love and faith from the Lord. (HD n. 242)

They that are without the church, and acknowledge one God, and live in a certain charity towards the neighbour according to their religious belief, are in communion with those that are of the church; for no one who believes in God and lives well is condemned. It is therefore clear that the church of the Lord is everywhere in the whole world, although specifically it is where the Lord is acknowledged, and where the Word is. (ibid. n. 244)

By means of the Word there is conjunction of heaven with those also who are out of the church, where the Word is not; for the Lord’s church is universal, and with all who acknowledge a Divine [Being] and live in charity. And furthermore, after death they are instructed by the angels and receive Divine truths. The church universal on earth is in the sight of the Lord as one man, just as heaven is; and the church where the Word is, and where by means of this the Lord is known, is as the heart and lungs in that man. (HH n. 308)

By means of the church they are saved who are out of the church. None but those that are within the church are in the faith of charity; for the faith of charity is truth of doctrine adjoined to the good of life. For the case is this: The Lord’s kingdom on earth consists of all that are in good; who although scattered over the whole earth are yet one, and as members constitute one body…. The church on the earth is like the heart and lungs; and they that are without the church are as the parts of the body which are sustained and kept alive by the heart and lungs. It is clear from this that without a church somewhere on earth the human race could not subsist; just as the body cannot without the heart and lungs within it. (AC n. 2853)

Unless there exists somewhere on earth a church where the Word is, and where by means of it the Lord is known, there cannot be conjunction with heaven; for the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and without the Lord there is no salvation. It suffices that there be a church where the Word is, although it consist of a few comparatively; through this the Lord is yet present everywhere throughout the whole earth, for through this heaven is conjoined with the human race. (SS n. 104)

It is known that [the character of] a church is according to its doctrine; and that doctrine is from the Word. But yet doctrine does not establish a church; but the integrity and purity of the doctrine, consequently the understanding of the Word. (TCR n. 245)

The Lord is present with man through the reading of the Word; but He is conjoined to him by means of and according to his understanding of truth from the Word. And in proportion as the Lord is conjoined to man, the church is in him (SS n. 78)

Where the Specific Church is

The church is nowhere else than where the Word is rightly understood; and such as is the understanding of the Word among those who are in the church, such is the church. (SS n. 79)

That there may be a church there must be doctrine from the Word; because without doctrine the Word is not understood. Yet doctrine alone does not constitute the church with man, but a life according to doctrine. From this it follows that faith alone does not constitute the church, but the life of faith, which is charity. Genuine doctrine is the doctrine of charity and of faith together, and not the doctrine of faith without the other; for the doctrine of charity and of faith together is the doctrine of life, but not the doctrine of faith without the doctrine of charity. (HD n. 243)

Who constitute the Specific Church

It is one thing for the church to be with a nation, and another for the church to be in a nation. As for example, the Christian church is with those who have the Word, and from doctrine preach the Lord; but yet there is nothing of the church in them unless they are in the marriage of good and truth; that is unless they are in charity towards the neighbour, and thence in faith; or unless the internals of the church are within the externals. (AC n. 4899)

He who is not in spiritual good, that is in the good of charity, and in spiritual truths, that is in truths of faith, is not of the church although he was born within the church…. They that do not live according to the Word, or according to doctrine from the Word, so that it is the rule of life, are not of the church, but are out of it; and those who live in evil, thus who live contrary to doctrine, are farther out of the church than the Gentiles who know nothing at all of the Word, of the Lord, and of the Sacraments. For, since they know the goods and truths of the church they extinguish the church within them; which the Gentiles cannot do because they do no not know them. (AC n. 6637)

The Church is one thing and Religion another

The church is one thing and religion another. The church is called a church from doctrine; and religion is called religion from life according to doctrine. All doctrine is called truth; and its good also is truth, because it only teaches it. But everything of life according to those things which doctrine teaches is called good; doing the truths of doctrine likewise is good. Thus is the church distinguished from religion. But where there is doctrine and not life it cannot be said that there is either a church or religion; because doctrine looks to life, as one with itself, just as do truth and good, faith and charity, wisdom and love, understanding and will. There is therefore no church where there is doctrine and not life. (AR n. 923)

Who are meant by Gentiles?

