The Fear of Being Slain

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

When a man deprives himself of charity, he separates himself from the Lord, since it is solely charity, that is, love toward the neighbor, and mercy, that conjoin man with the Lord.

Where there is no charity, there is disjunction, and where there is disjunction, man is left to himself or to his Own; and then whatever he thinks is false, and whatever he wills is evil.

These are the things that slay man, or cause him to have nothing of LIFE remaining.

Those who are in evil and falsity are in continual dread of being slain, as is thus described in Moses:

• Your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste, and upon them that are left of you I will bring softness into their heart in the land of their enemies, and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when none pursueth, and shall stumble everyone upon his brother, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth (Lev. 26:33, 36-37).

In Isaiah:

• The treacherous deal treacherously, yea, in the treachery of the treacherous they deal treacherously. And it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again (Isa. 24:16-20).

In Jeremiah:

• Behold, I bring a dread upon thee, from all thy circuits shall ye be driven out every man toward his faces, and none shall gather up him that wandereth (Jer. 49:5).

In Isaiah:

• We will flee upon the horse, therefore shall ye flee; and, we will ride upon the swift, therefore shall they that pursue you be rendered swift; one thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five shall ye flee (Isa. 30:16-17).

In these and other passages of the Word, those who are in falsity and evil are described as "fleeing" and as in "fear of being slain." They are afraid of everybody, because they have no one to protect them. All who are in evil and falsity hate their neighbor, so that they all desire to kill one another.

The state of evil spirits in the other life shows most clearly that those who are in evil and falsity are afraid of everybody. Those who have deprived themselves of all charity wander about, and flee from place to place. Wherever they go, if to any societies, these at once perceive their character by their mere coming, for such is the perception that exists in the other life; and they not only drive them away, but also severely punish them, and with such animosity that they would kill them if they could. Evil spirits take the greatest delight in punishing and tormenting one another; it is their highest gratification.

Not until now has it been known that evil and falsity themselves are the cause of this, for whatever anyone desires for another returns upon himself. Falsity has in itself the penalty of falsity, and evil has in itself the penalty of evil, and consequently they have in themselves the fear of these penalties.

(from Arcana Coelestia 389-391)

The Life or Soul of the Word

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In heaven nothing at all is known about the names, countries, nations, and the like; the angels have no idea of such things, but of the actual things SIGNIFIED by them.

The Word of the Lord is living by virtue of the internal sense. This is as the soul, of which the external sense is as the body. And just as with man when his body dies the soul lives, and when the soul lives he no longer knows the things that pertain to the body, so when he comes among angels he does not know what the Word is in the sense of the letter, but only what it is in its soul. Such was the man of the Most Ancient Church, who, if he were living and read the Word at the present day, would not cleave at all to the sense of the letter, but would be as if he did not see it, but only the internal sense abstractly from the letter; and indeed as if the letter had no existence. Thus he would be in the life or soul of the Word.

It is the same everywhere in the Word, even in its historical parts, and yet there is not so much as one little word therein that does not, in the internal sense, enfold within it deep secrets which never appear to those who hold the mind in the historical connection.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1143)

Those Who Will Be Against 'The New Church'

Selection from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A GREAT RED DRAGON

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:1-6)

And behold, a great red dragon, signifies those in the church of the Reformed who make God three, and the Lord two, and separate charity from faith, and who make faith saving but not charity together with it. These are here meant, and in what follows, by "the dragon;" for they are against the two essentials of the New Church, which are, that God is one in Essence and in Person, in whom there is a Trinity, and that the Lord is that God; also that charity and faith are one like an essence and its form; and that no others have charity and faith, but they who live according to the commandments of the Decalogue, which are that evils are not be done; and so far as anyone does not do evils, shunning them as sins against God, in the same proportion he does the goods which are of charity, and believes the truths which are of faith.

