The New Heaven

Preached on 06-11-00

THE NEW HEAVEN

A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose

"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Rev. 7:10)

IN THE YEAR 1757, THE LORD EXECUTED A LAST JUDGMENT in the spiritual world. He cast down into hell those evil people who had, since the time of His First Coming, accumulated in the world of spirits. He also formed a new heaven. This New Heaven was formed from Christians and gentiles who had lived good lives, and especially from those throughout the whole world who had died as infants during the preceding seventeen centuries (HD 3). This New Heaven, it is said, constituted an expanse beneath the ancient celestial and spiritual heavens (HD 4; cf. AR 612). And this New Heaven, we are told, is the heaven from which the New Church on earth is to descend.

Now the Writings say very many things about the Last Judgment. It is a very important subject -- something important to learn about and to reflect upon -- for to learn about the Last Judgment is to learn about that world in which we are one day going to live for ever. When, in 1757, the Lord executed a judgment upon the spiritual world, He reordered that world. He imposed upon that world an organization, a structure, an order, which would endure forever. This was the final Judgment. The order established by the Lord at that time still prevails today, and will prevail to all eternity. When we die, when we go to the other world, we ourselves will become subject to that same law, that same order, which was imposed by the Lord at the time of the Judgment. When we leave this world, we ourselves are going to be judged, and we are going to be judged individually by the same standard, and in a similar manner as people in the other world were judged in 1757.

One day, then, we will face our own final and eternal judgment. It is a sobering thought, isn't it? It is a serious matter, a very serious matter indeed, for when we are judged, we will be assigned our eternal dwelling place. Wherever it is that we then go, there it is that we will remain forever. There is, though, more than one way of looking at this judgment. We can and sometimes must look at it from the viewpoint of those who are condemned -- those who are excluded from heaven. We must accept that if we are selfish, if we insist on following our own ways, and ignore what the Lord commands us in His Word, then, when we are judged, there will be no place found for us in heaven.

There is, though, another aspect to judgment. The essential purpose of Divine judgment is not to condemn, but to save. When the Lord judged the spiritual world, and cast the evil down into hell, He did so in order that the heavens might be protected -- and so that those in good might have peace and safety from those in evil. The Lord's judgment of the spiritual world was, essentially, an act of salvation. By means of it, He provided for the universal salvation of all mankind. When the Lord formed the New Heaven He provided that every person, no matter what his background, no matter what his state of ignorance, no matter how great might be the burden of his hereditary evil . . . He provided that every single person might find his place within the kingdom of the Lord. The only requirement was that each person be in the good of life "according to his religion" (AE 452).

People who live good lives all go to heaven. In one sense this is so obvious, it seems hardly worth mentioning. We know so well, because the Writings teach it so often, that a person is not saved by faith alone, not saved by mere thought, but by living a life of good. Good people are the ones who go to heaven. This is a fundamental fact of spiritual life. It is not, though, something we should take for granted without reflection. It is not something that just happens. It is something which only the Lord makes possible. Salvation is from the Lord, not from man. Man, through the way he lives, chooses whether or not to accept the Lord's salvation. Salvation, though, is still the Lord's, and even if the man has led a life of good, it is still the Lord, and the Lord alone, who lifts him up into heaven. If the Lord had not come to redeem mankind, if the Lord had not executed the Last Judgment, then, in the words of True Christian Religion, "no mortal could have been saved" (TCR 2). And today, just as much as then, a person can be saved from hell only by the power of the Lord.

The Lord's salvation of those who are in good is the subject of the seventh chapter of Revelation. There is much said, throughout the Book of Revelation, about the judgment of the evil -- their separation and damnation are represented by powerful and often horrific imagery. A powerful influx of Divine truth into the world of spirits caused those in evil to throw themselves down, dramatically, into the dark caverns of hell.

In the seventh chapter, though, the Book of Revelation is describing the gentleness of the Divine love. Before the evil were judged, those in good had to be protected. So it is that, at the beginning of the chapter, four angels are seen, "standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree" (Rev. 7:1). The Lord withheld the full power of His influx, withheld it until those who were in good could first be separated from the evil, and protected, by a more gentle influx -- the gentle influx of love.

It is said in Apocalypse Explained that "the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and moderate influx of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, while the casting out of the evil into hell is effected by a powerful and intense influx of the Divine" (AE 426:3). And so there was seen an angel, coming up, we are told "from the rising of the sun" (Rev. 7:2, literal translation). He came from the east and therefore represented the Divine love. This angel told the four angels who held the winds not to hurt the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees -- not to flow powerfully into the ultimates of the spiritual world -- "till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads" (Rev. 7:3). The Lord, from Divine love, reaches out to and separates those in good by flowing into their love. The forehead, which is the highest part of the face, and which encloses the primary part of the brain, corresponds to the good of love. And it is through the influx of the good of love, through a seal upon the forehead, that the Lord protects those in good, and separates them from those in evil. It is said that the Lord looks upon the foreheads of those in good, "and fills them with the good of love, from which they look to the Lord from affection" (AE 427:1). Those who are not genuinely good, though, do not receive this influx. If their essential love is a selfish one, then, no matter how good they might appear in externals, they turn away from the influx, turn away from the Lord, and look toward the hells (AE 426:4).

Without this prior moderate influx of love, none of the good in the world of spirits could have been saved. They could not have been separated from the evil. Those in good are not perfect by any means. They have many imperfections -- many evils -- evils which can attach them to those in evil. Neither does any good they might have originate within themselves. Good -- genuine good -- can come only from the Lord. And so there must be this influx of love from the Lord -- an influx which strengthens the love of weak, imperfect men, and causes them to turn away from evil, away from themselves, toward the Lord Himself.

