TCR 836 - spirits and angels

TCR 836

. . . every spirit and every angel is a human being.

The Song of Moses 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."

(Revelation 15:3-4)

TCR 806 - Can we see our internal?

TCR 806

It is rarely possible in the natural world
so see what a person's interior is like,
since he has learned from childhood to behave rationally,
and he likes to seem so.
But in the spiritual world
everyone's nature is plain to see,
for then he is a spirit,
and the spirit is the internal man.

God's Temple in Heaven

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."

. . . 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)

TCR 802 - faith and charity are given by the Lord

TCR 802 [2]

. . . it is of no avail to know and talk about faith and charity,
unless they are expressed in the life we lead,
being given to us by the Lord
when after self-examination we repent . . ..

The Voice of Many Angels

Then I saw a Lamb,
looking as if it had been slain,
standing in the center of the throne,
encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels,
numbering thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousand times ten thousand.
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 5:6,11-14)

TCR 793 - after death

TCR 793

A person is just as much a person after death,
although he is then invisible to the eyes of the material body.
This can be established
from the cases of the angels seen by
Abraham, Hagar, Gideon, Daniel and some of the prophets,
from the angels seen in the Lord's tomb,
and afterwards on many occasions by John,
as he describes in Revelation.
Above all, this is proved by the Lord Himself,
who showed by touch and by eating
that He was a human being,
although He vanished from their sight.

Grace and Peace to You

Grace and peace to you
from Him who is,
and who was,
and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ, 
who is the faithful witness,
the first-born from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by His blood,
and has made us to be a kingdom
and priests to serve His God and Father -
to Him be glory and power for ever and ever!
Amen.

Look, He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see Him,
even those who pierced Him;
and all the peoples of the earth
will mourn because of Him.
So shall it be! 
Amen.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God,
"who is,
and who was,
and who is to come,
the Almighty."

(Revelation 1:4-8)

Jehovah Himself Came Into the World

TCR 786 [2]

A boy is born for us,
a Son is given to us,
whose name is God, Hero,
the Everlasting Father.
(Isaiah 9:6)

Many passages in the Prophets state
that Jehovah Himself was to come into the world,
to be the Redeemer;
and this too He did in the human which He put on.

Blessed Are Those

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve,
was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him,
"We have seen the Lord!"

But he said to them,
"Unless I see the nail marks in His hands
and put my finger where the nails were,
and put my hand into His side,
I will not believe it."

A week later His disciples were in the house again,
and Thomas was with them.
Though the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you!"
Then He said to Thomas,
"Put your finger here; see My hands.
Reach out your hand and put it into My side.
Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas said to Him,
"My Lord and my God!"

Then Jesus told him,
"Because you have seen Me, you have believed;
blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have believed."

(John 20:24-29)

TCR 772 - He did not come to judge but to save.

TCR 772

. . . the Lord's second coming,
is not taking place in order to wipe out
the sky we see and the earth we live on.
In fact it is not so as to destroy anything,
but to build something;
and so not to condemn,
but to save those who from His first coming
have believed in Him
and who after this will believe in Him.
This is established from these of the Lord's words:

God did not send His Son into the world
to judge the world,
but so that the world should be saved through Him.
He who believes in Him is not judged;
but he who does not believe is already judged,
because he has not believed
in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
(John 3:17, 18)

If anyone has heard My words,
yet has not believed,
I do not judge him.
For I did not come to judge the world,
but to save the world.
He who despises Me
and does not receive My words,
has that which judges him.
The word which I have spoken
will judge him.
(John 12:47, 48)

"I Am the True Vine"

"I am the true vine,
and My Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit
He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

"I am the vine;
you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit;
apart from Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not remain in Me,
he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers;
such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in Me
and My words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you.
This is My Father's glory,
that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be My disciples."

(John 15:1-2,5-8)

TCR 766 - the process

TCR 766

The Lord is present with every person,
urging and pressing him to receive Him.
And when a person receives Him,
which happens when he acknowledges Him as his God,
the Creator, Redeemer and Savior,
this is His first coming, and is called twilight.
From this time
the person begins to have his understanding
enlightened as regards spiritual matters,
and to advance to more and more inward wisdom.
As he receives this wisdom from the Lord,
so he advances through morning into day;
and he continues in this daylight
up to old age and until he dies.
After death he comes into heaven to the Lord Himself,
and there, for all that he died an old man,
he is brought back to the morning of his life,
and continues for ever to develop the wisdom
which was implanted in him in the natural world.

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

"I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
If you really knew Me,
you would know My Father as well.
From now on,
you do know Him and have seen Him."

(John 14:6-7)

TCR 748 - Wisdom and Love

TCR 748 [2]

Wisdom is at the right hand of love,
because a member of the church
has wisdom as if from himself,
and to the extent that he is wise,
he receives love from the Lord.
The right hand also stands for power,
and love gets its power
by means of wisdom.

The Light of Life

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said,
"I am the Light of the world.
Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the Light of Life."

(John 8:12)

TCR 746 - every love, every pleasure

TCR 746 [3]

. . . every love has its own pleasure,
for this is what gives it life;
and the pleasure of the love of service
is a heavenly pleasure . . ..

"I Am Not Here on My Own"

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out,
"Yes, you know Me,
and you know where I am from.
I am not here on My own,
but He who sent Me is True.
You do not know Him,
But I know Him
because I am from Him
and He sent Me."

At this they tried to seize Him,
but no one laid a hand on Him,
because His time had not yet come.

(John 7:28-30)

TCR 736 - what is meant by kings and princes and by reigning with Christ

TCR 736 [3]

After three hours heaven was opened above their heads,
and the angels looked down and pitied them.
'Why,' they said, 'do you sit like this
looking foolish and playing at acting?
They have made fools of you
and changed you from human beings into dummies,
because you believed in your hearts
that you would reign with Christ as kings and princes,
and that then angels would wait upon you.
Have you forgotten the Lord's words,
that he who would be great in heaven
must become a servant?
You must learn therefore what is meant
by kings and princes and by reigning with Christ.
This means being wise and performing services.
For Christ's kingdom, which is heaven,
is a kingdom of services.
For the Lord loves all and so wishes to do good to all,
and good is service.
Since the Lord does good or performs services
indirectly through angels,
and in the world through people,
He gives those who faithfully perform services
a love of service and its reward,
which is inward blessedness,
and this is everlasting happiness.

The Light

"This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world,
but men loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil
hates the light,
and will not come into the light
for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth
comes into the light,
so that it may be seen plainly
that what he has done
has been done through God."

(John 3:19-21)

TCR 729 - salvation; TCR 734, 735 - heavenly joy & happiness

TCR 729
For there is no nation in the whole world
which cannot be saved,
if it acknowledges God
and lives a good life.
For the Lord has redeemed all of these,
and man is by birth spiritual,
a fact which gives him the ability
to receive the gift of redemption.

TCR 734 [3]
'What then,' they asked the angel, 'is heavenly joy?'
 
The angel replied briefly as follows:
'It is the pleasure of doing something
which is of service to oneself or others.
This pleasure derives its essence from love,
and its coming-into-being from wisdom.
The pleasure of service arising from love
by means of wisdom
is the soul and life of all heavenly joys.

