AC 6256 - the goods of charity, the truths of faith

AC 6256 [2]
. . . Those who from principles derived from doctrine
set faith before charity,
and yet live a life of charity,
are they who are of the Lord's spiritual church,
and are saved;
for in their life
they set the good of charity first,
but in doctrine the truth of faith.

Portions: Genesis 44-46

Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground
and opened it.
Then the steward proceeded to search,
beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest.
And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
At this, they tore their clothes.
Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
(Genesis 44:11-13)

"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.
He made me father to Pharaoh,
lord of his entire household and ruler of Egypt.
Now hurry back to my father and say to him,
'This is what your son Joseph says:
God has made me lord of all Egypt.
Com down to me; don't delay.
You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me -
you, your children and grandchildren,
your flocks and herds, all that you have.'"
(Genesis 45:8-10)

So Israel set out with all that was his,
and when he reached Beersheba,
he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
(Genesis 46:1)

AC 6232 - indefinitely infinite

AC 6232 [2]
That truths and goods can increase indefinitely
comes from the fact that they proceed from the Lord,
Who is infinite.

That truths and goods are of this nature,
may be seen from the fact
that the universal heaven is in truth and good,
and yet no one is in exactly the same
truth and good as another.
This would still be the case
if heaven were a thousand and a thousand times greater.
The same may be seen from the fact
that the angels are being perfected to eternity,
that is, they continually grow in good and truth,
and yet cannot arrive at the grade of any perfection,
because there always remains an indefinite scope;
for truths are indefinite in number,
and each truth has an indefinite scope within it;
and so on.

Portions: Genesis 40-43

Then Joseph said to them,
"Do not interpretations belong to God?
Tell me your dreams."
(Genesis 40:8)

Pharaoh said to Joseph,
"I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.
But I have heard it said of you
that when you hear a dream
you can interpret it."
"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh,
"But God will give Pharaoh
the answer he desires."
(Genesis 41:15-16)

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,
he said to his sons,
"Why do you just keep looking at each other"
He continued,
"I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.
Go down there and buy some for us,
so that we may live and not die."
(Genesis 41:1-2)

Then their father Israel said to them,
"If it must be, then do this:
Put some of the best products of the land in your bags
and take them down to the man as a gift -
a little balm and a little honey,
some spices and myrrh,
some pistachio nuts and almonds.
Take double the amount of silver with you,
for you must return the silver
that was put back into the mouths of your sacks.
Perhaps it was a mistake.
Take your brother also
and go back to the man at once.
And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man
so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin
come back with you.
As for me,
if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."
(Genesis 42:11-14)

AC 6222 - the intellectual & will of the church

AC 6222 [2-4]

The intellectual of the church is to perceive from the Word
what the truth of faith is, and what the good of charity.
. . . the literal sense of the Word is of such a nature
that whatever tenet a person embraces
he confirms from that sense,
is very clear from so many heresies
which have existed in the church, and still do so,
each of which is confirmed by its partisans
from the literal sense of the Word,
and so confirmed that they thoroughly believe it to be true;
and thereafter if they were to hear from heaven the very truth,
they would not receive a bit of it.

The reason is that they have not the intellectual of the church;
for the intellectual of the church consists in a person's perceiving,
when he reads the Word
and carefully compares one passage with another,
what is to be believed, and what is to be done.
This intellectual is to be found only in such people
as are enlightened by the Lord . . .
and this enlightenment is to be found in such people
who only as desire to know truths,
not for the sake of reputation and glory,
but for the sake of life and use.
 . . . Be it known further that they who have been regenerated,
receive from the Lord
an intellectual capable of being enlightened.
It is the light of heaven from the Lord
which flows into the intellectual and enlightens it;
for the intellectual has its light, its sight,
and consequently its perception, from no other source.

But this intellectual, which is called the intellectual of the church,
is more interior than the intellectual
which comes from mere memory-knowledges,
for it is a perception that the thing is so,
not from the dictate of memory-knowledges and philosophy,
but from the dictate of the Word in its spiritual sense.

Portions: Genesis 37-39

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,
because he had been born to him in his old age;
and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.
When his brothers saw
that their father loved him more than any of them,
they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Joseph had a dream . . ..
(Genesis 37:3-5)

Judah said, "Bring her out and her her burned to death!"
As she was being brought out,
she sent a message to her father-in-law.
"I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said.
And she added, "See if you recognize
whose seal and cord and staff these are."
(Genesis 28:24-25)

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.
Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials,
the captain of the guard,
bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered,
and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
(Genesis 39:1-2)

AC 6197 - deceitful ones; AC 6197 - a hereditary of natural good

AC 6197
Those deceitful ones chiefly insinuated such things
as were contrary to the Lord;
and then it was given me to reflect upon the fact
that no one in hell acknowledges the Lord;
but that insofar as they may, they are full of abuse of Him;
yet they are not unwilling to hear mention made
of the Father, the Creator of the universe.
From this very plain indication it is evident
that it is the Lord who rules the universal heaven,
as He Himself teaches in Matthew:
"All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth"
(Matt. 28:18);
and that they are opposed to the Lord
because they are opposed to heaven,
where the Lord is all in all.

AC 6208
There are many who enjoy an hereditary natural good,
by virtue of which they feel delight in doing well to others,
but who have not been influenced
by principles of doing what is good,
either from the Word, the doctrine of the church,
or from their religiosity.
Thus they could not be endowed with any conscience,
for conscience does not come from
natural or hereditary good,
but from the doctrine of truth and good
and of a life based on that teaching.
When such persons come into the other life,
they marvel that they are not received into heaven,
saying that they have led a good life.
But they are told that a good life
from what is natural or hereditary is not a good life,
but that a good life is from those things
which belong to the doctrine of good and truth
and the consequent life;
for by means of these,
people have principles impressed on them
that concern what is true and good,
and they receive conscience,
which is the plane into which heaven flows.

