The Divine Word or Truth and Life Lived Accordingly - Part 3 in a series of 3
By Rev. Paul Booth
By Rev. Paul Booth
Part 1
This is the third lecture about the beliefs of the Lord New Chapel. We have shown that there are three essential beliefs - Jehovah or the Lord who is the Divine Human, the Divine Word or Truth, and a life lived accordingly. It is the acknowledgement of the Divine Human, the Lord God who became manifested Truth or the Word, and a man's life lived accordingly that are a man's regeneration.
We have shown that the goods and truths of God are as Essence and Existence and that they flow or proceed from God and are with a man as his life and, that when a man accepts them into his will and understanding and follows them he lives, and his life is, therefore, of and from the Lord. His life is his love and he, in following truth and in doing good as taught, reciprocates love to the Lord and the neighbor. The contrary of this is death and is when man does not live from the Lord's Word or according to the Truth. He, in fact, lives from the love of self and rejects the Lord's love and instead of life has death. Now these things are all revealed to a person in the Word of the Third Testament - the Word of the Divine Human. It is in this Word that the Lord teaches this because in this Word the internal sense is made manifest in the literal sense just as there are manifest truths made known in the Old and New Testaments to those who love the Lord. In the Old and New Testaments the internal sense is now revealed through the Word of the Third Testament and is where a person learns that mankind had continued to profane the Word, such as those who were in the Ancient Church, which is the Church that came through Noah and, those of the Israelitish Church, and even those of the first Christian Church who the Lord says they had made the Word or Law of no effect. It is thus that such treatment of the Word that those Churches were vastated are and no longer are true Churches on earth. It is also revealed in the Word of the Divine Human that the hells, that is, that falsities and evils have been subjugated by the Lord so that a person who accepts Him and His Word in love is protected against them in that power to subjugate evil is afforded man while he stills lives on earth, for he is held here in equilibrium between Heaven and hell. But, we will say more of this later on.
It was after the consummation of those Churches that the Lord could provide a way for man to be conjoined with Heaven and the Himself. This was a way for a man's spiritual and his natural to be conjoined so that he could once again be led by the Lord and not by one's self, that is, his proprium. A man can now learn God's truths through his senses by listening to and by reading the Word - the Truth - that came from the Lord through certain men chosen of the Lord. It is a person's freedom and in his obedience to these truths that he is enlightened to see more interior and genuine truths. Where, once, mankind could, through influx from within or through perception, receive the Lord's love directly or immediately and know such life giving truth, he now must learn those same truths through his natural senses, and thus, through an external way, and in obedience to them receive the Lord's love that he have life and is saved from death. One sees that if he appropriated to himself these truth and lives accordingly, he is not under the persuasive influence of evil spirits, for, then, hell in him is under the Lord's subjugation and this to eternity as we can see by His victories over hells evils and falsities. Thus it is that the Lord within us fights the falsities and evils in us and overcomes them as He fought them in His Human and glorified it. The Lord makes this way open to man, because He has glorified His Human, the Human He assumed in the world. Thus, He has all power and from this power He fights the hells, the falsities and evils, coming to man into his will and understanding, into his mind, and that try to persuade him not to believe the Word and falsify it.
You can see this victory over evils and falsities explained in Revelations as the Final Judgment. This Judgment was for all those who had died after the first Christian Church was established, up to that Final Judgment that has taken place. Those people had set up imaginary kingdoms in the world of spirits according to their love of self. It was after the Judgment that evil was subjugated and is now kept in subjugation in hell. This can be understood as the Lord separating those who had lived in His truth and love from those who had lived in or according to their own loves. Thus, it is that today a man is kept in equilibrium between Heaven and hell while he is in this world, and that he can be reformed and regenerated, that he can freely choose to accept good and truth, and be led by the Lord, for he has freedom in spiritual things. This is confirmed in the Word as the Lord enlightens a man that he sees these truths in their internal or spiritual sense and this, because the Lord has come again into his mind, into his will and understanding, and has conjoined his natural mind with his spiritual, forming in him a new rational from the Lord. It is in this way that a man, while still on earth, can communicate with and be conjoined with Heaven and the Lord again. Thus, it is that a man can reject evil thoughts coming through his senses and accepts good thoughts and that he can be led by both apparent truths or natural truths that he understands and believes in his natural mind and by spiritual truths that he believes that comes through a new spiritual understanding formed by the Lord in him.
