Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 3.djvu/191

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XV.

THE SPECIFIC CHURCH.

THERE is no possibility of conjunction with heaven unless there be, in some part of the earth, a church which is in possession of the Word, and is thereby acquainted with the Lord. For the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and without Him there is no salvation.

It is enough that there be a church which is in possession of the Word, although it may consist of a very few persons in respect to the whole human race; for by means of the Word so possessed, the Lord is present in every country on the face of the earth, since by that means heaven is in conjunction with mankind.


WHAT CONSTITUTES THE CHURCH.

That which constitutes heaven in man, also constitutes the church in him; for as love and faith constitute heaven, so likewise do they constitute the church. (N. J. D. 241.) The church is in man and not out of him; and the church at large consists of the men in whom the church is. — The same may be said of the church as of heaven, for the church is the Lord's heaven on earth; — [and] it can in no case be said

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