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From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6895

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6895. 'Saying, I have certainly visited you' means His coming to those who belong to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'visiting' as the Lord's coming, which precedes the final period of the Church, the period which is spoken of in the Word as a final judgement. Regarding the meaning of 'visitation' as that judgement, see 2242, 6588; and the fact that that judgement is called the Lord's coming is evident from the following words in Matthew,

The disciples said to Jesus, Tell us, when will those things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? Matthew 24:3.

The Lord was telling the disciples then about the final period of the Church, as may be seen from the explanations given in 3353-3356, 3486, 3489, 3897-3901, 4055-4060, 4229-4231, 4422-4424. He said that when all those things happen,

The sign of the Son of Man will appear, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:30.

[2] 'The Lord's coming' is not used to mean His appearance together with angels in the clouds, but the acceptance of Him in people's hearts through love and faith, see 3353, 3900, and also His appearance from within the Word, the inmost or highest sense of which deals with the Lord alone, 4060. This coming is meant by 'the Lord's coming', which takes place at the time when an old Church is done away with and a new one is established by the Lord. And because a new phase of the Church was to be established now among the descendants of Jacob, the words 'I have certainly visited you' are used, like those spoken by Joseph when he was about to die,

Joseph said to his brothers, I am dying; and God will certainly visit you and cause you to go up out of this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 50:24.

'Certainly visiting you' here means in the sense of the letter deliverance from slavery in Egypt and introduction into the land of Canaan. This however is not the spiritual subject matter contained in the Word but the natural. The spiritual subject matter in the Word has to do with the Lord, His kingdom and the Church, and love and faith. Consequently 'certainly visiting' is used to mean in the spiritual sense deliverance from falsities and thus introduction into things that belong to the Church and the Lord's kingdom, that is, the Lord's coming in love and faith among those who will belong to the new Church.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

John 21:7

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7 That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Lord!" So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around him (for he was naked), and threw himself into the sea.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3489

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3489. To those within the Church it is not apparent that this is the condition of the Church, that is to say, that they treat with contempt and loathe everything to do with goodness and truth, and also show hostility towards those things, especially towards the Lord Himself. They do indeed attend places of worship, listen to sermons with some kind of reverence while they are there, go to the Holy Supper, and sometimes discuss those things with one another in a seemly way. The evil accordingly do the same things as the good, even exercising common charity or friendship to one another, and as a consequence others do not see in them any contempt for the goods and truths of faith, or therefore any contempt for the Lord, still less any loathing of these, and least of all any hostility towards them. But those very actions are outward forms, by which one person leads another astray, whereas the inward forms existing with members of the Church are completely different and the complete reverse of those outward forms. It is the inward forms which are described here and which are of that nature. The essential nature of these inward forms is presented visually in heaven; for the angels pay no attention to anything else than the things that are internal - to ends in view, that is, to people's intentions and wills, and to their thoughts stemming from these. How different these are from external things becomes clear from members of the Christian world entering the next life, regarding whom see 2121-2126.

[2] Indeed in the next life it is solely in accordance with internal things that people think and speak, for external things have been left behind with the body. There it is evident that however peaceable such people seemed to be in the world they nevertheless hated one another, and hated everything belonging to faith, hating the Lord above all else; for at the mere mention of the Lord's name in their presence in the next life a sphere not only of contempt but also of loathing and hostility towards Him clearly emanates from them and envelops them, including those who to outward appearances spoke about Him with reverence and also preached about Him. It is similar when charity and faith are mentioned. As to their inward form which is disclosed there, these people are such as they would have been while living in the world if external restraints had been released and taken away from them. That is, if they had not in the world feared for their lives and feared the law, and in particular if they had not feared for their reputation on account of the positions they strove and worked for, and of the wealth they desired and avidly sought after, they would on account of their deadly hatred have laid into one another, as their intentions and thought directed them. And without any conscience they would have seized other people's goods and also without any conscience would have butchered them, no matter how utterly innocent their victims may have been. Such is the nature of Christians interiorly at the present day, apart from a few who remain unknown. From all this it is evident what the nature of the Church is essentially.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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