AE 993 - repenting

AE 993

And they repented not of their works,
(Revelation 16:11)

signifies that they were unwilling
to live according to the Lord's commandments.
This is evident from the signification of "repenting,"
as being to live a different life;
also from the signification of "their works,"
as being evils from falsities.

For those who separate faith from works
do evils from falsities,
in that they say that as works are from man
they are not good but are meritorious,
and therefore must not be joined with faith,
which is spiritual and justifying.

For a man can do nothing that is good
from a false principle;
and where there is no good there is evil.
It is otherwise when a man lives
according to the Lord's commandments,
which are, that evils must be refrained from
and goods must be done.
Therefore "they repented not of their works"
signifies not to be willing to live
according to the Lord's commandments. 

 

It Is Good

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I hope:

Because of the Lord's great love
we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself,
"The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

(Lamentations 3:19-26)

AE 984, 985 - Conjugial Love - The Love of Marriage

AE 984 [2], 985 [2]

Man was so created as to be spiritual and celestial love,
and thus an image and likeness of God.
Spiritual love, which is the love of truth,
is the image of God;
and celestial love, which is the love of good,
is the likeness of God.
All the angels in the third heaven are likenesses of God;
and all the angels in the second heaven are images of God.
Man can become the love
which is an image or likeness of God
only by a marriage of good and truth;
for good and truth inmostly love one another,
and ardently long to be united that they may be one;
and for the reason that the Divine good and the Divine truth
proceed from the Lord united,
therefore they must be united in an angel of heaven
and in a man of the church.
This union is by no means possible
except by the marriage of two minds into one,
since, as has been said before,
man was created to be the understanding of truth,
and thus truth,
and woman was created to be the affection of good,
and thus good;
therefore in them
the conjunction of good and truth is possible.
For conjugial love which descends from that conjunction
is the veriest means by which man [homo]
becomes the love that is the image or the likeness of God.
For the two partners who are in conjugial love from the Lord
love one another mutually and reciprocally from the heart,
thus from inmosts;
and therefore although apparently two
they are actually one,
two as to their bodies,
but one as to life.
This may be compared to the eyes,
which are two as organs but one as to the sight;
also to the ears,
which are two as organs but one as to hearing;
so, too, the arms and the feet
are two as members but one as to use,
the arms one as to action,
and the feet one as to walking.
So with the other pairs with man.
All these have reference to good and truth,
the organ or member on the right to good,
and that on the left to truth.
It is the same with a husband and wife
between whom there is love truly conjugial;
they are two as to their bodies but one as to life;
consequently in heaven
two partners are not called two angels but one.
All this makes clear
that through marriage man becomes a form of love,
and thus a form of heaven,
which is the image and likeness of God. 

. . . love truly conjugial is derived
from the Lord's love for the church,
and from the love of good and truth
which is the love of the angels of the third heaven;
therefore conjugial love,
which descends therefrom as the love of the heavens,
is innocence,
which is the very being [esse]
of every good in the heavens.
And for this reason
embryos in the womb are in a state of peace,
and after birth infants are in a state of innocence;
so, too, is the mother in relation to them. 

What the Babylonians Took From the Temple

The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars,
the moveable stands and the bronze Sea
that were at the temple of the Lord
and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
They also took away
the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes
and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
The commander of the imperial guard took away
the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands,
dishes and bowls used for drink offerings -
all that were made of pure gold or silver.

The bronze from the two pillars,
the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it,
and the moveable stands,
which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord,
was more than could be weighed.
Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high
and twelve cubits in circumference;
each was four fingers thick, and hollow.
The bronze capital on top of the one pillar
was five cubits high
and was decorated with
a network and pomegranates of bronze all around.
The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.
There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;
the total number of pomegranates
above the surrounding network
was a hundred.

(Jeremiah 52:17-23)

AE 979 - What are good works?

AE 979 [2]

. . . good works . . . are all works done by man
when evils have been removed as sins.
For the works done after this
are done from man only as if from him;
for they are done from the Lord,
and all works done from the Lord are good,
and are called
the goods of life, the goods of charity, and good works;
as for instance,
all the judgments of a judge who has justice as his end,
and who venerates and loves it as Divine,
and who detests as infamous
decisions made for the sake of rewards or friendship,
or from favor.
Thus he consults the good of his country
by causing justice and judgment to reign there as in heaven;
and thus he consults the peace of every innocent citizen
and protects him from the violence of evildoers.
All these are good works.
So all services of managers and dealings of merchants
are good works when they shun unlawful gains
as sins against the Divine laws.
When a man shuns evils as sins
he daily learns what a good work is,
and the affection of doing good grows with him,
and the affection of knowing truths for the sake of good;
for so far as he knows truths
he can perform works more fully and more wisely,
and thus his works become more truly good.
Cease, therefore, from asking in thyself,
"What are the good works that I must do,
or what good must I do to receive eternal life?"
Only cease from evils as sins and look to the Lord,
and the Lord will teach and lead you. 

Babylon

"We are disgraced,
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord's house."

"But days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan."

(Jeremiah 51:51-52)

AE 976

. . . the Lord never avenges the evil done to Him by man.
. . . but that man . . . from the evil which he is man
has falsified the Word,
and consequently is in the falsities of evil.
 

AE 970, 971 - understanding truths

AE 970

Every man has the faculty of understanding truths,
for it is this faculty by which man is distinguished from beasts;
and this remains with every man,
even with the evil,
since it is the spiritual part of man
and the most essential means of his regeneration.
For man is regenerated by the Lord by means of truths . . ..

AE 971 [2]

So far as man refrains from evils
and shuns and turns away from them as sins,
good flows in from the Lord.
The good that flows in
is the affection of knowing and understanding truths,
and the affection of willing and doing goods.

The Lord Has Had Enough

Then Jeremiah said to all the people,
both men and women . . .
"Did not the Lord remember and think about
the incense burned in the towns of Judah
and the streets of Jerusalem
by you and your fathers,
your kings and your officials and the people of the land?
When the Lord could no longer endure
your wicked actions and the detestable things you did,
your land became an object of cursing
and a desolate waste without inhabitants,
as it is today.
Because you have burned incense
and have sinned against the Lord
and have not obeyed Him
or followed His law or His decrees or His stipulations,
this disaster has come upon you,
as you now see."

