The Lord's Glorification Fulfilled in the Kingdom of God
By Rev. Paul Booth
Lord's New Chapel
Lessons: Exodus 12: 7-11 | Luke 22: 14-20
Arcana Coelestia 3832
By Rev. Paul Booth
Lord's New Chapel
Lessons: Exodus 12: 7-11 | Luke 22: 14-20
Arcana Coelestia 3832
"For I say to you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God. . . . For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine,
until the kingdom of God shall come." (Luke 22:16, 18)
"The Lord is present and opens Heaven to those who worthily approach
the Holy Supper; and He is also present with those who approach it
unworthily, but does not open Heaven to them."
(True Christian Religion 719, the heading)
kingdom of God. . . . For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine,
until the kingdom of God shall come." (Luke 22:16, 18)
"The Lord is present and opens Heaven to those who worthily approach
the Holy Supper; and He is also present with those who approach it
unworthily, but does not open Heaven to them."
(True Christian Religion 719, the heading)
In that first Holy Supper, when the Lord was with His disciples, He knew it was the last time that He would eat and drink the Passover feast with them on earth. He was approaching His final state in his glorification; His Human would become united with the Divine, He would return to His Father, the Divine from which He descended. He was ready to enter that final temptation of the cross and to a new state. He was about to make His union with the Divine in the world absolute. At this last Holy Supper He taught not only the disciples but the first Christian Church that He established and, later, the Lord's New Church truths concerning His glorification and man's salvation. For, man too, would leave his physical body and state - the natural state - and enter the spiritual state. The Church and, so, the men of the Church, needs to acknowledge that it is spiritual bread and wine that gives him spiritual life, that spiritual life dwelling, acting within his natural body until it ends. Man's, that is, the Church in man, food and drink are to be the Lord's truths and His goods. Thus, the Lord leads those who come into a state of spiritual regeneration into Heaven with the angels.
While the Human of Lord became united with the Divine, and thus became the Divine Human, we have been enabled to become regenerated and thus,associatedconjoined with angels. The Lord was enlightened to the final Passion of the cross and to His final glorification. He could then ascend to the Divine from which He came and as the Divine Human He could descend into the spiritual world. There He would subjugate the evils in hell and bring order back into the Heavens. Thus, in His coming into the spiritual world He prepared a New Heaven and established a New Church on earth - the Lord's New Church. By the twelve disciples being with Him at the Last Supper signifies all the Divine good and truth with Him in that state. He was about to enter a different state, a state in which they could not follow Him until He had conquered the hells and formed for them a New Heaven - a place for them where they would be with Him again. The state the Lord is about to reach was a more interior state.
So, at the Last Supper with the disciples, Jesus knew He was going to undergo the agonies of death on the cross and, then, after ascend to His Father above the Heavens where He became one with the Divine, becoming the Divine Human. Then, the Divine Good from love and the Divine truth of Good was united in the Lord in the Natural as well as in the Celestial and Spiritual. He, thus, had initiated the Christian Church that then was established on earth. Therefore, the Sacrament of the Holy Supper is a signature and seal for those of the Church and who are being regenerated. The Lord was instructing them that they were to eat and drink the spiritual food necessary for association with angels and Him. They needed to appropriate the truth from the Word; they needed to receive 'good' from the Lord. Thus, as they had drank and ate and as we drink the wine and eat the bread of the Sacrament offered at the Holy Supper in remembrance of Him, the Lord opened Heaven to them and to us as we learned the spiritual truths signified by the Holy Supper.
