745. Now is come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ, signifies that now the Lord has power by His Divine truth to save those who are of His church, who receive Divine truth in heart and soul. This is evident from the signification of "salvation," as being to be saved; and from the signification of "power," as being to have ability, thus possibility (of which presently); from the signification of "kingdom," as being heaven and the church (See above, n. 48, 685); from the signification of "our God," as being the Lord in relation to His Divine; and from the signification of "the authority of His Christ," as being the efficacy of Divine truth, thus by means of Divine truth. That "the Christ" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth may be seen above (n. 684, 685); and that "authority" signifies, in reference to the Lord, the salvation of the human race, may be seen above n. 293; and that the Lord has power to save by means of His Divine truth (n. 333, 726); and because the Lord can save only those who receive Divine truth from Him with heart and soul, this too is signified. From this it is clear that "Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ," signifies that now the Lord has power by His Divine truth to save those who are of His church who receive Divine truth with heart and soul.

[2] It is said "who receive with heart and soul," meaning with love and faith, likewise with the will and understanding; for in the Word when "soul and heart" are both mentioned "soul" signifies faith, likewise understanding, and "heart" signifies love, likewise will; for soul [anima] means there in the ultimate sense the respiration of man, which is also called his "spirit" [or breath], and the verb animare means to respire; also when a man dies he is said "to give up the ghost" [emittere animam et spirituum]. Moreover, it is also from correspondence that "soul" signifies faith, also the understanding, and that "heart" signifies love, as also the will; for faith and understanding correspond to the breathing [animatio] or respiration of the lungs, and the love and will correspond to the motion and pulsation of the heart (on which correspondence see above, n. 167; and the Arcana Coelestia 2930, 3883-3896, 9050).

[3] "Now is come the salvation and the power of our God" signifies that the Lord is now able to save; so "power" here signifies to have ability, thus the possibility, because the Lord could not save those who were of His church before the dragon with his angels had been driven out, that is, separated from heaven. One who does not know the laws of Divine order might believe that the Lord can save anyone He pleases, thus the evil as well as the good; and for this reason some are of the opinion that in the end all who are in hell will be saved. But that no one can be saved by immediate mercy, but only by mediate, and that still it is from pure mercy, that those who receive Divine truth from the Lord in soul and heart are saved, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 521-527.

[4] This is also meant by these words in John:

His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, to them that believe on His name; who were born not of bloods nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).

"His own" who received Him not mean those who are of the church where the Word is, and to whom the Lord could be known through the Word; therefore those who were of the Jewish Church are here meant by "His own." That the Lord would "give to those that believe on His name power to become sons of God" signifies that He gives heaven to those ¹ who receive Divine truths from Him in soul and heart, or in faith and life; "to believe on His name" meaning to receive the Lord in faith and life, for "the name of the Lord" signifies everything by which He is worshiped; "sons of God" mean those who are regenerated by the Lord; "who are born not of bloods" signifies who have not falsified and adulterated the Word; "nor of the will of the flesh" signifies who are not in evils from what is their own [proprium]; "nor of the will of man" signifies who are not in falsities from what is their own [proprium], for the "will" signifies what is man's own [proprium], "flesh" signifies evil, and "man" [vir] signifies falsity; "but born of God" signifies those who have been regenerated by truths from the Word and by a life according to them. From this it can be seen that those who are not willing to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord, which is effected by the reception of Divine truth in faith and life, cannot be saved.

फुटनोट:

3652. The internal sense of these words is as follows:

When therefore you see the abomination of desolation means when the Church has undergone vastation, which is the situation when the Lord is acknowledged no longer, and therefore when there is no love of Him nor any belief in Him; also when there is no longer any charity towards the neighbour nor consequently any belief in what is good and true. When these conditions exist in the Church, or rather in the area where the Word is, that is to say, in the thoughts of the heart though not in the doctrine on the lips, it is a case of desolation, and the circumstances that have just been mentioned constitute 'the abomination of that desolation'. Consequently 'when you see the abomination of desolation' means when anyone witnesses such conditions. And what he is to do when he does witness them follows in verses 16-18.