(Jeremiah 44:20, 21-23)

AE 969 [2] - evil and good

AE 969 [2-3]

. . . evils are infernal and goods are heavenly,
and everything infernal burns with hatred
against everything heavenly.

. . . before the Lord can flow in with heaven out of heaven
and form man to the image of heaven,
those evils that lie heaped up in the natural mind
must needs be removed.
Moreover, as the removal of evils must come first
before man can be taught and led by the Lord,
the reason is evident
why in eight commandments of the Decalogue
the evil works that must not be done are recounted,
but not the goods that must be done.
Good does not exist together with evil,
nor does it exist before evils have been removed;
for until then
there is no way possible from heaven into man.

Three Stones

So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord
and went as far as Tahpanhes.

In Tahpanhes the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
"While the Jews are watching,
take some large stones with you
and bury them in clay in the brick pavement
at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes.
Then say to them,
'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here;
he will spread his royal canopy above them.
He will come and attack Egypt,
bringing death to those destined for death,
captivity to those destined for captivity,
and the sword to those destined for the sword.
He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt;
he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.
As a shepherd wraps his garment around him,
so will he wrap Egypt around himself
and depart from there unscathed.'"

(Jeremiah 43:7-12)

AE 959, 960 - the second commandment

AE 959 [4]

. . . the quality of God or the Lord
is everything that is from Him
by which He is worshiped.

AE 960 [14-15]

Since "the name of God" means
that which is from God and which is God,
and this is called the Divine truth,
and with us the Word,
this must not be profaned,
because it is in itself Divine and most holy;
and it is profaned when its holiness is denied,
which is done when it is despised, rejected,
and treated contemptuously.
When this is done
heaven is closed and man is left to hell.
For the Word is the only medium of conjunction
of heaven with the church;
therefore when the Word is cast out of the heart
that conjunction is dissolved;
and because man is then left to hell
he no longer acknowledges any truth of the church. 

There are two things
by which heaven is closed to the men of the church.
One is the denial of the Lord's Divine,
and the other is the denial of the holiness of the Word;
and for this reason
that the Lord's Divine is the all of heaven,
and the Divine truth,
which is the Word in the spiritual sense,
is what makes heaven;
which makes clear
that he who denies the one or the other
denies that which is the all of heaven,
and from which heaven is and exists,
and thus deprives himself of communication
and thence of conjunction with heaven.
To profane the Word
is the same as "blaspheming the Holy Spirit,"
which is not forgiven to anyone,
consequently it is said in this commandment
that he who profanes the name of God
shall not be left unpunished.

Freedom for Slaves

The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord
after King Zedekiah had made a covenant
with all the people in Jerusalem
to proclaim freedom for the slaves.
Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves,
both male and female;
no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage.
So all the officials and people
who entered into this covenant
agreed that they would free their male and female slaves
and no longer hold them on bondage.
they agreed, and set them free.
But afterward they changed their minds
and took back the slaves they had freed
and enslaved them again.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
I made a covenant with your forefathers
when I brought them out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.  I said,
'Every seventh year each of you must free
any Hebrew who has sold himself to you.
After he has served you six years,
you must let him go free.'
Your fathers, however,
did not listen to Me or pay attention to Me.
Recently you repented and did what is right in My sight:
Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen.
You even made a covenant before Me
in the house that bears My Name.
But now you have turned around and profaned My name;
each of you has take back
the male and female slaves you had set free
to go where they wished.
You have forced them to become your slaves again.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
You have not obeyed Me;
you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen.
So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you,
declares the Lord -
'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine.
I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth."

(Jeremiah 34:8-17)

AE 954, 956 - The Light of Influx and Entering the Lord

AE 954 [2]

So far as a man resists his own two loves,
which are the love of ruling
from the mere delight of ruling
and the love of possessing the goods of the world
from the mere delight of possession,
thus so far as he shuns as sins
the evils forbidden in the Decalogue,
so far there flows in through heaven from the Lord,
that there is a God,
who is the Creator and Preserver of the universe,
yes also, that God is One.
This then flows in for the reason
that when evils have been removed
heaven is opened,
and when heaven is opened
man no longer thinks from self
but from the the Lord through heaven;
and that there is a God and that God is one
is the universal principle in heaven
which comprises all things.

Man's interior thought,
which is the thought of his spirit,
is either from hell or from heaven;
it is from hell
before evils have been removed,
but from heaven,
when they have been removed.

. . . when a man thinks from heaven,
as he does when evils have been removed,
he sees from the light in heaven
that there is a God and that He is one.
Seeing from light out of heaven
is what is meant by influx.


AE 956 [2]

. . . no one can enter heaven
unless he is in the Lord,
for he enters into the Lord
when he enters into heaven.

After That Time

"This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel after that time, "
declares the Lord.
"I will put My law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying,
'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the Lord.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

(Jeremiah 31:33-34)

AE 949, 952 - the living faith of the Ten Commandments

AE 949 [3]

So far as evils are removed as sins,
so far goods flow in,
and so far does man afterwards do goods,
not from self,
but from the Lord.

As, first, so far as one does not worship other gods,
and thus does not love self and the world above all things,
so far the acknowledgement of God flows in from the Lord,
and then he worships God,
not from self but from the Lord.

Second, so far as one does not profane the name of God,
that is, so far as he shuns the lusts
arising from the loves of self and of the world,
so far he loves the holy things of the Word and of the church;
for these are the name of God,
and are profaned by the lusts
arising from the loves of self and of the world.

Third, so far as one shuns thefts,
and thus shuns frauds and unlawful gains,
so far sincerity and justice enter,
and he loves what is sincere and just
from sincerity and justice,
and thus does what is sincere
and just not from self but from the Lord.

