上一节  下一节  回首页


《揭秘启示录》 第839节

(一滴水译本 2019)

  839.对此,我补充以下记事:

  我朝灵人界望去,看见一支骑着红马和黑马的军队,骑在马上的人看上去就像猿猴,他们的脸和胸朝向马腰和马尾,后脑勺和后背朝向马脖和马头,缰绳松松垮垮地挂在骑马者的脖子上。他们叫喊说:“让我们攻打那些骑白马的!”两手扯紧缰绳,从而不断将他们的马从战场上拉回来。这时,两位天使从天而降,靠近我说:“你看到什么了?”我告诉说,我看到如此滑稽的马术表演,并询问这是怎么回事?他们是谁?

  天使回答说:“他们来自一个叫哈米吉多顿(启示录16:16)的地方,那里有数千人聚集,要与那些属于主的新教会,也就是新耶路撒冷的人作战。在那个地方,他们曾谈论教会和宗教,然而,他们当中丝毫没有教会的东西,因为那里没有任何属灵的真理;也没有一丝宗教信仰,因为没有任何属灵的良善。而关于这两个主题,他们嘴上说得够多的了。对于这二者,他们光耍嘴皮子,不过也是为了利用它们进行统治。他们年轻的时候就学习确认唯信、神的三位一体和基督的二元性。然而,他们在教会晋升到更高职位后,一度持守这些事;不过,由于那时他们开始不再思想神和天堂,而是思想自己和世界,因而不再思想永恒的祝福和幸福,转而思想短暂的显赫和财富,所以他们将年轻时所吸收的教义信条逐出与天堂相通、因而处于天堂之光的理性心智内层,扔到了与世界相通、因而处于尘世之光的理性心智外层,最终将它们贬到感官属世层。结果,对他们来说,教会的教义信条成了仅仅嘴上的功夫,不再是源自理性的思维的事,更不再是源自爱的情感的事。他们已然变得如此,故不允许属教会的任何纯正真理,以及属宗教的任何纯正良善进入。其心智的内层好比盛满铁屑和硫磺粉的瓶子。若将水注入这混和物,那么先是发热,然后着火,从而使瓶子爆裂。同样,当这些人听到有关活水,也就是圣言的纯正真理的事,并且它灌入他们的耳朵时,他们就会急剧发热,情绪激烈,赶紧把它扔掉,仿佛这是一个能爆破他们脑袋的东西。

  “他们就是那些在你看来像猿猴、倒骑在红马和黑马上、缰绳绕在脖子上的人;那些不热爱出于圣言的教会真理和良善的人不愿看马的前面部分,只喜欢看马的后面部分。因为‘马’表示对圣言的理解:‘红马’表示对圣言良善的理解被毁,‘黑马’表示对圣言真理的理解被毁。他们之所以叫嚷着要与那些骑白马的交战,是因为‘白马’表示对圣言真理和良善的理解。他们看似拽紧马脖子,将马拉回来,是因为他们害怕交战,唯恐圣言的真理来到许多人那里,从而进入光。这就是解释。”

  天使进一步说:“我们来自名为米迦勒的天堂社群,受主的差遣,降到这个叫‘哈米吉多顿’的地方,就是你看到的骑兵要开战的地方。对在天上的我们来说,哈米吉多顿表示由对命令和至高权力之爱所产生的歪曲真理导致的作战状态和意图;我们发觉你有一种渴望,想要了解这场战斗,所以我们会告诉你它的一些情况。从天上降下后,我们便接近这个叫‘哈米吉多顿’的地方,发现数千人聚集在这里。不过,我们没有进入人群当中,而是到了那地的南边,那里有两栋房子,一些男孩和他们的老师在里面。我们进去后,受到他们的欢迎。我们与他们在一起非常开心。他们看上去都很英俊,双眼炯炯有神,谈话充满热情。双眼炯炯有神,是源于他们对真理的领悟,谈话充满热情,是源于对真理(或良善)的情感;因此缘故,我们从天上赠送给他们几顶帽子,帽子边缘饰有串着珍珠的金带,还赠送了白蓝相间的衣服。我们问他们有没有看到附近一个叫哈米吉多顿的地方。他们说,他们曾透过屋顶下面的窗户看到过,发现一大群人聚集在那里,不过呈现出各种形像,时而像高大的人,时而不像人,而是像雕塑和雕刻的偶像,周围跪着一帮人。在我们看来,跪着的这帮人也呈现出各种形像,时而像人,时而像豹,时而又像山羊;后者带有向下弯的角,他们用这些角掘地。我们解释了这些变化,因为我们知道他们代表谁、意指什么。

  “言归正传:当这些会众听说我们进了那房子时,彼此说:‘这些人和那些男孩在干什么?不如从我们会众中打发一些人把他们赶出来。’于是他们便派出一些人,这些人一到就对我们说:‘你们为什么进入这些房子?你们打哪来?我们有权命令你们离开。’但我们回答说:‘你们无权发出这种命令。的确,在你们自己眼里,你们就像亚衲人,而此处的这些人如同小矮人。然而,你们在此仍旧没有任何威权和权利,或许你们通过耍弄阴谋诡计从偏离此处的三个地方得到权柄,但在这里是行不通的。所以,捎话回去给你们的同伙,就说我们从天上被派到这个地方查看你们当中有没有宗教信仰;若没有,你们就会从这个地方被赶出去。因此,把这个涉及教会和宗教的本质问题提给他们。他们如何理解主祷文中的这些话:我们在天上的父,愿人都尊您的名为圣,愿您的国降临,愿您的旨意行在地上如同行在天上。’他们闻言先是说:‘这都什么呀?’但后来同意了。于是他们离开,并把这些话告诉他们的同伙,他们的回复是:‘这是哪门子问题?’不过,他们猜到了这个问题背后的意图,也就是说,我们想知道这些话是否支持‘我们靠近父神的信之路’。”于是,他们说:‘这些话清楚表明,要直接向父神祷告,因为基督是我们的救主,所以要为了儿子的缘故向父神祷告。’随即他们又愤然决定来到我们跟前,口述这一点,还声称要拧下我们的耳朵。他们也离开那个地方,进入男孩及其老师所在房子附近的一个小树林。林中有一块升起的空地,就像一个竞技场,他们手牵手进入这个竞技场,而我们正在此等着他们。地上有几个铺着草皮、像小山丘那样的土堆,他们就倚靠在上面,彼此说:‘我们不能在他们面前站着,得坐下来。’然后,其中有一个人能使自己看似光明天使,于是就被其他人指派来与我们对话,说:‘你们向我们提议敞开心扉,谈谈我们如何理解主祷文中的头几句话。所以我告诉你们,我们是这样理解的:要直接向父神祷告;又因为基督是我们的救主,我们靠祂的功德得救,所以我们要出于对祂功德的信而向父神祷告。’

  “不过,这时,我们对他们说:‘我们来自名为米迦勒的天堂社群,被派来查看你们,看看聚集在此地的你们有没有宗教信仰;我们若不问询关于神的事,就无法逐渐了解这一切,因为对神的观念渗透到宗教信仰的方方面面,凭此才会有一个结合,凭这结合才会有救恩。我们在天上日日念诵主祷文,和世人一样;但那时我们并不思想父神,因为祂是不可见的,而是思想在自己神性人里面的祂自己,因为祂在这神性人里面是可见的。你们称在这神性人里面的祂自己为‘基督’,而我们则称其为‘主’,因而对我们来说,主就是天上的父。主也曾教导说:祂自己与父为一,父在祂里面,祂在父里面;看见了祂,就看见了父;若不藉着祂,没有人能到父那里去;又教导说:父的意思是他们当信子,不信子的不得见生命,神的震怒常在他身上。从这些经文清楚可知,要通过祂,并在祂里面靠近父。正因如此,祂还曾教导说:天上地上一切的权柄都赐给了祂。主祷文中说:愿人都尊您的名为圣,愿您的国降临;我们通过圣言说明,父的名就是祂的神性人,并且每当直接靠近主时,父的‘国’就存在,而当直接靠近父神时,祂的国根本不存在;所以,主也吩咐祂的门徒要传讲神的国;这就是‘神的国’。

  “我们又通过圣言进一步教导他们说,主降世是为了荣耀祂自己的人性,目的是叫天上的天使和地上的世人能通过祂自己并在祂自己里面与父神联结;因为祂教导说,那些信祂的人在祂里面,祂自己也在他们里面;这就如同教会教导说,他们在‘基督的肢体里面’。最后,我们又告知他们,如今主正在建立一个新教会,就是启示录中新耶路撒冷所指的,该教会如天上那样,更是单单敬拜主;因此,主祷文从头至尾所涉及的一切事都要应验。以上所说的一切事,我们都能通过福音圣言和先知预言予以充分证实,直到他们听烦了。

  “首先,我们通过以下经文证实‘我们在天上的父’就是主耶稣基督:

  有一婴孩为我们而生,有一子赐给我们,祂名称为奇妙、策士、神、永恒的父、和平的君。(以赛亚书9:6);

