new church life: september/october 2015
yields conjunction with Him. (Arcana Coelestia 3464, 5120:5; New Jerusalem
and its Heavenly Doctrine 212) Because of this, the Holy Supper is said to be
“the holiest act of worship.” (Ibid. 210)
5. Service
While all of the above expressions of love to the Lord have their merit, the
greatest of all expressions of love to Him are acts of useful service. In the
memorable relation in which new spirits are allowed to experience the results
of their mistaken ideas of what leads to heavenly joy, some spirits are permitted
to experience their particular vision of heaven, which consisted of nothing
but prayers, worship and unending Sabbath. When the spirits quickly became
bored with such activities, angels talked to the priests ministering to them,
saying:
From heaven we have seen you with your flock and how you feed them. You feed
them to insanity! You do not know what is meant by glorifying God. It means
to bring forth the fruits of love, that is, to perform the work of one’s occupation
faithfully, honestly and diligently. For this is the effect of love of God and love of the
neighbor, and it is what binds society together and makes its goodness. It is by this
that God is glorified, and afterwards by worship at prescribed times.
(Conjugial Love 9)
This concept is further confirmed in Heaven and Hell 222, which says:
“The essential divine worship in the heavens does not consist of going to
church regularly and listening to sermons but of a life of love, thoughtfulness
and faith in keeping with doctrine. The sermons in church serve only as means
of instruction in how to live.”
External worship also has its use, but expressing love to the Lord is not a
Sunday-only act; it is how we choose to live
every day that confirms our love for Him.
Arcana Coelestia 7038, which proclaims
external worship as “necessary,” clarifies this
claim with the requirement that the person
also engage in acts of useful service. Without
service external worship is a mere shell.
True worship to the Lord is clearly more
than a simple external activity, and worship
is also neither mere belief nor mere feelings
of love. Rather, worship is living a life in
accord with the Lord’s commandments.
(Arcana Coelestia 10645:2) The Lord is His
commandments and living according to them
is following Him. (Apocalypse Revealed 556)
External worship
also has its use but
expressing love to
the Lord is not a
Sunday-only act; it
is how we choose
to live every day
that confirms our
love for Him.
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