TCR 735 [5-6]
Happiness has to have joys
and therefore comes from joys.
 
It is the happiness in joys that makes them joys,
enriches them, and keeps them
from becoming worthless and boring.
Everyone gets this happiness
by being of service in his occupation.

'Every angel has some hidden tendency
in the affection of his will,
which induces his mind to do something.
By this means the mind calms and satisfies itself.
This feeling of satisfaction and calm
render the state of the mind amenable
to receiving from the Lord the love of service.
Heavenly happiness is the result of receiving this,
and this is what gives life to the joys I mentioned before.
Heavenly food is essentially nothing but
love, wisdom and service all combined;
that is,
service performed by means of wisdom out of love.
Everyone therefore in heaven gets food for the body
depending on the service he performs;
it is magnificent
for those who perform the highest services,
moderate but of exquisite flavor
for those whose service is modest,
humble for those who perform humble services.
But there is none at all for the lazy.'

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.

The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory,
the glory of the One and Only,
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

(John 1:1-2,14)

TCR 726 - real love towards the neighbor and real faith

TCR 726 [2]

There are many besides who confess the Lord
and do good to the neighbor;
but they are not regenerated
unless they do this out of love towards the neighbor
and faith in the Lord.
For in doing good to the neighbor
they can be motivated solely by reasons
which concern the world or themselves,
but not the neighbor as such.
Their deeds are purely natural,
with no spiritual content hidden in them.
For such people make a confession of the Lord
only with their mouths and lips,
while their hearts are far away.

Real love towards the neighbor and real faith
come only from the Lord;
and both are conferred upon a person
when he of his own free will
does good on the natural level to the neighbor,
and believes truths with his reason,
and looks to the Lord,
doing all these three things
because of the commandments in the Word.
Then the Lord plants charity and faith in his midst,
and makes both of these spiritual.
So the Lord conjoins a person to Himself,
and the person conjoins himself to the Lord;
for conjunction is impossible
if it is not reciprocal.

"For I Will Give You Words and Wisdom"

Then He said to them:
"Nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be great earthquakes, famines
and pestilences in various places,
and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this,
they will lay hands on you and persecute you.
They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons,
and you will be brought before kings and governors,
and all on account of My name.
This will result in your being witnesses to them.
But make up your mind not to worry beforehand
how you will defend yourselves.
For I will give you words and wisdom
that none of your adversaries
will be able to resist or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers, relatives and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
All men will hate you because of Me.
But not a hair of your head will perish.
By standing firm you will gain life."

(Luke 21:10-19)

TCR 712 - an image and likeness

TCR 712 [2]

. . . man was created an image and likeness of God,
in order therefore that he might be in the Lord,
and the Lord might be in him.

Blessed is the King!

When He came near the place
where the road goes down the Mount of Olives,
the whole crowd of disciples
began joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen:

"Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest!"

(Luke 19:37-38)

TCR 701 - what the revelation of the spiritual sense does

TCR 701

Without the disclosure of the spiritual sense of the Word,
or what is the same thing,
without the revelation
of how natural things correspond to spiritual ones,
the holiness of the sacrament
which is the subject of this chapter
could no more be inwardly acknowledged
than a treasure hidden in a field.
The field is not valued more highly than any ordinary one;
but when it is disclosed that the field contains a treasure,
the field acquires a high value,
and the buyer makes the wealth from it his own.
Even more would this be the case,
if it were known that the treasure in it
was worth more than any amount of gold.

[2] Without the spiritual sense
that sacrament is like a house shut up,
but full of valuable objects and treasure-chests,
which looks to the passerby like any other in the street.
But because the clergy have built its walls of marble
and overlaid the roof with gold,
it catches the eye of the passer-by
who stops to look, admire and set a value on it.
The case is quite different
when the house is open so that anyone may go inside;
and there the guardian gives some people a loan,
and some a gift from its wealth,
each according to his rank.
We can speak of a gift from its wealth,
because it has an inexhaustible supply of valuables,
and they are continually replaced.
This is how it is with the spiritual things in the Word,
and with the celestial things contained in the sacraments.

[3] The sacrament under discussion here,
if the holiness which lurks within is not revealed,
looks like river sand,
which contains a great quantity of grains of gold
too small to see.
But when its holiness is revealed,
it is like gold collected and melted down to make an ingot,
and then worked into beautiful shapes.
If the holiness of this sacrament is not disclosed and seen,
it is like a chest or case of beech or poplar wood,
in which lie diamonds, rubies
and many other precious stones
carefully arranged in trays.
Anyone would put a high price on that chest or case,
if he knew that such things were hidden in it;
and even higher when he sees them,
and sees them being given away for nothing.
Without the revelation of its correspondences with heaven,
if, that is, the heavenly things to which it corresponds
are not seen
that sacrament is like an angel
seen in the world in ordinary dress,
and treated with only so much respect as his dress warrants.
The case is quite different
when it is known that he is an angel,
and the utterances heard from his mouth
are angelic and his deeds are seen to have wonderful results.

[4] The difference
between holiness that is only proclaimed
and holiness that is seen to be such
may be illustrated by this example,
which I saw and heard in the spiritual world.
A letter was read out which was written by Paul
at the time of his travels in the world,
but not published so that any knew that it was Paul's.
To begin with the audience thought poorly of it.
But when it was disclosed
that it was one of the Pauline Epistles,
it was received with joy, and every detail in it was revered.
This made it plain
that merely proclaiming the holiness of the Word
and the sacraments,
so long as performed by leading churchmen,
imprints the mark of holiness.
But it is quite different when its holiness
is disclosed and displayed to view before one's eyes;
and this is what the revelation of the spiritual sense does.
This turns its outward holiness into inward holiness,
and when it is proclaimed it is acknowledged.
It is much the same with the holiness
of the sacrament of the Lord's supper.

The Narrow Door

Then Jesus went through the towns and villages,
teaching as He made His way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked Him,
"Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

He said to them,
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,
because many, I tell you,
will try to enter and not be able to.
Once the Owner of the house gets up
and closes the door,
you will stand outside knocking and pleading,
"Sir, open the door for us."

"But He will answer,
'I don't know you or where you come from.'

"Then you will say,
'We ate and drank with You,
and You taught in our streets.'

"But He will reply,
'I don't know your or where you come from.
Away from Me,
all you evildoers!'"

(Luke 13:22-27)

TCR 697 - our soul

TCR 697

In short, the soul is the real person
because it is the inmost person;
its form therefore is the human form in full perfection.
But it is not life,
but is the nearest receiver of life from God,
and so God's dwelling.

Jehovah God breathed into man's nostrils
the breath of life,
and man became a living soul.
(Genesis 2:7)

Jesus Visits Mary and Martha

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way,
He came to a village where a woman named Martha
opened her home to Him.
She had a sister called Mary,
who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said.
But Martha was distracted
by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to Him and asked,
"Lord, don't You care
that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered,
"you are worried and upset about many things,
but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better,
and it will not be taken away from her."

