Selection from Invitation To The New Church ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)The Lord's Coming is according to order in this respect, that the spring does not come until after the winter; nor the morning, until after the night; that the travailing woman has comfort and joy, only after pain; that states of comfort are after temptations; and that there is genuine life after undergoing death; even as the Lord says, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12:24). The Lord exhibited the type of this order, when He suffered Himself to be crucified and to die, and when afterwards He rose again; this type signifies the state of the church. . . . The above also is involved in the image which appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, where the Stone at last became a great Rock; it is further involved in the four beasts that came out of the sea; and in what is related there concerning that fearful nation (Daniel chapters 2,3; 7). It is likewise involved in the four ages known to the ancients, the golden, silver, brazen, and iron ages; further, in the ages through which every man passes, from infancy to old age; then is the end of the life of the body, and then comes the life of the spirit, which is the life of all those who have lived well. The same also is involved in the heaven which has first to pass away
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev. 21:1, 2).The case with the church is the same.
THE KEYS GIVEN TO PETER
The keys of the kingdom of the heavens were given to Peter, because he represented the Lord as to the Divine Truth; and this is what is meant by "a rock," throughout the whole of the Sacred Scripture. On this account [it is said], "On this rock," that is, on this Divine Truth, "I will build My church," namely, on this that the Lord is "THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."Such is the signification of a "rock." The "rock" is spoken of in the Word [in the following passages]: Exod. 17:6; 33:21, 22; Num. 20:8-11; Deut. 8:15; 32:4-37; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:2, 3, 32, 47; 23:3; Ps. 18:2, 31, 46; 28:1; 31:2, 3; 40:2; 42:9; 62:2, 7; 78:16, 20, 35; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22; 95:1; 105:41; Isa. 2:10; 22:16; 42:11; 51:1; 1 Cor. 10:4.)
The "fissures of the rock" mean falsified truths (Rev. 6:15, 16; Isa. 21:19; Jer. 16:16; Song of Sol. 2:14; Isa. 48:21; Jer. 23:29; 49:16; Obad. verse 3; besides in the Evangelists.
When the Son alone became Man, and not the whole Trinity, was not then the Divine Essence which is a one and an indivisible trine, separated, that is, disunited or divided?
PRAYER DEFINING THE NEW CHURCH
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)That the whole of the Lord's Prayer, from beginning to end, has respect to this time; that is, to the time when God, the Father will be worshipped in the Human Form. This appears when this prayer is rightly explained.
That the churches after the times of the Apostles fell away into so many heresies, and that at the present day there are none other than false churches, is because they have not approached the Lord, when yet the Lord is the Word, and the very Light which enlighteneth the whole world. And yet for them it is as impossible to see one single genuine truth from the Word, except what is encompassed with and steeped in falsities, and coheres with falsities, as it is to sail to the Pleiades, or to dig out the gold which is in the center of the earth. Wherefore, in order that true Christian religion might be manifested, it was absolutely necessary that someone should be introduced into the spiritual world, and derive from the mouth of the Lord genuine truths out of the Word. The Lord cannot enlighten anyone with His light, unless He is approached immediately, and acknowledged as the God of heaven.
(Invitation To The New Church 34-38)