AE 401c - turn

AE 401c [12]
. . . those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom
turn themselves away from the good of love and charity,
consequently from the Lord,
and then they will nothing but evil and think nothing but falsity,
and those who will and think no other,
see nothing but thick darkness
and darkness in such things as pertain to heaven and the church.

AE 401b, c - the Sun shines & enlightens

AE 401b[4]
Likewise when the Lord was seen by John as an angel,
respecting which we read:

And I saw a strong angel coming down out of heaven,
encompassed with a cloud,
and a rainbow about his head,
and his face was as the sun.
(Revelation. 10:1)

for "angels" in the Word in its spiritual sense do not mean angels,
but something Divine from the Lord,
since the Divine that appears from them is not theirs,
but the Lord's with them.
So, too, the Divine truth they speak, which is full of wisdom,
they do not speak from themselves,
but from the Lord,
for they have been people,
and people have all wisdom and intelligence from the Lord.
This makes clear that in the Word "angel" means the Lord,
who also then appeared as a sun.

AE 401c [10]
. . . those who are in love to the Lord
and in charity towards the neighbor
it shall then be given to understand truths . . .

AE 400 - "an earthquake"

AE 400b [2]
. . . "an earthquake" signifies a change of state of the church,
that is, from good into evil, and from truth into falsity.

AE 400d [14]
It is recorded also in the Word that there was an earthquake when the Lord suffered upon the cross, and also when the angel descended and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher; and each of these earthquakes signified a change in the state of the church. Of the earthquake that occurred when the Lord suffered it is thus written:

The veil in the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent.
The centurion and they that were with him guarding Jesus,
seeing the earthquake and the things that were done,
feared exceedingly, saying,
Truly this was the Son of God.
(Matthew 27:51, 54)

And of the earthquake that occurred when the angel descended and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher it is said:

When Mary Magdalene came and the other Mary to see the sepulcher,
and behold, there was a great earthquake;
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
and coming, rolled away the stone from the mouth,
and sat upon it.
(Matthew 28:1-2)

These earthquakes occurred to indicate that the state of the church was then changed; for the Lord by His last temptation, which He endured in Gethsemane and upon the cross, conquered the hells, and put in order all things there and in the heavens, and also glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine; for this reason "there was an earthquake, and the rocks were rent." "The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" signified that His Human was made Divine; for within the veil was the ark in which was the Testimony, and "the Testimony" signified the Lord in respect to His Divine Human (see above, n. 392). "The veil" signified the external of the church which was with the Jews and Israelites, and that covered their eyes that they might not see the Lord and Divine truth, or the Word in its own light. The "great earthquake" that occurred when the angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher, has a like signification, namely, that the state of the church was altogether changed; for the Lord then rose again, and in respect to His Human assumed all dominion over heaven and earth, as He Himself says in Matthew (28:18). "The angel rolled away the stone from the mouth and sat upon it" signifies that the Lord removed all the falsity that had shut off access to Him, and that He opened Divine truth, "the stone" signifying the Divine truth which the Jews had falsified by their tradition; for it is said that:

The chief priests and Pharisees sealed the stone with a guard;
but that an angel from heaven removed it and sat upon it.
(Matthew 27:66; 28:2)

The things that have been said respecting these earthquakes, and the veil of the temple, and the stone before the mouth of sepulcher, are but a few, but the things signified by them are many, for each and everything that is written in the Gospels respecting the Lord's Passion involves arcana and is significative. The earthquakes mentioned elsewhere in Revelation also signify changes of the state of the church (as chap. 11:13; 16:17-19).

AE 395e - Isaiah 61:10

AE 395e [12]
I will rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
He has covered me with the robe or righteousness.
(Isaiah 61:10)

"To rejoice in Jehovah" signifies to rejoice in Divine good;
"to exult in God" signifies to exult in Divine truth;
for the Lord is called "Jehovah" from Divine good,
and "God" from Divine truth,
and from these is all spiritual joy.
"To clothe with the garments of salvation"
signifies to instruct and to gift with truths;
and "to cover with the robe of righteousness"
signifies to fill with every truth from good,
"robe" meaning all truth, because it means truth in general,
and "righteousness" is predicated of good.

AE 392a - what the Lord speaks

AE 392a
What the Lord speaks is called the Word of God,
and this Divine truth.
The Word or the Sacred Scripture is nothing else;
for in it all Divine truth is contained . . .

AE 391g - our Maker, the Holy One of Israel

AE 391g [23]
In that day shall a man have respect to his Maker,
and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 17:7)

The Lord is called "Maker"
because he leads into the goods of life,
for these make a person;
and He is called "the Holy One of Israel"
because He teaches the truths of doctrine . . .

AE 391c - iniquity & sin

AE 391c [8]
. . . for "iniquity" is predicated of the life of falsity,
that is, of a life contrary to truths,
and "sin" of the life of evil,
that is of a life contrary to good.

AE 388d & 388f - wild beasts

AE 388d [21]
"The evil wild beast" means all ravenous beasts,
such as lions, bears, tigers, panthers, wild boars, wolves,
dragons, serpents, and many others,
which seize and rend asunder good animals,
such as lambs, sheep, bullocks, oxen, and the like.
That such wild beasts, and in general, "the evil wild beast,"
signify lusts springing from the love of self and the world,
from which are all the evils of life and the falsities of doctrine . . ..

AE 388f [31]
When, however, "the wild beast of the earth" is mentioned,
it means a wild beast that devours animals and men;
but when "the wild beast of the field" is mentioned,
it means a wild beast that eats up the crops;
therefore "the wild beast of the earth"
signifies such things as destroy the goods of the church,
and "the wild beast of the field"
such things as destroy the truths of the church . . .

AE 388b - "little by little"

AE 388b [6]
By little and little I will drive out the nations,
lest the land become a waste,
and the wild beast of the field be multiplied against thee.
(Exodus 23:29-30; Deuteronomy 7:22)

. . ."nations" signify the evils that a person has, even those from inheritance;
and that these with a person are removed "by little and little,"
since if they were removed suddenly,
before good is formed in him by truths,
falsities would enter which would destroy him.
"The wild beasts of the field"
signify the falsities springing from the delights of natural loves.

AE 386d - bread

AE 386d [20, 28]
"Jehovah gives bread to the hungry,"
(Psalm 146:7)
"to give bread" meaning to nourish,
and spiritual nourishment is knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.

I am the bread of life;
he that comes to Me shall not hunger,
and he that believes on Me shall never thirst.
(John 6:35)
. . . "to hunger" is to come to the Lord,
and "to thirst" is to believe on Him;
to come to the Lord is to do His commandments.

AE 386a - "And with famine" (Revelation 6:8)

AE 386a
And with famine . .
as being the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good,
also the lack and ignorance of them.
These are signified by "famine" in the Word.
This is the signification of "famine"
because "food and drink"
signify all things that nourish and sustain spiritual life,
and these in general are the knowledges of truth and good.
The spiritual life itself needs nourishment and support
just as much as the natural life does;
so it is said to be famished
when a person is deprived of these knowledges,
or when they fail, or when they are unknown
and yet are desired.

AC 382 - our reaction to the Lord & His Word

AE 382
. . . the Word appears to everyone according to his quality,
as life to those who are in good and truth,
but as death to those who are in evils and falsities.
It is similar with the Lord Himself, who is the Word;
He too appears to everyone according to his quality;
to those who are in goods and truths therefrom
He appears as a fire and as light vivifying and recreating,
but to those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom
He appears as a consuming fire and as thick darkness.
And for the same reason
to those who are in evil and in falsities therefrom
the Lord appears to be angry, to punish, to condemn, and to cast into hell,
when yet He is never angry, never punishes, or condemns, or casts into hell,
but saves so far as a person applies himself;
for the Lord is good itself and truth itself,
He is love itself and mercy itself.

AE 376f,g - living determines the Light

AE 376f [32]
. . .a life of evil shuts
out the perception of good
by which thought has life and light,
and the principles of falsity
shut out the understanding of truth . . .

AE 376g [37]
But those who are not in the love of self,
and who seek intelligence for the sake of the uses of life,
are elevated by the Lord
from what is their own proprium
into the light of heaven . . .