(Luke 10:38-42)

TCR 697 - from the golden age to now

TCR 692 [7]

'The people of the age of Saturn, the golden age,
knew and acknowledged
that they were forms for the reception of life from God,
and consequently they had wisdom
written upon their souls and hearts,
so that they saw truth by the light of truth,
and truths enabled them to perceive good
by the pleasure of its love.
'But,' he said, 'as in the following periods
the human race retreated from the acknowledgment
that all the truths of wisdom
and thus all the good of love they had
was continually flowing in from God,
they ceased to be dwelling-places of God,
and then too they stopped talking with God
and mixing with angels.
For the interiors of their minds were diverted
from their previous direction,
which was being raised upwards by God towards God,
and they were turned further and further aside,
outwards to the world,
and so directed by God to God 
by way of the world.
Finally they were turned in the opposite direction,
which is downwards towards oneself.
Because a person
who is inwardly turned upside down or away
cannot look to God,
people separated themselves from God
and became forms of hell, and so of the devil.

'It follows from this 
that in the earliest ages
people acknowledged with heart and soul
that all the good of love,
and so all the truth of wisdom,
came to them from God,
and also that this good and truth were God's in them,
so that they were purely receivers of life from God;
which is why they were called images of God,
sons of God and born of God.
But in the following ages
people no longer acknowledged this
with their heart and soul,
but by some incorrect belief,
later by historical faith
and finally merely professing it with the lips.
Acknowledging anything of this kind
merely by professing it with the lips
is not acknowledging it,
and is in fact denying it at heart.

Proclaiming the Good News

After this, Jesus traveled about
from one town and village to another,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.
The Twelve were with Him,
and also some women
who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases:
Mary (called Magdalene)
from who seven demons had come out;
Joanna the wife of Cuza,
the manager of Herod's household;
Susanna;
and many others.
These women were helping to support them
out of their own means.

When Jesus had called the Twelve together,
He gave them power and authority
to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
and He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.

(Luke 8:1-3; 9:1-2)

TCR 685 - baptism

TCR 685

. . . the three purposes of baptism combine into one,
just as do the first cause,
the intermediate or efficient cause,
and the last cause or the effect,
which is the real end in view
for the sake of which the others exist.
The first purpose is 
for a person to be named a Christian;
the second is what follows from this,
so that he may get to know and acknowledge the Lord,
the Redeemer, Regenerator and Savior;
the third is 
so that he may be regenerated by the Lord,
and when this happens,
he is redeemed and saved.
Since these three purposes
follow one succeeding the other
and combine in the last,
so that angels think of them together as one,
then when baptism is performed,
read about in the Word or mentioned,
the angels present understand not baptism,
but regeneration. 
So these words of the Lord:

He who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but he who does not believe will be condemned.
(Mark 16:16)

are understood by the angels in heaven as meaning
that the person who acknowledges the Lord
and is regenerated
is saved.

[2] This too is the reason why baptism is called
by the Christian churches on earth
the washing of regeneration.
The Christian ought therefore to know
that one who does not believe in the Lord
cannot be regenerated,
despite being baptized.
Baptism without faith in the Lord is of no avail . . ..

The Man With Leprosy

While Jesus was in one of the towns,
a man came along who was covered with leprosy.
When he saw Jesus,
he fell with his face to the ground and begged Him,
"Lord, if you are willing,
You can make me clean."

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.
"I am willing," He said.  "Be clean!"
And immediately the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him,
"Don't tell anyone,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer the sacrifices
that Moses commanded for your cleansing,
as a testimony to them."

Yet the news about Him spread all the more,
so that crowds of people came to hear Him
and to be healed of their sicknesses.
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

(Luke 5:12-16)

TCR 682 - His Name

TCR 682

The name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word
means nothing other
than His acknowledgment
and living in accordance with His commandments.

Mary Treasured

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
"Let us go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found
Mary and Joseph,
and the baby, who was lying in the manager.
When they had seen Him,
they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this Child,
and all who heard it
were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things
and pondered them in her heart.

Every year His parents went to Jerusalem
for the Feast of the Passover.
When He was twelve years old,
they went up to the Feast,
according to the custom.
After the Feast was over,
while His parents were returning home,
the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem,
but they were unaware of it.
Thinking He was in their company,
they traveled on for a day.
Then they began looking for Him
among their relatives and friends.
When they did not find Him,
they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him.
After three days
they found Him in the temple courts,
sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions.
Everyone who heard Him was amazed
at His understanding and His answers.
When His parents saw Him,
they were astonished.
His mother said to Him,
"Son, why have your treated us like this?
Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You."

"Why were you searching for Me?" He asked.
"Didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?"
But they did not understand what He was saying to them.

Then He went down to Nazareth with them
and was obedient to them.
But His mother treasured all these thing in her heart.
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature,
and in favor with God and men.

(Luke 2:15-19, 41-52)

TCR 670 - only two representative acts

TCR 670

The washing called baptism means spiritual washing,
which is purification from evils and falsities,
and so regeneration.

[2] . . . the reason why washing and similar acts
were ordered and enjoined upon the Children of Israel
was that the church established among them
was a representative one,
and had the character it did
so as to prefigure the Christian church
which was to come.
When therefore the Lord came into the world,
He abolished representative acts,
all of which were external,
and established a church
which was in all respects internal.
So the Lord banished the symbols
and revealed the actual forms,
as when someone lifts a curtain or opens a door,
allowing what is inside not only to be seen
but also approached.
Out of all the previous representative acts
the Lord retained only two,
to contain everything the internal church has
in a single pair;
these are baptism to replace the acts of washing
and the Holy Supper to replace the lamb
which was sacrificed every day,
and in full measure on the feast of the Passover.

An Angel Appears to Mary

In the sixth month,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,
a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledged to be married
to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of David.
The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said,
"Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words
and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
you have found favor with God.
You will be with Child
and give birth to a Son,
and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David,
and He will reign forever;
His kingdom will never end."

And Mary said,

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has been mindful
of the humble state of His servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me -
Holy is His name.
His mercy extends to those who fear Him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those
who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as He said to our father."

(Luke 1:26-33,46-55)

TCR 666 - conscience

TCR 666

. . . conscience regarded in itself 
is not any distress,
but is a spiritual willingness
to do what religion and faith dictate.
Thus it is that those who enjoy a conscience
live in tranquil peace and inward blessedness
when they act according to conscience,
and in some unease when they act against it.

[3] All who have a conscience
speak from the heart when they speak,
and act from the heart when they act;
for they have their minds undivided,
speaking and doing
according to what they understand and believe
truth and good to be.
. . . It is in true conscience
that a person's actual spiritual life resides,
for there his faith is conjoined to charity.
For such people therefore
acting according to conscience
is acting according to one's spiritual life,
and acting against conscience
is for them
acting against that life of theirs. 

The Most Important Commandments

One of the teaches of the law came and heard them debating.
Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked Him,
"Of all the commandments,
which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus,
"is this:
'Hear, O Israel, 
the Lord our God,
the Lord is One.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and with all your strength.'
The second is this:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no commandment greater than these.

(Mark 12:28-31)

TCR 664 - use / service

TCR 661 [14]

In a word all heaven
is nothing but a containant of uses
from things first to things last.
What is use but the actual love of the neighbor?
And what keeps the heavens together but this love?
(Ager translation)

In short the whole of heaven
is nothing but a container of services,
from first to last.
What is a service
but the realization in action
of love for the neighbor?
(Elliot translation)

To Serve

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said,
"If anyone wants to be first,
he must be the very last,
and the servant of all."

