A Sermon by the Rev. James P. Cooper

Toronto – May 11, 2008

Jesus said to him, ” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mat 22:37-39)

1. Although the topic for the 7th week of the Journey is the “Ten” Commandments, there really are just two commandments.
   1. Love the Lord, and love your neighbour as yourself.
      1. … the two essentials of the New Church … are that the Lord alone is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine; and that men ought to live according to the precepts of the Decalogue. (AR 485)
   2. These two make up the essential core of all religion, the life of heaven, the life of charity on earth, and the doctrine of the New Church.
      1. One might even say that this is the Lord’s own “mission statement” for people on earth. The church should draw its mission statement from it, providing assistance to those people who wish to be a part of the Lord’s programs. The organized church’s first goal should be to help people know who the Lord is because you cannot love someone you do not know. This is done by providing places and forms of worship, and by instruction from the Lord’s own Word.
      2. But, like most things, once you have established the principles, the most general teachings, you need to go on to flesh it out a bit and clarify what you mean.
         1. That’s why there are additional commandments.
         2. That’s why the Word is full of stories showing what happens to people when they break the commandments; and what happens when people put themselves into the Lord’s order.
   3. One other issue related to the number of Commandments.
      1. They have always been called the “Ten Commandments” but sometimes people were a little confused as to why there were 2 commandments about coveting. So, they have frequently been combined, and the first commandment divided into two.
         1. One God,
         2. No idols
         3. Name in Vain
         4. Keep the Sabbath
         5. Honour Father and mother,
         6. No Murder
         7. No Adultery
         8. No Theft
         9. No False Witness
         10. No Coveting of spouse or property.
      2. In the New Church we have the luxury of knowing through Divine Revelation how the Lord numbered them, and why. There are 2 tables, one is for God, one is for His people. As there is a Trinity in God, there are three commandments that relate to Him.
         1. One God – and therefore no idols.
         2. Keep His Name
         3. Keep the Sabbath.
      3. On the other table are 6 commandments that tell people how they are to live in communities with one another.
         1. No murder
         2. No adultery
         3. No theft
         4. No false witness
         5. No Coveting of the house
         6. No Coveting of the things within the house
      4. And the 4th Commandment, “Honour your father and mother” tie the two tables together.
         1. The Lord is your father, and the church is your mother – so it belongs on the Lord’s table; and nothing is so important to community peace and well being than the proper respect towards one’s parents, so it runs over onto the second table.
         2. That also means that the 9th and 10th Commandments are both about coveting, but different kinds.
            1. If you happen to hear that someone broke the “sixth” commandment, you need to find out which numbering system is being used or you might get the wrong idea.
   4. Reflecting on the image of the Ten Commandments being given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, no reasonable person suggests that this was the first time that people heard the idea that society should be based on laws, and that those laws would include prohibitions on murder, stealing, lying, and adultery.
      1. But, but giving them from Mt. Sinai in the midst of thunderings and lightnings He put the stamp of Divine Authority on them.
         1. TCR 282 as read in the Children’s talk: But listen: they were promulgated in so miraculous a way to make known that these laws are not only civil and moral laws, but also Divine laws; and that acting contrary to them is not only doing evil to the neighbour, that is, to a fellow citizen and society, but is also sinning against God. Wherefore these laws, by their promulgation by Jehovah from Mount Sinai, were made also laws of religion.
         2. Evidently whatever Jehovah commands, He commands in order that it may be a matter of religion, and thus some thing to be done for the sake of salvation.
            1. We need to be careful when thinking about ways of presenting the New Church to others. The process of marketing a product of some sort seeks to find out what you want, and then provide it to you for a price. If Jehovah thought this was a good way to run the church He would have soon seen that the children of Israel did not want rituals, nor did they want to give up their best livestock for sacrifice! They wanted to drink and sing and dance in the “high places”. If Jesus wanted to grow the church among the people of His day, He would have done lots more miracles of healing, driven out the Romans, and given them an explosive economy.
      2. But He didn’t give any of them what they wanted. He gave them – and us – the burden of the cross instead.
         1. The whole point of church/revelation/religion is that there are things that we need for the sake of our spiritual lives that are not immediately obvious to us.
            1. Which would your child prefer for dinner, Ice cream or broccoli? Or if our child ask for bread, will we give them a stone?