AE 376a-b - the Lord flows in and we can receive and do

AE 376a [3]
. . . where good is rejected
no truth which is truth in itself can exist,
since all truth is from good;
for the Lord flows into a person's good,
and by means of good illustrates him
and gives him the light to perceive truths,
therefore without that light,
which is a person's very spiritual life,
there is no truth,
however much it may sound like truth because it is from the Word;
it is truth falsified by the ideas that are held in respect to it . . ..

. . . no one can be in genuine truths from good
unless in heart he acknowledges
the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth,
for from Him is every good and consequently every truth.

AE 376b [6]
. . . he who receives good and truth shall also perform uses . . .

. . . from the good of love to the Lord
and from the good of charity towards the neighbor
there shall be truths in abundance . . .

. . . for wisdom comes when truths are committed to life . . .

AE 375e - a good question

AE 375e [36]
Jehovah fed him with the increase of the fields,
He made him to suck honey out of the cliff,
and oil out of the flint of the rock.
(Deuteronomy 32:13)
This treats of the Ancient Church;
"to suck oil out of the flint of the rock"
means to be imbued with good through the truths of faith;
"honey" means natural good and delight;
"oil" spiritual good and delight;
and "cliff" and "flint of the rock" mean the truth of faith from the Lord.
If spiritual things were not meant by these words,
what meaning could there be in
"sucking honey out of the cliff, and oil out of the flint of the rock"?

AE 375d - arms of war

AE 375d [11]
Arms of war were anointed
because they signified truths fighting against falsities,
and truths from good are what prevail against falsities,
but not truths without good;
therefore the arms of war represented the truths
by which the Lord Himself with a person
fights against the falsities from evil which are from hell.

AE 374 - "O that My people. . ."

AE 374c [11]
O that My people would listen to Me,
and Israel would walk in My ways!
I would feed them with the fat of wheat;
and with honey out of the rock I would satisfy them.
(Psalm 81:13, 16)

"Fat of wheat," and
"honey out of the rock with which they would be fed and satisfied"
signify good of every kind from celestial good
and enjoyment thereof from the Lord;
for "fat" signifies celestial good,
"wheat" good of every kind,
"honey" the enjoyment of good,
and "rock" the Lord.
That those who live according to the Lord's commandments
will possess these things is meant by
"O that My people would listen to me,
and Israel would walk in My ways!"
"Ways" in the Word signifying truths and also commandments,
and "to walk" signifying to live.

AE 372a - a black horse

AE 372a
And behold, a black horse,
(Revelation 6:6)
signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed in respect to truth.
This is evident from the signification of "horse,"
as being the understanding;
also from the signification of "black," as being what is not true . . ..
"Black" signifies what is not true,
because "white" signifies what is true.
. . . "White" is predicated of truth and signifies it,
because white has its origin in the brightness of light,
and "light" signifies truth;
and "black" is predicated of what is not true and signifies it,
because black has its origin in darkness, that is, from the privation of light;
and because darkness exists from the privation of light
it signifies the ignorance of truth.
That "a black horse" here signifies
the understanding of the Word destroyed in respect to truth,
is evident from the signification of "the red horse",
as being the understanding destroyed in respect to good.

AE 365h - What destroys peace?

AE 365h [42]
Because those have peace
who are in the conjunction of good and truth from the Lord,
and because evil destroys good,
and falsity destroys truth,
so do these destroy peace.
From this it follows
that those who are in evils and falsities have no peace.
It appears as if they had peace
when they have success in the world,
and they even seem to themselves
at such times to be in a contented state of mind;
but that apparent peace is only in their externals,
while inwardly there is no peace . . ..

AE 365 - peace & spiritual healing

AE 365 [19]
"Peace" stands for heavenly blessedness, happiness, and delight,
and these are granted only with those
that love to do the Lord's commandments . . ..

AE 365 [32]
. . . to be healed spiritually is to be delivered from evils and falsities,
and this is done by the Lord by means of truths . . ..

AE 365 [40]
The work of Jehovah is peace;
and the labor of righteousness, quietness and security even forever;
that My people may dwell in a habitation of peace,
and in tabernacles of securities,
and in tranquil resting places.
(Isaiah 32:17-18)

"Peace" is called "the work of Jehovah,"
because it is solely from the Lord;
and everything that comes forth out of peace from the Lord
with those who are in conjunction with the Lord
is called "the work of Jehovah;"
therefore it is said, "the work of Jehovah is peace."
The "labor of righteousness"
signifies good conjoined to truth, in which is peace;
for "labor" in the Word is predicated of truth,
"righteousness" of good,
and "quietness" of the peace therein . . ..

AE 365 - the origin of peace

AE 365b [5,6,14]
. . . peace is in its first origin . . . from the Lord;
it is in Him from the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human,
and it is from Him by His conjunction with heaven and the church,
and in particular from the conjunction of good and truth in each individual.
From this it is that "peace," in the highest sense, signifies the Lord;
in a relative sense, heaven and the church in general,
and also heaven and the church in particular in each individual.

Jesus said, Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give unto you,
not as the world gives
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
(John 14:27)

This treats of the Lord's union with the Father,
that is, the union of His Divine Human with the Divine Itself
which was in Him from conception,
and consequently of the Lord's conjunction
with those who are in truths from goods;
therefore "peace" means tranquility of mind from that conjunction;
and as such are protected by that conjunction
from the evils and falsities that are from hell,
for the Lord protects those who are conjoined with Him,
therefore He says,
"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
This Divine peace is in a person . . ..

Peace viewed in itself is not heaven and heavenly joy,
but these are in peace and from peace;
for peace is like the dawn or like spring-time in the world,
which dispose human minds to receive in the heart
delights and pleasures from the objects that appear before the eyes,
for that is what makes them delightful and pleasant;
and because all things of heaven and of heavenly joy
are in like manner from Divine peace,
these also are meant by "peace."
Since a person has heaven from living according to the commandments,
for thence he has conjunction with the Lord,
therefore it is said,

If you walk in My statutes,
and keep My commandments,
and do them,
I will give peace in the land.
(portions of Leviticus 26:3,6)

AE 365 - "to take peace from the earth" (Revelation 6:4)

AE 365[2,4]
. . . if good is not present with a person when he is reading the Word,
truth does not appear,
for truth is seen from good,
and good by means of truth.

. . . because "peace" signifies a peaceful state of the mind
and tranquillity of the disposition
from the conjunction of good and truth;
therefore "to take away peace"
signifies an unpeaceful and untranquil state
from the disjunction of good and truth,
which is the cause of internal dissensions;
for when good is separated from truth evil takes its place . . ..


The whole number, mostly:

AE 365 [1-4]
And to him that sat upon him,
to him it was given to take peace from the earth, (Revelation 6:4)
signifies the Word consequently not understood,
consequently there are dissensions in the church . . ..
[2] Before it is explained what "peace" signifies, let something be said about dissensions arising in the church when the understanding of the Word is destroyed. By good, the good of love to the Lord and the good of love towards the neighbor are meant, since all good is of love. When these goods do not exist with the person of the church, the Word is not understood; for the conjunction of the Lord and the conjunction of heaven with the person of the church is by means of good; therefore if there is no good with him no illustration can be given; for all illustration when the Word is being read is out of heaven from the Lord; and when there is no illustration the truths that are in the Word are in obscurity, thence dissensions spring up. That the Word is not understood if a person is not in good can also be seen from this, that in the particulars of the Word there is a heavenly marriage, that is, a conjunction of good and truth; therefore if good is not present with a person when he is reading the Word, truth does not appear, for truth is seen from good, and good by means of truth.
[3] The state of the case is this: so far as a person is in good the Lord flows in and gives the affection of truth, and thus understanding; for the interior human mind is formed entirely in the image of heaven, and the whole heaven is formed according to the affections of good and of truth from good; therefore unless there is good with a person, that mind cannot be opened, still less can it be formed for heaven; it is formed by the conjunction of good and truth. From this it can also be seen that unless a person is in good, truths have no ground in which to be received, nor any heat by which to grow; for truths with the person who is in good are like seeds in the ground in the time of spring; while truths with the person who is not in good are like seeds in ground bound by frost in the time of winter, when there is no grass, nor flower, nor tree, still less fruit.
[4] In the Word are all truths of heaven and the church, yea, all the secrets of wisdom that the angels of heaven possess; but no one sees these unless he is in the good of love to the Lord and in the good of love towards the neighbor; those who are not, see truths here and there, but do not understand them; they have a perception and idea of them wholly different from that which pertains to these same truths in themselves; although, therefore, they see or know truths, still truths are not truths with them, but falsities; for truths are not truths from their sound or utterance, but from an idea and perception of them. When truths are implanted in good it is different; then truths appear in their own form, for truth is the form of good. From this it may be concluded what the nature of the understanding of the Word is with those who make faith alone the sole means of salvation, and cast behind the back the good of life, or the good of charity. It has been found that those who have confirmed themselves in this, both in doctrine and life, have not even a single right idea of truth; this, moreover, is why they do not know what good is, what charity and love are, what the neighbor is, what heaven and hell are, that they are to live after death as people, nor, indeed, what regeneration is, what baptism is, and many other things; yea, they are in such blindness respecting God Himself that they worship three in thought, and not one except merely with the mouth, not knowing that the Father of the Lord is the Divine in Him, and that the Holy Spirit is the Divine from Him. These things are said to make known that there is no understanding of the Word where there is no good. It is here said that to him that sat upon a red horse, it was given "to take peace from the earth," because "peace" signifies a peaceful state of the mind [mens] and tranquillity of the disposition [animus] from the conjunction of good and truth; therefore "to take away peace" signifies an unpeaceful and untranquil state from the disjunction of good and truth, which is the cause of internal dissensions; for when good is separated from truth evil takes its place; and evil loves not truth but falsity; because every falsity belongs to evil, as every truth to good; when, therefore, such a person sees a truth in the Word or hears it from another, the evil of his love, and thus of his will, strives against the truth, and then he either rejects or perverts it, or by ideas from the evil so obscures it that at length he sees nothing of truth in the truth, however much it may sound like truth when he utters it. This is the origin of all dissensions, controversies, and heresies in the church. From this it can be seen what is here signified by "to take peace from the earth."

