HH 87 - Ancient Knowledge

HH 87

What correspondence is
is not known at the present day,
for several reasons,
the chief of which is
that man has withdrawn himself from heaven
by the love of self and love of the world.
For he that loves self and the world above all things
gives heed only to worldly things,
since these appeal to the external senses
and gratify the natural longings;
and he does not give heed to spiritual things,
since these appeal to the internal senses
and gratify the mind,
therefore he casts them aside,
saying that they are too high for his comprehension.
This was not so with the ancient people.
To them the knowledge of correspondences
was the chief of knowledges.
By means of it they acquired intelligence and wisdom;
and by means of it those who were of the church
had communication with heaven;
for the knowledge of correspondences
is angelic knowledge.
The most ancient people,
who were celestial men,
thought from correspondence itself, as the angels do.
And therefore they talked with angels,
and the Lord frequently appeared to them,
and they were taught by Him.
But at this day that knowledge
has been so completely lost
that no one knows what correspondence is.

 

HH 73 - A Common Sharing

HH 73

. . . heaven is a common sharing,
for it shares all it has with each one,
and each one receives all he has from that sharing.
Because an angel is thus a recipient
he is a heaven in least form . . .;
and a person also,
so far as he receives heaven,
is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel.

HH 71 - Heaven Is Always Growing & Becoming More Perfect; HH 72 - The Single Love

HH 71

. . . variety arranged in a heavenly form
is what makes perfection . . ..
Moreover, every society of heaven
increases in number from day to day
and as it increases,
it becomes more perfect.
Thus not only does the society become more perfect,
but also heaven in general
because it is made up of societies.
As heaven gains in perfection by increase of numbers,
it is evident how mistaken those are
who believe that heaven may be closed
by becoming full.
For the opposite is true,
that it is never closed
but is perfected by greater and greater fullness.
Therefore, the angels wish for nothing more
than to have new angel guests come to them.

HH 72

The single love,
which is the origin of the good of all in heaven,
is love to the Lord from the Lord.

HH 64 - Uses Working Together

HH 64

So many different things in a person act as a one,
because there is no least thing in him
that does not do something for the general welfare
and perform some use.
The general performs a use for its parts,
and the parts for the general,
for the general is composed of the parts
and the parts constitute the general;
therefore they provide for each other,
have regard for each other,
and are joined together in such a form
that each thing and all things have reference to
the general and its good;
so it is that they act as one.

In the heavens there are like affiliations.
Those there are conjoined according to uses
in a like form;
and consequently those who do not
perform uses for the common good
are cast out of heaven as something heterogeneous.
To perform use is to will well to others
for the sake of the common good;
but to will well to others
not for the sake of the common good
but for the sake of self is not to perform use.
These latter are such as love themselves supremely,
while the former are such as love the Lord supremely.
So it is that those who are in heaven act as a one;
and this they do from the Lord,
not from themselves,
for they look to Him as the Only One,
the source of all things,
and they regard His kingdom as the general,
the good of which is to be sought.
This is what is meant by the Lord's words,

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all things shall be added unto you.
(Matthew 6:33)

"To seek His righteousness" means to seek His good.

Those who in the world love their country's good
more than their own,
and their neighbor's good as their own,
are those who in the other life love
and seek the Lord's kingdom;
for there the Lord's kingdom takes the place of country;
and those who love doing good to others,
not with self as an end
but with good as an end,
love the neighbor;
for in heaven good is the neighbor.
All such are in the Greatest Man, that is, heaven.

~ "If You" ~

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
He will satisfy your needs in sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

(Isaiah 58:9.5-12)

HH 55 - Reception and Diversity

HH 55

As everyone receives the heaven
that is outside of him
in accordance with the quality of the heaven
that is within him,
so in like manner does everyone receive the Lord,
since it is the Divine of the Lord
that makes heaven.
And for this reason when the Lord becomes
clearly present in any society
His appearance there is in accord with
the quality of the good in which the society is,
thus not the same in one society as in another.
This diversity is not in the Lord;
it is in the angels who behold Him
from their own good,
and thus in accordance with their good.
And they are affected by His appearance
in accordance with the quality of their love,
those who love Him inmostly
being inmostly affected,
and those who love Him less
being less affected;
while the evil who are outside of heaven
are tortured by His presence.
When the Lord is seen in any society
He is seen as an angel,
but is distinguished from others
by the Divine that shines through.