Portions: Genesis 32-36

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives,
his two maidservants and his eleven sons
and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
After he had sent them across the stream,
he sent over all his possessions.
So Jacob was left alone,
and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
(Genesis 32:22-24)

Jacob looked up and there was Esau,
coming with his four hundred men . . ..
He himself went on ahead
and bowed down to the ground seven times
as he approached his brother.
But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him . . ..
(Genesis 33:1, 3-4)

But Hamor said to them,
"My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter.
Please give her to him as his wife."
Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers,
"Let me find favor in your eyes,
and I will give you whatever you ask.
Make the price for the bride
and the gift I am to bring
as great as you like,
and I'll pay whatever you ask me.
Only give me the girl as my wife."
(Genesis 34:8,11-12)

Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place
where God had talked with him,
and he poured out a drink offering on it;
he also poured oil on it.
Jacob called the place
where God had talked with him Bethel.
(Genesis 35:14-15)

This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom.)
(Genesis 36:1)

AC 6179 - the conjugial

AC 6179
In the supreme sense
the conjugial is the union
of the Divine and the Divine Human In the Lord;
and from this it is the union 
of the Divine good and the Divine truth in heaven;
for that which proceeds from the Lord
is the Divine truth from the Divine good.
From this, heaven is heaven, and is called a "marriage,"
for it is the conjunction of the good and the truth there,
which proceed from the Lord,
that makes it.
And as the Lord is the good there,
and heaven is the truth derived from there,
therefore in the Word
the Lord is called the "bridegroom,"
and heaven and also the church are called the "bride;"
for good and truth make a marriage,
and their conjunction is what is meant by the conjugial.

Portions: Genesis 28-31

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
When he reached a certain place,
he stopped for the night because the sun had set.
Taking one of the stones there,
he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,
"Surely the Lord is in the place,
and I was not aware of it."
(Genesis 28:10-11,16)

After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,
Laban said to him,
"Just because you are a relative of mine,
should you work for me for nothing?
Tell me what your wages should be."
Now Laban had two daughters;
the name of the older was Leah,
and the name of the younger was Rachel.
(Genesis 29:14-16)

He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
Jacob said to him,
"You know how I have worked for you
and how your livestock has fared under my care.
The little you had before I came
has increased greatly,
and the Lord has blessed you
wherever I have been.
But now, when may I do something
for my own household?"
(Genesis 30:28-30)

Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,
and he drove all his livestock ahead of him,
along with all the goods
he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,
to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
(Genesis 31:17-18)

AC 6144 - famine: the last of desolation and temptation is despair

AC 6144
There are many reasons
why despair is the last of desolation and of temptation . . ..
Despair causes those who feel it
to acknowledge in an effectual and feeling manner
that there is nothing of truth and good from themselves,
and that from themselves they are condemned;
but that they are delivered from condemnation by the Lord;
and that salvation flows in by means of truth and good.
Despair also causes them to feel
the happiness of life which is from the Lord;
for when they come out of that state,
they are like those who have been condemned to death,
and are set free from prison.
Moreover by means of desolations and temptations,
states contrary to heavenly life are felt,
the result of which
is the implantation of a sense and perception
of the satisfaction and happiness of heavenly life;
for a sense and perception of what is satisfying and happy
is impossible without comparison with the opposites.
To the end therefore that full comparisons may be made,
desolations and temptations are brought to their utmost,
that is, to despair.

Portions: Genesis 25-27

Then Abraham breathed his last
and died at a good old age,
an old man and full of years;
and he was gathered to his people.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael
buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre,
in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,
the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.
There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
(Genesis 25:8-10)

Isaac planted crops in that land
and the same year reaped a hundredfold,
because the Lord blessed him.
The man became rich,
and his wealth continued to grow
until he became very wealthy.
He had so many flocks and herds and servants
that the Philistines envied him.
(Genesis 26:12-14)

Esau held a grudge against Jacob
because of the blessing his father had given him.
He said to himself,
"The days of mourning for my father are near;
then I will kill my brother Jacob."
When Rebekah was told
what her older son Esau had said,
she sent for your younger son Jacob
and said to him,
"Your brother Esau is consoling himself
with the thought of killing you.
Now then, my son, do what I say:
Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
Stay with him for a while
until your brother's fury subsides."
(Genesis 27:41-44)

AC 6125 [6]
. . . intelligence ought to be procured by means of the Word,
which is Divine truth,
and not by means of memory-knowledges
from ones own understanding.

AC 6138 [3]
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
This is the first commandment.
(Mark 12:30)

Thus since love to the Lord
does not come from a person
but from the Lord Himself,
all his heart,
all his soul,
all his mind,
and all his strength,
which are recipients,
must be the Lord's;
they must therefore be submitted totally to Him.

Portions: Genesis 21 - 24

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said,
and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.
Sarah became pregnant
and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,
at the very time God had promised him.
(Genesis 21:1-2)

Abraham looked up
and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went over and took the ram
and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place
The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said,
"On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."
(Genesis 22:13-14)

So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre -
both the field and the cave in it,
and all the trees within the borders of the field -
was deeded to Abraham as his property
in the presence of all the Hittites
who had come to the gate of the city.
Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah
in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre
(which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave in it
were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites
as a burial site.
(Genesis 23:17-20)

Then Rebekah and her maids got ready
and mounted their camels and went back with the man.
So the servant took Rebekah and left.
Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi,
for he was living in the Negev.
He went out to the field one evening to meditate,
and as he looked up,
he saw camels approaching.
Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac.
She got down from her camel and asked the servant,
"Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?"
"He is my master," the servant answered.
So she took her veil and covered herself.
The the servant told Isaac all he had done.
Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah,
and he married Rebekah.
So she became his wife, and he loved her;
and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
(Genesis 24:61-66)

AC 6119 - spiritual life

AC 6119
Spiritual life consists in activities according to truths,
consequently in uses;
for they who are in spiritual life
have an appetite and a longing for truths
with a view to life,
that is, that they may live according to them,
thus with a view to uses.