That they who make God three, and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith, and make faith saving, and not charity, are against those two essentials of the New Church, may be seen by anyone who considers the matter. It is said, they who make God three, and the Lord two, by whom are meant those who think of three Persons as three Gods, and separate the Lord's Human from His Divine. And who thinks otherwise, or can think otherwise, whilst, according to a formula of faith, he prays, "That God the Father for the sake of the Son would send the Holy Spirit?" Does he not pray to God the Father as to one God, and for the sake of the Son as another, and concerning the Holy Spirit as a third? From which it is evident that although in thought he makes three Persons one God, still he divides them, that is, divides his idea into three gods when he so prays. The same formula of faith also makes the Lord two, since he thinks only of the Lord's Human, and not at the same time of His Divine; "for the sake of the Son" means for the sake of His Human which suffered the cross.

From what has now been said, it may appear who they are that are meant by the dragon, who would devour the woman's offspring, and afterwards "pursued the woman into the wilderness on account of her offspring."

The reason why the dragon is called "great," is because all the churches of the Reformed distinguish God into three Persons, and make faith alone saving, except some here and there, who do not think alike concerning the Trinity, and concerning faith. They who divide God into three Persons, and adhere to these words of the Athanasian doctrine, "There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit"; and also to these, "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God"; these, I say, cannot make one God out of three; they may indeed say that they are one God, but they cannot think so. In like manner they who think concerning the Lord's Divine from eternity as concerning the second Person of the Divinity, and concerning His Human in time as concerning the human of another man, cannot do otherwise than make the Lord two, although it is said in the Athanasian doctrine that His Divine and Human are one Person, united as the soul and the body.

The dragon is called "red" because "red" signifies falsity from the evils of lusts, which is infernal falsity. Now because these two essentials of the doctrine in the churches of Reformed are falsities, and as falsities devastate the church, since they take away its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by "a dragon." The reason is, because by "a dragon," in the Word, is signified the devastation of the church, as may appear from the following passages:

• I will make Jerusalem heaps, a habitation of dragons, and I will reduce the cities of Judah to a waste (Jer. 9:11).

• Behold, a great tumult out of the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons (Jer. 10:22).

• Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation forever (Jer. 49:33).

• That it may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl (Isa. 34:13).

• In the habitation of dragons is his couch (Isa. 35:7).

• I will go despoiled and naked, I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning like the daughters of the owl (Micah 1:8).

• I cried, I am become a brother to dragons, and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl (Job 30:28-29).

• The ijim shall answer in his palaces, and dragons in temples (Isa. 13:22).

• Babylon shall become heaps, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment (Jer. 51:37).

• Thou hast broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death (Ps. 44:19).

• I have laid the mountains of Esau and his heritage a waste for the dragons of the wilderness (Mal. 1:3, besides other places; as in Isa. 43:20; Jer. 14:6; Ps. 91:13, 14; Deut. 32:33).

That by "the dragon" are here meant those who are in faith alone, and reject the works of the law as not saving, has sometimes been testified to me in the spiritual world by living experience. I have seen several thousands of them assembled together, when from a distance they have appeared like a dragon with a long tail, that seemed set with spines like thorns, which signified falsities. Once, also, there was seen a dragon still larger, which raising his back and lifting up his tail towards heaven, endeavored to draw down the stars from thence. Thus it was made manifest before my eyes that no others are meant by "the dragon."

(from Apocalypse Revealed 536, 537)

THE DRAGON

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE HOLY THINGS OF THE WORD, WHICH THEY HAVE ADULTERATED

"The head of the dragon" signifies insanity, because the intelligence of the man of the church is from genuine truths which are from the Word. The truly human understanding is formed and perfected by natural, civil, moral, and spiritual truths, the interior understanding by spiritual truths, but the exterior by moral and civil truths; therefore such as the truths are such is the understanding that is formed of them. All spiritual truths are from the Word, and make one with the good of love and charity. When, therefore, a man places everything of the church and of heaven in faith, and separates from that faith the good of charity and love, as those do who constitute "the head of the dragon," as has been said in the preceding article, then the interior understanding cannot be formed, consequently in place of intelligence in things spiritual such have insanity; for from a false principle falsities flow in a continual series, and from the separation of the good of charity no genuine truth can be given them, since all truth is of good, yea, is good in form. Thence it is evident that "the head of the dragon" signifies insanity in spiritual things.