HH 38, 39 - The Importance of Understanding Degrees

HH 38

Degrees are of two kinds,
those that are continuous and those that are not.
Continuous degrees are related
like the degrees of the waning of a light
from its bright blaze to darkness,
or like the degrees of the decrease of vision
from objects in the light to those in the shade,
or like degrees of purity in the atmosphere
from bottom to top.
These degrees are determined by distance.

On the other hand,
degrees that are not continuous, but discrete,
are distinguished like prior and posterior,
like cause and effect,
and like what produces and what is produced.

. . . Until one has acquired for himself
a perception of these degrees
he cannot possibly understand
the differences between the heavens,
nor between the interior and exterior
faculties of a person,
nor the differences between
the spiritual world and the natural world,
nor between the spirit of a person and his body.
So neither can he understand the nature and source
of correspondences and representations,
or the nature of influx.
Sensual people do not apprehend these differences,
for they make increase and decrease,
even according to these degrees,
to be continuous,
and are therefore unable to conceive
of what is spiritual
otherwise than as a purer natural.
And in consequence
they remain outside of
and a great way off from intelligence.

HH 39

In every angel and also in every person
there is an inmost or highest degree,
or an inmost or highest something,
into which the Divine of the Lord
primarily or proximately flows,
and from which it disposes the other interiors in him
that follow in accordance with the degrees of order.
This inmost or highest degree may be called
the entrance of the Lord to the angel or person,
and His veriest dwelling-place in them.

 

HH 15, 16 - Loving the Lord; HH 24 - Celestial and Spiritual Designations

HH 15

In heaven loving the Lord does not mean
loving Him in respect to His person,
but it means loving the good that is from Him;
and to love good is to will and do good from love;
and to love the neighbor does not mean
loving a companion in respect to his person,
but loving the truth that is from the Word;
and to love truth is to will and do it.
This makes clear that these two loves
are distinct as good and truth are distinct,
and that they are conjoined
as good is conjoined with truth.

HH 16

Willing is loving to do.

HH 24

The celestial kingdom
is also called the Lord's priestly kingdom,
and in the Word "His dwelling-place;"
while the spiritual kingdom
is called His royal kingdom,
and in the Word "His throne."
And from the celestial Divine
the Lord in the world was called "Jesus,"
while from the spiritual Divine
He was called "Christ."

~ "I Will Have Compassion on You" ~

"For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
In a surge of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,"
says the Lord your Redeemer.

"To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah
would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor My covenant of peace be removed,"
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

"O afflicted city,
lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your sons will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be your children's peace."

(Isiah 54:7-13)

HH 12 - Heaven to the Angels

HH 12

. . . the Lord dwells in the angels of heaven
in what is His own,
and so the Lord is the all in all things of heaven;
and this for the reason
that good from the Lord
is the Lord in angels,
for what is from the Lord is the Lord;
consequently heaven to the angels
is good from the Lord,
and not anything of their own.
__________
(HH = Heaven and Hell)

AC 10830 - When the Lord Glorified His Human

AC 10830

When the Lord had fully glorified His Human,
He then put off the human from the mother,
and put on the Human from the Father;
and therefore He was then no longer the son of Mary,
but the Son of God,
from Whom He came forth.

~ "Your God Reigns!" ~

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord will lay bare His Holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.

(Isaiah 52:77-10)

AC 10814 - The Rule of the Love of Self

AC 10814 [2]

But the rule of the love of self,
which is opposite
to the rule of the love toward the neighbor,
began when man estranged himself from the Lord;
because in so far as a person
does not love and worship the Lord,
so far he loves and worships himself;
and so far also he loves
the world more than heaven.

AC 10787 - Loving the Lord, the Neighbor and Regeneration

AC 10787

. . . to love the Lord
is to love the commandments which are from Him,
that is, to live according to them from this love;
that love toward the neighbor
is to will good and from this to do good
to one’s fellow-citizen, to our country,
to the church, to the Lord’s kingdom,
not for the sake of self, to be seen, or to have merit;
but from the affection of good.
With regard to regeneration,
. . . those who are being regenerated by the Lord,
and who introduce truths at once into the life,
come into interior perception about them;
but that those who receive truths first in the memory,
and then in the understanding,
and finally in the will,
are those who are in faith;
for they act from faith,
which is then called conscience.