Fourth, so far as one shuns adulteries,
and thus shuns unchaste and filthy thoughts,
so far conjugial love enters,
which is the inmost love of heaven,
and in which chastity itself resides.

Fifth, so far as one shuns murders,
and thus shuns deadly hatreds and revenges
that breathe slaughter,
so far the Lord enters with mercy and love.

Sixth, so far as one shuns false testimonies,
and thus shuns lies and blasphemies,
so far truth from the Lord enters.

Seventh, so far as one shuns
the covetousness for the houses of others,
and thus shuns the love and consequent lusts
for possessing the goods of others,
so far charity towards the neighbor enters from the Lord.

Eighth, so far as one shuns
the covetousness for the wives of others, their servants, etc.,
and thus shuns the love and consequent lusts
of ruling over others
(for the things enumerated in this commandment
are what belong to man),
so far love to the Lord enters.

These eight commandments include
the evils that must be shunned,
but the two others, namely, the third and fourth,
include certain things that must be done,
namely, that the sabbath must be kept holy,
and that parents must be honored.
But how these two commandments should be understood,
not by the men of the Jewish Church
but by the men of the Christian Church,
will be told elsewhere.

AE 952

A faith of the lips is faith in externals,
a faith of the heart is faith in internals;
and if the internals are crowded with evils of every kind,
when the externals are taken away
(as they are with every man after death),
man rejects from them even the faith that there is a God.

The Lord's Plans

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon Me
and come and pray to Me,
and I will listen to you.
You will seek Me and find Me
when you you seek Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you,"
declares the Lord.

(Jeremiah 26:11-13)

AE 942, 943 - fear and glorify His name

AE 942, 943

Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
And glorify Thy name,
(Revelation 15:4)

signifies the worship of the Lord from the good of love.
This is evident from the signification of "fearing the Lord,"
as being to worship Him.
It means "from the good of love,"
because it is added,
"who shall not glorify Thy Name?"
which signifies worship from truths that are from that good.
These two are meant,
because all worship of the Lord
is from the good of love by means of truths.
Good fears the Lord,
and truths glorify Him.
Worship from the good of love
means worship by those who are in the good of life;
with others worship from the good of love is not given.
Moreover, true worship consists
in a life according to the Lord's commandments,
and to do the Lord's commandments
is to love Him.

The Days Are Coming

"The days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In His days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which He will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness."

(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

AE 936, 940, 941 - shunning evils and enlightenment

AE 936 [2]

In the previous article
the evils that must be shunned
were enumerated from the Decalogue.
But many, I know, think in their heart
that no one can shun these of himself,
because man is born in sins
and has therefore no power of himself to shun them.
But let such know
that anyone who thinks in his heart
that there is a God,
that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth,
that the Word is from Him, and is therefore holy,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that there is a life after death,
is able to shun these evils.
But he is not able who despises these truths
and casts them out of his mind,
and not at all he who denies them.
For how can one who never thinks about God
think that anything is a sin against God?
And how can one who never thinks about
heaven, hell, and the life after death,
shun evils as sins?
Such a man does not know what sin is.
Man is placed in the middle between heaven and hell.
Out of heaven goods unceasingly flow in,
and out of hell evils unceasingly flow in;
and as man is between
he has freedom
to think what is good or to think what is evil.
This freedom the Lord never takes away from anyone,
for it belongs to his life,
and is the means of his reformation.
So far, therefore, as man from this freedom
has the thought and desire
to shun evils because they are sins,
and prays to the Lord for help,
so far the Lord removes them
and gives man the ability to refrain from them
as if of himself,
and then to shun them. 

AE 940 [2]
When man's interior is purified from evils
by his refraining from them and shunning them
because they are sins,
the internal which is above it,
and which is called the spiritual internal, 
is opened.
This communicates with heaven;
consequently man is then admitted into heaven
and is conjoined to the Lord.

AE 941 [2]

When the spiritual internal is opened,
and through it communication with heaven
and conjunction with the Lord are given,
then man becomes enlightened.
He is enlightened especially when he reads the Word,
because the Lord is in the Word,
and the Word is the Divine truth,
and the Divine truth is light to angels.
Man is enlightened in the rational,
for this directly underlies the spiritual internal,
and receives light from heaven
and transfers it into the natural
when it is purified from evils,
filling it with the knowledges of truth and good,
and adapting to them the knowledges [scientiae]
that are from the world,
for the sake of confirmation and agreement.
Thus man has a rational,
and thus he has an understanding.
He is deceived who believes
that man has a rational and an understanding
before his natural has been purified from evils,
for the understanding is seeing the truths of the church
from the light of heaven;
and the light of heaven
does not flow into those not purified.
And as the understanding is perfected
the falsities of religion and of ignorance and all fallacies
are dispersed. 

 

For this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah,
who succeeded his father as king of Judah . . .

"Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.
He says, 'I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.'
so he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.

"Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?"

(Jeremiah 22:11, 13-16)

AE 935 - understanding the Ten Commandments

AE 935 [2]

The previous article treated of the two things necessary
that works may be good, namely,
that the Divine of the Lord be acknowledged,
and that the evils forbidden in the Decalogue 
be shunned as sins.

The evils enumerated in the Decalogue
include all the evils that can ever exist;
therefore the Decalogue is called the ten commandments,
because "ten" signifies all.

The first commandment,
"Thou shalt not worship other gods,"
includes not loving self and the world;
for he that loves self and the world above all things
worships other gods;
for everyone's god is that which he loves above all things.

The second commandment,
"Thou shalt not profane the name of God,"
includes not to despise the Word
and doctrine from the Word,
and thus the church,
and not to reject these from the heart,
for these are God's "name."

The fifth commandment,
"Thou shalt not steal,"
includes the shunning of frauds and unlawful gains,
for these also are thefts.

The sixth commandment,
"Thou shalt not commit adultery,"
includes having delight in adulteries
and having no delight in marriages,
and in particular cherishing filthy thoughts
 respecting such things as pertain to marriage,
for these are adulteries.

The seventh commandment,
"Thou shalt not kill,"
includes not hating the neighbor nor loving revenge;
for hatred and revenge breathe murder.