  耶和华啊,你是我们的父;从万古以来,你名称为救赎主。(以赛亚书63:16

  耶稣说,人看见我,就是看见那差我来的。(约翰福音12:45

  你们若认识我,也就认识我的父,从今以后,你们认识祂,并且已经看见祂。(约翰福音14:7

  腓力说,求主将父显给我们看,耶稣对他说,人看见了我,就是看见了父;你怎么说将父显给我们看呢?(约翰福音14:89

  耶稣说,父与我为一。(约翰福音10:30

  凡父所有的,都是我的。(约翰福音16:1517:10

  父在我里面,我在父里面。(约翰福音10:3814:101120

  从来没有人看见过父,只有在父怀里的独生子将祂表明出来。(约翰福音1:185:376:46

  因此,主还说:

  若不藉着祂,没有人能到父那里去。(约翰福音14:6

  要藉着祂,通过祂并在祂里面到父那里去。(约翰福音6:5614:2015:4-617:1923

  关于神、父、子、圣灵的统一体,详细内容可见于下文的记事(962节)。

  “第二句。‘愿人都尊您的名为圣’是指靠近并敬拜主,我们通过以下经文来证实:

  谁不荣耀你的名呢?因为独有你是圣的。(启示录15:4

  这论及主。

  耶稣说,父啊,愿你荣耀你的名;当时就有声音从天上来,我已经荣耀了我的名,还要再荣耀。(约翰福音12:28

  被荣耀的“父的名”就是神性人。

  耶稣说,我奉我父的名来。(约翰福音5:43

  耶稣说,凡为我名接待这小孩子的,就是接待我;凡接待我的,就是接待那差我来的。(路加福音9:48

  记这些事要叫你们信耶稣是基督,是神的儿子,并且叫你们信了祂,就可以因祂的名得生命。(约翰福音20:31

  凡接待祂的,就是信祂名的人,祂就赐他们权柄作神的儿女。(约翰福音1:12

  你们奉我的名无论求什么,我必成就,叫父因儿子得荣耀。(约翰福音14:1314

  不信的人,罪已经定了,因为他不信神独生子的名。(约翰福音3:151618

  无论在哪里,有两三个人奉我的名聚会,那里就有我在他们中间。(马太福音 18:1920

  耶稣吩咐门徒要奉他的名传道。(路加福音24:47

  此外还有其它提及“主名”的地方,在那里,“主的名”是指其神性人方面的祂自己(如马太福音7:2210:2218:519:2924:910;马可福音11:1013:1316:17;路加福音10:1719:3821:1217;约翰福音2:23);由此明显可知,父在子里面,并且被天使和世人通过子而被尊为圣;这就是“愿您的名为圣”的意思,这一点在约翰福音(17:1921-2326)更加明显。

  “第三句。‘愿您的国降临’意思是主掌王权,我们通过以下经文来证实:

  律法和先知到约翰为止;从那时起,神之国的福音传开了。(路加福音16:16

  约翰宣传神之国的福音说,日期满了,神的国近了。(马可福音1:14-15;马太福音3:2

  耶稣自己传扬那国度的福音,并且说神的国近了。(马太福音4:17239:35

  耶稣吩咐门徒去传扬神之国的福音。(马可福音16:15;路加福音8:19:60

  同样这样吩咐祂所差遣的七十个人。(路加福音10:911

  此外还有其它地方(如马太福音11:516:27-28;马可福音8:359:14710:29-3011:10;路加福音1:192:10114:437:2217:20-2121:30-3122:18)。作为福音传播的‘神之国’就是主的国,因而是父的国。这一点从以下经文明显看出来:

  父已将万有交在子手里。(约翰福音3:35

  父赐给子权柄,管理凡有血气的。(约翰福音17:2

  一切所有的,都是父交付我的。(马太福音11:27

  天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了。(马太福音28:18

  还有:

  万军之耶和华是祂的名,救赎你的是以色列的圣者,祂必称为全地之神。(以赛亚书54:5

  我观看,见有一位像人子的,祂得了权柄、荣耀、国度,各民各族都敬拜祂。祂的权柄是永远的,不能废去,祂的国必不败坏。(但以理书7:1314

  第七位天使吹号,天上就有大声音说,世上的国成了我们主和主基督的,祂要掌权,世世无穷。(启示录11:1512:10

  主的这个‘国’正是启示录从头到尾所论述的;所有将属于主的新教会,也就是新耶路撒冷的人都会进入这个‘国’。

  “第四句。‘愿您的旨意,行在地上,如同行在天上’,我们通过以下经文证实:

  耶稣说,因为我父的意思(或旨意)是叫一切见子而信的人得永生。(约翰福音6:40

  神爱世人,甚至将祂赐下祂的独生子,叫一切信祂的,不至灭亡,反得永生。(约翰福音3:1516

  信子的人有永生,不信子的人不得见永生,神的震怒常在他身上。(约翰福音3:36等)

  信祂就是转向祂,并坚信祂必拯救,因为祂是世人的救主。此外,在教会,众所周知,主耶稣基督在天上掌王权。祂还说,祂的国在天上。因此,当主以同样的方式在教会掌王权时,那么‘父的旨意便行在地上,如同行在天上’了。

  “对于这些事,我们最后补充以下内容:整个基督教界都说,属教会的人构成基督的肢体,并在祂的肢体里面。那么,教会之人若不他所在其肢体中的祂,如何靠近父神呢?要不然,他必须出离这个肢体去靠近。

  “一听到出自圣言的这些,以及更多经文,哈米吉多顿人时不时地想打断我们的话,并引用诸如主在倒空状态下与祂的父所说的那些话。但就在这时,他们的舌头贴在了上腭上,因为他们不可以反驳圣言。不过,他们的舌头最终得以放松,于是他们喊着说:‘你们所说的话违背我们教会的教义,那就是要直接靠近父神,要信祂。因此,你们已经犯了侵犯我们信仰的大罪。所以,快离开这地;否则,你们会被赶出去。’他们群情激愤,试图将其威胁付诸实践。于是,我们便用赐给我们的能力击打他们,使他们瞎了眼,因此看不到我们。他们冲向平地,那是一片旷野;在你面前骑在马上像猿猴一样的人,有一些在男孩透过窗户看来,如同雕塑和偶像,而其余的人则在它们面前下跪。”

  


上一节  目录  下一节


Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers translation 2007) 839

839. I looked out into the world of spirits and saw an army on fiery red and black horses. The riders looked like apes with their faces and chests facing backward toward the horses' haunches and tails, and the rear of their heads and their backs facing forward toward the horses' necks and heads; and the reins hung from the riders' necks. They kept crying, moreover, "Let us fight against riders on white horses!" But they kept pulling on the reins with both hands, so that they drew the horses back from battle. And this again and again.

Two angels then descended from heaven, and approaching me they said, "What do you see?"

So I told them that I was seeing the ludicrous display of the horsemen described, and I asked the angels what was going on and who the riders were.

[2] To that the angels replied, "They come from the place called in Revelation 16:16 Armageddon, where several thousand of them gathered to fight against people who belong to the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. They talked in that place about the church and religion, and yet they had nothing of the church among them, because they lacked any spiritual truth, neither did they have any element of religion, because they lacked any spiritual goodness. They spoke there with the mouth and lips about the church and religion, but only to gain mastery by means of them.

"They learned in their youth to affirm faith alone, a trinity in God, and a duality in Christ. But when they advanced to higher offices in the church, they retained what they had learned only for a time. Then, because they began to think no more about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal bliss and happiness, but about temporal status and wealth, they expelled the doctrines they had learned in their youth from their rational mind's interiors which communicate with heaven and so are in the light of heaven, and retained them only in their rational mind's exteriors which communicate with the world and so are only in the light of the world. And eventually they pushed them aside into the sensual level of their natural mind.

"As a consequence the church's doctrines with them have become ones of the mouth only, and no longer matters of thought in accord with reason, still less matters of their love's affection.

"Moreover, because they have made themselves such, they do not accept any of the church's genuine truths, nor any of religion's genuine goods. The interiors of their minds have become comparatively like jars filled with iron filings mixed with powdered sulfur, a mixture which becomes first hot if water is introduced into it, and then bursts into flame, breaking the jar. So it is with these people. When they hear something regarding living water, namely, the Word's genuine truth, and it enters their ears, they become exceedingly heated and inflamed, and reject it as something that will cause their heads to burst.

[3] "These are the people who looked to you like apes riding backward on fiery red and black horses with the reins around their necks, since people who do not like the church's truth and goodness from the Word also do not wish to look at a horse's foreparts, but at its hindparts. For a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word - a fiery red horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness, and a black horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to truth.

"They cried out for battle against riders on white horses because a white horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word as to its truth and goodness. They appeared to draw back their horses with their necks because they were afraid to fight, lest the Word's truth spread to many and so come to light.

"This is the explanation."

[4] The angels went on to say, "We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and have been commanded by the Lord to go down to the place called Armageddon, from which the company of horsemen you saw broke out.

"Armageddon to us in heaven symbolizes a state and disposition to fight on behalf of falsified truths, arising from a love of mastery and great status. And because we perceive in you a desire to know about the combat there, we will tell you something about it.

"After we descended from heaven, we went to the place called Armageddon and saw some several thousand people gathered there. However, we did not join their company, but there were two buildings on the place's southern side in which there were some boys with their teachers. We entered the buildings, and the boys and teachers received us kindly. We were delighted with their company. All were fair of face because of the life in their eyes and the zeal in their speech. The life in their eyes was due to their perception of truth, and the zeal in their speech to their affection for truth. Therefore they were also given caps from heaven, and they decorated the edges of them with gold braid interwoven with pearls. They were given garments, too, with varying patterns of white and blue.

