The Establishment of the Church with man or the Internal Presence of the Lord
Known as the Most Ancient Church Part 3
By Rev. Paul Booth
Known as the Most Ancient Church Part 3
By Rev. Paul Booth
Thus, is the celestial man able to know what is good and true and can reflect on spiritual and ecclesiastical matter and think and reason from his 'remains'. A man comes into various states such as the state of innocence from his infancy, states of love towards his parents, brother and sisters, friends, and states of charity towards the neighbor, and even to a state of pity for the poor and needy. In effect, the Lord is storing up remains within him that can later be called upon and used. All these various states of good and truth are impressed upon the man's memory and there they are preserved and are brought out in the other life. With the Heavenly or celestial man they were brought out in their life while on earth.
Today, we speak about a man having conscience and that it is the conscience that leads him to follow a good life. However, the conscience was not given to a Heavenly man; he, as we have said, had perception. Yet, both perception and conscience are from the Lord in a man. Conscience is of a certain sensation, or a feeling, as it was a feeling that it is so. The other, perception, is the truth. Perception is from the Lord in man internally, while conscience is from the Lord in man externally. So, you can see they are vastly different. A celestial man could perceive whether a thing is true and good. His faith was grounded in love, while a spiritual man and the man who has a conscience, has that conscience from a faith that he learns from his religion. In other words. the spiritual man is endowed with conscience of what is good and right, as it were, through his faith which is grounded in his understanding of the Lord, while the celestial man's faith in grounded in his will which is the Lord's.
Thus, it is that the celestial man's will is which is central and primary to him and is of his love to the Lord and is his faith. We can see that his faith is secondary, since it comes from good or from love that he has in the Lord and towards the neighbor. This is why the Word often speaks of the 'heart' when expressing a man's love. With the individual of the Most Ancient Church we learn this was his love to the Lord, for it is the heart of a man that is the Lord's possession, for the heart of a man is the soul. It was in this way that he was permitted to enjoy all things of the Lord, and that the Lord put him into the garden that was East in Eden. In that garden were all the things of good and truth, knowledges and cognitions. However, we learn that he was not permitted to possess them as his own. "And Jehovah God commanded the man saying, of every tree on the garden eating thou mayest eat. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in that day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die" (Gen. 2:16,17). A celestial person could know from perception what is good and true, but was not to know them from himself; that is, he could not possess them as his own. How are we to understand this? We said earlier that God is Good and Truth; He cannot divide Good and Truth, He cannot divide Himself. However, He can share His good and truth, as it were, so that they are of use with us. So, then, the celestial man's faith should not be derived from knowledges that come from the man's sensuous and corporeal nature, the things that are proper to him.
So far from what we have learned of the Most Ancient Church is that mankind was created to be conjoined with the Lord God and was formed or made into His image and as a likeness, that he was to enjoy all the delights of God's creation. He was to live in a blessed state. It can be seen that there was conjunction with the Lord through their hearts and minds through the will and the understanding. This is what constitutes the Church. You can see that the conjunction is an internal conjunction; it is a spiritual and celestial conjunction with the Lord. Man's external or his natural was but a covering over his internal or spiritual. So the conjunction was not a natural one or an external conjunction. Ask yourself, how are you conjoined to the Lord? Isn't it by your love and understanding? The celestial man of the Most Ancient Church did not live in his natural. His life was celestial and was internal, not external as we today are.