Portions: Genesis 16-20

The angel of the Lord also said to her:
"You are now with child and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:
"You are the God who sees me,"
for she said,
"I have now seen the One who sees me."
(Genesis 16:11-13)

God also said to Abraham,
"As for Sarai your wife,
you are no longer to call her Sarai;
her name will be Sarah.
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her."
Abraham fell face down;
he laughed . . ..
(Genesis 17: 15-16,17)

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent,
which was behind Him.
Abraham and Sarah were already old
and well advanced in years,
and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing. 
So Sarah laughed to herself . . ..
(Genesis 18:10-12)

By the time Lot reached Zoar,
the sun had risen over the land.
Then the Lord rained down
burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah -
from the Lord out of the heavens.
Thus He overthrew those cities and the entire pain,
including all those living in the cities -
and also the vegetation in the land.
(Genesis 19:23-25)

Abraham replied,
"I said to myself,
'There is surely no fear of God in this place,
and they will ill me because of my wife.'
Besides, she really is my sister,
the daughter of my father
thought not of my mother;
and she became my wife."
(Genesis 20:11-12)

AC 6097 - temptations

AC 6097
All temptations appear evil,
for the reason that they are interior anxieties and griefs,
and as it were damnations;
for the person is then let into the state of his evils,
consequently among evil spirits,
who accuse him,
and thus torment the conscience;
nevertheless the angels defend him, that is,
the Lord through angels,
for the Lord keeps him in hope and trust,
which are the forces of combat from within
whereby he resists.

Portions: Genesis 11-15

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower
that the men were building.
The Lord said,
"If as one people speaking the same language
they have begun to do this,
then nothing they plan to do
will be impossible for them."
So the Lord scattered them from there
over all the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
(Genesis 11:5-6,8)

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot of Haran,
and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram,
and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans
to go to Canaan.
But when they came to Haran,
they settled there.
(Genesis 11:31)

The Lord had said to Abram,
"Leave your country, your people
and your father's household
and go to the land I will show you.
"I will make yo into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
(Genesis 12:1-3)

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev,
with his wife and everything he had,
and Lot went with him.
Abram had become very wealthy in livestock
and in silver and gold.
(Genesis 13:1-2)

AC 6078 - pasture

AC 6078 [5]
That "Pasture" denotes the good and truth
which restore and sustain the soul or spirit of a person,
is clear from the Lord's words:

I am the door;
by Me if any one enter in,
he shall be saved,
and shall go in and go out,
and shall find pasture.
(John 10:9)

where "pasture" denotes the goods and truths
which those have
who acknowledge the Lord,
and seek life from Him alone.

AC 6073 - "What are your works?" (Genesis 47:3)

AC 6073
All the goods which are called goods of charity
are nothing but uses,
and uses are nothing but works for the neighbor,
for our country, for the church, for the Lord's kingdom.
Moreover regarded in itself
charity itself does not become charity
until it comes into act and becomes work.
For to love anyone,
and not do him good when we have the power,
is not to love him;
but to do him good when we have the power,
and to do it from our hearts,
this is to love him . . ..

As the angels who are in heaven
are in good from the Lord,
they long for nothing more than to perform uses.
These are the very delights of their life,
and it is also according to uses
that they enjoy bliss and happiness.

Portions: Genesis 5-10

When God created man,
He made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female and blessed them.
And when they were created,
He called them "Man."

After Noah was 500 years old,
he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
(Genesis 5:1-2, 32)

Noah was a righteous man,
blameless among the people of his time,
and he walked with God.
(Genesis 6:9)

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth,
and as the waters increased
they lifted the ark high above the earth.
The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth,
and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
(Genesis 7:5, 17-18)

The water receded steadily from the earth.
At the end of the hundred and fifty days
the water had gone down,
and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month
the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

By the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month
the surface of the ground was dry.
(Genesis 8:5,14)

And God said:
This is the sign of the covenant I am making
between Me and you
and every living creature with you,
a covenant for generations to come:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds,
and it will be the sign of the covenant
between Me and the earth.
(Genesis 9:12-13)

These are the clans of Noah's sons,
according to their lines of descent,
within their nations.
From these
the nations spread out over the earth
after the flood.
(Genesis 10:32)

AC 6065 - the good of truth

AC 6065
In itself this good is nothing else than truth in act.

Portions: Genesis 1-4

In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth.

God saw all that He had made,
and it was very good.
And there was evening,
and there was morning - the sixth day.
(Genesis 1:1, 31)

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed
in all their vast array.
By the seventh day God had finished
the work He had been doing;
so on the seventh day He rested from His work.
And God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy,
because on it He rested
from all the work of creating that He had done.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east,
in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed.
(Genesis 2:1-3, 8)

Adam named his wife Eve,
because she would become the mother of all the living.
The Lord God made garments of skin
for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
So the Lord God banished him
from the Garden of Eden
to work the ground from which he had been taken.
(Genesis 3:20-21,23)

Lamech married two women,
one named Adah and the other Zillah.
Adah gave birth to Jabal;
he was the father of those who live in tents
and raise livestock.
His brother's name was Jubal;
he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain,
who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.
Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.
(Genesis 4:19-22)

Three Events - Blessed New Church Day!

The Last Judgment

LJ 45
. . . the Last Judgment does not exist on the earth,
but in the spiritual world . . ..
This Last Judgment was commenced
in the beginning of the year 1757,
and was fully accomplished at the end of that year.

