AC 10177 - The Hearing and Receiving of the Lord

AC 10177 [5]

And because love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor are from the Lord,
and because love is spiritual conjunction,
therefore whatever proceeds from this source
is heard and received by the Lord.
Whereas the holiness and piety
that are not from this source are indeed heard,
but are not gratefully received,
for they are a hypocritical holiness and piety,
because they are a mere external without an internal;
and a holy external without an internal
penetrates no further than
to the first threshold of heaven,
and is there dispersed.
Whereas a holy external from a holy internal
penetrates even into heaven,
according to the quality of the internal,
thus to the Lord.
For a holy external without an internal
is merely from the mouth and the gestures,
whereas a holy external from an internal
is at the same time from the heart.