Now, with God, there is order in everything that He does and in all that proceed from Him. So, it is only logical that the first Church, the Most Ancient was conjoined through a man's celestial, for this proceeded from God first. Thus, the Lord's love and His essence or His Good and His wisdom, that is, His love's truth is truly the Church in man and is His Proceeding Love and Wisdom, even as God's Spirit had moved within man in the beginning. We can see here the Lord's first love, the only begotten which was later manifested as the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one of the first ways we see this love manifested in the Most Ancient Church is in the marriage of a man with his wife and of the wife with her husband. This, of course, is the conjunction of good and truth. Thus, we see that man or Adam and his wife Eve is that conjunction. Thus, it is that Adam and Eve signify the Most Ancient Church. Now, what is it that best describes the man? It is his intelligence and wisdom, for that is what makes a man a man. We know a women, also, has intelligence and wisdom, but her intelligence and wisdom is expressed or manifested through her affection or her love, while the man's is in his love of wisdom. So, you can see that here man refers to mankind. It is in this way that man signifies Wisdom and woman Love and when they are conjoined or married there is life produced, as it were. Thus, in the Most Ancient Church, there was conjugial love. Thus, the Lord's good and truth are conjoined in a person's understanding and will and constitute the Church in him and this is why there is but one wife for one husband. It is why a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. Unless this was so, man's desire would be for himself, that is, for his own intelligence, in which case he is not celestial and, so, causes him to act according to his own 'good pleasure'. However, we learn that the celestial man had his pleasure in the Lord's love and that love became primary to him. Thus, were the marriages of the Most Ancient Church a source of delight to them.
The celestial man's will, which is central and primary to him, is his love to the Lord and this becomes his faith. Thus, his faith is secondary. Love or charity is first. We never read anything about his faith in the Genesis account. What we need to understand here is that when his heart or his will is spoken of it is meant his love and, therefore, is the Lord's. So we must understand that the heart is the Lord's possession in a man. You can from this see that the Heavenly or celestial man's external is willing or obedient and yields or serves his internal; his life is a life of love not of faith, as is today's man.
While the celestial man was put into 'as it were' as garden into the state where there was no combat between their spiritual life and their natural life, they were still to 'till it and take care of it', That is, they could enjoy it, - all the goods and truths of the Lord but not possess it. Thus, it is that through love intelligence flows into the celestial man and through his faith of love flows the things of understanding reason and scientifics and that there is no combat between his internal and external. For us to see some of the correspondences that help us to understand today about the celestial man and, thus, of the Lord, let us look at the written word. In any desirable garden trees are grown for food as well as to please the eyes. "And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold and good for food" (Gen. 2:9). Since this garden in Eden is a celestial garden, then by food is meant celestial fruit or good. By trees it can be seen are perceptions simply from the fact when the remainder of this verse is read. "The tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledges of good and evil." Here we learn from the Word that the celestial man had perception, which is an internal understanding of knowledge coming from the Lord. Thus it is that trees signify perceptions of good to the celestial man, while the 'tree of lives' is a perception of love and faith, for it is by the Lord's love and faith or by good and truth that a man lives. In fact, we can say it is the Lord Himself, who lives in man. This is the Divine's first Love, who we should recognize as the Lord. It is His good and truth that we may use, as it were, and so, live from. Life comes from the Lord and, that love and faith from the Lord in a man's will is the 'tree of lives' that are in the midst of the garden. This should remind us about the 'remains' that are stored up in a man as the mercy of the Lord continually moves on the goods and truths that may be 'eaten' or appropriated from the tree of lives. We see that a river waters the garden, which we now know is the celestial man, and it divides into four branches and waters the entire world, that is, all mankind. Here, you can see why the Lord establishes the Church with man on earth, and why the Church is within man and, that without a Church on earth, mankind would parish. The river signifies the Lord's Divine Wisdom coming from His love. By Eden is meant that love from the Lord, and often is called the 'East' in the Word. Thus, the celestial man was bestowed with intelligence.
The individual of the Most Ancient Church perceives that all things are the Lord's and as such, knows they cannot be separated from the Lord. This is not so of us today, or even of a spiritual man. Today, a spiritual man may know and acknowledge things are the Lord's, but only because he or she has learned it from the Lord's Word and, that it comes through an external way and not through an internal way. The natural, corporeal and worldly man thinks whatever he has is his own; the celestial man acknowedges they are the Lord's. Mankind was created with an external and an internal, that is, with a celestial and spiritual and a natural. However, with the person of the Most Ancient Church, they were not conjoined, as they will be when the Lord's New Church reigns within a person. The celestial person lived in his internal from the Lord, although he had a spiritual and a natural as well, however, these were not developed in him, thus, he lived a heavenly life as the angels, except he was here on earth and not in heaven as are the angels.
