AC 4594, 4592 - Joseph & Benjamin

AC 4594 [2]

. . . the spiritual celestial
is intermediate between
the natural or external person
and the rational or internal person,
thus below it
was the natural or external
and above it
was the rational or internal.

 AC 4592
. . . good has power by means of truth.
 
. . . no one can have an idea
of the good which is represented by Joseph,
and of the truth which is represented by Benjamin,
except the person who is enlightened
by the light of heaven.
The angels have a clear idea of them,
because all the ideas of their thought
are from the light of heaven
which is from the Lord,
in which they see and perceive unlimited things
which a person cannot possibly comprehend,
still less utter.

The reason why the Lord alone
was born spiritual celestial,
is that the Divine was in Him.

. . . Benjamin specifically represents
the spiritual of the celestial,
and Joseph the celestial of the spiritual,
and so both together are the intermediate between
the celestial and the spiritual person . . ..

Joseph and Benjamin were most closely conjoined,
not because they were of one mother,
but because by them is represented
the spiritual conjunction which exists
between the good which is "Joseph"
and the truth which is "Benjamin,"
and because both are intermediate
between the celestial and spiritual person.
For this reason
Joseph could not be conjoined with this brethren,
nor with his father,
except by means of Benjamin,
for without an intermediate
no conjunction is possible,
and this was the reason why
Joseph did not reveal himself sooner.

John 7:14-19

Not until halfway through the Feast
did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
The Jews were amazed and asked,
"How did this Man get such learning without having studied?"
Jesus answered,
"My teaching is not My own.
It comes from Him Who sent Me.
If anyone chooses to do God's will,
he will find out whether my teaching comes from God
or whether I speak on My Own.
He who speaks on his own
does so to gain honor for himself,
but he who works for the honor of the One Who sent him
is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
Has not Moses given you the law?
Yet not one of you keeps the law.
Why are you trying to kill me?"
(John 7:14-19) NIV

AC 4588 - the midwife

AC 4588
The reason why "midwife" here denotes the natural
is that when interior temptations are being undergone,
that is, when the interior person is undergoing temptations,
the natural is then like a midwife;
for unless the natural affords aid,
it is impossible for any birth of interior truth to take place;
for when interior truths are born,
it is the natural which receives them into its bosom,
because it affords the opportunity
for them to work their way out.
It is always the case with the things of spiritual birth,
that their reception must be wholly in the natural;
and this is the reason why
when a person is being regenerated,
the natural is first prepared to receive;
and insofar as this is made receptive,
so far interior truths and goods
can be brought forth and multiplied.

Mark 9:42-50; John 7:1-9

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones
who believe in Me to sin,
it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea
with a large millstone tied around his neck.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life maimed
than with two hands to go into hell,
where the fire never goes out.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life crippled
than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
It is better for you
to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
than to have two eyes
and be thrown into hell, where
"'their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.' (Isa. 66:24)
Everyone will be salted with fire.
"Salt is good,
but if it loses its saltiness,
how can you make it salty again?
Have salt in yourselves,
and be at peace with each other.
(Mark 9:42-50) NIV

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee,
purposely  staying away from Judea
because the Jews there were waiting to take His life.
But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near,
Jesus' brothers said to Him,
"You ought to leave here and go to Judea,
so that Your disciples may see the miracles You do.
No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.
Since You are doing these things,
show Yourself to the world."
For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.
Therefore Jesus told them,
"The right time for Me has not yet come;
for you any time is right.
The world cannot hate you,
but it hates Me
because I testify that what it does is evil.
You go to the Feast.
I am not yet going up to this Feast,
because for Me the right time has not yet come."
Having said this, He stayed in Galilee.
(John 7:1-9) NIV

AC 4581 - rituals

AC 4581 [3-4]
Nevertheless all these rituals derived their origin
from the most ancient times,
when rituals were holy from their representing holy things,
and from correspondence with the holy things in heaven
and from there in the church.
Moreover, at the present day they are regarded as venerable,
not because it is known what they represent,
or to what they correspond,
but by an interpretation as of emblems that are in use.
But if it were known what each of these things represents,
and to what holy thing it corresponds -
 the crown, the oil, the horn, the scepter, the sword,
the keys, riding upon a white horse,
and eating while nobles are serving -
people would think of them with much more reverence.
But this they do not know,
and wonderful to say, do not desire to know,
to such a degree have the representatives and significatives
which are in such things and everywhere in the Word
been at the present day destroyed in the minds of people

That a "drink-offering"
signifies the good of truth, or spiritual good,
may be seen from the sacrifices in which it was employed.
Sacrifices were made from the herd or from the flock,
and were representative of the internal worship of the Lord.
To these were added the meat-offering and the drink-offering.
The meat-offering, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil,
signified celestial good, or what is the same, the good of love,
"oil" signifying love to the Lord,
and "fine flour" charity toward the neighbor.
But the drink-offering, which consisted of wine,
signified spiritual good, or what is the same, the good of faith.
Both together therefore
(namely, the meat-offering and the drink-offering)
signified the same things
as the bread and wine in the Holy Supper.