"We asked them whether they had looked over at the place nearby called Armageddon. They said that they had seen it through a window up under the building's roof. They saw a gathering there, they said, but one of figures under various forms that appeared now and then as dignified men, and now and then as not human, but as statues and carved idols, surrounded by a crowd of people on bended knee. These people also appeared to us under various forms, sometimes as human, sometimes as leopards and sometimes as goats. As goats they appeared with their horns pointed downward, using them to dig up the ground.

"We interpreted these changes in appearance for them, saying what they represented and what they symbolized.

[5] "But in response to your question, when the people who were gathered there heard that we had gone into those buildings, they said to each other, 'What do they have to do with those boys? Let's send some of our company to throw them out.'

"So they sent some of them, and when they arrived they said to us, 'Why did you go into those buildings? Where are you from? By the authority invested in us we order you to go!'

"But we replied, 'You have no power or authority to tell us to go. In your own eyes, indeed, you are like Anakim, 1and the people here like dwarfs, but still you have no power or right here, beyond that perhaps of the cunning arts emanating from the three lodging places you have here, arts which nevertheless will be of no avail. Report to your companions, therefore, that we have been sent here from heaven to find out whether you have among you any religion or not, and if not, you will be expelled from this place.

"'Put to your companions, then, this question, in which lies the most essential element of the church and so of religion: How do they understand these words in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, who are in heaven. Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth."'

"On hearing this, the people first said, 'What do you mean?' But then that they would put the question.

"So they went away and put it to their companions. And their companions replied, 'What kind of question is this?'

"However, they understood the hidden purpose, that the angels wanted to know whether the words support the path of their faith to God the Father. So they said, 'The words clearly say that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior, that we are to pray to God the Father for the sake of the Son.'

"And presently, with some irritation, they decided they would come to us and tell us this with their own mouths, saying as well that they would tweak our ears.

"So they came from that place, and entered a grove near the two buildings where the boys were with their teachers. There was a raised level area there, a kind of arena. And holding each other by the hand, they entered that arena, where we were waiting for them.

"There were mounds of turf there, forming hillocks. They seated themselves on them, for they said to each other, 'Let us not stand in their presence, but sit.'

"And then one of them, who had the ability to disguise himself as an angel of light, 2and who was told by the rest to speak with us, said, 'You have put to us that we disclose our thinking regarding the first words in the Lord's Prayer, as to how we interpret them. I accordingly say to you that we interpret them to mean that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior and we are saved by His merit, that we are to pray to God the Father with faith in Christ's merit.'

[6] "But then we said to them, 'We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and we have been sent to look and see whether those of you gathered in this place have any religion or not. This we could not discover except by asking you about God. For the idea of God enters into every aspect of religion and makes possible a conjunction, and through conjunction salvation. In heaven we recite the Prayer daily, as people do on earth, and we think then not of God the Father, because He is invisible, but of God in His Divine humanity, because in this He can be seen. Moreover, you call Him in that humanity Christ, but we call Him the Lord, and thus for us the Lord is our Father in heaven.

"'The Lord also taught us that He and the Father are one; 3that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; 4that whoever sees Him, sees the Father; 5and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. 6Moreover, He also said that it is the will of the Father that people believe in the Son, 7and that whoever does not believe in the Son does not see life, 8indeed that the wrath of God abides on him. 9It is apparent from this that one goes to the Father through the Son and in Him. And because this is the case, He also taught that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 10

"'It says in the Prayer, "Hallowed be Your name," and "Your kingdom come." And we showed from the Word that the Lord's Divine humanity is the name of the Father, and that the Father's kingdom exists when people go directly to the Lord, and not at all when they go directly to God the Father. Therefore the Lord also told His disciples to preach the kingdom of God. 11This, then, is the kingdom of God.

[7] "We further instructed them from the Word," the angels said, "that the Lord came into the world to glorify His humanity, in order that angels in heaven and people in the church might by united to God the Father through Him and in Him. For He taught that people who believe in Him are in Him and He in them, meaning that, as the church teaches, they are in the body of Christ.

"Finally we informed them that the Lord is at this day establishing a new church, one meant by the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, that the worship in it will be worship of the Lord alone, as is the case in heaven, and that everything contained in the Lord's Prayer from beginning to end will be thus fulfilled.

"Everything we have just said we confirmed from the Word in the Gospels and from the Word in the Prophets, so extensively that they tired of listening.

[8] "First, we confirmed that 'our Father in heaven' is the Lord Jesus Christ from the following passages:

...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given... And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, ...God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

...You (Jehovah) are our Father...; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)

(Jesus said,) "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." (John 12:45)

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:7)

Philip said..., "Lord, show us the Father...." Jesus said to him, ."..He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, 'Show us the Father'..." (John 14:8-9)

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15, cf. 17:10)

...the Father is in Me, and I in (the Father). (John 10:38, cf. 14:10-11, 14:20)

"And that no one has seen the Father but the Son alone, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18, cf. 5:37; 6:46).

"Consequently the Lord also says that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), and that one comes to the Father through Him, from Him, and in Him (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:19, 23)."

(But for more on the unity of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - see the account in no. Arcana Coelestia 962.)

[9] "Second, that 'hallowed be Your name' means to go to the Lord and worship Him - this we confirmed from the following:

Who does not... glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. (Revelation 15:4)

"This in reference to the Lord.

(Jesus said,) "Father, glorify Your name." And a voice came from heaven, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it." (John 12:28)

"The Father's name that was glorified is His Divine humanity.

(Jesus said,) "I come in My Father's name...." (John 5:43)

(Jesus said,) "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me." (Luke 9:48)

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)

As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13-14)

...he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:15-16, 18)

...where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19-20)

"Jesus also told His disciples to preach in His name (Luke 24:47). And so on elsewhere, in places that mention the Lord's name, meaning Himself in respect to His humanity, as in Matthew 7:22; 10:22; 18:5; 19:29; 24:9; Mark 11:10; 13:13; 16:17; Luke 10:17; 19:38; 21:12, 17; John 2:23.

"It is apparent from this that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and people through the Son, and that this is the meaning of 'hallowed be Your name,' as is further evident in John 17:19, 21-23, 26.

[10] "Third, that 'Your kingdom come' means let the Lord reign - this we confirmed by the following:

The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached... (Luke 16:16)

Jesus..., preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (said,) "The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand...." (Mark 1:14-15, cf. Matthew 3:2)

"Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and said that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 4:17, 23; 9:35). He commanded the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 16:15, Luke 8:1; 9:60). He spoke similarly to the seventy He sent out (Luke 10:9, 11). And so on elsewhere, as in Matthew 11:5; 16:27-28.

"The kingdom of God whose gospel they were to proclaim was the Lord's kingdom, and thus the Father's kingdom. The reality of this is apparent from the following:

The Father... has given all things into (the Son's) hand. (John 3:35)

(The Father gave the Son) authority over all flesh... (John 17:2)

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. (Matthew 11:27)

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)

And further from the following:

...Jehovah of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth He is called. (Isaiah 54:5)

I watched..., and behold, One like the Son of Man..., and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples (and) nations... will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

(When) the seventh angel sounded..., there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15, cf. 12:10)

(This kingdom of the Lord is the subject of the book of Revelation from beginning to end, and all those who will belong to the Lord's New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, will come into it.)

[11] "Fourth, 'Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth' - this we confirmed by the following:

(Jesus said,) "This is the will of My Father..., that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 6:40)

...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:15-16)

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

"And so on elsewhere. To believe in the Son is to turn to Him and have confidence that He saves, because He is the Savior of the world.

"Furthermore, it is known in the church that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He Himself also says that His kingdom exists there. Accordingly, when the Lord reigns likewise in the church, then the will of His Father is done, as in heaven, so upon the earth.

[12] "To this we will finally add the following," the angels said. "It is said throughout the whole Christian world that people who belong to the church constitute the body of Christ and are in His body. How then can a person in the church go to God the Father except through Him in whose body he is. Otherwise he must have to leave the body and go.

[13] "When the people from Armageddon heard these and many other things from the Word, they tried now and then to interrupt us and to cite the kinds of things the Lord addressed to His Father in a state of exinanition. 12But their tongues then stuck to roofs of their mouths, since they were not permitted to contradict the Word.

"Eventually, however, the reins on their tongues were loosened and they cried out, 'You have spoken against the doctrine of our church, namely that we should turn to God the Father directly and believe in Him. Thus you have made yourselves guilty of violating our faith. Leave this place, therefore, and if you don't, we will throw you out.'

"Then, their passions fired up, they proceeded from threats to the attempt. But by a power then given us we struck them blind, so that not seeing us, they broke out into a level stretch of land, which was a desert. And of those that the boys saw from the window, some became as statues and idols, before whom the rest knelt, and they are the ones who appeared to you as apes on horses."

Footnotes:

1. A legendary race of giants mentioned in the Old Testament. Goliath may have been one of their descendants.

2. Cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14.

3. John 10:30; 17:11, 21.

4. John 10:38; 14:20; 17:21.

5. John 14:9.

6. John 14:6.

7. John 3:16, 18.

8. John 3:16, 18; 6:40.

9. John 3:36.

10. Matthew 28:18.

11. Luke 9:2, 60.

12. A term employed in 17th, 18th, and 19th century theology to mean the action or process of emptying out the self, used especially of the Christ, with reference to Philippians 2:7, 8

Apocalypse Revealed (Coulson translation 1970) 839

839. [To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE.]

