truth and good, which are signified by gates and by pearls, have reference to one cognition, which is their containant; which one cognition is cognition of the Lord. It is called one cognition, although there are several which constitute that one, because a cognition of the Lord is the universal of all things of doctrine, and hence of all things of the church. From this all matters of worship derive their life and soul; for the Lord is the all in all of heaven and the church, and therefore the all in all of worship. The reason why the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord conjoins into one all cognitions of truth and good from the Word is, that there is a connection of all spiritual truths; and if you will believe it, their connection is like the connection of all the members, viscera, and organs of the body. Therefore, as the soul contains and holds all these in their order and connection, so that they are felt no otherwise than as one, so the Lord contains and holds together all spiritual truths in man. That the Lord is the very gate through which men must enter into the church and thence into heaven. He Himself teaches in John: "I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (x. 9); and that the acknowledgment and cognition of Him is the pearl of great price, is meant by these words of the Lord in Matthew: 'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold, all that he had, and bought it" (xiii. 45, 46). The one pearl of great price is the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord. (A. R n. 916.)
The Temple of the City.
"And I saw no temple therein; for the temple of it is the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb" (ver. 22). This signifies that in this church there will be no external separate from the internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from whom is the all of the church, is alone approached, worshipped, and adored. I saw no temple therein, does not mean that in the New Church which is the New Jerusalem there will not be temples, but that in this church there will not be an external separate from the internal; the reason is that by a temple the church as to its worship is signified, and, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself as to His Divine Human, who is to be worshipped. And because the all of the church is from the Lord, therefore it is said, "For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb is the Temple of it," by which the Lord in His Divine Human is signified; by the Lord God Almighty is meant the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah Himself; and by the Lamb His Divine Human is signified. (A. R. n. 918.)
