864. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, signifies those who have been joined to the Lord by the acknowledgment of His Divine Human, and by a life according to His commandments. This is evident from the signification of "the Lamb," as being the Lord as to the Divine Human (See above, n. 314); also from the signification of "following Him whithersoever He goeth," as being to acknowledge His Divine and to do His commandments. "To follow the Lord" has a similar signification as "to go or to walk after Him." That "to go or walk after the Lord," signifies to acknowledge, to obey, and to act and live from Him and with Him, may be seen above n. 787. This is the signification of "following the Lord," because no one can follow the Lord from self, but only from the Lord Himself. For the Lord draws after Him the man who from freedom wills to follow; but He can draw no one who does not will to follow Him. For the Lord so operates with man that man may follow Him as if of himself; thus does the Lord flow into man's freedom; and this He does for the sake of the reception and implantation of truth and good with man and consequent reformation and regeneration. For unless it appeared to man that he followed the Lord as if of himself, that is, acknowledged His Divine and did His commandments as if of himself, there would be no appropriation and conjunction, and thus no reformation and regeneration. For everything enters into the man and becomes as if it were his own that man receives in freedom, that is, as if of himself, whether it be what he thinks and speaks or what he wills and does as if of himself. And yet man ought to believe, as the matter really is in itself, that he does these things not from himself but from the Lord; and this is why it is said that he must act not of himself but as if of himself. Another reason for this is that man has no perception of the Lord's operation into his will and into his thought therefrom; for man knows nothing about his conjunction with angels; consequently he supposes that whatever he wills and thinks he wills and thinks from himself; therefore he cannot know otherwise than that this is done by himself; and yet all good flows in, that which he thinks, that which he wills, and that which he consequently does. And as he knows this from the doctrine of the church, namely, that all good is from God, he ought to believe that he does not do good of himself, although he does it as if of himself. This is meant by what the Lord taught in Mark:

So is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should then sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how (Mark 4:26, 27).

And in John:

A man can receive nothing unless it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

And in the same:

He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

[2] To acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and to do His commandments is to follow Him, because only those who do this can be conjoined to the Lord. That everyone is conjoined to the Lord according to the acknowledgment and confession of Him from the heart and according to the life, can be seen from this, that all the angels of heaven acknowledge no other Divine than the Divine of the Lord, and all angels of the heavens live according to the laws of order, which are His commandments, that is, they live in the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, which is called the Divine truth. Because they so live they live in a heavenly aura, or in a heavenly ether, into which none can be admitted except those who are in life from the Lord. If any others were to enter into that ether it would be like letting mice into a pipe out of which the air has been exhausted.

[3] All this makes clear what is signified in the spiritual sense by "following the Lord whithersoever He goeth." "To follow Him" has the same signification in the following passages. As in John:

Jesus said, I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

"I am the light of the world" signifies that He is the Divine truth itself; "he that followeth Me" signifies he that acknowledges His Divine and does His commandments; "shall not walk in darkness" signifies that he shall not be in falsities; "but shall have the light of life" signifies that he shall be in Divine truths, which teach man eternal life and lead to heaven. Here evidently "to follow the Lord" does not mean to follow Him, but to acknowledge His Divine and obey Him.

[4] In the same:

When the Shepherd of the sheep hath led forth His own sheep He goeth before them and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice; but a stranger they do not follow, but flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me (John 10:4, 5, 27).

Here, "to follow the Lord" means to acknowledge His Divine and to obey Him; for it is said, He goeth before His own sheep and the sheep follow Him and know and hear His voice; "to know and hear the Lord's voice" signifies to do His commandments.

[5] In the Gospels:

Whosoever wills to come after Me let him deny himself and follow Me (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

Evidently "to go after the Lord and to follow Him" is to deny self; and to deny self is to be led not by self but by the Lord; and he denies self who shuns and turns away from evils because they are sins; and when man turns away from evils he is led by the Lord; for he does the Lord's commandments, not from self but from the Lord. "To follow the Lord" has the same signification elsewhere (as in Matthew 19:21, 28; Mark 2:14, 15; 3:7, 8; 10:21, 28, 29; Luke 18:22, 28; John 12:26; 13:36, 37; 21:19-22).

[6] All this makes clear that to "follow the Lord" is to be led by Him and not by self; and only those who are not led by self can be led by the Lord; and everyone is led by self who does not shun evils because they are contrary to the Word and thus contrary to God; consequently because they are sins and are from hell. Everyone who does not thus shun and turn away from evils is led by self; and for the reason that the evil that is in man by heredity constitutes his life, because that is his own [proprium]; and until such evils have been removed man does all things from them, thus from self. But it is otherwise when evils have been removed, which is done when he shuns them because they are infernal; then the Lord enters with truths and goods from heaven, and leads him. The chief reason is that every man is his own love; and man, as to his spirit, which lives after death, is nothing else than the affection which is of his love, and all evil is from his love, and thus belongs to his love; from which it follows that a man's love or affection is reformed only by a spiritual shunning of evils and turning away from them, which is shunning them and turning away from them because they are infernal. From all this it can now be seen what it is "to follow the Lord whithersoever He goeth."