After His ascension, the Lord in His Glorified state could no more eat the holy Supper with them in the world. Today's text reads, "For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16). So, He would soon become glorified and, thus, Divine. Before the Lord could again eat and drink with them they needed to receive truths and goods from the Lord who was to come in His Divine Human. But, before this could take place the Lord had to come again, but as shown, this time into the spiritual world. There, He could defeat the evils, all their temptations that attacked Him and mankind. There He could subjugate the hells and bring the Heavens into order. He had to prepare Heaven for those in the first Christian Church that a New Church would descend on earth. This, He did by His own Power. He now comes to man in His Divine Human with that Power to save. The significance of this is seen manifested when the Lord said, "until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22: 16). Until this was fulfilled those of the Church, when they partook of the Holy Supper, only saw the Lord's redemption as fulfilled by delivering them from hell by His death on the cross in their stead. They believed the Lord's life was imputed to them for their belief that He died for them. They saw Jesus Christ as achieving this in the natural sense. They did not understand that the Lord redeems them spiritually by their living from His truths and doing His goods, by His life in them and the natural is but an obedient to the spiritual.
If the hells were not subjugated by the Lord, the power of evil spirits over the power of heaven would influence man to believe falsities and, thus, lead man to a life of evil. Man could not fight and be victorious over evil; indeed no, he loves falsity and evil, even thinking them to be the truth and good. Therefore, the kingdom of God, the true Church in Heaven would remain closed to them on earth and to those in the spiritual world, who had died before the Lord came, until His victories over the hells. However, as man ate and drank spiritual food, that is, when he appropriates truths and goods from the Divine, Heaven will open to him. Thus, man is led to Heaven. Those who do receive, that is, appropriate the bread and the wine, the love of self and the world become further and more withdrawn from controlling their lives. The Lord's life increases in them. His life in them becomes their new life. This new life opens Heaven to them.
The Lord, after He suffered the Passion of the Cross and He was glorified, could not drink with His Apostles the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God had come into their life. Again, we read "for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22: 18). The Lord could not be joined with man in His glorified Natural state. After His resurrection, He had returned to His Spiritual and the Celestial states in His Natural Man; He had returned to the Divine and was the Divine made Human. As long as man is not conjoined with truths and in goods in the spiritual or celestial states with the Lord, he cannot receive life from the Lord and he is not in the true Church or is it in him. Thus, eating and drinking of the Holy Supper in the world before the Lord brought the imaginary heavens that were enacted by the Christian Church under His reign and order, the Lord was not with man in partaking of the Holy Supper. However, He was and is present with him as He is with all men. After the Lord subjugated the hells and put the Heavens into order, a new Heaven was established. Then, those who eat and drink the Holy Supper worthily are conjoined with the Lord who is in His Divine Human and with Heaven. The Lord was not only present, but was with them. They who do not believe the Lord glorified His Human and He is now one with the Divine, the Father, is not conjoined with Him. When we acknowledge the Lord and believe His Word to be true that the Lord is the Divine Human, then, we drink His truths and eat His goods 'as it were'. Then the kingdom of God comes to us and Heaven is seen within us. The Lord reveals Himself to us when we receive His love and truth and reciprocate them to the Lord, for in our reciprocation we acknowledge the Lord's good by acting according to the truths taught and learned. The Lord has fulfilled His glorification and man's redemption and is now coming to us. Now the kingdom of God, the Church can become complete and full as it is in Heaven. Now, as we understand His fulfilling and acknowledge His coming in the Divine Human, we eat and drink with Him the Holy Supper, not in the natural sense, but in the internal or spiritual sense.
Finally, in today's text, it is affirmed that as we attend the Holy Supper worthily, we will receive its benefits and Heaven opens to us and we are enlightened to new truths, but not those who approach unworthily. With man there is either evil spirits or angels in agreement or not with his state. If he is being regenerated, his spirit is with angels, if not, he is with evil spirits. Our life comes from the Lord, either immediately or directly from the Lord or mediately, that is, through angels or through evil spirits. The kingdom of God comes to us when the Lord 'as it were' flows into our heart and mind, that is, into the will and understanding, with His good and truth, when we are in obedience to them. Life flows in through either evil spirits that are with us because of our evil nature or through angels that are with us when we receive the Lord's Word as the truth and live according to it. As we receive or appropriate truths 'as if' of our self into our mind, into our spirit, we receive a new life from the Lord. Thus, a new life, a new will and understanding from the Lord is given to us. The kingdom of God, the Church in Heaven, is coming to us descending from that New Heaven.