AE 359 - to conquer

AE 359
And he went forth conquering and that He might conquer,
(Revelation 6:2)
. . . "to conquer" in the Word as being to conquer spiritually,
which is to subjugate evils and falsities;
but as these are not conquered otherwise
than that they are taken away by the Lord,
"to conquer" signifies the removal of evils and falsities.

Jesus [said] to the disciples,
These things I have spoken unto you
that in Me you might have peace.
In the world you shall have tribulation;
but confide, I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)
The Lord's "overcoming the world" means that He subjugated all the hells;
for "the world" here signifies all evils and falsities, which are from hell.

AE 357b - the power of His Divine Truth

AE 357b [5,9]
. . . He disperses evils and falsities as if they were nothing,
by His Divine truth and by the doctrine therefrom . . .

. . . in the Lord and from Him is the Divine truth,
by means of which falsities and evils are dispersed,
and that in Him and from him is the Word,
where these truths are . . .

AE 356 - doctrine

AE 356
1. Without doctrine no one can understand the Word.
2. Without doctrine from the Word
no one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them.
3. Without doctrine from the Word
no one within the church, where the Word is, can become spiritual.
4. Doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word,
and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord.
(From section 356 [4])
They are in illustration from the Lord who love truths because they are truths;
and because such as these do them,
they are in the Lord and the Lord is in them.
5. All things of doctrine must be confirmed
by the sense of the letter of the Word.

AE 355g - serving the spiritual

AE 355g [37]
. . . let no one from being a spiritual person become natural,
and lead himself, and trust in his own proprium instead of in the Lord,
that is, let not the truths of the spiritual person serve the natural,
instead of the knowledges of the natural person serve the spiritual;
for this latter is according to order,
but the former is contrary to order.

AE 355 - the understanding of truth

AE 355c [14]
The Lord is called the Word,
because the Word means Divine truth proceeding from Him.

. . . all doctrine of truth and the understanding of it
are out of heaven from the Lord . . .

AE 351 - "And I saw" (Revelation 6:1)

AE 351
It is said, the church where the Word is,
because the Lord's church is in the whole world,
but in a special sense where the Word is,
and where the Lord is known through the Word.
. . . This church is especially treated of
because the Lord, and thus the angels of heaven,
are present with the people of this earth by means of the Word;
for the Word is written by pure correspondences:
from this it comes that the Lord and the angels of heaven
are present also with those who are around or outside the church . . .
. . . for the Lord flows in therefrom with love and with light,
and vivifies and enlightens all who are in any spiritual affection for truth,
wherever they are.
The light of heaven,
or the light in which are the angels of heaven who are from this earth,
is from the Lord by means of the Word;
from this as from a center light is diffused
into the circumferences in every direction . . . by the Lord,
and what is done in heaven flows also into the minds of people,
for the minds of people make one with the minds of spirits and angels.

AE 349 - from the Lord

AE 349
. . . no good and no truth,
so neither love nor faith,
is in a person,
but that they flow in from the Lord.
Life itself is in good and truth,
and nowhere else.

AE 343 - the Lord's Divine

AE 343
The Divine that constitutes heaven
and gives to angels and people
love, faith, wisdom, and intelligence,
proceeds not immediately from the Lord's Divine Itself,
but through His Divine Human,
and this Divine that proceeds is the Holy Spirit.

. . . for the Lord's Divine is that which assumed the Human,
and for that reason He called it His Father . . ..
And the Divine Proceeding is what is called the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete . . .

. . . they are one essence when the three are names of one person,
namely, the Divine Itself, called the Father;
the Divine Human, called the Son;
and the Divine Proceeding, called the Holy Spirit.

AE 340 - blessing

AE 340c [12]
I will give them the circuits of My hill as a blessing,
and I will send down the rain in its time;
there shall be rains of blessing.
Then the tree shall yield its fruit,
the land shall yield its produce.
(Ezekiel 34:26-27).

He who sees the Word merely in its natural sense
believes no other than that "blessing"
means such things as are mentioned in that sense,
namely, that rain should be given to make fruitful the gardens and fields,
and thus the tree should yield its fruit and the land its produce;
but it is a spiritual blessing that is meant,
for "rain" signifies everything Divine
that flows into a person from the Lord out of heaven.
That truths will produce good, and that good will produce truths,
is signified by "the tree shall yield its fruit, and the land its produce,"
"land" and also the "garden," in which there are trees, meaning the church;
these and "the circuits of My hill which are to be given as a blessing,"
signify the internal and external with the people of the church,
"circuit" signifying what is outside or below,
and "hill" what is within or above,
especially where charity is, for that is within.

AE 333 - the dominion

AE 333
And we shall reign upon the earth
(Revelation 5:10)
. . . it is truths from good that are to reign,
thus the Lord alone from whom these are.
. . . It is said in the sense of the letter that these are to reign,
because the sense of the letter is personal;
when therefore it is said in that sense
that they are to be "kings and priests,"
it is also said that they are "to reign;"
but in the spiritual sense everything of person is put off,
and thus everything of dominion belonging to person,
and dominion is left to the Lord alone.

AE 331 - nations & peoples

AE 331 [9]
All peoples, nations, and tongues shall worship Him;
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom that which shall not perish.
(Daniel 7:14)

This is said of the Lord;
and "peoples" and "nations" mean all who are in truths and goods;
and "all tongues" mean all of whatever doctrine or religion;
for the Lord's church is universal,
since it exists with all who are in the good of life,
and who from their doctrine look to heaven,
and thereby conjoin themselves to the Lord.
Because "nations" signify those who are in the good of love,
and "peoples" whose who are in the good of charity
and in the truths of faith therefrom,
it is said, "His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom shall not pass away;"
"dominion" in the Word is predicated of good,
and "kingdom" of truth;
for this reason the Lord is call "Lord" from Divine good,
and "King" from Divine truth.

AE 329d - spiritual things

AE 329d [15]
With a person there are two things that constitute his spiritual life,
namely the good of love and the truth of faith.
With him the will is the receptacle of the good of love,
and the understanding is the receptacle of the truth of faith.
. . . In general, the correspondence of the will is with the flesh,
and the correspondence of the understanding with the blood . . .
These things are mentioned that it may be known
that in the Word things voluntary and intellectual, that is, spiritual things,
are meant by "flesh and blood" when a person is referred to,
and things Divine when the Lord is referred to.
But these things are for those whose minds
can be elevated above natural ideas and can see causes.