AC 10758 - Our Soul and Our Earthly Body

AC 10758 [3-4]

. . . when those who are in the faith
speak of the life after death,
and of their friends who are either dead or dying,
and do not at the moment
think about the Last Judgment,
they believe that their friends will live, or are living,
as people immediately after their decease.
But the moment that there flows in the thought
of the Last Judgment,
this idea is changed into a material idea
about their earthly body,
that it is again to be joined with their soul.
For they do not know
that in respect to his interiors every person is a spirit,
and that it is this which lives in the body,
and not the body from itself;
and that the spirit of everyone
is that from which the body has its human form,
consequently which is chiefly the person,
and in a like form,
but invisible before the eyes of the body,
yet visible before the eyes of spirits.

And it is also from this
that when the sight of a person’s spirit is opened,
which is effected by
the removal of the sight of the body,
angels are seen as people;
as also did angels appear to the ancients
of whom we read in the Word.

 

AC 10738 - Body and Soul

AC 10738 [4, 5, 6]

The body is the instrumental by which the will,
which is the principal, acts;
and in acting the instrumental and the principal
are together a one.
And so it is with the soul and the body.
The angels in heaven have such an idea
about the soul and the body;
and from this they know
that the Lord made His Human Divine
from the Divine in Himself,
which was His soul from the Father.

As such was the union,
or such the one, in the Lord,
He therefore rose again
not only as to the soul;
but, differently from any person,
as to the body
which He glorified in the world.

From this it is that the church acknowledges
the omnipresence of His Human
in the Sacrament of the Supper,
which could not be acknowledged
unless His Human also was Divine.
. . . such things
fall into the understanding of angelic spirits;
and they said
that the Lord alone has power in the heavens,
and that the heavens are His.
To this it was given to reply
that the church also knows this
from the mouth of the Lord Himself
before He ascended into heaven,
for He then said,
"All power has been given to Me
in heaven and on earth."

AC 10730 - Two Universal Truths

AC 10730 [2-3]

By the “Sabbath” in its proper sense
is meant rest and peace,
because when the Lord united
His Human to the Divine Itself
He had peace,
for the combats then ceased,
and all things in the heavens and in the hells
had been reduced into order.
And accordingly there was peace
not for Him only;
but also for the angels in the heavens,
and for people on earth,
there were peace and salvation.

As these two truths treated of here
are the very universal on which
all other things of the church depend,
therefore the hallowing of the Sabbath,
by which these two are meant,
is the only thing here set forth.
For the universal truth of all
is that the Lord united His Human
to the Divine Itself,
and that from this a person
has peace and salvation.
And it is also a universal truth
that a person must be conjoined with the Lord,
in order that he may have peace and salvation,
and this is effected by means of regeneration.
For this reason also,
among the Israelitish nation
the Sabbath was the chief representative
and the chief sign of a covenant with Jehovah,
that is, of conjunction with the Lord;
a “covenant” denotes conjunction.

AC 10686 - "He did not eat bread, and he did not drink water."

AC 10686

He did not eat bread, and he did not drink water.
(Exodus 34:28)

That this means
during which there is no appropriation
of the good of love and truth of faith,
is evident from the meaning of “bread,”
as being the good of love;
from the meaning of “water,”
as being the truth of faith;
that by “bread and water” in the Word
are meant in general all goods and truths;
from the meaning of “eating,”
as being the conjunction and appropriation of good;
and from the meaning of “drinking,”
as being the reception and appropriation of truth.
The case herein is this.
When a person is in temptations,
the goods of love and truths of faith
are not appropriated to him then,
but after the temptations.
For while the temptations last,
the evils and the falsities of evil in the person
are excited on the one side,
and the goods and the truths of good that are in him
are excited on the other.
Consequently he is in a turbulent state,
in which the internal is opened.
But the temptations are followed by serenity;
and in this state goods and the truths of good
are introduced by the Lord into the internal
that has now been opened.
From this it is evident what is meant by
there being no appropriation
of the good of love and truth of faith
while the temptations last,
which is meant by Moses
“not eating bread, and not drinking water
for forty days and forty nights.”

~ "To whom will you compare Me?" ~

"To whom will you compare Me?
Or who is My equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Do you know know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and wary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

(Isaiah 40:25-31)

AC 10675, 10683 - Removing the Evils & Increasing the Understanding and Love

AC 10675 [2, 3-4]

. . . as the falsities from evil are removed,
so far truths from good may be multiplied.

