AE 872, 874, 876 - Glorifying the Lord and His Church

 AE 872

In the sense of the letter
"Every nation, tribe, tongue, and people,"
(Revelation 14:6)
means all, of whatsoever religion they are;
but in the spiritual sense
it means all who live well and understand well.

AE 874

Fear God and give glory to Him,
(Revelation 14:7)
means to worship the Lord from His Divine truth
by a life according to it.
This is evident from the signification of "fearing God,"
as being to revere and worship the Lord;
also from the meaning of "giving glory to Him,"
as being to live according to the Divine truth,
that is, according to His commandments in the Word.
"Glory" in reference to the Lord
means the Divine truth proceeding from Him,
thus the Word such as it is in heaven;
for that is light to the angels,
and by that light the Lord manifests His glory;
for by that light He gives intelligence and wisdom,
and also presents before the eyes of angels
magnificent objects that glow with most precious things.
This is the signification of the Lord's "glory"
in the sense nearest to the letter.
But all these magnificent things,
which glow
as if from gold and precious stones in wonderful forms,
are given by the Lord
according to the reception of Divine truth
proceeding from Him,
consequently they appear to the angels
in the exact measure of the wisdom that is with them,
for they are correspondences.
But since angels have wisdom
according to their reception of Divine truth
not only in doctrine but also in life,
"to give glory to Him,"
signifies to live according to Divine truth.

AE 876

So long, however, as person lives in the world
the church in him is in his natural,
which is his external.
Yet the church is in a person's natural or external
only when the internal has been opened;
for the church cannot exist with anyone
unless he has heaven within,
from which enlightenment and influx from the Lord
may pass into the natural or external which is beneath.