All Christians are probably aware of the Scripture that says that the Lord comes again in the clouds of Heaven in power and glory. "And, they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24: 30). But, most do not know what is meant spiritually? Since the Word has an internal or spiritual sense and even a celestial sense within its natural sense, then do not angels understand its spiritual and celestial sense being either spiritual or celestial themselves? One can therefore ask the question, 'What does it mean to them'? And, would understanding this statement read from the Scripture spiritually make it clearer to us? Let us take time to see if this is true. First, what does 'glory and power' mean in the spiritual sense? The Lord said that He would come in glory. Now, glorification was what the Lord had accomplished in the world in His Human that He assumed upon coming to earth in the first advent by defeating the evils and falsities in Himself. This we already explained as uniting His Natural Human with His Spiritual and Celestial or with the Divine and thus, becoming the Divine Human. He became one with the Father and, to a new Church Christian this glorification is known as the Lord becoming the Divine Human. Now, after His glorification He could no longer be seen by man unless He opened the man's spiritual eyes. Speaking about the disciples after His resurrection it is written, "And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. And, He vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24: 31). From this, you can understand that the Lord's Coming in glory means the Word coming in the spiritual sense to man, for to 'see' is to understand and, by the 'Son of Man' is signified the Lord coming in redemption as the Word or Truth.
We know that all power was given to the Lord after He was united with the Father or the Divine as He has said after His resurrection that all power was given to Him over Heaven and earth. Unless truth and good or love and wisdom are one that is predicated to the Eternal and Infinite God, there is no power simply because God cannot be divided. For it is the same unity that effected creation and that sustains creation. Therefore, a person is enabled to understand that when the Lord comes in power to him that He will affect him if he loves Him, because he has a willingness to be reformed, redeemed and saved. So, the Lord comes in Word or Truth and Power revealing the spiritual sense in which there is this ability or power to redeem a person who freely allows or chooses the Lord's redemption.
Part 2We have shown that the goods and truths of God are as Essence and Existence and that they flow or proceed from God and are with a man as his life and, that when a man accepts them into his will and understanding and follows them he lives, and his life is, therefore, of and from the Lord. His life is his love and he, in following truth and in doing good as taught, reciprocates love to the Lord and the neighbor. The contrary of this is death and is when man does not live from the Lord's Word or according to the Truth. He, in fact, lives from the love of self and rejects the Lord's love and instead of life has death. Now these things are all revealed to a person in the Word of the Third Testament - the Word of the Divine Human. It is in this Word that the Lord teaches this because in this Word the internal sense is made manifest in the literal sense just as there are manifest truths made known in the Old and New Testaments to those who love the Lord. In the Old and New Testaments the internal sense is now revealed through the Word of the Third Testament and is where a person learns that mankind had continued to profane the Word, such as those who were in the Ancient Church, which is the Church that came through Noah and, those of the Israelitish Church, and even those of the first Christian Church who the Lord says they had made the Word or Law of no effect. It is thus that such treatment of the Word that those Churches were vastated are and no longer are true Churches on earth. It is also revealed in the Word of the Divine Human that the hells, that is, that falsities and evils have been subjugated by the Lord so that a person who accepts Him and His Word in love is protected against them in that power to subjugate evil is afforded man while he stills lives on earth, for he is held here in equilibrium between Heaven and hell. But, we will say more of this later on.
It was after the consummation of those Churches that the Lord could provide a way for man to be conjoined with Heaven and the Himself. This was a way for a man's spiritual and his natural to be conjoined so that he could once again be led by the Lord and not by one's self, that is, his proprium. A man can now learn God's truths through his senses by listening to and by reading the Word - the Truth - that came from the Lord through certain men chosen of the Lord. It is a person's freedom and in his obedience to these truths that he is enlightened to see more interior and genuine truths. Where, once, mankind could, through influx from within or through perception, receive the Lord's love directly or immediately and know such life giving truth, he now must learn those same truths through his natural senses, and thus, through an external way, and in obedience to them receive the Lord's love that he have life and is saved from death. One sees that if he appropriated to himself these truth and lives accordingly, he is not under the persuasive influence of evil spirits, for, then, hell in him is under the Lord's subjugation and this to eternity as we can see by His victories over hells evils and falsities. Thus it is that the Lord within us fights the falsities and evils in us and overcomes them as He fought them in His Human and glorified it. The Lord makes this way open to man, because He has glorified His Human, the Human He assumed in the world. Thus, He has all power and from this power He fights the hells, the falsities and evils, coming to man into his will and understanding, into his mind, and that try to persuade him not to believe the Word and falsify it.
