The New Church That Is Today Being Established With and In Man - Part 5
By Rev. Paul Booth
By Rev. Paul Booth
To a New Church person the Word is understood because it is translucent and can be seen from the spiritual sense. It is the truth Divine that is the light that shines and reveals these truths. This understanding in man comes when the doctrines, the teachings are understood and lived accordingly. To such a person it is the Lord or the Word that 'as it were' shines when he reads it, and thus, is seen the spiritual sense. There are two things in the doctrine of the New Church that shines through its literal sense. First, the Lord and second, a life according to His commandments. Thus, the New Church person's love is to the Lord and his faith is in the Lord, and in doing His commandments, which teaches to love the Lord and to give love towards the neighbor.
One needs to understand, here, that with natural light, that is, with natural understanding, a person cannot understand spiritual truth. However, from spiritual truth these flows in its light into natural light as one reads the Word, and so, he becomes enlightened and sees truths Divine, for the objects of spiritual light are truths. It is in this process that the man's rational mind is made new. That rational of man is the receptacle for the spiritual light coming from Heaven. One sees, here, that in the New Church the external is not separated from its internal. This is because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from which the New Church comes, is approached, worshiped, and adored. Herein is seen that the Lord is the temple of the New Church, in which one comes to and worships and adores.
It becomes clear to the man in who is the New Church that the destruction of the world is not what is meant in the Word in Revelation. It is the Last Judgment on those who have died and were gathered together in the spiritual world from the time the Lord first came to when he came again in the Truth Divine. There, in the spiritual world order was brought; those who were in evil and falsity was subjugated in hell and others, who were in truth and good, made a New Heaven. In this, the Christian New Heaven was established from those in the Christian Churches, from all who worshiped the Lord as the one God, and lived according to His commandments, "and who were in charity and at the same time in faith from the Lord through the Word" (AR 876).
In the succession of historical events, both spiritual and natural, next is seen the establishment of the New Church on this earth, that is, in man. In this event is the Lord's coming. This establishment is through doctrine from the Word. It is through doctrine from the Lord, Who is Doctrine, that a New Church with and in man is established when such doctrine is learned and followed.
In this can be seen the conjunction of the Lord with a man. In the Word, this is understood as the Church of the New Jerusalem or as the Bride conjoined with the Lord, Who, as said, is Doctrine Himself, for from the Lord proceed both good and truth. There is an order established in God's creation and it is this: A man's celestial is formed first, then his spiritual, and lastly his natural, for life proceeds out of God to ultimates. So, in man regeneration is first, the presence of God within, in his inmost or soul, and what is present within man is the Lord's Divine Human. This can be seen signified in the Word as the "tabernacle of God with man." So, that presence with man is again made possible as it was with those of the Most Ancient Church, but the person of the New Church is no longer in innocence without truth, but is in innocence with wisdom from the Lord, that innocence is the Lord's in man.
We may begin to understand here that there is a reciprocal conjunction - the Lord in man and man in the Lord - for the Lord dwells within a man as his God. The reciprocal of man with the Lord is from a life lived according to the truths taught in His Word. Now, since, the Lord dwells in a man then the evils and falsities that were prior in man having been removed, then all grief, fear, and temptation are not remember, these having been taken away by the Lord.
Now, from that inmost or celestial in man there can be seen the New Church on earth as it becomes established. At first, it is signified as a bride, for it is being established, that is, it is about to be conjoined as a wife, but when it becomes established it is as a wife. It is from that inmost or celestial that doctrine flows 'as it were' down into one's spiritual and it is the spiritual of man that lives and is a man's life; the body is only the container or the vessel. In this you may see man becoming intelligent and wise. We have said that a Church is a Church from its doctrine and is according to the life the person understands and lives. Therefore, as the Word is read and doctrine learned and understood the spiritual sense shines through 'as it were' into man's natural understanding that he may live accordingly.
Those who come into the New Church are those who love the Lord and who follow Him and who live according to His Word. At first, their understanding is only a natural understanding. In this is seen the external of the New Church and is similar to the prior Churches with man as a representative Church. However, in that understanding of the Word, a person can begin to see that there is an internal sense in which genuine truths can be understood and known, and the Lord can be believed and acknowledged. Thus, in that obedience the Lord's good - His love - is insinuated into man. No longer are truths and goods understood only from the natural sense, but from the Lord within, for the spiritual man understands from the light of Heaven. Heavenly light flows from God Himself as the Sun of the spiritual world enlightening a man's spiritual eyes to see or to understand that when obeyed and done God's love or good then flows into man, from which he then acts in charity towards others. This then makes the Church in man to be a spiritual Church. Nonetheless, the New Church in man is both external and internal, both natural and spiritual. This gave man a way to worship both naturally and spiritually in this world. It is the Lord who is the temple of the New Church, being the Divine Human, which dwells within. It is He Who is to be worshiped spiritually, while naturally the man worships 'as it was' in places of worship, that is, in temples built for such worship both here in this world and in Heaven.
