267. 13. Because of the Word, Even People Who Are outside the Church and Who Do Not Have the Word Have Light.

No connection to heaven is possible unless somewhere on earth there is a church where the Word exists and where the Lord is known through that Word. This is because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth - without the Lord there is no salvation. (For the Word providing a connection to the Lord and association with angels, see 234-239 above.) It is enough if there is one church where the Word exists. Even if this church consists of comparatively few people, still the Lord is present throughout the world by means of the Word, since heaven is connected to the human race through the Word.

698. Chapter 13: The Holy Supper

Without Knowing about the Correspondences of Physical Things with Spiritual Things, No One Can Know the Functions and Benefits of the Holy Supper

The assertion in this heading has already been partly explained in the chapter on baptism, where the point was made that without knowing that the Word has a spiritual meaning, no one can know what the two sacraments - baptism and the Holy Supper - entail and what they do for us (667-669). The heading just above says "without knowing about the correspondences of physical things with spiritual things"; this is the same thing, because correspondences turn the earthly meaning of the Word into a spiritual meaning in heaven. As a result, these two layers of meaning correspond to each other. Someone who knows correspondences, then, is in a position to know the spiritual meaning of the Word.

For a further definition and description of correspondences, see the chapter on Sacred Scripture from beginning to end [189-281]. See also the exposition of the Ten Commandments from first to last [282-335], and the individual correspondences that are explained throughout Revelation Unveiled.