Matthew 17:1-5; 24-26

After six days

Jesus took with Him
Peter, James and John the brother of James,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
There He was transfigured before them.
His face shone like the sun,
and His clothes became as white was the light.
Just then there appeared before them
Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus,
"Lord, it is good for us to be here. 
If you wish, I will put up three shelters -
one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
While he was still speaking,
a bright cloud enveloped them,
and a voice from the cloud said,
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with Him I am well pleased.
Listen to him!"
(Matthew 17:1-5) NIV

After Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum,
the collectors of the two-drachma tax
came to Peter and asked,
"Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
"Yes, He does," he replied.
When Peter came into the house,
Jesus was the first to speak,
"What do you think, SImon?" He asked.
"From whom do the kings of the earth
collect duty and taxes -
from their own sons or from others?"
"From others," Peter answered.
"Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him.
"But so that we may not offend them,
go to the lake and throw out your line.
Take the first fish you catch;
open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin.
Take and and give it to them for my tax and yours."
(Matthew 17:24-26) NIV

AC 4572 - temptation and joy

AC 4572 [2]
Be it known in general
that all the conjunction of good with truth
is effected by means of temptations,
the reason of which is that evils and falsities
offer resistance and as it were rebel,
and strive in every possible way to prevent
the conjunction of good with truth
and of truth with good.
This combat takes place
between the spirits who are with the person,
namely, between the spirits who are in evils and falsities,
and those who are in goods and truths,
and is perceived by the person as a temptation within himself.
When therefore the spirits who are in evils and falsities
are conquered by the spirits who are in goods and truths,
and are compelled to depart,
the latter have joy through heaven from the Lord,
and this joy is perceived by the person as consolation,
and as in himself.
But the joy and consolation are not on account of victory,
but on account of the conjunction of good and truth;
for all conjunction of good and truth has joy within itself,
because this conjunction is the heavenly marriage
within which is the Divine.

Mark 8:21-33

He then began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders,
chief priests and teachers of the law,
and that He must be killed
and after three days rise again.
He spoke plainly about this,
and Peter took Him aside
and began to rebuke Him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples,
He rebuked Peter.
"Get behind me, Satan!" He said.
"You do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."
(Mark 8:21-33) NIV

AC 4559 - when the Lord made His Human Divine

AC 4559
 . . . when the Lord made His Human Divine,
He first made it holy.
Between making it Divine
and making it holy
there is this difference -
that what is Divine is Jehovah Himself,
but what is holy is from Jehovah.
The former is the Divine being,
but the latter is what comes forth therefrom.
When the Lord glorified Himself,
He made His Human also the Divine being, or Jehovah;
but before He did this,
He made His Human holy.
Such was the process
of the glorification of the Lord's Human.

Mark 8: 1-13

During those days another large crowd gathered.
Since they had nothing to eat,
Jesus called His disciples to Him and said,
"I have compassion for these people;
they have already been with Me three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them home hungry,
they will collapse on the way,
because some of them have come a long distance."
His disciples answered,
"But where in this remote place
can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"
"How many loaves to you have?" Jesus asked.
"Seven," they replied.
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
When He had taken the seven loaves and given thanks,
He broke them and gave them to His disciples
to set before the people, and they did so.
They had a few small fish as well;
He gave thanks for them also
and told the disciples to distribute them.
The people ate and were satisfied.
Afterward the disciples picked up
seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
About four thousand were present.
And having sent them away,
He got into the boat with His disciples
and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.
To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from heaven.
He sighed deeply and said,
"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?
I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."
Then He left them,
got back into the boat
and crossed to the other side.
(Mark 8: 1-13) NIV

AC 4551 - obedience

AC 4551
. . . to obey involves doing in act.

John 6:43-51, 60, 66; Mark 7:5-8,14-23

"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.
"No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the Prophets:
'They will all be taught by God.' (Isa. 54:13)
Everyone who listens to the Father
and learns from Him comes to me.
No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;
only He has seen the Father.
I tell you the truth,
He who believes has everlasting life.
I am the bread of life.
Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert,
yet they died.
But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,
which a man may eat and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever.
This bread is My flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world."
On hearing it, many of His disciples said,
"This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?"
From this time many of His disciples turned back
and no longer followed Him.
(John 6:43-51, 60, 66) NIV

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus,
"Why don't your disciples live
according to the tradition of the elders
instead of eating their food wit 'unclean' hands?"
He replied,
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites;
as it is written:
"'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'  (Isa. 29:13)
You have let go of the commands of God
and are holding on to the traditions of men."
Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said,
"Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
Nothing  outside a man can make him 'unclean'
by going into him.
Rather, it is what comes of of a man
that makes him unclean."
After He had left the crowd and entered the house,
His disciples asked Him about this parable.
"Are you so dull?" He asked.
"Don't you see
that nothing that enters a man from the outside
can make him 'unclean'?
For it doesn't go into his heart
but into his stomach,
and then out of his body."
(In saying this,
Jesus declared all food "clean.")
He went on:
"What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'
For from within, out of men's hearts,
come all evil thoughts, sexual immorality,
theft murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander arrogance and folly.
All these evils come from inside
and make a man 'unclean.'"
(Mark 75-8,14-23) NIV