The eighth commandment,
"Thou shalt not bear false witness,"
includes not to lie and blaspheme;
for lies and blasphemies are false testimonies.

The ninth commandment,
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house,"
includes not wishing to possess or to divert to oneself
the goods of others against their will.

The tenth commandment,
"Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's wife, his man-servants," and so on,
includes not wishing to rule over others
and to subject them to oneself,
for the things here enumerated
mean the things that are man's own.

Anyone can see that these eight commandments
contain the evils that must be shunned,
and not the goods that must be done. 

Heal Me

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for You are the One I praise.

(Jeremiah 17:14)

AE 927 - Great and Wonderful

AE 927

Great and wonderful,
(Revelation 15:1)

signifies from Divine omnipotence and providence.
This is evident from the signification of "great,"
as being in reference to the Lord His Divine omnipotence;
also from the signification of "wonderful,"
as being in reference to the Lord His Divine providence.
For when man looks to what is great in the Lord
he looks to His Divine omnipotence,
and when he looks to what is wonderful in the Lord
he looks to His Divine providence. 

The Living God

No one is like You, O Lord;
You are great,
and Your name is mighty in power.
Who should not revere You,
O King of the nations?
This is Your due.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple --
all made by skilled workers.
But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God,
the eternal King.

(Jeremiah 10:6-10)

AE 918 - grapes

AE 918 [9-10]

The "grapes" signify the good of charity
because a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church,
and "vine" the man of that church;
and therefore "clusters" or "bunches," and "grapes,"
which are its fruits,
signify the goods which make that church,
which are called spiritual goods and also goods of charity.
And as all truth is from good,
as all wine is from grapes,
so "wine" signifies in the Word truth from good.

As "the land of Canaan"
represented and thus signified the church,
and the church is a church from spiritual good,
for this is the mark of the church, therefore:

The explorers of that land
brought back a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size,
carried on a pole by two.
(Numbers 13:23, 24)

This was a representative sign of the church 
that was signified by "the land of Canaan."
The church is a church from the good of charity
because that good regarded in itself
is the good of life arising from love to the Lord;
consequently it is an effect of that love.
The good of charity means justice, sincerity, and uprightness
in every work and in every function
from a love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness,
which love is solely from the Lord. 

Obey Me

. . . I gave them this command:
Obey Me,
and I will be your God
and you will be My people.
Walk in all the ways I command you,
that it may go well with you.

(Jeremiah 7:23)

AE 918 - Charity or Spiritual Good

AE 918 [2]

Charity or spiritual good is to do good
because it is true;
thus it is to do truth,
and to do truth
is to do what the Lord has commanded in His Word.

AE 914 - What falsifying the Word does

AE 914 [2-3]

The wisdom of men as compared with the wisdom of angels
is as knowledge compared with intelligence,
which difference is so great that it cannot be described.
 
As to the devastation of the church
in respect to the Divine truth,
it is wrought by the falsification of the Word;
for when the Word is explained to favor earthly loves
and to confirm falsities of doctrine
the church is laid waste.
It is not laid waste
when the Word is understood in simplicity
according to the sense of the letter;
but it is laid waste
when the Word is so explained
as to destroy even the Divine truth in heaven;
for then heaven is closed up,
and when heaven is closed up
there is no longer any church with man.
There are those within the church
who explain the sense of the letter of the Word
even so as to destroy the Divine truth in heaven;
and there are those
who do not misinterpret it to that degree,
and these do not devastate the church with them,
but the former do.
The sense of the letter understood in simplicity
does no harm to any spiritual truth in heaven;
but the sense of the letter explained
according to falsities of doctrine,
and in harmony with evils of the love,
does harm to it,
for the sense of the letter of the Word
is natural Divine truth.
This Divine truth differs indeed from spiritual truth
as what is natural differs from what is spiritual,
and yet they make one by correspondences.
But when natural Divine truth is so explained
as even to destroy spiritual Divine truth
they can no longer make one by correspondence;
but the falsity according to which
natural Divine truth is explained
destroys the spiritual Divine truth.
This, then, is the falsification of the Word
and the devastation of the church by falsifications.

Look! Listen!

This is what the Lord says:

"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is,
and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

I appointed watchmen over you and said,
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
But you said, 'We will not listen.'

Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to My words
and have rejected My law.

What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please Me."

(Jeremiah 6:16-20)

AE 911 - the Lord's gift

AE 911 [17]

For it is to be known, that,
although the Lord works all things,
and man nothing from self,
yet He wills that man should work as if from self
in all that comes to his perception.
For without man's cooperation as if from self
there can be no reception of truth and good,
thus no implantation and regeneration.
For to will is the Lord's gift to man;
and because the appearance to man
is that this is from self,
He gives him to will as if from self.  

The Call of Jeremiah

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah,
one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
The word of the Lord came to him
in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah
son of Amon king of Judah,
and through the reign of Jehoiakim
son of Josiah king of Judah,
down to the fifth month of the eleventh year
of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah,
when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said,
"I do not know how to speak;
I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a child.'
You must go to everyone I send you to
and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out His and
and touched my mouth and said to me,
"Now, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and overthrow,
to build and to plant.

(Jeremiah 1:1-10)

AE 907 - what Divine truth does not do

AE 907 [4]

For the real truth is,
that the Divine truth never fights against falsity from evil,
but falsity fights against truth;
and thus heaven does not fight against hell,
but hell against heaven.

A Cluster of Grapes

This is what the Lord says:

"As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and man say,
'Don't destroy it,
there is yet some good in it,'
so will I do in behalf of My servants;
I will not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess My mountains;
My chosen people will inherit them,
and there will My servants live.
Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for My people who seek Me.

"But as for you who forsake the Lord
and forget My holy mountain,
who spread a table for fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in My sight
and chose what displeases Me."

