TCR 753, 755 - The Consummation (End) of the Age

TCR 753

There have been several Churches on this earth,
all of which in process of time have been consummated,
and after their consummation new ones have arisen;
and this has been the case right up to the present time.
The consummation of the Church takes place
when there remains no Divine Truth
but what is either falsified or rejected.
And where there is no genuine truth
there can be no genuine good,
because the whole quality of good is formed by truths;
for good is the essence of truth,
and truth is the form of good,
and quality cannot exist without form.
Good and truth can no more be separated
than will and understanding;
or, what is the same thing,
than the affection of love and thought arising from it.
Therefore,
when truth is consummated (ended) in the Church,
good in it is consummated (ended) also;
and when that takes place,
the Church is at an end, that is,
then is its consummation.

TCR 755

It should be known
that vastation, desolation and decision
signify the same as consummation;
but desolation signifies the consummation of truth,
vastation the consummation of good,
and decision the full consummation of both;
and the fullness of time,
in which the Lord came into the world,
and in which He is to come,
is also a consummation.

~ A Voice Like a Trumpet ~

On the Lord's Day I (John) was in the Spirit,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
which said:
"Write on a scroll what you see
and send it to the seven churches:
to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.
And when I turned
I saw seven golden lampstands,
and among the lampstands was Someone
"like a Son of Man,"
dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet
and with a golden sash around His chest.
His head and hair were white like wool,
as white as snow,
and His eye ware blazing like fire.
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,
and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars,
and out of His mouth came
a sharp double-edged sword.
His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw Him,
I fell at His feet as though dead.
Then He placed His right hand on me and said:
"Do not be afraid.
I am the First and the Last.
I am the Living One;
I was dead,
and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

"Write, therefore, what you have seen,
what is now and what will take place later.
They mystery of the seven stars
that you saw in My right hand
and of the seven golden lampstands is this:
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,
and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

(Revelation 1:10-20)

TCR 746 - Degrees of Wisdom and Their Uses

TCR 746 [1-3]

"When man was first created,
he was initiated into wisdom and its love,
not for his own sake
but that he might impart it to others from himself.
Hence it is inscribed on the wisdom of the wise,
that no one should be wise and live for himself alone,
but for others at the same time.
This is the foundation of society,
which could not otherwise exist.
To live for others is to perform uses:
uses are the bonds of society,
and these are as many as there are good uses,
and their number is infinite.
There are spiritual uses,
which are those of love to God
and love towards the neighbor;
there are moral and civil uses,
pertaining to the love of the society and country
in which a man lives,
and of his fellow-citizens among whom he dwells;
there are natural uses
pertaining to the love of the world and its necessities;
and there are corporeal uses,
pertaining to the love of self-preservation
for the sake of higher uses.

"All these uses are inscribed upon man,
and they follow in order one after another,
and when they exist together,
then one is within another.
Those who are in the first or spiritual uses
are also in the uses that follow, and they are wise.
Those who are not in spiritual uses,
but yet are in moral and civil uses,
and consequently in those that follow,
are not on that account wise,
but only appear to be so
because of their external morality
and observance of civil duty.
Those who are not in spiritual and moral uses,
but in natural and corporeal uses,
are not at all wise;
for they are satans, loving only
the world and themselves because of the world.
Those, however, who are only in corporeal uses
are the least wise of all;
for they are devils,
living for themselves alone,
and regarding themselves alone
in whatever they do for others.

"Moreover, every love has its delight,
for by delight love is kept alive;
and the delight of the love of uses is a heavenly one,
which enters successively
into the delights which follow,
and in their order
exalts them and makes them eternal."
After this, they spoke of
heavenly delights proceeding from the love of use,
and said that there are myriads and myriads of them,
and that all who go to heaven enter into those delights.

~ The Last Few Verses in the Last Two Chapters of John ~

Jesus did many other miraculous signs
in the presence of His disciples,
which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have life in His name.
(John 20:30-31)

Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world
would not have room
for the books that would be written.
(John 21:25)

TCR 745 - Opposites

TCR 745 [5]

. . . nothing that is honorable and good in any virtue
passes by successive stages
into what is dishonorable and evil:
it diminishes till nothing of it remains,
and then its opposite begins to make its appearance.
Therefore, heaven,
where all things are honorable and good,
has nothing in common with hell,
where all things are dishonorable and evil.

~ His Kingdom, His Truth ~

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, My servants would fight to prevent
My arrest by the Jews.
But now My kingdom is from another place."

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.

Jesus answered,
"You are right in saying I am a King.
In fact, for this reason I was born,
and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me."

(John 18:36-37)
 

TCR 737-739 - The Soul's Delight

TCR 737 [5]

The soul's delight is derived from
love and wisdom proceeding from the Lord;
and as love produces effects,
and does so through wisdom,
they both reside in the effect;
and the effect is use.
This delight flows into the soul from the Lord,
descending through
the higher and lower regions of the mind
into all the bodily senses,
and in them attains its fullness.
From the presence of this delight
joy becomes real joy,
becoming also eternal from its Eternal Source.
. . . If, then, a person is in this union,
he is in a heavenly paradise,
and therefore is in heaven.

TCR 739 [7-8]

. . . the joys of heaven and eternal happiness
do not depend upon place,
but upon the state of person's life;
and that the state of heavenly life
is from love and wisdom.
As use contains love and wisdom,
the state of heavenly life arises from
the union of love and wisdom in use.
It is the same if we speak of
charity, faith and good works;
for charity is love,
faith is truth from which is wisdom,
and good works are uses.
Moreover, in our spiritual world there are places,
as in the natural world;
otherwise there would be
no habitations and separate abodes.
Nevertheless place with us
is only an appearance of place
according to the state of love and wisdom,
that is, of charity and faith.

Every one who becomes an angel
bears within himself his own heaven,
because he bears the love of his own heaven . . ..

~ Then Jesus Prays ~

"You believe at last!"  Jesus answered.
"But a time is coming, and has come,
when you will be scattered,
each to his own home.
You will leave Me all alone.
Yet I am not alone,
for My Father is with Me.

"I have told you these things,
so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world."

After Jesus said this,
He looked toward heaven and prayed:

"Father, the time has come.
Glorify Your Son,
that Your Son may glorify You.
For You granted Him authority over all people
that He might give eternal life
to all those you You have given Him.
Now this is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
I have brought You glory on earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
And now, Father,
glorify Me in Your presence
with the glory I had with You
before the world began.

(John 16:31-33; 17:1-5)

TCR 734, 735, 736 - What Is Heavenly Joy?

TCR 734 [3]

It is the delight of doing something useful
to oneself and to others;
and the delight of use derives its essence
from love and its existence from wisdom.
The delight of use,
arising from love through wisdom,
is the life and soul of all heavenly joys.
There is in heaven most delightful association,
which exhilarates the minds of angels,
cheers their spirits,
gladdens their hearts and refreshes their bodies.
These pleasures, however, the angels feel
only after they have performed the uses
pertaining to their office and employment.
From these uses are derived the life and soul
of all their pleasures and delights;
but if you take away that life or soul
the subsidiary joys gradually lose their charm;
first they become unattractive,
then as it were of little account,
and finally they bring that feeling
of oppression and anxious care.

TCR 735 [5]

. . . happiness comes to every one
from the use he performs in his own vocation.

TCR 736 [3]

The Lord loves all,
and so wills good to all,
and good is the same thing as use.
As the Lord does good, or performs uses,
through the instrumentality of angels,
and, in the world, of men,
therefore, to those who faithfully perform uses
He communicates the love of use,
together with its reward, internal blessedness;
and this is eternal happiness.

~ Don't You Know Me? ~

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered:  "Don't you know Me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father,
and that the Father is in Me?
The words I say to you are not just My own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in Me,
who is doing His work.
Believe Me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me;
or at least believe on the evidence
of the miracles themselves.
I tell you the truth,
anyone who has faith in Me
will do what I have been doing.

(John 14:8-12)

TCR 722, 725, 727 - Conjunction With the Lord

TCR 722

Every Christian who studies the Word
knows, acknowledges and perceives
that God, charity and faith
are the three universals of the Church,
because they are the universal means of salvation.
Reason itself, if there is anything spiritual in it,
teaches that God must be acknowledged
in order that a person may have religion
and anything of the Church in him.

TCR 725

. . . those worthily approach the Holy Supper
who are in faith in the Lord
and in charity towards the neighbor;
that the truths of faith cause the Lord's presence;
and that the goods of charity,
together with faith,
bring about conjunction.
It follows, therefore,
that those who worthily approach the Holy Supper
are conjoined with the Lord;
and those who are conjoined with the Lord
are in Him, and He in them.
That this takes place
with those who approach worthily,
 the Lord Himself declares in John, in these words:

"He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood,
dwells in Me, and I in him."
(John 6: 56)

That this is conjunction with the Lord,
He also teaches elsewhere in the same Gospel:

"Abide in me, and I in you.
He that abides in me, and I in him,
the same brings forth much fruit."
(John 15: 4, 5; and Revelation 3: 20)

Being in conjunction with the Lord
is the same as being among those who are in His body;
and those constitute His body
who believe in Him,
and do His will.
His will is the exercise of charity
according to the truths of faith.

TCR 727 [3]

All conjunction, moreover, is effected by love,
and love is not love without trust.

~ After the Raising of Lazarus ~

. . . many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,
and had seen what Jesus did,
put their faith in Him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees
called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

"What are we accomplishing?" they asked.
"Here is this Man performing many miraculous signs.
If we let Him go on like this,
everyone will believe in Him,
and then the Romans will came
and take away both our temple and our nation."