"The head of the dragon" also signifies craftiness, because all those who constitute his head are merely natural and sensual, and if these have at the same time studied the Word and the doctrine of the church, and have caught at falsities in place of truths, and have confirmed these by knowledges, they are crafty above the others; but this craftiness does not manifest itself in the world as it does afterwards when they become spirits, for in the world they cover over the craftiness with external piety and feigned morality which conceal it; but as the craftiness abides in their spirit it is plainly manifest when externals are removed, as is done in the spiritual world. But it is to be known that the craftiness signified by "the head of the dragon" is a craftiness in perverting the truths and goods of the Word by means of reasonings from fallacies and sophistries, also from things persuasive, by which the understanding is fascinated, thus by inducing upon falsities the appearance that they are true. That this is so can be seen from "the serpent" by which the first parents were led astray, that is said to have been:

More crafty than any wild beast of the field (Gen. 3:1)

that "serpent" having a similar signification as "the dragon," therefore the dragon is also called "the old serpent that seduceth the whole world."  (no. 715)

~~~

THE KNOWLEDGE [SCIENTIA] OF THE HOLY THINGS OF THE WORD WHICH ARE FALSIFIED AND ADULTERATED — MEANT BY "THE DRAGON" — NOT OPPOSED TO THE WORD — FOR THEY CALL THE WORD HOLY AND DIVINE, BECAUSE THEY COLLECT FROM IT THE CONFIRMATIONS OF THEIR DOGMAS; THAT THOSE WHO SEPARATE FAITH FROM LIFE CANNOT DO OTHERWISE, SINCE SUCH A SEPARATION IS CONTRARY TO EACH AND ALL THINGS OF THE WORD.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1)

For in all things of the Word and in every particular of it there is a marriage of good and truth, as is manifestly evident from the spiritual sense of the Word. This is why there are in so many passages two expressions that appear like repetitions of the same thing, but still one of them has reference to good and the other to truth; thus the two make as it were a marriage, which is called the Divine marriage, the celestial marriage, and the spiritual marriage, which regarded in itself is the marriage of good and truth. There must be a like marriage of faith and love, or of faith and good works; for faith pertains to truth, and truth to faith; and love pertains to good, and good to love. From this it is clear that those who separate faith from its life, or what is the same, from love, cannot do otherwise than falsify the Word, because they explain the sense of its letter in opposition to the marriage of good and truth which is in each and every thing of the Word.

It has been said that the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, and that with those who are not in wisdom and intelligence it signifies knowledge [scientia]; therefore with those who falsify and pervert the Word it signifies insanity and folly, as above, where the signification of "the seven heads of the dragon" was explained; so "the head of this beast" has a similar signification, since this beast means the dragon in reference to reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from the life. The "head" signifies wisdom, intelligence, and the knowledge of truths, and in the contrary sense folly, insanity, and the knowledge of falsities, because these have their seat in the head, and are there in their beginnings. This is clearly evident from the fact that the origins of all fibers are in the head, and from it they proceed to all the organs of sense and motion belonging to the face and the whole body; and there, too, are substances in infinite number that look like little spheres and are called by anatomists the cortical and cineritious substances; and from these go forth small fibers, the first of which are undiscernible; afterwards these are bundled together, and make up the medullary substance of the whole cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata. From this medullary substance discernible fibers extend, and these when conjoined are called nerves. By these the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the spinal marrow form the entire body and each and all things pertaining to it; and from this it comes that each and all things of the body are ruled by the brains.

