"Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him ..." (Rev. 1:7).

It is the faith of the New Church that the Lord has made His second coming. In this sermon we will examine what constitutes the second coming and how we can be deeply affected by it.

Throughout the eras of history to the present day, God has made Himself known. In His first coming He "bowed the heavens and came down," taking on a body from Mary, the mother. He did this so that we could know and love Him, so we could invite Him to be a living force in our lives. And for some this was so. When He spoke to those who loved Him and believed that He spoke the words of eternal life, their hearts burned within them. They were willing to follow Him to the death. Any doubts about His Divine power and mercy were dispersed from their minds. Even Thomas, the doubting disciple, confessed Him at last, saying, "My Lord and my God!" And the Lord said, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

Here is a test of faith. Through the centuries of the Christian era many who have not seen the Lord in the flesh have been led to believe in Him through His teachings and the power of His Holy Spirit. This belief sustained them through the hard times of their lives and blessed them in the good times. Such is the faith in the Lord that all people of good will seek.

In earlier ages God had revealed Himself through the prophets, speaking with a living voice; and in Most Ancient times, He had appeared as a loving Heavenly Father before the opened spiritual sight of an innocent race of ancient people. In those times, people had a spiritual awareness unknown today and a direct knowledge of the presence and power of their Heavenly Father.

What of today when such spiritual insight has been lost? The Lord has not forsaken us. He has come to us again. The Lord often spoke of His second coming. Once the disciples had asked, "When will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming?" He said " ... they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30).

Many Christians have waited for this sign, but in vain. The Lord was speaking in parables. He would not return to earth in person, descending in clouds from the sky. The doctrine of the New Church teaches otherwise, saying " ... that the Lord has come whenever the church has been vastated, not indeed in person, as when He assumed the human by birth and made it Divine, but by means of appearings, either manifest, as when He appeared to Abraham in Mamre, to Moses in the bush, to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai ... or not so manifest, as by inspirations through which the Word was given, and afterwards through the Word..." (AC 4060:5, emphasis added).

The Lord's second coming is by an opening of the spiritual sense of the Word. It is an interior coming to the human mind. The principle given to the New Church is that the Lord now manifests Himself through the Word and not elsewhere (see AE 36, 594:3). For the Word, which is Divine truth, "is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the church" (AE 594:3, emphasis added).

He reveals Himself to us " ... not ... with a loud voice, but inwardly ... This revelation is made by the enlightening of the internal sight, which is of the understanding," we are told. But this happens only "when a person who is in the affection of truth from good is reading the Word ... " (AC 8780). There are two conditions: We must read the Word and have an affection for the truth. These are important conditions. True enlightenment comes from the reading of the Word but not always. The light of heaven shines into the minds of those only who seek truths from the Word from a love of good.

To understand how this is a coming of the Lord, we must know that the mind "sees" in the light of heaven just as the eye sees in the light of this world. "When the understanding is enlightened by that Divine light, it then perceives that to be true which is true, it acknowledges it inwardly in itself, and as it were sees it. Such," we are told, "is the revelation of those who are in the affection of truth from good when they are reading the Word" (AC 8780:2). They see their God, know Him and love Him.

The "clouds" mentioned in the prophecies of the Lord's second coming are not the clouds we see in this world. The literal sense of the Word, its surface meaning, is what is symbolized by the "clouds." Many passages of Scripture confirm this. Some of the most significant events of Scriptural history occur in clouds: the setting of the rainbow in the cloud seen by Noah; the giving of the Ten Commandments in the midst of clouds on Mount Sinai; covering by the "bright cloud" at the transfiguration (Matt 17:5). "The Lord in this transfiguration caused Himself to be seen as the Word," we are told (AR 24). Therefore, disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with the Lord, representing the Law and the Prophets of Old Testament Scripture.

These moments of intense revelation are softened and partially obscured by the clouds. So, too, the Lord's teachings are hidden in parables and dark sayings (Mark 4:12). Throughout Scripture, clouds correspond to truths adapted or accommodated to the human mind. Such teachings serve, like clouds, to catch the light of truth, but also to shield a tender understanding from direct exposure to truth's innermost power. Just as a cloud can be a welcome relief from the glare of the noonday sun, so an idea adapted and communicated to our mind is more acceptable to us than the full force of the truth that lies at its source.

We can see this especially with children. They are not ready for abstractions. They learn from stories and living examples. So with us at any age. We grow gradually in our ability to grasp the meaning that lies hidden in the laws of life.

It may seem curious that the Lord would teach in such a way that many could not understand His meaning. Would He not speak so that all could hear and understand plainly? Because we are all in different degrees of readiness to know the truth, sometimes not receptive, at other times open to instruction, the Lord gave the Word in a form that could either hide or reveal His glory.

Swedenborg observed this appearance in the spiritual world and comments on it. "In the spiritual world there appear clouds as well as in the natural world; but the clouds in the spiritual world appear ... with those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word, darker or brighter according to their understanding and reception of the Word; the reason is," he says, "that the light of heaven there is the Divine truth, and darkness there is falsities; consequently `bright clouds' are the Divine truth veiled in appearances of truth, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in truths; and `dark clouds' are the Divine truths covered with fallacies and confirmed appearances, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in falsities. I have often seen those clouds," he says (AR 24).

From this living appearance in the spiritual world Swedenborg learned that when clouds are mentioned in the Word they mean revelation in its outermost form within which is the spirit of truth called "the glory." The "literal sense of the Word is a covering, lest its spiritual sense should be injured" (AR 24).

