The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained/Chapter11
XI.—The Second Coming of the Lord.
In three of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), we have a prophetic announcement of another and then future coming or manifestation of the Son of Man, which it is said would be "in the clouds" or "the clouds of heaven." And we read also in the Revelation: "Behold He cometh with clouds." And in accordance with the sensuous philosophy and the literal method of interpretation which have prevailed in the church, Christians have generally expected that this prophecy would be fulfilled according to the sense of the letter. And repeatedly has the time been fixed when the Lord was expected to appear in person upon the natural clouds, visible to the natural eyes of men.
It is not strange that Christians should have misunderstood and misinterpreted this prophecy. It is precisely what might have been expected. For no divine prophecy was ever understood or correctly interpreted until after its fulfillment. How was it in regard to the prophecies concerning the Lord's first advent? The Jews were expecting the Messiah; for their Scriptures had foretold his advent. But so far were they from understanding the true import of the prophecies concerning Him—so little did they comprehend of the spirit of their Scriptures, and so closely did they stick to the letter, that when He came whose advent was foretold, his character and conduct were so different from what they had expected, that they refused to receive Him. They regarded and treated Him as an impostor,—condemned and crucified Him as a malefactor.
Seeing, then, how the Jewish church misunderstood the prophecies concerning Messiah's first advent, it were reasonable to expect that those relating to his second coming would be equally misunderstood by Christians. It were reasonable to expect that his promised second appearing would be in some form different from the general expectation;—so different, indeed, that He would not at first be generally recognized even by those who bear his name and are looking for his advent.
And yet the repeated caution to "watch" and "take heed" lest we be deceived in this matter, would seem to be of itself sufficient to have prevented Christians from expecting a literal fulfillment of the prophecy. And the reason assigned for this caution, is: "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Surely there were no need of cautioning people against being deceived, if the prophecy concerning his second coming were intended to be literally fulfilled; for in that case there were no opportunity for imposture. No one could so imitate this promised appearing of our Lord, according to the sense of the letter, as to deceive anybody. This caution, therefore, to take heed lest we be deceived and accept some false Christ for the true one, is itself proof that the Old doctrine on this subject cannot be the true one. It shows that his coming was not to be in a form addressed to the outward but to the inward sense—to the understanding, or the mental eye. For, in respect to things addressed to the understanding, men are liable to be deceived. They are liable to be imposed upon—often have been—by pretended and spurious revelations. They are liable to accept falsity for truth. Hence the ground and reason for the divine exhortation to "watch" and "take heed" that we be not deceived.
The New Doctrine on this Subject.
Turning, now, from the Old doctrine which is alike unreasonable and unscriptural, let us see what the New Church teaches on this subject. Briefly stated, it is: That the promised second advent of the Lord, is a new and fuller revelation of Himself and of the great facts and laws of his heavenly kingdom, to the understandings and hearts of men; a new and fuller unfolding of the deep and heavenly meaning of the Word which is from Him and is Himself; a fresh and more powerful influx of his own light and life into all open, receptive and obedient souls, recreating them in his own Divine likeness, and gradually remoulding human society after a new and heavenly pattern. It is the beginning of a new Epoch—a new and majestic step in the Divine economy towards the fulfillment of the prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven so also upon earth." The Scripture affords abundant evidence of the truth of this doctrine. For, consider:
1st. Who is the Son of Man whose advent is foretold? This very inquiry was made of the Lord himself when on earth; and his answer was: "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." The Son of Man, then, is the Light—the light by which we are to be guided in the regulation of our thoughts, feelings, dispositions and conduct—the light of divine truth. Hence He is elsewhere called "the Light of life," "the Light of the world," "the true Light which lighteth every man;" for He is the light of the moral universe, the Illuminator of all minds. He is also declared to be the Logos or Word which "was in the beginning with God, and was God," and which, in the fulness of time, "became flesh, and dwelt among men;" which means that He of whose second coming the Gospels speak, was the visible incarnation of the Divine Wisdom or Word. And when the seer of Patmos was "in the spirit," and "saw heaven opened," he beheld One "called Faithful and True," seated upon a white horse and followed by the armies of heaven, having upon his head many crowns, and written upon his vesture and on his thigh the title, "King of kings and Lord of lords;" and his special function was—the exclusive function of divine truth from the Word—"to judge in righteousness," and "make war" against the beast and false prophet, or the combined forces of falsity and evil that are forever in battle-array against the truth and righteousness of the Most High. And, as if to leave no room for doubt as to who this "true and faithful" One might be, it is added: "And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God."
The Son of Man, then, is the Word of God—the very Divine Wisdom or Truth. This is the plain testimony of Scripture. What, then, can the prophecy of his second coming mean, but the prophecy of a new and more powerful manifestation of the Divine Wisdom and Love to the understandings and hearts of men?— a new or second coming of the Word of God? And what can a new or second coming of the Word mean, but a new revelation of the deeper, even the heavenly, meaning of the Word?—a new disclosure of its real nature and its sacred mysteries, or of its interior divine glories?—an opening and revealing, to such as have eyes to see, of the sublime truths of its spiritual sense, and the correspondingly powerful operation of these truths in the renewal of the hearts and lives of men? Hence we may see why this promised second coming was to be "with power and great glory."
But the prophecy assures us that He would be seen coming in or upon the clouds—according to Matthew, "in the clouds of heaven." The term clouds, is not to be literally interpreted here. The science of correspondences reveals to us its true spiritual meaning as used in Scripture. As natural clouds conceal or render obscure the heavenly luminaries, they are, therefore, an appropriate symbol whereby to represent that which causes obscurity in the things of heaven and the church. And such obscurity is one of the consequences of that low mental state in which men are led to accept appearances for realities, and so to abide in the mere sensuous appearance of truth in the letter of Scripture. Thus the truths of the literal sense, as received and understood by the natural man, are what is meant by clouds. And when the deeper heavenly meaning, such as is contained in the spiritual sense of the Word, is disclosed, then the genuine truth is seen in or through the obscurity of the letter. And thus is fulfilled the prophecy of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.
