AE 543c - a caution regarding the sensual

AE 543c
The sensual person falsifies the Word more than others,
because the ultimate sense of the Word,
which is the sense of its letter,
is for the natural and sensual person,
while the interior sense is for the spiritual person;
consequently when a person is not a spiritual person,
but is natural and sensual,
and is in evil and in falsities therefrom,
he does not see the truths and goods in the Word,
but applies its ultimate sense to confirm his falsities and evils.

AE 543a - stages

AE 543a [2-3]
But here it shall first be told what is meant by a person's ultimate sensual.
It does not mean the sensual of sight, of hearing,
of smell, of taste, and of touch, for these things are proper to the body,
but the ultimate of thought and affection,
which is the first to be opened with infants,
and which is such that they think of nothing else
and are affected by no other objects
than what make one with the senses just named.
For infants learn to think by means of the senses,
and to be affected by objects
that are in accord with the things that are pleasing to the senses;
consequently the first internal that is opened with them is the sensual
that is called a person's ultimate sensual, or the corporeal-sensual.
But afterwards, as the infant grows older and becomes a child,
a more interior sensual is opened,
from which he thinks naturally, and is also affected naturally.

Later, in youth and early adulthood, a still more interior sensual is opened,
from which he thinks rationally,
and if he is in the good of charity and faith, he thinks spiritually,
and is also affected rationally and spiritually.
This thought and affection is what is called the rational and spiritual person,
while the former is called the natural person, and the first the sensual person.

With every person the interiors
that are of his thought and affection are opened successively,
and this by a continuous influx out of heaven from the Lord.
By this influx the sensual that most nearly adheres to the body is first formed,
and from this person becomes sensual;
afterwards the natural from which he becomes natural;
and after this the rational and with it the spiritual,
from which he becomes a rational and spiritual person;
but this he becomes only so far as he thinks
about God and about the Divine things that are from God,
and this is formed and perfected so far as he is affected by these things,
that is, so far as he wills and lives according to them.

AE 539a - smoke

AE 539a [2,4]
"Sodom and Gomorrah" in the spiritual sense
mean those who are altogether in the loves of self;
therefore the smoke that Abraham saw rising from their land after the burning,
signifies the dense falsity pertaining to those
who are altogether in the love of self;
for those who love themselves supremely
are in the thickest darkness in respect to things spiritual and celestial,
for they are merely natural and sensual,
and are wholly separated from heaven;
and then they not only deny Divine things,
but they think out falsities by which to destroy them.
These falsities are what are signified
by the "smoke" seen rising from Sodom and Gomorrah.

. . . the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality;
to those who are in truths from good He appears as a serene light,
but to those who are in falsities from evil as smoke from fire.

AE 538b - in the spiritual sense

AE 538b [12]
. . . in the spiritual sense of the Word
there is much that treats of the Lord's temptations
by which He subjugated the hells
and arranged all things in order in the heavens and in the hells,
and by which He glorified His Human . . .

AE 537a - truth and good together

AE 537a [4,5]
. . . salvation is from the Lord by means of Divine truth from the Word . . ..

. . . as every truth is from good,
or everything of faith from charity,
and as those who separate and exclude good from truth,
or charity from faith,
possess no genuine truth of doctrine,
but every truth of the Word with them is like the meaning of the mere words
with no perception of the thing,
thus like a shell without a kernel,
so they dispute about the truths of faith . . ..

AE 535 & 536 - communication & conjunction

AE 535 [3]
. . . the essential thing in heaven is the good of life,
which is the same as the good of love to the Lord
and the good of charity towards the neighbor;
for in heaven everyone has perception of truth,
intelligence, and wisdom, in accordance with that good.

AE 536 [3]
. . . it is by means of the Sacred Scripture or the Word
that there is communication and consequent conjunction with heaven,
. . . and truths are what open the communication,
and the goods of truth are what constitute conjunction,
while truths falsified, which in themselves are the falsities of evil,
are what cause disjunction . . .

AE 529 - and again

AE 529
. . . where the Lord is present, there is enlightenment.

AE 526 - a cloud & His glory

AE 526 [16]
. . . as the sense of the letter of the Word is natural,
that sense also is called in the Word "a cloud," and also "darkness,"
in comparison with the internal spiritual sense,
which is the light of heaven, and is called "glory."

