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     In my late teens and early adulthood, I worked with a prominent charismatic leader for a little over eight years, traveling all over the United States, Canada and many other nations around the world, assisting him as he taught a message that faith alone saves. The last three and a half years of the time with his organization, I was in charge of the department that responded to countless thousands of questions from the audience that he reached. I responded from the repertoire of knowledge I had accrued. The answers were pat, with no rationality to them. Licensed and ordained through his ministry, I set out to emulate what I had learned, only to find myself again coming up empty and questioning. Oh, thank goodness for the remains the Lord stores up in us from infancy. Without these, no one would ever seek.

     It was at this time in my life that Buddy put Heaven and Hell into my hands. I couldn't put it down. It didn't just answer questions; it opened the floodgate for more questions. I think Buddy felt I would be served better by reading the Writings for myself rather than having him try to answer these questions. So, soon thereafter, I received in the mail about twenty or so volumes of what is known as the standard green edition. I didn't know what I had at the time. All Buddy told me was that I needed to read at least the first sixty pages of the first volume of Arcana Coelestia. What can I say? The rest is history.

     I, too, have come to realize now over the years that, if a person will read at least the first couple of chapters of the first volume of the Arcana, he or she will at least have some foundation for the rest of the Writings. Swedenborg clearly states that what he had written in Apocalypse Explained 555 would not be understood except by few, unless it were known that the first two chapters of Genesis treat of the new creation, that is, of regeneration. (See AE 555:14)

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     This internal sense of the Word given through Emanuel Swedenborg is the Second Coming of the Lord. I realize that many who hear it will not receive it, just as many did not receive the Lord in His first coming because He did not come as they expected. Nevertheless, the Last Judgment has occurred and the New Jerusalem is descending. Unlike any Church before it, though, this New Church will be an enduring Church. Daniel put it this way in the interpretation to King Nebuchadnezzar's dream:

In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. (Daniel 2:44-45)

     The Writings point this out again in the Apocalypse Revealed where it is clearly taught that "the falsities of the former Church must first be removed...since truths, which are received and implanted before falsities are removed, do not remain, and they are also dissipated by the dragonists. The like happened with the Christian Church, which increased successively from a few to many" (AR 547, emphasis added).

     I know I sometimes get impatient, especially when reading through the Acts of the Apostles and seeing the rapid spread of the first Christian Church. Yet, as we just noted, though it started with few and increased to many, it did not endure because falsities had not been removed; there was still a commingling with the prior Church. The axe had not been put to the root of the tree. That is not what is happening with this New Church.

     This New Church is distinct from all other Churches that have ever existed. It is cut out of a mountain without hands.

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     There is a powerful passage, Apocalypse Explained 732, that gives reasons why this New Church that is called the Holy Jerusalem will first begin with a few, afterwards to be with more, and finally to reach fullness. I am aware that lengthy quotations make for tedious reading, but these three points are so important that it seems critical to cite the doctrine fully and in context. We read:

First, its doctrine, which is the doctrine of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, cannot be acknowledged and thus received except by those who are interiorly affected by truths, and those only can be interiorly affected by truths who have the ability to see them, and those only see truths who have cultivated their intellectual faculty, and have not destroyed it in themselves by the loves of self and of the world.

A second reason is that the doctrine of that church cannot be acknowledged and thence received but by those who have not confirmed themselves by doctrine, and at the same time by life, in faith alone; confirmation by doctrine alone does not prevent reception, but confirmation by life also does prevent, for such do not know what love to the Lord is, nor what charity towards the neighbor is, nor are they willing to know.

A third reason is that the New Church on the earth grows according to its increase in the world of spirits, for spirits from that world are with men, and they are from such as while they lived on earth were in the faith of their church, and none of these receive the doctrine but those who have been in the spiritual affection of truth; these only are conjoined to heaven where that doctrine is, and they conjoin heaven to man. The number of these in the spiritual world now increases daily, therefore according to their increase does that church that is called the New Jerusalem increase on earth (AE 732).

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     I want everyone with whom I share the Writings to have the same zeal as I do for the spread of the New Church on the earth. I would love to see the New Church increase instantly; but it is not going to happen that way. There is a divine order, and the Writings have laid it out explicitly. The New Church on the earth will not be greater than the New Heavens.