Mark 6:34-46

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd,
He had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
So He began teaching them many things.
By this time it was late in the day,
so His disciples came to Him.
"This is a remote place," they said,
"and it's already very late.
Send the people away so they can go
to the surrounding countryside and villages
and buy themselves something to eat."
But He answered,
"You give them something to eat."
They said to Him,
"That would take eight months of a man's wages!
Are we to go and spend that much on bread
and give it to them to eat?"
"How many loaves to you have?" He asked.
"Go and see."
When they found out, they said,
"Five - and two fish."
Then Jesus directed them to have
all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven,
He gave thanks and broke the loaves.
then He gave them to His disciples
to set before the people.
He also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and the disciples picked up
twelve basketfuls of the broken pieces of bread and fish.
The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat
and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida,
while He dismissed the crowd.
After leaving them,
He went up on a mountainside to pray.
(Mark 6:34-46) NIV

AC 4538 -the process

AC 4538 [2-3,5]
In the supreme sense
Jacob represents in general
the Lord's Divine natural.
But as the Lord glorified His natural,
it was different in the beginning
from what it was in the progression,
and at the end.
Therefore Jacob represented various things,
namely, in the beginning the Lord's natural as to truth,
in the progression the Lord's natural as to the good of truth,
and at the end the Lord's natural as to good.
For the Lord's glorification proceeded
from truth to the good of truth, and finally to good . . ..

This was the process
when the Lord made His natural Divine,
and the process is similar also
when the Lord regenerates a person;
for it pleased the Lord to make His Human Divine
in the same order as that in which He makes a person new.
. . . When the Lord makes a person new
He first instructs him in the truths of faith,
for without the truths of faith
a person does not know
what the Lord is, what heaven is, and what hell is,
nor even that they exist;
and still less does he know
the innumerable things relating to the Lord,
to His kingdom in heaven,
and to His kingdom on earth, that is, to the church;
neither does he know
what and of what nature are
the things opposite to these, which relate to hell.

After a person has been instructed in the truths of faith,
he is gradually led by the Lord to will the truth,
and also from willing to do it.
This truth is called the good of truth,
for the good of truth is truth in will and act;
and it is called the good of truth
because the truth which has been of doctrine
then becomes of the life.
At last, when the person perceives delight in willing good
and in doing it from will,
it is no longer called the good of truth, but good;
for he is then regenerate,
and no more wills and does good from truth,
but truth from good . . ..

AC 4536 - a brief summary of the contents of Genesis 35

AC 4536
The subject treated of
in the internal sense of this chapter
is the residue in the Lord's natural,
that it was made Divine.
The interior things of the natural
that were made Divine
are here "Israel."
The progress toward things still more interior,
where is the rational,
is described by the birth of Benjamin,
and afterwards
by the coming of the sons of Jacob to Isaac.

Matthew 13, portions

That same day
Jesus went out of the house
and sat by the lake.
Such large crowed gathered around Him
that He got into a boat and sat in it,
while all the people stood on the shore.
Then He told them many things in parables . . .

The disciples came to Him and asked,
"Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied . . .

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

. . . Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables,
He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
So it was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
"I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."
(Matthew 13:1-3,10-11,16-17,34-.5) NIV

AC 4528, 4530 - the colors of the heavens

AC 4528
The eye, or rather the sight of the eye,
corresponds in particular
to those communities in the next life
which are surrounded by paradisal gardens . . ..
There one can see gardens containing trees and flowers
belonging to genera and species so numerous
that in comparison with them
those found on this entire planet are few.
Each object there
holds a measure of intelligence and wisdom
shining out of it . . ..
Those gardens stir the inner feelings of the people there,
and so gladden not only the eye
but also at the same time the understanding.

These paradisal regions are in the first heaven,
in the very threshold to the interiors of that heaven . . ..

This heaven is distinguished into many heavens . . ..
There is the heaven of paradisal gardens just described.
There is a heaven
where there are atmospheres of various colors,
and where the whole air flashes
as it were with gold, silver, pearls, precious stones,
flowers in least forms, and innumerable other things.
There is a rainbow heaven,
where are the most beautiful rainbows, great and small,
variegated with the most splendid colors.
All these come forth by means of the light
which is from the Lord,
and which contains within it intelligence and wisdom,
so that in every object there
is something of the intelligence of truth
and of the wisdom of good,
which is thus shown representatively. 

AC 4530
Colors also are seen in the other life
which in splendor and brilliance
surpass the luster of the colors of this world
to such a degree that scarcely any comparison is possible.
. . . In general the colors seen in the other life
have splendor and whiteness
insofar as they come from the truth of intelligence;
and they have brilliance and crimson
insofar as they come from the good of wisdom.

Matthew 12:34-37

"You brood of vipers,
how  can you who are evil
say anything good?
For out of the overflow of the heart
the mouth speaks.
The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in him,
and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in him.
But I tell you
that men will have to give account
on the day of judgment
for every careless word
they have spoken.
For by your words
you will be acquitted,
and by your words
you will be condemned."
(Matthew 12:34-37) NIV

AC 4508 - wealth

AC 4508
And all their wealth.
(Genesis 34:29)
That this signifies
all the matters of knowledge they had acquired,
is evident from the signification of "wealth,"
as being matters of knowledge,
as is evident from many passages in the Word;
for spiritual wealth,
thus wealth understood in a spiritual sense,
is nothing else.
Insofar as spiritual wealth consists in what is known,
it consists in matters of knowledge;
and in the Lord's kingdom (and therefore in the church)
these constitute the wealth,
as of the Lord's Divine mercy
will be confirmed from the Word elsewhere.