AE 329 - food & drink

AE 329 [2-3]
Spiritual food is all the good
that is communicated and given to a person by the Lord,
and spiritual drink
is all the truth that is communicated and given to a person by the Lord.
These two, namely, good and truth, or love and faith,
make a person spiritual . . ..

Again, spiritual nourishment is from the good and truth
that proceed from the Lord,
as all nourishment of the body is from food and drink;
their correspondence also is from this,
which is such that where anything of food, or that serves for food,
is mentioned in the Word, good is meant,
and where anything of drink, or that serves for drink,
is mentioned, truth is meant.

AE 329 - a sapphire stone

AE 329 [6,7]
And they saw the God of Israel,
and under His feet as it were a work of sapphire stone,
and as the substance of the heavens for purity.
(Exodus 24:3-11)

Words or truths become truths of life by doing
. . . that there is conjunction by means of them.

Because Divine truth,
by which there is conjunction,
proceeds from the Lord,
the Lord appeared to the people
"under the feet as it were a work of sapphire stone;"
that He so appeared "under the feet"
signifying that Divine truth is such in ultimates.
Divine truth in ultimates is Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word;
"work of sapphire stone"
signifies the translucence of this sense from Divine truth
in the internal or spiritual sense;
"the God of Israel" is the Lord.

AE 328 - the first thing of the church

AE 328 [6,7]
The primary thing is to acknowledge the Lord,
to acknowledge His Divine in the Human,
and His omnipotence to save the human race;
for by that acknowledgment a person is conjoined to the Divine,
since there is no Divine except in Him;
for the Father is there;
for the Father is in Him, and He in the Father,
as the Lord Himself teaches;
consequently they who look to another Divine near Him, or at His side,
as those are wont to do
who pray to the Father to have mercy for the sake of the Son,
turn aside from the way and worship a Divine elsewhere than in Him.
Moreover, they then give no thought to the Divine of the Lord,
but only to the Human, when yet these cannot be separated;
for the Divine and the Human are not two, but a single person,
conjoined like soul and body . . ..
Therefore to acknowledge the Divine in the Lord's Human,
or the Divine Human,
is the primary thing of the church, by which there is conjunction;
and because it is the primary it is also the first thing of the church.
It is because this is the first thing of the church,
that the Lord, when He was in the world,
so often said to those whom He healed,
"Do you believe that I can do this?"
and when they answered that they believed, He said,
"Be it done according to your faith."
This He so often said that they might believe,
in the first place, that from His Divine Human He had Divine omnipotence,
for without that belief the church could not be begun,
and without that belief they could not have been conjoined with the Divine,
but must have been separated from it,
and thus would not have been able to receive anything good from him.

Afterwards the Lord taught how they were to be saved,
namely, by receiving Divine truth from Him;
and truth is received when it is applied to the life
and implanted in it by doing it;
therefore the Lord so often said that they should do His words.
From this it can be seen that these two things,
namely, believing in the Lord and doing His words, make one,
and can by no means be separated;
for he who does not do the Lord's words
does not believe in Him;
so also he who thinks that he believes in Him
and does not do His words
does not believe in Him,
for the Lord is in His words, that is, in His truths,
and by them He gives faith to a person.
From these few things it can be known
that conjunction with the Divine is effected
through the acknowledgment of the Lord
and the reception of Divine truth from Him.

AE 326 - singing & heavenly joy

AE 326
"To sing a song" signifies confession from joy of heart,
because joy of heart, when it is in fullness, expresses itself in song,
this it does because when the heart,
and in consequence the thought also,
is full of joy, it pours itself forth in singing,
the joy of the heart itself through the sound of the singing,
and the joy of the thought therefrom through the song.
The kind of joy of the thought is expressed by the words of the song,
which concur and agree with the matter that is in the thought from the heart;
the kind of joy of the heart is expressed by the harmony,
and the measure of this joy
is expressed by the exaltation of the sound and the words in it.
All these flow as if spontaneously from the joy itself,
and for the reason that the whole heaven is formed
according to the affections of good and truth,
the highest heaven according to the affections of good,
and the middle heaven according to the affections of truth;
it is therefore formed also for joys,
for every joy is from an affection, or from love;
from this it is that in all angelic discourse there is a kind of harmony.

[13] I will add to this an arcanum:
the angels who constitute in heaven the Lord's celestial kingdom,
when a person is reading the Word,
draw from his affection alone the internal sense of it,
which affection arises from the sound of the words in the original tongue;
but the angels who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom
draw the internal sense from the truths that the words contain;
therefore the person who is in spiritual affection
has from the celestial kingdom joy of heart,
and from the spiritual kingdom confession from that joy.
The sounds of the musical instruments . . . elevate the affection,
and the truths give form to it.
That this is so is well known to those skilled in the art of music.
For this reason the Psalms of David are called "psalms,"
from psallere [to play]; they are also called "songs" from singing;
for they were played and sung
with the accompanying sounds of various instruments.

AE 325 - worship & practical piety

AE 325a [2-4]
"Incense" signifies spiritual good,
which is the good of charity towards the neighbor;
and "meal-offering" signifies celestial good,
which is the good of love to the Lord;
thus both signifying worship.

Worship does not consist in prayers and in external devotion,
but in a life of charity;
prayers are only its externals,
for they proceed from the person through his mouth,
consequently a person's prayers are such
as they themselves are in respect to life.
It matters not that a person bears himself humbly,
that he kneels and sighs when he prays; for these are externals,
and unless externals proceed from internals
they are only gestures and sounds without life.
In each thing that a person utters there is affection . . ..
Spiritual affection is what is called charity towards the neighbor;
to be in that affection is true worship;
praying is what proceeds.
From this it can be seen that the essential of worship is the life of charity,
and that its instrumental is gesture and praying;
or that the primary of worship is a life of charity,
and its secondary is praying.
From this it is clear that those who place all Divine worship in oral piety,
and not in practical piety, err greatly.

Practical piety is to act in every work and in every duty
from sincerity and right, and from justice and equity,
and this because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word;
for thus a person in his every work looks to heaven and to the Lord,
and thus is conjoined with Him.
But to act sincerely and rightly, justly and equitably,
solely from fear of the law, of the loss of fame or of honor and gain,
and to think nothing of the Divine law,
of the commandments of the Word, and of the Lord,
and yet to pray devoutly in the churches,
is external piety; however holy this may appear, it is not piety,
but it is either hypocrisy,
or something put on derived from habit,
or a kind of persuasion from a false belief
that Divine worship consists merely in this;
for such a person does not look
to heaven and to the Lord with the heart, but only with the eyes;
the heart looking to self and to the world,
and the mouth speaking from the habit of the body only and its memory;
by this a person is conjoined to the world and not to heaven, and to self
and not to the Lord.

AE 325 - worship & practical piety

AE 325a [2-4]
"Incense" signifies spiritual good,
which is the good of charity towards the neighbor;
and "meal-offering" signifies celestial good,
which is the good of love to the Lord; thus both signifying worship.

Worship does not consist in prayers and in external devotion,
but in a life of charity; prayers are only its externals,
for they proceed from the person through his mouth,
consequently a person's prayers are such
as they themselves are in respect to life.
It matters not that a person bears himself humbly,
that he kneels and sighs when he prays; for these are externals,
and unless externals proceed from internals
they are only gestures and sounds without life.
In each thing that a person utters there is affection . . ..
Spiritual affection is what is called charity towards the neighbor;
to be in that affection is true worship;
praying is what proceeds.
From this it can be seen that the essential of worship is the life of charity,
and that its instrumental is gesture and praying;
or that the primary of worship is a life of charity,
and its secondary is praying.
From this it is clear that those who place all Divine worship in oral piety,
and not in practical piety, err greatly.

Practical piety is to act in every work and in every duty
from sincerity and right, and from justice and equity,
and this because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word;
for thus a person in his every work looks to heaven and to the Lord,
and thus is conjoined with Him.
But to act sincerely and rightly, justly and equitably,
solely from fear of the law, of the loss of fame or of honor and gain,
and to think nothing of the Divine law,
of the commandments of the Word, and of the Lord,
and yet to pray devoutly in the churches, is external piety;
however holy this may appear,
it is not piety, but it is either hypocrisy,
or something put on derived from habit,
or a kind of persuasion from a false belief
that Divine worship consists merely in this;
for such a person does not look
to heaven and to the Lord with the heart, but only with the eyes;
the heart looking to self and to the world,
and the mouth speaking from the habit of the body only and its memory;
by this a person is conjoined to the world and not to heaven, and to self
and not to the Lord.