     So then how is it that the New Heavens grow? As I understand it, the New Heavens grow - and have grown -through the efforts of those in the Church who are enlightened by the spiritual light of the Word by influx from the Lord out of heaven, for the reason that they acknowledge the Divine in the Lord's Human, and are in the spiritual affection of truth from Him. It is these that provide an ultimate basis for the New Heavens. Hence, the spiritual sense of the Word is solely for those of the New Church; these being those whose understanding is enlightened and from this are able to see truth from the light of truth. The New Jerusalem will tarry among those who are in the doctrine of faith separate while it grows to fullness, until provision is made for it among many; for there are those in that Church who have not, like their leaders, confirmed themselves in the doctrine of faith alone separate from the life of charity. (See AE 757-765; Coronis 18: VI).

     In a letter to Dr. Beyer in 1767, Swedenborg writes:

How soon a New Church is to be expected? Answer: The Lord is now establishing a new heaven from those who believe in Him and acknowledge Him to be the true God of heaven and earth, and who also look to Him in their lives, which means the shunning of evil and the doing of good; for it is from this heaven that the New Jerusalem is to descend (see Revelation xxi 2). Daily I see spirits and angels descending and ascending in numbers from ten to twenty thousand and being arranged in order. In so far as this heaven is formed the New Church will commence and grow.

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     I asked someone not long ago, where are the Samuel Nobles, the Robert Hindmarshs, the John Clowes, the Alfred Actons, the Hugo Odhners, today? There is tremendous inspiration in the collateral works of men such as these because they draw from the Writings. They seemed to know the distinctiveness of the New Church and were not in the least concerned with accommodating it to the old theology. These men went before us; they took the building materials which are the doctrines of the New Church and truly, with the Lord's help, set out to build the New Jerusalem on the new foundation. They were aware that the New Church would not be instituted and established as prior Churches were; for this truly Christian Church would be established through the revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word.

     But who will receive this genuine truth? How is the New Church to grow? Without knowledges preceding, it cannot! For the influx of angels is into what a man knows and believes, not into what a man does not know and does not believe; for their influx is not fixed anywhere except where there is something appertaining to man (See AC 6208). Furthermore,

Genuine Truth, of which doctrine must consist, can be seen in the sense of the letter of the Word only by those who are in enlightenment from the Lord. Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, and exists in those who love truths because they are truths, and who make truths uses of life. To no others is enlightenment in the Word possible. Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, because the Word is from Him, and consequently He is in it.

BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY       Rev. DEREK ELPHICK       2005

     ASSEMBLY WORSHIP TALK

Seeking Applicants for General Church Chief Financial/Chief Administrative Officer Position              2005




     Announcements





     The General Church has an outstanding opportunity for an individual to fill the role of Chief Financial/Chief Administrative Officer, reporting to the Executive Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. The individual who fills this role will have significant influence on the future of the General Church organization; will lead and oversee all finance aspects of the General Church, will be part of the process of developing and implementing strategic plans to guide the growth and expansion of the worldwide church, will be responsible for creating and managing a shared services infrastructure that will support the delivery of high quality services to church constituencies, and will be responsible for the implementation of work processes, procedures and systems that are effective and efficient.

     QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

     -     CPA or Advanced degree in finance strongly desired
     -     Minimum 10 years of direct experience in accounting and finance
     -     Established record of success as an operating executive
     -     Proven ability to lead organizational change
     -     Excellent organizational skills
     -     Experience leading and developing cross-functional teams
     -     Excellent written and verbal skills
     -     Ability to work and thrive in a multi-tasked environment.
     -     Demonstrated ability to guide, influence, develop and motivate others.
     -     Strong alignment with the teachings and beliefs of the General Church.

     PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR RESUME - BY DECEMBER 15, 2005 - IN CONFIDENCE TO:

     Joe Weiss, Director of Human Resources
     The General Church of the New Jerusalem
     Box 743
     Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

     or by e-mail to joe.weiss@anc-gc.org or by fax to (267) 502-2563

     The General Church of the New Jerusalem is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer.

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