• The ice cream is far more delightful, but wise parents make sure that their children eat healthful meals first, then enjoy a portion of ice cream.
  1. Our heavenly Father is trying to instruct our childlike states. It’s not supposed to be about what we want – it’s supposed to be about what He knows that we need for the sake of our spiritual lives.
  1. In the olden days, there was a lot of fear based respect of superiors.
     1. Angry Jehovah that punishes the wicked.
     2. The strong father figure who disciplines the children.
     3. Churches were designed to reflect this relationship by putting the altar distant from the people.
  2. In the past 50 years, our culture has changed quite a bit.
     1. The angry Jehovah has been replaced with gentle Jesus.
     2. The mother is now presented in advertising as the wise leader of the family.
     3. Churches are designed to bring people closer to the altar, moveable chairs replacing fixed pews.
     4. Underlying it all is the sense (not all bad) that everyone’s equal, everyone’s voice has the same authority, everyone’s opinion is as valid as anyone else’s. When we are talking about communities of adults, this is a huge improvement – a tangible sign that the last judgement has taken place and is having its effect in the world.
     5. However, we can get so used to having open discussions that we begin to think that everything is up for debate, everything is just an opinion.
  3. Divine revelation is NOT a conversation among equals. God’s a lot smarter than we are, and He knows what’s good for our spiritual life because He designed us and He made us.
     1. The Ten Commandments are NOT suggestions, nor are they “talking points.”
        1. We don’t get to negotiate about whether stealing or adultery are wrong, they cannot be revoked by a referendum.
• You shall not follow a crowd to do evil (EXO 22:2)
• The way to heaven is narrow, and there are few who find it (MAT 7:14)
  1. Health movement proves that people are willing to do the right thing for the sake of their natural health.
     1. The New Church is a program for a healthy (spiritual) life through (spiritual) diet, and (spiritual) exercise.
  1. Conclusion
     1. Today is Mother’s Day, so we need to finish this up with the two obvious ways that the Ten Commandments are tied to motherhood.
        1. What was His 4th Commandment? Honour your father and your mother. Why? Because they gave you life, and nourished you, and set on the path that leads to eternal life in heaven.
        2. I’m sure we’ve all heard our mothers say, “I’m your mother and I make the rules. Do it because I said so!”
           1. Moms keep order in the house, keep everyone fed and on schedule, and on the path to heaven. They need rules to do that, and the rules they make are from love and for the sake of the order of the home.
           2. The Lord made the world, and He’s trying to keep everyone spiritually fed, on schedule, and on the path to heaven. He gave us some rules to guide our way and make it easier.
           3. When the rich young ruler asked what he should do to prepare himself for heaven, the Lord first told him to obey the Ten Commandments. The young man said that he was already doing that, what else was required. The Lord told him to shun the loves of self and the world, and to learn to follow the commandments – not to look good or keep out of trouble – but because the Lord asks it. (See MAR 10:17-21)
           4. We need to follow the Ten Commandments because He makes the rules and He said so. This is the “burden of the cross,” to do these things not for “enlightened self interest” but simply because it’s what your Heavenly Father asks of you. Amen.

  First Lesson: Mat 7:9-29

  “What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? {10} “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? {11} “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! {12} “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. {13} “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. {14} “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. {15} “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. {16} “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? {17} “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. {18} “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. {19} “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. {20} “Therefore by their fruits you will know them. {21} “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. {22} “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ {23} “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ {24} “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: {25} “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. {26} “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: {27} “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” {28} And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, {29} for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

  Second Lesson: TCR 283.