AE 324 - two altars

AE 324[2]
. . . spiritual good has its origin and existence from celestial good,
which good is the good of love to the Lord from the Lord,
and is therefore the very good of heaven . . ..
Spiritual good, which has its origin and existence from celestial good,
is the good of charity towards the neighbor;
worship from this good is what is signified by "incense."
As all worship of the Lord comes from good,
although through truths,
and as there are two universal goods that make the heavens
and distinguish them into two kingdoms,
namely, celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord,
and spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor,
therefore with the sons of Israel there were two altars,
one for burnt offerings, the other for incense-offerings;
the altar of burnt offering signifying worship from the good of celestial love,
and the altar of incense worship from the good of spiritual love . . .

AE 316d - 3 short bits about good & truth

AE 316d [3,23,27]

. . . "strength" in the Word has reference to the power of good,
and "horn" to the power of truth . . ..

. . . in every particular of the Word there is a marriage of good and truth . . ..

. . . all worship that is truly worship
is offered from the good of love by truths.

AE 316b - service

AE 316b [8]
. . . truth serves good for use . . .

AE 314b - to feed, to teach

AE 314b [5]
Because "lambs" signify those who are in the love to the Lord,
which love is one with innocence,
and because "sheep" signify those who are in love towards the neighbor,
which love is charity,
the Lord said to Peter:

Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?
He said unto Him,
Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.
He said unto Him, Feed My lambs;
and afterwards, Feed My sheep.
(John 21:15-17)

These things were said to Peter,
because by "Peter" truth from good, or faith from charity was meant,
and truth from good teaches;
"to feed" meaning to teach.

AE 313 - "in the midst"

AE 313 [8,10,13]
Behold, I send an angel before thee;
beware of his face,
since My name is in the midst of him.
(Exodus 23:20-21)
"Angel" here, in the highest sense, means the Lord;
"My name in the midst of him,"
means that all Divine good and Divine truth are in him

. . . when the inmost is spiritual,
which is truth from good,
then the rational also which is therefrom is spiritual,
and likewise the knowing faculty,
for both are formed from the inmost,
which is truth from good, or the spiritual.

The "midst of man" means the intellectual where truth should be;
and the "heart" the voluntary where good should be . . .

AE 309 - He is called a "Lion;" for "lion" signifies power

AE 309
. . . the soul of everyone works by means of the body,
for the body is the soul's obedience.

The Father that abides in Me,
He does the works.
Believe Me,
that I am in the Father,
and the Father in Me.
(John 14:10-11)

As the Divine, which the Lord calls "the Father,"
was His Divine, and not another Divine,
it can be seen that whatever He did from the Father,
as well as whatever He did from the Human
which He calls "the Son,"
He did from Himself;
and thus that He did all things by His own power,
since He did them from what was His.

AE 304 - the interiors

AE 304f [53]
. . . the interiors that are of a person's spiritual mind are the heavens with him.

AE 304d - truth and good of the church

AE 304d [29]
When it is said the truth and good of the church,
the truth of faith and the good of love are meant,
for all truth is of faith,
and all good is of love.

AE 304 - angels & men

AE 304
. . . angels
equally with men
understand nothing at all of truth from themselves,
but solely from the Lord.

AE 297 - the Lord's judgment

AE 297 [1,2,3]
There are two things that proceed from the Lord as the sun of heaven,
namely, Divine good and Divine truth.

. . . Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth judges . . ..

. . . in respect to judgment, the case is this:
The Lord is present with all,
and from Divine Love He wills to save all,
and He turns and leads all towards Himself.
Those who are in good and in truths therefrom follow,
for they apply themselves,
but those who are in evil and in falsities therefrom do not follow,
but turn backwards from the Lord . . ..

These . . . are truths that do not fall into a person's self-intelligence,
for they are among the arcana of the wisdom of angels.

AE 295 - the Lord's good pleasure

AE 295 [4,12]
The Lord's will in the Old Testament is called His "good pleasure,"
and this likewise means the Divine love;
and to do His good pleasure or His will
signifies to love God and the neighbor,
thus to live according to the commandments of the Lord . . ..
For no one can love the Lord and the neighbor except from the Lord;
for this is the veriest good for a person,
and all good is from the Lord.

Moreover, in the Hebrew expression "good pleasure" also means will;
for whatever is done according to the will is well pleasing,
and the Divine love wills nothing else
than that love from itself may be with angels and people,
and His love is with them
when they love to live according to His commandments.

AE 290, 292 - memory

AE 290
. . . the memory is merely the entrance to a person,
and like a court by which entrance is made . . .

AE 292
Truths from the Word with angels and people are in their memory;
from it the Lord calls them out and conjoins them with good
so far as the angel or person is in the spiritual affection of truth,
and this affection he has
when he lives according to the truths from the Word.

AE 283 - within & without

AE 283
Celestial good is good in essence,
and spiritual good is good in form;
and this for the reason that the will,
in which good resides,
is the person himself, or the person in essence;
while the understanding in which is truth,
which is the form of good,
is the person thence derived, thus the person in form;
this good also is round about the other.

[2] . . . that which is above is also within,
and that which is below is also without,
and what is without is round about.
This is why in the Word
higher things, and things in the midst, signify things interior;
and lower things, and things round about, signify things exterior.

AE 281 - "eagle" signifies intelligence

AE 281
[6] . . . the understanding of truth and good, which is intelligence . . .

[8] . . . nothing but falsities can come from self-intelligence . . .

[9] False intelligence is from what is a person's own (proprium),
but true intelligence is from the Lord through the Word.

AE 280 - What distinguishes intelligence from wisdom?

AE 280 [3]
Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this,
that intelligence is the understanding of truth
such as the spiritual person has,
and wisdom is the understanding of truth
such as the celestial person has,
whose understanding is from the will of good.

AE 279 - idols

AE 279 [9]
. . . "idols" signify worship from doctrine that is from self-intelligence . . .

AE 276 - the Lord's Power, Protection & Providence

AE 276
And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four animals,
full of eyes before and behind.
And the first animal was like a lion,
and the second animal like a calf,
and the third animal had a face like a man,
and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.
And the four animals, each by itself, had six wings round about,
and they were full of eyes within,
and they had no rest day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.
(Revelation 4:6-8)

"And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four animals,
full of eyes before and behind,"
signifies the Lord's guard and providence
that the interior heavens be not approached
except by the good of love and charity,
that lower things depending thereon may be in order.
"And the first animal was like a lion,"
signifies the appearance, in ultimates
of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord
in respect to power and efficiency;
"and the second animal like a calf,"
signifies the appearance, in ultimates,
of Divine good in respect to protection;
"and the third animal had a face like a man,"
signifies the appearance, in ultimates,
of the Divine guard and providence in respect to wisdom;
"and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle,"
signifies the appearance, in ultimates,
of the Divine guard and providence in respect to intelligence
and as to circumspection on every side.
"And the four animals, each by itself, had six wings round about,"
signifies the appearance of the spiritual Divine
on all sides about the celestial Divine;
"and full of eyes within,"
signifies the Divine Providence and guard;
"and they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy,"
signifies that which is most holy proceeding from the Lord;
"Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come,"
signifies the infinite and eternal.

AE 275 - knowledges and truths

AE 275 [7]
By My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
their fish shall become putrid
because there is no water, and shall die of thirst.
(Isaiah 1:2)
"To dry up the sea" signifies
an entire lack of the general knowledges of truth;
"to make the rivers a wilderness" signifies
the deprivation of all truth and of intelligence therefrom;
"the fish shall become putrid" signifies
that the knowledges [scientifica] pertaining to the natural person
shall be without any spiritual life;
this takes place when they are applied to confirm falsities
in opposition to the truths of the church;
"by cause there is no water" signifies because there is no truth;
"to die of thirst" signifies the extinction of truth.

[13]
Knowledges and truths differ in this,
that knowledges are of the natural person,
and truths of the spiritual person.

[20]
In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;
part of them to the eastern sea,
and part of them to the hinder sea.
(Zechariah 14:8)
"Living waters from Jerusalem" signify
truths from a spiritual origin in the church,
which are the truths that are received by a person
when he is illustrated by the Lord while he is reading the Word.

