7. To be specific about the teaching which will now follow, that too comes from heaven, because it is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and that sense is the same as the teaching which exists in heaven. For there is a church in heaven just as much as on earth. There the Word is to be found, and teaching from the Word; there are church buildings there, and sermons are preached in them. There too are to be found church and secular systems of government. In short, the only difference between things in the heavens and those on earth is that everything in the heavens is in a higher state of perfection, because all the people there are spiritual, and what is spiritual is immeasurably more perfect than what is natural. These facts can make it clear what is meant by the holy city, New Jerusalem, being seen to come down from God out of heaven. But I shall now proceed to the actual teaching intended for the new church. Since this has been revealed to me from heaven, it is called heaven's teaching; for it is the aim of this book to convey this.