  The Ten Commandments, being the starting-point of the Word and so of the church which was to be established among the Israelite nation, and being … a summary of the whole of religion, making a link between God and man and man and God, were so holy that nothing holier could exist. Their outstanding holiness is evident from the following points.

  • The Lord Jehovah Himself came down on Mount Sinai in fire and accompanied by angels, and from there proclaimed them out loud, and the mountain was hedged about to prevent anyone approaching and being killed. Neither the priests nor the elders came near, but only Moses.
  • The Commandments were written on two stone tablets by the finger of God.
  • When Moses brought the tablets down the second time, his face shone.
  • The tablets were afterwards laid up in the Ark, and this was at the centre of the Tabernacle. It was surmounted by the mercy-seat, above which were placed cherubim made of gold. This central area of the Tabernacle, where the Ark was, was called the Holy of Holies.
  • Outside the veil, inside which the Ark was, were placed many objects to represent the holy things of heaven and the church; these were a table overlaid with gold on which the bread of the Presence was put, a golden altar on which to put incense, and a golden lamp-stand with seven lamps; also curtains all round made of fine linen, purple and scarlet. The holiness of the whole of this Tabernacle was entirely due to the law contained in the Ark.
  • It was on account of the holiness of the Tabernacle as containing the Ark, that the whole people of Israel were commanded to camp around it in the order of their tribes; and that they set out in order after it; and that there was a cloud over it by day and fire by night.
  • It was because of the holiness of the law, and Jehovah’s presence in it, that Jehovah spoke with Moses upon the mercy-seat between the cherubim; and that the Ark was called ‘Jehovah-is-there’; and that Aaron was not allowed to go inside the veil except with sacrifices and incense, on pain of death.
  • It was because of Jehovah’s presence in and around the law, that miracles were done by means of the Ark containing the law.
  • For instance, the waters of Jordan were parted, and the people crossed over on dry land so long as the Ark rested in its midst.
  • Its being carried round the walls of Jericho caused them to fall down.
  • Dagon, the god of the Philistines, first of all fell on his face in the presence of the Ark, and later was found lying with his head cut off together with the palms of his two hands upon the threshold of the shrine.
  • On account of the Ark the men of Bethshemesh were smitten to the number of many thousands.
  • Uzzah was killed by touching the Ark. The Ark was brought into Zion by David with sacrifice and jubilation. Later it was put by Solomon into the Temple at Jerusalem, and he made its inner shrine there.

  From these and many other details it is plain that the Ten Commandments were the height of holiness for the Israelite church.