We know it is not the natural food, the natural bread and wine of the Lord's Holy Supper that nourishes our spirits; it is the understanding of truth, the truths of good from the Lord that nourishes our spirits. These truths and goods from the Lord's Divine Human give us a new life, one that is adjoined and nourishes our spirit and conjoins us with Heaven. The Lord has fulfilled His promise to redeem mankind; He has glorified Himself by subjugating the hells and ordering the Heavens under His reign. He is now coming in His Divine Human to be with us in His New Church which now descends from Heaven as the New Jerusalem. We need to accept His triumph over the hells and His reign in Heaven and in us in His New Church. We must believe He now comes to His Church on earth in His Divine Human and not wait until He comes again to the earth. The Lord, thus, eats with those who are with Him and He is in them in truth and good. This is the true Holy Supper. He is in us in a new spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. Are the goods and the truths being fulfilled in us? Do we accept His coming to us, even daily and every moment; is the Kingdom of God coming on earth as we pray that it comes when we pray the Lord's Prayer?
Amen.
While the Human of Lord became united with the Divine, and thus became the Divine Human, we have been enabled to become regenerated and thus,
So, at the Last Supper with the disciples, Jesus knew He was going to undergo the agonies of death on the cross and, then, after ascend to His Father above the Heavens where He became one with the Divine, becoming the Divine Human. Then, the Divine Good from love and the Divine truth of Good was united in the Lord in the Natural as well as in the Celestial and Spiritual. He, thus, had initiated the Christian Church that then was established on earth. Therefore, the Sacrament of the Holy Supper is a signature and seal for those of the Church and who are being regenerated. The Lord was instructing them that they were to eat and drink the spiritual food necessary for association with angels and Him. They needed to appropriate the truth from the Word; they needed to receive 'good' from the Lord. Thus, as they had drank and ate and as we drink the wine and eat the bread of the Sacrament offered at the Holy Supper in remembrance of Him, the Lord opened Heaven to them and to us as we learned the spiritual truths signified by the Holy Supper.
After His ascension, the Lord in His Glorified state could no more eat the holy Supper with them in the world. Today's text reads, "For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16). So, He would soon become glorified and, thus, Divine. Before the Lord could again eat and drink with them they needed to receive truths and goods from the Lord who was to come in His Divine Human. But, before this could take place the Lord had to come again, but as shown, this time into the spiritual world. There, He could defeat the evils, all their temptations that attacked Him and mankind. There He could subjugate the hells and bring the Heavens into order. He had to prepare Heaven for those in the first Christian Church that a New Church would descend on earth. This, He did by His own Power. He now comes to man in His Divine Human with that Power to save. The significance of this is seen manifested when the Lord said, "until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22: 16). Until this was fulfilled those of the Church, when they partook of the Holy Supper, only saw the Lord's redemption as fulfilled by delivering them from hell by His death on the cross in their stead. They believed the Lord's life was imputed to them for their belief that He died for them. They saw Jesus Christ as achieving this in the natural sense. They did not understand that the Lord redeems them spiritually by their living from His truths and doing His goods, by His life in them and the natural is but an obedient to the spiritual.
If the hells were not subjugated by the Lord, the power of evil spirits over the power of heaven would influence man to believe falsities and, thus, lead man to a life of evil. Man could not fight and be victorious over evil; indeed no, he loves falsity and evil, even thinking them to be the truth and good. Therefore, the kingdom of God, the true Church in Heaven would remain closed to them on earth and to those in the spiritual world, who had died before the Lord came, until His victories over the hells. However, as man ate and drank spiritual food, that is, when he appropriates truths and goods from the Divine, Heaven will open to him. Thus, man is led to Heaven. Those who do receive, that is, appropriate the bread and the wine, the love of self and the world become further and more withdrawn from controlling their lives. The Lord's life increases in them. His life in them becomes their new life. This new life opens Heaven to them.