End
One needs to understand, here, that with natural light, that is, with natural understanding, a person cannot understand spiritual truth. However, from spiritual truth these flows in its light into natural light as one reads the Word, and so, he becomes enlightened and sees truths Divine, for the objects of spiritual light are truths. It is in this process that the man's rational mind is made new. That rational of man is the receptacle for the spiritual light coming from Heaven. One sees, here, that in the New Church the external is not separated from its internal. This is because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from which the New Church comes, is approached, worshiped, and adored. Herein is seen that the Lord is the temple of the New Church, in which one comes to and worships and adores.
It becomes clear to the man in who is the New Church that the destruction of the world is not what is meant in the Word in Revelation. It is the Last Judgment on those who have died and were gathered together in the spiritual world from the time the Lord first came to when he came again in the Truth Divine. There, in the spiritual world order was brought; those who were in evil and falsity was subjugated in hell and others, who were in truth and good, made a New Heaven. In this, the Christian New Heaven was established from those in the Christian Churches, from all who worshiped the Lord as the one God, and lived according to His commandments, "and who were in charity and at the same time in faith from the Lord through the Word" (AR 876).
In the succession of historical events, both spiritual and natural, next is seen the establishment of the New Church on this earth, that is, in man. In this event is the Lord's coming. This establishment is through doctrine from the Word. It is through doctrine from the Lord, Who is Doctrine, that a New Church with and in man is established when such doctrine is learned and followed.
In this can be seen the conjunction of the Lord with a man. In the Word, this is understood as the Church of the New Jerusalem or as the Bride conjoined with the Lord, Who, as said, is Doctrine Himself, for from the Lord proceed both good and truth. There is an order established in God's creation and it is this: A man's celestial is formed first, then his spiritual, and lastly his natural, for life proceeds out of God to ultimates. So, in man regeneration is first, the presence of God within, in his inmost or soul, and what is present within man is the Lord's Divine Human. This can be seen signified in the Word as the "tabernacle of God with man." So, that presence with man is again made possible as it was with those of the Most Ancient Church, but the person of the New Church is no longer in innocence without truth, but is in innocence with wisdom from the Lord, that innocence is the Lord's in man.
We may begin to understand here that there is a reciprocal conjunction - the Lord in man and man in the Lord - for the Lord dwells within a man as his God. The reciprocal of man with the Lord is from a life lived according to the truths taught in His Word. Now, since, the Lord dwells in a man then the evils and falsities that were prior in man having been removed, then all grief, fear, and temptation are not remember, these having been taken away by the Lord.
Now, from that inmost or celestial in man there can be seen the New Church on earth as it becomes established. At first, it is signified as a bride, for it is being established, that is, it is about to be conjoined as a wife, but when it becomes established it is as a wife. It is from that inmost or celestial that doctrine flows 'as it were' down into one's spiritual and it is the spiritual of man that lives and is a man's life; the body is only the container or the vessel. In this you may see man becoming intelligent and wise. We have said that a Church is a Church from its doctrine and is according to the life the person understands and lives. Therefore, as the Word is read and doctrine learned and understood the spiritual sense shines through 'as it were' into man's natural understanding that he may live accordingly.
Those who come into the New Church are those who love the Lord and who follow Him and who live according to His Word. At first, their understanding is only a natural understanding. In this is seen the external of the New Church and is similar to the prior Churches with man as a representative Church. However, in that understanding of the Word, a person can begin to see that there is an internal sense in which genuine truths can be understood and known, and the Lord can be believed and acknowledged. Thus, in that obedience the Lord's good - His love - is insinuated into man. No longer are truths and goods understood only from the natural sense, but from the Lord within, for the spiritual man understands from the light of Heaven. Heavenly light flows from God Himself as the Sun of the spiritual world enlightening a man's spiritual eyes to see or to understand that when obeyed and done God's love or good then flows into man, from which he then acts in charity towards others. This then makes the Church in man to be a spiritual Church. Nonetheless, the New Church in man is both external and internal, both natural and spiritual. This gave man a way to worship both naturally and spiritually in this world. It is the Lord who is the temple of the New Church, being the Divine Human, which dwells within. It is He Who is to be worshiped spiritually, while naturally the man worships 'as it was' in places of worship, that is, in temples built for such worship both here in this world and in Heaven.
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