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve,
and to give His life as a ransom for many."

(Mark 9:12;10:45)

TCR 647 - the new and the old are too different to mix

TCR 647

The faith and concept of imputation in the new church
cannot by any means be combined
with the faith and concept of imputation current
in the former church.
If they are combined,
there is such a clash and conflict
that a person loses all trace of anything
to do with the church.

The faith of the former church teaches
that three Divine Persons existed from eternity,
each of which is singly or by Himself God,
and there are also three creators.
** But the faith of the new church is
that there was only one Divine Person,
and so only one God, from eternity,
and there is no other God beside Him.

The faith of the former church therefore has held
that the Divine Trinity is divided into three Persons;
** but the faith of the new church holds
that the Divine Trinity is united in one Person.

[2] The faith of the former church was in a God
who is invisible, inaccessible
and with whom we cannot be conjoined.
Their concept of God was like their concept of a spirit,
being like that of the ether or the wind.
** But the faith of the new church is in a God
who is visible, accessible
and with whom we can be conjoined,
in whom is the God who is invisible,
inaccessible and with whom we cannot be linked,
just as the soul is in the body.

[3] The faith of the former church attributes
all power to the invisible God,
and takes it away from the visible God.
For it holds that God the Father imputes faith,
and by means of it confers everlasting life;
and that the visible God only intercedes,
and both give
(or according to the Greek church, God the Father gives)
to the Holy Spirit,
who occupies the third position as God by Himself,
all power to carry out the effects of that faith.
** But the faith of the new church attributes
to the visible God,
in whom is the invisible God,
all power to impute
and also to carry out the effects of salvation.

[4] The faith of the former church is primarily
in God the Creator,
and not at the same time
in God as Redeemer and Savior.
** But the faith of the new church is in one God,
who is at the same time
Creator, Redeemer and Savior.

[5] The faith of the former church is
that the gift and imputation of faith
is followed automatically by
repentance, the forgiveness of sins,
renewal, regeneration,
sanctification and salvation,
without the person taking any part in
or being connected with them.
** But the faith of the new church teaches repentance,
reformation and regeneration leading to
the forgiveness of sins with the person's co-operation.

[6] The faith of the former church holds
that Christ's merit is imputed,
and the bestowal of faith embraces this imputation.
** But the faith of the new church teaches
that good and evil are imputed, and so is faith,
this imputation being in agreement with Holy Scripture,
while the other is contrary to it.

[7] The former church holds that faith,
in which Christ's merit is contained, is bestowed,
while the person remains like a block of wood or a stone;
it also holds that a person is totally powerless
in spiritual matters.
** But the new church teaches a completely different faith,
which is not in Christ's merit,
but in Jesus Christ Himself, God, Redeemer and Savior,
holding that a person has free will
to devote himself both to receiving faith
and to co-operating.

[8] The former church attaches
charity as an appendage to its faith,
but not that which brings about salvation,
and this is the basis of its religion.
** But the new church conjoins faith in the Lord
with charity towards the neighbor,
making them inseparable,
and thus the basis of its religion.

There are many other disagreements besides these.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
Calling the Twelve to Him,
He sent them out two by two
and gave them authority over evil spirits.

These were His instructions:
"Take nothing for the journey except a staff -
no bread, no bag, nor money in your belts.
Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.
Whenever you enter a house,
stay there until you leave that town.
And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave,
as a testimony against them."

They went out and preached that people should repent.
They drove out many demons
and anointed many sick people with oil
and healed them.

(Mark 6:6-13)

TCR 634 - trust Him only

TCR 634
Do not, reader, put your trust in Councils,
but in the Holy Word.
Approach the Lord
and you will be enlightened.
For He is the Word,
that is to say,
the very Divine Truth in it.

TCR 641
The Lord's merit and righteousness . . . are wholly Divine;
and what is wholly Divine is such
that if applied and attributed to a human being,
he would instantly die,
and like a block of wood
thrown into the unprotected sun
would be so thoroughly consumed
that hardly a trace of ash would be left.
The Lord therefore with His divinity
approaches angels and men by means of light
tempered and modified to suit
the ability and nature of the individual,
. . . and likewise by means of heat.
 

Again, He Would Not Let the Evil Spirits Speak

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake,
and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
When they heard all He was doing,
many people came to Him
from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea,
and the regions across the Jordan
and around Tyre and Sidon.
Because of the crowd
He told His disciples
to have a small boat ready for Him,
to keep the people from crowding Him.
For He had healed many,
so that those with diseases
were pushing forward to touch Him.
Whenever the evil spirits saw Him,
they fell down before Him and cried out,
"You are the Son of God."
But He gave them strict orders
not to tell who He was.

(Mark 3:7-12)

TCR 630 - the Word teaches from beginning to end

TCR 630

The Word teaches from beginning to end
that one should shun evils
because they are the devil's work
and from the devil,
and one should do good deeds
because they are God's work
and come from God;
and one should do these things of oneself,
under the Lord's working.

He Would Not Let the Demons Speak

At that time
Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee
and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
As Jesus was coming up out of the water,
He saw heaven being torn open
and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven:
"You are My Son, whom I love;
with You I am well pleased."

At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert,
and He was in the desert forty days,
being tempted by Satan.
He was with the wild animals,
and angels attended Him.

As soon as they left the synagog,
They went with James and John
to the home of Simon and Andrew.
Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever,
and they told Jesus about her.
So He went to her,
took her hand and helped her up.
The fever left her
and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset
the people brought to Jesus
all the sick and demon-possessed.
The whole town gathered at the door,
and Jesus healed many
who had various diseases.
He also drove out many demons,
but He would not let the demons speak
because they knew who He was.

(Mark 1:9-13;29-34)

TCR 623 - spiritual thought, material thought

TCR 623 [3,4]

Anyone who thinks about God only as a Person
and not as Essence
thinks materially;
and so does anyone who thinks about the neighbor
merely as an external form,
without regard to the sort of person he is.
If anyone thinks of heaven merely as a place,
instead of as love and wisdom,
which are what make it heaven,
he too is thinking materially.

. . . The Divine Essence has many attributes,
such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence,
eternity, love, wisdom, mercy, grace and others too.
There are also attributes which proceed
from the Divine Essence;
creation and preservation,
redemption and salvation,
enlightenment and instruction.
Everyone who thinks of God in terms of Person
makes three Gods;
there is one God, he says,
who is the Creator and Preserver,
another who is the Redeemer and Savior,
and a third who is the Enlightener and Instructor.
But everyone who thinks of God in terms of Essence
makes God one;
God created us, he says,
and He too redeems and saves us,
and also enlightens and instructs us.
That is the reason why those who think
of the Divine Trinity in terms of Person,
and so materially,
cannot help being led by the ideas in their thought,
which is material,
to make three Gods out of one.
But they are still obliged to say,
contrary to their thinking,
that the three are united by Essence,
because their thought has also led them to perceive God,
as it were through a lattice,
in terms of Essence.

