It is said again, in the Apocalypse, concerning the Holy City New Jerusalem, that "there shall be no night there.”—(xxi. 25.) All who are in the Holy City-who are really of the true Church have their minds continually illumined with the beams of God's glorious truth. Also in Psalms, it is declared that the wicked "walk on in darkness.”—(lxxxii. 5.) And again, the Psalmist says that his spirit is overwhelmed within him, and his heart is desolate, "Because the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath smitten my life down to the ground: he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.”—(cxliii. 3.) So in the prophecy of Joel, where the consummation of the church is spoken of, it is said to be "a day of darkness and of gloominess a day of clouds, and of thick darkness."-(ii. 2.) And in Isaiah, where it is treated of Messiah's advent, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”—(ix. 2.) In all these passages, and many more that might be adduced, it is plain that darkness and light can have no other than a spiritual signification.

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If any further evidence from Scripture were needed to show that "the consummation of the Age" denotes the end of the first Christian Church a state when the light of genuine truth had become extinguished through falsifications of the Word and evils of life, we might refer to Luke xvii. 34; where, describing this event, it is written, "I tell you, in that night, there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other left." That night clearly denotes a state of great obscurity in respect to the truth; a state of spiritual darkness into which the Lord foresaw the first Christian Church would fall, on account of falses originating in evils. And inasmuch as there are two very different classes of persons among those who profess to believe the same false doctrines, one of which classes is in the good of life, and the other not so, therefore it is said that "two shall be in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other left." Bed, in the language of correspondence, signifies doctrine: "for as the body," says Swedenborg, "rests in its bed, so does the mind rest in its doctrine." They who are in false doctrines, and at the same time in evils of life, or under the dominion of the loves of self and the world, cannot receive genuine truth; therefore they are " left." But

the ultimate things in nature, and also to the ultimate things appertaining to men, which are sensual corporeal things."— (H. H., 575.)

others, who may be in the same false doctrines, yet in the good of life, can receive genuine truth, for this proceeds from good and always leads to good; these therefore are "taken."

Perhaps by this time our minds are prepared to understand the true explanation of that text in Matthew, which saith, "immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."-(Matt. xxiv. 29.) The true spiritual import of this language is revealed by the Science of Correspondences. The natural stars are fixed and luminous bodies; yet so far away in the deep blue vault of heaven, that they shed down upon us no warmth, and scarcely any light. Yet, little specks as they are, they are useful as beacons to guide the pilgrim through the wilderness, and the mariner across the pathless deep; they, therefore, correspond to the knowledges of good and truth derived from the Word; such, for example, as children or even grown people may have in their minds, who have committed some plain texts of Scripture to memory, but without understanding anything more than their literal sense. These knowledges of truth lie, as it were, like little stars far away in the deep blue vault of the mind, yet fixed and luminous, but without affecting the will with the warmth of love, or the understanding with the light of wisdom. Yet very useful are these knowledges. They serve as beacon-lights in our pilgrimage through the mazy wilderness of doubt, and in the night-time of our voyage across the trackless ocean of life. The moon gives more light, yet no warmth. It therefore corresponds to faith in the mind, unaccompanied by the warmth of love; i. e., an understanding enlightened by the truth, yet wanting the love of doing as the truth requires. But the sun sheds down not only a clear light, but a vivifying heat. It therefore corresponds to the human mind, or the church, in which goodness and truth, or charity and faith are perfectly united, like the heat and light of the natural sun — as is the case with every one who has a clear understanding of what is true, united with a warm love of what is good. When used with the moon, it denotes love to the Lord; and the moon denotes charity towards the neighbor.*

When, therefore, genuine charity has departed from the church, and genuine faith, and even the knowledges of what genuine good and genuine truth are, the church has then spiritually come to its *For a complete and extended explanation of this text according to correspondences, see A. C. 4060, by Swedenborg.

end; and this prophecy, in its spiritual sense, is fulfilled: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven."

