25. The Lord has disclosed the Word’s spiritual sense at the present day because a doctrine of genuine truth has now been revealed. And this doctrine, and no other, accords with the Word’s spiritual sense.

This sense is moreover symbolized by the Lord’s appearing on the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matthew 24:30-31), in a chapter dealing with the end of the age, meaning the ultimate end of the church.

An opening of the Word in respect to its spiritual sense was also promised in the book of Revelation. This sense is there meant by the white horse, and by the great supper to which all are summoned (Revelation 19:11-18).

The spiritual sense will for a long time not be acknowledged, and that solely because of people caught up in doctrinal falsities, especially falsities regarding the Lord, who therefore do not give entrance to truths. That is meant in the book of Revelation by the beast and the kings of the earth that were gathered to make war against Him who sat on the white horse (Revelation 19:19). The beast means Roman Catholics, as in chapter 17:3 there, and the kings of the earth mean those Protestant Reformed who are caught up in doctrinal falsities.

3. The natural man, however, still cannot be persuaded by these considerations that the Word is Divine truth itself, containing Divine wisdom and Divine life; for he regards it in terms of its style, in which he does not see this wisdom and life.

Nevertheless, the style in the Word is the Divine style itself, with which no other style can be compared, however sublime and admirable it seems. For it is as darkness compared to light.

The style in the Word is such that there is something holy in every sentence and in every word, indeed in some places in the very letters. Because of that the Word conjoins a person with the Lord and opens heaven.

[2] There are two emissions emanating from the Lord: Divine love and Divine wisdom. Or to say the same thing, Divine goodness and Divine truth. For Divine goodness is a property of His Divine love, and Divine truth a property of His Divine wisdom. In its essence the Word is both of these. And because, as we said, it conjoins a person with the Lord and opens heaven, therefore the Word fills a person who reads it prompted by the Lord, and not by himself simply. It fills him with the goodness of love and truths of wisdom — his will with the goodness of love, and his intellect with truths of wisdom. The person has life as a result through the Word.