AE 274 - a Lamp

AE 274 [2]

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)

The Word is called a "lamp" because it is Divine truth.
In the same:

You make my lamp to shine;
Jehovah God makes bright my darkness.
(Psalm 18:28)

"To make a lamp to shine"
signifies to enlighten the understanding by Divine truth;
and "to make bright the darkness"
signifies to disperse the falsities of ignorance by the light of truth.

AE 272 - portion of Psalm 89

AE 272 [3]
You show anger with Your anointed.
You have condemned even to the earth his crown.
(Psalms 89:38-39)

Here also "anointed" stands for the Lord,
and "anger" for a state of temptation,
in which He was when in combats with the hells.
"Anger" and "condemnation" describe the lamentation at that time,
as the Lord's last lamentation on the cross, that He was forsaken;
for the cross was the last of His temptations or combats with the hells;
and after that last temptation He put on
the Divine good of the Divine love,
and thus united the Divine Human to the Divine Itself which was in Him.

[2]
. . . "crown" the Divine good from which is Divine wisdom,
and from which is the Lord's government . . .

AE 261 - "voice"

AE 261
. . . "the voice of Jehovah" in the Word
signifies the Divine proceeding
which is Divine truth,
from which is all intelligence and wisdom.

. . . This flows in with those who are in the good of charity,
and gives them intelligence,
and so far as they are in good
gives them wisdom;
intelligence is of truth,
and wisdom is of the truth from good.

AE 253, 254 - overcoming

AE 253
He that overcomes,
I will give to him to sit with Me in My throne,
(Revelation 3:21)
signifies that he who is steadfast to the end of life
shall be conjoined with heaven where the Lord is.
This is evident from the signification of "overcoming,"
as being to be steadfast in the spiritual affection of truth
even to the end of life;
but here it means to be steadfast in a state of faith from charity,
since charity is here treated of.
This is what "overcoming" means;
because so long as a person lives in the world
he is in combat against the evils and the falsities therefrom that are with him;
and he who is in combat,
and is steadfast in the faith of charity even to the end of life, overcomes;
and he who overcomes in the world overcomes to eternity,
since a person after death is such as his life had been in the world.
This is evident also from the signification of "to sit with Me in My throne,"
as being to be conjoined with heaven where the Lord is;
for "throne" signifies heaven,
and to "sit with Me" signifies to be together with the Lord,
thus conjoined to Him.

AE 254
As I also have overcome,
and sit with My Father in His throne,
(Revelation 3:21)
signifies comparatively as Divine good is united to Divine truth in heaven.
This is evident from the signification of "overcoming,"
as being in reference to the Lord Himself,
to unite Divine good to Divine truth.
Because this was effected through temptations and victories,
it is said, "as I also have overcome."
"To sit with My Father in His throne"
signifies Divine good united to Divine truth in heaven,
because "Father," when said by the Lord,
means the Divine good that was in Him from conception,
and "Son" the Divine truth,
both in heaven, "throne" meaning heaven.
This Divine of the Lord in the heavens is called Divine truth,
but it is Divine good united to Divine truth.

AE 252 - heaven, angels, and the church

AE 252 [2]
. . . heaven is the conjunction of angels with the Lord by love,
and their consociation among themselves by charity,
and the consequent communication of all delights and felicities;
the like is true of the church,
since the church is the Lord's heaven on the earth.

AE 250 - "And open the door" (Revelation 3:20)

AE 250
And open the door, signifies reception in the heart or the life.

[2] It shall moreover be explained what is meant by "opening the door,"
when this is said to be done by a person, as here.
The Lord is always present with good and truth in a person,
and strives to open his spiritual mind;
this is the door which the Lord wishes to open,
and to endow a person with heavenly love and faith;
for He says, "I stand at the door and knock."
But of this endeavor or this perpetual desire of the Lord
a person has no perception;
for he supposes that he does good from himself,
and that this endeavor or this wish is in himself.
It is sufficient then for a person to acknowledge
from the doctrine of the church
that all good is from God, and nothing thereof from the person.
This is not perceived by the person,
in order that there may be reception by the person,
and by reception appropriation,
for otherwise a person cannot be reformed.


If you want to read portions of AE 248 (Behold I stand at the door and knock)
& AE 249 (If anyone hear my voice):

http://hd-quotes.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html

AE 244 - two filthy loves and two pure loves

AE 244
For a person is born into two loves,
which are the love of self and the love of the world,
therefore by heredity
he derives the inclination to love self and the world above all things;
these loves are filthy loves, because out of them all evils flow,
namely, contempt of others in comparison with oneself,
enmity against those who do not favor oneself,
hatred, revenge, craftiness, and deceits of every kind.
These loves with their evils cannot be removed except by the two loves,
which are the love to the Lord and the love towards the neighbor;
from these a person inclines to love the Lord above all things,
and the neighbor as himself.
These two loves are pure loves,
since they are out of heaven from the Lord.
Moreover, from these all goods flow;
so far, therefore, as a person is in these,
so far the filthy loves into which he is born are removed,
even until they do not appear;
and they are removed by the Lord by means of truths.

AE 242 - thinking

AE 242 [5]
. . . to think apart from the affection is impossible,
for the very essence of thought is affection or love.
A person is able, to be sure, to think all things
that he knows from the doctrine of the church,
but only from natural affection,
which is the affection or love of glory, fame, honor or gain;
but such an affection does not make thought to be spiritual;
this requires charity,
which is spiritual affection itself.
When this is conjoined with knowledges
there is faith,
and then so far as a person is in that affection
he sees in thought the things that are of his faith,
which are called truths,
and acknowledges them, because they are from his very spirit,
thus from his very spiritual life.

AE 240 - the understanding of truth & the understanding of good and the will of truth & the will of good

AE 240 [2]
There is the understanding of truth, and the understanding of good;
the understanding of truth
is the understanding of such things as are of faith,
and the understanding of good
is the understanding of such things as are of love and charity.
There is also the will of truth and the will of good;
the will of truth is with those who are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom;
but the will of good with those who are of His celestial kingdom.
The latter, because they are in love to the Lord, and from this in mutual love,
which is to them charity towards the neighbor,
have truths inscribed on their hearts, and consequently do them;
and what proceeds out of the heart is out of the will of good,
"heart" meaning the will of good.
But those who are in love towards the neighbor, which love is charity,
have truths inscribed not on their hearts but on the memory,
and therefore on the intellectual mind,
and what proceeds therefrom out of the affection is the will of truth.
Thus it is that spiritual angels are distinguished from celestial angels.
The latter appear naked in heaven, but the former clothed.
Celestial angels appear naked
because they have no need of the memory to retain truths,
nor of understanding therefrom to comprehend them,
because they have them inscribed on the heart,
that is, on the love and will, and consequently see them.
But spiritual angels appear clothed
because they have truths inscribed on the memory
and consequently on the understanding,
and truths of the memory and of the understanding therefrom
correspond to garments;
they therefore all appear clothed according to their intelligence.

AE 237 - from the Lord

AE 237 [8]
. . . as faith with its truths are from the Lord,
and thus not meritorious,
so are charity with its goods.

AE 235 - What does the Lord tell us a thousand times?

AE 235 [2]
. . . what is more frequently declared by the Lord,
than that they ought to do His words, His commandments, His will,
and that every one shall be recompensed according to his deeds;
also that the whole Word is based upon two commandments,
which are to love God,
and to love the neighbor;
also that loving God is doing His commandments?

What people must do in order to be saved
is said a thousand times in each Testament,
also that hearing and knowing are nothing without doing.

AE 232 - charity

AE 232 [3]
. . . charity itself, which is spiritual affection,
is formed by truths from the Word,
and so far so as it is formed by these, so far it is spiritual.

AE 229 - spiritual delight

AE 229 [2]
But the reason why faith is called the first principle of the church is,
that it is the first to appear;
for what a person believes, that he thinks, and sees in thought;
whereas that with which a person is spiritually affected,
he does not think, nor, therefore, does he see it in thought,
but he perceives it in a certain sense which has no reference to sight,
but to another sensitive, which is called that of delight.
And because this delight is spiritual,
and above the feeling of natural delight,
a person does not perceive it, until he becomes spiritual,
that is, when he is regenerated by the Lord.