It is said that it is a person’s understanding
which receives truths
and is formed by means of truths,
because in the proper sense
nothing can be called understanding
but that which is from the truths
which are from good.
That which is from the falsities
which are from evil is not understanding;
because intelligence and wisdom
cannot possibly be predicated of falsities from evil,
seeing that falsities from evil
completely destroy intelligence and wisdom,
and bring in insanity and foolishness in their stead;
and therefore person’s understanding
is never opened except
when the person perceives and loves truths;
and the perception and love of truth are from good.
Consequently it is truths from good
that are the source of the understanding.

He who believes
that any person is possessed of an understanding
who is able to reason in a skillful manner
against the truths of the church,
is very much mistaken;
for such a person sees nothing within himself,
but only outside of himself.
To see within one’s self is from heaven;
to see outside of one’s self is from the world.
And he who sees only from the world
sees from a deceptive light,
which light becomes mere thick darkness
when light from heaven flows in upon it.

AC 10683 [4]

Those who love to do truth for the sake of truth,
love the Lord,
because truth is from the Lord,
and the Lord causes it to become good
through their willing and doing it,
so that it becomes of the life with the person;
for truth does not become of the life
until it enters the will.
That which is in the will
can be known and perceived from the fact
that the person does it,
and still more from his loving to do it,
for insofar as a person wills truth,
so far he loves it.

 

AC 10667 - Six Days; AC 10668 - Seven Days

AC 10667

Six days thou shall work.
(Exodus 34:23)

That this signifies the first state of regeneration,
when the man is in truths
and is at that time in combats,
is evident from the signification of “six days,”
which are called days of labor or of work,
as being the first state of regeneration,
when the man is in truths,
and is at that time in combats
against evils and falsities.

AC 10668

And on the seventh day thou shall rest.
(Exodus 34:23)

That this signifies the second state of regeneration,
when the man is in good,
and is then in peace,
is evident from the signification of “the seventh day,”
which is called the day of rest, or the Sabbath,
as being the second state of regeneration,
when the man is in good and is then in peace,
and is in heaven with the Lord.
__________

'Man' is humankind, not just male.

AC 10646 - Why the Lord Is Called "Jealous"

AC 10646 [1-2. 3]

The Lord is called “Jealous”
because as soon as another is worshiped,
all truth and good depart;
for a person is conjoined with the Lord
by means of the good and truth which are from Him;
and therefore as soon as another is worshiped,
disjunction takes place,
and then falsity succeeds in the place of truth,
and evil in the place of good.

That He is twice called “jealous”
is because by “Jehovah” is meant the Divine good,
and by “God” the Divine truth.

It is said that the Lord alone is to be worshiped.
The person who does not know how the case is
with the worship of the Lord,
may believe that the Lord loves to be worshiped,
and desires glory from a person,
just like a person,
who in order to be honored himself,
gives others what they ask for.
He who so believes has no knowledge of what love is,
and still less of what love Divine is.
Love Divine consists in desiring worship and glory,
not for the sake of itself,
but for the sake of a person and his salvation;
for he who worships the Lord
and gives glory to the Lord
is in humiliation;
and what is his own
departs from the man who is in humiliation;
and insofar as this departs,
so far the Divine is received;
for what is the person’s own,
because it is evil and false,
is that which alone obstructs the Divine.
This is the glory of the Lord;
and the worship of Him is for the sake of this end.
Glory for the sake of self is from the love of self,
and heavenly love differs from the love of self
as heaven differs from hell,
and infinitely more does the Divine love differ from it.

 

AC 10639, 10642 - Worshiping Molten Gods

AC 10639

. . . "thou shalt not make for thee molten gods,"
means the worship of self and not of the Lord.

AC 10642 [2-3]

. . . for to worship men instead of God Himself,
who is the Lord,
is diabolical,
because a person is conjoined
with him whom he worships.

