18 to 23, but under a human form, which Jehovah God put on by means of an angel, and in which form He was seen by Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Hagar, Gideon, Joshua, and sometimes by the prophets, which human form was representative of the Lord who was to come, and this being representative, therefore all and every thing in that church were made representative also: indeed it is well known that their sacrifices and other ceremonies of worship, were representative of the Lord who was to come, and that they were abrogated at His coming. But the fourth church, which was called Christian, did indeed acknowledge one God with the lips, but in three persons, each whereof singly or by himself was God, and thus acknowledged a divided trinity, and not united in one person, the consequence of which was, that an idea of three gods was fixed in the mind, notwithstanding the declaration of the lips in favour of one; and moreover the doctors of the church insist from that very doctrine of theirs, which they composed after the Council of Nice, that men ought to believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, all three invisible, because existing in a like divine essence before the world was, when yet, as was said above, there can be no conjunction with an invisible God; for they are not yet aware that the one God, who is invisible, came into the world and assumed the Humanity, not only that He might redeem men, but also that He might be made visible, and thus such as they might have conjunction with, for it is written, "The Word was with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD, AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH," John i. 1, 14; and in Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name shall be called THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER," chap. ix. 5; and in the prophets it is frequently declared, that Jehovah Himself would come into the world, and be the Redeemer, which was also done in the Humanity which He assumed.

787. The reason why this New Church is the crown of all the churches which have been to this time on the terrestrial globe is, because it will worship one Visible God, in whom is the Invisible God, as the soul is in the body; for thus, and no otherwise, can conjunction be effected between God and man; the reason of which is, because man is natural and consequently thinks naturally, and the conjunction must be effected in his thought, and so in the affection of his love, and such conjunction is produced when man thinks of God as a Man. Conjunction with an invisible God is like the conjunction of ocular sight with the expanse of the universe, of which it sees no end; it is also like sight in the midst of the ocean, which falls on air and water, and is lost in their immensity; but conjunction with a visible God is like the visible appearance of a man in the air or on the sea, stretching forth his hands and inviting to his embraces : for all conjunction of God with man must be likewise reci. procal on the part of man with God, and this reciprocality on man's part is not possible but with a visible God. That God was not visible before He assumed the Humanity, the Lord Himself teacheth in John: "Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father, nor seen His shape," chap. v. 37; and in Moses: "That no man can see God and live," Exod. xxxiii. 20: but that He is seen by His Humanity, is declared in John: "No one hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought Him forth to view," chap. i. 18; and again: "Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one cometh to the Father but by Me; he that knoweth Me knoweth the Father, and he that seeth Me seeth the Father," chap. xiv. 6, 7, 9. That conjunction is effected with the invisible God by Him who is visible, that is, by the Lord, He Himself teaches in these words: " Abide in Me, and I in you; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,” John xv. 4, 5: "In that day ye shall know that I am in

the Father, and ye in Me, and 1 in you," chap. xiv. 20: "The glory which thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them, and thou in Me, that the love wherewith thou hast loved Me, may be in them, and 1 in them," chap. xvii. 21, 22, 23, 26; and chap. vi. 56. Also that the Father and He are one; and that it is necessary to believe on Him, to attain eternal life. That salvation dependeth on conjunction with God, has been abundantly shewn above.

788. That this church is to succeed the churches which have been extant from the beginning of the world, and that it will endure for ages of ages, and is thus to be the crown of all churches that have been before it, was foretold by the prophet Daniel, first when he related and explained to Nebuchadnezzar his dream concerning the four kingdoms, by which the four churches, represented by the statue that appeared to him, are understood; for he says, "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and it shall consume all these kingdoms, but it shall stand for ever," chap. ii. 44; and that this should be effected by a " stone that became a great rock, and filled the whole earth," verse 35: by a rock, in the Word, the Lord is meant, as to divine truth. The same prophet says in another place," I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and to Him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," chap. vii. 13, 14; and this he says after he had seen the four beasts ascending out of the sea, verse 3, by which also the four former churches were represented: that this prophecy of Daniel hath relation to the present time, is evident from his Words, chap. xii. 4; and also from the Lord's words, Matt. xxiv. 15, 30. The like is said in the Revelation:

"And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices` in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever," chap. xi. 15.

789. But beside these, the other prophets have in many passages foretold this church, and its future state; from which it may suffice to adduce these few: It is written in Zechariah, "There shall be one day, which shall be known to Jehovah, not day nor night, because about evening time there shall be light; and in that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, und Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Jehovah, and His name One," chap. xiv. 7, 8, 9: in Joel: "It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and Jerusalem shall remain to generations of generations," chap. iii. 18 to 20: in Jeremiah: "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered, because of the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem, neither shall they walk any more after the confirmation of their evil heart," chap. iii. 17, Rev. xxi. 24, 26: in Isaiah: "Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken," chap. xxxiii. 20: in these passages the holy New Jerusalem is meant which is described in the Revelation, chap. xxi. and by this again the New Church. Again, in Isaiah: "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and truth the girdle of his thighs; the wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the falling together, and a little child shall lead them; and the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together; and a sucking child shall play on the hole of the viper, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den; they shall not hurt N N

VOL. II.

come,

nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious," chap. xi. 1, 5 to 10: that these things have not as yet come to pass in any churches, much less in the last, is generally allowed. In Jeremiah: "Behold, the days saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant, and this shall be the covenant; I will put My law in the midst of them, and write it on their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be My people, and they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them," chap. xxxi. 31 to 34, Rev. xxi. 3: that this prophecy has not been fulfilled in former churches, is also generally acknowledged; the reason was, because they did not approach a visible God, whom all may know, and who is Himself the Word, or Law, which He will put in the midst of them, and write on their hearts. Again, in Isaiah: "For JERUSALEM's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name; and thou shalt be a CROWN OF GLORY, AND A ROYAL DIADEM in the hand of thy God: Jehovah shall delight in thee, and thy land shall be MARRIED. Behold, thy Salvation cometh, behold, His reward is with Him: and they shall call them the holy people, the Redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called, Sought out, a City not forsaken," chap. lxii. 1 to the end.

790. The future state of this church is also described at large in the Revelation, which treats of the end of the former church, and the rise of the New; this New Church is described by the New Jerusalem, with all its magnificence, and represented as the bride and wife of the Lamb, chap. xix. 7, xxi. 2, 9. I shall here only transcribe from the Revelation, what is said, when the New Jerusalem was