AE 223b- boys and girls playing in the streets

AE 223b [9]
Thus said Jehovah; I will return to Zion,
and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
then Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth.
And the streets of the city
shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.
(Zechariah 8:3-5)

Here "Zion" does not mean Zion, nor "Jerusalem" Jerusalem;
but "Zion" means the celestial church,
and "Jerusalem" that church in respect to the doctrine of truth;
therefore it is called "a city of truth;"
"the streets of the city" signify the truths of doctrine;
"boys and girls playing in the streets"
signify the affections of truth and good.
. . . "to play" means what pertains to interior festivity,
which is the affection of truth and good.

AE 222a - "to write"

AE 222a [2]
"To write upon one" means to implant in the life,
because to write is to commit to paper anything
from the memory, thought, or mind,
that is to be preserved;
in the spiritual sense, therefore,
it signifies that which is to endure in a person's life,
inscribed on it and implanted in it.
Thus the natural sense of this expression is turned into a spiritual sense;
for it is natural to write upon paper and in a book,
but it is spiritual to inscribe on the life,
which is done when anything is implanted in the faith and love,
since love and faith make a person's spiritual life.
Because "to write" signifies to implant in the life,
it is said of Jehovah or the Lord that "He writes,"
and that "He has written in a book,"
meaning that which is inscribed by the Lord on a person's spirit,
that is, on his heart and soul,
or what is the same, on his love and faith.

AE 219 - heaven is heaven

AE 219 [5]
. . . heaven is heaven
from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord . . .

AE 209 - the Lord has the power

AE 209 [4]
. . . all the power that angels and people have
from the Lord
is from the good of love;
and since the good of love does not act from itself but through truths,
therefore all power is from the good of love through truths,
and with those who are spiritual,
from the good of charity through the truths of faith.
For good takes on a quality through truths,
good without truths having no quality
and where there is no quality
there is neither force nor power.
From this it is clear,
that good has all power through truths,
or charity through faith,
and neither charity apart from faith
nor faith apart from charity has any power.

AE 208 - "doorway", "door", "gate"

AE 208 [2]
. . . because all things that signify heaven and the church
signify also the things of heaven and the church,
and here the things that introduce,
which are truths out of good from the Lord,
and because these truths are from the Lord,
and are therefore His, yea, are Himself in them,
therefore "doorway," "door," and "gate" to heaven and the church,
mean in the highest sense the Lord.
From this is clear the signification of what the Lord says in John:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you,
he that enters not through the door into the sheepfold,
but climbs up another way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he that enters in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep;
to him the porter opens.
I am the door of the sheep,
through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved,
and shall go in and go out,
and find pasture.
(John 10:1-3, 7, 9)

Here "to enter in through the door"
is evidently to enter in through the Lord,
for it is said, "I am the door of the sheep."
To enter in through the Lord is to
approach Him,
acknowledge Him,
believe in Him,
and love Him,
as He teaches in many passages;
thus is a person admitted into heaven,
and in no other way . . .

AE 204 - Why He is called "holy" and "true"

AE 204
He is called "holy" because charity is from Him,
and "true" because faith is from Him.
That the Lord is called "holy" because charity is from Him,
and consequently that "holy" in the Word
is predicated of charity and of faith therefrom . . ..
But the Lord is called "true" because faith is from Him,
and consequently "true" in the Word is predicated of faith,
for the reason that all truth is of faith;
for that is called "true" which is believed;
other things are not of faith because they are not believed.
But because the faith of charity is here treated of,
something shall first be said about faith and what it is.

[2] There is spiritual faith, and there is faith merely natural.
Spiritual faith is wholly from charity, and in its essence is charity.
Charity, or love towards the neighbor,
is to love truth, sincerity, and what is just,
and to do them from willing them.
For the neighbor in the spiritual sense is not every person,
but it is that which is with a person;
if this be truth, sincerity, and what is just,
and the person is loved on account of these,
then the neighbor is loved.
That this is what charity means, in the spiritual sense,
anyone may know if he will but reflect.

AE 198 - perception & reception

AE 198
. . . all intelligence and wisdom are from Divine truths
according to the perception of them
and their reception in the life.
To see truths, and to see what they are, is of perception;
and to live according to them is of reception;
and according to perception and reception
there is intelligence and wisdom.

AE 195 - to live a moral life from a spiritual origin

AE 195 [2]
A person lives a moral life from a spiritual origin
when he lives it from religion;
that is, when he thinks,
when anything evil, insincere, or unjust presents itself:
that this must not be done because it is contrary to the Divine laws.
When one abstains from doing such things
in deference to Divine laws
he acquires for himself spiritual life,
and his moral life is then from the spiritual;
for by such thoughts and faith
a person communicates with the angels of heaven,
and by communication with heaven
his internal spiritual person is opened,
the mind of which is a higher mind,
such as the angels of heaven have,
and he is thereby imbued with heavenly intelligence and wisdom.
From this it can be seen
that to live a moral life from a spiritual origin is to live from religion,
and within the church, to live from the Word;
for those who live a moral life from religion and from the Word
are elevated above their natural person,
thus above what is their own [proprium],
and are led by the Lord through heaven;
consequently they have faith, the fear of God, and conscience,
and also the spiritual affection of truth,
which is the affection of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word,
for to such people these are Divine laws,
according to which they live.
Many of the heathen live such a moral life,
for they think that evil must not be done
because it is contrary to their religion;
this is why so many of them are saved.

AE 194 - laboring in the vineyard

AE 194 [2]
. . . all times in the Word, as a day, a week, a month, a year, an age,
signify states of life . . .

A householder hired laborers into his vineyard,
who labored from the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh,
and received equal reward.
(Matthew 20:1-16)

. . . "laboring in the vineyard"
is acquiring for oneself spiritual life
by the knowledges of truth and good from the Word
applied to the uses of life. . .
"vineyard" in the Word signifies the spiritual church,
and with a person spiritual life . ..
"three" signifies a full state,
or what is complete even to the end, likewise "six" and "nine."
But "eleven" signifies a state not yet full, and yet a receptive state
such as there is with well-disposed children and infants.
The "twelfth hour," to which all labored,
signifies truths and goods in their fullness . . ..

AE 186 - a moral life

AE 186a
. . . moral life apart from spiritual life
is the life of the love of self and the love of the world,
while moral life that is from spiritual life
is a life of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor;
this life is the life of heaven,
but the other life is what is called spiritual death.

AE 185 - "works"

AE 185
I know thy works, (Revelation 3:1)
"Works" signify the things that are of life
because they are the effects of life,
for they proceed from the life of everyone.
If the life is good the works are good,
but if the life is evil the works are evil.
The life that is in works is the intention,
which is of the will,
and of the thought therefrom;
and this life is the life of a person's spirit;
for it is the spirit in a person that intends and thinks.
Without this life in works
they would be only motions like those of automatons.
For this reason the wise do not look at the works,
but at the life that is in the works, namely, at the intention.
This is especially true of the angels who are with a person;
they do not see his works, but only the intentions of his mind,
and conclude therefrom what the person's state is.
From this it can be seen that "works" in the spiritual sense mean the life;
and as the life of a person is diverse,
depending mainly upon his love,
it is his love that is especially signified by "works" .
This is why it is said to the angel of each church in the beginning,
"I know thy works;" which therefore means
that the Lord knows the whole life of a person,
and its quality in respect to love.

AE 183 - heart & spirit

AE 183 [2]
Create for me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart God doth not despise.
(Psalms 51:10, 17).

In these passages "heart" signifies the good of love,
and "spirit" the truth of faith,
from which a person has spiritual life;
for there are two things that make all of a person's life,
namely, good and truth;
these two when united in a person make his spiritual life.

AE 179 - the star of the morning

AE 179
And I will give him the morning star,
(Revelation 2:28)
signifies intelligence and wisdom from the Lord's Divine Human.
This is evident from the signification of "stars,"
as being the knowledges of good and truth;
and as they signify the knowledges of good and truth,
they also signify intelligence and wisdom,
for all intelligence and wisdom come
by means of the knowledges of good and truth.
It is evident also from the signification of "morning"
as being the Lord in respect to His Divine Human,
therefore "the morning star"
means intelligence and wisdom from Him.
"Morning" is often mentioned in the Word,
and its signification varies
according to the connection in the internal sense;
in the highest sense it signifies the Lord, and also His coming;
in the internal sense it signifies His kingdom and church,
and their state of peace.
Moreover, it signifies the first state of a new church,
and also a state of love, and a state of illustration,
consequently a state of intelligence and wisdom,
and also a state of the conjunction of good and truth,
the state in which the internal man is conjoined to the external.
"Morning" has such various significations,
because in the highest sense it signifies the Lord's Divine Human;
it therefore also signifies all things that proceed from the Divine Human,
for the Lord is in those things that proceed from Him,
even so that it is He there.