In many places the Word refers to those that are in darkness, in the shadow of death, and in thick darkness, whose eyes the Lord will open; and by them the Gentiles are meant, who have been in good works but not in any truths, because they have not known the Lord, neither were in possession of the Word. Precisely similar to these are they in the Christian world who are in works alone, and in no truths of doctrine. They know of the Lord it is true, but yet do not approach Him; and they possess the Word, but do not search after the truths therein. (AR n. 110)

The Good and Truth among the Gentiles is not constituent of the Church

That the good of life may be [constituent] of the church there must be doctrinals from the Word which are implanted in that good. Without doctrinals it is indeed the good of life, but not yet good [constituent] of the church; thus not yet truly spiritual, save only as to its capacity to become so. Such is the good of life among the Gentiles who have not the Word, and therefore do not know of the Lord. (AC n. 3310)

The Gentiles who are out of the church can be in truths, but not in truths of faith…. Truths of faith are all doctrinals concerning the life eternal, concerning the Lord’s kingdom, and concerning the Lord. These cannot be known to them, because they have not the Word. (ibid. n. 2049)

The True Doctrine of Imputation

The True Doctrine of Imputation

Since the fulfilling of the law, and the passion of the cross, have hitherto been understood by many in no other sense than that the Lord did by these two make satisfaction for the human race, and remove from them a foreseen or appointed damnation; from the connection [between them], and at the same time from the principle that man is saved by a mere belief that it is so, has followed the dogma of the imputation of the Lord’s merit,—these two, which were of the Lord’s merit, being accepted as a satisfaction. But this falls to the ground after what has been said of the fulfilling of the law by the Lord, and of His passion of the cross. And then at the same time it may be seen that imputation of merit is an expression without meaning, unless the remission of sins after repentance is meant by it. For nothing of the Lord can be imputed to man; but salvation may be awarded by the Lord, after a man has repented,—that is, after he has seen and acknowledged his sins, and then desists from them, and this from the Lord. Then salvation is awarded him, in this way; that the man is saved, not by his own merit and his own righteousness, but by the Lord,—who alone has fought and conquered the hells, and who alone afterwards fights also for man, and conquers the hells for him. These are the merit and righteousness of the Lord; and these can never be imputed to man; for if they were imputed the merit and righteousness of the Lord would be appropriated to man as his, and this never is and never can be done. If imputation were possible an impenitent and wicked man might impute to himself the merit of the Lord, and think himself justified by it; which yet would be to defile what is holy with things that are profane, and to profane the name of the Lord. For it would be to keep the thought fixed on the Lord, and the will in hell and yet the will is the all of man. There is a faith which is of God, and a faith which is of man. They that repent have the faith of God; and they that do not repent, but think continually of imputation, have the faith of man. (L n. 18)

