“The Church is... where the Lord is acknowledged, and where the Word is.” - The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine §242
Kempton New Church

Week 2
Day 2

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Sunday Worship
What Spiritual States do our Rituals Represent?

And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven golden lampstand One like the Son of Man. Revelation 1:12–13 This signifies the Lord as to the Word… He represented Himself as the Word because the New Church is a church from the Word, and according to the understanding of it. Apocalypse Revealed 44

Why do we have a temple or church building?

Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…. But He spoke of the temple of His body. (John 2:19, 21)

AE 220:2. That “temple” signifies the Lord’s Divine Human is here openly declared; for “destroying the temple and raising it up after three days” means the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection…. And in the relative sense, “temple” means heaven and the church, consequently also Divine truth….

AE 1145:2. “Wood” signifies good, because it is from a tree, from which are fruits; also because wood can be burned and be useful in keeping the body warm, and in building houses and making various articles of convenience and use; also because an oil, which signifies the good of love, may be expressed from wood; it also contains in it that which gives heat. “Stone” on the other hand signifies the truth of the natural man, because it is cold and cannot be burned. Because “wood” signifies good, with the most ancient people who were in the good of love, the temples were of wood, which were not called temples but houses of God; and with many their tabernacles were used for this purpose, in which they not only dwelt but also had Divine worship. For the same reason the angels of the third heaven dwell in houses of wood, and this is because they are in the good of love to the Lord, to which “wood” corresponds.

AE 799. “A tabernacle” signifies the church in respect to doctrine and worship, because those who were of the church in most ancient times dwelt in tabernacles and tents, and also journeyed with them, for they were then mostly shepherds of sheep. And the father of the family taught those who were born of his house the precepts of charity and thus the life of love in tabernacles, as was done afterwards in temples. And this is why a “tabernacle” has a similar signification as “the house of God,” namely, the worship of God according to doctrine, consequently also the church, since the church is a church from a life according to doctrine, and a life according to doctrine is worship.

CL 76:3. [Visiting a heaven of people from the silver age:] We also saw temples built of precious stone of the color of sapphire and lapis lazuli. The angel [guiding me] then told me: “Their houses are of stone because stones signify natural truths, and precious stones spiritual truths, and all those who lived in the Silver Age had intelligence from spiritual truths and thence from natural truths. Silver also has a similar signification.”

CL 23. [Visiting another society of heaven]: And lo, the temple was huge, capable of holding about three thousand people. It was semicircular, with benches or pews arranged around in circular fashion following the contour of the temple, and the seats in back were higher than those in front. The pulpit was in front of the seats, placed a little way back from the center. There was a door behind the pulpit on the left.

The ten newcomers entered with their angel guide, and the angel gave them places to sit, saying to them, “Everyone who comes into the temple knows his own place. He knows this by instinct, and he cannot sit anywhere else….” [Cp. HH 223.]

AR 918. And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it, and the Lamb, signifies that in this church there will not be any external separated from the internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from whom is the all of the church, is alone approached, worshiped, and adored. By “I saw no temple in [the holy city]” is not meant that in the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, there will not be temples, but in it there will not be an external separated from the internal.

AE 422:17. The ancients in their adorations turned their faces to the rising of the sun, and built their temples so that the front parts, where the adytum [inmost] was, should look towards the east; from the old custom this is still done at the present day. Moreover, the whole angelic heaven is turned to the Lord as a sun, thus constantly to the east.

Points to Consider
  1. When we come into church, can we think of coming into the Lord’s house to visit Him? Can we even think of coming into Him, since the temple represents His Divine Human?
  2. The temples of the most ancient people were made of wood, because wood corresponds to the good of love to the Lord. The temples of the ancient 5people were of stone, because stone corresponds to the truths of wisdom. What would you like our church to be built of?
  3. AE 799 says, “The father of the family taught those who were born of his house the precepts of charity and thus the life of love” in their homes. Public worship services in our church are meant to help fathers (and mothers) teach their children the precepts of charity at home. Worship at church can never take the place of what children learn from their parents at home.
  4. In two passages, the Doctrine describes a temple in heaven that is semicircular. Were there such temples on earth in the 1700’s, or in ancient times?
  5. What are some ways we can strive not to separate the internal—the worship of the Lord in His Divine Human—from our external forms of worship?
  6. How desirable is it that our temple should face east?
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