The Establishment of the Church with man or the Internal Presence of the Lord
Known as the Most Ancient Church Part 1
By Rev. Paul Booth
Known as the Most Ancient Church Part 1
By Rev. Paul Booth
Today, when one reads the Genesis story about Adam and his wife Eve and all the other characters there, basically, the first four books of Genesis, they do not realize that it is really about the establishment of the Most Ancient Church on earth. It is so that mankind could enjoy the life that the Lord wants us to have. The wisdom and intelligence of the Most Ancient Church was meant by the Garden of Eden and the end of that Church was meant by their eating of the Tree of Knowledge. You will see that it was a conceit of their own intelligence that caused their fall.
So, let us begin by stating a few premises that need to be accepted, if we believe the Word as the Truth and that it is meant to guide us to a future life in Heaven. First, the Lord (God) is Good Itself and Truth Itself; that is, He is Love and Wisdom. These are the two qualities that are the Lord's. These qualities cannot be created or made; there is only one God and He is that Good and is True. Ask this question: What do these qualities impart outside Itself to us to mankind? It is Life. However, life is from the Lord, even as are the qualities of love and wisdom from the Lord. Within us, within mankind are both the good and the truth and these are from the Lord. We are the vessels that receive these qualities, and as such, we receive life from the Lord. In short, God cannot create another God; the qualities of love and wisdom Divine Esse and Existere cannot be divided. The essence of love is to love others outside its self. It is from this that it can be seen that love and wisdom flows or proceeds from the Lord and forms what is from all the elements of the physical universe the natural manifestations of all life, such as, vegetation (grasses, trees, their fruit, etc.) the animals (beasts of the field, wild beast, and birds of the Heavens and mankind itself the highest perfection of life, to include both his external and his internal or his natural and spiritual nature. Thus, were the physical or natural heavens and earth created as well the spiritual or internal world where the Heavens are, the world of spirits, and hell.
But, what is truly meant here in the internal sense is the forming of the Church with mankind. The Lord alone is Man. We are a 'kind of man' and that only when those qualities good and truth are within us from the Lord and when acted favorably upon. We are, again, vessels for the Lord's life both for spiritual and celestial and for the natural. What is seen here in the first chapter of Genesis is a process that forms a man into an image and after into the Lord's likeness. We see that after he has been formed in that image and likeness that he is then called a man.
What is expressed in the first Chapter of Genesis is the regeneration of a man. So, before the Most Ancient Church was established among mankind, things proper to 'man' were not the things that are the Lord's; man was like a vessel that was 'empty and void' of the goods and truths of the Lord and he was in darkness. In fact, he was in stupidity and ignorant of the things of the Lord, thus of all what is spiritual and Heavenly. Yet, there was in man, before the Most Ancient Church was established, though separate, something that was working within him regenerating him, that thus formed him or made him into a Heavenly man while he was yet on earth. To clarify this we need to know that what is meant here is that man is to receive a Heavenly life. Isn't that what is referred today by Christians as being 'born again'? So, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1) are seen to have an internal sense. We can say that the 'heavens' that are created are man's internal and that 'earth' is his external. That being so, then they are the man's internal and external the spiritual and natural of a man. We learned that the external of man is found to be 'void and empty', just as the ground is void and empty when there in no seed sown in it. The seed that is to be sown in a man is the Lord's good and His truth. You can see why the man, at this state, is seen as nothing but in stupidity and is ignorant in the things of faith in the Lord or of any life from the Lord as is all nature the animals and all vegetation. Now, it is the Spirit of God that moves upon 'faces of the waters' that signify that proceeding good and truth into man. This becomes clear when we learn that the Word often uses the term 'water or waters' to mean truth and that by 'face' qualities, as the faces of God have reference to those qualities of the Lord good and truth, mercy and grace. So, it is that we learn that the qualities that flow into mankind move him so that he becomes formed as a vessel for the Lord's qualities, making him into His image and a likeness. In other words, the Lord made or formed the Celestial or Heavenly man or the Most Ancient Church. "And the earth was a void and emptiness, and darkness was upon the faces of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters" (Gen. 1:2).