Today, we speak about a man having conscience and that it is the conscience that leads him to follow a good life. However, the conscience was not given to a Heavenly man; he, as we have said, had perception. Yet, both perception and conscience are from the Lord in a man. Conscience is of a certain sensation, or a feeling, as it was a feeling that it is so. The other, perception, is the truth. Perception is from the Lord in man internally, while conscience is from the Lord in man externally. So, you can see they are vastly different. A celestial man could perceive whether a thing is true and good. His faith was grounded in love, while a spiritual man and the man who has a conscience, has that conscience from a faith that he learns from his religion. In other words. the spiritual man is endowed with conscience of what is good and right, as it were, through his faith which is grounded in his understanding of the Lord, while the celestial man's faith in grounded in his will which is the Lord's.
Thus, it is that the celestial man's will is which is central and primary to him and is of his love to the Lord and is his faith. We can see that his faith is secondary, since it comes from good or from love that he has in the Lord and towards the neighbor. This is why the Word often speaks of the 'heart' when expressing a man's love. With the individual of the Most Ancient Church we learn this was his love to the Lord, for it is the heart of a man that is the Lord's possession, for the heart of a man is the soul. It was in this way that he was permitted to enjoy all things of the Lord, and that the Lord put him into the garden that was East in Eden. In that garden were all the things of good and truth, knowledges and cognitions. However, we learn that he was not permitted to possess them as his own. "And Jehovah God commanded the man saying, of every tree on the garden eating thou mayest eat. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in that day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die" (Gen. 2:16,17). A celestial person could know from perception what is good and true, but was not to know them from himself; that is, he could not possess them as his own. How are we to understand this? We said earlier that God is Good and Truth; He cannot divide Good and Truth, He cannot divide Himself. However, He can share His good and truth, as it were, so that they are of use with us. So, then, the celestial man's faith should not be derived from knowledges that come from the man's sensuous and corporeal nature, the things that are proper to him.
So far from what we have learned of the Most Ancient Church is that mankind was created to be conjoined with the Lord God and was formed or made into His image and as a likeness, that he was to enjoy all the delights of God's creation. He was to live in a blessed state. It can be seen that there was conjunction with the Lord through their hearts and minds through the will and the understanding. This is what constitutes the Church. You can see that the conjunction is an internal conjunction; it is a spiritual and celestial conjunction with the Lord. Man's external or his natural was but a covering over his internal or spiritual. So the conjunction was not a natural one or an external conjunction. Ask yourself, how are you conjoined to the Lord? Isn't it by your love and understanding? The celestial man of the Most Ancient Church did not live in his natural. His life was celestial and was internal, not external as we today are.
Now, with God, there is order in everything that He does and in all that proceed from Him. So, it is only logical that the first Church, the Most Ancient was conjoined through a man's celestial, for this proceeded from God first. Thus, the Lord's love and His essence or His Good and His wisdom, that is, His love's truth is truly the Church in man and is His Proceeding Love and Wisdom, even as God's Spirit had moved within man in the beginning. We can see here the Lord's first love, the only begotten which was later manifested as the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one of the first ways we see this love manifested in the Most Ancient Church is in the marriage of a man with his wife and of the wife with her husband. This, of course, is the conjunction of good and truth. Thus, we see that man or Adam and his wife Eve is that conjunction. Thus, it is that Adam and Eve signify the Most Ancient Church. Now, what is it that best describes the man? It is his intelligence and wisdom, for that is what makes a man a man. We know a women, also, has intelligence and wisdom, but her intelligence and wisdom is expressed or manifested through her affection or her love, while the man's is in his love of wisdom. So, you can see that here man refers to mankind. It is in this way that man signifies Wisdom and woman Love and when they are conjoined or married there is life produced, as it were. Thus, in the Most Ancient Church, there was conjugial love. Thus, the Lord's good and truth are conjoined in a person's understanding and will and constitute the Church in him and this is why there is but one wife for one husband. It is why a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. Unless this was so, man's desire would be for himself, that is, for his own intelligence, in which case he is not celestial and, so, causes him to act according to his own 'good pleasure'. However, we learn that the celestial man had his pleasure in the Lord's love and that love became primary to him. Thus, were the marriages of the Most Ancient Church a source of delight to them.