I looked forth into the world of spirits and saw an army upon red horses and black horses. Sitting upon them were visible what looked like apes, with their faces and chests turned to the horses' loins and tails, and the backs of their heads and their backs towards the necks and heads of the horses, while the halters were hanging round the riders' necks. And they were crying, Let us fight against those riding upon white horses' And they kept on jogging the halters with both hands, thus continually pulling the horses back from the fight. At that time two angels travelled down out of heaven and were approaching me and saying, 'What do you see?' And I told of my seeing such a ridiculous riding display, and I asked what it was and who they were?

[2] And the angel answered, 'They are from the place that is called Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), in which up to several thousands have been gathered together to fight against those who are of the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. In that place they used to talk about the Church and religion, and yet there was nothing of the Church with them because there was not any spiritual truth, nor anything of religion because no spiritual good. They used to pay lip service to both of these, but with a view to ruling by means of them. In their youth they learned to confirm faith alone, a Trinity in God and a Duality in Christ (Trinitatem Dei et Dualitatem Christi). When, however, they were promoted to higher offices in the Church they held on to those things for some time; but because they then began to think no more about God and heaven but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal blessedness and happiness but about temporal eminence and wealth, they cast the doctrinal tenets absorbed in their youth out of the interiors of the rational mind, which are in communication with heaven and consequently in the light of heaven, into the exteriors of the rational mind that are in communication with the world and consequently in the light of the world, and at length relegated them to the sensual natural. Consequently with them the doctrinal tenets of the Church have become things of the mouth only and are no longer matters of thought derived from reason, and still less of an affection derived from love; and because they have made themselves such they do not admit any genuine truth that is of the Church nor any genuine good that is of religion. The interiors of their mind have become comparatively like bottles filled with fragments of iron mixed with a sulphureous powder. If water is poured into this [mixture] there is first a growing hot and then a flame, with the result that the bottles are burst. In like manner when they hear anything about the living water that is the genuine truth of the Word, and this enters through the ears, they are violently heated and inflamed and cast it out as a thing that would burst their heads.

[3] These are the ones who appeared to you like apes riding back to front with the halters round their necks upon the red and the black horses; since those who do not love the Church's truths and good out of the Word are unwilling to look at the front parts of any horse, but only at its hinder parts. For a horse signifies the understanding of the Word, a red horse the understanding of the Word destroyed as to good and a black horse the understanding of the Word destroyed as to truth. They clamoured to fight against those riding upon the white horses because a white horse signifies the understanding of the Word as to truth and good. Their being seen to pull back the horses with the neck was because they were afraid to fight, lest the truth of the Word come to many and so come to light. This is the interpretation.

[4] The angels said further: 'We are [members] of a society of heaven that is called Michael, and we have been sent by the Lord to go down to the place termed "Armageddon" from which the cavalry you saw sallied forth. By "Armageddon" with us in heaven is signified the state and purpose of fighting prompted by falsified truths arising from the love of command and supremacy; and because we perceive a desire with you of knowing about the fight there we will give you an account of it. After our descent out of heaven we drew near to the place termed "Armageddon" and saw several thousands assembled there. We did not, however, go into the assembly, but there were two houses to the south side of that place where there were boys with their masters. When we went in there they made us welcome. We were delighted with their company. They were all good looking, with life in their eyes and eagerness in their conversation. They had the life in their eyes derived from the perception of truth, and the eagerness in their conversation derived from the affection of truth 1; on which account also caps had been given to them out of heaven, the borders of these being decorated with gold braid interwoven with pearls. They were also given garments variegated with white and blue. We asked them if they ever looked into the neighbouring place called Armageddon. They said that they did look through a window below the roof of the house, and that they saw a gathering there, but under various shapes, at one time as top-ranking men and at another not as men but as statues and graven images, and around them the assembly kneeling down. These also appeared to us under various forms, now like men, then like leopards, and again as goats; the latter with horns thrust downwards with which they were digging up the ground. We interpreted those transformations, [being aware of] whom they were representing and what they were signifying.

[5] But to come to the point: when the assemblage heard that we had gone into those houses they said among themselves, "What are those persons doing with the boys? Let us send some of our assembly to cast them out." They did indeed send them, and when they came they said to us, "Why have you gone into those houses? Where do you come from? We by authority command you to go away." But we replied, "You cannot command this by authority. In your own eyes you are indeed like the Anakim, and those who are here are like dwarfs, but still you have no authority and right here, unless perhaps by cunning you derive it from your three places of diversion here, which, however, will be of no avail. So take back word to your companions that we have been sent to this place out of heaven to see whether there is any religion with you or not; and if not, you will be cast out of this place. Propose, therefore, this question to them, one involving the very essence of the Church and consequently of religion. How do they understand these words in the Lord's Prayer: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN THE HEAVENS, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE AS IN HEAVEN SO ALSO ON EARTH? When they heard these things they said at first, "What is this?" but afterwards that they would propose it. And they went away and related these things to their companions, whose response was, "What kind of proposition is this?" However, they understood what was behind it (intellexerunt arcanum), that they [the angels] wanted to know whether those words confirmed "the way of our faith to God the Father." They therefore said, "The words are clear that prayer should be directed to God the Father, and because Christ is our Saviour that prayer ought to be to God the Father for the sake of the Son." And presently they came indignantly to the conclusion that they would go to us and declare it orally, saying also that they would pull our ears. They also left that place and entered a grove near the two houses in which were the boys with their masters, where there was an elevated level space like a sports arena. And hand in hand they came into that arena. We were there and waited for them. There were mounds of turf there [rising] out of the ground like hillocks upon which they were leaning back, for they said among themselves, "Let us not stand before them, but sit down." And then one of them who could make himself look like an angel of light, on whom it had been enjoined by the rest to speak with us, said: "You have proposed to us to open our mind about the first words in the Lord's Prayer [to tell] how we understand them. I therefore say to you that we understand them this way, that prayer should be directed to God the Father; and because Christ is our Saviour and we are saved by His merit, we should pray to God the Father out of faith in His merit."

[6] But we then said to them, "We are from the society of heaven that is called Michael, and we have been sent to see you and find out whether you who are assembled in this place have any religion or not; and we cannot get to know this otherwise than by an inquiry concerning God, for the idea of God enters into everything of religion, and by means of it there is a conjunction and by the conjunction salvation. We in heaven like men on earth recite that prayer daily, and then we are not thinking of God the Father, because He is invisible, but of Himself in His own Divine Human, because in This He is visible. And He Himself in This is called by you 'Christ,' but by us 'the Lord,' and thus the Lord to us is the Father in heaven. The Lord also taught that He Himself and the Father are one, that the Father is in Him and He in the Father, and that he who sees Him is seeing the Father, also that no one comes to the Father but by Him, and again that it is the Father's will that they should believe in the Son, and that he who does not believe in the Son does not see life, indeed, that the wrath of God abides upon him. From these considerations it is plain that the Father is approached through Him and in Him. And because this is the case He also taught that to Himself has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. It is said in that prayer, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, and THY KINGDOM COME, and we have shown from the Word that His Divine Human is the Father's 'Name,' and that the Father's 'kingdom' exists whenever the Lord is approached directly, and not at all when God the Father is approached directly; and therefore also the Lord said to the disciples that they should preach the kingdom of God; and this is 'the kingdom of God.

[7] We instructed them further out of the Word that the Lord came into the world that He might glorify His own Human with the end in view that the angels of heaven and the men of the Church might be united to God the Father through Himself and in Himself; for He taught that those who believe in Him are in Him, and Himself in them; which is as the Church teaches, that they are in 'the Body of Christ.' Finally we informed them that at this day a New Church is being set up by the Lord, which is understood by the NEW JERUSALEM in the Apocalypse, in which the worship will be of the Lord more exclusively (solius), as it is in heaven; and that thus EVERYTHING THAT IS INVOLVED IN THE LORD'S PRAYER FROM BEGINNING TO END WILL BE FULFILLED. All the things that we have said above we confirmed in such abundance, from the Evangelistic Word and the Prophetical Word (ex Verbo apud Evangelistas, et ex Verbo apud Prophetas), that they were tired of hearing.

[8] I. We confirmed that OUR FATHER IN THE HEAVENS is the Lord Jesus Christ from these passages:

Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, and His Name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6; [H.B. 5].

Thou O Jehovah, art Our Father, the Redeemer from an age is Thy Name. Isaiah 63:16.

Jesus said, He who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me. John 12:45.

If you have known Me, you have known the Father also, and henceforth you have known Him and seen Him. John 14:7.

Philip said, Lord, show us the Father: Jesus said to him, He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how dost thou then say, Show us the Father? John 14:8-9.

Jesus said, The Father and I are one. John 10:30.

All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine. John 16:15; 17:10.

The Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:38; 14:10-11, 20.

That no one has seen the Father, except the Only Son Who is in the Father's bosom. John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46.

And therefore He also says:

That no one comes to the Father except by Him. John 14:6; and that to come to the Father is by means of Him, by virtue of Him, and in Him (per Ipsum, ex Ipso, et in Ipso) (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:19, 23).

But concerning the Unity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, more passages may be seen in the MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE, Arcana Coelestia 962.