If a person is worshiped as a god,
then someone from hell is conjoined with him,
for faith and love conjoin.
The faith of truth and the love of good
conjoin the person with the Lord;
but the faith of falsity and the love of evil
conjoin the man with hell;
for there are with every person spirits from hell,
and also angels from heaven.
Without these a person cannot live.
If anyone is worshiped who had been a person,
then the spirits from hell suppose
that they themselves are worshiped;
for everyone in hell wishes to be a god,
and these spirits communicate such worship
to the infernal society from which they are.
In proportion therefore as these are worshiped,
in the same proportion
the angels who are from heaven recede;
consequently the person is carried away
into infernal cupidities,
and finally becomes like these spirits
in respect to his whole life;
and moreover, comes among them after death.
But on the other hand,
when the Lord is worshiped,
who is the God of heaven and earth,
then the angels from heaven who are with the person
do not claim to themselves anything of worship,
because they attribute
all truth of faith and good of love to the Lord,
and nothing to themselves;
consequently there is opened through them
a way even to the Lord Himself,
who conjoins them with Himself in faith and love.
From all this it can be seen how important it is
to worship the Lord Himself,
who has all power in the heavens and on earth,
as He Himself says in Matthew 28:18:

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

AC 10638 - Reading, Believing, Loving, Living

AC 10628 [2]

It is said that if Moses’ people observe
that which Jehovah commands,
He will drive out these nations from their faces,
by which is meant
that if they do the primary precepts
which are of the eternal truth,
evils and falsities will be removed.
These precepts are the things
which follow in the internal sense,
the chief of which are
that they should not acknowledge
any other god than the Lord;
and that from Him is all good and truth;
and also that salvation and eternal life are from Him.

With those who believe these things,
and love it to be so,
all evil and falsity are removed
while they are reading the Word,
because the Lord then enlightens them and leads them.
And then they do not think from themselves,
nor are they affected by the Word from themselves,
but from the Lord;
consequently no evil and falsity of evil enter,
because the Lord removes these.
These are they who understand the Word,
and are affected by the truths from it,
and also love to live according to them.

AC 10624 - Understanding the Evils of Falsity

AC 10634

Evils are the sources of all falsities,
because falsities are what confirm evils,
and evils and falsities act in a person
as do the will and the understanding,
for what a person wishes to do
he also wishes to understand,
because it is by means of the understanding
that he forms his evil before himself in thought,
and before others in speech.
From this it is evident
what evil and the derivative falsity are,
that is, the falsity of evil.
But the evil of falsity is
when a person has confirmed evil with himself,
and has concluded that it is not evil,
and consequently does it.
In this case he does evil from falsity.
For example, he who has confirmed with himself
that adulteries are not evils,
and from this does them,
is in the evil of falsity,
because he does them from a false principle.
The evils of falsity
are chiefly to be found in religious matters,
for from the falsities of doctrine
a person persuades himself that a thing is good,
which nevertheless is evil;
and sometimes that a thing is evil,
which nevertheless is good.

AC 10618 - To Be Angry

AC 10618 [1-2]

Long-suffering with angers.
(Exodus 34:6)

That this means the Divine clemency,
is evident from the meaning of
“long-suffering with angers,”
when said of Jehovah,
as being that He long endures the evils of a person,
for to be “long-suffering” denotes
to endure and bear for a long time;
and “angers” denote the evils with a person.
The reason why “angers,” when said of Jehovah,
denote the evils with people,
is that evil becomes angry, and good never;
and evil is with the person and never with the Lord,
for the Lord is good itself.
Nevertheless anger is attributed to the Lord,
because it so appears to a person
when he does not obtain what he desires,
and when he is punished on account of evil.
As then “long-suffering with angers,”
when said of Jehovah,
denotes long to endure the evils with people,
it follows from this
that thereby is meant the Divine clemency.

As regards anger,
be it known further that evil becomes angry,
and good never,
for the reason that to be angry is to will evil to another,
which good cannot do,
for good consists in willing the good of another.
All evil has within it enmity, hatred, revenge, and cruelty;
in these and from these evil has its delight.
Moreover, evil hates good,
because good is opposed to its delights.
Consequently when evil cannot injure good,
which it is always in the endeavor to do,
it is first indignant, and afterward is angry.
Whether you say evil, or an evil person, it is the same,
for evil is in a person as in its subject.
And as such is the nature of evil against good,
such it is against the Divine,
for all good is the Divine with man,
because it is from the Divine.
From this it is
that an evil person is always angry against the Divine,
although outwardly he speaks differently before people.

