receive, n. 744; all indeed are called, but they who do not receive, the same reject the call. The reason why it is called the marriage-supper of the Lamb, is, because this is done in the last state of the church, which is called evening, and in the evening suppers are made; but the first state of a new church is called the morning; in the evening man is called to the church, and when they who are called are come, the morning commences; that the last state of the church is called evening and night, and its first state the dawn and morning, may be seen above, n. 151; and whereas it was the last time of the Jewish church, consequently the evening, when the Lord went to Jerusalem to suffer, therefore at that time the Lord supped with his disciples, and instituted the Eucharist, for which reason it is called the Holy Supper; by which also a conjunction of the Lord with the man of the church is effected, or a marriage, provided the man, after having done the work of repentance, directly approaches him; but if otherwise, it occasions his presence alone without any conjunction. From these considerations it may appear what is meant by supper and supping in other parts of the Word.

817. "And he saith unto me, These are the true words of God," signifies, that this is to be believed because it is from the Lord, namely, that they are blessed who are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, that is, that they upon earth, who receive the things which are of the Lord's New Church, have eternal life.

818. "And I fell at his feet to worship hin. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren, who have the testimony of Jesus; worship God," signifies, that the angels of heaven are not to be worshiped and invoked, because they have nothing divine in them, but that they are associated with men, as brethren with brethren, with such as worship the Lord, and, therefore that the Lord alone is to be worshiped by both in consociation with them. I fell at his feet to worship him, and he said unto me, See thou do it not; worship God, signifies, that no angel of heaven whatever is to be worshiped and invoked, but the Lord only; I am

thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren, signifies, that an angel of himself has not any thing divine, but that he is associated with man as one brother with another; to have the testimony of Jesus, signifies, in like manner, conjunction with the Lord, by acknowledging the divinity in his humanity, and by a life conformable to his precepts; that this is signified by having the testimony of Jesus, will be seen in the next article. The reason why the angels of heaven are not superior to men, but only their equals, and that, therefore, they are equally the Lord's servants as men are, is, because all angels have been men born in the world, and none of them immediately created such, as may appear from what is written and shown in the work concerning Heaven and Hell; angels, indeed, excel men in wisdom, but this is because they are in a spiritual state, and thence in the light of heaven, and not in a natural state, or in the light of the world, as men are upon earth; but in proportion as any angel excels in wisdom, in the same proportion he acknowledges that he is not above men, but like unto them; wherefore, neither is there any conjunction of men with angels, but consociation with them; conjunction is given with the Lord only. But in what manner conjunction with the Lord exists, and consociation with angels, by means of the Word, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 62—69.

819. "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," signifies, that the acknowledgment that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and at the same time a life according to his precepts, is, in an universal sense, the all of the Word and of doctrine derived from it. By the testimony of Jesus, is signified the attestation of the Lord in heaven, that the man is his, and thus that he is one in heaven among the angels there; and inasmuch as this attestation cannot be given to any others but those who are in conjunction with the Lord, and since they are in conjunction with the Lord, who acknowledge him to be the God of heaven and earth, as he himself taught in Matt. xxviii. 18, and at the same time live according to his precepts, particularly according to the commandments of

the decalogue, therefore these two things are signified by the testimony of Jesus, see n. 6, 490, above; by this testimony being the spirit of prophecy, is signified, that it is the all of the Word and of doctrine derived from it; for the Word, in an universal sense, treats of the Lord only, and of a life according to his commandments; hence it is that the Lord is the Word, for the Word is from him, and treats of him alone, and only teaches how he is to be acknowledged and worshiped, these being the precepts of the Word, which are called divine truths, according to which man ought to live, in order to enable him to come into conjunction with the Lord. That the Word treats of the Lord alone, and that thence it is that the Lord is called the Word, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, n. 1—7, 8—11, 19—28, 37-44; and in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 80—90, 98, 99, 100. This is also what the Lord taught, That the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, will testify of the Lord, and that he will not speak of himself, but that he will take of the things which are of the Lord, and show them, John xv. 26, xvi. 13, 15.