From this it can be seen that the brains are the seat of the understanding and the will, which are called with one term, mind, and in consequence, of intelligence and wisdom, and that these are there in their first principles; also that the organs that are formed to receive sensations and to produce motions are derivations therefrom, precisely like streams from their fountains, or derivatives from their beginnings, or composite things from their substances; and these derivations are such that the brains are everywhere present, almost as the sun is present by its light and heat in each and all things of the earth. From this it follows that the whole body, and each and all things of it, are forms that are under the observation, auspices, and obedience, of the mind, which is in the brain; thus these forms are so constructed after the mind's direction that any part in which the mind is not present, or to which it does not communicate its life, is no part of man's life. From this it can be seen that when the mind is in its thought, which pertains to the understanding, and in its affection, which pertains to the will, it has an extension into every particular of the whole body, and there, by means of its forms, it spreads itself out as the thoughts and affections of the angels do into the societies of the universal heaven. The like is true here, since all things of the human body correspond to all things of heaven; consequently the form of the whole heaven before the Lord is the human form. (This is treated of at length in the Arcana Coelestia and in the work on Heaven and Hell.)

This has been said to make known why the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, as also in the contrary sense folly and insanity. For such as man is in his beginnings such is he in the whole, for the body with each and every part of it is a derivation, as has just been said. If, therefore, the mind is in the belief of falsity and in the love of evil, its entire body, that is, the entire man, is in a like state. This is also clearly evident when man becomes a spirit, whether good or evil; then his whole spiritual body, from head to foot, is wholly such as his mind is. If the mind is heavenly, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is heavenly. If the mind is infernal, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is infernal; and in consequence such a spirit appears in a direful form like a devil, while the former spirit appears in a beautiful form like an angel of heaven. But on this more will be said elsewhere. (from no.775)

When One Departs This World

Selection from Last Judgment (cont.) ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

Who does not know that man will live after death, because he is born a man, and created in the image of God, and because the Lord, in His Word, teaches it? But what his future life will be has hitherto been unknown. It has been believed that he would then be a soul, of which no other idea was conceived than as of air or ether, in which some capacity of thought would reside, without such sight as belongs to the eye, without such hearing as belongs to the ear, and without speech such as belongs to the mouth. And yet man is equally a man after death; and such a man that he does not know otherwise than that he is still in the former world; he sees, hears, and speaks as in the former world; he walks, runs, and sits as in the former world; he eats and drinks as in the former world; he sleeps and wakes as in the former world; he enjoys conjugial delight as in the former world; in a word he is a man as to each and all things. From which it is plain, that death is but a continuation of life, and is only transition.

There are many causes why man has not known of this state of his after death; one of which is, that he could not be enlightened, so little faith had he in the immortality of the soul; as may appear from many even of the learned, who believe that they are like beasts, only more perfect than they, in being able to speak; and therefore in their heart they deny the life after death, although they profess it with the mouth. From this thought of theirs they have become so sensual, that they could not believe that a man is a man after death, because they do not see him with their eyes, for they say, how can a soul be such a man? It is otherwise with those who believe they will live after death; these think interiorly in themselves, that they will come into heaven, enjoy delights with the angels, see heavenly paradises, and stand before the Lord in white garments, besides other things. This is their interior thought; their exterior thought may wander from it, when they think of the soul from the hypothesis of the learned.

That a man is equally a man after death, although he does not appear before the eyes, may appear from the angels seen by Abraham, Gideon, Daniel, and other prophets; from the angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and afterwards, oftentimes, by John in the Apocalypse; especially from the Lord Himself, who showed His disciples that He was a Man, by touch, and by eating, and yet became invisible before their eyes. The reason why they saw Him was, because the eyes of their spirits were then opened; and when these are opened, the things in the spiritual world appear as clearly as the things in the natural world.