Thus far, from what is explained, we see that the first thing to understanding the Word is that there is a correspondence of the things of Heaven and the things of the world or between internal and external things, between spiritual and natural things. And, the first thing we come across is the Lord, through His Spirit, working in man with those Godly qualities good and truth causing him to be made into a vessel formed into His image and likeness. Those are the things proper to the Lord and, of course, are the Lord's with man. These are distinct from the things that are proper to man things of the body and of the world and are the things that belong to the man's external. What are those things of the Lord in man? The Word calls them 'remains', which are a person's 'cognitions' or the knowledge of a more interior kind, not of science, but of faith, they are the things learned and which are stored up within the man. Remains are the goods and truths of the Lord in a man. They are the Lord's, however, man can use them when the Heavenly or celestial state is reached. The things of the Lord's with man are called, in the Word, "remains", and, so,"In the internal man are the remains, stored up by the Lord unto this time, and for this reason", which is when the "things proper to man are brought into quiescence, and as it were die" (AC 8).
Before revealing what the Most Ancient Church is, let us began by learning how the Lord had formed man and once he is formed, to we see that the Church is within him. The literal sense of the creation story does not reveal this; it does not tell how the Lord established His Church with mankind. As we have said, Heaven signifies the internal and the earth the external of man and, so, from this we understand that mankind was created with both an internal and an external. So, it is that the six days of creation told in the first chapter of Genesis is really about a person's renewal or restoration; it is his regeneration.
What is proper to mankind and what is proper to God? Since, by earth is meant a man's external, then we can understand what is proper to man is what is meant by the words, "void and emptiness, and thick darkness was upon the faces of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). Then all those things insinuated into man are the Lord's and must be learned and acknowledged by the man. Right from the beginning of this process we learn that the spirit of God was involved as it is, even today, with all conceived and born. The purpose of or the use of goods and truth are that man is to be made into an image and a likeness of the Lord. What we are here talking of is the "faces of the waters or deep." In a natural sense, good and truth are the things created, such as the light, the dry land or ground, the tender herb and the herb yielding seed, the trees bearing fruit, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the heavens, and every living soul the creeps, and even the wild animals. And, in a natural sense the Lord made man, although until man was made in the image and likeness of the Lord, he was not called 'man'. It was only those things in themselves the goods and truths, all the good of love and all the truths of faith which they perceived and had from the Lord that was called 'man'. These, of course, are all mentioned in the six days of creation. We have said that this was the man's regeneration. So, in an internal sense, the six days of creation mean something quite different. Example: the "creeping things that the waters bring forth," signify the natural scientifics that belong to the world and the external man. The birds in general are the rational and intellectual things that are to become the internal man's. These are the qualities of the Lord. All such things belong to a man's understanding. The animals of field and the wild animals are the things that are of the will and are the affections. Wild animals represented the natural man's sensuous nature.
So, this lecture is not only about the Most Ancient Church, but also about each individual in that Church and, so it is about the Church within the individual. We have spoken about the Lord being the only true Man. That being so, then, of necessity, He had appeared to them as a Man. The faith that we are to acquire is not in any invisible God. So, we see that the Lord spoke mouth to mouth to those of the Most Ancient Church. They acknowledged no other faith than love itself in the Lord. Thus, they were a celestial or Heavenly people and Church and, and as such, they were internal men and women, however, they saw external things with their physical eyes as we do. And, as they did, they only thought about the things that they represented. The thing its self was nothing except what they could reflect upon as internal things and from the internal things to celestial and so, to the Lord. So you can see by this that the way that they expressed themselves was in earthly and worldly things, and that these things were rarely the spiritual and celestial things they thought of. That is why the Word written by Moses in the book of Genesis up to Abram is expressed by such stories as they are, for the natural things represented the Lord's good and true things; they represented His love and wisdom. At the Most Ancient Church's greatest period the natural things delighted them because their mind was opened to the Lord.