(Isaiah 65:8-12)

AE 899 - "to die"

AE 899 [4]

. . . "to die" can mean in the spiritual sense resurrection,
because the angels,
who are in the spiritual sense of the Word,
know nothing about natural death,
by which man is taken out of this world;
but they know only about spiritual death,
which comes to those
who are being regenerated by the Lord
by means of temptations,
and with whom evils and falsities therefrom
are being subdued and put to death.
Again, natural death is nothing but resurrection,
for the reason that when the body dies
man rises again as to his spirit,
and thus death is simply a continuation of his life;
for through death
man passes from a life in the natural world
into a life in the spiritual world,
with the difference only
that the life in the natural world
is a more external and imperfect life,
and the life in the spiritual world
is a more internal and perfect life;
and yet the two are alike in appearance . . ..

Peace

"Peace, peace, to those far and near,"
says the Lord.
"And I will heal them."
But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
which cannot rest,
whose waves cast up mire and mud.
"There is no peace," says my God,
"for the wicked."

(Isaiah 57:19-21)

AE 893 - "follow the Lord and to take up the cross"

AE 893 [3, 4]

Jesus said, He that does not take up his cross
and follow after Me
is not worthy of Me.
(Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27)

Jesus said to His disciples,
If anyone will come after Me
let him deny himself,
take up his cross,
and follow Me.
(Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

In these passages the "cross" means temptations,
and "to follow the Lord" means to acknowledge His Divine
and to do His commandments.
. . . The "cross" means temptations
because the evils and the falsities therefrom
that cling to man from his birth
infest and thus torment those who are natural
when they are becoming spiritual.
And as those evils and their falsities that infest and torment
can be dispersed only by temptations,
temptations are signified by the "cross."
Therefore the Lord says, that
"they must deny themselves and take up their cross,"
that is, that they must reject what is their own,
"their cross" meaning what is man's own [proprium],
against which he must fight.

Jesus spake to the rich man
who asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus said to him, You know the commandments:
Thou shalt not commit adultery;
Thou shalt not kill;
Thou shalt not steal;
Thou shalt not bear false witness;
Thou shalt not defraud;
Honor thy father and mother.
He answered and said unto Him,
All these things have I observed from my youth.
Jesus looked upon him and loved him;
yet He said unto him,
One thing you lack;
go, sell whatsoever you have and give to the poor;
so shalt you have treasure in the heavens;
and come, follow Me,
taking up the cross.
(Mark 10:17-21)

Here "to follow the Lord and to take up the cross"
have the same signification as above,
namely, to acknowledge the Lord's Divine,
and the Lord as the God of heaven and earth;
for without that acknowledgment
no one can abstain from evils and do good
except from self and as meritorious good,
for the good that is good in itself
and that is not meritorious good
is solely from the Lord;
consequently he cannot be saved
unless the Lord is acknowledged,
and it is acknowledged that all good is from Him.
And yet before anyone can act from the Lord
he must undergo temptations,
for the reason that the internal of man,
by which he is conjoined with heaven,
is opened by means of temptations.
And because no one can do the commandments
apart from the Lord,
therefore the Lord said,
"Yet one thing you lack;
sell all that you have and follow Me, taking up the cross;"
that is, the Lord must be acknowledged
and temptations must be endured.
That "he should sell all that he had and give to the poor"
signifies in the spiritual sense
that he should alienate and cast away from himself
what is his own [proprium],
thus it has the same signification as "denying oneself"
in the passages quoted above;
and "to give to the poor"
signifies in the spiritual sense to do the works of charity.
The Lord said this to him because he was rich;
and "riches" signify in the spiritual sense
the knowledges of good and truth,
and with this man, who was a Jew,
the knowledges of evil and falsity, since they were traditions.
From this it can be seen that the Lord,
here as elsewhere, spoke by correspondences. 

The Lord's Promise

"O afflicted city,
lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with colorful gems,
your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your sons will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be your children's peace.

(Isaiah 54:11-13)

AE 888 - Falsifying the Word Exasperates the Angels

AE 888 [3]

How infernal and thus how injurious it is
to falsify the Word
even to the destruction
of the Divine truth and the Divine good in the heavens
can be seen from the fact
that all things of the sense of the letter of the Word,
which are Divine truths for the natural man,
communicate through the spiritual sense
with the angels of heaven,
to the extent that men and the angels of heaven
are conjoined by means of the Word;
consequently the sense of the letter of the Word,
with the man who falsifies it,
is perceived in heaven in a two-fold manner,
namely as genuine truth
and also as that truth destroyed;
as genuine truth
from the sense of the letter according to correspondences,
and as destroyed
according to falsifications.
From this it comes
that truth and falsity are presented together as conjoined,
from which the angels of heaven are exasperated,
and turn themselves entirely away.
Thus heaven is closed up,
and all communication of heaven with that man
is destroyed;
consequently he comes into conjunction with hell.
And so far as anyone is conjoined with hell
so far he is in the love of all evil and its falsity,
and from that in a lust of destroying
the truths and goods of the church,
and at the same time he is in torment.
This, then, is what is signified by
"being tormented with fire and brimstone
before the holy angels and before the Lamb."  

When the Lord Returns to Zion

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
Listen!
Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord will lay bare His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth
will see the salvation of our God.

(Isaiah 52:7-10)

AE 881 - the falsities of evil

AE 881

They are called falsities of evil
because all falsities
arising from the love of ruling
for the sake of self and self-eminence
are falsities of evil,
and are direful according to that love.

If Only

This is what the Lord says --
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to My commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your righteousness like the waves of the sea."

(Isaiah 48:17-18)

AE 874 - to give glory

AE 874

. . . "to give glory to Him,"
signifies to live according to Divine truth.

Our Rock

"This is what the Lord says --
Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from Me there is no God.
Who then is like Me?
Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before Me
what has happened 
since I established My ancient people,
and what is yet to come --
yes, let him foretell what will come.
Do not tremble,
do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me?
No, there is no other Rock;
I know not one."