You can see this victory over evils and falsities explained in Revelations as the Final Judgment. This Judgment was for all those who had died after the first Christian Church was established, up to that Final Judgment that has taken place. Those people had set up imaginary kingdoms in the world of spirits according to their love of self. It was after the Judgment that evil was subjugated and is now kept in subjugation in hell. This can be understood as the Lord separating those who had lived in His truth and love from those who had lived in or according to their own loves. Thus, it is that today a man is kept in equilibrium between Heaven and hell while he is in this world, and that he can be reformed and regenerated, that he can freely choose to accept good and truth, and be led by the Lord, for he has freedom in spiritual things. This is confirmed in the Word as the Lord enlightens a man that he sees these truths in their internal or spiritual sense and this, because the Lord has come again into his mind, into his will and understanding, and has conjoined his natural mind with his spiritual, forming in him a new rational from the Lord. It is in this way that a man, while still on earth, can communicate with and be conjoined with Heaven and the Lord again. Thus, it is that a man can reject evil thoughts coming through his senses and accepts good thoughts and that he can be led by both apparent truths or natural truths that he understands and believes in his natural mind and by spiritual truths that he believes that comes through a new spiritual understanding formed by the Lord in him.
All Christians are probably aware of the Scripture that says that the Lord comes again in the clouds of Heaven in power and glory. "And, they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24: 30). But, most do not know what is meant spiritually? Since the Word has an internal or spiritual sense and even a celestial sense within its natural sense, then do not angels understand its spiritual and celestial sense being either spiritual or celestial themselves? One can therefore ask the question, 'What does it mean to them'? And, would understanding this statement read from the Scripture spiritually make it clearer to us? Let us take time to see if this is true. First, what does 'glory and power' mean in the spiritual sense? The Lord said that He would come in glory. Now, glorification was what the Lord had accomplished in the world in His Human that He assumed upon coming to earth in the first advent by defeating the evils and falsities in Himself. This we already explained as uniting His Natural Human with His Spiritual and Celestial or with the Divine and thus, becoming the Divine Human. He became one with the Father and, to a new Church Christian this glorification is known as the Lord becoming the Divine Human. Now, after His glorification He could no longer be seen by man unless He opened the man's spiritual eyes. Speaking about the disciples after His resurrection it is written, "And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. And, He vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24: 31). From this, you can understand that the Lord's Coming in glory means the Word coming in the spiritual sense to man, for to 'see' is to understand and, by the 'Son of Man' is signified the Lord coming in redemption as the Word or Truth.
We know that all power was given to the Lord after He was united with the Father or the Divine as He has said after His resurrection that all power was given to Him over Heaven and earth. Unless truth and good or love and wisdom are one that is predicated to the Eternal and Infinite God, there is no power simply because God cannot be divided. For it is the same unity that effected creation and that sustains creation. Therefore, a person is enabled to understand that when the Lord comes in power to him that He will affect him if he loves Him, because he has a willingness to be reformed, redeemed and saved. So, the Lord comes in Word or Truth and Power revealing the spiritual sense in which there is this ability or power to redeem a person who freely allows or chooses the Lord's redemption.
Next, let us see what 'clouds' mean in the Word. To understand this, let us use an illustration. In the Word the Lord is sometimes seen as or is called the Sun. In the book of 'The Apocalypse' or 'Revelation' it is said that in Heaven there in no night, for the Lord is their light there. He is their sun, though not as the sun of our universe by which we see natural and material things, but by which those who are in Heaven can see spiritual and substantial things. In the Word, in the gospel of Matthew, we read, "And, (Jesus) was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light" (17: 2). From the sun of the universe come heat and light; from the Sun of the spiritual world or from the Lord come love and wisdom. So, when an expression in the Word is used as 'to see' you know it means that one understands, not that he necessarily sees physically. Again, it is known that heat often refers to love in the spiritual sense, as may be seen in the expression, "She or he is aglow with love", as when one is warm from love within. This, we can attest to ourselves when we are 'in love' with our spouse. Using the sun as an illustration of the Lord's Love and Wisdom, we can understand that the heat and light of the sun of the universe illustrates the love and wisdom of the Lord. Thus, we come to see that good and truth or charity and faith in man comes from the Lord and is that person's 'light' from the Lord 'as it were', in which he sees (understands) spiritual and substantial things of Heaven.
It is this good and truth that we have shown that is the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. Now, when the Word is obscured from us as the clouds sometimes obscure the sunlight, then we do not understand clearly as when seen in light of Heaven. It is thus that the Word or the Lord comes to us in the natural and literal sense and in which there is power and glory in the Third Testament. In this sense, man who accepts it truths is redeemed, for though he is natural while on earth and understands the natural sense of the Third Testament, he is revealed its internal sense if he is willing to believe it. Herein is the power of redemption revealed to man. Now, the Word, that is, the Lord seen in Heaven, is that understanding and love seen in the spiritual sense. In the Third Testament man can see or understand the Lord's second coming into the world, if he so desires, that is, if he willingly follows in love the spiritual truths taught there and in the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, coming on the clouds of Heaven in 'power and glory' signifies the spiritual sense coming or revealed through the natural sense to a man. From this, you may see that the Lord's coming in the Word to man with power is to bring man to understand spiritual truths in the Word. This is why the Lord's New Chapel says that the Lord has come again in the Word of the Third Testament or in the Word of the Divine Human. Here, let us remember that the Lord told the Church that he would come as the Spirit of Truth and that they would be with Him where He was.