 

AC 10650 - Heavenly 'Time'; AC 10608 - Mount Horeb & Mount Sinai; AC 10609 - How Instruction Is Received

AC 10605

It may seem strange
that in heaven there are no times,
when yet they live there one with another
like people in the world;
nevertheless with a difference in respect to
intelligence, wisdom, and happiness.
But the reason is
that the light there from the sun, which is the Lord,
does not undergo daily alternations
like the light from the sun in the world,
but is varied in accordance with
the states of love and faith with the angels,
which states undergo alternations
like the states of heat, of light, and of shade
every day in the earth.
The reason of this is
that the light from the sun there, which is the Lord,
is Divine truth;
and the heat from that sun is love,
with which the angels are affected
as are people
with the state of light and heat in the world.

AC 10608

. . . from the meaning of “the mountain,”
here Mount Horeb,
as being heaven in the whole complex,
thus also Divine truth;
for whether you say heaven, or Divine truth,
it is the same,
because the angels, of whom heaven consists,
are receptions of Divine truth.
The whole extension of that mountain
was called “Horeb,”
and the more elevated mountain in the midst of it
was called “Mount Sinai.”
Consequently by “Horeb” is signified heaven,
or what is the same, Divine truth,
in the whole complex;
its internal by “Mount Sinai,”
and its external by the mountainous part round about.

AC 10609

The reason why they could not be instructed about this,
was that they were in the loves of self and of the world,
and they who are in these loves cannot possibly know
what celestial and spiritual good is,
thus what is the good of the church,
for this good is spiritual and celestial, because Divine.
If this good were described to them,
they would not at all apprehend it,
because with them,
the internal, where is the perception of this good,
is closed.

AC 10603 - All

AC 10603

. . . all the truth that is of faith
and the good that is of love,
which make the church and also worship,
must be from the Word . . ..

AC 10578 - What Is It to Love the Lord?

AC 10578 [3]

. . . it shall be briefly told here what love to the Lord is,
or what it is to love the Lord.
He who believes that he loves the Lord,
and does not live according to His commandments,
is very much mistaken,
for to live according to the Lord’s commandments
is to love Him.
These commandments
are truths which are from the Lord,
thus in which the Lord is;
and therefore insofar as they are loved,
that is, insofar as people live according to them from love,
so far the Lord is loved.
The reason is that the Lord loves a person,
and from love wills that he may be happy forever,
and a person cannot become happy
except by a life according to His commandments,
because by means of these
a person is regenerated and becomes spiritual,
and in this way can be raised into heaven.
But to love the Lord
without a life according to His commandments
is not to love Him,
for then there is not anything with the person
into which the Lord may flow and raise him to Himself;
because he is like an empty vessel;
there being nothing of life in his faith,
and nothing of life in his love.

AC 10577 - Mercy, Grace and Truth

AC 10577 [2, 3]

That “to show grace”
denotes to endow with spiritual truth and good,
and “to show mercy”
to endow with celestial truth and good
is because “grace” is predicated of faith,
and “mercy” of love;
and the good of faith is spiritual good,
and the good of love is celestial good.

As there are two things to which
all things of the church bear relation,
namely, love and faith;
and as mercy belongs to love;
and grace, and also truth, belong to faith,
therefore in the Word it is said “mercy and grace”
when the Lord is implored,
and it is said “mercy and truth”
when the Lord is described . . ..

 

Advent Reading - January 6

And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, Arise,
and take the young Child and His mother,
and flee into Egypt,
and be thou there until I bring Thee word:
for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.
When he arose,
he took the young Child and His mother by night,
and departed into Egypt:

And was there until the death of Herod: 
that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son.
Then Herod, when he saw
that he was mocked of the wise men,
was exceeding wroth, and sent forth,
and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under,
according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet,
saying, In Rama was there a voice heard,
lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
and would not be comforted, 
because they are not.

But when Herod was dead,
behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
Saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother,
and go into the land of Israel:
for they are dead which sought the young Child's life.

And he arose, and took the young Child and His mother,
and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea
in the room of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go thither:
notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream,
he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth:
that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene.
(Matthew 2:13-23) 

AC - A Few Short Quotes

AC 10566

. . . He who worships God merely
on account of miracles,
only worships the name of God,
and not God,
and falls away whenever
he does not obtain his desires.

AC 10568

. . . it is impossible
for any material idea to enter heaven;
it is put off at the first threshold.