[2] Spoken of by the prophet Daniel means, in the internal sense, spoken of by the Prophets, for when any prophet is mentioned by name in the Word it is not simply that prophet who is meant but the whole prophetical part of the Word, the reason being that names do not ever come through into heaven, 1876, 1888. Even so, one prophet does not have the same meaning as another. For what Moses, Elijah and Elisha mean, see the Preface to Chapter 18, and 2762. By 'Daniel' however is meant every prophetical statement concerning the Lord's coming and the state of the Church, in this case its final state. Much reference is made in the Prophets to vastation, and by the reference to it here in Daniel is meant in the sense of the letter the vastation of the Jewish and Israelitish Church, but in the internal sense the vastation of the Church in general, and thus also the vastation of it which is now at hand.

[3] Standing in the holy place means a vastation involving everything that forms part of what is good and true. 'The holy place' is a state of love and faith, for by 'a place' in the internal sense is meant a state, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387. The 'holy' element of that state consists in the good of love and in the truth of faith grounded in this. Nothing else is meant in the Word by the expression 'holy', for goodness and truth originate in the Lord, who is Holiness itself or the Sanctuary.

Let him who is reading this take note means that these matters are to be thoroughly understood by those within the Church, especially by those who have love and faith, to whom the present words refer.

[4] Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains means that members of the Church are to fix their attention solely on the Lord and so on love to Him and on charity towards the neighbour. For 'Judea' means the Church, as will be shown below, while 'a mountain' means the Lord Himself but 'the mountains' love to Him and charity towards the neighbour, see 795, 796, 1430, 2722. According to the sense of the letter when Jerusalem was besieged, as was done by the Romans, they were not to resort to that city but to go onto the mountains, according to the following in Luke,

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its devastation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee onto the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of it ¹ depart, but those who are out in the country let them not enter it. Luke 21:20-21.

[5] The same applies to this reference to Jerusalem; that is to say, in the sense of the letter it is the city of Jerusalem that is meant, but in the internal sense the Lord's Church, see 402, 2117. For every single thing mentioned in the Word concerning the Jewish and Israelitish people is representative of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, as has been shown often. Consequently nowhere in the internal sense is 'Jerusalem' used to mean Jerusalem, or 'Judea' to mean Judea. But every single thing so mentioned was such that by means of it the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom were able to be represented. It was for the sake of what they represented that the events which have been recorded took place. Thus the Word was able to be written in such a way that it lay both within the mental grasp of people reading it, and within the understanding of angels who were present with them. This was also the reason why the Lord spoke in a similar way. Indeed if He had spoken in any other way it would not have come within the mental grasp of those reading it, especially at that time, nor simultaneously within the angels' power of understanding. Thus it would not have been accepted by man, nor understood by angels.

[6] Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house means that those in whom the good of charity is present should not therefore resort to matters of doctrine concerning faith. 'The roof of the house' in the Word means a person's higher state, and so his state as regards good, whereas what is below means a person's lower state, and so his state as regards truth. For what 'house' is, see 710, 1708, 2233, 2331, 3142, 3538. With regard to the state of a member of the Church, while he is undergoing regeneration he is at that time learning truth for the sake of good; for he possesses an affection for truth for the sake of that good. But once he has been regenerated truth and good are the basis of his actions. Once he has reached this state he ought not to go back to the previous state, for if he did he would then reason from truth about the good which is present with him and in so doing would pervert his present state. For all reasoning does and must come to an end when a person's state is one in which he wills what is true and good, for in that case the will and therefore conscience are the source of his thought and action, and not the understanding, as it had been previously. If he went back to the understanding as the source of his thought and action he would encounter temptations in which he would go under. These are the considerations meant by the statement 'let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house'.

[7] And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing (or tunic) means that neither should those in whom good that resides in truth is present forsake such good and resort to doctrine concerning truth. 'The field' in the Word means this state of man as regards good; for what 'field' means, see 368, 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317, 3500, 3508. And 'clothing' or tunic means that which clothes good, namely doctrine concerning truth, such being like clothing for good; for 'clothing' has that meaning, see 297, 1073, 2576, 3301. Anyone may see that deeper things lie concealed in these words than are visible in the letter; for the Lord Himself spoke them.

फुटनोट: