The Holy City, New Jerusalem, which was to descend from the Lord out of heaven, at the time of His second coming, was not to be a literal city of twelve thousand furlongs, of equal length, breadth and height, but a new church or dispensation to be established by the Lord at the end of the first Christian Church or dispensation. A city corresponds to a church as to doctrine, for men dwell in a city naturally as they do in a church spiritually. The gates of a city correspond to the introductory truths which lead to the church; the streets of a city correspond to all things of truth which lead to good, or all things of faith which lead to love and charity, in which men should abide, and whereas truths become of good, and thus trans. parent from good, the street of the New Jerusalem is said to be pure gold as transparent glass. The foundations of a wall signify the knowledges of truth, whereupon doctrinals are founded, and the walls of a city correspond to the truths and doctrines in the letter of the sacred Scriptures by which the church is defended and preserved. That Jerusalem signifies the church in the language of the sacred Scriptures has been recognized among Christians, and it is manifest that the New Jerusalem must signify a new church.

There are not wanting commentators, who, within the last few years, simply by studying the Scriptures, without a knowledge of the revelations contained in the writings of Swedenborg, have come to the conclusion that the language predicting the end of the world, and the Second Coming, is figurative or symbolical. "Thus," says Rev. Wm. B. Hayden, "writers increase who give up all belief in a physical catastrophe. An opening of the Divine prophecies according to the laws of correspondence renders clear all the subjects to which they relate; it removes the obscurities and brings us face to face with those great realities of which the Bible treats. It enlightens our minds by disclosing the actual meaning of the Scriptures and placing before our thought the enduring truths of heaven and the church.

"We have already seen they are the interpretations which the Scriptures themselves, when rightly examined, induce us to put upon them. They are the Lord's own commentary on His own book. They express exactly what the Bible says and means when it is allowed to bring out its whole thought.

"It is the mode of interpretation that our Lord and His apostles applied to the Old Testament Scriptures when they came and told the Jews that they were no longer to look for the establishment of a great earthly kingdom, but only for a new spiritual kingdom; that the Messiah, instead of being a great earthly Monarch, of vast power and influence, sitting upon the literal throne of David, was a spiritual Monarch, ruling by the convincing power of His truth, and through the influences of His Spirit upon the hearts of men. It seems to us that Christianity is a broader, more interesting, more real, more important fact than a universal Jewish empire would have been though it had covered the whole earth; while the spiritual fact is far more useful to mankind than the literal fact would have been.

"And so now, we get clear, definite, rational, consistent views of the higher, nobler, and more enduring realities by opening our eyes to the spiritual sense and meaning of Divine prophecy and Holy Scripture, than by confining our thoughts to the mere letter or outward symbol of the Bible; the shell or husk in which the pure wheat of heavenly truth lies enclosed, and to some concealed.

"An event which affects the mental and spiritual states of mankind, operating to mould their character and their destiny through a succession of ages, is far greater, and holds a better place in the memories of men, than one which affects merely physical bodies, like convulsions of the earth. How little do we remember or care to recall the great eruption of Vesuvius which overwhelmed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum! The simple preaching of Paul in the city of Rome was a more significant

fact, and one which lives more vividly in the hearts of

men."

If the reader would understand fully the prophecies in regard to the end of the world and the Second Coming of the Lord, and especially if he would understand the signs of the present times, and the wonderful age in which we live, he must read the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, especially the "Apocalypse Revealed;" and a new world of affection, thought and beauty, will be opened to his astonished vision.

XXIX.

The Resurrection.

"There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body." In order that we may understand clearly the great doctrine of the Resurrection, it is all-important that we bear in mind this enunciation of the Apostle. He does not say there is now a natural body, and there shall hereafter be a spiritual body; but he says, there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. If we remember this great truth, the scriptural doctrine of the Resurrection will be found to be very clear and beautiful.

We should also bear in mind, that the Scriptures treat of two kinds of life, two kinds of death, two kinds of resurrection, and two kinds of graves. First, Of natural life, and of spiritual life or the life of regeneration-life of love to the Lord and the neighbor, the result of the new birth, or of being born again. Second, Death of the material body, and being dead in trespasses and sins—the state of man previous to regeneration; and finally, if man does not allow himself to be regenerated, the death of all heavenly affections or of love to the Lord and his neighbor in his soul, when he comes to be completely ruled by selfishness-the second death. Third, The resurrection of the spiritual body from the natural body when the latter dies, and the resurrection from the unregenerate state to

the heavenly state, which results from the new birth. Fourth, The grave of the natural body, from which the spirit is raised when the body dies, and the grave denoted by the lifeless and dead state of those who are dead in trespasses and sins.

Man, while he lives here, is a spirit clothed with matter. The material body is constantly changing; particles are being worn out and cast off; and new ones are received, which take their place. The body increases during childhood and youth, remains comparatively stationary during adult life, and gradually withers as old age approaches. Why all these changes? Do the particles of matter, or the articles of food we eat, possess the power and capacity of changing themselves into living structures? and do they possess the intelligence to see when their services are no longer needed?

Every one can but see, that the power and intelligence to organize themselves into living structures are not contained in the materials from which our bodies are formed; but that there is a living force within the body, which moulds and organizes these natural substances into muscles, bones, nerves, and various other tissues. If this is so, it follows that this living principle must occupy every part of the body, or the part could never have been organized, and would not now be alive. The matter, then, of which our bodies are composed, is made alive by the indwelling spirit, and our material bodies are but the clothing of our spirits. It follows as a necessary consequence that the spirit is in the form of the body-that it is, in the language. of St. Paul, "a spiritual body." We see daily manifestations of the quality or character of man's spirit in his external words and acts; for the body only speaks and acts as it is acted upon by the spirit; and the affections and thoughts which are manifested in acts and speech are spiritual and not material. Who does not see that a man is a man from the spirit and not from the material body? With this view of man, it is not difficult to understand

what is meant by the resurrection from the dead, and when it occurs. It is not difficult to understand the apostolic doctrine upon this subject, and the Apostle's beautiful illustrations. "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body;" or perhaps, more correctly translated, "A natural body is sown; a spiritual body is raised; for there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body," says the Apostle.

But previous to this positive assertion, the Apostle had been giving some familiar illustrations in regard to the resurrection, and the resurrection body. He says, "But some will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain." How clearly and unequivocally does the Apostle affirm, in the above passage, that the body which is cast off at death is not the body that is to be raised up; "but," says the Apostle, "God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." And, as if afraid some might mistake his meaning, and suppose that the natural body is to be raised, he continues: "All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power" (1 Corinthians, 15th chapter).

All this is evidently intended to show that our material, natural bodies are not to be raised, but that they return to dust, nevermore to be required or desired by us. If this