DLW 93, 94 - The Spiritual Sun; DLW 113-114 - The Lord Is Heaven; DLW 127 - Pairs

DLW 93, 94

That sun is not God,
but it is an emanation from
the Divine love and wisdom of the human God.
So, too, the heat and light from that sun.
In referring to that sun, visible to angels,
from which they have their heat and light,
we do not mean the Lord,
but we mean the first emanation from Him,
which is spiritual heat in its highest degree.
Spiritual heat in its highest degree is spiritual fire,
which is Divine love and wisdom
in their first correspondent form.

Ancient peoples represented this emanation
by placing halos glowing with fire
and glistening with light around the head of God,
a representation which is also commonly employed today
when God is depicted as a person in paintings.

DLW 113-114

. . . the Lord Himself is present in heaven,
for He is present in
the love and wisdom of the angels in heaven.
And because He is present in
the love and wisdom of all angels,
and angels constitute heaven,
He is present in the whole of heaven.

The Lord not only is present in heaven,
but He also is heaven itself.
That is because love and wisdom are what make an angel,
and these two properties are the Lord's in angels.
It follows therefore that the Lord is heaven.

DLW 127

In order that love and wisdom
in an angel or person may be united,
there are paired elements
in all the constituents of his body.
His eyes, ears and nostrils are paired organs.
His hands, loins and feet are paired.
The brain is divided into two hemispheres,
the heart into two chambers,
the lungs into two lobes,
and so on with other organs.
Thus we find in angels and people a right side and a left;
and all their constituents located to the right
relate to love which gives rise to wisdom,
and all their constituents located to the left
relate to wisdom arising from love;
or to say the equivalent,
all their constituents located to the right
relate to good which gives rise to truth,
and all their constituents located to the left
relate to truth arising from good.

Angels and people have these pairs
in order that love and wisdom, or good and truth,
may operate in union and look as one to the Lord.

** To the Churches in Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodica **

" To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of Him who holds
the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
I know your deeds;
you have a reputation of being alive,
but you are dead.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die,
for I have not found your deeds complete
in the sight of my God.

"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of Him who is holy and true,
who holds the key of David.
What He opens no one can shut,
and what He shuts no one can open.
I know your deeds.
See I have placed before you an open door
that no one can shut.
I know that you have little strength,
yet you have kept My word
and have not denied My name.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen
the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God's creation.
I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were one or the other!

. . . He who has and ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

(Revelation 3:1-2, 7-8,14-15, 22)

DLW 83 - The Spiritual Sun; DLW 92 - Where We Dwell

DLW 83

There are two worlds, one spiritual and the other natural,
and the spiritual world does not derive any of its character
from the natural world,
nor the natural world any of its character
from the spiritual world.
They are completely different worlds,
communicating only through correspondent relationships,
the nature of which
we have shown many times elsewhere.

To illustrate this, take the following example.
Heat in the natural world
corresponds to the good of charity in the spiritual world,
and light in the natural world
corresponds to the truth of faith in the spiritual world.
Who does not see that heat and the good of charity,
and that light and the truth of faith,
are altogether different in character?

Even though these are so different in themselves,
still they accord by correspondence.
They so accord that
when a person reads in the Word of heat and light,
the spirits and angels who are with the person
then perceive, instead of heat, charity,
and instead of light, faith.

DLW 92

. . . many people have even imagined
the abodes of angels and spirits
to be in the upper atmosphere, and some in the stars,
thus within nature and not above or outside it.

But in fact angels and spirits
are altogether above or outside nature,
and they dwell in a world which exists under another sun.
And because intervals of space in that world
are appearances, . . .
therefore one cannot say
that they are in the upper atmosphere or in the stars;
for they dwell with people,
conjoined with the affections and thoughts of their spirits.
For the human being is a spirit.
It is owing to it that he thinks and wills.
Consequently the spiritual world is where people are,
and not at all removed from them.

In short, every person
in the interiors of his mind
is in that world, 
in the midst of spirits and angels there,
and he thinks because of its light,
and loves because of its warmth. 

** To The Churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira **

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of Him
who holds the seven stars in His right hand
and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
I know your deeds,
your hard work and your perseverance.

. . ."To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of Him 
who is the First and the Last,
who died and came to life again.
I know your afflictions and your poverty --
yet you are rich!

. . . "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of Him
who has the sharp, double-edged sword.
I know where you live -- where Satan has his throne.
Yet you remain true to My name.

. . ."To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God,
whose eyes are like blazing fire
and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
I know your deeds, your love and faith,
your service and perseverance,
and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

. . . "He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

(Revelation 2:1-2, 8-9, 12-13, 18-19, 29)

DLW 73-74 - Time in the Spiritual World

DLW 73 [2-3] - 74

. . . time in the spiritual world
is nothing other than a quality of state.

It is owing to this that
hours, days, weeks, months and years in the Word
symbolize states and their progressions
in their sequence and in their entirety.
Thus when times are mentioned in reference to a church,
by its morning is meant its first state,
by its noon or midday its fullness,
by its evening its decline,
and by its night its end.
The same stages are meant by
the four seasons of the year,
namely spring, summer, fall, and winter.

It can be seen from this
that time accords with thought from affection,
for thought from affection is what determines
the quality of a person's state.