AE 520 - truth is to be applied to confirm the goods of life

AE 520
. . . all things of the Word are truths,
but when they are applied and made use of
to confirm evils of the life, and false principles of religion,
then the truths of the Word are intermingled with the falsities of evil,
and they are consequently no longer truths,
but truths falsified, which in themselves are falsities.
In order that the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word
may continue to be truths,
they must be applied to confirm goods of the life,
and true principles of religion,
but if they are drawn aside and diverted from this application as their end,
they are no longer truths,
because there is not any perception of truth in them.
Perception of truth comes from good, but not from evil.

AE 518b - trees & gardens; rivers & waters

AE 518b
Where trees and gardens are treated of in the Word,
waters and rivers to water them are also mentioned,
for the reason that "trees" signify perceptions and knowledges,
and "waters" and "rivers" truths and understanding therefrom;
for without the understanding of truths
a person is like a garden where there is no water,
whose trees wither away.

As the valleys are they planted,
as gardens by the river,
as aloes which Jehovah has planted,
and as cedar-trees beside the waters.
(Numbers 24:6)

AE 517 - two states of thought

AE 517 [3]
There are two states of a person's thoughts,
one when from the Lord he is in thought respecting truths,
the other when from himself.
When from the Lord he is in thought respecting truths
his mind is elevated even into the light of heaven,
from which he has illustration and right perception of truth;
but when from himself he is in thought respecting truths,
his mind falls into the light of the world;
and that light, in respect to things spiritual,
or the things of heaven and the church,
is thick darkness,
in which a person sees only such things
as shine from the fire or the love of self and of the world,
and these in themselves are falsities that are opposites of truths.

AE 514 - ships & calming the storm

AE 514
And a third part of the ships perished.
(Revelation 8:9)
signifies that also all the knowledges from the Word,
and from doctrines from the Word perished.
This is evident from the signification of "the third part,"
as being everything, here all,
because it is predicated of the knowledges of truth and good;
also from the signification of "ships,"
as being the knowledges of truth and good, also doctrinals.
"Ships" have this signification
because they carry riches over the sea for traffic,
and "riches" signify in the Word the knowledges of truth and good,
which also are doctrinals.

[12] They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do work in many waters;
these see the deeds of Jehovah and His wonders in the deep.
(Psalm 107:23, 24).
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do work in many waters,"
signify those who intensely study the doctrine of truth from the Word;
"these see the deeds of Jehovah and His wonders in the deep,"
signifies that they understand the truths and goods
of heaven and the church, and the hidden things thereof,
"the deeds of Jehovah"
meaning all things of the Word that perfect a person,
all which have reference to truth and good,
and "the wonders in the deep"
meaning the hidden things of intelligence and wisdom.

[20-23 portions] As all things in the Old Testament
contain in themselves a spiritual sense,
so do all things in the New Testament
which are in the Gospels and in Revelation.
Moreover, all the Lord's words and doings and miracles
signify Divine celestial things,
because the Lord spoke from the Divine,
and did His works and miracles from the Divine,
therefore from things first through things last, and thus in fullness.
From this it can be seen
that the Lord's teaching from boats was significative;
also that it was significative that He chose certain of His disciples
from boats while they were fishing;
and that He walked upon the sea to the boat in which the disciples were,
and consequently calmed the wind.

. . . when it is daybreak and morning is at hand,
then good begins to act through truth,
and then the Lord comes;
that the sea in the meanwhile was moved by the wind,
and that the Lord restrained it,
signifies the natural state of life that precedes,
which is an unpeaceful and as it were tempestuous state;
but with the state that is nearest to morning,
which is the first state of the church with a person,
because the Lord is then present in the good of love,
there comes tranquillity of mind.

[22] The like is signified by the Lord's calming the wind
and the waves of the sea, as described in the Gospels:

When Jesus had entered into a boat His disciples followed Him.
And behold, there arose a great commotion in the sea,
so that the boat was covered by the waves; but He was asleep.
Therefore the disciples, coming to Him awoke Him,
saying, Lord, save us; we perish.
Then He arose and rebuked the wind;
and there was a great calm.
(Matthew 8:23-26; Mark 4:36-40; Luke 8:23, 24)

This represented the state of people of the church
when they are in what is natural and not yet in what is spiritual,
in which state the natural affections,
which are various cupidities springing from the loves of self and the world,
rise up and produce various commotions of the mind.
In this state the Lord appears as it were absent;
this apparent absence is signified by His being asleep;
but when they come out of a natural into a spiritual state
these commotions cease,
and there comes tranquillity of mind;
for the Lord calms the tempestuous commotions
of the natural of a person when the spiritual mind is opened,
and through it the Lord flows into the natural.
Since the affections that are of the love of self and of the world,
and the consequent thoughts and reasonings, are from hell,
for they are lusts of every kind
that rise up therefrom into the natural of a person,
these, too, are signified by "the wind and the waves of the sea,"
and hell itself is signified by the "sea" in the spiritual sense.