297. Verse 1. And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, signifies the Lord in respect to omnipotence and omniscience. This is evident from the signification of "right hand," as being, in reference to the Lord, omnipotence and also omniscience (of which presently); also from the signification of "Him that sat upon the throne," as being the Lord in respect to Divine good in heaven; for in general "throne" signifies heaven, in particular the spiritual heaven, and abstractly Divine truth proceeding, from which heaven is, and by which judgment is effected (See above, n. 253). By "Him that sat upon the throne," and also by "the Lamb," that took the book from Him that sat upon the throne, the Lord is meant, because by "Him that sat upon the throne" the Lord in respect to Divine good is meant, and by "the Lamb" the Lord in respect to Divine truth. There are two things that proceed from the Lord as the sun of heaven, namely, Divine good and Divine truth. Divine good from the Lord is called "the Father in the heavens," and is here meant by "Him that sat upon the throne;" and Divine truth from the Lord is called "the Son of man," but here "the Lamb." And because Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth judges, therefore it is here said that "the Lamb took the book from Him that sat upon the throne." That Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth judges, is meant by the Lord's words in John:

The Father doth not judge anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son; because He is the Son of man (John 5:22, 27).

"Father" means the Lord in respect to Divine good; "the Son of man," the Lord in respect to Divine truth. Divine good "doth not judge anyone," because it explores no one; but Divine truth judges, for it explores everyone. Yet it should be known, that neither does the Lord Himself judge anyone from the Divine truth that proceeds from Him, for this is so united to Divine good that they are one; but the man-spirit judges himself; for it is the Divine truth received by himself that judges him; but because the appearance is that the Lord judges, therefore it is said in the Word that all are judged by the Lord. This the Lord also teaches in John:

Jesus said, If any man hear My words and yet believe not, I judge him not; for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47-48).

[2] For in respect to judgment, the case is this: The Lord is present with all, and from Divine Love He wills to save all, and He turns and leads all towards Himself. Those who are in good and in truths therefrom follow, for they apply themselves, but those who are in evil and in falsities therefrom do not follow, but turn backwards from the Lord, and to turn themselves backwards from the Lord is to turn from heaven to hell; for every man-spirit is either his own good and the truth therefrom, or his own evil and the falsity therefrom. He who is a good and the truth therefrom permits himself to be led by the Lord; but he who is an evil and the falsity therefrom does not permit himself to be led; he resists with all his strength and endeavor, for his will is toward his own love; for this love is his breath and life; therefore his desire is toward those who are in a like love of evil. From this it can be seen that the Lord does not judge anyone, but that Divine truth received judges to heaven those who have received Divine truth in the heart, that is, in love; and it judges to hell those who have not received Divine truth in the heart, and who have denied it. Thence it is clear what is meant by the Lord's saying that "all judgment is given to the Son, because He is the Son of man," and elsewhere, that "He came not to judge the world but to save the world," and that the Word which He has spoken is to judge man. "

[3] These, however, are truths that do not fall into man's self-intelligence, for they are among the arcana of the wisdom of angels. (But the matter is somewhat elucidated in the work on Heaven and Hell 545-551, under the heading, The Lord casts no one into Hell, but the Spirit casts Himself Thither.) That it is the Lord who is meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," and not another whom some distinguish from the Lord and call "God the Father," can be seen by anyone from this, that the Divine that the Lord called "Father" was no other than His own Divine; for this took on the Human; consequently it was the Father of the Human; and that this Divine is infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord, and in no way differing from the Divine Itself that some distinguish from Him and call the Father, can be seen from the received faith called Athanasian, where it is also said:

That no one of them is greatest or least, and no one of them first or last, but they are altogether equal; and that as is one, so is the other, infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord; and yet there are not three infinites, but one; not three eternals, but one; not three uncreates, but one; not three omnipotents, but one; not three Gods and Lords, but one.

These things have been said that it may be known that by "Him that sat upon the throne" and "the Lamb," also in what follows by "God" and "the Lamb," not two, distinct from each other, are meant; but that by the one, Divine good is meant, and by the other, Divine truth in heaven, both proceeding from the Lord. That the Lord is meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," is clear also from the particulars of chapter 4 preceding, where the throne and One sitting thereon are treated of (which may be seen explained, n. 258-295); and still further in Matthew:

When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31; 19:28-29).

Also in Ezekiel:

Above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim was as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne; and upon the likeness of the throne a likeness as the appearance of a man sitting upon it (Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1).

And in Isaiah:

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1).

[4] Since by "throne" heaven is signified, and by "Him that sat upon the throne" the Lord in respect to His Divine in heaven, it is said above, in chapter 3:

He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit with Me on My throne (Revelation 3:21);

signifying that he shall be in heaven where the Lord is (See above, n. 253); and therefore in what follows in this chapter it is said:

I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing (Revelation 5:6);

and in chapter 22:

He showed me a river of water of life, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1).

"The throne of God and of the Lamb" means heaven and the Lord there in respect to Divine good and as to Divine truth; "God" meaning the Lord in respect to Divine good; and "the Lamb," the Lord in respect to Divine truth. A distinction is here made between the two, because there are those that receive the one more than the other. Those that receive Divine truth in good are saved; but those that receive Divine truth (which is the Word) not in good are not saved, since all Divine truth is in good and not elsewhere; consequently those that do not receive it in good reject it and deny it, if not openly yet tacitly, and if not with the mouth yet with the heart; for the heart of such is evil, and evil rejects. To receive Divine truth in good is to receive it in the good of charity; for those who are in that good receive.