** I, John **

I, John, your brother and companion
in the suffering
and the kingdom
and patient endurance
that are ours in Jesus,
was on the island of Patmos
because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
On the Lord's Day  I was in the Spirit,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
which said:  "Write on a scroll what you see
and send it to the seven churches:
To Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatrira,
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.
And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
and among the lampstands
was someone "like a son of man,"
dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet
and the a golden sash around His chest.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and His eyes were like blazing fire.
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,
and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars,
and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.
His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw Him,
I fell at His feet as though dead.
Then He placed His right hand on me and said:
"Do not be afraid.
I am the First and the Last.
I am the Living One;
I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

"Write, therefore, what you have seen,
what is now and what will take place later.
The mystery of the seven stars
that you saw in My right hand
and of the seven golden lampstands is this:
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,
and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

(Revelation 1:9-20)

DLW 49 - Origin of Thought; DLW 49 - Opposites; DLW 55 - The Origin of Creation; DLW 71 - Natural vs. Spiritual Thought

DLW 46

Thought from the eye closes the intellect,
whereas thought from the intellect opens the eye.

DLW 49

For the love of self
is altogether opposite
to the Divine essence.

DLW 55

Everything in the created universe is a recipient
of the Divine love and wisdom of the human God.
People know that each and every
constituent of the universe has been created by God.
Therefore the universe with each and every thing in it
is called in the Word the work of the hands of Jehovah. 

There are people who maintain
that the world in its entirety was created out of nothing,
and the idea they entertain of nothing
is one of absolutely nothing,
even though out of absolutely nothing comes nothing,
nor can anything be produced from it.
This is an immutable truth.
Therefore the universe --
being an image of God and thus full of God --
could only have been created in God from God.
For God is being itself,
and from being must come whatever is.
To create from nothing,
which has no being,
something that is,
is completely contradictory

DLW 71

The merely natural person thinks
in terms of ideas that he has acquired
from objects visible to his sight,
all of which exhibit in them
a configuration possessing length, breadth and height
and having a shape delimited by these,
whether angular or curvilinear.
These dimensions are clearly present
in his mental conceptions of visible objects in the world,
and they are also present
in his mental conceptions of things not visible,
as in his conceptions of civil and moral matters.
He does not, indeed, see them,
but still they are present as extended concepts.

It is otherwise in the case of a spiritual person,
especially in the case of an angel in heaven.
His thinking is unrelated to configuration and form
having anything do to
with spatial length, breadth or height,
but having to do with the state of a thing
arising from the state of a person's life.
Consequently, instead of spatial length
he pictures the goodness of a thing
arising from the goodness of a person's life,
instead of spatial breadth
the truth of a thing
arising from the truth of a person's life,
and instead of height degrees of these.
Thus he thinks in terms of correspondence,
which is the relation
of spiritual and natural things to each other.
And it is because of this correspondence
that length in the Word
symbolizes the goodness of a thing,
breadth the truth of a thing,
and height degrees of these. 
 

~ Thomas ~

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."

Jesus did many other miraculous signs
in the presence of His disciples,
which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have life in His Name.

(John 20:24-31)
 

DLW 23, 29, 37 - One God

DLW 23

. . . all powers of human reason join together
and center on the existence of one God.

For this there are two reasons.
The first is that the very ability
to think rationally regarded in itself
is not a person's own,
but is God's gift in him.

. . . The second reason is that through that faculty
a person either is in the light of heaven
or draws the general tendency of his thought from it,
and the universal precept of the light of heaven
is the existence of one God.

DLW 29

No one can deny that God possesses in Him
love and wisdom together in their very essence.
For He loves all people out of the love in Him,
and He guides all out of the wisdom in Him.

DLW 37

The Divine providence
in reforming, regenerating and saving people
partakes equally of Divine love and Divine wisdom.
More Divine love than Divine wisdom,
or more Divine wisdom than Divine love,
cannot reform, regenerate or save a person.
Divine love wishes to save all people,
but it can do so only through Divine wisdom,
and Divine wisdom encompasses all the laws
by which salvation is made possible.
Love cannot transcend those laws,
since Divine love and Divine wisdom are one
and operate in union. 

~ "I Am In the Father, and the Father Is In Me." ~

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered:
"Don't you know Me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen Me
has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father,
and that the Father is in Me?
The words I say to you are not just My own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in Me,
who is doing His work.
Believe Me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me;
for at least believe on the evidence
of the miracles themselves.
I tell you the truth,
anyone who has faith in Me
will do what I have been doing.
He will do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father."

(John 14:8-13)

DLW 14, 16 - Being and Expression

DLW - Divine Love and Wisdom

DLW 14

Wherever there is being,
there is also expression.
One is not possible without the other.
For being exists through expression,
and not apart from it.

. . . And because one exists together with the other
and not apart from the other,
it follows that they are one,
but one in a distinct combination.

They are one in a distinct combination
like love and wisdom.
Love, too, is being,
and wisdom its expression,
for love noes not exist except in a state of wisdom,
and wisdom does not exist except as a result of love.

. . . Being and expression in the human God
are also in a distinct combination one like soul and body.
A soul does not exist apart from its body,
nor a body apart from its soul.
The Divine soul of the human God
is what we mean by the Divine Being,
and His Divine body
is what we mean by its Divine expression.

DLW 16

It can be seen from this
that God is a person,
and that He is therefore
a God having expression --
not having expression from Himself,
but in Himself.
He who has expression in Himself
is God from whom springs all else.

 

~ My Sheep ~

"My sheep listen to My voice;
I know them, and they follow Me.
I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me,
is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand.
I and the Father are one."

(John 10:27-30)

DLW 2 - Love Is a Person's Life

DLW 2

No one knows what a person's life is
unless he knows that it is love.
Without knowing this,
one may believe that a person's life
is simply sensing and acting,
another that it is thinking,
when in fact thought is the first effect of life,
and sensation and action its second effect. 

~ Speaking, Honoring ~

"He who speaks on his own
does so to gain honor for himself,
but he who works for the honor
of the One who sent him
is a man of truth;
there is nothing false about him."

(John 7:18)

CSW 77 - Conjugial Love

CSW 77

. . . love truly conjugial is not divided;
and that if it is divided,
its essence which is heavenly perishes,
and it becomes external and so lascivious . . .;
but love truly conjugial,
which is internal,
and derives nothing from lasciviousness,
remains to eternity,
and increases in potency,
and in the same degree in delight. 
 