It is to those who are reformed and regenerated that He comes and forms a new will and understanding in them and that when they die in this world they come into the Kingdom of God and are called the sons of God. This brings us to the final essential of the Lord's New Chapel's faith - a life lived accordingly. We have spoken of a belief in One God, who is man's Creator and Redeemer. Then we spoke of our belief concerning the Word of God. These beliefs are our faith and we acknowledge them as truths. But if they are only acknowledged and not acted upon or lived, they will remain as just truths stored in our memory and nothing more and they will be lost when we come into the next life not having become our life in this world. They are just so much memory knowledge that has not been used or acted upon in this world and becomes lost to us in the next. As such, they are not part of us, but need to be acted upon, if they are to become our life. Man must live a life according to his faith or belief, if it is really to be his faith.
For man to be a man and not just a beast, he must act 'as of' from himself. If a man receives life, that is, receives truths and goods from the Lord and then waits for the Lord to act in him, he is like a stump in which there is no life. The Lord will not cause him to move or react, he must act 'as if' of himself. In this way, he reciprocates the Lord's love and has love for others. Up to now mainly truth or faith has been spoken about in the Lord's New Church's belief. Only briefly was charity or love mentioned. However, without these two - faith and charity - united in man there is no regeneration, no redemption. With an understanding of truths a man may be reformed. However, when his understanding leads and teaches his will the two are conjoined within him and he comes into his regeneration. Truth is learned; it is appropriated by man through his senses, through seeing, hearing, etc. We learn the Lord's truths are from the teaching and instruction of our parents, from school teachers and ministers, and when reading the Word. This ability to learn truth and develop faith is given to men all throughout their life on earth. But, how do we receive or unite that faith with charity in us? How is the understanding united with the will? The world understands charity as giving to the poor or helping others with material wealth. There is a saying about kind words not really helping and that what is needed is something like food or money. However, these are merely the works of man, and unless we have faith and charity together from the Lord in us, our charity will consist of works in which there is our love of self and the love of the world. And, in this, there is no true charity in us. Charity, like love, comes from God, it is God's love to man. However, let us recall that man has rejected the Lord's love and distorted His truths and will even profane them thereby destroying the means to Heaven.
So far we have shown that man was made a receptacle of the Lord's love and wisdom and have shown how a man receives truth that he might become intelligent and wise, which is spiritual and celestial. But, we have not shown how the Lord's love or His charity is received or appropriated into a man's will. As truths affect the man's understanding, charity is the affection of the man's mind and such affection is of the will which causes the actions of the natural man's body. Now, it is only the Lord that can do well, that is, good, the man's will being evil and no longer has love for the Lord, man having fallen from his celestial state. Still, the Lord is in a man's internal or in his spirit's will with which a man was created. It is the Lord's love in man that has been shut out 'as it were' from him, because of sin, though today, that love is still deep within his soul. Therefore, charity is in the internal man and consists in his willing good 'as if' of himself, but knowing it is the Lord within him that does good. Thus, is the doing of works that are in the external man, for he has willed to live 'as if' from him self and, many think that they do live from ones self. However, in doing good from willing good, charity is united with faith in man, and thus, a man is regenerated. Then it is that a man wills what is good, thinks from charity and does good 'as of' himself. Here, it can be understood why one's love or one's will to rule over the truth of the understanding, it having replaced the Lord's love in him with self love. This action of willing is what is called 'uses'. Otherwise, to want to do well and to think from love or to not do or to act from self is to have a head, that is, a mind and no body or form in which to exist. All this may be seen in the Word, "Whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Luke 6: 47). Man is also likened to a tree in the Word. The seed in man is his soul, in which is the end, intention, and purpose, which is to produce fruit or good works.