To every one after death the evil in which he is is imputed,: and likewise the good. That this subject may be presented with some clearness, it shall be considered in the following order: 1. That every one has a life of his own. 2. That with every one his life remains after death. 3. That the evil of his life is then imputed to the evil, and the good of his life is imputed to the good. FIRST:—Every one has a life of his own, thus a life distinct from that of another. This is well known; for there is perpetual variety, and no one thing is the same as another; hence there is to each one what is peculiarly his own. This plainly appears from the faces of men; in that there is not one face exactly like another, nor ever can be to eternity,—because there are not two minds alike, and the face is from the mind. For the face, as it is said, is the type of the mind; and the mind derives its origin and form from the life. If man had not a life of his own, as he has a mind and a face of his own, he would have no life after death distinct from that of another; nay, heaven could not exist, for this consists of those who are perpetually different. Its form is solely from the variety of souls and minds, disposed in such order that they make one; and they make one from the One whose Life is in all and in every individual there, as the soul is in man. If this were not so heaven would be dispersed, because its form would be dissolved. The One from whom the life of all and every one is derived, and by virtue of whom that form coheres, is the Lord. SECOND:—With every one his life remains after death. This is known in the church from the Word, and in particular from these passages there: “The Son of Man shall come, … and then He shall render unto every one according to his deeds” (Matt. xvi. 27). “I saw, … and the books were opened, … and all were judged,.. according to their works” (Apoc. xxi. 12, 13). “In the day of judgment God will render unto every one according to his deeds” (Rom. ii. 5, 6; 2 Corinth. v. 10). The works according to which it shall be rendered unto every one are the life; for the life does them, and they are according to the life. Since it has been granted me during many years to be in company with the angels, and to converse with those who have come from the world, I can certainly testify that every one there is explored as to what the quality of his life has been; and that the life which he had contracted in the world abides with him to eternity. I have talked with those who lived ages ago, whose life was known to me from history, and have recognized their likeness to the description. And I have heard from the angels that the life of any one cannot be changed after death, because it is organized according to his love and faith, and his works therefrom; and that if it were changed the organization would be destroyed, which never can take place; moreover, that a change of organization can only take place in the material body, and by no means in the spiritual body after the former is rejected. THIRD:—The evil of his life is then imputed to the evil, and the good of his life is imputed to the good. The imputation of evil after death does not consist, in accusation, blame, censure, and judgment, as in the world; but the evil itself effects this. For the wicked of their own accord separate themselves from the good, because they cannot be together. The delights of the love of evil are averse to the delights of the love of good,—and their delights exhale from every one, as the odours from every plant on the earth; for they are not absorbed and concealed by the material body, as before, but freely flow forth from their loves into the spiritual air. And as evil is there perceived as it were in respect to its odour, it is this which accuses, blames, and judges,—not before any judge, but before every one who is in good; and this is what is meant by imputation. The imputation of good is effected in a similar manner. This takes place with those who in the world acknowledged that every good in them was and is from the Lord, and nothing of it from themselves. After being prepared they are let into the interior delights of their good; and then a way is opened for them to a society in heaven whose delights are homogeneous. This is done by the Lord. (BE n. 110)

Imputation of the Merits and Righteousness of Christ Impossible

Imputation of the Merits and Righteousness of Christ Impossible

That it may be known that the imputation of the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ is impossible, it is necessary to understand what His merit and righteousness are. The merit of the Lord our Saviour is redemption, and what this was may be seen above in its appropriate chapter. It is there described that it was the subjugation of the hells, the establishment of order in the heavens, and afterwards the institution of a church; and thus that redemption was a work purely Divine. It was also there shown that by redemption the Lord put Himself in power to regenerate and save the men who believe in Him and do His commandments; and that without that redemption no flesh could have been saved. Since then redemption was a work purely Divine, and of the Lord alone, and this is His merit, it follows that this cannot be applied, ascribed, and imputed to any man, —any more than the creation and preservation of the universe. (TCR n. 640)

As the merit and righteousness of the Lord are therefore purely Divine, and things purely Divine are such that if they were applied and ascribed to man he would instantly die, and, like a stock cast into the naked sun, would be consumed, so that scarce an ember of him would remain; for this reason the Lord with His Divine draws near to angels and men by light attempered and accommodated to the capacity and quality of every one, thus by light that is adequate and adapted; and in like manner by heat. In the spiritual world there is a sun, in the midst of which the Lord is; from that sun He flows in by means of light and heat into the whole spiritual world, and into all who are there; all the light and all the heat there are from this source. From that sun the Lord also flows in with the same light and the same heat into the souls and minds of men. That heat in its essence is His Divine love, and that light in its essence is His Divine wisdom. This light and this heat the Lord adapts to the capacity and quality of the recipient angel and man; which is done by means of spiritual auras or atmospheres which convey and transfer them. The Divine itself immediately encompassing the Lord constitutes that sun. This sun is distant from the angels,—as the sun of the natural world is from men,—in order that it may not come into naked and therefore immediate contact with them; for thus they would be consumed, as was said, like a stock cast into the naked sun. From these considerations it must be evident that the merit and righteousness of the Lord, since they are purely Divine, cannot possibly be induced by imputation upon any angel or man; nay, if any the least thereof should touch them, not being thus modified as was said, they would instantly writhe as if struggling with death, and with feet cramped and eyes distended would expire. This was made known in the Israelitish church, by the declaration that no one can see God and live. The sun of the spiritual world, as it is since Jehovah God assumed the Human, and to this added redemption and new righteousness, is indeed described by these words in Isaiah: “The light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people” (xxx. 26). This chapter, from beginning to end, relates to the Lord’s advent. It is also described what would be if the Lord should descend and draw near to any wicked man, by these words in the Revelation: “They hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Hide us from the face of Him that sittetli, on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (vi. 15). It is said the wrath of the Lamb, because the terror and torment when the Lord draws near so appear to them. This may, moreover, be manifestly concluded from the fact that if any wicked person is introduced into heaven, where charity and faith in the Lord reign, darkness comes over his eyes, giddiness and insanity over his mind, pain and torment into his body, and he becomes like one dead. What then if the Lord Himself with His Divine merit, which is redemption, and His Divine righteousness, should enter into man? The apostle John himself could not endure the presence of the Lord; for we read that when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candlesticks, he fell at his feet as dead” (Rev. i. 17). (ibid. n. 641)