(Isaiah 44:6-8)

AE 865 - "Firstfruits to God and the Lamb"

AE 865

These were bought from among men,
firstfruits to God and the Lamb,
(Revelation 14:4)

signifies those received in the New Church by the Lord.
This is evident from the signification of
"those bought by the Lord,"
as being those who receive instruction from the Word,
especially respecting the Lord,
and who live according to it.
The same are meant by those called
"redeemed by the Lord;"
and "the redeemed" are those
who have been regenerated by the Lord
and these are those who follow the Lord,
that is, are led by Him.
Also from the signification of
"firstfruits of God and the Lamb,"
as being those who have given themselves to the Lord
and have been adopted by Him.
That those who are of the New Church are meant
is evident from their being called
"firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,"
since those who are received in that church
acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human
and live according to His commandments.
No others are received in the New Church
which is called "the New Jerusalem,"
because those who do not believe this
and live thus
are not in accord with the life of heaven,
nor with the light there,
nor with the heat there:
for the light there is the Divine truth,
which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom;
and the heat there is the Divine good,
which is the source of all love and charity.

The Lord Is the Everlasting God

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

So do not fear,
for I am with you;
do not be dismayed,
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

(Isaiah 40:28-31; 41:10)

AE 864 - to follow the Lord

AE 864 [2, 3, 5, 6]

He that abides In Me and I in him,
the same bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing.
(John 15:5)

To acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human
and to do His commandments is to follow Him,
because only those who do this 
can be conjoined to the Lord.

Jesus said, I am the light of the world;
he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.
(John 8:12)

"I am the light of the world"
signifies that He is the Divine truth itself;
"he that follows Me"
signifies he that acknowledges His Divine
and does His commandments;
"shall not walk in darkness"
signifies that he shall not be in falsities;
"but shall have the light of life"
signifies that he shall be in Divine truths,
which teach man eternal life and lead to heaven.
Here evidently "to follow the Lord"
does not mean to follow Him,
but to acknowledge His Divine and obey Him. 

Whosoever wills to come after Me
let him deny himself and follow Me.
(Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

Evidently "to go after the Lord and to follow Him"
is to deny self;
and to deny self is to be led not by self
but by the Lord;
and he denies self who shuns and turns away from evils
because they are sins;
and when man turns away from evils
he is led by the Lord;
for he does the Lord's commandments,
not from self but from the Lord.

All this makes clear that to "follow the Lord"
is to be led by Him and not by self;
and only those who are not led by self
can be led by the Lord;
and everyone is led by self 
who does not shun evils
because they are contrary to the Word
and thus contrary to God;
consequently because they are sins and are from hell.
Everyone who does not thus shun and turn away from evils
is led by self;
and for the reason
that the evil that is in man by heredity constitutes his life,
because that is his own [proprium];
and until such evils have been removed
man does all things from them,
thus from self.
But it is otherwise when evils have been removed,
which is done when he shuns them
because they are infernal;
then the Lord enters with truths and goods from heaven,
and leads him.
The chief reason is that every man is his own love;
and man, as to his spirit,
which lives after death,
is nothing else than the affection which is of his love,
and all evil is from his love,
and thus belongs to his love;
from which it follows
that a man's love or affection is reformed
only by a spiritual shunning of evils
and turning away from them,
which is shunning them and turning away from them
because they are infernal. 

The Sign for Hezekiah

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:

"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

(Isaiah 37:30-32)

AE 859 - the 144,000

AE 859 [1,2]

And no one was able to learn the song
save the hundred forty-four thousand.
(Revelation 14:3)

signifies that acknowledgment and confession of the Lord
was possible only with those
who are in faith from charity,
or in truths from good.

. . . the Lord flows into the life of everyone;
and the life of heaven is from love or charity,
that is from good;
and the quality of love or charity is formed by truths.
From this, then, is man's life;
and therefore no other life
receives influx out of heaven from the Lord,
and thus acknowledges and confesses the Lord in heart,
than the life of faith from charity
or the life of truth from good.
The life of faith separated from charity
or the life of truth separated from good
is a merely natural life,
which receives nothing and can receive nothing from heaven,
because from that life
no communication with heaven is possible;
for communication with heaven is given
only through spiritual love,
which is also called charity,
that is, through a life according to truths from the Word;
and that life is not given with those
who separate faith from charity
and believe that they are saved by faith alone,
that is, by faith separated from good works.
Since, then, "the hundred forty-four thousand" mean
those who are in truths from good
or who are in faith from charity,
it is evident why they alone were able to learn the song,
that is, were able to acknowledge
and confess the Lord in heart,
namely, that He is the only God,
and that the trinity is in Him.

To the Rebellious

Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction.
They say to the seers,
"See no more visions!"
and to the prophets,
"Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"

This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
He rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him!

(Isaiah 30:8-11, 15, 18)

AE 850 - He shall roar

AE 850 [15]

Jehovah shall roar out of Zion,
and utter His voice from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 1:2)

"To roar," and the "roaring of a lion,"
when predicated of Jehovah,
signify an ardent zeal for protecting heaven and the church,
and for saving those who are therein
by the Divine truth and its power,
which is done by destroying
the evils and falsities that rise up out of hell.

Praise and Honor the Lord

Lord, You establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished
You have done for us.
O Lord, our God,
other lords besides You have ruled over us,
but Your name alone do we honor.

(Isaiah 26:12-13)

AE 850 - The Lord's Presence on Mount Zion

AE 850 [1, 8]

And behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
(Revelation 14:1)
signifies the presence of the Lord
in heaven and in the church
for separating the good from the evil
and for executing judgment.

The presence of the Lord is perpetual in the whole heaven
and in the whole church;
for heaven is not heaven
from what is the angels' own [proprium] in it,
nor is the church a church
from what is men's own [proprium] in it,
but from the Divine of the Lord with them.
For an angel's own [proprium] cannot make heaven,
nor a man's own [proprium] the church,
since the own [proprium],
both of angels and of men, is not good.
Consequently it is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord,
as received by them,
that makes heaven and the church in particular with each one,
and thus makes heaven and the church in general
in all in whom heaven and the church exist.
From this it is evident
that the presence of the Lord is perpetual
with all who are in heaven and in the church;
but it is a presence that is
peaceful, tranquil, preserving, and sustaining,
by which all things in the heavens and on the earth
are held constantly in their order and connection,
or are reduced to that order; so, too, in the hells.
But the presence that is meant here by
"standing upon the Mount Zion"
is the unusually active presence of the Lord,
for the purpose of effecting an influx of His Divine
through the heavens into the lower parts,
that the good there may be separated from the evil,
and the evil be cast down from their places
where they had formed for themselves
a semblance of heavens.