And whoever has made himself acquainted with the general condition of the Christian Church at the time Swedenborg lived and wrote, knows that it had fallen into a very low and degraded state. It was thoroughly immersed in the things of sense. Its philosophy was sensuous; its doctrines were sensuous; its conceptions of heavenly realities and its methods of Biblical interpretation were altogether sensuous; and on nearly every subject connected with Christian theology, the minds of the great mass of professed believers and even teachers of the Gospel, were terribly be-clouded. And although many and dark clouds still linger, we are not to look at the Christian Church as it is to-day, but as it was prior to the memorable year 1757, if we would learn how indispensable to the progress and welfare of humanity was this new opening of the Bible as to its heavenly meaning—this coming of the Word of God in its divine spirit and power. All the prophecies concerning the first Christian dispensation had been fulfilled, in their spiritual sense—including this also; "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." For the kindling warmth of the Divine love, and the illumination of a genuine faith, and even the knowledges of divine and heavenly things, had been withdrawn, or rather shut out from the minds of Christians by the gigantic accumulation of falsity and evil.
But at this juncture, amid the dense clouds of ignorance and error and doubt and denial—generated by the inordinate loves of self and the world which had extinguished in human minds all the bright and heavenly luminaries—amid these dark encompassing clouds there comes a new and glorious light. A new Morning dawns. A new Age is ushered in by the influx of new life and the revelation of new and higher truth. From underneath the cloud of the letter—out from the living soul of Scripture—the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings. And thus, to humble and open minds, the incarnate God comes and reveals Himself anew—comes with new power and glory in the clouds. Agreeable to his own prophetic declaration: "And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
And although the Church is not yet arrayed in her beautiful bridal robes, it is apparent to all eyes that a new Morning has broken upon the world. The light of the New Dispensation is gleaming all around us. Science, philosophy, literature, art, politics, morals, and even religion, have begun to feel the influence of the Second Coming. The old forms of thought have greatly changed, and are still rapidly changing. Old religious dogmas, old systems of philosophy, old theories of politics, old forms of government, old modes of education, old systems of medicine, old industrial processes, old methods of dispensing charity, old ideas on all subjects, are being everywhere summoned to judgment.
But these are external things, and illustrate but feebly the power and glory of the Second Coming. The grandest triumphs of the New Dispensation are not to be achieved in the outer world of matter, but in the inner world of mind. When the spiritual sense of God's Word really comes to us—that is, comes to be clearly perceived, acknowledged and felt—it searches the inner chambers of the soul as with a thousand candles of the Lord. It opens up the hitherto hidden depths of iniquity within us. It discloses the endless deceits and artifices and sinuosities of the unregenerate heart. It shows us our need of an almighty Saviour, and brings that Saviour very near. It shows us plainly of the Father; for it reveals, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the matchless and unspeakable love of God. It withdraws the veil that has so long hung over the spiritual world, and discloses the real nature of heaven and hell. It makes plain to every inquiring mind the great end for which we were created, and shows us beyond mistake the way in which that end is to be secured. It resolves the doubts of honest doubters in regard to the divinity and inspiration of the Scripture; reconciles all parts of it with each other and with enlightened reason; shows the perfect agreement between science and religion; and satisfies the severest demands of the intellect in regard to the Trinity, Atonement, Redemption, Resurrection, and other doctrines which, as based upon the literal teachings of the Bible and as commonly held and expounded, are known to be embarrassed with many and great difficulties. Truly does the spiritual sense of the Word come to the rational understanding "with power and great glory."
And yet it is not here that its greatest power and glory are to be seen; not in its ability to clarify the intellect, or satisfy the demands of reason, but in its renovating influence upon the heart; in its cleansing and purifying efficacy; in its power to soften and subdue the natural man; to sweeten the temper; to refine the feelings; to purify the motives; to elevate the affections; to exalt and ennoble the purposes; to weaken the power of evil within us; to recreate our inner man into somewhat of our Heavenly Father's likeness; and so to build us up a living temple fit for the residence of God's Holy Spirit.
This, briefly, is the New doctrine concerning the Second Coming,—a doctrine at once Scriptural and rational, and whose wholesome practical tendency will not be denied. And under this New Dispensation, it is believed that a New Christian Church is to be built up, which will ultimately be like a city set upon a hill, that cannot be hid;—a Church which will be filled with all sweet and gentle charities, conspicuous for all wise and philanthropic deeds, crowned with all noble and heavenly graces, "beautiful as a bride adorned for her husband."
This New Church is shadowed forth in the Apocalypse under the image of the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. It is to be a truly catholic church, for its spirit is the all-embracing spirit of God's Word. Its platform is broad as the foundation of the angelic heavens. The divinity of the Lord, the divinity of the Word, and the necessity of a life according to the commandments—these are its fundamentals. Its essential and ruling spirit is love to the Lord and the neighbor; and therefore it excludes from its communion and fellowship none who exhibit this spirit.
Such is the character of the Apocalyptic New Jerusalem, the blessed result and crowning glory of the Second Coming. Such the Church whose foundations are "all manner of precious stones," having Jesus Christ himself for "the head of the corner." Such the Church, in whose early dawn it is believed we are even now living; whose rising noon a remote posterity will rejoice in; whose central light and life and perpetual inspiration is the Lord in his Divine Humanity; and into which "there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth, or worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life."