When charity and faith are united like good and truth in man, as heat and light from the sun are united in springtime, then all things a man does are of good to the neighbor, and all truths in his thoughts are of God and of Divine things. The three - the Lord, charity, and faith - make one life as do will, understanding, and use make one life in man. It is in a man's internal perception that when a man believes truth and does not live those truths, he will not be saved. For, it can be said, if he really believes the Word he would act according to his belief or faith, according to the truth learned and the good given to him by the Lord. We must love the Lord God with all our soul, heart, and mind, and love the neighbor as ourselves. A Christian loves the Lord according to his understanding of Him. The Lord's New Church sees the one God in one Person, as soul, body, and spirit, or as proceeding influence, even as every man has a soul, body, and operating influence. We see a Lord God whose love for mankind was not turned into anger when mankind rejected Him. We see or understand the Lord, who went out into the world and brought man back into His Kingdom, into Heaven, like the parable of the Good Shepherd who brought back the lost sheep into the fold. We see the Lord, giving us freedom in spiritual things so that we might choose 'as if' of our self and follow the Lord and act according to the truth. His love does not persuade anyone against his will. Only we, ourselves, have that freedom to persuade ourselves as to the truths of the Word about the Lord and about ourselves.
Part 3It is this good and truth that we have shown that is the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. Now, when the Word is obscured from us as the clouds sometimes obscure the sunlight, then we do not understand clearly as when seen in light of Heaven. It is thus that the Word or the Lord comes to us in the natural and literal sense and in which there is power and glory in the Third Testament. In this sense, man who accepts it truths is redeemed, for though he is natural while on earth and understands the natural sense of the Third Testament, he is revealed its internal sense if he is willing to believe it. Herein is the power of redemption revealed to man. Now, the Word, that is, the Lord seen in Heaven, is that understanding and love seen in the spiritual sense. In the Third Testament man can see or understand the Lord's second coming into the world, if he so desires, that is, if he willingly follows in love the spiritual truths taught there and in the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, coming on the clouds of Heaven in 'power and glory' signifies the spiritual sense coming or revealed through the natural sense to a man. From this, you may see that the Lord's coming in the Word to man with power is to bring man to understand spiritual truths in the Word. This is why the Lord's New Chapel says that the Lord has come again in the Word of the Third Testament or in the Word of the Divine Human. Here, let us remember that the Lord told the Church that he would come as the Spirit of Truth and that they would be with Him where He was.
It is to those who are reformed and regenerated that He comes and forms a new will and understanding in them and that when they die in this world they come into the Kingdom of God and are called the sons of God. This brings us to the final essential of the Lord's New Chapel's faith - a life lived accordingly. We have spoken of a belief in One God, who is man's Creator and Redeemer. Then we spoke of our belief concerning the Word of God. These beliefs are our faith and we acknowledge them as truths. But if they are only acknowledged and not acted upon or lived, they will remain as just truths stored in our memory and nothing more and they will be lost when we come into the next life not having become our life in this world. They are just so much memory knowledge that has not been used or acted upon in this world and becomes lost to us in the next. As such, they are not part of us, but need to be acted upon, if they are to become our life. Man must live a life according to his faith or belief, if it is really to be his faith.
For man to be a man and not just a beast, he must act 'as of' from himself. If a man receives life, that is, receives truths and goods from the Lord and then waits for the Lord to act in him, he is like a stump in which there is no life. The Lord will not cause him to move or react, he must act 'as if' of himself. In this way, he reciprocates the Lord's love and has love for others. Up to now mainly truth or faith has been spoken about in the Lord's New Church's belief. Only briefly was charity or love mentioned. However, without these two - faith and charity - united in man there is no regeneration, no redemption. With an understanding of truths a man may be reformed. However, when his understanding leads and teaches his will the two are conjoined within him and he comes into his regeneration. Truth is learned; it is appropriated by man through his senses, through seeing, hearing, etc. We learn the Lord's truths are from the teaching and instruction of our parents, from school teachers and ministers, and when reading the Word. This ability to learn truth and develop faith is given to men all throughout their life on earth. But, how do we receive or unite that faith with charity in us? How is the understanding united with the will? The world understands charity as giving to the poor or helping others with material wealth. There is a saying about kind words not really helping and that what is needed is something like food or money. However, these are merely the works of man, and unless we have faith and charity together from the Lord in us, our charity will consist of works in which there is our love of self and the love of the world. And, in this, there is no true charity in us. Charity, like love, comes from God, it is God's love to man. However, let us recall that man has rejected the Lord's love and distorted His truths and will even profane them thereby destroying the means to Heaven.
