SS 104 & 105 [2] - a few serve as the heart and lungs

SS 104
There can be no conjunction with heaven
unless somewhere on earth there is a church where the Word is,
and where by it
the Lord is known;
for the Lord is the God of heaven and earth,
and apart from Him there is no salvation.
It is sufficient
that there be a church where the Word is,
even if it consists of comparatively few,
for even in that case
the Lord is present by its means in the whole world,
for by its means heaven is conjoined with the human race.

SS 105 [2]
As all the other members and viscera subsist and live
from these two fountains of life of the human body (the heart & lungs),
so also do all those in the whole earth
who have some sort of religion,
worship one God,
and live aright . . ..
For the Word in the church,
although existing with comparatively few,
is life to all the rest,
from the Lord through heaven,
just as there is life
for the members and viscera of the whole body
from the heart and lungs . . ..