Toronto – April 27, 2008

1. Last week, the bitter waters of Marah, a temptation about on truth.
   1. Human states typified by saying to ourselves, “I don’t know what to do!” – a failure of truth, a lack of knowledge about the path to follow.
   2. when truth is bitter, unpleasant.
      1. Represented by thirst.
   3. Made “sweet” or palatable by the tree, usefulness
   4. This week, the state that follows, a temptation as to good.
      1. Represented by hunger.
   5. Again, after having seen all the previous miracles of Jehovah, the children of Israel still cry out in despair when they are hungry.
      1. How hard would it be to feed them compared to all the other things Jehovah has done for them? But still, they murmur and complain.
      2. Another is Elijah running away from Jezebel after his victory over the 400 prophets of Baal. He had just literally called down fire from heaven – and he runs away because of some angry words? (1KI 18)
      3. The 12 Disciples did it too: we read in our second lesson (Mat 16) that Jesus wants to teach about the leaven of the Pharisees. They don’t know what He’s talking about, so they think they are being reprimanded for not bringing enough bread along and He reminds them that He has just fed 9000 people with miraculous bread!
         1. This kind of thing wouldn’t be such a common theme in the Word if it wasn’t a problem that we need to address. We need to look to ourselves and see how often we do this very same thing – doubt that the Lord can do something simple even when we know as certainly as we know our own names that the Lord has the power to solve it.
2. While last week’s temptation was focussed on spiritual thirst, this week we’re looking at the next stage in temptation represented by hunger
   1. Hunger for food = need for good from the Lord
   2. Wilderness = temptation
      1. This is a temptation as to good (in contrast to the temptation as to truth at Marah).
   3. Important teachings about temptation
      1. Temptations are not given or permitted just to annoy you, like some initiation hazing before being found worthy to join a club.
         1. Like it or not, from birth we are all inclined to evils of every kind. We love them, and unless we do something about them, they will drag us down into hell.
         2. Temptations, trials, are the tools that the Lord provides us to remove evils.
            1. Let’s say you’re eating a meal outside on a lovely summer evening. Just as you’re about to start, a big bug lands in your salad. Would you a) remove it, or b) quickly cover it with salad dressing and then go on as if nothing had happened?
            2. Unless you first remove the evil (bug) adding good (salad dressing) will not make the salad good.
            3. Unless you first remove evil through temptation, all the good deeds in the world will not prepare you for heaven.
            4. And you can’t remove an evil which you love without some pain. That pain is what we call “temptation.”
      2. AC 8403 [2] People uninformed about human regeneration suppose that a person can be regenerated without temptation, and some that he has been regenerated after he has undergone a single temptation. But let it be known that no one can be regenerated without temptation, and that he suffers very many temptations, following one after another.
      3. The reason for this is that regeneration takes place to the end that the life of the old man may die and a new, heavenly life may be instilled.
      4. From this one may recognize that conflict is altogether inevitable; for the life of the old man stands its ground and refuses to be snuffed out, and the life of the new man cannot enter except where the life of the old has been snuffed out. From this it is evident that fierce conflict takes place between mutually hostile sides, since each is fighting for its life.
         1. (Not a problem for me to give up eating green peppers. Chocolate chip cookies would be another matter.)
      5. [3] Anyone thinking with enlightened reason can see and perceive from all this that a person cannot be regenerated without conflict, that is, without spiritual temptation, and also that a person is not regenerated by undergoing a single temptation, only by undergoing very many of them.
      6. For there are numerous kinds of evil that have formed the delight of the former life, that is, have constituted the old life. All those evils cannot be subdued on one occasion and all together.
      7. They cling stubbornly to the person, for they become deeply rooted in his forebears going back many centuries and are for that reason innate in him. They have also been made stronger since early childhood by the evils of his own doing. All these evils are diametrically opposed to the heavenly good that is to be instilled and that must constitute the new life.
         1. The temptation of “hunger” follows the temptation of “thirst” – a lack of truth – which we covered last week.
         2. Hunger: when you hear the unpleasant truths, you then begin to see what it is you lack, and you hunger for it.
         3. We also need to be self-reflective to see within ourselves that there are different kinds and different levels of pleasure.
            1. The natural body is from, and is of the natural world. Pain and pleasure are important tools for making judgements about whether something is safe to touch or good to eat. “Soft” “warm” and “delicious” are all words that describe what the Writings call the delights belonging to lower pleasures. When these are taken away, and you are feeling “sharp” “cold” and “hungry” you enter into temptation.
      8. AC 8413 [2] When the good of charity, which is to constitute a spiritual life, is to be installed, the delight belonging to lower pleasures, which has constituted a natural life, is taken away. And when this delight is taken away the person enters into temptation.
      9. But he does not know that when this delight in which his life has consisted is taken away the Lord instils spiritual delight and good instead; and this good is what is meant by ‘the manna’.
         1. When you take away the life that comes through natural things, what is there to fill the void? Spiritual life!
         2. When we make the effort to remove some lower level thing that is an evil, the Lord responds by implanting a higher good with its related higher delights! That in turn brings the natural life into order and provides natural delights and pleasures as well – Manna representing the spiritual delight that comes first in the morning state and selav which stands for the natural delights that follow.
   4. Manna = Hebrew for “What is it.”
      1. AC 8431:e It should be recognized that ‘manna’ means the internal or spiritual man’s good, while selav means the external or natural man’s good, which is called delight. That they have these meanings is made clear by the fact that the manna was given in the morning but the selav in the evening; and what was given in the morning means spiritual good, and what was given in the evening means natural good, or delight.
      2. The manner in which the Manna is given to them tells us about the Lord’s generosity. Manna was constantly conferred on them, without any care or aid on their part.
         1. AC 8462:e The reason therefore why the bread given to the children of Israel in the wilderness was called manna is that this bread means the good of charity which the truth of faith gives birth to, and this good remains completely unknown to a person before regeneration; not even the existence of it is known.
         2. But in actual fact that good is immensely superior to the delights belonging to self-love and love of the world.
            1. Any adult, trying to describe an adult state such as marriage to a child understands this.
               1. From being a man and woman, they become husband and wife, then mother and father. Until you experience it, it’s just words.
               2. If I describe how it feels to pilot a sail plane in a thermal that’s taking me up at over 3,000 ft per minute, no one but another pilot is going to understand.
      3. AC 8464:e …The fact that ‘manna’ in the highest sense is the Lord within us is clear from actual words used by the Lord in John, Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that anyone eating of it may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:49-51, 58.
         1. From these words it is clearly evident that ‘the manna’ in the highest sense means the Lord. The reason why is that ‘manna’ is the good of truth; but all good comes from the Lord, so that the Lord is within good and is Himself that good.
      4. AC 8472:e Manna is heavenly food, heavenly food is goodness and truth, and goodness and truth in heaven are the Lord since they come from Him.
         1. From all this it becomes clear that these stipulations regarding the manna describe the kinds of things that occur in the communities mentioned. They describe how Divine Good which emanates from the Lord is shared with all in heaven, with all in particular and in general, but everywhere according to the capacity to receive it, for there are those who can receive only little and there are those who can receive much.
3. Conclusion
   1. The Wilderness state is absolutely essential to our spiritual lives.
   2. Temptations are not just annoyances to take the fun out of life – they are the tools that we use to remove hereditary and actual evils from our lives.
   3. The pains of temptation are not revenge, or punishment from God; they arise from within each of us because what’s really happening is that we are struggling with our loves.
      1. In order for us to win in temptation, something that we love has to die and be removed forever – and that hurts!
   4. And when that happens, the Lord is able to flow in with Manna and selav; spiritual and natural delights that nourish and satisfy the hungry soul. Amen.