820. "And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse," signifies, the revealing of the spiritual sense of the Word by the Lord, and thereby the discovery of the interior meaning of the Word, which is the coming of the Lord. By heaven being seen open, is signified a revelation from the Lord and consequent manifestation, as will be seen presently; by a horse is meant the understanding of the Word, and by a white horse the interior understanding or meaning of the Word, n. 298, and as this is signified by a white horse, and as the spiritual sense is the interior meaning of the Word, therefore that sense is hereby signified by a white horse. The reason why this is the coming of the Lord, is, because by that sense it manifestly appears, that the Lord is the Word, and that the Word treats of him alone, and that he is the God of heaven and earth, and that from him alone the New Church has its existence. The Lord said, "that they should see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of hea

ven with power and great glory," Matt. xvii. 5, xxiv. 30, xxvi. 64, Mark xiv. 61, 62, Luke ix. 34, 35, xxi. 27, Apoc. i. 7, Acts i. 9, 11; and this the Lord said also when he discoursed with his disciples concerning the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church, when judgment takes place. Every one, who does not think beyond the sense of the letter, believes that, when the last judgment shall come to pass, the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven, with the angels and a sound of trumpets; still that this is not meant, but that he will appear in the Word, may be seen in the explanation above, n. 24, 692, and the Lord appears manifestly in the spiritual sense of the Word; from that sense, indeed, it is discovered not only that he is the Word, that is, Divine Truth itself, but that he is the inmost of the Word, and thence the all thereof, and also that he is the one God, in whom there is a trinity, consequently the only God of heaven and earth, and moreover that he came into the world to glorify his humanity, that is, to make it divine. The humanity which he glorified, that is, made divine, was the natural humanity, which he could not glorify, or make divine, but by the assumption of humanity in a virgin in the natural world, to which he then united his divinity, which was in him from eternity. This unition was effected by temptations admitted into his assumed humanity, the last of which was the passion of the cross, and, at the same time, by the fulfilling of all things of the Word, not only by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its natural sense, but also by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its spiritual sense and in its celestial sense, in which, as was said above, he alone is treated of. But on this subject, see what has been shown in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, and in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture. Now since the Lord is the Word, and the Word was made flesh, John i. 1, 2, 14, and the Word was made flesh to fulfill the same, it is plain that the coming of the Lord in the Word is meant by his appearing in the clouds of heaven; that the clouds of heaven signify the Word in its literal sense, may be seen

above, n. 24, 692. It is evident that the Lord's appearing in the Word is what is meant, because by a white horse is signified the interior meaning of the Word, and it is said that the name of him that sat on the horse is the Word of God, and that his name is King of kings and Lord of lords, verses 13, 16. From these considerations, then, it is evident, that by, I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, is signified the revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word by the Lord, and the discovery thereby of its interior meaning, which also is the coming of the Lord. That the spiritual sense of the Word, concerning which no one in the christian world has known any thing heretofore, is at this day revealed, may be seen in the Arcana Calestia, where the two books of Moses, Genesis and Exodus, are explained according to that sense; likewise in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 5— 26, and in the tract on the White Horse, from beginning to end, and in the extracts there collected from the Arcana Cœlestia concerning the Sacred Scripture; and further in these explanations of the Apocalypse, not a single verse of which can be understood without the spiritual

sense.

821. "And he that sat upon him is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war,” signifies, the Lord as to the Word, that he is the Divine Good and Divine Truth itself, from both which he executes judgment, and separates the good from the wicked. By he that sat upon him, that is, upon the white borse, is meant the Lord as the Word; that it means the Lord as to the Word, is plain from verse 13, where it is said, "That he was clothed with a vesture stained with blood, and his name is called the Word of God; by Faithful and True, is signified divine good and divine truth, by Faithful, divine good, because that is faithful; that the faithful, speaking of men, are they who are in the inmost or third heaven, consequently who are in celestial good, see above, n. 644; that by True, when said of the Lord, divine truth is signified, is evident; that by justice both are signified, as well good as truth, and