...

The difference between a man in the natural world, and a man in the spiritual world, is, that the one man is clothed with a spiritual body, but the other with a natural body; and the spiritual man sees the spiritual man, as clearly as the natural man sees the natural man; but the natural man cannot see the spiritual man, and the spiritual man cannot see the natural man, on account of the difference between the natural and the spiritual; what kind of difference this is, can be described, but not in a few words.

From the things seen during so many years, I am enabled to relate the following:

that there are lands in the spiritual world, just as in the natural world; and that there are hills and mountains, plains and valleys, and also fountains and rivers, lakes and seas; there are paradises and gardens, groves and woods, and palaces and houses; also that there are writings and books, offices and trades; and that there are precious stones, gold and silver; in a word, there are each and all things that exist in the natural world, and they are infinitely more perfect in the heavens.

But the difference in general is this; that all things in the spiritual world are from a spiritual origin, and hence, as to their essence, are spiritual, they are from the sun there which is pure love; and all things in the natural world are from a natural origin, and hence as to their essence are natural, for they are from the sun there which is pure fire. Hence it is, that the spiritual man must be nourished with food from a spiritual origin, as the natural man is with food from a natural origin. More may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell.

(from Last Judgment (cont.) 32-34; 36-38)

IF HE SLACKENS HIS EFFORT

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

GOODS AND TRUTHS — APPARENT OR GENUINE

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Hebrews 12:12,13

There is said to be a state of shade when it is not known whether the good and truth are apparent or are genuine. When anyone is in apparent good and truth, he supposes them to be genuine good and truth - the evil and falsity that are in apparent good and truth are what cause the shade, and make them appear genuine. They who are in ignorance can know no otherwise than that the good which they do is their own, and that the truth which they think is their own, and it is the same with those who attribute to themselves the goods they do, and place merit in them, not knowing that in this case they are not good, although they appear so; and that the Own and self-merit which they place in them are the evils and falsities which obscure and darken. So in many other cases.

The kind and the measure of the evil and falsity which lie concealed in them, cannot possibly be so well seen in the life of the body as in the other life, where they are presented to view as in clear light. But the case is different if this is done from ignorance that is not confirmed, for in this case those evils and falsities are easily dispersed. But if men confirm themselves in the belief that they can do good and resist evil by their own powers, and that they thus merit salvation, in this case this idea remains attached, and causes the good to be evil, and the truth to be falsity. But still it is according to order for a man to do good as of himself.  Therefore he ought not to slacken his hand, with the thought, "If I can do nothing of good from myself, I ought to wait for immediate influx," and thus remain in a passive state, for this would be contrary to order; but he must do good as of himself, yet, when he reflects upon the good which he does or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord has done the work in him.

If he slackens his effort, thinking as has been said, he is then not a subject into which the Lord can operate. The Lord cannot flow into anyone who deprives himself of everything into which power can be infused. It is as if one were not willing to learn anything without a revelation to himself; or as if one would teach nothing unless the words were put into him; or as if one would attempt nothing unless he were put into action as one without will. But if these things were done, he would be still more indignant at being like an inanimate thing; when yet that which is animated by the Lord in a man is that which appears as if it were from himself. It is thus an eternal truth that a man does not live from himself, but that if he did not appear to live from himself he could not live at all.  (from no. 1712)