Here, then, I rest the argument for the "Consummation of the Age," as denoting the spiritual end of the first Christian Church; an argument based not upon mere human reasonings, but upon the eternal and immutable testimony of the Word of God.

Briefly to recapitulate the main points in the argument: 1. It is not in the order of Divine Providence that the precise manner in which a prophecy is to be fulfilled, should be understood before its fulfillment. Therefore, we conclude that the prophecy concerning the "consummation of the Age" will not be fulfilled in precisely the same manner that the Church has expected.

2. The prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Lord's first advent, and the end of the Jewish Church, were not understood until after their fulfillment. Therefore it is reasonable to suppose that the prophecies in the New Testament concerning the Lord's second appearing and the "consummation of the Age" would not be understood until after their fulfillment.

3. The language which foretells the consummation of the Jewish Church, and describes the accompanying circumstances of that event, is similar to that found in the New Testament, where the consummation of the Age is spoken of. Therefore this latter must refer to the consummation of the first Christian Church.

4. The principle of literal interpretation, the appplication of which to many parts of Scripture, especially to Rev. xxi. 1, has led to the belief that this natural earth is to be destroyed and a new earth created, cannot be applied to the rest of this chapter in the Apocalypse, without driving us to the most absurd conclusions. Therefore we conclude that this principle is unsound, and that earth is not to be understood in its literal sense.

5. Earth and land are used in other parts of the Word evidently to denote the Church. Therefore in this chapter of the Apocalypse the earth must signify the Church.

6. Words which in their natural sense denote time or portions of time, as morning, night, &c., are employed in the Old Testament to denote certain states of the Church. Therefore, since Ar (Age) means a full period of time, the consummation of the Age must denote a full and consummated state of the first Christian Church; and in the gospel of Luke this state is called "night."

I leave the subject here for your reflection and further examination. Judge ye whether the doctrine of the New Church on this subject, as herein presented, be established by a deceitful handling of the Word of God, or by a consistent, sound and rational exegesis. If according to the latter, then we may be living in the time of the Lord's second coming. For it is said that He will come upon men "unawares," and "as a thief," and that it shall not be known "when the time is." And as he once stood in person among the Jews and they knew Him not, so even now, spiritually, in the genuine truth concerning Himself and the Church unfolded in his Word- He may be in our midst at his second coming, and we know Him not. Therefore, let every one examine for himself in the fear of God, and in the love of truth; for not only "in such an hour," but, perchance, in such a manner as we think not, the Son of Man may come. "Watch therefore; lest coming suddenly, He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch."

LECTURE III,

THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD.

"And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds." Mark xiii. 26.

I SAID in my last lecture, that there is a pretty general perception. among the enlightened and best men of our day, that “the glory has departed from Israel" that "beauty has fled from the daughter of Zion." There is a pretty general acknowledgment that the church is not fair and comely in her aspect- "beautiful as a bride adorned for her husband." Has not Christendom, because of her unchristian deeds, and still more unchristian doctrines, become the reproach and derision of the Gentiles? Has not religion, even in Christian countries, become, in the minds of many, almost synonymous with bigotry, narrow-mindedness, morbid melancholy, and hypocritical cant? If it has not, then people do not think as they talk. We hear it almost everywhere confessed, that the Christian church- the great body of those professing the religion of Christ is unchristian; that its heart does not throb with the love of the only Lord and Saviour, nor does the life of genuine charity and faith circulate warm through its veins. And among those who are determined to be honest, and true to their deep convictions, many in their hearts are taking up this lamentation concerning Zion: "How has the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel!"

Notwithstanding all this, I am well aware, that, to most minds, the assertions, that the consummation of the Age foretold in the Evangelists has already found its fulfillment in the consummated state of the first Christian Church, and that we are really living at a time which witnesses the fulfillment of that other prophecy con-cerning the second appearing of the Lord upon the clouds of heaven, must sound very strange almost like the ravings of a madman. It seems very strange to most people, that so many great and learned men as there have been in the church, should so long have remained under a misapprehension as to the true import of these

texts.