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Apocalypse Revealed #1

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1. THE APOCALYPSE OR BOOK OF REVELATION

CHAPTER 1

1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to whatever he saw.

3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,

5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood,

6. and makes us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.

7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

9. I, John, who am also your brother and your companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, was on the island called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. What you see, write in a book and send it to the churches which are in Asia - Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle.

14. His head and hair were white, like wool as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire.

15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

16. having in His right hand seven stars, and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance as the sun shines in its power.

17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

18. and am He who lives, and was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death.

19. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

20. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter:

The meaning is that this revelation comes from the Lord alone, and is received by people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who will acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth. The Lord also is described in relation to the Word.

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The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Predictions from the Lord regarding Himself and His church, what the church will be like at its end, and what it will be like thereafter,
which God gave Him to show His servants for people who have faith arising from charity.
things which must shortly take place. They must surely come to pass to keep the church from perishing.
And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, The things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith,
2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, who from the heart and so in a state of light receive Divine truth from the Word and acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
to whatever he saw. Their enlightenment in all matters contained in this revelation.
3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, Their communion with angels in heaven who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem,
for the time is near. the state of the church being such that it can no longer continue to maintain its conjunction with the Lord.
4. John, to the seven churches To all who are in the Christian world where the Word exists and where through it the Lord is known, and who turn to the church,
which are in Asia: to those who from the Word possess the light of truth.
Grace to you and peace A Divine salutation
from Him who is and who was and who is to come, from the Lord who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah,
and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, from the whole of heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine truth,
5. and from Jesus Christ, His Divine humanity,
the faithful witness, which is Divine truth itself,
the firstborn from the dead, and which is Divine good itself,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth, from whom originates all truth from good in the church,
who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood, who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates people by His Divine truths drawn from the Word,
6. and makes us kings and priests who grants those who are born from Him, that is, who are reborn or regenerated, to possess wisdom from Divine truths, and love from Divine goods,
to His God and Father. thus images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love,
To Him be glory and might forever and ever. to whom alone belong Divine majesty and Divine omnipotence to eternity.
Amen. A Divine confirmation springing from truth, thus from Himself.
7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds (of heaven), The Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word and lay open its spiritual meaning at the end of the church.
and every eye will see Him, All those will acknowledge Him who possess, from an affection for it, an understanding of Divine truth.
even they who pierced Him, Even those will see Him who are caught up in falsities in the church.
and all the tribes of the earth will wail.... This will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church.
Even so, Amen. A Divine confirmation that it will be so.
8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else, thus who is the one and only love, the one and only wisdom, and the one and only life in itself, and so the one and only Creator, Savior and Enlightener from Himself, and therefore the all in all of the church and heaven.
says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, Who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah.
the Almighty. Who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who directs all things from the first of them through the last.
9. I, John, who am also your brother and companion Those people who possess the goodness of charity and consequent truths of faith,
in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, which in the church have been infested by evils and falsities, but which will be removed by the Lord when He comes.
was on the island called Patmos A state and place in which he could be enlightened,
for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. so as to receive Divine truth from the Word with the heart and so in a state of light, and to acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day, A spiritual state then owing to Divine influx.
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, A manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven.
11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else (as so on as stated above).
What you see, write in a book That these things may be revealed for posterity,
and send it to the churches which are in Asia - for those in the Christian world who have the light of truth from the Word
Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." in every case according to each one's state of reception.
12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, A turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.
and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, A new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.
13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, The Lord in relation to the Word, from whom that church originates.
clothed with a long robe The emanating Divinity which is Divine truth.
and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle. The emanating and at the same time conjoining Divinity which is Divine good.
14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, The Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.
and His eyes like a flame of fire. The Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, Natural Divine good.
and His voice as the sound of many waters; Natural Divine truth.
16. having in His right hand seven stars, All concepts of goodness and truth in the Word from the Lord.
and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, A dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it.
and His countenance as the sun shining in its power. The Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.
17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. A failure of his own life owing to such a presence of the Lord.
But He laid His right hand on me, Life then infused from the Lord.
saying to me, "Do not be afraid. A revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.
"I am the First and the Last, He is eternal and infinite, thus the only God,
18. and am He who lives, who alone is life, and the only source of life.
and was put to death, Disregarded in the church, and His Divine humanity not acknowledged,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. He is eternal life.
"Amen." A Divine confirmation that it is the truth.
"And I have the keys of hell and death." He alone is able to save.
19. "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. So that everything now being revealed may be saved for posterity.
20. "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The secrets contained in the visions having to do with a new heaven and a new church.
"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, A new church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven.
and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." A new church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the New Heaven.

THE EXPOSITION

People have hitherto not known what the spiritual meaning is. We have shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26, that it exists in every constituent of the Word, and that in many places the Word cannot be understood apart from it. This meaning is not apparent in the literal sense, for it is present in it as the soul is in the body.