This is why we must look to the Lord for salvation -- for separation from what is evil. We strive to live lives of good, and we may trust and hope that we are good enough to enter heaven after death, after we are judged. None of us, though, are good enough for heaven, not by ourselves. We have so many evils, so many things which can bind us to the hells. And so we must look to the Lord -- look to Him for the strength, the power, the love, to put away what is evil and wrong and selfish.

To be separated from evil, to be lifted up toward the Lord in heaven, is an act of Divine salvation. So too is entrance into heaven. Entrance into heaven might seem to be a simple thing, an easy thing. In reality, though, it is a miracle. Heaven is not a place. Heaven is a state -- a state of love and wisdom, love and wisdom ultimated in use. The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses. The true wonder, the true miracle, of entrance into heaven, is that each person has his place -- a place where he is truly needed. Amongst all the myriads of angels there will be a place, a job, a role, a use, which only he can perform. The heavens are organized in a miraculous way -- organized so that they are filled with uses -- organized so that each newcomer is truly needed. When you enter heaven, your fellow angels will be expecting you, waiting for you, needing you.

The Lord's New Heaven, formed beneath the ancient heavens, was formed so as to provide an eternal dwelling place for myriads of angels. What is more, out of these myriads of angels, no two were alike, nor ever would be alike. All of them are different -- providing for a wonderful and incredible variety and complexity. This variety within the organization of the New Heaven is described by the different tribes of Israel. It is said that 144,000 were sealed upon the forehead, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel. There were 12,000 each from Judah, Reuben and Gad, 12,000 each from Asher, Naphtali and Manasseh. There was the same number from Simeon, Levi and Issachar, and from Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin. In addition to these, there was seen a great multitude, "which no one could number," "clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev. 7:9).

The twelve tribes are listed in a particular order -- not the order of their birth -- so as to signify the three degrees of the New Heaven, and the degrees within each degree. We are told that the tribes of Israel signify those who are in truths from good, and that the 144,000 or 12,000 from each tribe, signifies "all things and all persons," in reference to truths from good (AE 430:1). The innumerable multitude represents those in the ultimates and externals of the New Heaven -- those not at first in genuine truths -- but who also can be clothed in white -- that is, also receive truths from good (cf. AR 379, AE 455:1).

Truths from good! These are what make the New Heaven. To put it another way, all those in the New Heaven are in the good of love, and from that love are in truth, truth which guides them in the actual doing of good. There must be both good and truth. Indeed, it is the marriage of the good of love with the truth of doctrine which makes both the New Heaven, and also the New Church which is to descend from that heaven (see AR 349).

The angels love the Lord. And the angels love to be useful. They therefore have an intense love for the truth of doctrine -- for the teaching of the Lord. By means of truth they learn what the Lord desires, and by means of truth they can see how to perform their uses.

This is why it is that all those who enter heaven have not simply lived a good life, but have, we are told, lived a good life according to their religion (AE 452). Some people conclude that since those without the truth can be saved, truth, and doctrine, are not essential to salvation. And yet the truth of doctrine is essential to salvation. This is why those who are in ignorance are instructed in the truths of faith before they enter heaven. And those who are to enter heaven learn these truths easily -- for they love the truth. It is said that "as the good of life holds deep within it the affection of knowing truths, when such come into the other life they easily receive truths and drink them in" (AE 452). This is why it is so important, not simply to live a life of good, but to live a good life according to one's religion -- that is, to strive to learn and put into practice the teachings of one's religion. To try to live a good life without religion can involve a self-centered attitude toward good -- the person himself decides what is good and what is not. To live a life of good according to one's religion, though, implies a willingness to be led in this life of good, a willingness to be led by God. And, in the other life, such a willingness becomes a willingness to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of heaven and earth, and to learn and obey His teachings.

It is on this principle that the heavens are organized. Each angel is inspired with love by the Lord, love which causes the angel to reach out to learn the teachings of the Lord, and to then be guided by these teachings in a life of use. There is great variety. Each may grasp the Lord's truth in a different way. But the source of truth is one, and the Lord's love, which flows into this truth with each angel, brings an ever-increasing and perfect unity to the heavens.

Only the Lord can organize the heavens this way. Only the Lord can save each and every person who wants to be saved. Only the Lord can provide that each will have his place in heaven. He does this by providing that each angel might have something of His truth, so that He might flow with love into that truth, and conjoin the angel to Himself. To be in heaven is, essentially, to be in the Lord, that is, to be conjoined to the Lord. In its deepest sense, salvation is not from the Lord. Salvation is the Lord. In the deepest sense, the twelve tribes represent, not different types of angels within the New Heaven, but different attributes of the Lord Himself, the Lord who is with these angels (AE 435:4).

So it was that the great multitude, those in the ultimates of the New Heaven, were seen crying with a loud voice, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Rev. 7:10) It was an acknowledgment from the heart of the most fundamental truth of the New Heaven and the New Church, a truth which enters into all things of faith, a truth that is universal. It is the truth that the Lord is the only Savior. We can strive, and indeed we must strive, to learn the truths of doctrine, and to live these truths in life. But despite all our efforts, despite all that we might do to make ourselves ready for the kingdom of heaven, there would be no salvation without the Lord. Without the Lord we would not be lifted up above our evils. Without the Lord we would have no love in our hearts. Indeed, without the Lord, there would be no place for us in heaven, for to be in heaven, to be saved, is nothing else than to be conjoined to the Lord Himself.

Amen.

Lessons: Isa. 25:6-9; Rev. 7; AR 368