The Second Coming

TCR 115 (i)
. . . since the Lord is today also
carrying on the process of redemption,
which began with the accomplishment of
the Last Judgment in 1757.
This redemptive process has continued
from that time down to the present.
The reason is that today
the Second Coming of the Lord is taking place,
and a new church is to be established,
something which could not happen
unless the conquest of the hells
and the ordering of the heavens had taken place first.


Ecclesiastical History of the New Church  1 [7,8]
When BRIEF EXPOSITION was published (1769)
the angelic heaven,
from east to west and from south to north,
appeared purple colored with the loveliest flowers.

'The Coming of the Lord' was written
on all the books in the spiritual world;
by command I therefore wrote this
in the same place in two copies in Holland.


The Establishment of the New Church

TCR 108
. . . at the present time
a new heaven of angels is being established by the Lord,
drawn from those who believe in the Lord God the Savior,
and approach Him directly . . ..

A few months ago
the twelve apostles were called together by the Lord
and sent out into the whole spiritual world,
as they were once into the natural world,
with instructions to preach the gospel.
Each apostle had his own zone assigned to him.
They are now following out their instructions
with all eagerness and dedication.


TCR 791 - Note
After the completion of this book,
the Lord called together His twelve disciples,
who had followed Him in the world;
and a day later He sent them all forth
through the spiritual world
to preach the Gospel,
that the Lord God Jesus Christ is King,
and His kingdom shall be for ever and ever,
as foretold by Daniel (7:13,14)
and in Revelation (11:15):

Blessed are they
who come to the wedding supper of the Lamb.
(Revelation 19:9)

This happened on the nineteenth of June in the year 1770.
This was meant by the Lord's saying:

He will send his angels,
and they will gather together His chosen people
from the bounds of the heavens on one side
as far as the bounds of the heavens on the other.
(Matthew 24:31)

AC 6057 - spiritual world, natural world

AC 6057 [2-3]
. . . as the internal person has been created to be an angel,
he is a heaven in the least form.

From all this it is now evident
that in a person
the spiritual world is conjoined with the natural world,
consequently that with him
the spiritual world flows into the natural world
in so vivid a manner
that he can notice it,
provided he pays attention.

Revelation 22:1-2,8-9,21

Then the angel showed me
the river of the water of life,
as clear as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
down the middle of the great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree
are for the healing of the nations.

I, John, am the one
who heard and saw these things.
And when I had heard and seen them,
I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel
who had been showing them to me.
But he said to me,
"Do not do it!
I am a fellow servant with you
and with your brothers the prophets
and of all who keep the words of this book.
Worship God!"

The grace of the Lord Jesus
be with God's people.
Amen

(Revelation 22:1-2,8-9,21) NIV

AC 6044 - the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega

AC 6044
It has been shown previously that truths,
which are the essence of faith,
lead to good,
which is the essence of charity.
This is also evident from the consideration that
every single thing is related to an end
and has that end in view,
and that things which do not have an end in view
cannot remain in being.
For the Lord has never created anything
for any other reason
than its end in view.
So true is this
that one may speak of the end
as the all
in all created things.
And created things exist within this state of order:
Even as the end looks from Him who is the First
through means to what is last (ultimate),
so the end within what is last
looks to the end in Him who is the First.
This is the way things conjoin together.
By virtue of its very own origin
the end itself is nothing else
than the Divine Good of Divine Love,
thus the Lord Himself,
which also is why in the Word He is called
the First and the Last,
the Alpha and the Omega.

Revelation 21: 1-7,22-27

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Now the dwelling of God is with men,
and He will live with them.
They will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said,
"I am making everything new!"
Then He said,
"Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me:
"It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End.
To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost
from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this,
and I will be his God and he will be my son."

I did not see a temple in the city,
because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light,
and the Lamb is its lamp.
The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
On no day will its gates ever be shut,
for there will be no night there.
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written 
in the Lamb's book of life.

(Revelation 21: 1-7,22-27) NIV

AC 6032 - spiritual light and spiritual heat

AC 6032
Spiritual light makes the life of his understanding,
and spiritual heat the life of his will.
Spiritual light is from its first origin
Divine truth from the Divine good of the Lord,
and consequently
is the truth of faith from the good of charity.
And spiritual heat is from its first origin
the Divine good of the Divine love of the Lord,
and consequently is the good of celestial love,
which is love to the Lord,
and the good of spiritual love,
which is love toward the neighbor.
These two, as before said,
constitute the whole life of a person.

Revelation 20:7-11

When the thousand years are over,
Satan will be released from his prison
and will go out to deceive the nations
in the four corners of the earth -
Gog and Magog -
to gather them for battle.
In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
They marched across the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of God's people,
the city He loves.
But fire came down from heaven
and devoured them.
And the devil, who deceived them,
was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur,
where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
They will be tormented day and night
for ever and ever.

(Revelation 20:7-11) NIV

AC 6015 - sensory evidence

AC 6015 [6]
. . . factual knowledge (memory-knowledge)
perverts the truths of the Church
if a person uses it to enter the mysteries of faith
without believing anything 
unless factual knowledge,
indeed sensory evidence,
causes him to see it.

Revelation 19:11-16

I saw heaven standing open
and there before me was a white horse,
whose ride is called Faithful and True.
With justice He judges and makes war.
His eyes are like blazing fire,
and on His head are many crowns.
He has a name written on Him
that no one knows but He himself.
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood,
and His name is the Word of God.
The armies of heaven were following Him,
riding on white horses
and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations.
"He will rule them with an iron scepter."
He treads the winepress of the fury
of the wrath of God Almighty.
On His robe and on His thigh
He has this name written:

KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.

(Revelation 19:11-16)

AC 6000 - "night" - what is obscure & false

AC 6000 [2]

Jesus said, Are there not twelve hours in the day?
 If anyone walk in the day, he stumbles not.
But if anyone walk in the night, he stumbles,
because the light is not in him.
(John 11:9, 10);

"twelve hours" denote all states of truth;
"walking in the day," denotes to live in truth;
and "walking in the night," to live in falsity.