[9] 'II. That HALLOWED BE THY NAME means (sit) to approach the Lord and worship Him, we confirmed by these passages:

Who shall not glorify Thy Name? for Thou Only art holy. Revelation 15:4; concerning the Lord.

Jesus said, Father glorify Thy Name, and there came a voice out of heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it. John 12:28.

The Father's Name that was glorified is the Divine Human.

Jesus said, I come in My Father's Name. John 5:43.

Jesus said, He who receives this boy in My Name receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him Who sent Me. Luke 9:48.

These things have been written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name. John 20:31.

As many as received Him to them He gave authority to be the sons of God, to those believing in His Name. John 1:12.

Whatsoever you ask in My Name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13-14.

He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of God's Only-begotten Son. John 3:15-16, 18.

Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:19-20.

Jesus said to the disciples that they should preach in His Name. Luke 24:47; besides elsewhere where "the Name of the Lord" is mentioned, by which is understood Himself as to His Human, as Matthew 7:22; 10:22; 18:5; 19:29; 24:9-10; Mark 11:10; 13:13; 16:17; Luke 10:17; 19:38; 21:12, 17; John 2:23; from which it is plain that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and men through the Son, and that this is "Hallowed be Thy Name," as is more fully established in John 17:19, 21-23, 26.

[10] III. That THY KINGDOM COME means (sit) that the Lord reigns, we confirmed by these passages:

The Law and the Prophets were until John, since then the kingdom of God is being preached (evangelizatur). Luke 16:16.

John preaching the gospel of the kingdom said, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has drawn near, Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 3:2.

Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and that the kingdom of God drew near. Matthew 4:17, 23; 9:35.

Jesus commanded the disciples to preach and evangelise the kingdom of God, Mark 16:15; Luke 8:1; 9:60.

In like manner [He spoke of the gospel of the kingdom] to the seventy whom He sent out (Luke 10:9, 11); besides elsewhere, as Matthew 11:5; 16:27-28; Mark 8:35; 9:1, 47; 10:29-30; 11:10; Luke 1:19; 2:10-11; 4:43; 7:22; 17:20-21; 21:30-31; 22:18. The kingdom of God that was being proclaimed (Evangelizabatur) was the Lord's kingdom, and thus the Father's kingdom. That this is the case is plain from these passages:

The Father has given all things into the Son's hand. John 3:35.

The Father has given to the Son authority over all flesh. John 17:2.

All things have been delivered to Me by the Father. Matthew 11:27.

All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18.

And further from these:

Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and [thy] Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called. Isaiah 54:5.

I saw, and behold one like the Son of Man, to Whom was given dominion and glory and the kingdom, and all peoples and nations shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age that shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.

When the seventh angel sounded loud voices were produced in heaven saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages. Revelation 11:15; 12:10; which kingdom of the Lord is treated of in the Apocalypse from beginning to end; and into it are going to come all who will be of the Lord's New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.

[11] IV. THY WILL BE DONE AS IN HEAVEN SO ALSO ON EARTH, we confirmed by these passages:

Jesus said, This is the Father's will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life. John 6:40.

God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that every one who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:15-16.

He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:36; besides elsewhere. 'To believe in Him' is to go to Him and have faith that He will save because He is the Saviour of the world. Besides, it is known in the Church that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He Himself says also that His kingdom is there. When therefore the Lord in like manner reigns in the Church, then the Father's will is done as in heaven so also on earth.

[12] Finally we added these things: It is said in the whole of Christendom that those who are in the Church make 'the Body of Christ' and are 'in His Body.' How then can the man of the Church approach God the Father except through Him in Whose Body he is? If otherwise, then he must go entirely out of the Body and approach.

[13] Having heard these and still more things out of the Word, the Armageddonists wanted to interrupt our discourse and to quote such things as the Lord spoke with His Father in the state of exinanition, but then their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths, since it was not permitted them to contradict the Word. But when at length the restraint on their tongues had been relaxed they cried out, "You have spoken against the doctrine of our Church, which is that God the Father is to be approached directly, and that belief should be in Him. Thus you have made yourselves guilty of a violation of our faith. Leave this place, therefore; and if not, you will be cast out." And with their minds (animus) inflamed they tried to carry out their threats. Whereupon with the power given to us we struck them with a blindness. As the result of this, not seeing us, they rushed forth into the level space, which was a wilderness; and the ones who appeared to you like apes upon horses are some of those who were seen by the boys out of the window as statues and idols before which the rest knelt down.'

Footnotes:

1. The Original Edition has veri (of truth), but probably boni (of good) was intended. See True Christian Religion 113[4].

Apocalypse Revealed (Whitehead translation 1928) 839

839. I looked forth into the world of spirits, and saw an army upon red and black horses. They that sat upon them appeared like apes, with their faces and breasts turned towards the loins and tails of the horses, and with the backs of their heads and their backs towards the necks and heads of the horses; and the reins hung around the necks of the riders. And they cried out, "Let us fight against them that ride upon the white horses." And they pulled the reins with both hands, and thus pulled back the horses from the fight; and this continually. Then two angels descended from heaven, and drew near to me, and said, "What do you see?" And I related that I saw this ludicrous company of horsemen, and asked what it was, and who they were.

[2] And the angels answered, "They are from the place which is called Armageddon, (Revelation 16:16), where they have been gathered together to the number of some thousands, to fight against those who are of the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. They spoke in that place concerning the church and religion; and yet there was not anything of the church with them, because there was not any spiritual truth; nor anything of religion, because there was not any spiritual good. They spoke there on both subjects with the mouth and with the lips, but for the reason that by means of them they might have dominion. They learned in their youth to confirm faith alone, the Trinity of God, and the duality of Christ; and when they were promoted to more eminent offices in the church, they retained those things for some time; but as they then began to think no more about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, and thus not about eternal happiness and felicity, but about temporal eminence and opulence, they rejected the doctrinals acquired in their youth from the interiors of the rational mind, which communicate with heaven, and hence are in the light of heaven, into the exteriors of the rational mind, which communicate with the world, and hence are only in the light of the world; and at length they thrust them down into the sensual natural; whence the doctrinals of the church have become with them things of the mouth only, and are no longer of the thought from reason, and still less of the affection from love; and because they have made themselves such, they do not admit any genuine truth which is of the church, nor any genuine good which is of religion. The interiors of their minds have become comparatively like bottles filled with iron filings mixed with powdered sulphur, into which if water be poured, there first arises a heat, and afterwards a flame, by which the bottles are burst. In like manner, when they hear anything about living water, which is the genuine truth of the Word, and this enters through the ears, they are violently heated and inflamed, and reject it as a thing that would burst their heads.

[3] "These are they who appeared to you like apes riding, with the body turned round, upon red and black horses, with the reins around their necks; since they who do not love the truth and the good of the church from the Word, will not look at the forward parts of any horse, but at his hinder parts; for 'a horse' signifies the understanding of the Word; 'a red horse' the understanding of the Word destroyed as to good, and 'a black horse' the understanding of the Word destroyed as to truth. The reason why they cried out to fight against those riding upon the white horses is that 'a white horse' signifies the understanding of the Word as to truth and good. They were seen to pull back the horses by their necks, because they feared the combat, lest the truth of the Word should come to many, and so into the light. This is the interpretation."

[4] The angels said further, "We are from the society in heaven which is called Michael, and were commanded by the Lord to descend into the place called Armageddon, whence the company of horsemen was seen by you to burst forth. By 'Armageddon,' with us in heaven, is signified the state and purpose of fighting from falsified truths, arising from the love of command and supereminence; and because we perceive with you the desire of knowing about the combat there, we will tell about it. After our descent from heaven, we approached the place called Armageddon, and saw there some thousands gathered together. Nevertheless we did not enter into that assembly; but there were two houses on the southern side of that place, where there were boys with their masters. We went in thither, and they received us kindly. We were delighted with their company. Their faces were all handsome, from the life in their eyes, and from the zeal in their discourse. The life in their eyes was from the perception of truth, and the zeal in their discourse from the affection of truth; on which account also caps had been given them from heaven, the borders of which were ornamented with bands of golden threads interwoven with pearls; and garments were also given, variegated with white and blue colors. We asked them whether they looked into the neighboring place, which is called Armageddon. They said that they did so through a window under the roof of the house, and that they saw there a congregation, but under various figures, now as tall men, and now not as men, but as statues and carved idols, and an assembly around them bending the knees. They also appeared to us under various forms; now as men, now as leopards, now as goats; the latter with horns bent downwards, with which they dug up the ground. We interpreted those metamorphoses, whom they represented and what they signified.

[5] "But to the point: They that were gathered together, when they heard that we had entered into those houses, said among themselves, 'What are they doing with those boys? Let us send some from our assembly to cast them out. ' And they sent, and when they came, they said to us, 'Why have you entered into those houses? Whence are you? We command you by authority to depart. ' "But we answered, 'You cannot command that by authority. You are, indeed, in your own eyes, like Anakim, and they who are here like dwarfs. But still you have no power and right here, unless perchance by cunning from your three places of diversion here, which, however, will not avail. Wherefore take back word to your companions, that we were sent hither from heaven, to ascertain whether there is any religion with you, or not; and if not, that you should be cast out of this place. Wherefore propose to them this, in which is the very essential of the church, and thence of religion, how they understand these words in the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done as in heaven so also upon the earth. "' On hearing this, they said at first, 'What is this?' and then that they would propose it. And they went away, and told these things to their companions, who answered, 'What is this proposition and its nature?' Yet they understood the arcanum, that they wished to know, whether those things confirm the way to God the Father according to our faith; wherefore they said, 'The words are clear, that one must pray to God the Father; and because Christ is our Savior, that we must pray to God the Father for the Son's sake. ' And they soon concluded in indignation, that they would go to us, and declare it orally; saying also, that they would pull our ears. They also went out of that place, and entered a grove near the two houses in which these boys were with their masters; where was a level place elevated like a gymnasium. And they took hold of each other's hands, and entered into the gymnasium, where we were, and were waiting for them.

