A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion/Chapter 45
XLV. The Last Judgment, the Second Advent of the Lord, and the New Jerusalem.
IT has heretofore been very generally believed, in respect to the last judgment, that the Lord would then personally appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, accompanied by an innumerable host of angels; that he would raise out of their graves all, who had ever lived since the creation of the world; that he would again clothe their souls with their former bodies; and, when collected together to one place, that he would pass judgment upon them, sentencing the good to eternal life or heaven, and the wicked to eternal death or hell. It has also been supposed, that the visible heavens and the habitable earth would at the same time be destroyed, and that a new heaven and a new earth would be created in their stead. Such notions as these have arisen in the church from the literal sense of the Word being misunderstood, and from an entire ignorance of the existence of a spiritual sense, which is at length revealed for the use of the New Jerusalem. By this sense we are taught, that the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven denotes, not his personal appearance in the air, but his appearance in the divine truth of the Word, which is himself. The clouds of heaven, in which he will come, are the literal sense of the Word, which in a great degree obscures it's spiritual sense, just as a cloud obscures the direct light of the sun; the power and glory are it's spiritual sense; the angels demote heaven; and these are said to accompany the Lord, because where he is, there is heaven. Moreover by the new heaven and the new earth is understood a New Church, as well in the heavens, as on the earth.
It is believed in the New Church, that the last judgment, as predicted by the Lord in the Gospels, has already actually taken place in the spiritual world: and this belief is grounded, not merely on the assertions of a most illustrious Author, who declares himself to have been an eye-witness of it, but on various extraordinary circumstances connected with the present state of society in the natural world, and on the positive appearance of a new dispensation of divine mercy among men: all which may well be considered as the test and proof of the accomplishment of the last judgment, and of the second advent of the Lord.
Not to dwell on the great ecclesiastical and political changes, which have of late years taken place among the nations of Christendom, let us only advert to that new state of spiritual or religious liberty, which has sprung up in the midst of these changes; and we shall be convinced of the reality of the facts here announced. But exclusive of these reasons for believing, that the judgment, spoken of in the Scriptures, is already accomplished, there are others of considerable weight, amounting to little less than a kind of demonstrative proof. When mention is made of the last judgment in the Word of God, it is generally represented as an event, which is to be succeeded by an extraordinary degree of illumination, and knowledge of divine things, vouchsafed to the human mind, by means of a new revelation. Thus the coming of the Son of Man is compared to "lightning shining out of the east," Matt. xxiv. 27. After the judgment of the great whore, John says, "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse: and he that sat upon him was called the Word of God," Apoc. xix. 11, 13; evidently alluding to the understanding of the spiritual sense of the Sacred Scriptures, which was to take place after the judgment. The same is further described in chap. xxi. by the new heaven and the new earth, and the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven: which event, as it is now taking place, is a full proof, that the last judgment, according to the Scriptures, has been already performed, the one coining to pass as the certain consequence of the other.
By the Scriptures we are informed, that several general judgments have taken place, prior to that of which we are now speaking, and which is stated to have been accomplished in the spiritual world in the year 1757. The first was the last judgment of the Most Ancient Church, when all charity and faith perished, and which is described in Genesis by the flood. At that time, according to the language of the Sacred Scriptures, heaven and earth passed away, in other words, the internals and externals of the church perished, and a new heaven and a new earth were created, that is, a new church, which succeeded the former, and may be called the Ancient Church. The last judgment of this second general church, which included many particular churches, was when it came to it's consummation by the many idolatries, to which it gave birth. Immediately after this was raised up the Representative of a Church among the posterity of Jacob; the last judgment upon which and upon the remains of former churches took place at the time of the Lord's first coming into the world. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this judgment, to be accomplished by the Lord, in the following terms: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that, speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I have trodden the wine-press alone: I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come," Isa. lxiii. 1, 3, 4. Hence it appears, that judgment and redemption commence at the same time.
The Lord himself also, when he was in the act of fulfilling the ancient prophecies, and executing the judgment, says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out," John xii. 31. Again, "For judgment I am come into this world," John ix. 39. In another place, "Verily verily I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man," John v. 25, 26, 27. And again, " Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world," John xvi. 33.
From these and similar passages it is evident, that a day of judgment is not spoken of in the Scriptures, as an event which has never yet in any former period taken place, or as decisive of the fate of every individual of the human race: for we find, that the Lord, when on earth, actually accomplished a judgment, not upon the whole race of mankind, but only upon a certain number of those who were deceased, and consequently in the spiritual world.
That the habitable earth was not to be destroyed at the time of the last judgment, is plain from the Lord's words in Luke, "I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left," Luke xvii. 34 to 36. Here the last time of the church is called night, because there is no genuine faith or truth remaining, in consequence of there being no true spiritual charity: but that the world would not then be destroyed, is plainly declared by the circumstance of some being left, while others are removed.