AE 176 & 177 - natural truths & the Word in the letter

AE 176
Natural truth is truth in the memory, not in life;
truth of life is good.

Truths in the natural person are knowledges and cognitions,
from which a person can think, reason, and conclude naturally
respecting the truths and goods of the church,
and the falsities and evils which are opposed to these,
and can consequently be in some natural illustration when he reads the Word.
For the Word in the letter is not understood without illustration;
and illustration is either spiritual or natural.
Spiritual illustration is only with those who are spiritual;
and the spiritual are those that are of the good of love
and charity and in truths therefrom;
while mere natural illustration is with those who are natural.

AE 177 [2-3]
... to read the Word solely for the repute of erudition or for fame,
that they may be exalted to honors and gain wealth,
is to read it for the sake of self and the world as ends,
thus from the loves of self and the world.
And as these loves are of a person's proprium [a person's self]
so the things that a person sees and perceives from them
are from self-intelligence.

But those who read the Word from the spiritual affection of truth,
which affection is a love of knowing truth because it is truth,
see truths in the Word,
and rejoice in heart when they see them;
and this because they are in illustration from the Lord.

AE 175a - the Lord alone

AE 175a
... the Lord scatters evils by means of truths.
He first reveals them to a person by means of truths,
and when a person acknowledges the evils,
the Lord scatters them.

AE 166, 167 - Truth

AE 166
. . . the Lord called Himself "the Son of man,"
because He was Divine truth,
and because every truth of heaven and the church
proceeds from Him . . .

AE 167
Truth in the will
and from that in the act
is willing and doing
what a person knows and thinks to be true . . .

AE 163 - what the Lord spoke

AE 163 [7]
Those who know nothing of the internal sense of the Word
may believe that the words that the Lord spoke
involve nothing more than what is obvious in the sense of the letter,
when yet every particular of what the Lord spoke has a spiritual meaning,
for He spoke from the Divine,
and thus in the presence both of heaven and of the world.

AE 154 - celestial love, spiritual love

AE 154
. . . celestial love
is to do the commandments of the Lord from the affection of the will,
and spiritual love
is to do them from the affection of the understanding.

AE 150 - our external and internal

AE 150
When a person is born,
the external or natural person is first opened;
and afterwards,
as he grows up and is perfected in intelligence and wisdom,
the internal or spiritual person is opened.
The external or natural person is opened
by such things as a person derives from the world,
while the internal or spiritual person
is opened by such things as he derives from heaven . . ..
The things in the world . . .have reference, in general,
to all things of civil and moral life;
while the things in heaven . . . have reference, in general,
to all things of love and faith.

AE 146 - the Lord is Divine Love Itself

AE 146 [6]
. . . it is the same whether you say
the Lord's Divine Human, or the Divine Love,
for the Lord is Divine Love itself,
and what proceeds from Him
is Divine good united to Divine truth;
both are of love,
and are also the Lord in heaven . . .

AE 143 - repenting

AE 143
. . . no one repents
unless he actually separates himself
from the things of which he has repented;
and he separates himself from them
only when he shuns them and turns away from them.

AE 142 - separating good from truth, or charity from faith, is against Divine order

AE 142
. . . those who separate truth from good, or faith from charity,
turn away from themselves all influx of heaven into the goods they do,
in consequence of which their goods are not good;
for heaven flows in,
that is, the Lord through heaven,
into the good of a person's love;
he, therefore, that rejects the good of charity from the doctrine of the church,
and receives instead only those things that are called matters of faith,
is shut out of heaven . . .

AE 140 - an enlightened understanding

AE 140 [7]
The possibility of having his understanding enlightened
has been granted to a person for the sake of reformation.
For in a person's will dwells every kind of evil,
both that into which he is born,
and that into which he comes of himself;
and the will cannot be amended unless a person knows,
and by the understanding acknowledges,
truths and goods,
and also evils and falsities,
otherwise he cannot turn away from the latter and love the former.

And two phrases from AE 140 that struck me this morning:

. . . there exhales an abominable sphere of whoredom.

. . . with evils that gush out of the love of self.

AE 131, 135 - He came.

AE 131 [2]
. . . "sword" in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity,
and falsity against truth,
and therefore the dispersion of falsities,
and also spiritual temptation. . .

Jesus said that He came not to send peace on earth,
but a sword.
(Matthew 10:34)

Here by "sword" is meant the combat of temptation.
It was so said, because people at that time were in falsities,
and the Lord uncovered interior truths,
and only by combats from such truths
can falsities be cast out.

AE 135
By the Lord's "name" in the Word
is meant primarily the acknowledgment of the Divine in His Human,
because all things of love and faith are from that;
for Divine goods which are of love,
and Divine truths which are of faith,
proceed from no other source than from the Lord alone;
and these cannot flow in with a person
unless he thinks of the Lord's Divine
at the same time that he thinks of His Human . . .

AE 130 - by "angels" in the Word Divine truths are signified

AE 130 [8,10]
Because by "angels" in the Word Divine truths are signified,
therefore the people through whom Divine truths are made known
are sometimes called "angels" in the Word, as in Malachi:

The priest's lips ought to guard knowledge,
and they shall seek the law at his mouth,
because he is the angel of Jehovah.
(Malachi 2:7).

He is said to be the "angel of Jehovah,"
because he teaches Divine truth;
not that he is the angel of Jehovah,
but the Divine truth that he teaches is.
Moreover, it is known in the church that no one has Divine truth from himself.

It is said that by "angels" in the Word, in its spiritual sense,
Divine truths proceeding from the Lord are meant,
because these constitute the angels;
when angels utter these truths,
they speak not from themselves, but from the Lord.
The angels not only know that this is so,
but they also perceive it.
The person who believes that nothing of faith is from himself,
but that all faith is from God,
also knows this, indeed, but he does not perceive it.

AE 122 - to deny oneself

AE 122 [4]
Jesus said unto His disciples,
If any one will come after Me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross,
and follow Me.
(Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34)

"to deny oneself" is to put away evils that are from proprium [the self-life].

AE 116 - will & works

AE 116
. . . will is the cause and works are the effects,
and it is well known that
when will ceases work ceases.

AC 112 - knowledges & life lead to the spiritual affection of truth

AC 112 [3]
. . . without the knowledges of truth and good from the Word
no one can know anything of the Lord,
of the angelic heaven,
or of charity and faith;
and that which a person does not know,
he cannot think,
thus cannot will,
and accordingly cannot believe and love.

[4] . . . those who are in the spiritual affection of truth
are also in the life of charity,
for from that they have have spiritual affection.

[5] A person who is in the affection of truth from a spiritual origin
knows many more things than he knew before;
for the general knowledges that he has are like vessels
that can be filled with many things,
and they are also actually filled when he comes into heaven.

AE 109 - trees; AE 110 - paradise

AE 109
. . . trees signify those things that are internally in a person,
which pertain to his interior mind, or his external mind,
the boughs and leaves
those things which pertain to the knowledges of truth and good,
and the fruits the goods of life themselves.
This signification of trees originates in the spiritual world;
for in that world trees of all kinds are seen;
and these trees correspond to the interiors of the minds of angels and spirits;
beautiful and fruitful trees to the interiors of those
who are in the good of love, and thence in wisdom;
trees less beautiful and fruitful to those who are in the good of faith;
but trees bearing leaves only, and without fruit,
to those who are only in the knowledges of truth;
and trees of a dismal hue, with malignant fruits,
to those who are in knowledges and in evil of life;
but by those who are not in knowledges, and are in evil of life,
trees are not seen, but instead stones and sand.

AE 110
. . . it is believed that,
by the paradise treated of in the second chapter of Genesis,
is meant a paradisaical garden,
whereas no terrestrial paradise is there meant,
but a heavenly paradise,
which those possess
who have intelligence and wisdom
from the knowledges of good and truth.