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to Me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you
and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy
and My burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28-30) NIV

AC 4496, 4497 - pain

AC 4496
When they were in pain.
(Genesis 34:25)
That this signifies cupidities is evident
from the signification of the "pain" after circumcision,
as being cupidity.
The reason why this pain signifies cupidity
is that circumcision signifies purification from
the love of self and of the world,
and all the cupidity of the flesh is from these loves,
and is therefore . . .
when a person is being purified from these loves,
as is the case when he is being regenerated,
he is in pain and anxiety,
and it is the cupidities then being removed
which are in pain and anguish.

AC 4497
. . .when in the church
truth becomes falsity
and good becomes evil
it is all over with the church.

Luke 9:7-9

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on.
And he was perplexed,
because some were saying
that John had been raised from the dead,
and others that Elijah had appeared,
and still others
that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.
But Herod said,
"I beheaded John.
Who then, is that I hear such things about?"
And he tried to see him.
(Luke 9:7-9) NIV

AC 4480, 4482 - the external and the internal

AC 4480
Whatever is written in the Word
is in itself and in its essence spiritual;
it is known that the Word is spiritual,
but its spiritual does not appear in the letter,
for in the letter it is worldly,
especially in the historical parts;
but when the Word is being read by a person,
what is worldly in it
becomes spiritual in the spiritual world, that is, with the angels,
for they cannot think otherwise than spiritually on every subject;
and such is the case with the expression "to dwell in the land."
To think spiritually
is to think of the things of the Lord's kingdom,
thus of the things of the church.

AC 4482 [4]
. . . terms relating to measure,
which are limitations of space,
such as heights, lengths, and breadths,
are in the spiritual sense
those which determine
the states of the affections of good
and the affections of truth.

Matthew 9:9-13, 35-38; 10:1-4

As Jesus went on from there,
He saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the tax collector's booth.
"Follow me," He told him,
and Matthew got up and followed Him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,
many tax collectors and "sinners"
came and ate with Him and His disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples,
"Why does your Teacher eat
with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
On hearing this, Jesus said,
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means:
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Matthew 9:9-13) NIV

Jesus went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good news of the kingdom
and healing every disease and sickness.
When He saw the crowds,
He had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a Shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
As the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers int His harvest field.

He called His twelve disciples to Him
and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits
and to heal every disease and sickness.
These are the names of the twelve apostles:
First, Simon (who is called Peter)
and his brother Andrew;
James son of Zebedee,
and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew;
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
(Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1-4) NIV

AC 4468 - a person who is in goodness of life

AC 4468
. . . a person who is in goodness of life
does not condemn another who is of a different opinion,
but leaves the matter to his faith and conscience,
and this even as regards those who are outside the church;
for he says in his heart
that ignorance cannot condemn any
who live in innocence and mutual love,
as do little children,
who also are in ignorance when they die.

Mark 4: 30-24 and 35-41

Again He said,
"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,
or what parable shall we use to describe it?
It is like a mustard seed,
which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
Yet when planted,
it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants,
with such big branches
that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
With many similar parables
Jesus spoke the word to them,
as much as they could understand.
He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
But when He was alone with His own disciples,
He explained everything.
(Mark 4:30-24) NIV

That day when evening came,
He said to His disciples,
"Let us go over to the other side,"
Leaving the crowd behind,
they took Him along,
just as He was,
in the boat.
There were also other boats with Him.
A furious squall came up,
and the waves broke over the boat,
so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern,
sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke Him and said to Him,
"Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up,
rebuked the wind
and said to the waves,
"Quiet!  Be still!"
Then the wind died down
and it was completely calm.
He said to His disciples,
"Why are you so afraid?
Do you still have no faith?"
There were terrified and asked each other,
"Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey Him!"
(Mark 4:35-41) NIV

AC 4448 - the Most Ancient Church & the Ancient Church

AC 4448
For the Most Ancient Church, being celestial,
was in the good of love to the Lord,
and so in the perception of all truth,
because the people of that church were almost like angels,
and had communication with them,
from which came their perception,
and therefore they never reasoned about any truth of faith,
but said "It is so," because they perceived it from heaven,
insomuch that they were not willing even to mention faith,
but in its stead charity,
and this is the reason
why by "interior truth" is here meant the good of charity.

The case was different with the Ancient Church
which was spiritual,
for this church was not in love to the Lord,
 as was the Most Ancient Church,
but was in charity toward the neighbor;
and they could not attain to charity
except through the truth of faith,
of which they had no perception,
like the most ancient people,
and therefore
they then began to make an investigation about truth
to see whether it is so.

Luke 8:1-3; 19-21

After this,
Jesus traveled about
from one town and village to another,
proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
The Twelve were with Him,
and also some women
who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases:
Mary (called Magdalene)
from whom seven demons had come out;
Joanna the wife of Cuza,
the manager of Herod's household;
Susanna;
and many others.
These women were helping to support them
out of their own means.
(Luke 8:1-3) NIV

Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see Him,
but they were not able to get near Him
because of the crowd.
Someone told Him,
"Your mother and brothers are standing outside,
wanting to see you."
He replied,
"My mother and brothers are those
who hear God's Word
and put it into practice."
(Luke 8:19-21) NIV

AC 4444 - zeal

AC 4444
. . . zeal is impossible with any one who is in evil,
being possible only with one who is in good,
because zeal has good within it.

