AE 478 - And They Serve Him In Good Clothed With Truth

 AE 478

And they serve Him day and night in His temple,
(Revelation 7:15)

signifies that they are constantly held in truths in heaven.
. . . those who are in falsities from ignorance
and yet in good of life according to their religion
cannot be saved before the falsities in them
have been withdrawn
and truths have been implanted in their place;
and truths are implanted by means of temptations.
When, therefore, these come out of temptations
the falsities still remain,
although they have been withdrawn by means of truths;
for nothing evil and false
can be wholly wiped away from a person, spirit, or angel,
but only withdrawn;
for the Lord withholds them from their evils and falsities
and holds them in good and truth;
and when this is done
they seem to themselves to be without evils and falsities.
For this reason,
unless those who had been in
falsities from ignorance in the world
were constantly held in truths by the Lord,
they would fall back into falsities.

Their having been in the good of life
according to their religion saves them,
indeed, but it does not save
so long as they are in falsities,
therefore after their life in the world
the falsities in them are withdrawn.
They cannot be saved before,
because good derives its essence from truths;
for good is the esse of truth,
and truth is the form of good,
therefore according to the quality of the truths is the good.
From this it is clear
that even though one lives well
he cannot come into heaven until he is in truths.
On this account
there are places of instruction
for those who are to come into heaven,
because no one can come there
until he has been instructed.

It is said "they serve Him day and night in His temple,"
but this does not mean
that they are continually in a temple,
or continually in worship and prayers,
for this is not done in the heavens.
Everyone there, as in the world,
is in his vocation and employment,
and on occasion, as in the world, in the temple;
and yet they are said
"to serve God day and night in the temple"
when they are constantly in truths;
for thus inwardly they constantly serve Him.
For every good spirit and angel
is his own truth and his own good,
for they are the affections of truth and good.
Affection or love constitutes the life of everyone;
consequently those who are in the affection of truth
constantly serve the Lord,
even when they are in
their vocations, business, and employments,
for the affection that is within
reigns continually and serves.
Moreover, this is the service the Lord desires,
but not being constantly in temples and in worship.
To be in temples in worship there,
and not in truths, is not serving the Lord,
but serving the Lord is to be in truths,
and to act sincerely and justly in everything;
for then the principles of truth, sincerity, and justice,
that are with a person,
serve the Lord.
Again, through these, but not through worship alone,
a person after his life in the world can be in heaven,
for worship without these,
consequently without truths,
is empty worship,
into which no influx enters.