This can be seen, too, from its being said that
"the Lord rebuked the wind," as also in Mark:
Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind,
and said unto the sea,
Be quiet, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
(Mark 4:39)

AE 513 - manna & quail

AE 513 [6]
The sons of Israel said in the wilderness,
We remember the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely,
and the cucumbers and the melons,
and the leeks and the onions and the garlic;
now our soul is dried up;
there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.
Afterwards there went forth a wind from Jehovah,
and snatched quails from the sea,
and let them fall over the camp.
But because of this lust
Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague;
consequently the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust.
(Numbers 11:5, 6, 31, 33, 34)

This signified that the sons of Israel were averse from things spiritual
and hungered after natural things;
indeed, they were not spiritual but merely natural,
only representing a spiritual church by external things.
That they were averse from spiritual things is signified by
"our soul is dried up,
there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes,"
"manna" signifying spiritual food,
which is knowledge (scientia), intelligence, and wisdom.
That they hungered after natural things is signified by
"their lusting after the fish in Egypt,
the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic,"
all which signify such things as belong to the lowest natural,
that is, the sensual-corporeal of a person;
and because they rejected things spiritual,
and coveted merely natural things instead,
"they were smitten with a great plague,
and the name given to the place was the Graves of Lust."

AE 504 - before the Lord came

AE 504 [31]
In Luke, the Lord said that He came to send fire on the earth;
and what would He if it were already kindled? (Luke 12:49);
which signifies hostilities and combats between good and evil,
and between truth and falsity;
for before the Lord came into the world
there were in the church nothing but falsities and evils,
consequently there was no combat between these and truths and goods;
but when truths and goods had been unveiled by the Lord,
then it was possible for combats to exist,
and without combats between these there can be no reformation . . ..

AE 503 - hail & fire

AE 503 [7]
At the brightness before Him His clouds passed,
with hail and coals of fire.
Jehovah thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered His voice,
hail and coals of fire.
And He sent forth His arrows and scattered them,
and many lightnings and discomfited them.
(Psalm 18:12-14)

Here "hail and fire" have a similar signification
as the "hail and fire" in this passage in Revelation (chap 8:7),
namely, falsities and evils destroying the truths and goods of the church.
It is said that such things are from Jehovah,
because Divine truth coming down out of heaven
is changed with the evil into infernal falsities. . .
and from this change there spring forth many appearances
such as the fall of hail and fire;
and yet these things are not out of heaven from the Lord,
but from those who are in the falsities of evil,
who turn the influx of Divine truth and good into the falsity of evil.
. . . there is nothing from Jehovah but what is good;
and when Jehovah, that is, the Lord, renders the influx powerful,
it is not that He may destroy the evil
but that He may rescue and protect the good,
for He thus conjoins the good to Himself more closely and interiorly,
and thus they are separated from the evil, and the evil perish;
for if the evil were not separated
the good would perish and the angelic heaven would fall to ruin.

AE 502 - the sound of the trumpet at Jericho

AE 502 [11]
It was commanded
that seven priests should bear seven jubilee horns before the ark,
and should go round the city six days, once each day,
and on the seventh day they should go round the city seven times,
and blow the horns;
and when the people in Jericho heard the voice of the horn
and the shoutings of the people,
the wall of the city fell down under itself,
and the people went up into the city and took it.
(Joshua 6:1-20)

These things represented the overcoming of the evil in the spiritual world,
which is effected by Divine truth out of heaven,
which is heard there when it flows down as a horn sounding,
as was said above.
All the miracles related in the Word were representative
and consequently significative of things Divine in the heavens;
therefore the effect of the sound of horns against enemies on earth
was like the effect against the evil in the spiritual world;
for in the Word "enemies" represented and thence signified the evil . . ..

AE 493 - prayers, life, truth

AE 493
. . . "that he should offer the incense
with the prayers of all the saints
upon the golden altar which is before the throne,"
(Revelation 8:4)
The "prayers" with which the incense was to be offered
do not mean prayers,
but truths from good,
by means of which prayers are offered;
for truths with a person are what pray,
and a person is continually in such prayers
when he lives according to truths.