~ How Can You Believe? ~

How can you believe
if you accept praise from one another,
yet make no effort to obtain
the praise that comes from the only God?

(John 5:44)
 

CSW 64 - Worshiping Saints

CSW 64

The worship of saints is such an abomination in heaven,
that whenever they hear of it they are horrified,
because as far as worship is paid to any man,
in so far it is withheld from the Lord,
for thus He alone cannot be worshiped;
and if the Lord is not alone worshiped,
a discrimination is made,
which destroys communion,
and the felicity of life which flows from it.  

~ Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael ~

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.
Finding Philip, He said to him, "Follow Me."

Philip, like Andrew and Peter,
was from the town of Bethsaida.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,
and about whom the prophets wrote --
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

"Nazareth! can anything good come from there?"
Nathanael asked.

"Come and see," said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching,
He said of him, "Here is a true Israelite,
in whom there is nothing false."

"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered,
"I saw you while you were still under the fig tree
before Philip called you."

Then Nathanael declared,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God;
You are the king of Israel."

Jesus said, "You believe because I told you
I saw you under the fig tree.
You shall see greater things than that."
He then added, "I tell you the truth,
you shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

(John 1:43-51)

CSW 36 - The Difference Between the Natural and Spiritual Person

CSW 36
(CSW - Continuation of the Spiritual World)

The difference between a person in the natural world,
and a person in the spiritual world, is,
that the one person is clothed with a spiritual body,
but the other with a natural body;
and the spiritual person sees the spiritual person,
as clearly as the natural person sees the natural person;
but the natural person cannot see the spiritual person,
and the spiritual person cannot see the natural person,
on account of the difference
between the natural and the spiritual;
what kind of difference this is, can be described,
but not in a few words.  
  
 

~ Jesus Is Arrested and Peter Denies Knowing Him ~

The Jesus said to the chief priests,
the officers of the temple guard,
and the elders, who had come for Him,
"Am I leading a rebellion,
that you have come with swords and clubs?
Every day I was with you in the temple courts,
and you did not lay a hand on Me.
But this is your hour --
when darkness reigns."

Then seizing Him, they led Him away
and took Him into the house of the high priest.
Peter followed at a distance.
But when they had kindled a fire
in the middle of the courtyard
and sat down together,
Peter sat down with them.
A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight.
She looked closely at him and said,
"This man was with Him."

But he denied it.
"Woman, I don't know Him," he said.

A little later someone else saw him and said,
"You also are one of them."

"Man, I am not!"  Peter replied.

About an hour later another asserted,
"Certainly this fellow was with Him,
for he is a Galilean."

Peter replied,
"Man, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.
the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.
Then Peter remembered
the word the Lord had spoken to him:
"Before the rooster cows today,
you will disown Me three times."
And he went outside and wept bitterly.

(Luke 52-62)

CLJ 20 - Light from the Lord; CLJ 21 - Spiritual Love

CLJ 20

. . . the light in which spirits and angels are,
proceeds from the Lord as a sun,
and this sun, in its essence,
is the Divine love,
and the light which proceeds from it in its essence
is the Divine wisdom:
all the spiritual of the world is derived from it.

CLJ 21

. . . those who are in spiritual love are in heaven,
but those who are in natural love only, are in hell.
Spiritual love is implanted solely by the life of charity,
and natural love remains natural,
if the life of charity is omitted;
and natural love,
if it is not subjected to spiritual love,
is opposed to it.

~ Zacchaeus Climbs a Tree ~

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus;
he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could not,
because of the crowd.
So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him,
since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot,
He looked up and said to him,
"Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today."
So he came down at once
and welcomed Him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter,
"He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
"Look, Lord!  Here and now
I give half of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,
I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house,
because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came 
to seek and to save 
what was lost."

(John 19:1-10)

CLJ 13 - Evening and Night, Morning and Day

CLJ 13
(Continuation of the Last Judgment)

VI. The state of the world and of the church
before the Last Judgment
was like evening and night,
but after it, like morning and day.

When the light of truth does not appear,
and truth is not received,
there is a state of the church in the world
like evening and night;
. . . a state before the Last Judgment. . .;
but when the light of truth appears,
and the truth is received,
there is a state of the church in the world
like morning and day.

. . . the Lord, in order to fulfill the Word,
also was buried in the evening
and afterward rose again in the morning.   

 

~ A Sheep Is Lost and then Found ~

Then Jesus told them a parable:
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep
and loses one of them.
Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country
and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
And when he finds it,
he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,
'Rejoice with me;
I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you that in the same way
there will be more rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who do not need to repent.

(Luke 15:3-7)

DF 68 - Works

DF 68

. . . works are lacking in the case of people
whose faith is divorced from charity,
owing to their denial
that works involve anything
having to do with salvation or the church.
And when charity, which consists in works,
is thus set aside,
faith also founders,
since faith is an expression of charity.

~ Be Ready ~

"Be dressed ready for service
and keep your lamps burning,
like men waiting for their master
to return from a wedding banquet,
so that when he comes and knocks
they can immediately open the door for him.
It will be good for those servants
whose master finds them watching when he comes.
I tell you the truth,
he will dress himself to serve,
will have them recline at the table
and will come and wait on them.
It will be good for those servants
whose master finds them ready,
even if he comes
in the second or third watch of the night.
But understand this:
If the owner of the house had known
at what hour the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour
when you do not expect him."

