The Bible

 

Revelation 22

Study

   

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #643

Study this Passage

  
/ 853  
  

643. VI. There is imputation but it is of good and evil, and at the same time of faith.

It is imputation of good and evil which is to be understood where this is mentioned in the Word. This is established by countless passages there, some of which have already been quoted; but to ensure that everyone can be certain that there is no other kind of imputation, I shall cite here some more from the Word.

The Son of Man is to come, and He will then deal with each according to his deeds, Matthew 16:27.

Those who have done good deeds will go forth to be resurrected to life, but those who have done wicked deeds to be resurrected to judgment, John 5:29.

The book was opened, which is the book of life; and all were judged in accordance with their deeds, Revelation 20:12-13.

Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, so that I may give to each according to what he has done, Revelation 22:12.

I will punish his behaviour, his deeds I will repay him, Hosea 4:9; Zechariah 1:6; Jeremiah 25:14; 32:19.

On the day of wrath and righteous judgment God will render to each in accordance with his deeds, Romans 2:5-6.

We must all be put on show before the tribunal of Christ so that each may be rewarded for his bodily acts, whether good or ill. 2 Corinthians 5:10.

[2] There was no other rule governing imputation at the beginning of the church, and there will be no other at its end. The beginning is plain from Adam and his wife, who were condemned for doing evil, by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis, chapters 2-3). It is plain from these words spoken by the Lord that it will be no different at the end of the church.

When the Son of Man comes in His 1 glory, He will sit upon His throne of His glory. And He will say to the sheep on the right, Come, blessed ones, and take possession as an inheritance of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. But He said to the goats on the left because they had not done good deeds, Begone from me, accursed people, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, Matthew 25:31ff

Anyone who has his eyes open can see from this that good and evil are imputed.

[3] There is also imputation of faith, because charity, which relates to good, and faith, which relates to truth, are together in good deeds. If they are not together, then the deeds are not good, see above 373-377. James therefore says:

Was not Abraham our father justified by his deeds, when he offered his son upon the altar? Do you not see that faith co-operated with deeds, and by its deeds his faith was recognised as perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and this was imputed to him for righteousness, James 2:21-23.

Footnotes:

1. A correction found in the author's copy for 'in the glory of His Father'.

  
/ 853  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Psalms 26:8

Study

       

8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.