“All religion is of life; and the life of religion is to do good.” - Doctrine of Life §1
Kempton New Church

Week 1
Day 5

    Listen:

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. —Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2

The Lord is our Creator and Regenerator

Matthew 23:9. Call no man your father on the earth, for one is your Father, who is in the heavens.

DP 330. As every man is formed by the Lord in the womb in the image according to the likeness (of God) ... it follows that the Lord is the heavenly Father of all men, and that men are His spiritual children.... He alone is the Father as to life, and the earthly father is the father only as to the covering of life, which is the body.

AE 746:13. In the natural sense men may be called... fathers, but representatively; that is to say... fathers in the world are good, and lead their children to good, but from the Lord, not from themselves. From this it follows that although they are called... fathers, still they are not... but the Lord alone is the... Father.

Genesis 2:24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 10:37. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.

AC 4844:6. A father of the orphans, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of His holiness (Ps. 68:5).

“The orphans” denote those who, like little children, are in the good of innocence, but not yet in truth, whose father is said to be the Lord, because He leads them as a father; and [He leads them] through truth into good, that is, into the good of life or of wisdom.

“The widows” denote those who as adults are in truth, but not yet in good, whose judge is said to be the Lord, because He leads them, and this through good into truth, that is, into the truth of intelligence; for by a “judge” is signified one who leads.

Good without truth, which is the “orphan,” becomes the good of wisdom through the doctrine of truth; and truth without good, which is the “widow,” becomes the truth of intelligence through a life of good.

AC 8897. ...That the Lord in the supreme sense is the “father” is because He gives new life to man, and thereby man becomes a son and heir of His kingdom....

John 1:12-13. But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, to them who believe in His name, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

John 3:3. Amen, amen, I say to thee, Unless someone be born from above*, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Rev. 21:7. He who overcomes shall possess as an inheritance all things; and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me.

Matt. 18:3. Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mark 10:14-15. Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter there into it.

AE 996:2. Innocence is loving the Lord as one’s Father by doing His commandments and wishing to be led by Him and not by oneself, thus like an infant.

*or born anew

Questions and Comments
  1. Is there a value in inviting your adult children to call you by your first name, rather than to continue to call you Father/Daddy/Papa? See also AC 6492: “...after a son has become his own master, he ought not to acknowledge his father as his father, as before.... The Lord is his Father.”
  2. Why is it especially important in marriage to leave our natural father and mother in order to cleave to our wife? Why is it important for a husband and wife to be able to pray together to “Our Father”?
  3. Can you picture the Lord leading you, being a father to an orphan, leading you through truth from the good of innocence to the good of life and the good of wisdom? Or can you picture the Lord as a benevolent judge, giving guidance to you as a widow, while you are in some knowledge of the truth but not yet in much of a good life, and helping you progress through a good life into the truth of intelligence?
  4. Can you picture becoming a son (or daughter) and heir to the Lord, and receiving your own special place in heaven as an inheritance, free of charge, from the Lord?
  5. What is one step we/you might take toward the innocence of doing His commandments and wishing to be led by Him and not by oneself?
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