So, let us begin by stating a few premises that need to be accepted, if we believe the Word as the Truth and that it is meant to guide us to a future life in Heaven. First, the Lord (God) is Good Itself and Truth Itself; that is, He is Love and Wisdom. These are the two qualities that are the Lord's. These qualities cannot be created or made; there is only one God and He is that Good and is True. Ask this question: What do these qualities impart outside Itself to us to mankind? It is Life. However, life is from the Lord, even as are the qualities of love and wisdom from the Lord. Within us, within mankind are both the good and the truth and these are from the Lord. We are the vessels that receive these qualities, and as such, we receive life from the Lord. In short, God cannot create another God; the qualities of love and wisdom Divine Esse and Existere cannot be divided. The essence of love is to love others outside its self. It is from this that it can be seen that love and wisdom flows or proceeds from the Lord and forms what is from all the elements of the physical universe the natural manifestations of all life, such as, vegetation (grasses, trees, their fruit, etc.) the animals (beasts of the field, wild beast, and birds of the Heavens and mankind itself the highest perfection of life, to include both his external and his internal or his natural and spiritual nature. Thus, were the physical or natural heavens and earth created as well the spiritual or internal world where the Heavens are, the world of spirits, and hell.
But, what is truly meant here in the internal sense is the forming of the Church with mankind. The Lord alone is Man. We are a 'kind of man' and that only when those qualities good and truth are within us from the Lord and when acted favorably upon. We are, again, vessels for the Lord's life both for spiritual and celestial and for the natural. What is seen here in the first chapter of Genesis is a process that forms a man into an image and after into the Lord's likeness. We see that after he has been formed in that image and likeness that he is then called a man.
What is expressed in the first Chapter of Genesis is the regeneration of a man. So, before the Most Ancient Church was established among mankind, things proper to 'man' were not the things that are the Lord's; man was like a vessel that was 'empty and void' of the goods and truths of the Lord and he was in darkness. In fact, he was in stupidity and ignorant of the things of the Lord, thus of all what is spiritual and Heavenly. Yet, there was in man, before the Most Ancient Church was established, though separate, something that was working within him regenerating him, that thus formed him or made him into a Heavenly man while he was yet on earth. To clarify this we need to know that what is meant here is that man is to receive a Heavenly life. Isn't that what is referred today by Christians as being 'born again'? So, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1) are seen to have an internal sense. We can say that the 'heavens' that are created are man's internal and that 'earth' is his external. That being so, then they are the man's internal and external the spiritual and natural of a man. We learned that the external of man is found to be 'void and empty', just as the ground is void and empty when there in no seed sown in it. The seed that is to be sown in a man is the Lord's good and His truth. You can see why the man, at this state, is seen as nothing but in stupidity and is ignorant in the things of faith in the Lord or of any life from the Lord as is all nature the animals and all vegetation. Now, it is the Spirit of God that moves upon 'faces of the waters' that signify that proceeding good and truth into man. This becomes clear when we learn that the Word often uses the term 'water or waters' to mean truth and that by 'face' qualities, as the faces of God have reference to those qualities of the Lord good and truth, mercy and grace. So, it is that we learn that the qualities that flow into mankind move him so that he becomes formed as a vessel for the Lord's qualities, making him into His image and a likeness. In other words, the Lord made or formed the Celestial or Heavenly man or the Most Ancient Church. "And the earth was a void and emptiness, and darkness was upon the faces of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters" (Gen. 1:2).
Thus far, from what is explained, we see that the first thing to understanding the Word is that there is a correspondence of the things of Heaven and the things of the world or between internal and external things, between spiritual and natural things. And, the first thing we come across is the Lord, through His Spirit, working in man with those Godly qualities good and truth causing him to be made into a vessel formed into His image and likeness. Those are the things proper to the Lord and, of course, are the Lord's with man. These are distinct from the things that are proper to man things of the body and of the world and are the things that belong to the man's external. What are those things of the Lord in man? The Word calls them 'remains', which are a person's 'cognitions' or the knowledge of a more interior kind, not of science, but of faith, they are the things learned and which are stored up within the man. Remains are the goods and truths of the Lord in a man. They are the Lord's, however, man can use them when the Heavenly or celestial state is reached. The things of the Lord's with man are called, in the Word, "remains", and, so,"In the internal man are the remains, stored up by the Lord unto this time, and for this reason", which is when the "things proper to man are brought into quiescence, and as it were die" (AC 8).