So far we have shown that man was made a receptacle of the Lord's love and wisdom and have shown how a man receives truth that he might become intelligent and wise, which is spiritual and celestial. But, we have not shown how the Lord's love or His charity is received or appropriated into a man's will. As truths affect the man's understanding, charity is the affection of the man's mind and such affection is of the will which causes the actions of the natural man's body. Now, it is only the Lord that can do well, that is, good, the man's will being evil and no longer has love for the Lord, man having fallen from his celestial state. Still, the Lord is in a man's internal or in his spirit's will with which a man was created. It is the Lord's love in man that has been shut out 'as it were' from him, because of sin, though today, that love is still deep within his soul. Therefore, charity is in the internal man and consists in his willing good 'as if' of himself, but knowing it is the Lord within him that does good. Thus, is the doing of works that are in the external man, for he has willed to live 'as if' from him self and, many think that they do live from ones self. However, in doing good from willing good, charity is united with faith in man, and thus, a man is regenerated. Then it is that a man wills what is good, thinks from charity and does good 'as of' himself. Here, it can be understood why one's love or one's will to rule over the truth of the understanding, it having replaced the Lord's love in him with self love. This action of willing is what is called 'uses'. Otherwise, to want to do well and to think from love or to not do or to act from self is to have a head, that is, a mind and no body or form in which to exist. All this may be seen in the Word, "Whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Luke 6: 47). Man is also likened to a tree in the Word. The seed in man is his soul, in which is the end, intention, and purpose, which is to produce fruit or good works.
When charity and faith are united like good and truth in man, as heat and light from the sun are united in springtime, then all things a man does are of good to the neighbor, and all truths in his thoughts are of God and of Divine things. The three - the Lord, charity, and faith - make one life as do will, understanding, and use make one life in man. It is in a man's internal perception that when a man believes truth and does not live those truths, he will not be saved. For, it can be said, if he really believes the Word he would act according to his belief or faith, according to the truth learned and the good given to him by the Lord. We must love the Lord God with all our soul, heart, and mind, and love the neighbor as ourselves. A Christian loves the Lord according to his understanding of Him. The Lord's New Church sees the one God in one Person, as soul, body, and spirit, or as proceeding influence, even as every man has a soul, body, and operating influence. We see a Lord God whose love for mankind was not turned into anger when mankind rejected Him. We see or understand the Lord, who went out into the world and brought man back into His Kingdom, into Heaven, like the parable of the Good Shepherd who brought back the lost sheep into the fold. We see the Lord, giving us freedom in spiritual things so that we might choose 'as if' of our self and follow the Lord and act according to the truth. His love does not persuade anyone against his will. Only we, ourselves, have that freedom to persuade ourselves as to the truths of the Word about the Lord and about ourselves.
The Word teaches that a man must first put away evil that he must repent, and then, he is to do good from the Lord to his neighbor. Evil is in man hereditarily; therefore, man is influenced to do evil and, thus, he comes to sins against God as did those of the first Church - Adam. One can understand that if he does not 'put away' or shun evils, all his good works will be from that evil and not from the Lord, he having appropriated them and rejected the Lord's good and truth. Do you ask why? It is because evil is in a man's will and becomes the desire of the man; it is his ruling love, and his understanding is under the dominance of his ruling love. Thus, the understanding is subtly motivated to obtain the things one desires of self. This is self-love, and is not love for the Lord. Outwardly, the actions of many may appear good, but inwardly there is a selfish motive for gain, honor, or power. The truth is we cannot do good of ourselves. Therefore, we must repent and 'put away' evil first and then 'as of' self do what is true and good, but knowing it is the Lord within whose power enables us and saves us. In this is seen or known that shunning evil is the first of charity in man.
In Isaiah it is stated: "Wash you . . . put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (1: 16, 17). Let us use an illustration to understand what is meant to 'put away' evils from ourselves. When someone works for you and comes to you all covered with soot and filth, would you wash him when he has the means to wash himself? You would say something like, "Wash yourself, you have soap and water, you are not helpless." So, you see, the Lord had provided the means of purification: they are the will, the power to act, and the understanding of the Word. So, as the servant has soap and water to clean himself, man has the means of being redeemed by the Lord. It is here that one sees that he can do good works, for he is asked to 'learn to do well'; he is given the Word, the Truth. Man has an understanding that he may learn truths that teach and lead him to will well and thus, he can do well with the Lord's power.
God loves man, but to make His love effective, a man needs to reciprocate that love. This is then the conjunction between God and man, as was the conjunction between the Son and the Father, the Divine and, thus, the Lord glorified His Human, becoming the Divine Human. The first, the reception, is of faith: man is to acknowledge one God, the Divine Human, and the Holiness of the Word; he must worship Him alone. This has been shown as the Lord's New Chapel's belief and faith in two parts: Jehovah God and the Divine Word or Truth. The second, reciprocation, was shown to be that a man should live a life according to his understanding of the Lord and of His Word, which can be seen as doing good or well from the Lord who teaches him through His Truth or Word. It is reciprocating the Lord's love and is his love towards the neighbor.