AC 10569 [3]

. . . by "eyes," when said of Jehovah,
is meant the Divine presence of the Lord;
and by the "eyes," when said of people
who receive the Divine truth of the Lord, or His light,
is meant faith and an enlightened understanding.

AC 10570 [2]

. . . it is the Divine truths revealed in the Word
which cause worship to be internal,
provided that people know them
and live according to them.
For if a person could
worship God in a holy manner without them,
there would be no need of any doctrine of the church,
nor of any preaching.

Advent Reading - January 5

And when they were come into the house,
they saw the young Child with Mary His mother,
and fell down, and worshiped him:
and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts:
gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
And being warned of God in a dream
that they should not return to Herod,
they departed into their own country another way.
(Matthew 2:11-12)

AC 113

Here also “gold” means good;
“frankincense and myrrh” things that are grateful
because from love and faith . . ..  

AC 10559 - Indignation Against God

AC 10559 [1-2]

. . . a person . . . is indignant against God
if he does not obtain his desires.

This is done by all those
who are in external things without what is internal,
for if they reverence and adore God,
and as it were love Him,
it is not for His own sake,
but for the sake of themselves,
because they desire nothing else
than eminence above others
and wealth beyond others,
this being the fire
which excites their reverence and adoration,
and as it were their love.
But if they do not obtain what they desire,
they forsake God.

Advent Reading - January 4

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea
in the days of Herod the king,
behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
for we have seen His star in the east,
and are come to worship Him.

When Herod the king had heard these things,
he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And when he had gathered
all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea:
for thus it is written by the prophet,
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,
art not the least among the princes of Juda:
for out of thee shall come a Governor,
that shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men,
inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said,
Go and search diligently for the young Child;
and when ye have found Him, bring me word again,
that I may come and worship Him also.

When they had heard the king, they departed;
and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, 
went before them,
till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
When they saw the star, 
they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
(Matthew 2:1-10)

AC 10528 - To Inquire of the Lord; AC 10551 - To See From Without, To Perceive From Within

AC 10528 [2. 4]

. . . to inquire of the Lord is to consult the Word;
for in the Word the Lord is present,
seeing that the Word is the Divine truth
which is from Him,
and that He is with the angels in His Divine truth,
and also with the people of the church
who receive Him.

To see from the internal
is to see from heaven
from the Lord.

AC 10551 [2]

It must here be told what it is to see from without,
and what to have perception from within.
Those who when reading the Word
are in enlightenment,
see it from within, for their internal is open,
and when the internal is open it is in the light of heaven.
This light flows in and enlightens,
although the person is unaware of it.
The reason why he is unaware of it,
is that this light flows into the knowledges
that are in the person’s memory,
and these knowledges are in natural light.
And as the person thinks from these knowledges
as from himself,
he cannot perceive the influx,
nevertheless from various indications
he is able to know that he has been in enlightenment.
But yet everyone is deceived
who believes himself to be in enlightenment,
unless he loves to know truth
for the sake of truth
and for the sake of the good of life,
thus unless he loves Divine truth for the sake of life,
because to live
according to Divine truths from the Word
is to love the Lord,
and all enlightenment comes from the Lord
when He is loved.

Advent Reading - January 3

And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser:
she was of a great age,
and had lived with an husband 
seven years from her virginity;

And she was a widow
of about fourscore and four years,
which departed not from the temple,
but served God
with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant 
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord,
and spoke of Him to all them
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

And when they had performed all things
according to the law of the Lord,
they returned into Galilee,
to their own city Nazareth.
And the Child grew,
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom:
and the grace of God was upon Him.
(Luke 2:36-40)
 

AC 10536 - "Garments"; AC 10540 - "Ornaments"

AC 10536

That this is the meaning of “garments” in general,
originates in the representatives in the other life,
where all, both angels and spirits,
appear clothed in garments,
and each one according to his truths.
They who are in genuine Divine truths
appear clothed in white shining garments,
and others in other garments.
Spirits do not know where their garments come from,
but are clothed with them without knowing this.
Moreover, their garments vary according to
the changes of their state in respect to truths.
In a word,
it is their understanding which is presented to view
and represented by their garments,
for each person’s understanding
is formed by means of truths,
and becomes such
as are the truths from which it is formed.
With the angels of heaven
their understanding is in their internal,
and consequently they have white shining garments.
The shining is from Divine good,
and the whiteness is from the light of heaven,
which is Divine truth.