Luke 7: 31-35

"To what, then can I compare the people of this generation?
What are they Like?
They are like children sitting in the marketplace
and calling out to each other:

"'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.'

For John the Baptist came
neither eating bread nor drinking wine,
and you say, 'He has a demon.'
The Son of Man came
eating and drinking,
and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."'
But wisdom is proved right by all her children."
(Luke 7:31-35) NIV

AC 4433 - internal things within external ones

AC 4433
. . . unless there are internal things within external ones,
that is, unless people think
of internal things when they are in external ones,
and unless they are affected at the same time
by the internal things,
or at least unless they are affected
by external things for the sake of internal things,
there is not anything of the church.
For internal things make the church,
because the Lord is in these;
for in these are the spiritual and celestial things
which are from Him. 

Matthew 7:12 and 28-29

So in everything,
do to others what you would have them do to you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

When Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were amazed at His teaching,
because He taught as one who had authority,
and not as their teachers of the law.
(Matthew 7:12 and 28-29) NIV

AC 4427 - the church is from the affection of truth

AC 4427
. . . the church is from the affection of truth,
. . . whether you say the affection of truth, or the church,
it is the same thing,
because it is from the affection of truth
that a person is the church.

Matthew 6:5-15

"And when you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the street corners to be seen by men.
I tell you the truth,
they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray,
go into your room,
close the door
and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Then your Father,
who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
And when you pray,
do not keep on babbling like pagans,
for they think they will be heard
because of their many words.
Do not be like them,
for your Father knows what you need
before you ask Him.
"This, then, is how you should pray:
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
in heaven so upon the earth.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
For if you forgive men where they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
(Matthew 6:5-15) NIV

AC 4424 - gnashing of teeth

AC 4424 [3]
. . . in the Word the "teeth" signify the lowest natural things,
in the genuine sense the truths of these natural things,
and in the opposite sense their falsities.
The teeth moreover correspond to these things,
and therefore the "gnashing of teeth"
is the collision of falsities with truths.
They who are in mere natural things,
and who are in these from the fallacies of the senses,
and who believe nothing but what they see thereby,
are said to be in the "gnashing of teeth,"
and also in the other life appear to themselves to be so
when they draw conclusions from their fallacies
concerning the truths of faith.

Matthew 5:1-2,17-20

Now when He saw the crowds,
He went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him,
and he began to teach them, saying:
. . . Do not think that I have come
to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear,
not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever practices and teaches those commands
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you
that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teaches of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:1-2, 17-20) NIV

AC 4413 - sparkled like diamonds

AC 4413
That the light of heaven
has within it intelligence and wisdom,
and that it is the intelligence of truth
and the wisdom of good from the Lord
that appear as light before the eyes of the angels,
it has been given me to know by a living experience.
I was taken up into a light
that sparkled like the light radiating from diamonds;
and while I was kept in it,
I seemed to myself to be withdrawn from bodily ideas
and to be brought into spiritual ideas,
thus into those things
which belong to the intelligence of truth and of good.
The ideas of thought
which originated from the light of the world
then appeared to be remote from me,
and as it were not belonging to me,
although they were present obscurely;
and by this it was given me to know
that insofar as anyone comes into the light of heaven,
so far he comes into intelligence.
It is for this reason that the more intelligent the angels are,
the greater and the brighter is the light in which they are.

Luke 6:12-16

One of those days
Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray,
and spent the night praying to God.
When morning came,
He called His disciples to Him
and chose twelve of them,
whom he also designated apostles:
Simon (whom He named Peter),
his brother Andrew,
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called the Zealot,
Judas son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
(Luke 6:12-16) NIV

AC 4390, 4393, 4394 - good of truth, tranquility of peace

AC 4390
. . . the good of truth is
. . . truth in will and act.
This truth is what is called good,
and the conscience which is from this good
is called a conscience of truth.
This good which is from truth increases in proportion
as the person exercises charity from willing well,
thus in proportion and in such a manner
as he loves the neighbor.

The reason why good and truth
are mentioned so frequently in the explanations,
is that all things in heaven,
and consequently all in the Lord's church,
bear relation to good and truth.
Speaking generally these two include all things
that belong to doctrine and to life;
truths, all things that belong to doctrine;
and goods, all things that belong to life. 

AC 4393
. . . "Shalem" signifies the tranquility of peace . . ..
In this peace there are interior truths;
that is, those who are in interior truths in faith and in life.
But so long as men are in exterior truths,
and especially when they are coming
from exterior into interior truths,
the state is then untranquil,
for then there are temptation combats.
The same is also here represented by Jacob, in that
after he had been in fear and anxiety on account of Esau,
he had now arrived at a state of tranquility.

AC 4394
When a person is in interior truths in faith and in life,
he is in the Lord's kingdom, and in a state of tranquility,
and then looks at exterior things
as one who looks from a high hill upon a tempestuous sea.
 

Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,
with the people crowding around Him
and listening to the Word of God,
He saw at the water's edge two boats,
left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
and asked him to put out a little from shore.
The He sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When He had finished speaking,
He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water,
and let down the nets for a catch."
Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night
and haven't caught anything.
But because You say so, I will let down the nets."
When they had done so,
they caught such a large number of fish
that their nets began to break.
So they signaled their partners in the other boat
to come and help them,
and they came and filled both boats so full
that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this,
he fell at Jesus' knees and said,
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
For he and all his companions
were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon,
"Don't be afraid;
from now on you will catch men."
So they pulled their boats up on shore,
left everything and followed Him.
(Luke 5:1-11) NIV

AC 4383 - we do not see all that the Lord sees

AC 4383
. . . all things both in general and in particular
are foreseen by the Lord,
even what they will be to eternity.
For this reason
no other general truths are conjoined with good
in the person who is being regenerated,
than such as can have particular truths fitted into them,
and within these singular ones.

But still these particulars,
even the singulars of the particulars,
are nothing but generals
relatively to those which exist beyond them;
for there are indefinite things yet in every single entity.
The angels
(who . . . relatively to man are in wisdom so great
that there are unutterable things
which they know and perceive)
also confess
that they know only the relatively most general things,
and that those which they do not know are indefinite
- they dare not say infinite,
because there is no relation and no ratio
between the finite and the infinite!
From this we can also infer of what nature is the Word,
which being Divine,
from its first origin contains within itself infinite things;
and consequently unutterable things
that belong to angelic wisdom;
and finally only such things
as are adapted to human comprehension.

John 4:9-14 and Matthew 4:23-25

The Samaritan woman said to Him,
"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can You ask me for a drink?"
(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her,
"If you knew the gift of God
and Who It Is that asks you for a drink,
you would have asked Him
and He would have given you living water.
"Sir," the woman said,
"You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Where can You get this living water?
Are You greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well and drank from it himself,
as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered,
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
(John 4:9-14)

Jesus went throughout Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good new of the kingdom,
and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
News about Him spread all over Syria
and people brought to Him
all who were ill with various diseases,
those suffering severe pain,
the demon-possessed,
those having seizures,
and the paralyzed,
and He healed them.
Large crowds from Galilee,
the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea
and the region across the Jordan
followed Him.
(Matthew 4:23-25)

AC 4373 - how the literal sense becomes spiritual

AC 4373 [2]
To people who confine their minds to the historical details
. . . their thought is of Esau,
and of Jacob and the gift he sent ahead of him.
They are not aware of the fact
that 'Esau' represents Divine Good within the natural
and 'Jacob' truth which is to be joined there to Divine Good.
Nor are they aware that their friendly dialogue here
(between Jacob & Esau)
means an affection inspired within truth by good.
Yet the angels understand these historical details
in no other way when these are read by a person,
for angels possess no other mental picture of things
than a spiritual one.
With them the historical sense
is converted into that spiritual picture,
and in this way
angelic thoughts correspond to those of people.
It is never-ending correspondences such as these
that cause the Word to be holy and Divine,
for as it rises up to heaven
the literal sense becomes spiritual.
It also rises all the way up to the Lord,
where it becomes Divine.
This is Inspiration.

John 2:23-25, 3:11-13

Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast,
many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing
and believed in His name.
But Jesus would not entrust himself to them,
for He knew all men.
He did not need man's testimony about man,
for he knew what was in a man.
(John 2:23-25)

. . . said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?
I tell you the truth, We speak of what We know,
and We testify to what We have seen,
but still you people do not accept Our testimony.
I have spoken to you of earthly things
and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"
(John 3:11-13)

AC 4358 - Who are these to thee? (Genesis 33:5)

AC 4358
. . . Divine good immediately acknowledges the truths
that it conjoins with itself.
And moreover all good does this,
for good cannot have being without what it calls truths,
nor can truths without that which they call good.
They conjoin themselves of themselves;
but such as the good is,
such are the truths it conjoins with itself.
It is good that acknowledges them,
and couples itself as a husband with a wife . . ..

Mark 1:12-13; John 2:1-8

At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert,
and He was in the desert forty days,
being tempted by Satan.
He was with the wild animals,
and angels attended Him.
(Mark 1:12-13) NIV

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
Jesus' mother was there,
and Jesus and His disciples had also
had been invited to the wedding.
When the wine was gone,
Jesus' mother said to Him,
"They have no more wine."
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied.
"My time has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants,
"Do whatever He tells you."
Nearby stood six stone water pots,
the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,
each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants,
"Fill the jars with water.";
so they filled them to the brim.
The he told them,
"Now draw some out
and take it to the master of the banquet."
. . . This, the first of His miraculous signs,
Jesus performed  at Cana in Galilee.
He thus revealed His glory,
and His disciples put their faith in Him.
(John 2:1-8, 11)

SD 6105 - works

SD 6105
For everyone in a society must be in some work.
Works produce the communion,
and cause all things to be held in connection;
for works contain in them all things human.
Wherefore, even in hell they must be in works. 

Matthew 3:1-3; 13-17

In those days John the Baptist came,
preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'"

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
to be baptized by John.
But John tried to deter him, saying,
"I need to be baptized by you,
and do you come to me?"
Jesus replied,
"Let it be so now;
it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.
Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized,
he went up out of the water.
At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said,
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased."
(Matthew 3:1-3; 13-17) NIV

AC 4353 - action is first

AC 4353 [3]
Act precedes,
a person's willing follows;
for that which a person does from the understanding,
he at last does from the will,
and finally puts it on as a habit;
and it is then instilled in his rational or internal person.
And when this point has been reached,
the person no longer does good from truth,
but from good;
for he then begins to perceive something of what is blessed,
and as it were something of heaven.
This remains with him after death,
and by means of it he is uplifted into heaven by the Lord.