It Must Happen In This Way

"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him,
"for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Do you think I cannot call on My Father,
and He will at once put at My disposal
more than twelve legions of angels?
But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled
that say it must happen in this way?"

(Matthew 26:52-54)

TCR 618, 619 - knowing the Lord

TCR 618 [2], 619

Spiritual light is in its essence intelligence,
and spiritual heat is in its essence love.
It is the Lord alone who combines these two
when He regenerates a person.

. . . there is no knowing the Lord without truths;
and without truths
there is no faith
and so no charity.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

While the Pharisees were gathered together,
Jesus asked them,
"What do you think about the Christ?
Whose son is He?"

"The son of David," they replied.

He said to them,
"How is it then that David,
speaking by the Spirit,
calls Him 'Lord'?
For he says,

"'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at My right hand
until I put Your enemies under your feet."'
(Psalm 110:1)
If then David calls Him 'Lord,'
who can He be his son?"

No one could say a word in reply,
and from that day on
no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

(Matthew 22:41-46)

TCR 596, 598, 599 - the struggle, then the peace

TCR 596
. . . it is well known that the flesh opposes the spirit,
and the spirit the flesh,
and the flesh with its lusts must be tamed,
before the spirit can act
and the person can become a new man.
Following this dissension of the wills,
a struggle, known as spiritual temptation takes place.

A person does not feel this struggle
to be anywhere but in himself,
and he feels it as the pangs of conscience.
Yet it is the Lord and the devil (that is, hell)
who struggle in man;
their struggle is to gain control of the person,
to see which is to possess him.

TCR 598
After the temptation is over
the person is in heaven regards his internal man,
and in the world by means of his external.
It is therefore by temptations
that in a person's case
heaven and the world are conjoined together,
and then the Lord with him
controls his world from heaven
in accordance with proper order.
The reverse happens if the person remains natural.
Then he longs to control heaven from the world.
That is what everyone
who loves to dominate from self-love
becomes like.
If he is inwardly examined,
he proves to believe in no God,
but himself . . ..

TCR 599
In people's struggles or temptations
the Lord carries out an individual redemption,
just as He did a total redemption
when He was in the world.
By struggles and temptations in the world
the Lord glorified His Human, that is, He made it Divine.
It is likewise now with people individually;
when someone is subject to temptations,
the Lord struggles for him,
overcoming the spirits of hell who assail him;
and after his temptation
He glorifies him, that is, renders him spiritual.

After His universal redemption
the Lord brought everything in heaven and in hell
into a state of order.
He does much the same with a person after temptation,
for He brings into a state of order
everything in him relating to heaven and the world.
After the act of redemption
the Lord established a new church;
likewise too He establishes in a person
what is to do with the church,
and makes him a church at the level of the individual.
After redemption
the Lord granted peace to those who believed in Him;
for He said:

I leave peace with you,
My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives
do I give it to you.
(John 14:27)

Likewise
He grants to a person after temptation to feel peace,
that is, gladness of mind and consolation.
These facts show
that the Lord is the Redeemer for ever. 

The Little Children

Then little children were brought to Jesus
for Him to place His hands on them
and pray for them.
But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these."
When He had placed His hands on them,
He went on from there.

(Matthew 19:13-15)

TCR 587-588 - the need for the understanding in reformation

TCR 587-588

. . . . reformation takes place through the understanding
or through the truths the understanding receives.
For truths teach the person
in whom and what he should believe,
and what he should do,
so what he should will.
For anything a person does
is the result of the will acting in accordance 
with the understanding.
Since then a person's will is of itself evil from birth,
and because it is the understanding
which teaches us what is evil and what is good,
and it is possible to will the one and not will the other,
it follows that a person must be reformed
through the understanding.
So long as anyone sees and mentally acknowledges
that evil is evil, and good is good,
thinking that good ought to be chosen,
for so long is his state called reformation.
But when his will is to shun evil and do good,
that is when his state of regeneration begins.

The purpose for which
man has been given the ability to raise his understanding,
almost into the light enjoyed by the angels of heaven,
is so that he can see
what he ought to will and so do,
if he is to enjoy prosperity in the world for the time being
and after death be blessed for ever.
He becomes prosperous and blessed
if he acquires wisdom,
and keeps his will obedient to it.
But he becomes unfortunate and wretched
if he makes his understanding obedient to his will.
The reason is
that the will has from birth a tendency to evils,
even monstrous evils.
If therefore these are not held in check by the understanding,
a person left to give free rein to his will
would rush into villainy,
and his inborn savagery would lead him
to wreak havoc on and slaughter,
for selfish motives,
any who did not look kindly on him and indulge his longings.

[2] Moreover,
if the understanding could not be perfected separately,
and the will by its means,
man would not be man,
but an animal.

Seeds and Soil

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom 
and does not understand it,
the evil one comes
and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
This is the seed sown along the path.

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places
is the man who hears the Word
and at one receives it with joy.
But since he has no root,
he lasts only a short time.
When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word,
he quickly falls away.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns
is the man who hears the Word,
but the worries of this life
and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it,
making it unfruitful.

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil
is the man who hears the Word and understands it.
He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown."

(Matthew 13:16-23)

TCR 571 - next comes reformation then regeneration

TCR 571

After dealing with repentance
we come next in order to reformation and regeneration,
because these come after repentance
and it is by repentance that they advance.

There are two states
which a person must enter upon and undergo
to pass from being natural to being spiritual.
The first state is called reformation,
the second regeneration.
In his first state
a person looks from his natural to his spiritual man
and desires to be spiritual;
in the second state
he becomes spiritual-natural.
The first state is formed by means of the truths
which must become part of faith,
and these enable him to look towards charity.
The second state is formed
by the kinds of good which make up charity,
and from them he enters into the truths of faith.

To put this in other terms,
the first state is one of thought
on the part of the understanding,
but the second is one of love
on the part of the will.
When this state begins and develops,
a mental change takes place;
for there is a turning-point,
following which the love of the will
flows into the understanding,
and drives and guides it to think
in harmony and in keeping with its love.
In so far therefore
as the good of love then plays the leading role,
and the truths of faith take second place,
to that extent he is a spiritual man and a new creature.
Then charity inspires his actions,
faith his speech;
he feels the good of charity
and perceives the truth of faith.
Then he is in the Lord and in a state of peace,
and so he is regenerated.

The Sign of Jonah

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law
said to Him, "Teacher,
we want to see a miraculous sign from You."

He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation
asks for a miraculous sign!
But none will be given to it
except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of a huge fish,
so the Son of Man will be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh 
will stand up at the judgment with this generation 
and condemn it;
for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,
and One greater than Jonah is here.
The queen of the South
will rise at the judgment with this generation
and condemn it;
for she came from the ends of the earth
to listen to Solomon's wisdom,
and now One greater than Solomon is here.

(Matthew 12:38-42)

TCR 568 - our internal is our spirit

TCR 568

Everyone after death,
when he becomes aware that he is still alive,
but in another world,
and he is told that above him is heaven,
where there are everlasting joys,
and below him is hell,
where there are everlasting sorrows,
is first brought back into the external state he was in,
while he was in his former world.
Then he believes that he will certainly reach heaven,
and he talks intelligently and behaves prudently.
Some say:
'We have lived a moral life,
we have had honorable ambitions,
we have not deliberately done evil.'
Others say:
'We have gone regularly to church,
we have attended mass,
we have kissed holy statues,
we have prayed hard on our knees.'
Some say:
'We have given to the poor,
we have helped the needy,
we have read devotional books,
as well as the Word.'
And there are many more similar claims.

