228. These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness. That this signifies from whom is all truth and the all of faith is evident from the signification of amen, as being verity and truth, which will be explained in what follows; and from the signification of the faithful and true witness, when said of the Lord, as being the all of faith from him; for witness, when said of the Lord, signifies Divine truth which is from Him, and hence the all of faith, for faith belongs to truth, and truth to faith. Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is called the witness, because it is His Divine in heaven and in the church, in which He is, and which is Himself there; for this proceeds from his Divine Human, and fills the whole heaven and forms it; this is why heaven in its whole extent has reference to one man. Such being the case with respect to Divine truth, its origin and quality, it is therefore here called the witness; for it bears witness concerning the Divine Human of the Lord, and manifests it to all who receive Divine truths from Him. It is from this fact that the angels of the higher heavens have no perception of any other Divine, nor can have, than that of the Lord's Divine Human; this arises from the influx of the whole heaven into their minds. It is therefore evident why "witness," when said of the Lord, signifies the Lord Himself as to Divine truth in heaven and in the church; and that to bear witness, when said of those who receive Divine truth from the Lord, signifies to acknowledge in heart the Lord's Divine in His Human (see above n. 27). That heaven in whole and in part has reference to one man, and that this is from the Lord's Divine Human, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 59-86, and the following, and n. 101; and that the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which forms heaven, and the angels to the image of heaven, is Divine truth, ibid., n. 13, 133, 138-140).
[2] This Divine truth is called by the Lord, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, concerning which it is said that he should testify of Him, and that he is from Him. That he does testify, or bear witness of Him is declared in John:
"When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall testify of me" (xv. 26).
And that it proceeds from Him is declared in the same Evangelist:
The Comforter, "the Spirit of truth, will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said I, He shall take of mine, and show it unto you" (xvi. 13-15).
That Divine truth is from the Lord, is meant by, He shall not speak of himself, but he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you; and that it is from the Divine Human of the Lord, is meant by; all things that the Father hath are Mine, therefore said I, that he shall take of Mine, and show it unto you. And that it manifests the Divine Human of the Lord is clear from, He shall glorify me.
To glorify, is to make known the Divine Human of the Lord. (That this is to glorify, when said of the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 294.) [3] The same is signified by these words of the Lord:
"I tell you the truth; it is expedient that I go away; if I go not away," the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, will not come "unto you" (John xvi. 7).
Hence it is clear that Divine truth is from the Lord's Divine Human. The reason why the Lord calls Himself the Amen is, that Amen signifies verity, thus the Lord Himself, because when He was in the world He was Divine verity itself, or Divine truth itself; which was also the reason why He so often said
"Amen," and "Amen, Amen;" as in Matt. v. 18, 26; vi. 16; x. 23, 42; xvii. 20; xviii. 3, 13, 18; xxiv. 2; xxviii. 20; John i. 51; iii. 11; v. 19, 24, 25; vi. 26, 32, 47, 53; viii. 34, 51, 58 x. 1, 7 xii. 24; xiii. 16, 20, 21; xxi. 18, 25.
[4] That the Lord, when He was in the world, was the Divine truth itself, He teaches in John:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (xiv. 6).
And again:
"For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth" (xvii. 19).
That holiness in the Word is said of Divine truth, and to be sanctified of those who receive holiness, may be seen above (n. 204); hence by the Lord's sanctifying Himself is meant to make His Human Divine. (But these things are further treated of and shown in Arcana Coelestia, as may be seen by what is adduced from that work in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 303-306.) Moreover, that Amen signifies Divine confirmation, may be seen above (n. 34); as also in the Old Testament (Deut. xxvii. 15-26; 1 Kings i. 36; Isa. lxv. 16; Jer. xi. 5; xxviii. 6; Ps. xli. 13; lxxii. 19; lxxxix. 52; cvi. 48).
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