1. SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE NOVAE ECCLESIAE, QUAE PER NOVAM HIEROSOLYMAM IN APOCALYPSI INTELLIGITUR.

Postquam aliqua Opera et Opuscula de NOVA HIEROSOLYMA, per quam intelligitur NOVA Ecclesia a Domino instauranda, intra aliquot annos a me promulgata sunt, et postquam Apocalypsis revelata est, in animum induxi Doctrinam illius Ecclesiae in sua plenitudine, ita integram, in lucem edere: sed quia hoc aliquot annorum opus est, consultum duxi aliquam Sciagraphiam ejus emittere, propter causam, ut communis idea de illa Ecclesia et ejus Doctrina primum concipiatur; quoniam dum communia praecedunt, postea omnia et singula in sua latitudine exstantia in luce apparent, haec enim in communia intrant, sicut homogenea in sua receptacula. Attamen Breviarium hoc non subjicitur judiciis ventilandum, sed modo communicatur ad notitiam, quia hujus Contenta in ipso Opere plene demonstrabuntur. Sed praemittenda sunt Doctrinalia hodierna de Justificatione, propter sequentia de Discordantiis dogmatum Ecclesiae hodiernae et Ecclesiae novae.

757. II. The present time is the final period of the Christian church foretold and described by the Lord in the Gospels and Revelation.

The previous section showed that the ending of 'he age means the final period of the church. From this it is plain what is meant by the ending of the age which the Lord spoke of in the Gospels (Matt. chapter 24; Mark chapter 13; Luke chapter 21). For we read:

When Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying, What is the sign of your coming and the ending of the age? Matthew 24:3.

Then the Lord began to foretell and describe the ending which was to take place by stages up to His coming, and how He would come in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, and gather together His chosen people, and much more besides (verses 30-31); and none of these things happened when Jerusalem was destroyed. These descriptions were made by the Lord in a prophetic style, in which each and every phrase is a weighty matter. Their meaning has been explained in detail in ARCANA CAELESTIA (3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3751-3757, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4332-4335, 4422-4424).