[2] But when they have made these statements,
the angels standing by them say:
'All the things you have mentioned you did externally;
but you still do not know what you are like internally.
You are now spirits with a substantial body,
and the spirit is your internal man.
It is this in you which thinks what it wishes,
and wishes what it loves,
and this is the pleasure of its life.
Everyone from early childhood
begins his life on the external level.
He learns to behave with morality,
to talk intelligently,
and once he has formed some idea
of heaven and its blessedness,
he begins to pray, to go to church and attend regular services.
Yet he still treasures up in the depths of his mind
the evils which spring in profusion from their native source;
he cleverly covers them up too
with reasonings based upon fallacies,
until he himself does not know that evil is evil.

[3] 'You said that you lived a moral life
and devoted yourselves to religious studies.
But my question is,
did you ever examine your internal man
and become aware of any longings for revenge,
even to the point of murder,
any longings for indulging your lusts
even to the point of adultery,
any longings for fraud
even to the point of stealing,
any longings for lying
even to the point of giving false witness?
Four of the Ten Commandments contain the injunction,
"You are not to,"
and the last two "You are not to covet."
Do you really believe
that in these matters
your internal man resembled your external one?
 

The Beginning of the Sermon on the Mount

Now when He saw the crowds,
He went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to Him,
and He began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you,
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
who were before you."

(Matthew 5:1-12)

TCR 562, 566 - repetition is important

TCR 562
. . . real repentance is easy for those
who have repented a number of times,
but highly distasteful to those who have not.

TCR 566
Therefore, kind reader, look into yourself,
and find out one or another evil that is in you,
and from religion dismiss it.
If you dismiss evils from any other purpose or end,
you do so only that they may not appear before the world.

An Angel Appears to Joseph

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together,
she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man
and did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a Son,
and you are to give Him the name Jesus,
because He will save His people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"The virgin will be with Child
and will give birth to a Son,
and they will call Him Immanuel" -
which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up,
he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took Mary home as his wife.
But he had no union with her
until she gave birth to a Son.
And he gave Him the name Jesus.

(Matthew 1:18-25)

TCR 532, 539 - self-examination, prayer & confession

TCR 532
The reason why true repentance
means not only examining what one does in one's life,
but also what one intends in one's will to do,
is that deeds are the product
of the understanding and the will.
Thought is what makes a person speak
and the will is what makes him act,
so speech is thought speaking
and action is the will acting.

A person can examine
what in his will he intends to do
by examining his thoughts,
for intentions show up in these.

TCR 539
There are two obligations incumbent on one
after self-examination: prayer and confession.
Prayer should be that the Lord may have pity,
grant the power to resist
the evils of which one has repented,
and supply the inclination and affection for doing good,
since man without Him cannot do anything (John 15:5).
Confession should be that one sees,
recognizes and acknowledges one's evils,
and reveals oneself as a wretched sinner.
There is no need to list one's sins before the Lord,
nor to pray that they may be forgiven.
There is no need to list one's sins,
because one has examined them and seen them in oneself;
consequently they are present to the Lord,
because they are to oneself.
The Lord has also guided the person in self-examination,
disclosed the sins,
and inspired sadness
and together with this
an effort to desist from them 
and begin a new life.

[2] There are two reasons why prayer
ought not to be offered before the Lord
for the forgiveness of sins.
First, because sins are not wiped out, but taken away;
and this happens as one subsequently desists from them
and embarks on a new life.
For there are countless longings attached
like a cluster around every evil;
these cannot be taken away in an instant,
but only one after another,
as a person allows himself
to be reformed and regenerated.
The second reason is that the Lord,
being mercy itself,
forgives everyone his sins,
and does not hold even one of them against a person.
For the Lord says,
'They do not know what they are doing.'
But still this does not mean that the sins are abolished;
for when Peter asked how many times
he should forgive his brother his offenses,
whether as many as seven times, the Lord said:

Not up to seven times, I tell you,
but up to seventy times seven times.
(Matthew 18:21, 22)
 
What then will the Lord not do?
Still there is no harm in someone,
whose conscience is oppressing him,
gaining relief by listing his sins before a priest of the church,
so as to receive absolution.
This is because by this means
he is led into the habit of examining himself
and reflecting on the evils he commits day by day.
This, however, is a natural confession;
the one described above is spiritual.

The Lord You Are Seeking

"See, I will send My messenger,
who will prepare the way before Me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking
will come to His temple;
the messenger of the covenant,
whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of His coming?
Who can stand when He appears?
For He will be like a refiner's fire
or a launderer's soap.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
He will purify the Levites
and refine them like gold and silver.
Then the Lord will have men
who will bring offerings in righteousness,
and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem
will be acceptable to the Lord,
as in days gone by, as in former years.

"So I will come near to you for judgment.
I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,
adulterers and perjurers,
against those who defraud laborers of their wages,
who oppress the widows and the fatherless,
and deprive aliens of justice,
but do not fear Me, " says the Lord Almighty.

"I the Lord do not change."

(Malachi 3:1-6)

TCR 530 - How does one repent?

TCR 530

The question then is asked: how is one to repent?
The answer is . . .
by examining oneself,
recognizing and acknowledging one's sins,
praying to the Lord,
and starting a new life.

. . . repentance is impossible without self-examination.
But what purpose does self-examination serve,
but to enable us to recognize our sins?
Or what purpose does their recognition serve,
unless we acknowledge their presence in us?
Or what purpose would these three actions serve,
if not to enable us to confess them before the Lord,
to appeal for His help,
and from this point on 
to start a new life,
which is the end in view?
This is real repentance.
 

On That Day

A day of the Lord is coming
when your plunder will be divided among you.

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it;
the city will be captured,
the houses ransacked, and the women raped.
Half of the city will go into exile,
but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations,
as He fights in the day of battle.
On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
east of Jerusalem,
and the Mount of Olives will be split into from east to west,
forming a great valley,
with half of the mountain moving north
and half moving south.
You will flee by my mountain valley,
for it will extend to Azel.
You will flee as you fled from the earthquake
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Then the Lord my God will come,
and all the holy ones with Him.

On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost.
It will be a unique day,
without daytime or nighttime -
a day known to the Lord.
When evening comes,
there will be light.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem,
half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea,
in summer and in winter.

The Lord will be king over the whole earth.
On that day there will be one Lord,
and His name will be the only name.

(Zechariah 14:1-9)

TCR 511 - start with repentance

TCR 511 [2]

The Word establishes plainly
that repentance is the first stage
in the development of the church.
John the Baptist,
who was sent beforehand 
to prepare people for the church 
the Lord was to found,
preached repentance
at the same time as he was baptizing.
His baptism was therefore called 
a baptism of repentance,
because baptism means spiritual washing,
or being cleansed from sins.
He did this in the Jordan,
because the Jordan meant being brought into the church,
since it was the first boundary of the land of Canaan,
which was where the church was.
The Lord Himself too preached repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
By this He taught
that repentance is the first stage
in the development of the church,
and that to the extent that a person repents,
his sins are distanced from him;
and to the extent they are distanced,
they are forgiven.
Moreover, the Lord laid upon the twelve Apostles,
as well as the seventy He sent out,
the duty of preaching repentance.
These facts clearly show that repentance
is the first stage in the development of the church.