People do know that there is a spiritual reality and a natural one, and that the spiritual one flows into the natural one and presents itself to be seen and felt in forms that fall within the scope of people's vision and touch. Moreover, they know that apart from these forms the spiritual component is perceived only as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom, which are properties of the mind. They acknowledge that affection and thought, or love, which has the capacity to be affected, and wisdom, which has the capacity to think, are spiritual. They know that these two faculties of the soul present themselves in forms in the body that are called sensory and motor organs, and furthermore, that these forms operate in harmony with those faculties, so much so that when the mind thinks something, the mouth in an instant expresses it, and when the mind wills something, the body in an instant does it. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a perfect union of spiritual and natural components in the human being.

[2] The case is the same with each and every constituent of the world. Each has in it something spiritual as the inmost of its cause, and something natural as its effect, and these two function as one. Moreover, the spiritual component is not apparent in the natural one, because, as we said, it is present in the natural one as the soul is in the body and as the inmost of a cause is in the effect.

It is the same with the Word. Because it is Divine, no one can deny that it is spiritual at its core. But because the spiritual component is not apparent in the literal sense, which is natural, therefore the spiritual meaning has been hitherto unknown. Nor could it have been known previously, before the Lord revealed genuine truths, as the spiritual meaning consists in those truths.

It is on this account that the book of Revelation has heretofore not been understood. But lest there be any doubt that it contains such truths, its contents must be explained phrase by phrase and demonstrated by similar passages elsewhere in the Word. The explanation and demonstration now follow.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Matthew 28:18

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18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

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Apocalypse Revealed #876

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876. REVELATION: CHAPTER 21

1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And there was no more sea.

2. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3. And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And He Himself will be with them their God.

4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more toil (suffering), for the former things have passed away."

5. Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

6. And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

8. But the fearful, faithless, and abominable, and murderers, the sexually licentious, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

9. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."

10. And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11. having the glory of God; and its light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.

12. It had a great and high wall, and twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, with names written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13. three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

16. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height were equal.

17. Then he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

18. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

19. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

20. the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24. And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.

25. Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there.

26. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

27. But there shall not enter it anything unclean, or that creates an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

This chapter has as its subject the state of heaven and the church following the Last Judgment, that through the New Heaven, a New Church will afterward emerge on earth which will worship the Lord alone (verses 1-8). Its conjunction with the Lord (verses 9, 10). A description of it as regards its intelligence gained from the Word (verse 11); as regards its consequent doctrine (verses 12-21); and as regards its whole character (verses 22-26).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth,The Lord formed a new heaven out of Christians, which today is called the Christian heaven and is inhabited by people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, who consequently possess charity and faith. Found there also are all the little children of Christians.
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.The heavens formed, not by the Lord, but by the people themselves who came into the spiritual world from the Christian world, all of which were dispersed at the time of the Last Judgment.
And there was no more sea.The outer part of the heaven composed of Christians since the church was first established was likewise dispersed, after those who were written in the Lord's Book of Life were liberated from there and saved.
2. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,The New Church to be established by the Lord at the end of the previous one, which will be affiliated with the New Heaven and possess Divine truths in its doctrine and in its life.
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.This church conjoined with the Lord through the Word.
3. And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,The Lord speaking out of love and proclaiming that He will now be present with people in His Divine humanity.
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And He Himself will be with them their God.Their conjunction with the Lord, which is of such a nature that the people are in Him and He in them.
4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more toil, for the former things have passed away."The Lord will take away from them all grief of mind, all fear of damnation, all fear of evils and falsities from hell, and of temptations or trials on account of them, and they will remember them no more, because the dragon that inflicted them has been cast out.
5. Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."The Lord assuring them all as regards the New Heaven and the New Church after the Last Judgment was completed,
6. And He said to me, "It is done!that it is the Divine truth;
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that He formed everything in the heavens and on earth, and governs all things by His Divine providence and directs them in accordance with it.
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely.To those who desire truths for some useful spiritual purpose, the Lord will give of Himself through the Word everything conducive to that useful purpose.
7. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.People who overcome the evils, that is, the Devil, in themselves, and do not succumb when tempted by adherents of Babylon or followers of the dragon, shall enter into heaven and dwell there in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
8. But the fearful, faithless, and abominable,People who have no faith and no charity, and are consequently caught up in evils of every kind, and murderers, the sexually licentious, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars and all those who have no regard for the Ten Commandments, and do not refrain from any of the evils named there as sins, and therefore live caught up in them shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, for them hell awaits where their loves of falsities and lusts for evil reside.
which is the second death."Damnation.
9. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."An influx and revelation from the Lord from the inmost of heaven regarding the New Church, which will be conjoined with the Lord through the Word.
10. And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,John transported into the third heaven and his sight opened there, and the Lord's New Church in respect to its doctrine presented to him in the form of a city.
11. having the glory of God; and its light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.In that church the Word will be understood, because its spiritual sense will come shining through.
12. It had a great and high wall,The Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine of the New Church comes.
and twelve gates,All the concepts of truth and goodness by which a person is introduced into the church.
and over the gates twelve angels, with names written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:The Divine truths and goods of heaven in those concepts, which are also the Divine truths and goods of the church, and safeguards to keep someone from entering into them unless he does so from the Lord.
13. three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.Concepts of truth and goodness which have in them spiritual life from the Lord out of heaven and introduce into the New Church are provided for people who possess more or less love or affection for goodness, and for people who possess more or less wisdom or affection for truth.
14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations,The Word in its literal sense contains all of the doctrines of the New Church.
and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.All of the doctrines from the Word regarding the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments.
15. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.To people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord's New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.
16. The city is laid out as a square;Justice in that church.
its length is as great as its breadth.Goodness and truth in that church are united, like essence and form.
And he measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height were equal.John shown the character of that church arising from its doctrine, that every part of it arose from the goodness of love.
17. Then he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits,John shown the nature of the Word in that church, that from it come all of its truths and goods.
the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.The character of that church, as being united with heaven.
18. The construction of its wall was of jasper;With people of that church the Divine truth in the spiritual sense shines through every Divine truth in the literal sense.
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.Therefore everything connected with that church embodies the goodness of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
19. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones:All of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem taken from the Word's literal sense will, among the people in that church, be seen in a state of light, in accordance with their reception of it.
the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20. the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.All of the doctrines of that church from the Word's literal sense in their order, with those who turn directly to the Lord and live in accordance with the Ten Commandments by refraining from evils as being sins; for they and no others possess a doctrine of love toward God and love for the neighbor, which are the two foundations of religion.
21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl.An acknowledgment and concept of the Lord join all the concepts of truth and goodness in the Word into one and introduce into the church.
And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.Every truth of that church and its doctrine embodies the goodness of love flowing in together with light from the Lord out of heaven.
22. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.That church will have no external element divorced from an internal one, because it turns to the Lord Himself in His Divine humanity, from whom comes everything connected with the church, and worships and adores Him alone.
23. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp.People of that church will not be caught up in self-love and their own intelligence and so possess a natural sight only, but from the Word's Divine truth will possess a spiritual light from the Lord alone.
24. And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light, All those people who live a good life and believe in the Lord will live in that church in accordance with Divine truths and will see those truths inwardly in themselves as the eye sees its objects.
and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.All those people who possess truths of wisdom springing from spiritual goodness will in that church confess the Lord and attribute to Him all the truth and all the goodness that they possess.
25. Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there.