(Luke 12:35-40)

DF 49 - Babylon, the Adulteration of A Church's Goods; Philistia, the Falsification of a Church's Truths

DF 49

Names of nations and peoples in the Word,
and of persons and places,
all symbolize matters having to do with the church.
The church itself is symbolized by Israel and Judah,
because the church was instituted among them,
and the nations and peoples surrounding them
symbolized various religions —
harmless nations symbolizing compatible religions,
and harmful nations incompatible religions.

There are two harmful forms of religion
into which every church degenerates
in the course of time:
one that adulterates its goods,
and one that falsifies its truths.

The form of religion that adulterates the church’s goods
takes its origin from a love of ruling,
and the other,
the religion that falsifies the church’s truths,
takes its origin from a conceit in its own intelligence.

The religion that takes its origin
from a love of ruling
is meant in the Word by Babylon.
And the religion that takes its origin
from a conceit in its own intelligence
is meant in the Word by Philistia.

People know who the adherents of Babylon are today,
but they do not know who the adherents of Philistia are.
The adherents of Philistia
are those who have faith and not charity. 

 

~ "I Praise You, Father " ~

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said,
"I will praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because You have hidden these things
from the wise and learned,
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure."

(Luke 10:21)

DF 36 - The Universal Obligation of the Christian Faith

DF 36

The universal obligation of the Christian faith
on the part of mankind
is to believe in the Lord.
For to believe in Him
brings about a conjunction with Him,
which makes salvation possible.
Moreover, to believe in Him
is to be confident that He will save.
And because to have this confidence
is possible only to someone who lives right,
therefore this, too, is meant by believing in Him.

~ The Man With Shriveled Hand ~

On another Sabbath
He went into the synagogue and was teaching,
and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law
were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus,
so they watched Him closely
to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.
but Jesus knew what they were thinking
and said to the man with the shriveled hand,
"Get up and stand in front of everyone."
So he got up and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
"I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath:
to do good or to do evil,
to save life or to destroy it?"

He looked around at them all,
and then said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand."
He did so, and his hand was completely restored.
But they were furious
and began to discuss with one another
what they might do to Jesus.

(Luke 6:6-11)
 

DF Various - Faith and Charity and Use

DF 13

In its first origin charity is an affection for goodness;
and because goodness loves truth,
it produces an affection for truth,
and through that affection
an acknowledgment of truth, which is faith.
Through this progression
the affection for goodness finds expression
and becomes charity.

DF 19 [2]

So great is the analogy between the heart and charity,
and between the lungs and faith,
that in the spiritual world
the character of someone’s faith is discerned
simply from his breathing,
and the character of his charity
from the beating of his heart.
For just like people,
angels and spirits depend for their life
on a heart and respiration.
That is why they feel, think, act and speak
like people in the world.

DF 20

This character that makes a person loveable
is useful endeavor,
and it is called good.
This is accordingly the neighbor.

DF 21

Yet it is one thing to love the neighbor
for the good or use he may be to us,
and another to love the neighbor
for the good or use we may be to him.
To love the neighbor for the good or use
he may be to us
is something an evil person can do;
but to love the neighbor for the good or use
we may be to him
is something only a good person can do.
For it is the goodness in him
that prompts a good person to love good,
or the affection for useful endeavor in him
that prompts him to love useful endeavor.

DF 22

Properly speaking, love is love toward the Lord,
and love for the neighbor is charity.
It is impossible for a person
to have love toward the Lord
unless he possesses charity.
It is in charity
that the Lord conjoins himself with a person.

DF 23

In sum, insofar as someone
refrains from evils as being sins
and turns to the Lord,
so far he possesses charity,
and so far he accordingly possesses faith. 

~ The Lowered the Paralytic Through the Roof ~

One day as He was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from every village of Galilee
and from Judea and Jerusalem,
were sitting there.
And the power of the Lord
was present for Him to heal the sick.
Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat
and tried to take him into the house
to lay him before Jesus.
When they could not find a way to do this
because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on his mat through the tiles
into the middle of the crowd,
right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said,
"Friend, your sins are forgiven."

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law
began thinking to themselves,
"Who is this Fellow who speaks blasphemy?
Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked,
"Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
Which is easier:
to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .."
He said to the paralyzed man,
"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
Immediately he stood up in front of them,
took what he had been lying on
and went home praising God.

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God.
They were filled with awe and said,
"We have seen remarkable things today."

(Luke 5:17-26)

DF 6-7 - Faith

DF 6-7
(DF = The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith)

. . . faith and truth are bound up together.
Because of this, ancient peoples,
who out of an affection for truths
thought more about them than people today,
spoke of truth instead of faith.

That, too, is why truth and faith
are the same word in Hebrew,
being called emunah or amen.

Faith is the term used by the Lord in the Gospels
and in the book of Revelation
because the Jews did not believe it to be true
that the Lord was the Messiah foretold by the prophets;
and when truth is not believed,
the term "faith" is used instead. 

 

~ A Portion of Zechariah's Prophetic Song ~

"And you, my child,
will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet in the path of peace."

(Luke 1:76-79)
 

DLife 96-97 - Battle Once a Week or Twice a Month

DLife 96-97

. . . the Lord alone battles against the evils in a person,
that it only appears to the person
that he struggles on his own,
and that the Lord wills it to appear so to him,
since without that appearance
there would be no battle, thus no reformation.

This battle is not severe except in the case of people
who have given full rein to their urges
and have indulged in them deliberately,
and in the case of people, too,
who have willfully rejected
the sanctities of the Word and the church.

But for others the battle is not severe.
Let them resist evils in intention
just once a week or twice a month,
and they will perceive a change.

 

~ Those Against Him Could Not Agree ~

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin
were looking for evidence against Jesus
so that they could put Him to death,
but they did not find any.
Many testified falsely against Him,
but their statements did not agree.