"There were there sods cut from the ground like hillocks; upon them then they reclined; for they said among themselves, 'Let us not stand before them, but sit. ' And then one of them, who could make himself appear like an angel of light, on whom it had been enjoined by the rest to speak with us, said, 'You have proposed to us to open our mind concerning the first words in the Lord's Prayer, how we understand them. I say to you, therefore, that we understand them thus; that we must pray to God the Father; and because Christ is our Savior, and we are saved by His merit, that we must pray to God the Father from faith in His merit. '

[6] "But we then said to them, 'We are from the society of heaven which is called Michael, and we were sent to visit and inquire, whether you that are gathered together in this place have any religion or not; and we cannot know this otherwise than by questioning concerning God; for the idea of God enters into the whole of religion, and by it conjunction is effected, and by conjunction salvation. We in heaven read that prayer daily, like men on earth; and we do not then think of God the Father, because He is invisible; but we think of Him in His Divine Human, because in this He is visible; and in this He is called by you Christ, but by us the Lord; and thus to us the Lord is the Father in heaven. The Lord also taught that He and the Father are one; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; and that he who seeth Him seeth the Father; also that no one cometh to the Father but by Him; and likewise that it is the will of the Father, that they should believe in the Son; and that he that believeth not in the Son, cannot see life; yea, that the anger of God abideth upon him. From which it is manifest, that the Father is approached through Him and in Him. And because it is so, He also taught that all authority is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. It is said in that prayer, "hallowed be Thy name, and Thy kingdom come;" and we have demonstrated from the Word that His Divine Human is the Father's name; and that the Father's kingdom is then come, when the Lord is immediately approached; and not at all when God the Father is approached immediately; wherefore also the Lord said to the disciples, that they should preach the kingdom of God; and this is the kingdom of God. '

[7] "Moreover we instructed them from the Word, that the Lord came into the world, that He might glorify His Human, for the end that the angels of heaven and the men of the church might be united to God the Father through Him and in Him; for He taught that they who believe in Him are in Him, and He in them; which is as the church teaches, that they are in the body of Christ. Finally we informed them, that at this day a New Church is being established by the Lord, which is meant by 'the New Jerusalem' in Revelation; in which will be the worship of the Lord alone, as it is in heaven; and that thus everything which is contained in the Lord's Prayer from beginning to end will be fulfilled. All the things which we have said above we confirmed from the Word in the Evangelists, and from the Word in the Prophets, in such abundance that they were tired of hearing.

[8] "First. We confirmed that 'our Father in the heavens' is the Lord Jesus Christ, from these passages:

Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Father of eternity, Prince of peace, (Isaiah 9:6).

Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, the Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name, (Isaiah 63:16).

Jesus said, He that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me, (John 12:45).

If ye have known Me, ye have known the Father also; and henceforth ye have known Him, and have seen Him, (John 14:7).

Philip said, Lord, show us the Father; Jesus said unto him, He that seeth Me, seeth the Father; how sayest thou then, show us the Father? (John 14:8-9)

Jesus said, the Father and I are one, (John 10:30).

All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine, (John 16:15; 17:10).

The Father is in Me, and I in the Father, (John 10:38; 14:10-11, 20).

That no one hath seen the Father, except the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father, (John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46).

Wherefore He also says that:

No one cometh to the Father, but by Him, (John 14:6).

And that to come to the Father is by Him, from Him, and in Him, (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:19, 23).

But concerning the unity of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, more may be seen in the relation, (962).

[9] "Second. That 'hallowed be Thy name,' is to approach the Lord and worship Him, we confirmed by these passages:

Who shall not glorify Thy name, for Thou alone art holy, (Revelation 15:4).

This is concerning the Lord:

Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy Name; and there came forth a voice from heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it, (John 12:28).

The name of the Father which was glorified is the Divine Human.

Jesus said, I am come in My Father's name, (John 5:43).

Jesus said, He that receiveth this boy in My name, receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me, (Luke 9:48).

These things were written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name, (John 20:31).

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in His name, (John 1:12).

Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son, (John 14:13-14).

He that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God, (John 3:15-16, 18).

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them, (Matthew 18:19-20).

Jesus said to the disciples that they should preach in His name, (Luke 24:47).

Besides other places, where 'the name of the Lord' is mentioned, by which is meant Himself as to His Human (as Matthew 7:22; 10:22; 18:5; 19:29; 24:9-10; Mark 11:10; 13:13; 16:17; Luke 10:17; 19:38; 21:12, 17; John 2:23); from which it is manifest that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and men through the Son; and that this is meant by 'hallowed be Thy name'; as is further evident in John 17:19, 21-23, 26.

[10] "Third. That 'Thy kingdom come' means that the Lord reigns, we confirmed by these passages:

The Law and the Prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is evangelized, (Luke 16:16).

John preaching the gospel of the kingdom, said, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has approached, (Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 3:2).

Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and that the kingdom of God has approached, (Matthew 4:17, 23; 9:35).

Jesus commanded the disciples to preach and evangelize the kingdom of God, (Mark 16:15; Luke 8:1; 9:60).

In like manner to the seventy whom He sent forth, (Luke 10:9, 11; besides other places, as Matthew 11:5; 16:27-28; Mark 8:35; 9:1, 47; 10:29-30; 11:10; Luke 1:19; 2:10-11; 4:43; 7:22; 17:20-21; 21:30-31; 22:18). 'The kingdom of God which was evangelized,' was the kingdom of the Lord, and thus the kingdom of the Father. That it is so is manifest from these passages:

The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son, (John 3:35).

The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh, (John 17:2).

All things are delivered unto Me by the Father, (Matthew 11:27).

All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth, (Matthew 28:18).

Further also from these:

Jehovah of Hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called, (Isaiah 54:5).

I saw, and behold, one like the Son of man, to whom was given dominion, and glory, and the kingdom; and all peoples and nations shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not perish, (Daniel 7:13-14).

When the seventh angel sounded, there were voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages, (Revelation 11:15; 12:10).

Which kingdom of the Lord is treated of in Revelation from beginning to end; into which all will come who will be of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.

[11] "Fourth. 'Thy will be done as in heaven so also upon the earth,' we confirmed by these passages:

Jesus said, This is the will of the Father, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, (John 6:40).

God so loved the world, that He gave His Only begotten Son, that everyone who believeth in Him may not perish, but have eternal life, (John 3:15-16).

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the anger of God abideth upon him, (John 3:36 besides other places).

To believe in Him is to go to Him, and to have confidence that He saves, because He is the Savior of the world. Besides, it is known in the church, that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He says also that His kingdom is there. When, therefore, the Lord reigns in like manner in the church, 'then the Father's will is done as in heaven so also upon the earth. '

[12] "To these things we finally added the following: It is said in the whole Christian world, that they who are of the church make the body of Christ, and are in His body. How then can the man of the church approach God the Father, except through Him in whose body he is? If otherwise, he must go entirely out of the body, and approach.

"On hearing these and still more things from the Word, the Armageddons wished now and then to interrupt our discourse, and to adduce such things as the Lord spoke with the Father in His state of exinanition. But their tongues then adhered to their palates, as it was not permitted them to contradict the Word. But the bridles of their tongues being at length loosened, they cried out, 'You have spoken against the doctrine of our church, which is that God the Father is to be approached immediately, and that we must believe in Him. You have thus made yourselves guilty of a violation of our faith: therefore go out from here; and if not, you shall be cast out. ' And their minds being inflamed from threats, they endeavored to do it. But, by power then given us, we smote them with blindness; owing to which, not seeing us, they rushed forth into the plain, which was a wilderness; and those who appeared to you like apes upon horses, were the same as were seen by the boys out of the window like statues and idols, before whom the rest knelt."

Apocalypsis Revelata 839 (original Latin 1766)

839. (His adjiciam hoc MEMORABILE :-)

Prospexi in Mundum spirituum, et vidi exercitum super equis rufis et nigris. Sedentes super illis apparebant sicut simiae, versae quoad faciem et pectus ad lumbos et caudas equorum, et quoad occipitium et tergum ad cervices et capita illorum, et capistra pendebant circum colla equitantium. Et clamabant, "Pugnemus contra equitantes super equis albis;" et movebant utrisque manibus suis capistra; sic retrahebant equos a pugna; et hoc continue.

Tunc e Caelo demiserunt se duo angeli, et appropinquabant ad me, et dicebant, "Quid vides."

Et narrabam quod videam tam ludicrum equitatum, et quaesivi "Quid hoc, et quinam illi."

