AC 653 - When a Person Is Being Reformed

AC 653

When a man is being reformed,
which is effected by combats and temptations,
such evil spirits are associated with him
as excite nothing but his things of knowledge and reason;
and spirits that excite evil desires
are kept entirely away from him.
For there are two kinds of evil spirits,
those who act upon man's reasonings,
and those who act upon his evil desires.
The evil spirits who excite a man's reasonings
bring forth all his falsities,
and endeavor to persuade him that they are true,
and even turn truths into falsities.
A man must fight against these when he is in temptation;
but it is really the Lord who fights,
through the angels who are adjoined to the man.
As soon as the falsities are separated,
and as it were dispersed by these combats,
the man is prepared to receive the truths of faith.
For so long as falsities prevail,
a man never can receive the truths of faith,
because the principles of falsity stand in the way.
When he has thus been prepared to receive the truths of faith,
then for the first time can celestial seeds be implanted in him,
which are the seeds of charity.
The seeds of charity can never be implanted
in ground where falsities reign,
but only where truths reign.
Thus is it with the reformation or regeneration 
of the spiritual man,
and so it was with the man of this church
which is called "Noah."