Revelation 18:1-3

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven.
He had great authority,
and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
With a mighty voice he shouted:

"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth
grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

(Revelation 18:1-3)

AC 5992 - the angels near us

AC 5992
The angels,
through whom the Lord leads and also protects a person,
are near his head.
It is their office to inspire charity and faith,
and to observe in what direction the person's delights turn,
and insofar as they can,
without interfering with the person's freedom,
moderate them and bend them to good.
They are forbidden to act with violence
and thus break the person's ambitions and principles;
but are enjoined to act gently.
It is also their office to rule the evil spirits who are from hell,
which is done in innumerable ways,
of which the following only may be mentioned.
When the evil spirits pour in evils and falsities,
the angels insinuate truths and goods,
which, if not received,
are nevertheless the means of tempering.
Infernal spirits continually attack,
and the angels protect;
such is the order.

[3] Especially do the angels call forth
the goods and truths that are with a person,
and set them in opposition to the evils and falsities
which the evil spirits excite.
Thus the person is in the middle,
and does not perceive either the evil or the good;
and being in the middle,
he is in freedom
to turn himself either to the one or to the other.
By such means
do angels from the Lord lead and protect a person,
and this every moment,
and every moment of a moment;
for if the angels were to pause their care
for a single moment,
the person would be precipitated into evil
from which he could never afterward be brought out.
These things the angels do
from the love they have from the Lord,
for they perceive nothing more delightful and happy
than to remove evils from a person,
and lead him to heaven.
. . . Scarcely any person believes
that the Lord takes such care of a person,
and this continually from the first thread
of his life to the last of it,
and afterward to eternity.

Revelation 17:3-7,9,12-17

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert.
There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast
that was covered with blasphemous names
and had seven heads and ten horns.
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet,
and was glittering with gold,
precious stones and pearls.
She held a golden cup in her hand,
filled with abominable things
and the filth of her adulteries.
This title was written on her forehead:

                  MYSTERY
        BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF
                THE EARTH

I saw that the woman was drunk
with the blood of the saints,
the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
Then the angel said to me:
"Why are you astonished?
I will explain to you the mystery of the woman
and of the beast she rides,
which has the seven heads and ten horns.
. . . This calls for a mind with wisdom."

"The ten horns you saw are ten hings
who have not yet received a kingdom,
but who for one hour will receive authority
as kings along with the beast.
They have one purpose
and will give their power and authority to the beast.
They will make war against the Lamb,
but the Lamb will overcome them
because He is Lord of Lords
and King of kings -
and with Him will be His called,
chosen and faithful followers."

The the angel said to me,
"The waters you saw,
where the prostitute sits,
are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute.
They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked;
they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
For God has put it into their hearts
to accomplish His purpose
by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule,
until God's words are fulfilled.

(Revelation 17:3-7,9,12-17) NIV

AC 5962 - morning, midday, evening in the spiritual world; AC 5963 - tranquility of peace

AC 5962 [2,3]
In heaven . . . spirits and angels have
their morning, midday, and evening, also twilight,
and again morning, and so on.
It is their morning when the Lord is present
and blesses them with manifest happiness:
 they are then in the perception of good.
It is their midday when they are in the light of truths;
and it is their evening when they are removed therefrom,
and then it appears to them
that the Lord is more remote and is hidden from them.
All who are in heaven undergo
and pass through these alternations,
and cannot otherwise be continually perfected . . ..
It is worthy of admiration
that to eternity one state is never exactly like another,
and also that one spirit and angel does not pass through
the like changes of state as another,
for the reason that one is not exactly like another
in respect to good and truth;
just as neither is one man exactly like another in the face.
Nevertheless out of these varieties the Lord makes a one.

AC 5963
The varying states in the other life . . . 
are according to the perception of good and truth
with those who are there,
thus according to their perception
of the Lord's presence.
According to this perception
they have tranquility;
for they who are in the perception of the Lord's presence
are in the perception
that each and all things which befall them
tend to their good,
and that evils do not reach them;
consequently they are in tranquility.
Without such faith or confidence in the Lord
no one can possibly come to the tranquility of peace,
thus neither to the bliss in joy,
because this bliss dwells in the tranquility of peace.

Revelation 17:1-4,8,10,12,17-18

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple
saying to the seven angels,
"Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."

The first angel went and poured out his bowl
on the land,
and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people
who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

The second angel poured out his bowl
on the sea,
and it turned into blood like that of a dead man,
and every living thing in the sea died.

The third angel poured out his bowl
on the rivers and springs of water,
and they became blood.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl
on the sun,
and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl
on the throne of the beast,
and his kingdom was plunged into darkness.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl
on the great river Euphrates,
and its water was dried up
to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

The seventh angel poured out his bowl
into the air,
and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne,
saying, "It is done!"
Then there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder
and a severe earthquake.
No earthquake like it has ever occurred
since man has been on earth,
so tremendous was the quake.

(Revelation 17:1-4,8,10,12,17-18) NIV

AC 5957 - humiliation, adoration, and thanksgiving

AC 5957
The Lord does indeed demand
humiliation, adoration, thanksgivings,
and many other things from a person,
which appear like repayings,
and thus not gratuitous;
but the Lord does not demand these things for His own sake,
for the Divine has no glory
from a person's humiliation, adoration, and thanksgiving.

In the Divine,
anything of the love of self is utterly inconceivable -
that such things should be done for His own sake;
but they are for the sake of the person himself;
for when a person is in humiliation
he can receive good from the Lord,
because he has then
been separated from the love of self and its evils,
which are the obstacle;
and therefore the Lord wills
a state of humiliation in a person
for his own sake;
because when he is in this state
the Lord can flow in with heavenly good.
The case is similar with adoration, and with thanksgiving.