He that is left in Zion
and he that remains in Jerusalem
shall be called holy to Him,
everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem.
Jehovah will create over every dwelling of Mount Zion,
and over her assemblies,
a cloud by day
and a smoke and the shining of a flame of fire by night.
(Isaiah 4:3, 5)

Jehovah of Hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before His elders shall be glory.
(Isaiah 24:23)

Jehovah hath chosen Zion,
He has desired it for a seat for Himself;
this is My rest forever,
here will I dwell,
for I have desired it.
(Psalm 132:13, 14)

Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem.
(Psalm 135:21)

Jehovah shall reign forever thy God,
O Zion, in generation and generation.
(Psalm 146:10)

These passages (and more) respecting Zion
are quoted that everyone may see
that in the Word "Zion" does not mean Zion,
but heaven and the church
where the Lord reigns by means of His Divine truth.
Most of these are also prophetic of the Lord,
that when He came
He would love Zion and dwell there forever;
and yet He did not love that city nor Jerusalem,
as is evident from His words respecting them;
but He loved heaven and the church,
where He is received through His Divine truth.
This is why Zion is called
"His rest," "His dwelling place," "the mountain of Jehovah,"
"the city of God," "the city of the great King," "the city of truth,"
and it is said that His kingdom shall be there
"to eternity," "forever," and "to generation and generation;"
none of which things could by any means be said
of the Zion of David, or be meant by it.

AE 850 - The Lord's Presence on Mount Zion

AE 850 [1, 8]

And behold a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion,
(Revelation 14:1)
signifies the presence of the Lord
in heaven and in the church
for separating the good from the evil
and for executing judgment.

The presence of the Lord is perpetual in the whole heaven
and in the whole church;
for heaven is not heaven
from what is the angels' own [proprium] in it,
nor is the church a church
from what is men's own [proprium] in it,
but from the Divine of the Lord with them.
For an angel's own [proprium] cannot make heaven,
nor a man's own [proprium] the church,
since the own [proprium],
both of angels and of men, is not good.
Consequently it is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord,
as received by them,
that makes heaven and the church in particular with each one,
and thus makes heaven and the church in general
in all in whom heaven and the church exist.
From this it is evident
that the presence of the Lord is perpetual
with all who are in heaven and in the church;
but it is a presence that is
peaceful, tranquil, preserving, and sustaining,
by which all things in the heavens and on the earth
are held constantly in their order and connection,
or are reduced to that order; so, too, in the hells.
But the presence that is meant here by
"standing upon the Mount Zion"
is the unusually active presence of the Lord,
for the purpose of effecting an influx of His Divine
through the heavens into the lower parts,
that the good there may be separated from the evil,
and the evil be cast down from their places
where they had formed for themselves
a semblance of heavens.

He that is left in Zion
and he that remains in Jerusalem
shall be called holy to Him,
everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem.
Jehovah will create over every dwelling of Mount Zion,
and over her assemblies,
a cloud by day
and a smoke and the shining of a flame of fire by night.
(Isaiah 4:3, 5)

Jehovah of Hosts shall reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before His elders shall be glory.
(Isaiah 24:23)

Jehovah hath chosen Zion,
He has desired it for a seat for Himself;
this is My rest forever,
here will I dwell,
for I have desired it.
(Psalm 132:13, 14)

Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem.
(Psalm 135:21)

Jehovah shall reign forever thy God,
O Zion, in generation and generation.
(Psalm 146:10)

These passages (and more) respecting Zion
are quoted that everyone may see
that in the Word "Zion" does not mean Zion,
but heaven and the church
where the Lord reigns by means of His Divine truth.
Most of these are also prophetic of the Lord,
that when He came
He would love Zion and dwell there forever;
and yet He did not love that city nor Jerusalem,
as is evident from His words respecting them;
but He loved heaven and the church,
where He is received through His Divine truth.
This is why Zion is called
"His rest," "His dwelling place," "the mountain of Jehovah,"
"the city of God," "the city of the great King," "the city of truth,"
and it is said that His kingdom shall be there
"to eternity," "forever," and "to generation and generation;"
none of which things could by any means be said
of the Zion of David, or be meant by it.

The Lord's Devastation of the Earth

The floodgates of the heavens are opened,
the foundations of the earth shake.
The earth is broken up,
the earth is split asunder,
the earth is thoroughly shaken.
The earth reels like a drunkard,
it sways like a hut in the wind;
so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion
that it falls - never to rise again.

In that day the Lord will punish . . ..
The moon will be abashed,
the sun ashamed;
for the Lord Almighty
will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before its elders,
gloriously.

(Isaiah 24:18-21, 23)

AE 844, 846 - falsity is tricky

AE 844

. . . those who are in falsities,
when they have confirmed their falsities
believe themselves to be wiser than others.
The evil do the like
when they are in their evils
and are contriving devices
by which they may do evil to the good;
they then appear to themselves to be ingenious,
yea even wiser than others,
and yet before the eyes of angels they appear crazy.
And this is why their insanity
when they are in falsities
is called in the Word "wisdom and intelligence,"
as in the following passages:

O Lord God, Thou hast hidden these things
from the wise and intelligent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.
(Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21)

Woe to the wise in their own eyes,
and the intelligent before their own faces.
(Isaiah 5:21)

AE 846 [3]

. . . the Lord wishes man
both to know the truths of His church
and also to understand them;
not, however, from natural light separated from spiritual light;
for natural light separated from spiritual light,
in the things of heaven or in spiritual matters,
is not light but thick darkness.
For man, from natural light separated from spiritual light,
views the things of the church
from self and not from the Lord,
and consequently he can see them
only from appearances and fallacies;
and to see them from these is to see falsities for truths,
and evils for goods.
The fire that propagates and enkindles that light
is the love of self
and the consequent pride of self-intelligence.
Man who thinks from that fire and that light
so far as he excels in genius
and thence in the ability to confirm whatever he pleases,
so far he is able to so confirm falsities and evils
as to make them appear to be truths and goods,
and can even set forth falsities and evils
in a resplendent natural light,
which is, nevertheless, a delusive light
that has been thus exalted by art.
But to apprehend church matters by this light
is not to understand them,
but rather to not understand them,
since by that light alone
man sees truths as falsities, and falsities as truths.