Et responderunt Angeli, "Sunt e loco qui vocatur Armageddon, (Apocalypsis 16:16), in quem congregati fuerunt ad aliquot millia, ad pugnandum contra illos qui e Nova Domini Ecclesia, quae vocatur Nova Hierosolyma, sunt. Loquebantur in loco illo de Ecclesia et Religione, et tamen apud illos non erat aliquid Ecclesiae, quia non aliquod spirituale verum, nec aliquid Religionis quia non aliquod spirituale bonum. Loquebantur ibi ore et labiis de hac et de illa, sed ex causa, ut per illas dominarentur. Didicerunt in juventute confirmare Solam Fidem, Trinitatem Dei, et Dualitatem Christi; sed cum ad eminentiora officia in Ecclesia provecti sunt, aliquamdiu retinuerunt illa; at quia tunc caeperunt non magis cogitare de Deo et de Caelo, sed de se et de mundo, ita non de beatitudine et felicitate aeterna, sed de eminentia et opulentia temporali, rejecerunt doctrinalia in juventute attracta e mentis rationalis interioribus quae communicant cum Caelo et inde in luce Caeli sunt, in mentis rationalis exteriora quae communicant cum mundo et inde solum in luce mundi sunt; et tandem detruserunt illa in naturale sensuale; unde Doctrinalia Ecclesiae apud illos facta sunt solius oris, et non amplius cogitationis ex ratione, et adhuc minus affectionis ex amore. Et quia se tales fecerunt, non admittunt ullum genuinum verum quod Ecclesiae est, nec ullum genuinum bonum quod religionis. Comparative facta sunt interiora mentis eorum sicut utres repleti ramentis ferri cum pulvere sulphureo commixtis, in quae si immittitur aqua, fit primum incalescentia, et postea flamma, ex qua utres illi rumpuntur: similiter illi, cum audiunt aliquid de aqua viva, quae est genuinum verum Verbi, et hoc intrat per aures, vehementer excandescunt et inflammantur, et id rejiciunt sicut tale quod rumperet capita illorum. Hi sunt, qui tibi apparuerunt sicut simiae equitantes inverso corpore super equis rufis et nigris, cum capistris circum colla; quoniam illi qui non amant verum et bonum Ecclesiae ex Verbo, non volunt spectare anteriora alicujus equi, sed posteriora ejus; 'equus' enim significat intellectum Verbi, 'equus rufus' intellectum Verbi deperditum quoad bonum, et 'equus niger' intellectum Verbi deperditum quoad verum. Quod clamaverint ad pugnam contra equitantes super equis albis, est quia 'equus albus' significat intellectum Verbi quoad verum et bonum. Quod visi collo retrahere equos, erat quia timebant pugnas, ne verum Verbi ad multos veniret et sic in lucem. Haec est interpretatio."

Angeli porro dixerunt, "Nos sumus e Societate Caeli quae vocatur Michael; et a Domino mandati sumus descendere in locum dictum Armageddon, unde equitatus tibi visus erupit. Per 'Armageddon' apud nos in Caelo significatur status et animus pugnandi ex falsificatis veris, oriundus ex amore imperii et supereminentiae. Et quia percipimus apud te desiderium sciendi de pugna ibi, aliquid narrabimus.

"Post descensum e Caelo accessimus ad locum illum dictum Armageddon, et vidimus ibi congregatos ad aliquot millia. Verum non intravimus in caetum illum sed erant binae domus ad latus meridionale istius loci, ubi erant pueri cum magistris; illuc intravimus; qui nos exceperunt benigne. Delectabamur a consortio illorum. Erant omnes quoad faciem speciosi ex vita in oculis, et ex zelo in sermone; vita in oculis erat illis ex perceptione veri, et zelus in sermone ex affectione veri; 1quare etiam e Caelo dati fuerant illis pilei, quorum limbos ornabant fasciae ex filis aureis intertextae margaritis, et quoque datae vestes ex colore albo et hyacinthino variegatae.

"Quaesivimus illos, num in locum propinquum, qui vocatur Armageddon, spectaverint.

"Dixerunt quod per fenestram quae sub tecto domus; et quod congregationem ibi viderint, sed sub variis figuris, nunc ut homines proceres, et nunc non ut homines sed ut statuas et idola sculpta, et circum illa caetum flectentem genua: hi etiam sub variis formis nobis apparuerunt, nunc sicut homines, nunc sicut pardi, et sicut hirci; hi cum cornibus deorsum protensis, quibus effodiebant humum.

"Nos interpretati sumus metamorphoses illas, quos repraesentabant et quid significabant. Sed ad rem: -

"Congregati illi, cum audiverunt quod intraverimus in domos illas, dixerunt inter se, 'Quid illi apud pueros illos; mittamus ex nostro caetu aliquos qui ejiciant illos.'

"Etiam miserunt, et cum venerunt, dixerunt ad nos, 'Cur intravistis in domos illas; unde estis; nos ex imperio mandamus ut abeatis.'

"Sed respondimus, 'Non potestis id ex imperio mandare; estis quidem vos in oculis vestris sicut Enachim, et illi qui hic sunt sicut homunciones, sed usque nihil potestatis et juris habetis hic, nisi forte per astutias e tribus vestris diversoriis hic, quae tamen non valebunt; quare renuntiate vestris, Quod nos e Caelo huc missi simus, ad visitandum num apud Vos sit Religio vel non, et si non, e loco isto ejiciemini. Quare proponite illis hoc, in quo est ipsum Essentiale Ecclesiae et inde Religionis: Quomodo intelligunt haec verba in Oratione Dominica: 'PATER NOSTER QUI ES IN CAELIS, SANCTIFICETUR NOMEN TUUM, ADVENIAT REGNUM TUUM, FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA SICUT IN CAELO ETIAM IN TERRA.'

"His auditis dixerunt primum, 'Quid hoc;' et deinde quod proponerent.

"Et abiverunt et dixerunt illa ad suos, qui responderunt, 'Quae et qualis haec propositio.' At intellexerunt arcanum, quod 'vellent scire, num illa confirmant viam fidei nostrae ad Deum Patrem.' Quare dixerunt, 'Sunt clara verba quod orandum sit ad Deum Patrem; et quia Christus noster Salvator est, quod orandum sit ad Deum Patrem propter Filium.' Et mox in indignatione concluserunt, quod adirent nos, et dictarent id oretenus: dicendo etiam quod vellicarent aures nostras.

"Etiam e loco illo exiverunt, et intraverunt in lucum, binis illis domibus in quibus erant pueri cum magistris propinquum, ubi erat planum sicut palaestra elevatum. Ac tenebant se manibus, et intraverunt in palaestram illam, ubi eramus, et exspectavimus.

"Erant ibi cespites ex humo sicut colliculi; super illis se reponebant, nam dixerunt inter se, 'Coram illis non stemus, sed sedeamus.'

"Et tunc unus ex illis, qui potuit se facere apparere sicut angelus lucis, cui a reliquis injunctum fuit cum nobis loqui, dixit:Proposuistis nobis ut aperiamus mentem de primis verbis in Oratione Dominica, quomodo illa intelligimus. Dico itaque vobis, quod intelligamus illa ita: Quod orandum sit ad Deum Patrem; et quia Christus est Salvator noster, et per Ipsius meritum salvamur, quod orandum ad Deum Patrem ex fide in Ipsius meritum.'

"Sed tunc diximus illis, 'Sumus ex societate Caeli quae vocatur Michael; et missi sumus ad visitandum et inquirendum, num vobis in locum illum congregatis sit aliqua Religio, vel non; et hoc non possumus aliter cognoscere quam per interrogationem de Deo; idea enim Dei intrat in omne religionis, et per illam fit conjunctio, et per conjunctionem salvatio. Nos in Caelo legimus quotidie illam Orationem, sicut homines in terra; et tunc non cogitamus de Deo Patre, quia invisibilis, sed de Ipso in Divino Humano Suo, quia in Hoc est visibilis; et Ipse in Hoc a vobis vocatur Christus, sed a nobis Dominus: et sic Dominus nobis est Pater in Caelo. Docuit etiam Dominus,

Quod Ipse et Pater unum sint;

Quod Pater in Ipso et Ipse in Patre;

Et quod Qui videt Ipsum videat Patrem;

tum Quod nemo veniat ad Patrem nisi per Ipsum;

et quoque Quod voluntas Patris sit, ut credant in Filium; et quod qui non credit in Filium non videat vitam, imo quod ira Dei maneat super illum;

ex quibus patet, quod adeatur Pater per Ipsum et in Ipso. Et quia ita est, etiam docuit,

Quod Ipsi data sit omnis potestas in Caelo et in Terra.

Dicitur in Oratione illa, SANCTIFICETUR NOMEN TUUM, ET VENIAT REGNUM TUUM: et demonstravimus ex Verbo, quod Divinum Humanum Ipsius sit Nomen Patris, et quod Regnum Patris tunc sit, quando Dominus immediate aditur, et prorsus non cum Deus Pater immediate; quare etiam Dominus dixit discipulis, ut praedicarent Regnum Dei, et Hoc est Regnum Dei.'

"Insuper instruximus illos ex Verbo, quod Dominus in mundum venerit, ut glorificaret Humanum Suum, propter finem ut angeli Caeli et homines Ecclesiae unirentur Deo Patri per Ipsum et in Ipso; nam docuit quod qui credunt in Ipsum, sint in Ipso et Ipse in illis; quod est sicut docet Ecclesia, quod sint in Corpore Christi.