Revelation 15

And I saw in  heaven another great and marvelous sign:
seven angels with the seven last plagues -
last because with them God's wrath is completed.
And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and,
standing beside the sea,
those who had been victorious
over the beast and his his image
and over the number of his name.
They held harps given them by God
and sang the song of Moses the servant of God
and the song of the Lamb,

"Great and marvelous are Your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are Your ways, King of the ages.
Who will not fear You, O Lord,
and bring glory to Your name?
For You alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before You,
for Your righteous acts have been revealed."

After this I looked
and in heaven the temple, that is,
the tabernacle of the Testimony,
was opened.
Out of the temple came
the seven angels with the seven plagues.
They were dressed in clean, shining linen
and wore golden sashes around their chests.
Then one of the four living creatures
gave to the seven angels
seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God,
who lives for ever and ever.
And the temple was filled with smoke
from the glory of God and from His power,
and no one could enter the temple
until the seven plagues of the seven angels
were completed.

(Revelation 15) NIV

AC 5928 - an example of good & truth working together

AC 5928
. . . truths do not act from themselves,
but from the good . . ..
The case herein is like the blood vessels in a living body.
Truths are as it were the vessels without the blood;
but good is as it were the blood;
when this pours itself into the vessels
which before were empty,
it acts from them in motion,
and also in reciprocal motion,
for they have received from the blood
a capacity of moving,
as as it were life.

Revelation 14:6-13

Then I saw another angel flying in midair,
and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim
to those who live on the earth -
to every nation, tribe, language and people.
He said in a loud voice,
'Fear God and give Him glory,
because the hour of his judgment has come.
Worship Him who made the heavens,
the earth, the sea and the springs of water.

A second angel followed and said,
"Fallen!  Fallen is Babylon the Great,
which made all the nations drink
the maddening wine of her adulteries."

A third angel followed them
and said in a loud voice:
"If anyone worships the beast and his image
and receives hi mark on the forehead or on the hand,
he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury,
which has been poured full strength
into the cup of His wrath.
He will be tormented with burning sulfur
in the presence of the holy angels
and of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment rises
forever and ever.
There is no rest day or night
for those who worship the beast and his image,
or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

This calls for patient endurance
on the part of the saints
who obey God's commandments
and remain faithful to Jesus.
Then I heard a voice from heaven say,
"Write:  Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord from now on."
"Yes," says the Spirit,
"they will rest from their labor,
for their deeds will follow them."

(Revelation 14:6-13) NIV

AC 5912 - truth like a little star

AC 5912
For when good is in the first place,
and has dominion,
it continually produces truths.
It multiplies them around itself
and also around each truth,
and makes each truth like a little star,
in the center of which there is a bright light.
Nor does good only multiply truths around itself,
but it also produces truths from truths
by derivations in succession . . ..

Revelation 13:2-4, 11-14

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.
He had ten horns and seven heads,
with ten crowns on his horns,
and on each head a blasphemous name.
The beast I saw resembled a leopard,
but had feet like those of a boar
and a mouth like that of a lion.
The dragon gave the beast his power
and his throne and great authority.
One of the heads of the beast
seemed to have a fatal wound,
but the fatal wound had healed.
The whole world was astonished
and followed the beast.
Men worshiped the dragon
because he had given authority to the beast,
and they also worshiped the beast and asked,
"Who is like the beast?
Who can make war against him?"

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth.
He had two horns like a lamb,
but he spoke like a dragon.
He exercised all the authority of the first beast
on his behalf,
and made the earth and its inhabitants
worship the first beast,
whose fatal wound had been healed.
And the performed great and miraculous signs,
even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth 
in full view of men.
Because of the signs 
he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast,
he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.

(Revelation 13:2-4, 11-14) NIV

AC 5893 - Remains are truths and goods stored in the interior person by the Lord.

AC 5893 [2-3]
Truths must be present in the natural mind
if good is to do its work,
and those truths must be brought into it
through an affection belonging to genuine love.
Everything without exception in a person's memory
has been brought into it through some love,
and having become joined to that love
remains in the memory.
This also applies to the truths of faith;
if they have been brought in through a love of truth,
those truths become joined to and remain there with that love.
Once they have become joined to it
the following is then the situation:
If the affection is evoked again,
the truths that have been joined to it
reappear at the same time;
and if the truths are evoked again,
the affection to which they have been joined
reappears at the same time.
This being so, when a person is being regenerated
- which happens in adult life
because he is unable before this
to think for himself about the truths of faith -
he is governed by angels sent by the Lord.
They govern him by maintaining in him the truths
which he has become convinced are truths,
and by maintaining in him
through those truths
the affection to which they have been joined.
And because that affection - an affection for truth -
has its origin in good,
he is then led step by step towards good.

A considerable amount of experience
has proved the truth of this to me.
For I have noticed
that when evil spirits have thrust evils and falsities at me,
the angels from the Lord present at the time
have maintained in me the truths implanted in me previously
and have thereby withheld me from those evils and falsities.
From this it has also been evident
that the truths of faith which,
through an affection for truth,
have become rooted in me
serve as a level into which angels can operate,
so that people who do not have this level laid down in them
cannot be led by angels
but allow themselves to be led by hell.
For without it
the operation of the angels
cannot become established anywhere
and so passes away from them.
That level for angels to operate into
cannot however be acquired
unless the truths of faith have been put into service
and thus have been implanted in the person's will
and through this in his life.
It is also worth mentioning
that when the operation of the angels
into the truths of faith present with a person 
takes place,
it is rarely plain to see, that is to say,
so plain that thought about the truth operated into is aroused.
Rather, a general notion of things
in keeping with that truth,
and the affection that goes with it,
is produced.
For that operation by the angels
is effected by means of an imperceptible inflowing which,
when a visual presentation of it is made,
looks like an inflowing beam of light.
That light is made up of countless truths present within good
which focus on one particular truth known by a person
and which, while they sustain the truth in him,
also sustain the love that belongs to that truth.
This is the way the angels raise a person's mind
above falsities and protect it from evils.
Yet the person is totally unaware of any of this. 

