A Brief Exposition of New Church Doctrine#78
78. BRIEF ANALYSIS
In the prophetic parts of the Word, statements similar to the one in Matthew 24:29, occur concerning the sun, moon and stars. Thus it is written in Isaiah:
Behold the cruel day of Jehovah cometh . . . the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened at his rising and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Isaiah 13:9-10.
In Ezekiel:
When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and darken the stars thereof; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; . . . and I will set darkness upon thy land.Ezekiel 32:7-8.
In Joel:
The day of Jehovah cometh, ... a day of darkness, . . . the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.Joel 2:1-2, 10.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah cometh. Joel 2:31.
The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision, the sun and moon shall be darkened. Joel 3:14-15.
In the Revelation:
The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, . . . and the day shone not for a third part of it. Revelation 8:12.
The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. Revelation 6:12.
All these passages treat of the last time of the Jewish Church, when the Lord came into the world. The meaning here is similar in Matthew and the Revelation, but they refer to the last time of the Christian Church, when the Lord would come again in the Word which is Himself, and in which He is. Wherefore, immediately after those words in Matthew 24:29, it is said:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man . . . coming in the clouds of the heavens.Matthew 24:30.
By the sun in the above passages is meant love, by the moon faith, and by the stars the cognitions of good and truth. By the powers of the heavens are meant those three essentials as the supports and foundations of the heavens where the angels are, and of the Churches where men are. Therefore, by the foregoing passages collected into one idea is meant that neither love nor faith, nor any cognitions of good and truth remain in the Christian Church, in the last time thereof when it draws to its end. That the sun signifies love has been shown in THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 53-54, 413, 796, 831, 961; that the moon signifies faith, THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 53, 332, 413, 423, 533; and that stars signify cognitions of good and truth, THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED 51, 74, 333, 408, 419, 954.
John第3章
1
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2
The same came to him by night, and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him."
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Jesus answered him, "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God."
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Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"
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Jesus answered, "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the Kingdom of God!
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That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
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Don't marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.'
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The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
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Nicodemus answered him, "How can these things be?"
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Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and don't understand these things?
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Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don't receive our witness.
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If I told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
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No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
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As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
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that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
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He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
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This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
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For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
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But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God."
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After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized.
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John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized.
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For John was not yet thrown into prison.
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There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with some Jews about purification.
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They came to John, and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him."
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John answered, "A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.
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You yourselves testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before him.'
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He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full.
30
He must increase, but I must decrease.
31
He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the Earth belongs to the Earth, and speaks of the Earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
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What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.
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He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.
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For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
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The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
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One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won't see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."