AE 483 - be careful where ideas come from

AE 483 [16]
A person's proprium resides in the sensual and natural of a person,
therefore conclusions formed from these alone
are formed from the proprium,
or from a person's own intelligence;
for the Divine flows in through the spiritual of a person into the natural,
but not into the natural when the spiritual above it is closed,
whereas the spiritual of a person is opened by means of truths,
and by a life according to them.

AE 478 - good & truth; living, instruction, service

AE 478 [2]
. . . good derives its essence from truths;
for the good is the esse [inmost being] of truth,
and truth is the form of good,
where, as is the quality of truths,
such is good.

From these considerations also, it is clear,
that although anyone may live well,
yet he cannot come into heaven until he is in truths.
On this account, there are places of instruction
for those who are about to come into heaven,
for no one can enter there until he has been instructed.

[3] . . . serving the Lord is to be in truths,
and to act sincerely and justly in everything;
for then the principles of truth, sincerity, and justice,
that are with a person,
serve the Lord.

AE 475 - washing

AE 475
"And they did wash their robes" (Revelation 7:14)

[2] In ancient times, when all the externals of the church were
representative and significative of things spiritual and celestial,
washings were made use of,
and they represented purifications from falsities and evils;
"washings" had this signification because
"waters" signified truths,
and "filth" falsities and evils,
and all purification from falsities and evils is effected by truths.

[7] the internal of a person is purified
by knowing, understanding, and thinking the truths of the Word,
and the external of a person,
by willing and doing them.

[19] Because "the waters of Jordan"
signified the truths that introduce into the church,
which are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word,
and "washing" therein signified purification from falsities,
and consequent reformation and regeneration by the Lord,
therefore baptism was instituted,
which was first performed in Jordan by John
(Matt. 3:11-16; Mark 1:4-13).
This rite signified
initiation into the knowledges from the Word respecting the Lord,
His coming, and salvation by Him;
and as a person is reformed and regenerated by the Lord
by means of truths from the Word,
baptism was commanded by the Lord:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.”
(Matt. 28:19-20);

for it is by means of truths from the Word
that a person is reformed and regenerated,
and it is the Lord who reforms and regenerates.

[21] The internal of baptism is,
that by means of truths from the Word
and a life according to them,
falsities and evils may be removed by the Lord,
and thus a person be regenerated,
as the Lord teaches

Blind Pharisee!
First clean the inside of the cup and dish,
and then the outside also will be clean.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside
but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead
and everything unclean.
(Matt. 23:26, 27).

AE 463 "to fall on the faces before God"

AE 463
. . . "falling upon the face" signifies humiliation of heart,
since to fall upon the face corresponds to such humiliation;
for all the acts of the body
so correspond to the affections of the mind
that the two make one by correspondences;
thus to fall upon the face before God in worship
makes one by correspondence with humiliation of the heart.
From this it became a custom with the ancients,
and it still continues with many nations,
to fall upon the very face in worship;
while in the Christian world at present
it is the custom simply to fall upon the knees.

AE 455 - falsities

AE 455 [16]
All falsities of doctrine in the church,
and all falsifications of the Word,
exist also from the pride of a person's own intelligence,
and from the love of self.

AE 453 - numbering

AE 453
. . . no person and no angel knows
the quality of good and truth with another
in every series and connection,
but only something of it that is apparent in externals;
and yet every quality is of infinite extension,
for it joins and associates itself with innumerable things
that lie concealed within, and that abide without,
and that spread out in every direction.
All this no one sees but the Lord alone;
therefore it is the Lord alone by whom all are arranged
and disposed according to their quality,
for He sees the quality of everyone,
thus what his nature is and what will happen to him to eternity,
since the Lord's sight which is called
omniscience, foresight, and providence, is eternal.
This is why no one except the Lord alone
knows the quality of good and truth with anyone.

[5] "To number" and "to be numbered" have a different
signification in the spiritual sense of the Word
from that which they have in the letter or its natural sense,
as is evident from the fact that with angels in heaven,
numbers and measures have no place in their spiritual idea,
that is, they do not think from numbering or measuring,
but from the quality of a thing;
but this thought of theirs falls into numbers and measures
when it comes down therefrom into the natural sphere;
and yet the Word is written equally for angels as for people,
consequently angels, in numbers and numbering in the Word,
perceive the quality of the thing treated of,
while people understand numbers and numbering.

