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“The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” (Matthew 13:39)

We often think about the Lord and “the devil” in opposition, fighting a spiritual war over our souls. This is not a wrong analogy for thinking about spiritual struggles, but it is importnat to remember that it’s only a human point of view. What power does Satan really have? Only the power to deceive and persuade, and only that because it is permitted by the Lord for the sake of human freedom.

Of course, the writings for the New Church teach us that there is no one person who is The Devil or Satan, no immortal person with the power to oppose the Lord’s will. Instead, it is the Lord who governs hell just like He governs heaven and all of creation. This government we call Divine Providence because the Lord provides everything we have and everything we need to reach heaven. And there is no such thing as infernal Providence. The hells are not able to influence the order of things; they cannot cause bad things to happen to people. This becomes obvious when we realize that the hells are populated not by immortal demons, but by human beings who opposed the Lord’s will while they lived in the world. They have no more power in hell than they did here.

The influence they do have, which is permitted by the Lord’s government, is to whisper lies in an attempt to deceive and persuade us to also oppose the Lord’s will. This was how the serpent was able to get the woman to eat of the forbidden tree. And this was how the evil man was able to get tares to grow in the wheat. Evil spirits cannot cause seeds to sprout or trees to bear fruit; they can only use tricks and lies to convince us to behave selfishly. The devil cannot make anyone do anything. The Lord ensures that we always have the ability to rationally choose to do what is good and ignore the lies.

To see that this is true, read Genesis 3:1-13; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; and Heaven and Hell 544.

(This is a synopsis of the sermon preached by the Rev. Amos Glenn at Pittsburgh New Church at 11:00 am on Sunday, August 27, 2006. (Click here to listen to the complete sermon.)

And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. (Genesis 4:26)

What sort of emotions and thoughts well up inside us when we are talking about the religion of the New Church with other people? When we love something about our religion, it can hurt a little bit when someone disagrees. On the other hand, sometimes when we are zealously defending a doctrine, zeal can turn into condemnation as we stop teaching and start hammering. How does the Lord want us to treat our neighbors who do not know about, those who do not understand, and even those who denounce the New Church religion? Our answer to this question (which is how we behave in such a situation) reveals something of the quality of our own religious life.

The story of Cain and Abel teaches us about the consequences of a bad choice. Abel corresponds to the life of charity. Cain corresponds to the separation of faith from charity, that is, acting as if a correct understanding was an essential part of the life of religion. When you are talking with a person who does not believe in the teachings of the New Church you have two sorts of choices: Being like Abel is to act from charity, to love this person as part of the Lord’s church when they behave according to what they believe because of a desire to be a good person. Being like Cain is to condemn the person for false understanding regardless of their life, an attempt to forcibly replace their religion with your own religion based on your belief that your understanding is correct and their’s is not and putting yourself in the place of teaching Truth.

It’s easy to see that the Lord wants us to spiritually be Abels. He teaches us that those who separate faith from charity end up thrown out from the presence of the Lord, the end result of which is Lamech, who corresponds to utter destruction. We live in a time when faith is easy to separate from charity. In our zeal to cooperate with the Lord in growing the New Jerusalem, it feels very much like we need to get other people to accept the Doctrines of the New Church. But truths do not build the Church, only a life of charity. The energetic yet gentle sharing of the Lord’s gifts is how the Lord wants us to treat everyone.

To see that this is true, read Luke 10:25-37; Genesis 4:1-26; and Arcana Caelestia 4468.

(This is a synopsis of the sermon preached by the Rev. Amos Glenn at Pittsburgh New Church at 11:00am on August 20, 2006.)

“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11)

While living in this world, we feel very much like our life is our own and our thoughts and feelings begin within ourselves. But that feeling is deceptive. These feelings are not inappropriate, but are gifts from the Lord that allow us to experience all of the delights of life as existing within us as well. There is a use, however, in acknowledging that all of these things we experience are not really within us at all, but flow into our minds from the spiritual world—good thoughts and feelings from the Lord through heaven, evil thoughts and feelings from the hells—by means of the spirits that accompany us all the time. This is most important to remember when we undergo temptation. The desire to do something we know is wrong does not originate within us. It is put into us by evil spirits. We cannot control the thoughts and feelings that the evil spirits put into our minds, only our response to them. As the Lord said, what goes into a person does not defile him, but what comes out of him. We have little control over what comes into our minds and should not mistake them for who we are. Instead, who we are is determined by what comes out of our minds and into our bodies to become words and actions. The thoughts and feelings that pop into our minds in response to situations or people are not “us” and can be shunned simply by putting them aside and making the decision to act on other feelings and thoughts that agree with who we want to be.

To see that this is true, read Genesis 32:3-8; Matthew 15:1-20; and Arcana Caelestia 4249.

(This is a synopsis of the sermon preached by the Rev. Amos Glenn at Pittsburgh New Church at 11:00am on August 13, 2006.)

“If you want to enter into life, keep the Commandments.” Matthew 19:17

“Every religion has teachings similar to the Ten Commandments, and everyone who lives according to the commandments is
saved” Emanuel Swedenborg

Have you been searching for a guide to point you in the right direction? Life’s journey can take us in many different directions, however, the purpose is not always clear. God has provided the tools – the Ten Commandments – to help us through the journey.

We are excited to announce that Pittsburgh New Church, along with seven other New Church congregations around the country will be running a program based on the Ten Commandments and the book Rise Above It by Ray and Star Silverman.

Call (412) 731-7421 or email Pastor@PittsburghNewChurch.org for more information and to register. Program begins September 17th, so hurry!

…And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)

Anyone can go to heaven, no matter what church they go to, no matter what doctrines they are taught, so long as they try to shun evils and live a life of charity. So why do people join the New Church if salvation isn’t “on the line”? To relieve suffering.

The Lord is Love, and so He wants nothing more than for us to be happy. Yet, there is a lot of suffering in the world. We all suffer at one time or another, and if we’re not suffering now, it’s not hard for us to find someone around us who is. Some suffering is small, some is very great. And so, the Lord provides us with a way to be healed.

The Book of Revelation ends with a beautiful image of the heavenly city New Jerusalem. In its midst grows the Tree of Life, about which we are told, “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” The city is an image of what the Lord’s New Church is meant to be like here, today. This final chapter of the Bible also presents an image of what each one of us is meant to be like. The “leaves of the tree” are the rational truths of the New Church, and “the nations” are all those people who suffer because of evil desires and false beliefs. Who of us does that not describe? So these “leaves”-these new, rational truths of the New Church-have the power to heal us when we suffer. This is no empty promise, as anyone who has experienced this in their own lives can tell you.

So if you are suffering, turn to these new truths, and you will find relief. And if you have experienced the healing power for yourself already, then go out, and be a healer. The Lord has anointed you to preach the good news and heal the brokenhearted.

To see that this is true, read Isaiah 61:1-3, Revelation 22:1-5, and Apocalypse Revealed 936:1-2.

(This is a synopsis of the sermon preached by the Rev. “Mac” Frazier at Pittsburgh New Church at 11:00am on August 6, 2006. You can listen to it now or read a text version offsite.)