~~~
NOT TO DESIRE TO BE REDEEMED BY THE LORD, BUT BY SELF

Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and made spiritual, namely, that they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, they believe all of the will of good and of the thought of truth to be from themselves; they are also left in this state by the Lord, since in no other way can they be reformed. For if before they have been regenerated it should be said to them that they cannot do anything of good from themselves, or think anything of truth from themselves, they would then either fall into the error of thinking that they must wait for influx into the will and influx into the thought, and if this does not take place must attempt nothing; or into the error of thinking that if good and truth were from any other source than themselves, nothing would be imputed to them for righteousness; or into the idea that so they would be as it were machines, and not their own masters, or in control of themselves; or into some other error. It is therefore permitted them at that time to think that good and truth are from themselves.

But after they are regenerate, then by degrees the knowledge is insinuated into them that the case is otherwise, and that all good and truth are solely from the Lord; and still further, when they are becoming more perfected, that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. To the regenerate, if not in the life of the body still in the other life, it is given not only to know this, but also to perceive it; for all the angels are in the perception that it is so.

All good and truth are from the Lord

All intelligence and wisdom are from the Lord

Man of himself can do nothing of good and think nothing of truth

Nevertheless everyone ought to do good as if from what is his own, and not hang down his hands

If a man compels himself to resist evil and to do good, as from himself, he receives from the Lord a heavenly Own

(from 2946)
(emphasis by reviser)

June 19, 1770

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THIS NEW CHURCH IS THE CROWN OF ALL THE CHURCHES
THAT HAVE HITHERTO EXISTED ON THE EARTH

It has been shown ... that there have been, in general, from the beginning, four churches on this earth, one before the flood, the second after it, the third the Israelitish church, and the fourth that which is called the Christian church; and as all churches depend on a knowledge and acknowledgment of one God, with whom the man of the church can be conjoined, and as none of these four churches has possessed that truth, it follows that a church must follow these four which will know and acknowledge one God. The sole end of God's Divine love, when He created the world, was to conjoin man to Himself and Himself to man that He might thus dwell with man. This truth the former churches did not possess, the Most Ancient church, which preceded the flood, worshiping an invisible God with whom no conjunction is possible; the Ancient church which followed the flood, did likewise; the Israelitish church worshiped Jehovah, who in Himself is an invisible God (Exod. 33:18-23), but under a human form, which Jehovah God put on by means of an angel, in which He was seen by Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Gideon, Joshua, and sometimes by the prophets. This human form was a representative of the Lord who was to come, and because this was representative so each thing and all things in their church were made representative. It is a well known fact that the sacrifices and everything else pertaining to their worship represented the Lord who was to come, and that when He came they were abrogated. The fourth, which is called the Christian church, did indeed with the lips acknowledge one God, but in three Persons, each One of whom was singly or by Himself God; thus it acknowledged a divided Trinity, but not a Trinity united in one Person; and from this an idea of three Gods adhered to their minds, although the expression "one God" was on their lips. Moreover, the teachers of the church from that doctrine of theirs which they concocted after the Nicene Council, teach that men ought to believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all of them invisible, because existent in a similar Divine essence before the world was (although, with an invisible God no conjunction is possible), for they still do not know that the one God who is invisible came into the world and assumed a Human, not only that He might redeem men, but also that He might become visible, that thereby conjunction with man might become possible. For we read:

The Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word was made flesh (John 1:1, 14).

And in Isaiah:

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name, God, Mighty, Father of Eternity (9:6).

It is also frequently declared in the Prophets that Jehovah Himself would come into the world, and would be a Redeemer, which He also became in the Human which He assumed.

This New Church is the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed on the earth, because it is to worship one visible God in whom is the invisible like the soul in the body. Thus, and not otherwise, is a conjunction of God with man possible because man is natural, and therefore thinks naturally, and conjunction must exist in his thought, and thus in his love's affection, and this is the case when he thinks of God as a Man.

Conjunction with an invisible God is like a conjunction of the eye's vision with the expanse of the universe, the limits of which are invisible; it is also like vision in mid-ocean, which reaches out into the air and upon the sea, and is lost.

Conjunction with a visible God, on the other hand, is like beholding a man in the air or on the sea spreading forth his hands and inviting to his arms.

For all conjunction of God with man must be also a reciprocal conjunction of man with God; and no such reciprocation is possible except with a visible God. That before the assumption of the Human, God was not visible, the Lord Himself also teaches in John:

Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His form (5:37).

And in Moses:

That no one can see God and live (Ex. 33:20).

But that He is visible through His Humanity is stated in John:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath manifested Him (1:18).

And in the same:

Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one cometh unto the Father but by Me. He that knoweth Me, knoweth the Father, and he that seeth Me seeth the Father (14:6, 7, 9).

That there is a conjunction with the invisible God through the visible, that is, through the Lord, He teaches in the following passages:

Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit (John 15:4, 5).

In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me and I in you (John 14:20).

The glory which thou hast given Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and Thou in Me: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26; also 6:56).

It is also taught that He and the Father are one, and that in order to have eternal life man must believe in Him. That salvation depends on conjunction with God has been frequently shown above.

