AC 6724 - When a Person Is Being Reformed; AC 6737 - Compassion

AC 6724 [2-3]

When a person is being reformed,
he is kept by the Lord
as to his internal 
in good and truth,
but as to his external 
he is let into his evils and falsities,
consequently among infernal spirits
who are in these evils and falsities.
These hover round him,
and endeavor by every method to destroy him.
But the good and truth
which flow in through the internal
render him so safe
that the infernal spirits cannot do him the least harm;
for that which acts inwardly
prevails immeasurably
over that which acts outwardly;
because what is interior,
in consequence of being purer,
acts upon each and every individual particular
of the exterior,
and thus disposes the external to its will.
But in this case there
must be good and truth in the external,
wherein the influx from the internal can be fixed;
and in this way good can be among evils and falsities,
and yet be in safety.
Everyone who is being reformed is let into this state,
and in this way the evils and falsities in which he is,
are removed,
and goods and truths are inserted in their place.

Unless this secret is known,
it cannot possibly be known
why around the Divine truth in a person
there are goods mixed with evils and falsities,
signified by the bitumen and pitch
wherewith the little ark was daubed
in which the infant was laid.
Be it known further that good
can be mixed with evils and falsities,
but that nevertheless
they are not on this account conjoined,
for each shuns the other,
and by a law of order
each separates itself from the other.
For good is of heaven,
and evil and falsity are of hell;
therefore, as heaven and hell are separate,
so also each and all things from them
separate themselves.

AC 6737

. . . when those who are in perception
feel compassion,
they know that they are
admonished by the Lord to give aid.