Then some stood up
and gave this false testimony against Him:
"We heard Him say,
I will destroy this man-made temple
and in three days will build another,
not made by man.'"
Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them
and asked Jesus,  "Are you not going to answer?
What is this testimony
that these men are bringing against You?"
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

(Mark 14:55-61)
 

DLife 80-81, 83 - Stealing & Honesty; DLife 87 - Being False Witness

DLife 80-81, 83

Insofar as Someone Refrains from
Every Form of Stealing as Being a Sin,
So Far He Loves Honesty

In the natural sense stealing means
not only to steal and rob,
but also to swindle
and by some subterfuge take from another his goods.
In the spiritual sense stealing means
to deprive another of the truths of his faith
and the goods of his charity.
And in the highest sense stealing means
to take from the Lord something that is His
and attribute it to oneself,
thus to claim His righteousness and merit for oneself.

These are all forms of stealing.
And they are also bound up together,
as are all forms of adultery and all forms of murder,
as we discussed above.
They are bound up together
because one is present in another.

The evil of stealing enters more deeply
into a person than any other evil,
because it is accompanied by guile and deceit,
and guile and deceit insinuate themselves
even into a person’s spiritual mind,
which is the seat of his thinking with understanding.

By honesty we also mean integrity, righteousness,
fidelity, and rectitude.
A person cannot possess these virtues of himself
so as to love them in themselves and for themselves.
But someone who refrains from
fraudulent, cunning and deceitful practices as being sins
does possess them, not of himself, but from the Lord,
Such is the case with priests, magistrates,
judges, businessmen, and workmen —
with everyone engaged in his occupation and work.

DLife 87

Insofar as Someone Refrains
from Every Form of False Witness as Being a Sin,
So Far He Loves Truth

In the natural sense to bear false witness means
not only to perjure oneself in court,
but also to lie and slander.
In the spiritual sense to bear false witness means
to say and persuade that falsity is true,
and evil good, and the converse.
And in the highest sense
to bear false witness means
to blaspheme the Lord and the Word.

~ The Most Essential Commandments ~

One of the teachers 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)

DLife Various - Evils Generally, then Murder and Adultery

Every Form of Murder, Adultery, Theft, or False Witness,
Including Every Urge to Commit Them,
Is an Evil Which Must Be Refrained from as Being a Sin

DLife 64

It is a common tenet in every religion
that a person ought to examine himself,
repent, and desist from his sins,
and that if he does not do this,
he is in a state of damnation.

It is also a common practice
throughout the Christian world
to teach the Ten Commandments,
and by this means to initiate little children
into the Christian religion.

DLife 65

All nations with any religion the world over
possess precepts similar to those
in the Ten Commandments.
And all those who live those precepts
in conformity with their religion are saved.
But all who do not live them
in conformity with their religion are condemned.

Insofar as Someone Refrains from
Every Form of Murder as a Sin,
So Far He Has Love for the Neighbor

DLife 67

By every form of murder
we mean also every instance of enmity, hatred
and vengeance with a longing to kill,
for murder lies concealed within these,
like fire in wood under the ashes.
Nor is the fire of hell anything else.
It is owing to this that we speak
of someone’s seething with hatred
or burning for revenge.
These forms of murder are murder in the natural sense.

By murder in the spiritual sense, then,
we mean all the ways of killing
or destroying people’s souls,
which are various and many.
And by murder in the highest sense
we mean hatred of the Lord.

These three kinds of murder go together
and are inseparable.
For someone who wishes
the death of a person’s body in the world,
after death wishes the death of his soul.
He also wishes the death of the Lord,
for he burns with anger at Him
and wishes to blot out His name.

DLife 71

Since this goodness and that evil are opposites,
it follows that the evil is removed by the goodness.

Insofar as Someone Refrains from
Every Form of Adultery as Being a Sin,
So Far He Loves Chastity

DLife 74

In the natural sense
of the sixth of the Ten Commandments,
to commit adultery means not only to behave licentiously,
but also to engage in obscene acts,
to speak lasciviously, and to entertain filthy thoughts.
In the spiritual sense it means
to adulterate the Word’s goods and falsify its truths.
And in the highest sense to commit adultery
means to deny the Lord’s Divinity
and profane the Word.
These are all forms of adultery.

From rational sight the natural person may know
. . . that adultery is so great an evil
that it may be called the height of diabolical conduct.
For someone engaged in natural adultery
is also engaged in spiritual adultery,
and the converse.

DLife 76

. . . The chasteness of marriage
is experienced only by someone who refrains
from the lasciviousness of adultery as being a sin.

~ Jesus Walks on Water ~

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat
and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida,
while He dismissed the crowd.
After leaving them,
He went up on a mountainside to pray.

When evening came,
the boat was in the middle of the lake,
and He was alone on land.
He saw the disciples straining at the oars,
because the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night
He went out to them,
walking on the lake.
He was about to pass by them,
but when they saw Him walking on the lake,
they thought He was a ghost.
They cried out,
because they all saw Him and were terrified.

Immediately He spoke to them and said,
"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Then He climbed into the boat with them,
and the wind died down.
They were completely amazed,
for they had not understood about the loaves;(from feeding the five then four thousand)
their hearts were hardened.

When they had crossed over,
they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.
As soon as they got out of the boat,
peopled recognized Jesus.
They ran throughout that whole region
and carried the sick on mats
to wherever they heard He was.
And wherever He went --
into villages, towns or countryside --
they placed the sick in the marketplaces.
they begged Him to let them touch
even the edge of His cloak,
and all who touched Him were healed.

(Mark 6:45-56)

DLife 53, 56, 57 - The Very Holy Laws, the Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments Tell Us What Evils Are Sins

DLife 53

What nation, in the whole world,
does not know that it is evil to steal, to commit adultery,
to kill and to bear false witness?
If they did not know this,
and if they did not pass laws
to guard against anyone’s doing these things,
it would be the end of them,
for any society, republic or kingdom
would collapse without these laws.