The Lord, after He suffered the Passion of the Cross and He was glorified, could not drink with His Apostles the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God had come into their life. Again, we read "for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22: 18). The Lord could not be joined with man in His glorified Natural state. After His resurrection, He had returned to His Spiritual and the Celestial states in His Natural Man; He had returned to the Divine and was the Divine made Human. As long as man is not conjoined with truths and in goods in the spiritual or celestial states with the Lord, he cannot receive life from the Lord and he is not in the true Church or is it in him. Thus, eating and drinking of the Holy Supper in the world before the Lord brought the imaginary heavens that were enacted by the Christian Church under His reign and order, the Lord was not with man in partaking of the Holy Supper. However, He was and is present with him as He is with all men. After the Lord subjugated the hells and put the Heavens into order, a new Heaven was established. Then, those who eat and drink the Holy Supper worthily are conjoined with the Lord who is in His Divine Human and with Heaven. The Lord was not only present, but was with them. They who do not believe the Lord glorified His Human and He is now one with the Divine, the Father, is not conjoined with Him. When we acknowledge the Lord and believe His Word to be true that the Lord is the Divine Human, then, we drink His truths and eat His goods 'as it were'. Then the kingdom of God comes to us and Heaven is seen within us. The Lord reveals Himself to us when we receive His love and truth and reciprocate them to the Lord, for in our reciprocation we acknowledge the Lord's good by acting according to the truths taught and learned. The Lord has fulfilled His glorification and man's redemption and is now coming to us. Now the kingdom of God, the Church can become complete and full as it is in Heaven. Now, as we understand His fulfilling and acknowledge His coming in the Divine Human, we eat and drink with Him the Holy Supper, not in the natural sense, but in the internal or spiritual sense.
Finally, in today's text, it is affirmed that as we attend the Holy Supper worthily, we will receive its benefits and Heaven opens to us and we are enlightened to new truths, but not those who approach unworthily. With man there is either evil spirits or angels in agreement or not with his state. If he is being regenerated, his spirit is with angels, if not, he is with evil spirits. Our life comes from the Lord, either immediately or directly from the Lord or mediately, that is, through angels or through evil spirits. The kingdom of God comes to us when the Lord 'as it were' flows into our heart and mind, that is, into the will and understanding, with His good and truth, when we are in obedience to them. Life flows in through either evil spirits that are with us because of our evil nature or through angels that are with us when we receive the Lord's Word as the truth and live according to it. As we receive or appropriate truths 'as if' of our self into our mind, into our spirit, we receive a new life from the Lord. Thus, a new life, a new will and understanding from the Lord is given to us. The kingdom of God, the Church in Heaven, is coming to us descending from that New Heaven.
We know it is not the natural food, the natural bread and wine of the Lord's Holy Supper that nourishes our spirits; it is the understanding of truth, the truths of good from the Lord that nourishes our spirits. These truths and goods from the Lord's Divine Human give us a new life, one that is adjoined and nourishes our spirit and conjoins us with Heaven. The Lord has fulfilled His promise to redeem mankind; He has glorified Himself by subjugating the hells and ordering the Heavens under His reign. He is now coming in His Divine Human to be with us in His New Church which now descends from Heaven as the New Jerusalem. We need to accept His triumph over the hells and His reign in Heaven and in us in His New Church. We must believe He now comes to His Church on earth in His Divine Human and not wait until He comes again to the earth. The Lord, thus, eats with those who are with Him and He is in them in truth and good. This is the true Holy Supper. He is in us in a new spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. Are the goods and the truths being fulfilled in us? Do we accept His coming to us, even daily and every moment; is the Kingdom of God coming on earth as we pray that it comes when we pray the Lord's Prayer?
Amen.
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