78. Moreover, the Lord is present and conjoined with man through the Word because the Lord is the Word, and He, as it were, converses in it with man; and further, because the Lord is Divine Truth itself, and the Word also is Divine Truth. From this it is evident that the Lord is present with man, and at the same time conjoined with him, according to his understanding of the Word; for, according to that, man has truth and consequently faith, and also love and consequently life. The Lord, however, is present with man through the reading of the Word; but He is conjoined with him through his understanding of truth from the Word and according to it; and in the degree that the Lord is conjoined with man, the Church is in him. The Church is within man. The Church that is outside of him is the Church among the many within whom the Church exists. This is meant by the Lord's words to the Pharisees who asked when the kingdom of God should come:
The kingdom of God is within you. Luke xvii 21.
By the kingdom of God is here meant the Lord, and the Church from Him.