It is said in the decrees of the councils, and in the articles of the confessions to which the Reformed swear, that by the merit of Christ infused God justifies the wicked; when yet not the good of any angel can even be communicated to a wicked man, still less conjoined with him, but it is rejected and rebounds like an elastic ball thrown against the wall. (ibid. n. 642)

Imputation not known in the Apostolic Church

Imputation not known in the Apostolic Church

The faith imputative of the merit of Christ was not known in the Apostolic church, which preceded; and is nowhere meant in the Word. The church which preceded the Nicene council is called the Apostolic church. That it was a great church, and extended into the three parts of the globe, Asia, Africa, and Europe, is evident from the fact that the Emperor Constantine the Great was a Christian, and a zealot for religion; and from his dominion over not only the region afterwards divided into the many kingdoms of Europe, but also over the neighbouring regions out of Europe. Wherefore, as was said before, he convoked the bishops of Asia, Africa, and Europe at his palace at Nice, a city of Bithynia, that he might banish from his empire the scandalous dogma of Arius. This was done of the Lord’s Divine Providence; since if the Divinity of the Lord is denied. the Christian church dies, and becomes as a sepulchre inscribed with the epitaph—”Here lies.” The church that existed before that time is called Apostolic; and the eminent writers of that church are called the Fathers, and the true Christians at their side, brethren. That this church did not acknowledge three Divine Persons, nor therefore a Son of God from eternity, but only the Son of God born in time, is evident from the creed which from their church is called Apostolic, where we read these words: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary… believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic church; the communion of saints.” From which it is plain, that they acknowledged no, other Son of God than the one conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and by no means any Son of God’ born from eternity. This creed, like the two others, has been acknowledged as genuinely Catholic, by the whole Christian church to this day…. That in that primeval time all in the then Christian world acknowledged that the. Lord Jesus Christ was God, to whom was given all power in heaven and on earth, and power over all flesh, according to His very words (Matt. xxviii. 18; John xvii. 2), and that they believed in Him, according to His command from God the Father (John iii. 15, 16, 36; vi. 40; xi. 25, 26), is also very manifest from the convocation of all the bishops by the Emperor Constantine the Great, for the purpose of convicting and condemning, from the sacred Scriptures, Arius and his followers, who denied the Divinity of the Lord the Saviour born of the virgin Mary. This indeed was done; but in avoiding the wolf they fell upon a lion; or, as it is said in the proverb, eager to avoid Charybdis, they fell upon Scylla,—by inventing a Son of God from eternity, who descended and assumed the Human; believing that they should thus vindicate and restore Divinity to the Lord. Not knowing that God Himself the Creator of the universe descended, that He might become the Redeemer, and thus the Creator anew,—according to these plain declarations in the Old Testament; Isaiah xxv. 9; xl. 3, 5, 10, 11; 14; xliv. 6, 24; xlvii. 4; xlviii. 17; xlix. 7, 26; lx. 16; lxiii. 16; Jer. 1. 34; Hos. xiii. 4; Psa. xix. 14. To these add John i. 14. (TCR n. 636, 637)

That no faith imputative of the merit of Christ is meant in the Word, clearly appears from the fact that that faith was not known in the church until after the Nicene council introduced the three Divine Persons from eternity; and when this faith had been introduced and pervaded the whole Christian world, every other faith was cast into the shade. (ibid. n. 639)