Who can suppose that the Israelite nation was,
more than any other nation,
so stupid as not to know that these acts are evil?
One may wonder, therefore, why these laws,
universally known the world over,
were promulgated from Mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself,
accompanied by so great a miracle.

But listen, they were promulgated with so great a miracle
in order for people to know that these laws
were not only civil and moral laws, but also spiritual laws,
and that to disobey them was not only to do evil
to one’s fellow citizen and community,
but was also to sin against God.
By being promulgated by Jehovah from Mount Sinai,
therefore, these laws became laws of religion.
For it is plain that whatever Jehovah God commands,
He intends to be a commandment of religion,
and that it must be obeyed for His sake,
and for the sake of people’s salvation.

DLife 56, 57

Such great power and such great holiness
resided in that law for the further reason
that it embraced everything having to do with religion.
For it consisted of two tablets,
one of which contained everything on the part of God,
and the other everything on the part of man.
The precepts of that law were therefore
called the Ten Commandments,
called so because the number ten symbolizes everything.

Since that law is the means
of the Lord’s conjunction with a person,
and of a person with the Lord,
it is called a covenant and a testimony —
a covenant because it conjoins,
and a testimony because it testifies.
For a covenant symbolizes a conjunction,
and a testimony symbolizes
a testification of that conjunction.

For that reason there were two tablets,
one for the Lord, the other for man.
Conjunction is brought about by the Lord,
but only when someone
keeps the commandments written on man’s tablet.
For the Lord is continually present and acting,
and wishes to enter in,
but a person must open the way,
using the freedom to do so
that he has from the Lord.
For the Lord says:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him,
and he with Me.
(Revelation 3:20)

~ The Appointing of the Twelve Apostles ~

Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to Him those He wanted,
and they came to Him.
He appointed twelve --
designating them apostles --
that they might be with Him
and that He might send them out to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons.
These are the twelve He appointed:
Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter);
James son of Zebedee and his brother John
(to them He gave the name Boanerges,
which means Sons of Thunder);
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

(Mark 3: 13-19)
 

DLife 36, 37 - Goodness and Truth Working Together; DLife 45 - Can We Be in Evil and Have Faith?

DLife 36, 37

Goodness is a property of the will,
truth a property of the intellect.
A love of good in the will
produces a love of truth in the intellect.
A love of truth produces a perception of truth,
and a perception of truth produces thought of truth.
All of these lead to an acknowledgment of truth,
which is what faith is in its true meaning.

Since goodness is not good unless it is,
as we said, united with truth,
goodness consequently
does not find expression prior to that,
and yet it strives continually to find expression.
In order to find expression,
it therefore desires truths and acquires them for itself.
By these it is nourished and given form.
For this reason,
insofar as someone is prompted by goodness,
so far he loves truths,
which is accordingly the case
insofar as he refrains from evils as being sins;
for so far he is prompted by goodness.

DLife 45

. . . someone who does not refrain from evils as being sins,
does not have faith,
because he is caught up in evil,
and evil fundamentally hates truth.

~ His Baptism and Following Temptations ~

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.

(Mark 1:9-13)
 

DLife 19, 21 - Freedom, Refraining from Evil, Doing Good

DLife 19, 21

. . . during the time a person is in the world,
he is between evil and good,
and he is kept free to turn either to the one or to the other.
If he turns to evil, he turns away from good.
But if he turns to good, he turns away from evil.

. . . insofar as a person refrains from evils,
so far he is in the Lord’s presence and in the Lord,
and that insofar as he is in the Lord,
so far he does good,
not of himself,
but from the Lord.

This results, then, in the general law,
that insofar as someone refrains from evils,
so far he does good.

~ The Sheep and the Goats ~

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him,
He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before Him,
and He will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on His right
and the goats on His left.

"Then the King will say to those on His right,
'Come, you who are blessed by My Father;
take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited Me in.
I needed clothes and you clothed Me,
I was sick and you looked after Me.
I was in prison and you came to visit Me.'

"Then the righteous will answer Him,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed You,
or thirsty and give You something to drink?
When did we see You a stranger and invite You in,
or needing clothes and clothe You?
When did we see You sick or in prison
and go to visit You?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of Mine,
you did for Me.'

"Then He will say to those on His left,
'Depart from Me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,
I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer,
'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison,
and did not help You?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for Me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."

(Matthew 25:31-46)

DLife 1 - The Life of Religion Is Doing Good

Every Religion Is a Way of Life,
and Its Life Is the Doing of Good

DLife - 1

Everyone with any religion knows and acknowledges
that someone who lives right is saved,
and that someone who does not live right is damned.
For he knows and acknowledges
that someone who lives right, thinks right,
not only about God,
but also about the neighbor;
but not so someone who does not live right.

A person’s life is his love,
and what a person loves he not only freely does,
but also freely thinks.
We say therefore that his life is the doing of good,
because doing right accompanies his thinking right.
If these two do not go together,
they do not constitute a person’s life.

(Rogers translation)
________________________________

All Religion is of the Life,
and the Life of Religion
Is to Do that Which Is Good.

Every man who has religion knows and acknowledges
that he who leads a good life is saved,
and that he who leads an evil life is damned;
for he knows and acknowledges
that the man who lives aright thinks aright,
not only about God but also about his neighbor;
but not so the man whose life is evil.
The life of man is his love,
and that which he loves he not only likes to be doing,
but also likes to be thinking.
The reason therefore why we say
that the life is to do that which is good
is that doing what is good
acts as a one with thinking what is good,
for if in a man these two things do not act as a one,
they are not of his life.

