19. 17. To whom will ye liken Me, to whom am I equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things, etc. (Isaiah 40:25-26).

(My judgment is with Jehovah, and the price of My work is with my God. Then shall I be precious in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God shall be my strength. Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me (Isaiah 49:4-5, 14). Because of Jehovah that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel who chooseth thee [Isaiah 49:7].)

I have given Thee for a light to the nations, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth. I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to divide the devastated heritages; to say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Reveal. They shall feed in the ways, and their pasture shall be on all hillsides; they shall not hunger nor thirst; by the springs of water shall He lead them (Isaiah 49:6, 8-10).

(Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay upon his God (Isaiah 50:10).)

Look to me ye that follow after justice, ye that seek Jehovah; look unto the rock whence ye are hewn (Isaiah 51:1). Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah, awake as in the days of old (Isaiah 51:9).

I will put my words in thy mouth, for the planting of the heavens, and laying the foundations of the earth (Isaiah 51:16). (My people shall know My name in that day, for I am He that doth speak: Behold, it is I. How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that causeth to hear peace, that saith unto Zion, Thy king reigneth. Watchmen shall lift up the voice; together shall they sing when they shall see eye to eye, that Jehovah returneth to Zion (Isaiah 52:6-7).

Jehovah hath made bare the arm of His holiness in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10).

Who hath believed our word that is heard? and upon whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed (Isaiah 53:1)?

(The Lord is treated of throughout the chapter, and the state of His life is described here briefly in these words. That He had no form nor honor; that He was despised and not esteemed. That He was wounded on account of our transgressions, and bruised on account of our iniquities. That Jehovah hath made to light on Him the iniquity of us all. That He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; that He was cut off from the land of the living. That because He offered His soul as a guilt offering His days were prolonged, and that the will of Jehovah prospered by His hand, in the fact that He bore their iniquities, and for them poured out His soul even unto death. That He was numbered with the transgressors, and interceded for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:1-12).

4766. 'And I, where do I go?' means, Where now is the Church? This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as the Church's faith in general, dealt with in 4731, 4734, 4761. And because Reuben says of himself, 'And I, where do I go?' the meaning is, Where now is the Church's faith? or what amounts to the same, Where now is the Church? For the Church does not exist where no heavenly Joseph - that is, no Lord as regards Divine Truth - does so. In particular it has no existence where the Divine Truth that the Lord's Human is Divine and the Truth that charity, and therefore the works of charity, is the essential element of the Church have no existence, as may be seen from what has been shown in this chapter about these two Truths.

[2] If there is no acceptance of this Divine Truth, that the Lord's Human is Divine, then of necessity it follows that a triad and not a single entity should be worshipped, and only half the Lord, that is, His Divine but not His Human (for is there anyone who worships that which is not Divine?) Is the Church anything when a triad is worshipped, each of the three separately from another, or what amounts to the same, when equal homage is paid to each of them? For although the three are called one, thought still keeps them separate and makes them three, the declaration 'a single entity' being no more than a saying spoken with the lips. Let anyone ask himself, when he says that he acknowledges and believes in one God, whether or not he has thoughts of three. Or when he says that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and that these are distinct and separate both in their persons and as to their functions, whether he can think that there is one God, except in the way that three who are distinct from one another make one through unanimity and also through deference insofar as one goes forth from another. When therefore three gods are worshipped, where then is the Church?

[3] But if the Lord alone is worshipped, in whom the perfect Triad dwells, and in whom is the Father and the Father in Him, as He Himself says in the following places -

Even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:38.

He who has seen Me has seen the Father. Do you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. John 14:9-11.

He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. John 12:45.

All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. John 17:10.

- then it is a Christian Church, as it is when it keeps to the following spoken by the Lord,

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There Is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31.

'The Lord our God' is the Lord, see Matthew 4:7, 10; 22:43-44; Luke 1:16-17; John 20:28, 'Jehovah' in the Old Testament being called 'the Lord' in the New, see 2921.

[4] If this Divine Truth too goes unaccepted both in doctrine and in life - the Truth that love towards the neighbour, that is, charity, and therefore the works of charity, is the essential element of the Church - then of necessity it follows that thinking what is true exists in the Church but not thinking what is good. That being so, the thought of one who belongs to the Church may consist of elements that contradict and stand opposed to each other; that is to say, thinking what is evil and thinking what is true may be present simultaneously. In thinking what is evil he lives with the devil and in thinking what is true he does so with the Lord. But truth and evil cannot possibly be in accord,

No one can serve two masters, either he will hate the one and love the other . . . Luke 16:13.

When faith separated from charity advocates this, and endorses it in life, then no matter how much it talks about the fruits of faith, where indeed is the Church?