A Throne

In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a Man will sit on it -
One from the house of David -
One who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.

(Isaiah 16:5)

AE 837, 839 - faith

AE 837 [11]

When the world could no longer see truths
from the love of them
and from their light,
because men had become natural and external,
then faith began to be mentioned,
and every thing of faith began to be called truth,
although it was not perceived or seen
but only asserted by some leader
and confirmed by passages of the Word not understood.

AE 839 [1, 2]

. . . faith is such as man's love and life are,
so it is such as his works are.

Man supposes that even if he lives wickedly
he can still have faith,
at least to believe that there is a God,
that the Lord is the Savior of the world,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that the Word is holy.
But . . . if he does not shun evils because they are sins,
and then look to the Lord,
he does not at all believe these things;
since they are not of his life and love,
but only of his memory and knowledge;
and they do not come to be of his life and love
until he fights against evils and overcomes them. 

Woe to Those

Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain
but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.

(Isaiah 10:1-4)

AE 834 - it is the man's quality that is to be loved

AE 834

. . . "neighbor" does not mean in the Word
a man merely in respect to person,
but in respect to the quality in him
that makes him to be such and such a man;
also that the quality of a man
is from his understanding and will,
and the quality of his understanding is from truths,
and the quality of his will is from goods,
and the quality of both the understanding and the will
is from his love.
From this it is known
that while every man is a neighbor,
every man is a neighbor from his quality,
and consequently that it is
the quality of a man from which he is a man
that is meant in the spiritual sense by "neighbor;"
for otherwise a bad man
would be as much a neighbor as a good man;
and yet to do good to the evil
is sometimes doing evil to the good.

. . . it is the man's quality that is to be loved. 

The Lord Tells Ahaz His Sign

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz,
"Ask the Lord your God for a sign,
whether in the deepest depth or in the highest heights."

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask;
I will not put the Lord to test."

Then Isaiah said,
"Hear now, you house of David!
Is it not enough to try the patience of men?
Will you try the patience of my God also?
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will be with Child
and will give birth to a Son,
and will call Him Immanuel.
He will eat curds and honey
when He knows enough
to reject the wrong and choose the right.
But before the Boy knows enough
to reject the wrong and choose the right,
the land of the two kings you dread
will be laid to waste."

(Isaiah 7:10-16)

AE 831 - the activity of the will and understanding

AE 831 [4]

For as truths derive all their essence and all their life from good,
so the understanding derives all its essence and life
from the will and its activity;
for the understanding is the receptacle of truth,
and the will the receptacle of good,
and their activity fills and establishes them.
. . . From this also it is clear
that the life of every man is from his works,
since in them the affection which is of the will,
and the thought which is of the understanding,
terminate and thus have existence;
and unless they are terminated they perish.
For the will has no existence unless it becomes active;
and when there is no will
the understanding perishes,
and there remains merely the faculty to understand.  

The Mountain of the Lord

Many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us His ways,
so that we may walk in His paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

(Isaiah 2:3)

AE 825 - the pride of self-intelligence and good works defined

AE 825 [2, 3]

The pride of self-intelligence is with all who confirm falsities
even to the destruction of the Divine truth,
in which the angels of heaven are;
for those are in that pride who regard self only,
that is, their reputation, in their writings and preachings.
For such are in the love of self,
and everyone who is in the love of self
when he writes and preaches is in pride;
and pride derives all things from man's own [proprium],
consequently it is called the pride of self-intelligence.
The love of self has its seat in the will,
and the pride of self-intelligence in the thought therefrom;
consequently when they think anything from self
they can think nothing but what is false,
for one's own [proprium] which is of the will
and therefore of the love,
is what rules,
and this, viewed in itself, is nothing but evil.
It is otherwise with those who are in the love of uses,
and from that in the love of truth for the sake of truth. 

Good works are all things
that a man does, writes, preaches, and even speaks,
not from self but from the Lord;
and he acts, writes, preaches, and speaks from the Lord
when he is living according to the laws of his religion.
The laws of our religion are
that one God is to be worshiped;
that adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness, must be shunned;
thus also frauds, unlawful gains, hatreds,
revenge, lies, blasphemies,
and many other things that are mentioned
not alone in the Decalogue
but everywhere else in the Word,
and are called sins against God and also abominations.
When man shuns these because they are opposed to the Word,
and so opposed to God,
and because they are from hell,
then man lives according to the laws of his religion,
and so far as he lives according to his religion
is he led by the Lord;
and so far as he is led by the Lord
are his works good;
for he is then led to do goods and to speak truths
for the sake of goods and for the sake of truths,
and not for the sake of self and the world;
uses are his enjoyments, and truths his delights.
Moreover, he is daily taught by the Lord
what he must do and what he must say,
also what he must preach or what he must write;
for when evils are removed
he is continually under the Lord's guidance and in enlightenment.
Yet he is not led and taught immediately by any dictate,
or by any perceptible inspiration,
but by an influx into his spiritual delight,
from which he has perception
according to the truths of which his understanding consists.
When he acts from this influx,
he appears to be acting as if from himself,
and yet he acknowledges in heart that it is from the Lord.
All angels are in such a state;
and all infants in heaven are being led by that way to heaven. 

Set a Guard Over My Mouth, O Lord

O Lord, I call to You; 
come quickly to me.
Here my voice when I call to You.
May my prayer be set before You like incense;
may the lifting up of my hand
be like the evening sacrifice.

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

(Psalm 141:1-4)