For I Am Coming

"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion.
For I am coming,
and I will live among you," declares the Lord.
"Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day
and will become My people.
I will live among you
and you will know
that the Lord Almighty has sent Me to you."

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your King comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

(Zechariah 2:10-11; 9:9-10)

TCR 507 - three universal loves

TCR 507 [2,3]

There are three universal loves
of which every person is from creation compounded:
the love of the neighbor,
which is also the love of performing services,
and this is a spiritual love;
the love of the world,
which is also the love of possessing wealth,
and this is a material love;
and self-love,
which is also the love of dominating others,
and this is a bodily love.
A person is truly human when the love of the neighbor,
or the love of performing services,
makes up the head . . ..

When the love of performing services makes up the head,
and the other two loves duly make up the trunk and feet,
the person appears in heaven to have the face of an angel
with a lovely rainbow around his head.

In A Little While

"This is what the Lord Almighty says:
'In a little while
i will once more shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all nations,
and the desired of all nations will come,
and I will fill this house with glory,'
says the Lord Almighty.
'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,'
declares the Lord Almighty.
'The glory of this present house
will be greater
than the glory of the former house,'
says the Lord Almighty.
'And in this place
I will grant peace,'
declares the Lord Almighty.

(Haggai 2:6-9)

TCR 506 - For Faith

TCR 506 [4]

Repent and look to the Lord,
and you will have faith;
before doing that,
the faith you have
is not a faith with any life in it.

The Lord Is My Strength

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on the heights.
(Habakkuk 3:19)

TCR 498 - two disturbing loves

TCR 498 [2]

Man is prey to two loves,
that of dominating others
and that of possessing everyone's wealth.
These loves, if given free rein, 
race away without limit.
The hereditary evils a person acquires by birth
come chiefly from those two loves.
Adam's crime was simply wishing to become like God,
an evil ambition the serpent put into his mind,
as we are told.
So when he was cursed,
he was told that the earth
should bring forth thorns and thistles for him
(Genesis. 3:5, 18),
meaning all evil and falsity derived from it. 

All held in thrall by those loves
regard themselves alone
as the one person
in whom and for whom
all others exist.
They are without pity, fear of God,
or love for the neighbor,
so that they are unmerciful, savage and cruel,
their greed and longing to rob and steal
are worthy of hell,
and they are cunning and deceitful
in carrying out such crimes.
Not even the animals of the earth
have such innate wickedness,
for the only desire
which makes them kill and eat other animals
is to fill their bellies and to protect themselves.
A wicked man, therefore,
looked at from the point of view of those loves
is more savage, more fierce and worse than any animal.

The Lord Answers Habakkuk

"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, 
wait for it;
it will certainly come 
and will not delay.

"For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea."

(Habakkuk 2:2-3,14)

TCR 485, 486 - predestination

TCR 485
Without free will in spiritual matters
a person would have no means of establishing
mutual conjunction with the Lord.
The result would be not imputation,
but complete predestination,
which is a detestable doctrine.

TCR 486
Predestination is the . . . product of a belief
in a person's utter impotence and lack of choice
in spiritual matters.
It results from that belief
and also from a person's, so to speak, lifeless conversion,
that he is like a block of wood,
and that he has therefore no way of telling
whether the block is brought to life by grace or not.

[3] But what more hurtful idea could be thought up,
or what more cruel belief could anyone hold about God,
than that some of the human race
are predestined to damnation?
It would be cruel to believe that the Lord,
who is love itself and mercy itself,
could wish a large number of people
to be born destined for hell,
or that hundreds of millions are born lost souls,
that is, born devils and satans;
and that the Lord did not of His Divine wisdom,
which is infinite,
and does not take care that those
who live a good life and acknowledge God
are not cast into the fire and everlasting torment.
In fact, the Lord is the creator and savior of all;
He alone guides all and wishes no one's death.
Could therefore anything
more horrifying be believed or thought
than that a group of nations and peoples
under His control and gaze
should be predestined to be handed over
as prey to the devil, to fill his maw?

What Shall We Offer?

With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly
and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

(Micah 6:6-8)

TCR 484 - the essence of salvation & eternal life

TCR 484 [2]

Ah, my friend, shun evil and do good,
and believe in the Lord
with all your heart and with all your soul,
and the Lord will love you,
and give you love so that you can act,
and faith so that you can believe.
Then you will be impelled by love to do good,
and by faith, which is trust, to believe.
And if you persevere in this,
you will be conjoined with Him and He with you,
and this for ever;
and this is the essence of salvation and everlasting life.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
"Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you."

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord
and went to Nineveh.
Now Nineveh was a very important city -
a visit required three days.
On the first day,
Jonah started into the city.
He proclaimed:
"Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
The Ninevites believed God.
They declared a fast,
and all of them,
from the greatest to the least,
put on sackcloth.

When God saw what they did
and how they turned from their evil ways,
He had compassion
and did not bring upon them
the destruction He has threatened.

(Jonah 3:1-5,10)

TCR 478 - freedom

TCR 478 [3]

Animals, birds, fish and insects also have freedom;
but these are impelled by their bodily senses
at the promptings of appetite and pleasure.
A person would not be very different from them,
if he were as free to act as he is free to think;
he too would be impelled only by his bodily senses
at the promptings of lust and pleasure.
The case is different
if he drinks in the spiritual teachings of the church
and uses them to control his free will.
The Lord leads him away from lusts and wicked pleasures
and the innate longings he has for these;
he strives after good,
and turns his back on evil.
 He is then moved by the Lord . . .
and brought into heavenly freedom,
which is true freedom.

A Famine in the Land

"The days are coming,"
declares the Sovereign Lord,
"when I will send a famine through the land -
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
Men will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

(Amos 8:11-12)

TCR 466 - two trees in the Garden of Eden

TCR 466

The fact that two trees,
one of life and one of the knowledge of good and evil,
were put in the Garden of Eden,
means that man was given free will in spiritual matters.

. . . the tree of life means
the Lord being in man and man being in the Lord,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means
man not being in the Lord
but immersed in his own self (proprium),
as is everyone who believes
that he does everything, even good, of himself.
Eating from this tree means making evil one's own.
 

Seek Good, Not Evil

Seek good, not evil, that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say He is.

Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty
will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

(Amos 5:14-15)

TCR 461 - action & speech

TCR 461 [7]

Action and speech are guided by the Lord,
when He is believed in.

Rend Your Heart

"Even now," declares the Lord,
"return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and He relents from sending calamity.
Who knows?
He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing -
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy feast,
call a sacred assembly.

The Lord will reply to them:

"Be not afraid, O land;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things.
Be not afraid, O wild animals,
for the open pastures are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the Lord your God,
for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.
The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil."