(Potts translation)
________________________________________

DLife - The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem

~ Woe to You ~

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!
You give a tenth of your spices --
mint, dill and cummin.
But you have neglected
the more important matters of the law --
justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former.
You blind guides!
You strain out a gnat
but swallow a camel.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!
You clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee!
First clean the inside of the cup and dish,
and then the outside also will be clean.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were not willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate,
For I tell you,
you will not see Me again until you say,
'Blessed is He who comes in he name of the Lord.'"

(Matthew 23:23-26, 37-39)
 

SS 110 - The Lord Provides; SS 113 - Reading the Word

SS 110

. . . the Lord provides 
that there always be in the world
a church where the Word is read,
and where the Lord is consequently known.

SS 113

. . . the Word is the means by which
a person has a communication with heaven.
When I read the Word
from the first chapter of Isaiah
to the last chapter of Malachi,
and the Psalms of David,
I was given to clearly perceive
that each verse communicated
with some society in heaven,
and so the whole Word with the whole of heaven.

 

~ Two Blind Men ~

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho,
a large crowd followed Him.
Two blind men were sitting by the roadside,
and when they heard that Jesus was going by,
they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet,
but they shouted all the louder,
"Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

Jesus stopped and called them.
"What do you want Me to do for you?" he asked.

"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.
Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.

(Matthew 20:29-34)
 

SS 100 - In What Way Is the Lord the Word?

SS 100

In what way the Lord is the Word
is something few people understand,
for they think that it is possible indeed
for the Lord to enlighten and teach a person
by means of the Word,
and yet not
that He can for that reason be called the Word.
But be it known that everyone embodies his own love,
and so his own goodness and his own truth.
A person would otherwise not be human,
and nothing in him would be human.

It is because a person embodies
his own goodness and own truth
that angels and spirits are human.
For every good and every truth
emanating from the Lord is, in its form, human.

The Lord, however,
is Divine goodness itself and Divine truth itself.
Thus He is supremely human,
on whose account every person is human.

 

~ "Why Do You Speak to the People in Parables?" ~

The disciples came to Him and asked,
"Why do You speak to the people in parables?"

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven
has been given to you,
but not to them.
Whoever has will be given more,
and he will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him.
This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

"'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn,
and I would heal them.'

"But blessed are your eyes because they see,
and for your ears because they hear.
For I tell you the truth,
many prophets and righteous men
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

(Matthew 13:10-15)
 

SS 91, 95 - Appearances of Truth

SS 91

. . . the Word cannot be understood apart from doctrine,
and that doctrine serves as a lamp
in whose light genuine truths may be seen.
And the reason is that the Word was written
solely in terms of correspondences.
As a result, the Word contains many appearances of truth
that are not naked truths,
and much was accommodated to
the comprehension of natural people,
even of sensual people,
yet at the same time it was written in such a way
that simple people can understand it in simplicity,
and wise people wisely.

Now because that is the nature of the Word,
the appearances of truth,
which are truths clothed,
may be seized on as naked truths.
And when these are affirmed,
they become falsities.

SS 95 [2]

A person who thinks in simplicity and ignorance
that the sun travels around (the earth)
does not destroy the natural truth, namely,
that the earth rotates daily about its axis
and moves along its orbit annually.

On the other hand, someone who affirms as true
the apparent motion of the sun and its course
because of what it says in the Word,
and does so with arguments
originating from his natural self,
weakens the truth,
and also destroys it.

~ Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute ~

As Jesus went on from there,
two blind men followed him, calling out,
"Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

When He had gone indoors,
the blind men came to Him,
and He asked them,
"Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

Then He touched their eyes and said,
"According to your faith
will it be done to you";
and their sight was restored.
Jesus warned them sternly,
"See that no one knows about this."
But they went out and spread the news about Him
all over that region.

(Matthew 9:27-31)
 

SS 84 - Paired Expressions

SS 84

Readers who pay attention to it can see
that we find in the Word paired expressions
which seem to be repetitious of the same idea,
such as brother and companion,
poor and needy, devastation and desolation,
empty and void, adversary and enemy,
sin and iniquity, anger and wrath, nation and people,
joy and gladness, mourning and weeping,
justice (or righteousness) and judgment, and so on.
These pairs seem to be synonyms,
but in fact they are not,
for the words brother, poor, devastation, empty,
adversary, sin, anger, nation, joy, mourning,
and justice (or righteousness) refer to goodness,
and in an opposite sense to evil,
whereas the words companion, needy, desolation,
void, enemy, iniquity, wrath, people, gladness,
weeping, and judgment refer to truth,
and in an opposite sense to falsity.
Still, it seems to the reader
who does not know this arcanum (secret)
that brother and companion, poor and needy,
devastation and desolation, empty and void,
and adversary and enemy have the same meaning,
and likewise sin and iniquity, anger and wrath,
nation and people, joy and gladness,
mourning and weeping,
justice (or righteousness) and judgment.
And yet these do not have the same meaning,
but by their combination come to have a united one.

We find in the Word many other combinations as well,
such as fire and flame, gold and silver, bronze and iron,
wood and stone, bread and water, bread and wine,
purple and fine linen, and so on,
and this because fire, gold, bronze, wood, bread,
and purple symbolize goodness,
while flame, silver, iron, stone, water,
wine and fine linen symbolize truth.

Similarly we are told that people are to love God
with all their heart and with all their soul,
and that God will create in a person
a new heart and a new spirit.
For the heart refers to the goodness of love,
and the soul to truth springing from that goodness.

~ When You Pray ~

"And when you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and on the street corners
to be seen by men.
I tell you the truth,
they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray,
go into your room,
close the door and pray to your Father,
who is unseen.
Then your Father,
who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
And when you pray,
do not keep on babbling like pagans,
for they think they will be heard
because of their many words.
Do not be like them,
for your Father knows what you need
before you ask Him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
as in heaven so upon the earth.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.'

For if you forgive men when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins."

