[2] The reason why a comparison is made of the members of the church with the Lord himself, when it is said, "He that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne" is, that the life of the Lord upon earth was an example according to which the members of the church were to live, as the Lord Himself also teaches in John:

"I have given unto you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (xiii. 15, 17).

This is why the Lord Himself, in places, makes a comparison between Himself and His disciples, as in John:

Jesus said, "As the Father bath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (xv. 9, 10).

Again:

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world" (xvii. 16, 18).

Again:

"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (xx. 21).

Again:

"The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me. Father, I will that they also whom thou bast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou bast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (xvii. 22-24, 26).

The reason why the Lord spoke of His conjunction with men as of His conjunction with the Father, that is, of His Human with the Divine which was in Himself, is that the Lord is not conjoined with man's proprium, but with what is His own. The Lord removes man's proprium, and gives from His own, and in that He dwells. That this is the case is also known in the church, as is clear from the prayer used by, and the exhortation addressed to, those who approach the Sacrament of the Supper, in which are these words: "If with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us: we are one with Christ, and Christ with us." And in John vi. 56. (But these things may be better comprehended from what is shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, n, 11. 12).

Hence, then, because the Divine of the Lord received by angels and men constitutes heaven and the church in them, they are one with the Lord, as He and the Father are one. [3] In order that it may be yet more fully known how is to be understood what the Lord says, that He sits with His Father in His throne, it is to be noted that the throne of God denotes heaven, as was shown in the preceding article, also that heaven is heaven from the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called Divine truth, as was said above. The Lord Himself is not in heaven, but is above the heavens, and appears to those who are in the heavens as a Sun. The reason why the Lord appears as a Sun is because He is Divine love, and Divine love appears to the angels as solar fire; whence also sacred fire in the Word signifies Love Divine. From the Lord as a Sun proceed light and heat: the light which proceeds, because it is spiritual light, is Divine truth; and the heat, because it is spiritual heat, is Divine good. The latter, namely, the Divine good, is meant by the Father in heaven. (That the Lord is the Sun of heaven, and that the light and heat proceeding therefrom are the Divine truth united with the Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 116-125, also n. 126-140: and that heaven is heaven from the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, n. 7- 12). It is therefore evident what is meant by Father in the heavens, and heavenly Father, as in Matthew:

Do good to your enemies, "that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in the heavens" (v. 44, 45).

Again:

"Be ye perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect" (verse 48).

Again:

"You who are evil, know to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask him" (vii. 11).

Again:

"He that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens" (vii. 21).

Again:

"Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (xv. 13).

Also in many other passages, in Matt. v. 16: vi. 1, 6, 8; xii. 50; xvi. 17; xviii. 14, 19, 35; Mark ix. 25, 26; Luke xi. 13.

[4] That the Divine good is meant by the Father is also evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (xviii. 10).

By their beholding the face of their Father who is in the heavens is signified that they receive Divine good from the Lord. That they do not actually see His face is evident from the words of the Lord in John:

"No one hath seen the Father at any time" (i. 18; v. 37; vi. 46).

The same is evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens" (xxiii. 9).

That no man is forbidden to call his father upon earth "father" is evident, nor is it here forbidden by the Lord; but this was said because by Father is meant the Divine good, and there is none good except the one God (xix. 17). The reason why the Lord spoke thus is that by the Father in the Word of both Testaments is meant, in the spiritual sense, the Divine good, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia, n. 3703, 5902, 6050. 7833, 7834; and also heaven and the church as to good, Arcana Coelestia, n. 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897; and by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, the Divine good of His Divine love, Arcana Coelestia, n. 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897).