Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 532[2] There is a comparison made between the men of the churchand the Lord Himself, in His saying, “He that overcometh I willgive to him to sit with Me in My throne, as I also have overcomeand sit with My Father in His throne,” because the Lord’s life inthe world was an example according to which the men of thechurch are to live, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:I have even unto you an example that ye also should do as I havedone to you. If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them(13:16, 17).So in other places the Lord compares Himself with others; forexample, in John:Jesus said, Even as the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you;abide ye in My love, as I have kept My Father’s commandments, andabide in His love (15:9, 10).They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As Thoudidst send Me into the world, even so sent I them into the world(17:16, 18).As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you (20:21).The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; thatthey may be one even as we are one, I in them, Thou in Me. Father,those whom Thou hast given Me, I win that where I am they also maybe with Me, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.I have made known unto them Thy name, and win make it known thatthe love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them(17:22–24, 26).The Lord spoke of His conjunction with men in the same way asHe spoke of His conjunction with the Father, that is, theconjunction of His Human with the Divine that was in Him, forthe reason that the Lord is not conjoined with what is man’s own(proprio), but with His own that is with man. The Lord removeswhat is man’s own (proprium), and gives of His own, and dwells inthat. That this is so is known in the church, as is clear from thecustomary prayer and exhortation to those who come to thesacrament of the Supper, in which are these words: