1. The Lord is the Word because the Word is from Him and treats of Him.
2. Also because it is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good.
3. Therefore to be taught from the Word is to be taught from Him.
4. The fact that this is done mediately through preaching does not destroy its immediate nature.

[2] First: The Lord is the Word because it is from Him and treats of Him. That the Word is from the Lord is not denied by anyone in the Church; but that the Word treats of the Lord alone is not indeed denied, neither is it known. This has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 1-7 and n. 37-44); and in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 62-69, 80-90, 98-100). Now since the Word is from the Lord alone and treats of the Lord alone, it follows that when a man is taught from the Word he is taught from the Lord, for the Word is Divine. Who can communicate the Divine and implant it in the heart except the Divine Himself from whom it is derived and of whom it treats? When, therefore, the Lord speaks of this conjunction of Himself with the disciples He says:

That they should abide in Him, and His words in them. John xv. 7. That His words were spirit and life. John vi. 63. And that He makes His abode with those who keep His words. John xiv. 20-24.

Therefore to think from the Lord is to think from the Word and, as it were, through the Word. It has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE from beginning to end, that all things of the Word have communication with heaven; and as the Lord is heaven, this means that all things of the Word have communication with the Lord Himself. The angels of heaven do indeed have communication; but this also is from the Lord.

[3] Second: The Lord is the Word because it is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good. That the Lord is the Word He teaches in John in these words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John i. 1, 14.

As this passage has hitherto been understood to mean only that God taught men through the Word, therefore it has been explained as a hyperbolical expression, implying that the Lord is not the Word itself. The reason is that men did not know that by the Word is meant the Divine Truth of the Divine Good, or, what is the same, the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love. That these are the Lord Himself is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, First Part; and that these are the Word is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 1-86).

[4] How the Lord is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good will also be briefly stated here. Every man is a man not from his face and body but from the good of his love and the truths of his wisdom; and because a man is a man from these, every man is also his own truth and his own good, or his own love and his own wisdom; and without these he is not a man. But the Lord is Good itself and Truth itself, or, what is the same, Love itself and Wisdom itself; and these are the Word which in the beginning was with God and which was God, and which was made flesh.

[5] Third: Therefore to be taught from the Word is to be taught by the Lord Himself, because it is to be taught from Good itself and from Truth itself, or from Love itself and from Wisdom itself, which are the Word, as has been said; but everyone is taught according to the understanding appropriate to his own love; what is taught beyond this does not remain. All those who are taught by the Lord in the Word are instructed in a few truths while in the world, but in many when they become angels. For the interiors of the Word, which are Divine spiritual and Divine celestial things, are implanted at the same time but are not opened in a man until after his death, when he is in heaven where he is in angelic wisdom; and this in comparison with human wisdom, that is, his former wisdom, is ineffable. It may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26) that Divine spiritual and Divine celestial things, which constitute angelic wisdom, are present in all things of the Word in general and in particular.

[6] Fourth: The fact that this is done mediately by preaching does not destroy its immediate nature. The Word can only be taught mediately through parents, teachers, preachers, books, and especially through the reading of it. Nevertheless, it is not taught by these, but by the Lord through them. This, moreover, is in keeping with what preachers know, for they say that they do not speak from themselves but from the spirit of God, and that all truth, as also all good, is from God. They are indeed able to declare the Word and bring it to the understanding of many, but not to the heart of anyone; and what is not in the heart perishes in the understanding; and by the heart is meant man's love. From these considerations it may be seen that man is led and taught by the Lord alone; and that he is taught immediately by Him when this is done from the Word. This is the central truth (arcanum) of angelic wisdom.