that believe on his name,' John i. 12. 'And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son,' John xiv. 13, 14. He who does not believe, is now judged, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God, John iii. 15, 16, 18. • Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,' Matt. xviii. 19, 20. Jesus commanded his disciples to preach in his name, Luke xxiv. 47; not to mention other passages where the name of the Lord occurs, whereby is meant himself as to his humanity, as in Matt. vii. 22; x. 22; xviii. 5; xix. 29; xxiv. 9, 10; Mark xi. 10; xiii. 13; xvi. 17; Luke x. 17; xix. 38; xxi. 12, 17; John ii. 23; from which it is evident that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and men through the Son, and that this is the meaning of hallowed be thy name, as further appears in John xvii. 19, 2123, 26.

"III. That Thy kingdom come' means, that the Lord should reign, we proved by these passages: The law and the prophets were until John, since that time the kingdom of God is preached,' Luke xvi. 16. John preaching the good tidings of the kingdom, said, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,' Mark i. 14, 15; Matt. iii. 2. Jesus himself preached the good tidings of the kingdom, and that the kingdom of God was at hand, Matt. iv. 17, 23; ix. 35. Jesus commanded his disciples to preach and declare the good tidings of the kingdom of God, Mark xvi. 15; Luke viii. 1; ix. 60; and in like manner the seventy whom he sent forth, Luke x. 9, 11; besides other places, as in Matt. xi. 5; xvi. 27, 28; Mark viii. 35; ix. 1, 27; x. 29, 30; xi. 10; Luke i. 19; ii. 10, 11; iv. 43; vii. 22; xvii. 20, 21; xxi. 30, 31; xxii. 18. The kingdom of God, or the good tidings announced, was the Lord's kingdom, and thus the kingdom of the Father: that this is the case is evident from the following passages: The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son,' John iii. 35. The Father hath given the Son power over all flesh,' John xvii. 2. 'All things are delivered unto me of my Father,' Matt. xi. 27. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,' Matt. xxviii. 18. Also from these: Jehovah of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called,' Isaiah liv. 5. I saw, and behold, one like the Son of Man: And there was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom, and all people and nations should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is that which shall not be destroyed,' Dan. xiii. 13, 14. 'And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever,' Apoc. xi. 15; xii. 10; which kingdom of the Lord

the Apocalypse treats of from beginning to end, into which all are to come who may belong to the Lord's New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.

"IV. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,' we proved by these passages: Jesus said, 'This is the will of the Father, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life,' John vi. 40. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,' John iii. 15, 16. 'He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him,' John iii. 36; not to mention other places. To believe in him, is to approach him, and to have confidence that he will save, because he is the Saviour of the world. Besides, it is a known thing in the church, that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in heaven; he also said that his kingdom is there; therefore, when the Lord reigns in like manner in the church, then the Father's will is done in earth as it is in heaven.

"Finally, we added: It is affirmed throughout the whole Christian world, that they who are of the church constitute Christ's body, and are in his body; how then can a member of the church approach God the Father, otherwise than through him in whose body he is? else he must go out of the body to approach.

Having heard these and many other passages out of the Word, the Armageddons were anxious every now and then to interrupt us, and to adduce such as the Lord said to the Father in his state of exinanition, but then their tongues cleaved to the roof of their mouths, because they were not permitted to contradict the Word. At length, however, they broke out and exclaimed, 'You have spoken against the doctrine of our church, which maintains that God the Father should be approached immediately, and that he should be believed in, thus you are guilty of offering violence to our faith, wherefore leave this place at once, or else you shall be turned out;' and their minds being violently inflamed, they were about to proceed from threats to compulsion; but at that instant, by virtue of a power given us, we struck them with blindness, in consequence of which, not seeing us, they rushed forth into the plain, which was a wilderness; and such of them as appeared to the children, who had been looking from the window, like graven images and idols, before whom the rest were kneeling, are the same as anneared to you like apes and horses."

CHAPTER XX.

1. AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand.

2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be finished; and after that he must be loosed a little time.

4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg ment was given unto them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on these the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8. And shall go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the

sea.

9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and shall be tormented day and night for ever and

ever.

11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was no place found for them.

12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every one according to their works.

14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.

THE SPIRITUAL SENSE.

THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER. Concerning the removal of those who are meant by the dragon, verses 1-3, and then concerning the ascent of those from the lower earth, who worshipped the Lord and shunned evils as sins, verses 4-6 Judgment upon those in whose worship there was no religion, verses 7-9. The damnation of the dragon, verse 10. The universal judgment upon the rest, verses 11-15.

THE CONTENTS OF EACH VERSE. V. 1, “ And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand," signifies the Lord's divine operation upon lower principles, from his divine power of shutting and opening, and of binding and loosing: v. 2, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan," signifies that they were withheld who are meant by the dragon, who, from their thinking sensually and not spiritually on matters of faith, are called the old serpent, and from their being in evils as to life, are called the devil, and from their being in falses as to doctrine, are called Satan: "And bound him a thousand years," signifies that they who are here meant by the dragon, were withdrawn and separated from the rest in the world of spirits, that for a short time there might be no communication with them: v. 3, " And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more," signifies that the Lord entirely removed those who were in faith alone, and put a stop to all communication between thein and others, lest they should inspire into those who were to be taken up into heaven any thing of their heresy: "Till the thousand years should be finished; and after that he must be loosed a little," signifies, this only a little while, or for a short time, until they are taken up by the Lord into heaven who were in truths derived from good, after which they who are meant by the dragon, were to be loosed for a short time, and a communication opened between them and others v. 4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them," signifies that the truths of the Word, according to which all are judged, were opened, and that then they were taken up from the lower earth, who had been Concealed by the Lord, that they might not be seduced by the

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dragon and his beasts: "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God," signifies that they were rejected by those who were principled in falses originating in self-derived intelligence, because they worshipped the Lord, and lived according to the truths of his Word: And who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands," signifies who did not acknowledge and receive the doctrine of faith alone: "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years," signifies who have been already for some time in conjunction with the Lord and in his kingdom: v. 5, But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished," signifies that besides these, now spoken of, none were taken up into heaven, till after the dragon was loosed, and that such were then proved and explored as to their quality: "This is the first resurrection," signifies that salvation and life eternal primarily consist in worshipping the Lord and living according to his commandments in the Word, inasmuch as conjunction is effected with the Lord and consociation with the angels of heaven: v. 6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," signifies that they who go to heaven enjoy the felicity of life eternal, and illustration, in consequence of conjunction with the Lord: "On these the second death hath no power," signifies that they are not damned: "But they shall be priests of God and of Christ," signifies, because they are kept by the Lord in the good of love and thence in the truths of wisdom: "And shall reign with him a thousand years," sig nifies that they were already in heaven, when the rest, who had not revived, that is, as yet received heavenly life, were in the world of spirits: v. 7, "And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," signifies that after they who had before been concealed and preserved in the lower earth, were taken up by the Lord into heaven, and the new heaven increased by their numbers, all those who had confirmed themselves in falses of faith, were to be let loose: v. 8, "And shall go forth to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle," signifies that they who are here meant by the dragon, would draw to their party all those who were from the earths throughout the universal world of spirits, and lived there only in external natural worship and in no internal spiritual worship, and would stir them up against those who worshipped the Lord, and lived according to his commandments in the Word: "The number of whom is as the sand of the sea," signifies the multitude of such: v. 9, "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city," signifies that being stirred up by the dragonists, they held in contempt every truth of the church,