AE 447 - the tribes of Naphtali & Zebulun

AE 447 [4]
. . . "the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun"
signify combat from truth that is from good,
"the tribe of Naphtali"
combat,
and "the tribe of Zebulun"
the conjunction of good and truth,
therefore these two tribes only,
and not the other tribes,
were taken to fight.

AE 445 - living for reward

AE 445
If a person is living according to the Lord's commandments,
it is permissible for him to think of eternal life, salvation and heavenly joy;
but it is not permissible for him to keep his mind intent upon reward,
for if he does so he has reward as an end,
and easily falls into the thought
that by his life he deserves heaven and salvation,
and this thought causes him to have regard to self in every particular,
and such regard to self removes him from heaven;
for no so far as a person looks to self in what he does,
he does not look to heaven.

AE 444 - charity and spiritual affection

AE 444a
Charity, itself, viewed in itself,
is the affection of truth and good,
and where that affection is,
there is a life according to truths and goods . . ..

[3] Love and charity are the spiritual affection of good and truth . . ..

AE 444b [10]
. . . those who are in the spiritual affection of truth
do the Word
and teach the goods and truths of the church,
for the spiritual affection of truth is what does and teaches,
since it is into that affection that the Lord flows,
doing the good with a person
and teaching the truth with him . . ..

AE 443a - those in the first or lowest heaven

AE 443a [2]
Those belonging to this first or lowest heaven
are all obedient in doing the truths and goods
that are commanded in the Word
or in the doctrine of the church in which they were born,
or that they have heard from some master or religious teacher,
from whom they have heard that this or that is true and good,
and ought to be done.
Most of these are not in truths themselves,
but in falsities from ignorance,
nevertheless these falsities are accepted by the Lord as truths
because they have the good of life for their end,
and by this the evils that usually cling to falsities are removed
(respecting these falsities, and those who are in them,
see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 21).
Such, then, are in the lowest or first heaven.

AE 440b - brethren

AE 440b [7]
. . . good and truth are called brethren in the Word.

AE 439 - "Wrestlings with God"

AE 439
. . . every temptation is a combat
between the spiritual person and the natural;
for the spiritual person
loves and wills the things that are of heaven,
since it is in heaven,
while the natural person
loves and wills the things that are of the world,
since it is in the world;
consequently the desires of the two are opposite,
which gives rise to collision and combat,
and this is called temptation.

[3] . . . the state after temptation,
in which a person is filled with every good of love
and with truths therefrom;
for after temptations he is filled with joy,
and good bears fruit,
and truth is multiplied with him . . .

AE 438 - charity

AE 438 [3]
. . . charity towards the neighbor
is the spiritual affection of truth;
and the spiritual affection of truth
is to love truth in its essence,
that is, to love truth because it is truth;
moreover, the neighbor, in the spiritual sense,
is nothing else than good and truth,
and charity is love for this.

AE 435 - good of love (heart), truth from that good (lungs), & good of life (body)

AE 435a [3]
. . . there are three things
which fully constitute and form each universal essential,
namely, the good of love,
the truth from that good,
and the good of life therefrom.
The good of life is the effect of the other two;
for unless there is a third that is brought forth,
the two former can have no existence,
that is, unless there is the good of life,
the good of love and truth from that good can have no existence.
These three are like the final cause,
the effecting cause,
and the effect.
The good of love is the final cause,
truth from that good is the effecting cause
or that through which good is brought into effect,
and the good of life
is the effect in which the prior causes have existence;
and these have no existence
unless there is an effect in which they may exist and subsist.
Again, these three are like the pulse of the heart,
the respiration of the lungs,
and the action of the body;
these make a one: for if the body does not act,
or does not let itself be put in action,
as is the case when a person dies, the other two cease.
It is the same with the good of love,
the truth from that good,
and the good of life.
The good of love is like the heart,
and is also meant by "heart" in the Word;
truth from that good is like the lungs,
and is also meant by "breath" and "soul" in the Word;
and the good of life is like the body
in which the others act and live.
Three like things are in everything that has existence,
and when the three exist together
there is full formation.

AE 434a - the first and last of regeneration

AE 434a [6]
When a person is regenerating,
truth is in the first place and good in the second,
not actually but apparently,
but when he is regenerated,
good is in the first place and truth in the second
actually and perceptibly;
thus good is the first and the last of regeneration.