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Preached on 06-13-99

THE WORD OF THE LORD

A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose

""That people, therefore, may not continue to doubt whether the Word is Divine and most holy, the Lord has revealed to me its internal sense, which in its essence is spiritual, and which is within the external sense, which is natural, as the soul is in the body." (TCR 192)

WE WOULD CONSIDER this morning one of the most fundamental doctrines of the New Church, namely, this teaching that the literal sense of the Word has within it a spiritual sense.

It is indeed a fundamental doctrine. It is, for example, one of the very first things we would tell someone who asked us about our religion. We might say that we believe that God is one Person and that the Trinity is within Him. We might say that there is a life after death. We might say that we are saved, not by faith alone, but by a life according to the Ten Commandments. And in this brief ummary of our faith we would also say that we believe that the Word has an internal sense.

The fact that the Word has an internal sense is, moreover, the very first thing taught by the Writings. The first book of the Writings to appear before the world was the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia, published, in London, in the year 1749. And the first three numbers of this book explain why it is that the Word of God has an internal sense, even though the Christian world is profoundly unaware of its existence.

Not only is this the first thing taught, but it is also something treated of throughout the Writings. Well over half the volumes of the Writings are expositions of the internal sense. Besides this, there are also at least four books which treat of the nature of the Word in a more general way. If we went even further, and considered all references in the Writings to the internal sense of the Word, the list would be virtually endless. That the Word has an internal sense is something taught time and time again, throughout the whole of the Heavenly Doctrines. Indeed in a very real sense the Heavenly Doctrines are a revelation of that sense. The Second Coming of the Lord is said to be a coming in the Word, a coming in the clouds of heaven, that is, coming to reveal the glory of the internal sense.

The internal sense of the Word is thus something so fundamental, so intrinsic to the teachings of the New Church, that we tend, at times, to take it for granted. "But of course the Word has an internal sense," we say to ourselves. It is not surprising, then, that we tend to underestimate the true significance of this doctrine, and, indeed, even misunderstand it.

Perhaps the most common way of thinking of the internal sense is in terms of some kind of code. Though the Word might talk on the natural plane about various people, objects and actions, these correspond to spiritual things. Water stands for truth. Fire stands for love. The land of Canaan stands for heaven or the church. We can in fact build up a dictionary -- indeed a Dictionary of Correspondences has actually been published in the past. And to build up a collection of correspondences in this way is by no means wrong. Indeed, the Writings themselves give the signification of many of the words which are found in the Old and New Testaments. And we can learn or compile lists of these significations, as if it were a matter of factual knowledge. In ancient times there was indeed a science of correspondences -- and by science is here meant a body of knowledge.

Such knowledge is important in helping us to see the internal sense of the Word. On the other hand, we make a mistake if we think of the internal sense as something which we can simply decipher from the literal sense, by means of a dictionary of correspondences.

That this is impossible, we can see to be so merely from the fact that a particular word in the literal sense does not always signify one and the same thing. Fire can indeed stand for love. It can also stand for hatred. Water may stand for truth. It may also stand for falsity, as, for example, in the story of the flood. The signification changes with the context. Now some people outside the New Church have accused us of conveniently changing the correspondences of words, so as to make the Word say whatever we want it to say. What such people overlook is the fact that such variation in meaning and symbolism is a normal part of any language. The word "heart," for example, has a number of different meanings. It can refer to the actual organ in the body. It can be used to refer to the centre of something -- "this is the heart of the town," we might say. It can refer to the most crucial part of something -- "the heart of an argument, for example. It can refer to what a person loves -- we might say that "our heart is not in" something we are doing. And it can also, of course, refer to that special love which can exist between a man and a woman -- in so-called "affairs of the heart."

How, in everyday speech, do we understand what is actually meant by the word "heart"? It is from the context. If we are listening to the speaker, if we understand what he is talking about, then we can know what particular meaning is implied.

It is similar with the internal sense of the Word. We cannot simply take something like a dictionary of correspondences and as it were mechanically translate the literal sense into the internal sense. We need to understand the context of the internal sense. We need to understand what the Lord is talking about. Otherwise, a knowledge of various correspondences will not lead us to the internal sense. Indeed, we can be dangerously misled. It is said in True Christian Religion that if a person "possesses a knowledge of correspondences, and by means of it seeks to explore the spiritual sense of the Word from his own intelligence," then "he is able to pervert that sense, and wrest it to confirm even what is false" (TCR 208). Because of this, heaven is closed to someone who seeks to enter the spiritual sense in this way, with the result, we are told, that he either sees nothing of the truth, or else becomes spiritually insane (ibid.)

This is why it is that a person must be in genuine truths from the Lord if he is to see anything of the spiritual sense. He must have some understanding of that truth which is in the internal sense, if he is to interpret it correctly. Without such an understanding he will come up with all kinds of false and crazy ideas.

This is why the Writings, in revealing the internal sense, teach us also about doctrine. They are filled with doctrinal teachings -- doctrine directly out of heaven from the Lord Himself -- doctrine which helps us understand what the Lord is speaking about in the internal sense. It is also why we are given lengthy expositions of the internal sense. When, for example, we read in the Arcana about the correspondence of, say, Lot, we are shown how his representation actually changes, depending on the context of what is being spoken of in the internal sense.

What is the Lord really doing in the Writings? By revealing the doctrine of genuine truth, by reviving the knowledge of correspondences, and by providing us with detailed expositions of the internal sense, He is helping us to understand the meaning of what He is telling us.