(Note in the lesson from Matthew that even after seeing the Lord feed 9,000 people in two different sessions, they still think that He will be angry if they forget to buy bread, and they will go hungry. Can we see the similarity to the children of Israel in the wilderness?)

First Lesson:

(Mat 16:1-12) Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. {2} He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; {3} “and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. {4} “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. {5} Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. {6} Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” {7} And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” {8} But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? {9} “Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? {10} “Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? {11} “How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?; but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” {12} Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Amen.

Second Lesson: AC 8403:2, 3

[2] People uninformed about human regeneration suppose that a person can be regenerated without temptation, and some that he has been regenerated after he has undergone a single temptation. But let it be known that no one can be regenerated without temptation, and that he suffers very many temptations, following one after another. The reason for this is that regeneration takes place to the end that the life of the old man may die and a new, heavenly life may be instilled. From this one may recognize that conflict is altogether inevitable; for the life of the old man stands its ground and refuses to be snuffed out, and the life of the new man cannot enter except where the life of the old has been snuffed out. From this it is evident that fierce conflict takes place between mutually hostile sides, since each is fighting for its life.

[3] Anyone thinking with enlightened reason can see and perceive from all this that a person cannot be regenerated without conflict, that is, without spiritual temptation, and also that a person is not regenerated by undergoing a single temptation, only by undergoing very many of them. For there are numerous kinds of evil that have formed the delight of the former life, that is, have constituted the old life. All those evils cannot be subdued on one occasion and all together. They cling stubbornly to the person, for they become deeply rooted in his forebears going back many centuries and are for that reason innate in him. They have also been made stronger since early childhood by the evils of his own doing. All these evils are diametrically opposed to the heavenly good that is to be instilled and that must constitute the new life. Amen.