“And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” - Revelation 22:17
Kempton New Church

Week 6
Day 1

    Listen:

Luke 24

“He is not here, but is risen.”

Luke 24

1 And on the first day of the week, early in the morning, they [the women] came to the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.
3 And entering in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed about it, behold, two men stood by them in flashing1 cloaks.
5 And as they were in fear, and inclined their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek Him who lives, among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen; remember what He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 saying, The Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.
8 And they remembered His sayings.
9 And returning from the sepulcher, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 But it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the rest of the women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
11 And their sayings appeared before them as idle tales, and they did not believe them.
12 But Peter, standing up, ran up to the sepulcher, and stooping down, he looked at the sheets laid out alone; and he came away, marveling to himself at what had come to pass.

AC 2405:7-8. As in the proper sense the “morning” signifies the Lord, His advent, and thus the approach of His kingdom, it is evident what it signifies besides, namely, the rise of a new church (for this is the Lord’s kingdom on earth), and this both in general and in particular, and even in the least particular; in general, when any church on the globe is being raised up anew; in particular, when a man is being regenerated and being made new (for then the Lord’s kingdom is arising in him, and he is becoming a church); and in the least particular, whenever the good of love and faith is working in him; for in this consists the coming of the Lord. Hence the Lord’s resurrection on the third day in the morning (Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) involves all these things (even in the particular and the least particular) in regard to His rising again in the minds of the regenerate every day, and even every moment.

TCR 170:1-2. Before the creation of the world the trinity [of Father, Son and Holy Spirit] did not exist...The trinity... was provided and brought about when God became incarnate, thus after the world was created. This is the Divine trinity, because it is a trinity in one God. This divine trinity is in the Lord God the Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ, because the three essentials of the one God, which constitute one essence, are in Him. That in Him (as Paul says) dwells all the fullness of Divinity is evident also from the words of the Lord Himself, that all things of the Father are His, and that the Holy Spirit speaks from Him, and not of itself; and finally, that when He arose He took from the sepulcher His whole human body, both the flesh and the bones... unlike any other man.

AC 9814:2. Who could possibly believe that within the church, where there is the Word, and the consequent enlightenment about Divine and heavenly things, ignorance so great should reign that it is not known that angels and spirits are in the human form, and appear to themselves as men; and also that they see and hear each other, and converse together; and that it is known still less that they appear clothed in garments. That this is the case falls not only into doubt, but also into total denial, with those who are so much immersed in outward things as to believe that the body alone lives, and that all is nothing which they do not see with the bodily eyes, and touch with the bodily hands (n. 1881); when yet the heavens are full of men, who are angels, and who are clothed in garments of varied resplendence. But nothing of these things can be seen by a man on earth through the eyes of his body; but through the eyes of his spirit, when these are opened by the Lord. The angels who were seen by the ancients, as by Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Jacob, Joshua, Gideon, and also the prophets, were not seen with the eyes of the body, but with the eyes of the spirit, which were then opened. That these angels appeared clothed in garments, is evident from the angels who sat at the Lord’s sepulcher, and were seen in shining white garments by Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James....


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Questions and Comments
  1. In what ways might we be inclined to “seek Him who lives among the dead”?
  2. Can you picture a state in which your heart (the women) from the Word (the angels) tells you something wonderful, but to your intellect (the disciples) it appears as an idle tale?
  3. Old church theology taught that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were three separate Persons from eternity, but the Heavenly Doctrine teaches that this Trinity did not come into existence until Jesus rose, fully God and fully Man. Now the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him. We might compare this to a new baby, who has the potential to grow up, be married, and enter into the uses of having and raising children. Then those potential uses become actual.
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