(Joel 2:12-15,19-24)

TCR 459 - true charity

TCR 459

True charity consists in believing in the Lord,
and acting fairly and righteously
in every deed and employment.
Anyone therefore who at the Lord's bidding
loves justice and executes it with judgment
is an image and likeness of charity.

The Lord Is His Name

. . . the Lord God Almighty,
the Lord is His name of renown!

. . . you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.

(Hosea 12:5-6)

TCR 456, 457 - conjunction and the breath of the Lord

TCR 456
It is well known
that the law delivered from Mount Sinai
was written on two tablets,
one of them relating to God,
the other to men;
and that these were in Moses' hand a single tablet,
with the writing about God on the right side
and that about men on the left.*
Thus when it was presented to human eyes,
the writing on both sides would be seen together;
so one part would be visible to the other,
like Jehovah talking with Moses,
and Moses with Jehovah face to face . . ..
This was done
so that the tablets thus joined
should represent the conjunction of God with men,
and reciprocally that of men with God.
This was the reason why the law so written
was called a covenant and a witness;
a covenant means conjunction,
and witness means living
in accordance with agreements.

These two tablets so joined
allow us to see the conjunction
of love to God and love towards the neighbor.
The first tablet is concerned with
everything to do with love to God,
and these occupy the leading position:
we should acknowledge one God,
the divinity of His Human,
and the holiness of the Word,
and God is to be worshiped
by means of the holy things coming from Him.
. . . The second tablet is concerned with
everything to do with love towards the neighbor;
its first five commandments
deal with actions and are called deeds,
and the last two with matters of the will,
so what is to do with charity in its origin.
In these last it says, 'You are not to covet,'
and when a person does not covet
what is his neighbor's,
then he wishes him well.
The Ten Commandments contain
everything to do with love to God
and everything to do with love towards the neighbor.
. . . the conjunction of the two tablets takes place
with those who possess charity.

 TCR 457 [3]
The reason why conjunction is produced by charity
is that God loves each and every human being;
and because He cannot do good to them directly,
but only indirectly by means of other people,
He therefore breathes into people His love,
just as He breathes into parents love for their children.
Anyone who receives that love is conjoined to God,
and the love of God makes him love the neighbor.
In him, the love of God is contained 
within his love towards his neighbor,
and it is this which gives him his will and ability to act.

* Since Hebrew writing is from right to left,
the right-hand column would be written first.

What Will You Do?

What will you do on the day of your appointed feasts,
on the festival days of the Lord?

(Hosea 9:5)

TCR 435, 439, 445 - charity, merit, a moral life

TCR 435
The first thing in charity is to banish evils,
the second is to do good deeds
which may be of use to the neighbor.

[3]  People should know
that the good a person does in his body
comes from his spirit, that is, the internal man.
(The internal man is the spirit which lives on after death.)

TCR 439
In the exercise of charity
a person avoids attributing merit to deeds,
so long as he believes
that all good is from the Lord.

To attribute merit to deeds 
executed to gain salvation
is ruinous;
for evils lie hidden in this
of which the doer is quite unaware.

. . . in the sight of the angels
good done to gain merit looks like rust,
and good not done to gain merit like purple.

TCR 445
Contemplation of moral life in its essence
can show that it is life in accordance with human laws
and at the same time Divine laws.
If anyone therefore lives in accordance
with those two sets of laws treating them as one,
he is a truly moral person,
and his life is charity.

"Go your way, Daniel"

"Go your way, Daniel,
because the words are closed up
and sealed until the time of the end.
Many will be purified,
made spotless and refined,
but the wicked will continue to be wicked.
None of the wicked will understand,
but those who are wise will understand."

(Daniel 12:9-10)

TCR 422, 432 - real charity

TCR 422, 432

Real charity is dealing fairly and faithfully
in whatever position, business or work
one is engaged in,
because everything a person so does
is of use to the community;
and use is good . . ..

. . . it is a commandment of charity
that one should deal fairly and in good faith
with all whom one has business or commercial dealings.

Be Strong

Again the one who looked like a man
touched me and gave me strength.
"Do not be afraid,
O man highly esteemed," he said.
"Peace! Be strong now; be strong!"

When he spoke to me,
I was strengthened and said,
"Speak my lord,
since you have given me strength."

So he said . . .

"Those who are wise will instruct many,
though for a time they will fall by the sword
or be burned or captured or plundered.
When they fall,
they will receive a little help,
and many who are not sincere will join them.
Some of the wise will stumble,
so that they may be refined,
purified and made spotless
until the time of the end,
for it will still come at the appointed time."

(Daniel 10:18-20; 11:33-35)

TCR 417 & 419 - being human & loving the Lord

TCR 417
. . . what makes a human being human
is not having a human face and a human body,
but the wisdom in his understanding
and the goodness in his will.

TCR 419
A person who loves good because it is good,
and truth because it is true,
is the one who above all loves the neighbor,
because he loves the Lord,
who is good itself and truth itself.
There is no other source of the love of good
and of truth from good,
and so of the neighbor.
This is how love towards the neighbor is formed
from its heavenly origin.
It makes no difference
whether we say service or good;
performing services is doing good,
and good deeds are good
depending to what extent
and in what way
they are of use.

The End Part of Daniel's Dream

"In my vision at night
I looked,
and behold, One like the Son of Man,
was coming with the clouds of heaven.
He approached the Ancient of Days
and was led into His presence.
He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;
all peoples, nations and men of every language
worshiped Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that will not pass away,
and His kingdom is one
that will never be destroyed."

(Daniel 7:13-14)

TCR 402 - the sensual person

TCR 402 [1,10,16,20,21]

The term 'sensual man' is applied to a person
whose every judgment relies upon the bodily senses,
and who believes nothing
but what he can see with his eyes 
and touch with his hands,
regarding these things as real
and rejecting all else.
So the sensual man
is the lowest level of the natural man.

Educated and learned people
who have become deeply convinced of false ideas
are more sensual than other people,
and even more so,
if they oppose the truths of the Word,
though they may not appear so to the world's eyes.
Heresies have chiefly sprung
from people who were sensual.

If thought is not raised
above the level of sense impressions,
a person's wisdom is very restricted; -
a wise man thinks on a higher level 
than sense impressions.
When his thought is raised above this level,
he comes into brighter illumination,
and eventually into the light of heaven.
This is how a person perceives truth,
which is what intelligence really is.

Human beings have some sense impressions
which are shared with animals,
and others which are not.

To the extent that a person thinks 
above the level of sense impressions,
he is truly a human being.
But no one can think above this level
and see the truths of the church,
unless he acknowledges God
and lives in accordance with His commandments.
For it is God 
who raises the level
and enlightens the mind.

Daniel Praises God and Replies to Nebuchadnezzar

During the night
the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are His.
He changes times and seasons;
He sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of You,
You have made known to us
the dream of the king."

The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar),
"Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream
and interpret it?"

Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter,
magician or diviner can explain to the king
the mystery he has asked about,
but there is a God in heaven
who reveals mysteries.

"As for me,
this mystery has been revealed to me,
not because I have greater wisdom
than other living men,
but so that you, O king,
may know the interpretation
and that you may understand
what went through your mind."

(Daniel 2:19-23,26-28,30)