This is why the revelation of the internal sense is so central to the Writings. To understand what the Lord is saying to us is to understand Him. And to understand the Lord is to see Him -- see the nature of His Divine Mind. The revelation of the internal sense is indeed the Second Coming of the Lord Himself.

Now this coming of the Lord to the human understanding is something that took place in history. It has already taken place, and was accomplished through the giving of the Writings. In this sense we can indeed say that we have and see the internal sense. We can, for example, pick up Apocalypse Revealed, and actually read the internal sense of the Book of Revelation. Or, we can pick up the Arcana, and read the internal sense of Genesis. But the internal sense is not something that we simply have, and that is that. We ourselves have to make an effort if we are to actually enter into it with understanding. And this effort is not merely an intellectual one. If we are to enter into the very spirit of what the Lord teaches in the internal sense, then we must be making progress along the path of regeneration. How can we truly understand what the Lord is saying, if our hearts are filled with hatred and selfishness?

What the Lord is doing in the Writings is inviting us to enter into the very spirit of His words. When a person talks, or writes, his words contain something of his affection as well as his understanding. When the Lord speaks, His words contain, and indeed are filled, with His Love and His Wisdom. If we do not sense this to at least some degree, then we miss the meaning of He is telling us. We fail to grasp the spirit, and thus the true sense, of what He is saying.

Now in one sense we can say that the internal sense of the Word is what is written down and explained in the Writings. The Writings set forth the internal sense. But the Writings do not only use the phrase, "internal sense." They also speak of the "spiritual sense," to emphasize that this sense is indeed something spiritual. It is indeed set forth, in the words of natural language, in the pages of the Writings. In essence, though, the sense within the Word is spiritual -- a matter of the spirit -- something that has to do with both perception and love.

The spiritual sense is present within the sense of the letter, the Writings say, as the thought is present within the eyes, or the affection is present within the face (TCR 194). We all know what it is like when we are listening to someone we know, someone we are close to. We focus not so much upon his actual words, but upon the thought within them, and the feeling with which he expresses himself. We look into his eyes, and understand what he is thinking about. We see his face, and we know what he is feeling. And a similar thing happens when somebody approaches the Lord in the Word, and approaches with humility. He senses something of the Lord's wisdom, and feels to some degree the warmth of His love. This is something he will miss completely if, for example, he is thinking, not of the Lord, but of three separate Divine Persons; he will not sense this if he lacks humility and is thinking of his own intelligence. But when a humble man approaches the Lord in His Word, something truly wonderful occurs, or can occur. In some small way he actually sees the Lord -- sees His wisdom, and feels His love.

This is no ordinary wisdom, no ordinary love. That very wisdom which created the universe itself is contained within and expressed through the Word of God. That very love which underlies all creation, and which reaches out, in infinite fullness, to every single human being in the universe -- this very love is within the words of Divine Revelation.

The spiritual sense is not somehow separate from the letter of the Word. It is the spirit of the letter. Without the literal sense, we are taught, the Word would not really be the Word (TCR 214). And so these books the Lord has given us are truly amazing. There is the Old Testament, the New Testament, and there are the Writings. In these books the Lord Himself is speaking to us, with infinite wisdom, and infinite love.

This is why it is that the spiritual sense, the spirit of the Lord's words, is both hidden within, and also expressed by, the literal sense. We might sometimes wonder, with some sense of frustration, why it is that the letter of the Word is so obscure? We might, for example, be reading from Leviticus, about the laws regarding leprosy. Why is the Lord talking this way in His Word? Of course, we realize that there is an internal sense within these words, and by means of the explanations given in the Writings, we can come to understand something of this internal sense. The Writings, it could be said, explain and reveal, rather than contain and conceal, the internal sense. But even what is said in the Writings can, in some places, seem difficult and obscure. Why doesn't what the Lord says seem more clear?

Consider, though, what we are really doing when we are listening to the Lord in His Word. We are approaching the Lord Himself -- His wisdom, and His love, both of which are, in themselves, infinite.

It is worth asking ourselves the question -- if we should come face to face with infinite wisdom, how would that wisdom appear? It might so overpower our minds -- so overwhelm our thoughts -- that it would destroy us. On the other hand, it might be so far above our understanding, that we would fail to recognize it, fail to understand it. It would seem obscure, and at times unintelligible. The fact is, we do indeed come face to face with infinite wisdom -- for this is what the Word is. Now the infinite wisdom of the Word does not destroy us. The Lord has accommodated it in such a way that we might be protected from destruction. We instead behold this infinite wisdom, and at times fail to understand it, and fail to recognize it for what it is.

Whatever obscurity appears to us when we read the Word is not in the Word. It is in ourselves. Our minds are finite, and are not only finite, but are also obscured by whatever falsities we have imbibed. And, indeed, it is of the mercy of the Lord that we do not fully understand everything that we read -- for the consequence would be the total destruction of the human mind. A finite mind cannot contain infinite wisdom. At the same time, though, the Lord, through His Word, makes it possible for us to receive, in a way accommodated to our finite and very feeble minds, a small measure of His wisdom and His love.

As we read His Word, and as we turn to Him in complete humility, He can bless us with the light of His wisdom, and with the warmth of His love. The Word might seem, to the merely natural person, to be an obscure, and often frustrating document -- something of dubious value. But in reality the Word of God is nothing other than the Divine wisdom and Divine love of the Lord Himself. It is so full of life, and so full of power, that if we turn to it in humility, then the Lord can, through His Word, bless us with His love and wisdom to all eternity.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever" (Isa. 40:8).

Amen.

Lessons: Ps.119:89-104; Jn.1:1-14; TCR 192