Of course, to cover all the articles or tenets of our faith in this lecture is not practical, but there is one more article of our faith that you should know and that is that we believe that without repentance there is no true faith or genuine charity - the two aspects of man's regeneration and salvation. First, what is repentance? Repentance is a man detesting evils and, therefore, there is a removal of them from his will. This repentance is from the Lord in man, since only the Lord has the power to overcome temptations and become victorious in combats against hell. If a man confesses he is a sinner, but he does not repent 'as if' from himself, that is, shun evils, and does not act against them 'as if' from self, it is just a worthless confession. For, what good is it to confess sins and continue committing them? Recall what the Lord said in Mark: "Well has Esais prophesied of you, hypocrites . . . This people honor me with their lips, but their head is far from me" ( 11: 6). Man must remove evils 'as if' by him self, but must know it is the Lord who removes them from him. It is the man's part in repentance. He must choose to be obedient to the Lord and His commandments. He can be obedient because the Lord provides the way, the truth, and the power.
A man cannot come into Heaven unless he is born again, that is, that unless he is born of 'water' and of 'spirit' as Jesus says to Nicodemius. In the Christian Church, 'water' is understood as truth can be confirmed in some parables. Thus, being born of 'water' can be understood the faith or truths a man lives according to. And, by 'spirit' is understood life; for this can be seen in Jehovah God breathing the 'breath of life' into man and making him a living soul. We see that the Lord Jesus Christ had breathed on the disciples, who represent the Church, thus the Church is to receive a new life or be vivified as was the man of the Most Ancient Church or Adam when the Lord comes again to man. Again, a belief acknowledging the Lord as Creator, Redeemer, and Savior, and a life in obedience to the truths proceed from the Lord and a reception of His love or charity is our belief. Thus, a man is reformed and regenerated, and has received a new will and understanding, which is the Lord's in man. Paul calls this the 'new man'. It is this 'new man', the internal or spiritual man that now is to reign or rule in us our natural life. This is the New Church that now comes on earth.
In the first lecture in this series it was pointed out that man was created with both a spiritual and natural body, and that these two were separated in him because of man's sin. Man needed a new will and understanding from the Lord in order to once again enjoy communication and conjunction with the Lord and Heaven. When he has these conjoined, he is said to be born again and that he is in regeneration. Thus, a man becomes spiritual and will be as an angel with the angels in Heaven. It needs to be pointed out here that he does not become spiritual while on earth as an angel is spiritual, but he becomes spiritual natural or spiritual within his natural, much as thought is within speech. What regeneration effects is that a man is, then, in communion with Heaven, and when he leaves this world, he comes into Heaven, for he has been born again in good and truth, and is as an angel in Heaven. The falsities and evils in man are 'put away' and kept in subjugation; they are no longer the center of his life.
Lastly, in showing that a man must do good 'as of' himself, any idea that goods and truths are imputed to man must be understood clearly. It is believed by some that the Lord's merit and justice can be appropriated, thus they believe the Lord's merit and justice is imputed into them, but by imputation is really meant the remission of sins after repentance. If it were otherwise, then evils that a man has not committed, just as goods and truths that a man has not committed, could be imputed to him. Let us read the Word and see that a man must do good works 'as of' himself. "The Son of Man shall come . . . and then He shall reward every man according to his works" (Matthew 16: 27), and "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22: 12). It is the works of a man that determines whether good or evil is imputed to him. If man has been obedient to the Lord's truths, if he has loved the Lord, if he has reciprocated His love and has loved the neighbor as himself, he has done well; if not, he has done evil. Each is imputed in man accordingly. The choice is made here in this world before the man dies. He is then raised either into the Lord's Kingdom or he descends into hell. Therefore, the Lord imputes good to man and the devil imputes evil to man when man comes into either the one or the other after death when he comes into the spiritual world. Good and evil are from a man's will or from his love, therefore, we see it is the man's will that imputes either good of truth, and this cannot be changed after death. This does not mean that the thoughts that come to man are imputed to him. For, man is in freedom to shun them and to entertain good thoughts that come from Heaven and the Lord.
End.
In Isaiah it is stated: "Wash you . . . put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (1: 16, 17). Let us use an illustration to understand what is meant to 'put away' evils from ourselves. When someone works for you and comes to you all covered with soot and filth, would you wash him when he has the means to wash himself? You would say something like, "Wash yourself, you have soap and water, you are not helpless." So, you see, the Lord had provided the means of purification: they are the will, the power to act, and the understanding of the Word. So, as the servant has soap and water to clean himself, man has the means of being redeemed by the Lord. It is here that one sees that he can do good works, for he is asked to 'learn to do well'; he is given the Word, the Truth. Man has an understanding that he may learn truths that teach and lead him to will well and thus, he can do well with the Lord's power.