SD 6096 - what conjugial love is

SD 6096
In the Divine sense,
it is the marriage of love and wisdom in the Lord:
so the two [partners] are an image of the Lord.

The marriage of the Lord with Heaven and the Church.

The marriage of love and wisdom,
or of good and truth.

Heaven is called a marriage - and the church, also.

The Word is a marriage,
because it is Divine Good united with Divine Truth
proceeding from the Lord. 

Man, male and female, or husband and wife,
are especially that marriage.
That marriage is in every single thing in nature.

Conjugial love is the fundamental of all loves.

Conjugial love is a heavenly love.

Conjugial love is not possible, save between two.

Two married partners are continually being united,
and according to the unition, potency and delight increase. 

AC 4345 - the whole is composed of parts

AC 4345 [2,3]
A whole cannot be called a whole unless there are parts,
for the whole consists of parts.
For in the nature of things
there is nothing which does not
come forth and subsist from other things,
and because it comes forth and subsists from other things
it is called a general,
and the things of which it consists
and from which it subsists
are said to be particulars.
External things are what consist of internal things,
and therefore external things are relatively general.

The body itself, and the things of the body,
such as those called the external senses and the actions,
are relatively the most general.
The natural mind and the things of this mind are less general,
because more interior,
and relatively are called particulars.
But the rational mind and the things of this mind
are still more interior,
and relatively are singulars.
All this is clear to the life
when a person puts off the body and becomes a spirit . . ..

SD 6079 - the pathway of faith into the will; SD 6080 - the Lord's influx & shunning evils

SD 6079, 6080
6079. THE PATHWAY OF FAITH, OR FROM IT, INTO THE WILL. 
I conversed with spirits about the pathway of faith;
that it proceeds from the affection of truth
to the perception of truth,
consequently from the understanding
to the thought,
and afterwards either remains in the memory,
or [proceeds] from the memory,
so, from the understanding immediately into the speech,
but is not appropriated to a person
unless he advances from understanding to agent:
so it comes into the will.
If it is something to be done,
it comes into the intention,
thus into the will, and into act;
so that [the sequence] is,
love,
affection of truth,
perception of the understanding,
assent or intention,
will,
and action or speech. 

SD 6080
The Lord is always present with a person,
and urges that good and truth may be received.
But, with those who had not shunned evils,
that influx is turned into their proprial loves
 - which are of the love of self and the world . . .. 
He who does not shun evils,
is inwardly in himself bowed down with evils,
and outside himself is obsessed
by such spirits as relate to his love;
consequently, the Lord is unable to reach the person,
because goods are turned into such things. 

SD 6065 - living the Ten Commandments

SD 6065 [2,3,5]
. . . truth and life
are to live according to the commands of the decalog:
for instance, not to steal, or act insincerely and unjustly;
which is the 7th commandment.
The truth, in this case, is,
that to act insincerely is a sin;
that to live unjustly is a sin also,
that living sincerely and acting justly is truth:
thus, truth and life make one.
Truth is to know evil and it is to know good;
and truth is a person's
when he shuns evil and loves good.
In like manner as regards the sixth commandment,
to shun adulteries, to love the chastity of marriage:
truth is, to know that adulteries are sins
and it is truth that chastity is heavenly.
So it is that life causes truth to be;
and truth is when there is also life.
It is similar with not to kill, cherish hatred or take revenge.
If this be shunned, a person comes to have charity.
Similarly as regards the 8th, Not to witness falsely, etc. 

From these things it is clear
that life and truth are one
and so far as a person does falsities,
which consist in believing and doing those evils,
so far the truth is not in him.
So far, also, as he lives according to those [commandments],
so far is he in truth,
and so far he loves truth,
and desires to know what
sincerity, justice, chastity, charity and truth are;
and, inasmuch as he is then led by the Lord,
it is granted him to know what evil and good are,
and what those specific [evils and goods]. 

In this, and no other way,
is he able to believe that God is,
that the Lord is the Savior of the world,
why He came into the world,
why He suffered the cross,
what is meant by His having borne the sins of the world,
and many other things;
for, so far as a person practices
those precepts which belong to the second table,
which was the covenant on a person's part,
so far does the Lord grant him to believe that God is,
which is the covenant of the first table,
which is on the part of God.
That the decalog is the complex of all things of truth and good,
is consequently plain,
and also from the fact . . .
that the ten commandments were written by the finger of God,
that they are called ten from the fact that they are all,
and that they were placed in the ark,
upon which was the mercy-seat,
and above that, the cherubim.
The mercy-seat is the Lord;
and the cherubim were the Word in the letter
- also the veil placed in front and it was called the Holy of Holies.
Outside these, were all things
of heaven and the Church in a representative image.
There, was the table with the shew-bread;
there, was the golden altar of incense there,
was the candlestick with the lamps:
by all which were represented all things belonging to heaven.
That Church, also, was a representative one
and, inasmuch as the Divine Law in its whole complex was in it,
therefore there was a fire there by night, and a cloud by day.
So it was, that all the Levites, together with Aaron,
pitched their tents round the ark,
and that Aaron ministered there;
likewise, that the ark showed them the way
when they went forward;
for the very truth, which is of faith,
when it is living, leads.