The celestial man's will, which is central and primary to him, is his love to the Lord and this becomes his faith. Thus, his faith is secondary. Love or charity is first. We never read anything about his faith in the Genesis account. What we need to understand here is that when his heart or his will is spoken of it is meant his love and, therefore, is the Lord's. So we must understand that the heart is the Lord's possession in a man. You can from this see that the Heavenly or celestial man's external is willing or obedient and yields or serves his internal; his life is a life of love not of faith, as is today's man.
While the celestial man was put into 'as it were' as garden into the state where there was no combat between their spiritual life and their natural life, they were still to 'till it and take care of it', That is, they could enjoy it, - all the goods and truths of the Lord but not possess it. Thus, it is that through love intelligence flows into the celestial man and through his faith of love flows the things of understanding reason and scientifics and that there is no combat between his internal and external. For us to see some of the correspondences that help us to understand today about the celestial man and, thus, of the Lord, let us look at the written word. In any desirable garden trees are grown for food as well as to please the eyes. "And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold and good for food" (Gen. 2:9). Since this garden in Eden is a celestial garden, then by food is meant celestial fruit or good. By trees it can be seen are perceptions simply from the fact when the remainder of this verse is read. "The tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledges of good and evil." Here we learn from the Word that the celestial man had perception, which is an internal understanding of knowledge coming from the Lord. Thus it is that trees signify perceptions of good to the celestial man, while the 'tree of lives' is a perception of love and faith, for it is by the Lord's love and faith or by good and truth that a man lives. In fact, we can say it is the Lord Himself, who lives in man. This is the Divine's first Love, who we should recognize as the Lord. It is His good and truth that we may use, as it were, and so, live from. Life comes from the Lord and, that love and faith from the Lord in a man's will is the 'tree of lives' that are in the midst of the garden. This should remind us about the 'remains' that are stored up in a man as the mercy of the Lord continually moves on the goods and truths that may be 'eaten' or appropriated from the tree of lives. We see that a river waters the garden, which we now know is the celestial man, and it divides into four branches and waters the entire world, that is, all mankind. Here, you can see why the Lord establishes the Church with man on earth, and why the Church is within man and, that without a Church on earth, mankind would parish. The river signifies the Lord's Divine Wisdom coming from His love. By Eden is meant that love from the Lord, and often is called the 'East' in the Word. Thus, the celestial man was bestowed with intelligence.
The individual of the Most Ancient Church perceives that all things are the Lord's and as such, knows they cannot be separated from the Lord. This is not so of us today, or even of a spiritual man. Today, a spiritual man may know and acknowledge things are the Lord's, but only because he or she has learned it from the Lord's Word and, that it comes through an external way and not through an internal way. The natural, corporeal and worldly man thinks whatever he has is his own; the celestial man acknowedges they are the Lord's. Mankind was created with an external and an internal, that is, with a celestial and spiritual and a natural. However, with the person of the Most Ancient Church, they were not conjoined, as they will be when the Lord's New Church reigns within a person. The celestial person lived in his internal from the Lord, although he had a spiritual and a natural as well, however, these were not developed in him, thus, he lived a heavenly life as the angels, except he was here on earth and not in heaven as are the angels.
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