Revelation 12:7 - 13:1

And there was war in haven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon had his angels fought back.
But he was not strong enough,
and they lost their place in heaven.
The great dragon was hurled down -
that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray.
He was hurled to the earth,
and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

When the dragon saw
that he had been hurled to earth,
he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,
so that she might fly to the place
prepared for her in the desert,
where she would be taken care of
for a time, times and half a time,
out of the serpent's reach.
Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river,
to overtake the woman
and sweep her away with the torrent.
But the earth helped the woman
by opening its mouth and swallowing the river
that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman
and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring -
those who obey God's commandments
and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

(Revelation 12:7 - 13:1)

AC 5871 - morning; AC 5881 - commotion

AC 5871
. . . the mind is gladdened by the morning of the day.

(Loved this phrase.)


AC 5881
By commotion is meant a new disposition
and setting in order of truths in the natural,
concerning which setting in order
be it known
that the order in which memory-knowledges and truths
are arranged in a person's memory
is unknown to a person,
but when it pleases the Lord
it is known to angels.
For it is a wonderful order.
They cohere as in little bundles,
and the little bundles themselves cohere together,
and this according to the connection of things
which the person had conceived.
These coherences are more wonderful
than any person can ever believe.

Revelation 11:15-19

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,
and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

"The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He will reign for ever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders,
who were seated on their thrones before God,
fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

"We give thanks to you,
Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken Your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry;
and Your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and Your saints and those who reverence Your name,
both small and great -
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

Then God's temple in heaven was opened,
and within His temple was seen the ark of His covenant.
And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder,
an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

(Revelation 11:15-19)

AC 5854 - the Lord works hard

AC 5854 [2]
The Lord could
through angels
 lead man into good ends by omnipotent force;
but this would be to take away the person's life,
for his life consists in entirely contrary loves.
Therefore the Divine law is inviolable,
that a person shall be in freedom,
and that good and truth, or charity and faith,
shall be implanted in his freedom,
and by no means in compulsion;
because what is received in a state of compulsion
does not remain, but is dissipated.
. . .The Lord therefore rules a person through his freedom,
and as far as possible withholds him
from the freedom of thinking and willing evil;
for unless a person were withheld by the Lord,
he would be continually plunging into the deepest hell.

Revelation 10

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.
He was robed in a cloud,
with a rainbow above his head;
his face was like the sun,
and his legs were like fiery pillars.
He was holding a little scroll,
which lay open in his hand.
He planted his right foot on the sea
and his left foot on the land,
and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion.
When he shouted,
the voices of seven thunders spoke,
I was about to write;
but I heard a voice from heaven say,
"Seal up what the seven thunders have said
and do not write it down."
Then the angel I had seen
standing on the sea and on the land
raised his right hand to heaven.
And he swore by Him Who lives for ever and ever,
Who created the heavens and all that is in them,
the earth and all that is in it, and said,
"There will be no more delay!
But in the days
when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet,
the mystery of God will be accomplished,
just as He announced to His servants the prophets."
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven
spoke to me once more:
"Go, take the scroll
that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll.
He said to me,
"Take it and eat it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."
I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it.
It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth,
but when I had eat it,
my stomach turned sour.
Then I was told,
"You must prophesy again about many peoples,
nations, languages and kings."

(Revelation 10) NIV

AC 5820, 5826, 5828 - co-operation

AC 5820
Spiritual food is in general all good,
but specifically it is the good
which is acquired by means of truth,
that is, truth in the will and in act,
for this good becomes good from the willing and doing,
and is called the good of truth.
Unless truth thus becomes good,
it does not benefit the person in the other life;
for when he comes into the other life
it is dissipated,
because it does not agree with his will,
thus not with the delight of his love.

AC 5826 [5]
. . . in order that a person may be regenerated
and become the church,
he must be introduced through truth to good;
and he is introduced
when truth becomes truth in the will and in act.
This truth is good, and is called the good of truth,
and produces new truths continually;
for then for the first time it makes itself fruitful.
The truth which is therefore brought forth or made fruitful
is what is called internal truth,
and the good from which it is,
is called internal good;
for nothing becomes internal
until it has been implanted in the will,
because what is of the will is the inmost of a person.
So long as good and truth are outside of the will,
and in the understanding only,
they are outside of the person;
for the understanding is without,
and the will is within.

AC 5828 [3]
It is a universal law
that influx adjusts itself according to efflux,
and if efflux is checked
influx is checked.
Through the internal person
there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord,
and through the external there must be an efflux,
namely into the life,
that is, in the exercise of charity.
When there is this efflux
then there is continual influx from heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord . . ..

Revelation 9:1-6,12-16,20-21

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet,
and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to earth.
The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
When he opened the Abyss,
smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.
The sun and sky were darkened
by the smoke from the Abyss.
And out of the smoke
locusts came down upon the earth
and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth
or any plant or tree,
but only those people
who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
They were not given power to kill them,
but only to torture them for five months.
And the agony they suffered
was like that of the sting of a scorpion
when it strikes a man.
During those days men will seek death,
but will not find it;
they will long to die,
but death will elude them.

The first woe is past;
two other woes are yet to come.
The sixth angel sounded his trumpet,
and I heard a voice
coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.
It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
"Release the four angels
who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
And the four angels who had been kept ready
for this very hour and day and month and year
were released to kill a third of mankind.