Before revealing what the Most Ancient Church is, let us began by learning how the Lord had formed man and once he is formed, to we see that the Church is within him. The literal sense of the creation story does not reveal this; it does not tell how the Lord established His Church with mankind. As we have said, Heaven signifies the internal and the earth the external of man and, so, from this we understand that mankind was created with both an internal and an external. So, it is that the six days of creation told in the first chapter of Genesis is really about a person's renewal or restoration; it is his regeneration.
What is proper to mankind and what is proper to God? Since, by earth is meant a man's external, then we can understand what is proper to man is what is meant by the words, "void and emptiness, and thick darkness was upon the faces of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). Then all those things insinuated into man are the Lord's and must be learned and acknowledged by the man. Right from the beginning of this process we learn that the spirit of God was involved as it is, even today, with all conceived and born. The purpose of or the use of goods and truth are that man is to be made into an image and a likeness of the Lord. What we are here talking of is the "faces of the waters or deep." In a natural sense, good and truth are the things created, such as the light, the dry land or ground, the tender herb and the herb yielding seed, the trees bearing fruit, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the heavens, and every living soul the creeps, and even the wild animals. And, in a natural sense the Lord made man, although until man was made in the image and likeness of the Lord, he was not called 'man'. It was only those things in themselves the goods and truths, all the good of love and all the truths of faith which they perceived and had from the Lord that was called 'man'. These, of course, are all mentioned in the six days of creation. We have said that this was the man's regeneration. So, in an internal sense, the six days of creation mean something quite different. Example: the "creeping things that the waters bring forth," signify the natural scientifics that belong to the world and the external man. The birds in general are the rational and intellectual things that are to become the internal man's. These are the qualities of the Lord. All such things belong to a man's understanding. The animals of field and the wild animals are the things that are of the will and are the affections. Wild animals represented the natural man's sensuous nature.
So, this lecture is not only about the Most Ancient Church, but also about each individual in that Church and, so it is about the Church within the individual. We have spoken about the Lord being the only true Man. That being so, then, of necessity, He had appeared to them as a Man. The faith that we are to acquire is not in any invisible God. So, we see that the Lord spoke mouth to mouth to those of the Most Ancient Church. They acknowledged no other faith than love itself in the Lord. Thus, they were a celestial or Heavenly people and Church and, and as such, they were internal men and women, however, they saw external things with their physical eyes as we do. And, as they did, they only thought about the things that they represented. The thing its self was nothing except what they could reflect upon as internal things and from the internal things to celestial and so, to the Lord. So you can see by this that the way that they expressed themselves was in earthly and worldly things, and that these things were rarely the spiritual and celestial things they thought of. That is why the Word written by Moses in the book of Genesis up to Abram is expressed by such stories as they are, for the natural things represented the Lord's good and true things; they represented His love and wisdom. At the Most Ancient Church's greatest period the natural things delighted them because their mind was opened to the Lord.
Attention: Have you downloaded and read the lecture The Establishment of the Church with Man? Would you like to understand about from where its truths are derived from what source it was taken? The Lord's New Chapel sincerely hopes that this lecture has opened your mind to a vast and new religious rational thought about God and His Word. If your interest has been peaked and you wish to learn more, you can request the book 'Arcana Caelestia', volume 1, of the 'Word of the Divine Human'. It can be sent for a gift of $2.00 to cover the handling and postage.
To order, please mail your name and address to:
Rev. P. Booth
16925 91st Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98375
To order, please mail your name and address to:
Rev. P. Booth
16925 91st Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98375
| About |
| Doctrine
Site Content Copyright 2001 by The Lord's New Chapel All Rights Reserved
Site Concept and Creation Copyright 2001 by Stealth Media Solutions All Rights Reserved