God loves man, but to make His love effective, a man needs to reciprocate that love. This is then the conjunction between God and man, as was the conjunction between the Son and the Father, the Divine and, thus, the Lord glorified His Human, becoming the Divine Human. The first, the reception, is of faith: man is to acknowledge one God, the Divine Human, and the Holiness of the Word; he must worship Him alone. This has been shown as the Lord's New Chapel's belief and faith in two parts: Jehovah God and the Divine Word or Truth. The second, reciprocation, was shown to be that a man should live a life according to his understanding of the Lord and of His Word, which can be seen as doing good or well from the Lord who teaches him through His Truth or Word. It is reciprocating the Lord's love and is his love towards the neighbor.
Of course, to cover all the articles or tenets of our faith in this lecture is not practical, but there is one more article of our faith that you should know and that is that we believe that without repentance there is no true faith or genuine charity - the two aspects of man's regeneration and salvation. First, what is repentance? Repentance is a man detesting evils and, therefore, there is a removal of them from his will. This repentance is from the Lord in man, since only the Lord has the power to overcome temptations and become victorious in combats against hell. If a man confesses he is a sinner, but he does not repent 'as if' from himself, that is, shun evils, and does not act against them 'as if' from self, it is just a worthless confession. For, what good is it to confess sins and continue committing them? Recall what the Lord said in Mark: "Well has Esais prophesied of you, hypocrites . . . This people honor me with their lips, but their head is far from me" ( 11: 6). Man must remove evils 'as if' by him self, but must know it is the Lord who removes them from him. It is the man's part in repentance. He must choose to be obedient to the Lord and His commandments. He can be obedient because the Lord provides the way, the truth, and the power.
A man cannot come into Heaven unless he is born again, that is, that unless he is born of 'water' and of 'spirit' as Jesus says to Nicodemius. In the Christian Church, 'water' is understood as truth can be confirmed in some parables. Thus, being born of 'water' can be understood the faith or truths a man lives according to. And, by 'spirit' is understood life; for this can be seen in Jehovah God breathing the 'breath of life' into man and making him a living soul. We see that the Lord Jesus Christ had breathed on the disciples, who represent the Church, thus the Church is to receive a new life or be vivified as was the man of the Most Ancient Church or Adam when the Lord comes again to man. Again, a belief acknowledging the Lord as Creator, Redeemer, and Savior, and a life in obedience to the truths proceed from the Lord and a reception of His love or charity is our belief. Thus, a man is reformed and regenerated, and has received a new will and understanding, which is the Lord's in man. Paul calls this the 'new man'. It is this 'new man', the internal or spiritual man that now is to reign or rule in us our natural life. This is the New Church that now comes on earth.
In the first lecture in this series it was pointed out that man was created with both a spiritual and natural body, and that these two were separated in him because of man's sin. Man needed a new will and understanding from the Lord in order to once again enjoy communication and conjunction with the Lord and Heaven. When he has these conjoined, he is said to be born again and that he is in regeneration. Thus, a man becomes spiritual and will be as an angel with the angels in Heaven. It needs to be pointed out here that he does not become spiritual while on earth as an angel is spiritual, but he becomes spiritual natural or spiritual within his natural, much as thought is within speech. What regeneration effects is that a man is, then, in communion with Heaven, and when he leaves this world, he comes into Heaven, for he has been born again in good and truth, and is as an angel in Heaven. The falsities and evils in man are 'put away' and kept in subjugation; they are no longer the center of his life.
Lastly, in showing that a man must do good 'as of' himself, any idea that goods and truths are imputed to man must be understood clearly. It is believed by some that the Lord's merit and justice can be appropriated, thus they believe the Lord's merit and justice is imputed into them, but by imputation is really meant the remission of sins after repentance. If it were otherwise, then evils that a man has not committed, just as goods and truths that a man has not committed, could be imputed to him. Let us read the Word and see that a man must do good works 'as of' himself. "The Son of Man shall come . . . and then He shall reward every man according to his works" (Matthew 16: 27), and "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22: 12). It is the works of a man that determines whether good or evil is imputed to him. If man has been obedient to the Lord's truths, if he has loved the Lord, if he has reciprocated His love and has loved the neighbor as himself, he has done well; if not, he has done evil. Each is imputed in man accordingly. The choice is made here in this world before the man dies. He is then raised either into the Lord's Kingdom or he descends into hell. Therefore, the Lord imputes good to man and the devil imputes evil to man when man comes into either the one or the other after death when he comes into the spiritual world. Good and evil are from a man's will or from his love, therefore, we see it is the man's will that imputes either good of truth, and this cannot be changed after death. This does not mean that the thoughts that come to man are imputed to him. For, man is in freedom to shun them and to entertain good thoughts that come from Heaven and the Lord.
End.
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