The New Jerusalem continually receives into it people who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, because it has no falsity in its faith.
26. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.Those who enter the New Jerusalem will bring with them a confession, acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the church and every good of religion comes from Him.
27. But there shall not enter it anything unclean, or that creates an abomination or a lie,No one is received into the Lord's New Church who adulterates the goods in the Word and falsifies its truths, and who does evils deliberately and so also devises falsities.
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.The only people received into the New Church, or New Jerusalem, are those who believe in the Lord and live in accordance with His commandments in the Word.

THE EXPOSITION

21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. This symbolically means that the Lord formed a new heaven out of Christians, which today is called the Christian heaven and is inhabited by people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, who consequently possess charity and faith. Found in that heaven also are all the little children of Christians.

The new heaven and new earth do not mean the natural heavens that are visible to our eyes or the natural earth inhabited by the human race. Rather they mean a spiritual heaven and the land of that heaven where angels dwell. That that heaven and the land of that heaven are meant is something everyone sees and acknowledges if only he can be drawn away from a purely natural and material idea when he reads the Word.

It is apparent that an angelic heaven is meant because we are told in the very next verse that John saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This does not mean some Jerusalem coming down, but the church, and the church on earth descends from the Lord out of the angelic heaven, since angels in heaven and people on earth are united in everything having to do with the church (no. 626).

It can be seen from this how naturally and materially some people have thought and continue to think who, from these words and those that follow in this verse, have fabricated for themselves the dogma regarding the destruction of the world and everything's being created anew.

[2] This new heaven was the subject several times before in the book of Revelation, especially in chapters 14, 15. It is called the Christian heaven, because it is apart from the ancient heavens which were constituted of people of the church before the Lord's advent. These ancient heavens are above the Christian heaven, for the heavens are like expanses, one above another. The same is the case with each of the heavens, for every heaven is in itself distinguished into three heavens - an inmost or third heaven, an intermediate or second heaven, and a lowest or first heaven. So with this new heaven. I have seen its inhabitants and spoken with them.

This new Christian heaven is inhabited by all those people who from the first establishment of the Christian Church have worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, and who consequently possess both charity and faith from the Lord through the Word, thus whose faith is not a lifeless one but a living one.

Regarding this heaven, see various mentions above, in nos. 612, 613, 626, 631, 659, 661, 845, 846, 856.

Found in that heaven likewise are all the little children of Christians, because they are brought up by angels in the two essential elements of the church, namely an acknowledgment of the Lord as God of heaven and earth, and living in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.