These considerations sufficiently prove, that the doctrine of the New Church, respecting the last judgment and the second advent of the Lord, is perfectly consistent with the Word of God; while all those systems, which suppose the destruction of the universe as the necessary consequence of that event, can be considered in no other light, than as so many idle dreams, and dreadful chimeras, calculated to frighten mankind, and to inspire them with no one useful or rational sentiment, but on the contrary with dismal expectation and useless alarm.
The end of creation is the formation of an angelic heaven out of the human race, which; as an image of the Creator, may bear some respect to his infinity, his immensity, and his eternity. But this respect to infinity, immensity, and eternity, would cease, were the habitable earth to be destroyed at the day of the last judgment: for then by a period being put to the procreations of mankind, the extent of heaven, together with the number of it's inhabitants, would be limited. Whereas it is highly reasonable to suppose, that, as the human mind, which is a heaven in it's smallest form, increases in perfection according to the plurality of it's knowledges, so the angelic heaven will likewise advance in perfection, and thus more and more resemble it's Creator, according to the perpetually increasing number of it's inhabitants. Hence the doctrines, which ascribe to the Divine Being an end worthy of himself in the creation of the world, by making provision for the perpetual generations and eternal successions of mankind, must be the most rational in themselves, as well as most conformable to divine revelation, when properly understood.
It is most clearly predicted in the Word, especially in the Gospels and the Apocalypse, that another judgment was to take place, after that which was accomplished by the Lord while on earth; and that, such judgment, together with the second advent of the Lord, was to form the first step to the introduction of a new dispensation. In the 24th chapter of Matthew the Lord describes the successive declension of the Christian church, until it should arrive at it's full period or consummation. He then foretels, that he will come again in the clouds of heaven in the character of Son of Man; by which is meant, as already stated, that he will appear as divine truth, and make his Word comprehensible and intelligible to the human mind. But in the Apocalypse the final state of the church is more particularly described, together with the judgment which it has brought upon itself, and the commencement of a new church under the name and character of the New Jerusalem. This New Church is described in chap. xxi. 10 to 24, as a great and holy city coming down from God out of heaven; equal in it's length, breadth, and height; having a wall of jasper great and high, with twelve foundations set with all manner of precious stones; twelve gates of pearl under the charge of twelve angels; the street of the city, and the city itself, pure gold, yet transparent like clear glass; with no other temple than the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb himself; and needing neither sun nor moon to shine in it, because the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
By these and other particulars relative to the city called New Jerusalem, we are to understand the doctrine of the New Church now establishing by the Lord in the world. The city itself is said to descend from God out of heaven, to denote that the doctrine of the New Church is wholly derived from the Lord and his Word by a new revelation from himself. By the length, breadth, and height of it being equal, is signified, that all the goods and truths of that doctrine are inseparably united. By the wall of the city are meant the external truths, which defend and secure it. By the measure of the wall, which is an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man and of an angel, are meant all those truths of defence and security in the aggregate, with their particular natures and qualities. By the twelve foundations of the wall set with precious stones, are meant all those knowledges whereupon the heavenly doctrine is founded. By the twelve tribes of Israel, and also by the twelve apostles of the Lamb, are meant all things in general and in particular relative to the goods and truths of the church, and it's doctrine. By the twelve gates of pearls are meant all introductory truths, which are likewise signified by the twelve angels at the gates. By gold like onto clear glass, of which the city and it's street consisted, is signified the good of love, giving clearness and translucency to the doctrine and it's truths. By the nations who are saved, and the kings of the earth who bring their glory and honour into the city, are meant all the members of the church, who will be under the influence of goodness and truth. By no temple being seen in the city is signified, that in the New Church there will be no external worship separate from internal: because the Lord alone will be approached, acknowledged, and worshipped in his Divine Humanity, which in the supreme sense is what is meant by the temple. By there being no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine in it, because the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof, is signified, that the New Church will not be under the dominion of self-love and self-derived intelligence, and consequently not under the influence of mere natural light; but will in all things be guided by the light of divine truth proceeding from the Lord, who as to his Essential Divinity is called God, and as to his Divine Humanity is called the Lamb.
The New Church, or New Jerusalem, is further represented in the same chapter, under a more interior idea, as the Bride and Wife of the Lamb; being called a Bride in reference to her state of preparation to receive the Lord, and a Wife in reference to her actual conjunction with him. That this church will be established on earth, and that it will in due time constitute the crown and glory of all churches, which have heretofore existed since the creation of the world, cannot for a moment be doubted, because the Scriptures of divine truth, from beginning to end, are continually pointing to it, and holding it up as the completion of all prophecy. It's commencement is announced by Daniel in these words: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 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," Dan. ii. 44. The same prophet says in another place, "I saw in the night-visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," Dan. vii. 13, 14. That this prophecy of Daniel refers to the present time, is evident from what is said in chap. xii. 4, 9, 11; and from the Lord's words in Matt. xxiv. 15, 30. The like is said in the Apocalypse: "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever," Apoc. xi. 15.
The progress, perfection, and glory of the same church are also described by other prophets in the manner following, "For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God," Isa. lxii. 1 to 3. "Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, the holy mountain," Zech. viii. 3. Lastly, " I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God," Apoc. xxi. 3.