(John 11:45-18)

TCR 711-712, 716 - The Holy Supper, Why It Is a Spiritual Repast

TCR 711-712

. . . the Lord Himself is in the Holy Supper,
that the flesh and bread
are the Lord as to the Divine Good of Love,
and that the blood and wine are the Lord
as to the Divine Truth of Wisdom.
Thus the Holy Supper involves the three universals,
namely, the Lord, His Divine Good and His Divine Truth.
Since then the Holy Supper
includes and contains these three,
it follows that it also includes and contains
the universals of heaven and of the Church.
Because all particulars depend on universals,
just as contents depend on containants,
it follows also
that the Holy Supper includes and contains
all the particulars of heaven and of the Church.
As the Divine Good and the Divine Truth,
both from the Lord and both being the Lord,
are meant by His flesh and blood
and also by the bread and wine,
it is evident as a primary consequence
that the Holy Supper contains,
both as to universals and as to particulars,
all things of heaven and of the Church.

It is also known
that there are three essentials of the Church, namely,
God, charity and faith,
and that all things of the Church
have reference to these three, as to their universals.
These three are the same as those just mentioned,
for God in the Holy Supper is the Lord,
charity is Divine Good,
and faith is Divine Truth.
What is charity
but the good that a man does from the Lord?
and what is faith
but the truth which a man believes from the Lord?
Hence it is that in man, as to his internal,
there are three essentials, namely,
the soul or mind, the will and the understanding.
These three are the receptacles
of the universals just mentioned;
the soul itself or mind is the receptacle of the Lord,
for it lives from Him;
the will is the receptacle of love or good,
and the understanding is the receptacle of wisdom or truth.
Therefore, all things, in general and in particular,
in the soul or mind
not only have reference to those three universals
of heaven and the Church,
but they also proceed from them.

TCR 716

His Divine can no more be separated from His Human
than the soul from the body.
Therefore, when it is said
that the Lord as to His Human
is wholly present in the Holy Supper,
it follows that His Divine,
from which His Human proceeded,
is also present at the same time.
Now, since the Lord's flesh signifies
the Divine Good of His Love,
and His blood the Divine Truth of His Wisdom,
it is evident that the Lord,
both as to the Divine and as to the glorified Human,
is wholly omnipresent in the Holy Supper;
and consequently it is a spiritual repast.

~ His Sheep ~

"I tell you the truth,
the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate,
but climbs in by some other way,
is a thief and a robber.
The man who enters by the gate
is the shepherd of his sheep.
The watchman opens the gate for him,
and the sheep listen to his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own,
he goes on ahead of them,
and his sheep follow him
because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger;
in fact, they will run away from him
because they do not recognize a stranger's voice"
Jesus used this figure of speech,
but they did not understand what He was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again,
"I tell you the truth,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate;
whoever enters through Me will be saved.
He will come in and go out,
and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full."

"My sheep listen to My voice;
I know them, and they follow Me.
I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father who has given them to Me,
is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand.
I and the Father are one."

(John 10:1-10. 27-30)

TCR 702 - The Bread and Wine

TCR 702

From a knowledge of correspondences
it may be known what is meant by
the flesh and blood of the Lord,
and that the same is meant by the bread and wine;
namely, that by the flesh of the Lord,
and by the bread,
is meant the Divine Good of His love,
and also all the good of charity;
and that by the blood of the Lord,
and by wine,
is meant the Divine Truth of His wisdom,
and also all the truth of faith;
and that by eating is meant
making them our own.

~ He Who Belongs to God ~

"He who belongs to God
hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear
is that you do not belong to God."

(John 8:47)

 

TCR 698, 700 - Correspondences - Seeing With the Eyes of Our Spirit

TCR 698

. . . by correspondences the natural sense of the Word
is changed into the spiritual sense in heaven.
So it is that those two sense correspond to each other . . ..

TCR 701

. . . for the first time
Christianity itself is beginning to dawn,
and a New Church,
which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation,
is now being established by the Lord,
in which God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
are acknowledged as one,
because they are in one Person.
It has, therefore, pleased the Lord
to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word,
in order that this Church may
enter into the use and benefit itself of
the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper.
This follows
when people see with the eyes of their spirit,
that is, with the understanding,
the holiness concealed therein,
and apply it to themselves
by the means which the Lord has taught in His Word.

~ The Spirit Gives Life ~

Aware that His disciples were grumbling . . .
Jesus said to them,
"Does this offend you?
What if you see the Son of Man ascend
to where He was before!
The Spirit gives life;
the flesh counts for nothing.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.

(John 6:61-63)

TCR 697 - God's Dwelling Place

TCR 697 [11]

. . . the soul is the person himself;
for it is the inmost person,
and therefore its form
is fully and perfectly the human form.
Nevertheless, it is not life,
but the receptacle of life from God nearest to Him,
and thus God's dwelling place.

. . . the Lord God
formed the man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul.
(Genesis 2:7)

~ "It Is I; Don't Be Afraid." ~

When evening came,
His disciples went down to the lake,
where they got into a boat
and set off across the lake for Capernaum.
By now it was dark,
and Jesus had not yet joined them.
A strong wind was blowing
and the waters grew rough.
When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,
(twenty-five or thirty stadia in the Greek)
they saw Jesus approaching the boat,
walking on the water;
and they were terrified.
But He said to them,
"It is I; don't be afraid."
Then they were willing to take Him into the boat,
and immediately the boat reached the shore
where they were heading.

(John 6:16-21)