“All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth... And behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.” - Matthew 28:18, 20
Kempton New Church

Week 6
Day 5

    Listen:

The Lord’s Prayer

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. —Matthew 6:13

For Thine is the glory

John 1:14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in a tabernacle among us, and we observed His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

AC 5922:4. That “glory” is predicated [or said] of the Divine truth, which is from the Lord’s Divine Human... is evident in John [quoted above]....

The “Word” is Divine truth, and as this proceeds from the Lord, it is the Lord Himself; and hence “glory” is said of Divine truth.

AC 5922:2. “Glory” is the spiritual heaven. The case is this: there are two kingdoms of which heaven consists, namely, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and the spiritual kingdom is the middle or second heaven. The good in which the celestial [angels] are is called celestial good, and the good in which the spiritual are is called spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, and spiritual good is the good of love toward the neighbor. In regard to the joining together of these two kingdoms, it is the good of charity toward the neighbor which conjoins them.... For in charity the celestial kingdom terminates, and from charity the spiritual kingdom begins. Thus, the last of the one is the first of the other, and in this way, they mutually take hold of each other.

AC 5922:3. It shall now be told what “glory” is. “Glory” in the supreme sense is the Lord as to Divine truth, thus it is the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. But “glory” in the representative sense is the good of love toward the neighbor, or charity, which is the external good of the celestial kingdom and the internal good of the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, for this good in a genuine sense is the Divine truth in heaven.... The spiritual heaven is called “glory,” because whatever is there appears in light, in brightness, and in radiance.

AC 8443. And behold, the glory of Jehovah was seen in the cloud. That this signifies the presence of the Lord in truth accommodat-ed to the perception, is evident from the signification of “the glory of Jehovah,” as being the presence and the advent of the Lord.... and from the signification of “the cloud,” as being the literal sense of the Word... thus truth accommodated to the perception.... But “the glory” that is in the cloud is Divine truth which is not so accommodated to the perception, because it is above the fallacies and appearances of the senses. Thus it is also the internal sense of the Word.... That “glory” is the internal sense of the Word is because in this sense the Lord’s church and kingdom are treated of, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, and in this sense also is the very Divine truth itself.

AC 8443:2. Truth Divine is not of one degree [or level], but of many. Truth Divine in the first degree, and also in the second, is that which proceeds immediately from the Lord; this is above angelic understanding. But truth Divine in the third degree is such as is in the inmost or third heaven; this is such that it cannot in the least be apprehended by man. Truth Divine in the fourth degree is such as is in the middle or second heaven; neither is this intelligible to man.

But truth Divine in the fifth degree is such as is in the ultimate or first heaven. This can be perceived in some small measure by man provided he is enlightened, but still it is such that a great part of it cannot be expressed by human words. And when it falls into the ideas, it produces the faculty of perceiving and also of believing that the case is so. But truth Divine in the sixth degree is such as is with man, accommodated to his perception; thus it is the sense of the letter of the Word. This sense, or this truth, is represented by the cloud, and the interior truths are represented by the glory in the cloud.

Questions and Comments
  1. When you think of the Lord’s glory, what do you picture or think of? What might be a synonym for His “glory”?
  2. Why do we observe the Lord’s glory shining forth from His Divine Human, rather than from the Divine itself? Why was it crucial that the Lord be born into the world and then glorify His Human?
  3. Since the good of charity or love toward the neighbor is what conjoins the two kingdoms of heaven, why is this not the highest love?
  4. Why is the Lord’s presence and His coming especially in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word? In what ways does the Lord “come” to us in the spiritual sense of His Word?
  5. Where is the Heavenly Doctrine in the levels of truth Divine, in the fifth or sixth degree, or some of each?
  6. Is it comforting and uplifting to know that there are so many levels of truth Divine within the stories and teachings of the sense of the letter of the Word?
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