(Matthew 6:5-15)

SS 63, 64 - Reading the Word; SS 76, 77 - Understanding the Word and the Impact on the Church

SS 63, 64

The literal sense makes possible
an affiliation with angels in heaven
because that sense has in it
a spiritual sense and a celestial sense,
and these are the senses that angels know —
angels in the spiritual kingdom
having the Word’s spiritual sense,
and angels in the celestial kingdom
having its celestial sense.
These senses unfold from the Word’s natural sense,
namely its literal sense,
when a sincere person is intent on it.
The unfolding is instantaneous,
and accordingly also the affiliation.

. . . whenever I have read the Word in its literal sense,
a communication with the heavens has occurred,
now with one society of them, now with another;
and that what I have understood
in accordance with the natural sense,
spiritual angels have understood
in accordance with its spiritual sense,
and celestial angels
in accordance with its celestial sense.
And this in an instant.

SS 76, 77

. . . it is not the Word that forms the church,
but people’s understanding of it,
and that the character of the church is such
as the understanding of the Word
among the people in the church.

The Word is spirit and life
according to a person’s understanding of it,
for the letter without an understanding of it is lifeless.

Since a person possesses truth and life
according to his understanding of the Word,
he possesses faith and love also
in accordance with that understanding;
for truth is connected with faith, and love with life.

Now because the church is formed by faith and love
and in accordance with these, 
it follows that the church is a church
in consequence of its understanding of the Word
and in accordance with that understanding —
a noble church if it possesses genuine truths,
an ignoble one if it is without genuine truths,
and a destroyed one if it possesses falsified truths.

~ Fulfilling the Law ~

"Do not think that I have come
to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear,
not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks
one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever practices and teaches these commands
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you
that unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

(Matthew 5:17-20)

SS 53, 56 - Doctrine

SS 53

Doctrine must be drawn from the Word’s literal sense
and verified by it.
That is because there and nowhere else
is the Lord present with a person
so as to enlighten him and teach him the church’s truths.
The Lord also never does anything except in fullness,
and the Word is in its fullness in its literal sense . . ..
It is because of this
that doctrine must be drawn from the literal sense.

SS 56

One may believe that a doctrine of genuine truth
can be acquired by means of the Word’s spiritual sense,
which is obtained through
a knowledge of correspondences.
But doctrine is not acquired by means of that sense,
but is only illustrated and corroborated by it.
For . . . no one arrives at the spiritual sense
through correspondences
unless he first possesses genuine truths from doctrine.
If he does not possess genuine truths first,
a person may falsify the Word
by applying some correspondences that he knows
and connecting them and interpreting them
to support something lodged in his mind
from a preconceived premise.

In addition, the spiritual sense
is granted to a person only by the Lord,
and He protects it,
as He protects heaven,
inasmuch as heaven is present in it.

~ Return to the Lord ~

"I the Lord do not change.
. . . Ever since the time of your forefathers
you have turned away from My decrees
and have not kept them.
Return to Me,
and I will return to you,"
says the Lord Almighty.

(Malachi 3:6-7)

SS 40 - The Clothing of Truth; SS 49 - The Power of Divine Truth

SS 40

The truths in the Word’s literal sense
are in part not naked truths, but appearances of truth,
and are seemingly images and metaphors
taken from the kinds of things found in nature,
thus which have been accommodated and suited to
the comprehension of simple folk,
and even to that of little children.
However, because they are correspondent terms,
they are the receptacles and abodes of genuine truth.
They are like vessels enclosing such truths and containing them,
like a crystal goblet filled with vintage wine,
or like a silver dish containing tasty foodstuffs.
Or they are like garments clothing them,
as swaddling cloths clothe a baby, or a pretty dress a maiden.
They are also like the facts known by the natural self,
which embrace within them
the perceptions of and affections for truth
belonging to the spiritual self.

The naked truths themselves
which are enclosed, contained, clothed and embraced
are those found in the Word’s spiritual sense,
and the naked goods are those found in its celestial sense.

But let us illustrate this with passages from the Word.
Jesus said:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees...!
For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and intemperance.
Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish,
that the outside of them may be clean also.
(Matthew 23:25-26)

The Lord spoke here in terms of outward objects
that serve as containers, talking about a cup and dish,
but a cup means wine, and wine the Word’s truth,
and a dish means food, and food the Word’s goodness.
To cleanse the inside of the cup and dish
means to use the Word to purify one’s inner qualities,
which are those of the will and thought,
thus of one’s love and faith.
That by this the outside would thus be clean
means that thus one’s outward actions would be purified,
which are one’s works and words,
for these take their essence from the inner qualities.

SS 49

The power of Divine truth
is especially a power against falsities and evils,
thus against the hells.
One must fight against these
by means of truths from the Word’s literal sense.
It is also by means of the truths a person has
that the Lord has the power to save him.
For a person is reformed and regenerated
by means of truths drawn from the Word’s literal sense,
and he is then released from hell
and introduced into heaven.
This power is one that the Lord took on
also in respect to His Divine humanity,
after He had fulfilled everything in the Word,
even to its outmost expressions.
That is why,
when the Lord was about to fulfill the last of these
by His suffering of the cross,
He said to the chief priest,

“...hereafter you will see the Son of man
sitting at the right hand of the Power,
coming on the clouds of heaven.”
(Matthew 26:64, cf. Mark 14:62)

The Son of man is the Lord in relation to the Word.
The clouds of heaven are the Word in its literal sense.
Sitting at the right hand of God (as also in Mark 16:19)
is omnipotence exercised by means of the Word.
 

~ Two-thirds and One-third ~

"In the whole land," declares the Lord,
"two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will bring into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on My name
and I will answer them;
I will say, 'They are My people,'
and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'"

(Zechariah 13:8-9)