That this church is to follow those that have existed since the beginning of the world, and that it is to endure for ages of ages, and is thus to be the crown of all the churches that have preceded, was foretold by Daniel; first, when he narrated and explained to Nebuchadnezzar his dream of the four kingdoms (which mean the four churches that were represented by the statue that he saw), saying:

In the days of those kings the God of the heavens shall make a kingdom to arise which shall not perish for ages, and it shall consume all those kingdoms; but itself shall stand for ages (Dan. 2:44).

And this, he said, should be done,

By a stone becoming a great rock and filling all the earth (verse 35);

"rock" in the Word meaning the Lord in respect to Divine truth. The same prophet also says elsewhere:

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (7:13, 14).

And this he said after he saw the four great beasts coming up out of the sea (verse 3), which beasts also represented the four prior churches. That all this was prophesied by Daniel respecting the present time, can be seen from his words in 12:4, as also, from the words of the Lord in Matt. 24:15, 30. Like things are said in the Apocalypse:

The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's; and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages (11:15).

Furthermore, the other prophets have made many predictions respecting this church, what its character would be, a few of which shall be cited: In Zechariah:

It shall be one day that shall be known to Jehovah, not day nor night, for about the time of evening it shall be light. In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; and Jehovah shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Jehovah and His name one (14:7-9)

In Joel:

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 to generation and generation (3:17-21).

In Jeremiah:

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, because of the name of Jehovah at Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart (3:17; Apoc. 21:24, 26).

In Isaiah:

Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; the stakes thereof shall never be removed, and the cords thereof shall not be broken (33:20).

In these passages "Jerusalem" means the new and holy Jerusalem described in the Apocalypse (chap. 21), by which the New Church is meant.

Again in Isaiah:

There shall go forth a Shoot out of the stem of Jesse and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thigh. Therefore the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den. They shall not do evil nor corrupt themselves in all the mountain of My holiness; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah. In that day it shall come to pass that the nations shall seek the Root of Jesse which standeth for an ensign of the people; and His rest shall be glory (11:5-10).

That such things have not yet taken place in the churches, least of all in the last, is well known.

In Jeremiah:

Behold the days come, in which I will make a new covenant; and this shall be the covenant, I will put My law in their inward parts, and upon their hearts will I write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them (Jer. 31:31-34; Rev. 21:3).

That this state of things has not existed in the churches heretofore is also known. This was because men did not approach the visible God whom all shall know, because He is the Word or law which He will put in their inward parts and write upon their hearts.

Again in Isaiah:

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; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare; and thou shalt be a crown of beauty 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 people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah, and thou shalt be called, a city sought out and not forsaken (Isa. 62:1-4, 11-12).

What this church is to be is fully described in the Apocalypse, where the end of the former church and the beginning of the new are treated of. This New Church is described by the New Jerusalem, by its magnificence, and by its being the future bride and wife of the Lamb (19:7; 21:2, 9). Besides these I will cite only the following quotation from the Apocalypse: When the New Jerusalem was seen descending from heaven it was said:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, Himself shall be with them, their God. And the nations that are saved shall walk in the light of it; and there shall be no night there. I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let them come. And he that wisheth, let him take the water of life freely. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen (Rev. 21:3, 24-25; 22:16-17, 20).

NOTE. -

After this work [THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION — Containing THE UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY Of THE NEW CHURCH FORETOLD BY THE LORD IN DANIEL 7:13, 14; AND IN REVELATION 21:1, 2] was finished the Lord called together His twelve disciples who followed Him in the world; and the next day He sent them all forth throughout the whole spiritual world to preach the Gospel that THE LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages, according to the prediction in Daniel (7:13, 14), and in Revelation (11:15).

Also that blessed are those that come to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).

This took place on the nineteenth day of June, 1770. This is what is meant by these words of the Lord:

He shall send His angels and they shall gather together His elect, from the end of the heavens to the end thereof (Matt. 24:31).

(True Christian Religion 786-791)