The Word is our most precious possession. It is God with us. Yet, even as many in Israel failed to see the Divinity of Jesus, thinking of Him only as "the carpenter's son," many fail to see God in Scripture, regarding the Biblical books as merely the product of human minds, a record of historical events or personal spiritual experiences. Such see only the "clouds" of the literal sense, dense clouds which mask the light of truth, yet there is a hidden "glory" to be seen by those whose minds are open to receive it.

Let us turn then to the Lord's promise of His second coming. He said He would come "in the clouds" with power and great glory. The fact is that the Lord has made His promised second coming. He has done this by a revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word. He has revealed His presence in the Word, has shown us He is there to be seen and approached.

In the little work entitled An Invitation to the New Church Swedenborg writes that "the spiritual sense of the Word has been disclosed by the Lord through me, which has never before been revealed since the Word was written with the sons of Israel; and this sense is the very sanctuary of the Word; the Lord Himself is in this sense with His Divine, and in the natural sense with His Human." And he adds: "Not a single iota in this sense can be opened except by the Lord alone." He then concludes: This revelation "surpasses all revelations that have hitherto been made since the creation of the world" (Inv. 44). This indeed is "the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30).

Some believe that a person might be more enlightened in spiritual things by immediate contact with spirits and angels than by reading the Word. This is not the case. The reverse is true. The enlightenment by means of the Word is effected by an interior way, while enlightenment by immediate contact comes from without. The interior way is "through the will into the understanding," we are told. "Man is enlightened through the Word by the Lord so far as his will is in good" (Verbo 29). When the Lord comes to a person through this interior way, He comes to the whole person, first to the will, and through it, to the understanding. Any other approach to the mind, through experience or instruction, is superficial and temporary. By contrast, the Lord's coming is deeply personal and lasting. A beautiful teaching in the Heavenly Doctrine tells us: "The Lord is present with every man, urging and pressing to be received; and His first coming, which is called the dawn, is when man receives Him, which he does when he acknowledges Him as his God, Creator, Redeemer, and Savior. From this time man's understanding begins to be enlightened in spiritual things, and to advance into a more and more interior wisdom ... " (TCR 766).

The people of the New Church are highly favored to receive this surpassing revelation, this miraculous opening up of the spiritual sense of the Word. Yet there is also a responsibility. We must seek for it from a love of truths, must make the light of spiritual truth our light, obey its teaching in ourselves, and teach it to others.

What does this mean to each one of us? It means that we can approach the Lord Himself in His Word. The power and glory of His Divine nature has been made visible. The Lord can speak to our hearts as we approach Him there.

But perhaps we feel like those spirits Swedenborg observed in the spiritual world who protested that they had read the Word but still did not understand it, and were not moved by it. The angels with them said, "You did not approach the Lord, and you have also confirmed yourselves in falsities" (AR 224). Not every mind is open to see the spiritual sense of the Word. We may see the clouds but not the glory. If our approach is not sincere, the Lord will hide Himself from our sight.

The fact is, "The spiritual sense of the Word is not given anyone except by the Lord alone, and it is guarded by Him as heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it" (SS 56).

The spiritual sense has been opened, but it is guarded from profanation and falsity. It will be imparted only to him who is in genuine truths from the Lord. No one can open that sense from himself, for apart from the Lord, heaven is closed, and the person sees nothing. We are also taught that "the spiritual sense will not be recognized for a long time ... " The reason is that so many in the world today are confirmed in falsities of doctrine, especially about the Lord. While these falsities remain, the truths of the Lord are not received.

The Lord has made His second coming. Who will receive Him? Those who acknowledge the Divine in the Lord's Human and are in the spiritual affection of truth from Him, that is, those who "worship the Lord alone, and will hold His Word to be holy, [who] will love Divine truths, and will reject a faith that is separate from charity" (AE 759:2; DP 264:5). All these will receive spiritual light. They will see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Herein is the prophecy of Daniel fulfilled: "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven ... Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" ( Daniel 7:13,14). "The Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages of ages!" (TCR 791) Amen.

Lessons: Exodus 33:7-23; Mark 9:2-10; 5 Mem. 16 heading, 18,19; AC 2135a

Arcana Coelestia Preface to Chapter 18 (2135a)

2135a. When [the last time of the church] is at hand, the Lord says that He "will come in the clouds of the heavens, with power and glory" (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27). Hitherto no one has known what is meant by the "clouds of the heavens." But it has been disclosed to me that nothing else is meant than the literal sense of the Word; and by "power and glory" the internal sense of the Word, for in the internal sense of the Word there is glory, since whatever is there is concerning the Lord and His kingdom ...

[2] Similar is the signification of the "cloud" which encompassed Peter, James, and John, when the Lord appeared to them in glory, of which it is said in Luke: "A voice came out of the cloud, saying, `This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him'; but when the voice had passed, Jesus was found alone" (9:35, 36), where by "Moses and Elias" who spake with the Lord was represented the Word of the Old Testament, which is also called "Moses and the Prophets" (by "Moses" his books together with the other historical books, and by "Elias" the prophet, all the books of the Prophets); but by "Peter, James, and John," as in all other places where they are named in the books of the Evangelists, were represented faith, charity, and the good of charity. That they only were present signifies that no others can see the glory of the Lord which is in His Word than those who are in faith, in its charity, and in the good of charity. Others are indeed able to see, but still do not see, because they do not believe. This is the internal sense in regard to the foregoing two passages; and in various places in the Prophets also, a "cloud" signifies the Word in its letter, and "glory" the Word in its life.