"Ultimo informavimus illos, quod hodie Nova Ecclesia a Domino instauretur, quae intelligitur per 'Novam Hierosolymam' in Apocalypsi in qua cultus Solius Domini erit, sicut est in Caelo; et quod sic omne complebitur quod in Oratione Dominica a principio ad finem continetur, 2

"Confirmavimus omnia, quae supra diximus, ex Verbo apud Evangelistas, et ex Verbo apud Prophetas, in tanta copia ut defatigarentur audire.

"Primum, Confirmavimus quod 'PATER NOSTER IN CAELIS' sit Dominus Jesus Christus, ex his locis:

'Puer natus est nobis, Filius datus est nobis, et vocabitur Nomen Ipsius, Mirabilis, Consiliarius, Deus, Pater Aeternitatis, Princeps Pacis,' (Esaias 9:5);

'Tu Jehovah Pater noster, Redemptor a saeculo Nomen Tuum,' (Esaias 63:16);

Jesus dixit, 'Qui Me videt, videt Ipsum Qui misit Me,' (Johannes 12:45);

'Si cognovistis Me, etiam Patrem cognovistis, et abhinc cognovistis Illum, et vidistis Illum' (Johannes 14:7);

'Philippus dixit, Domine, monstra nobis Patrem; dixit illi Jesus, Qui vidit Me, vidit Patrem; quomodo ergo tu dicis, Monstra nobis Patrem' (Johannes 14:8-9);

Jesus dixit, 'Pater et Ego unum sumus,' (Johannes 10:30);

'Omnia quaecumque Pater habet Mea sunt,' (Johannes 16:15; 17:10);

'Pater in Me est, et Ego in Patre,' (Johannes 10:38; 14:10-11, 20);

Quod nemo viderit Patrem, nisi Solus Filius Qui in sinu Patris est, (Johannes 1:18; 5:37; 6:46). 3

Quare etiam dicit,

Quod nemo veniat ad Patrem nisi per Ipsum, (Johannes 14:6); Et quod venire ad Patrem sit per Ipsum, ex Ipso, et in Ipso, (Johannes 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:19, 23)."

(Sed de Unitate Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, videantur plura, in Memorabili, 962.)

"Secundum, Quod 'SANCTIFICETUR NOMEN TUUM,' sit adire Dominum et colere Ipsum, confirmavimus per haec:

'Quis non glorificet Nomen Tuum, quia Solus es Sanctus' (Apocalypsis 15:4);

haec de Domino.

Jesus dixit, 'Pater, glorifica Nomen Tuum; et exiit vox e Caelo, Et glorificavi et glorificabo' (Johannes 12:28);

"Nomen" Patris, quod glorificatum est, est Divinum Humanum.

Jesus dixit, 'Ego venio in Nomine Patris Mei,' (Johannes 5:43);

Jesus dixit, Qui suscipit hunc puerum in Nomine Meo, Me suscipit; et qui Me suscipit, suscipit Ipsum Qui misit Me,' (Luca 9:48);

'Haec scripta sunt ut credatis quod Jesus sit Christus, Filius Dei, et ut credentes vitam habeatis in Nomine Ipsius,' (Johannes 20:31);

'Quotquot Ipsum receperunt, dedit illis potestatem ut Filii Dei essent, credentibus in Nomen Ipsius,' (Johannes 1:12);

'Quodcunque 4petieritis in Nomine Meo, hoc faciam, ut glorificetur Pater in Filio,' (Johannes 14:13-14);

'Qui non credit jam judicatus est, quia non credidit in Nomen Unigeniti Filii Dei,' (Johannes 3:15-16, 18);

'Ubi sunt duo aut tres congregati in Nomine Meo, ibi sum in medio eorum,' (Matthaeus 18:19-20);

Jesus dixit Discipulis ut praedicarent in Nomine Ipsius, (Luca 24:47).

(Praeter alibi, ubi dicitur 'Nomen Domini,' per quod intelligitur Ipse quoad Humanum Suum, ut Matthaeus 7:22; 10:22; 18:5; 19:29; 24:9-10; Marcus 11:10; 13:13; 16:17; Luca 10:17; 38; 21:12, 17; Johannes 2:23).

Ex quibus patet quod Pater sanctificetur in Filio, et ab angelis et hominibus per Filium, et quod hoc sit 'Sanctificetur Nomen Tuum,'

(Ut amplius constat apud Johannem 17:19, 21-22, 23, 26).

"Tertium, Quod 'VENIAT REGNUM TUUM,' sit quod regnet Dominus, confirmavimus per haec:

'Lex et Prophetae usque ad Johannem; abhinc Regnum Dei evangelizatur' (Luca 16:16);

Johannes 5'praedicans Evangelium Regni, dixit, Completum est tempus, appropinquavit Regnum Dei' (Marcus 1:14-15; Matthaeus 3:2);

Ipse Jesus praedicavit Evangelium et quod appropinquaverit Regnum Dei, (Matthaeus 4:17, 23; 9:35);

Jesus mandavit Discipulis, ut praedicarent et evangelizarent Regnum Dei, (Marcus 16:15; Luca 8:1; 9:60);

Similiter ad Septuaginta quos emisit, (Luca 10:9, 11).

(Praeter alibi, ut Matthaeus 11:5; 16:27-28; Marcus 8:35; 9:1, 47; 610:29-30; 11:10; Luca 1:19; 2:10-11; 4:43; 7:22; 17:20-21; 21:30-31; 22:18).

'Regnum Dei' quod 'evangelizabatur' erat Regnum Domini, et sic Regnum Patris; quod ita sit, patet ex his:

'Pater dedit omnia in manum Filii' (Johannes 3:35);

'Pater dedit Filio potestatem omnis carnis' (Johannes 17:2);

'Omnia Mihi tradita sunt a Patre' (Matthaeus 11:27);

'Data est Mihi omnis potestas in Caelo et in Terra' (Matthaeus 28:18). 7

Et porro ex his:

'Jehovah Zebaoth Nomen Ipsius, et Redemptor Sanctus Israelis, Deus totius Terrae vocabitur' (Esaias 54:5);

'Vidi, et ecce sicut Filius Hominis, Cui datum est Dominium et Gloria et Regnum, et omnes populi et gentes Ipsum colent; Dominium Ipsius dominium saeculi quod non transibit, et Regnum Ipsius quod non peribit' (Daniel 7:13-14);

'Cum Septimus Angelus clanxit, factae sunt voces magnae in Caelo, dicentes, Facta sunt Regna mundi Domini nostri et Christi Ipsius, et regnabit in saecula saeculorum' (Apocalypsis 11:15; 12:10);

de quo Regno Domini agitur in Apocalypsi a principio ad finem; in quod venturi sunt omnes qui e Nova Domini Ecclesia, quae est Nova Hierosolyma, erunt.

"Quartum, 'FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA SICUT IN CAELO ETIAM IN TERRA,' confirmavimus per haec:

Jesus dixit, 'Haec est Voluntas Patris, ut omnis qui videt Filium, et credit in Ipsum, habeat vitam aeternam' (Johannes 6:40);

'Adeo amavit Deus mundum, ut Filium Suum Unigenitum dederit, ut omnis qui credit in Ipsum non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam' (Johannes 3:15-16);

'Qui credit in Filium, habet vitam aeternam; qui vero non credit Filio non videbit vitam, sed ira Dei manet super illo' (Johannes 3:36).

(Praeter alibi.)

'Credere in Ipsum' est adire Ipsum, ac fiduciam habere quod Ipse salvet, quia est Salvator mundi. Praeterea notum est in Ecclesia quod Dominus Jesus Christus regnet in Caelo; dicit etiam Ipse quod Regnum Ipsius ibi sit; cum itaque Dominus similiter regnat in Ecclesia, tunc fit 'Voluntas Patris sicut in Caelo etiam in Terra.'

"His demum addidimus haec:Dicitur in toto Christiano orbe quod illi qui ab Ecclesia sunt faciant Christi Corpus, et sint in Ipsius Corpore; quomodo tunc potest homo Ecclesiae adire Deum Patrem, nisi per Ipsum in Cujus Corpore est; si aliter, omnino exibit e Corpore et adibit.'

"His et pluribus adhuc ex Verbo auditis, voluerunt Armageddoni passim interpolare sermonem nostrum, et adducere talia quae Dominus locutus est cum. Patre Suo in statu exinanitionis; sed tunc linguae adhaeserunt palatis eorum, quoniam non licuit illis contradicere Verbo. Sed tandem laxatis frenis linguarum illorum, exclamaverunt, 'Locuti estis contra doctrinam Ecclesiae nostrae, quae est quod Deus Pater immediate adeundus sit, et credendum sit in Illum; sic reos vos fecistis violationis fidei nostrae; quare exite ab hinc, et si non, ejiciemini.'

"Et animi illorum accensi a minis in conatum venerunt; sed tunc ex potentia nobis data percussimus illos caecitate, ex qua non videntes nos eruperunt in planitiem, quae erat desertum; et ex illis, qui a pueris e fenestra visi sunt sicut statuae et idola, coram quibus reliqui inflexerunt genua, sunt qui tibi apparuerunt tanquam simiae super equis."

Footnotes:

1. Sic, nisi legeris boni. (Cf. Vera Christiana Religio 113.)

2. continetur pro "continentur"

3. 46 pro "47"

4. Quodcunque pro "Quaecunque"

5. Marcus 1:14-15 habet "Jesus;"Matthaeus 3:2 habet "Johannes."

6. 47 pro "27"

7. 18 pro "16"


上一节  目录  下一节