AC 10540 [3, 5]

. . . the internal sense . . . teaches
what thing in the spiritual world
corresponds to each particular;
from which it can be seen that
“broidered work” denotes memory-truth;
“fine linen,” intellectual truth which is from the Divine;
“bracelets,” truths in respect to power;
“a chain,” truth from good in respect to influx,
and the consequent conjunction
of things interior and exterior;
“a nose-jewel,” truth in respect to perception;
and “earrings,” truths in respect to obedience;
“a crown of comeliness,” spiritual good,
which is the good of truth,
a “crown” denoting good,
and “comeliness,” what is spiritual;
“gold and silver,” good and truth in general . . ..

. . . for in the Word nothing is said without a meaning,
not even one syllable.

 

Advent Reading - January 2

AC 2044

And a son of eight days.
(Genesis 17:12)

That this means any beginning of purification whatever,
is evident from the meaning of “the eighth day.”
A “week,” which is seven days,
means an entire period of any state or time,
as of reformation, of regeneration, of temptation,
whether of a person in particular,
or of the church in general;
thus a period is called a “week,”
whether it be one of a thousand years,
of a hundred, of ten, or of as many days,
hours, minutes, and so on . . ..
And as the eighth day is the first day of a new week,
it means any beginning whatever.
This shows also that,
as circumcision was itself
a representative of purification,
so also was the time of it, namely, the eighth day;
not that they then entered into a purer state,
and were purified on that account,
but for the reason that,
as “circumcision” meant purification,
so “the eighth day" meant
that this ought to be effected at all times,
and thus always, as from a new beginning.

AC 8080 [4]

The law regarding
the redemption of the firstborn of man
was laid down to prevent
them from sacrificing their sons,
a practice that had come into use among gentiles
with whom statutes of the Ancient Church -
which was a representative Church -
remained in force,
but in a form that had been completely adulterated
in the course of time.
The consecration of the firstborn to God
was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church;
but by consecration
they began to understand sacrifice.
The descendants of Jacob
leaned likewise towards the same practice,
and therefore that law of redemption
was marked out for them.
And to prevent them from following that practice
the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn,
as has been stated.
The law was marked out
in keeping with its corresponding meaning
in the spiritual world,
which is that the truths of faith are not holy,
thus that these are not to be
consecrated or ascribed to the Lord
but forms of the good of faith.
Later on that consecration to Him
was taken to mean
that they were to give or present
the firstborn to Jehovah,
and to offer a sacrifice for him,
as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification
according to the law of Moses were completed,
they brought Jesus to Jerusalem
to present Him to the Lord
(as it has been written in the Law of the Lord,
that every male opening the womb
should be called holy to the Lord)
and to offer a sacrifice.

(Luke 2:22-24)

 

AC 10528 - Angels

AC 10528

And I will send an angel before you.
(Exodus 33:2)

That this means the Divine of the Lord
from which is the church and its worship,
is evident from the meaning of “an angel,”
as being in the supreme sense
the Lord as to the Divine Human,
and in the relative sense
the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels,
as also in the church with people;
and from the meaning of “sending before you,”
as being to prepare.
(That in the supreme sense “an angel”
denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human;
that in the relative sense it denotes
the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels.)
From this it follows that “an angel” also means
the Divine of the Lord with the men who receive it;
for people who are in the good of love
and in the truths of faith
in the Lord from the Lord,
after death become angels;
and those who do so are angels inwardly
even while they live in the world.

Advent Reading - January 1

And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child,
His name was called JESUS,
which was so named of the angel
before He was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were accomplished,
they brought Him to Jerusalem,
to present Him to the Lord;

(As it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb 
shall be called holy to the Lord;)
And to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the Lord,
A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
whose name was Simeon;
and the same man was just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel:
and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost,
that he should not see death, 
before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came by the Spirit into the temple:
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus,
to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms,
and blessed God, and said,

Lord, now let thou Thy servant depart in peace,
according to Thy word:
For my eyes have seen Thy salvation,

Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel.

And Joseph and His mother marvelled at those things
which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them, 
and said unto Mary His mother,
Behold, this Child is set 
for the fall and rising again of many in Israel;
and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

So that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And a sword will pierce through thy own soul also.
(Luke 2:21-35)