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues
still did not repent of the work of their hands;
they did not stop worshiping demons,
and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood -
idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
Nor did they repent of their murders,
their magic arts,
their sexual immorality
or their thefts.

(Revelation 9:1-6,12-16,20-21) NIV

AC 5794, 5798, 5807, 5816 - communication

AC 5794
. . . communication takes place solely through good,
and not through truth 
unless there is good in the truth.

AC 5798
. . . one who is angry with another turns away,
for in that state
he does not think like him,
but against him.

AC 5807 [2]
In its essence
love is the harmony
resulting from changes of the state,
and variations in the forms or substances,
of which the human mind consists.
This harmony,
if from the heavenly form,
is heavenly love.
It is evident therefore
that love cannot have any other origin
than the Divine love itself
which is from the Lord;
thus that love is the Divine
which flows into forms,
and so disposes them
that their changes of state and variations
may be in the harmony of heaven.

AC 5816
Good is like a little flame
which gives light and illumines,
and causes a person to see, perceive,
and believe truths.
For the affection of truth from good
determines the internal sight,
and withdraws the sight 
from worldly and bodily things,
which induce darkness.

Revelation 8

When He opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God,
and to them were given seven trumpets.

Another angel, who had a golden censer,
came and stood at the altar.
He was given much incense to offer,
with the prayers of all the saints,
on the golden altar before the throne.
The smoke of the incense,
together with the prayers of the saints,
went up before God
from the angels hand.
Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar,
and hurled it on the earth;
and there came peals of thunder, rumblings,
flashes of lightning
and an earthquake.

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets
prepared to sound them.
The first angel sounded his trumpet,
and there came hail and fire mixed with blood,
and it was hurled down upon the earth.
A third of the earth was burned up,
a third of the trees were burned up,
and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet,
and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze,
was thrown into the sea.
A third of the sea turned into blood,
a third of the living creatures in the sea died,
and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet,
and a great star, blazing like a torch,
fell from the sky on a third of the rivers
and on the springs of water - -
the name of the star is Wormwood (Bitterness).
A third of the waters turned bitter,
and many people died from the waters
that had become bitter.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet,
and a third of the sun was struck,
a third of the moon,
and a third of the stars,
so that a third of them turned dark.
A third of the day was without light,
and also a third of the night.

As I watched, I heard an eagle
that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice:
"Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded
by the other three angels!"

(Revelation 8) NIV

AC 5773 - the Lord shines

AC 5773
. . . when temptation is over,
the Lord shines on them with comfort.

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I looked
and there before me
was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes
and were holding palm branches in their hands.
and they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They fell down on their faces before the throne
and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me,
"These in white robes - who are they,
and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said,
"These are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve Him day and night in His temple;
and He who sits on the throne
will spread His tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their Shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(Revelation 7:9-17) NIV

AC 5755
. . . the signification of "doing," as being to will;
for all deed is of the will.
The deed itself is natural,
and the will is the spiritual source of it.

AC 5763
. . . heavenly freedom . . .
consists in willing what is good
and so doing it,
and in desiring what is true
and so thinking it.
When a person receives this freedom
he is a servant of the Lord,
and is then in freedom itself . . ..

Revelation 6:1-5;7-13

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.
Then I heard one of the four living creatures say
in a voice like thunder, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a white horse!
Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,
and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

When the Lamb opened the second seal,
I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth
and to make men slay each other.
To him was given a large sword.

When the Lamb opened the third seal,
I heard the third living creature say, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a black horse!
Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!
Its rider was named Death,
and Hades was following close behind him.

When He opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain
because of the word of God
and the testimony they had maintained.
They called out in a loud voice,
"How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,
until You judge the inhabitants of the earth
and avenge our blood?"
Then each of them was given a white robe,
and they were told to wait a little longer . . ..

I watched as He opened the sixth seal.
There was a great earthquake.
The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair,
the whole moon turned blood red,
and the stars feel to the earth,
as late figs drop from a fig tree
when shaken by a strong wind.

(Revelation 6:1-5;7-13) NIV

AC 5746 - What is evil? AC 5747 - What is spiritual theft?

AC 5746
. . . evil is nothing else
than a turning away from good . . .

AC 5747 [2]
The truth which is bestowed by the Lord
is first received as if it were not bestowed;
for before regeneration the person supposes
that he procures truth for himself,
and so long as he supposes this
he is in spiritual theft.
To claim good and truth to oneself,
and to attribute them to oneself
for righteousness and merit,
is to take away from the Lord
that which is His.

Revelation 5:1-3,11-14

Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat one the throne
a scroll
with writing on both sides
and sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice,
"Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"
But no one in heaven
or on earth
or under the earth
could open the scroll
or even look inside it.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels,
numbering thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousand times ten thousand.
Then they encircled the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and on the sea,
and all that is in them, singing:

"To Him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

The four living creatures said, "Amen,"
and the elders fell down and worshiped.

(Revelation 5:1-3,11-14)

AC 5713 - heaven and hell

AC 5713
Heaven, which is the Grand Man,
holds all things together in connection and safety;
hell, being what is opposite,
destroys and severs all things.

Revelation 4:1-6

After this I looked,
and there before me was a door standing open in heaven,
And the voice I had first heard speaking to me
like a trumpet said,
"Come up here,
and I will show you what must take place after this."

At once I was in the Spirit,
and there before me was a throne in heaven
with someone sitting on it.
And the one who sat there
had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian.
A rainbow,
resembling an emerald,
encircled the throne.
Surrounding the throne
where twenty-four other thrones,
and seated on them were twenty-four elders.
They were dressed in white
and had crowns of gold on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings and peals of thunder.
Before the throne,
seven lamps were blazing.
These are the seven spirits of God.
Also before the throne
there was what looked like a sea of class,
clear as crystal.

(Revelation 4:1-6)