AC 4334 - everything the Lord has said

AC 4334 [4]
Everything the Lord has said,
since it is Divine,
is of a different nature in the internal sense
from what it is in the letter.
So eating and drinking in the Holy Supper
do not in the spiritual sense
mean eating and drinking
but making the good of the Lord's Divine love one's own . . ..

And as the joining of good
which is the good of love
to truth which is the truth of faith
is meant when the idea of a marriage
is used in reference to the Church or to the Lord's kingdom,
so therefore is the Lord's kingdom in the Word
called the heavenly marriage.

(The correspondences matter.)

SD 6051 - to do good in the sight of the Lord

SD 6051 (12)
. . . to love the married partner,
is to do good in the sight of the Lord
for it is thus, from chastity, to love the Lord.
This communicates with the heavens,
and delights the souls of the angels to such an extent
as cannot be believed.

AC 4317 - What is herediary evil?

AC 4317 [4, 5]
The origin of hereditary evil in everyone
lies with his parents and parents' parents,
that is, with successive generations of ancestors.
Every evil which they have acquired by actual life,
so that by frequent use or habit
it has become like a nature,
is passed on to the children,
and becomes hereditary to them,
together with that which had been implanted in the parents
from grandparents and ancestors.
The hereditary evil from the father is more inward,
and the hereditary evil from the mother is more outward.
The former cannot be easily rooted out,
but the latter can.
When a person is being regenerated,
the hereditary evil deeply-implanted from his nearest parents
is plucked up by the roots;
but with those who are not being regenerated,
or who cannot be regenerated,
it remains.

But few people know what hereditary evil is.
It is believed to consist in the doing of evil,
when in fact it consists in the willing
and therefore thinking of it.
It is within the will itself
and therefore within thought
that hereditary evil dwells.
It is the actual inclination to evil
which is within them
and which attaches itself
even when the person does what is good.
It is recognized through the kind of delight
which enters in when evil befalls another.
This root lies hidden deep down,
. . . is perverted and so to speak twisted out of shape,
with the result
that when good and truth flow in from the Lord
these are either cast back or perverted or smothered.

SD 6037
It appears as if those who are in the hells,
and the evil in the spiritual world,
have great power;
wherefore, in the Word,
they are called powerful, mighty, strong, men of war;
but their power is in the falsities of others,
by means of countless arts, and imitations of truth, etc.
From which come temptations and many other things,
from which the appearance of their power arises.

AC 4307 - the Lord tempts no one

AC 4307
. . . the presence of spirits with people
is determined in accordance with their loves.
Good spirits and angels are present
with those who are in spiritual and heavenly love,
and evil spirits
with those who are solely in bodily and worldly love;
and this so much that everyone may know
 the quality of the spirits with him
by merely observing the quality of his loves,
or what is the same, the quality of his ends;
for everyone has for an end that which he loves.

The reason the one who wrestled with him called himself 'God'
is Jacob's own belief that he was.
In this he was like his descendants
who believed unceasingly that Jehovah was present
in their holy external observances, when in fact
Jehovah was present solely in what these represented . . ..
They also believed that Jehovah led them into temptations,
was the author of all evil,
and was full of anger and fury whenever they were punished.
It is because they believed He was like this
 that such descriptions of Him appear in the Word,
when in actual fact Jehovah never leads anyone into temptations,
is never the author of anything evil,
and is never full of anger, still less of fury . . ..

AC 4299 - conscience and temptations

AC 4299 [2,3]
Conscience is a new will and a new understanding
received from the Lord,
and so is the Lord's presence with a person,
a presence which becomes all the closer
the more the person is stirred
by the affection for good or for truth.
If the closeness of the Lord's presence
exceeds the amount of affection for good or for truth in him,
he enters into temptation.
The reason why
is that the evils and falsities which reside with him,
and which are moderated
by the goods and truths residing with him,
cannot suffer that closer presence.

'I have seen God face to face and my soul is delivered'
means the severest temptations,
seemingly attributable to the Divine.
. . . Yet they do not originate in the Divine or the Lord
but in the evils and falsities residing
with the person who is being tempted or tormented.
From the Lord nothing else proceeds but a holiness
which is good and true and merciful,
and it is this holiness - which is good, true, and merciful -
that those subject to evils and falsities cannot suffer;
for such evils and falsities are opposite or contrary to it.
Evils, falsities, and lack of mercy
are bent all the time on doing violence
to those qualities belonging to holiness;
and in the measure they assail these,
they themselves suffer torment.
And when they assail them and consequently suffer torment
they imagine that it is the Divine who torments them.

SD 623, 6024 - the will and the life

SD 6023, 6024
. . . it was shown them (the faith-alone spirits)
that everyone is allotted heaven according to his life,
and that all religion is of life,
also that a spirit and angel is such as his life is . . ..

. . .  the will is not reached and opened,
unless something thereof [i.e. of the thought]
pass into act, or into deeds;
for it cannot be opened by mere thinking,
unless the thinking pass into doing,
which takes place by willing:
in any other case, the will is laid asleep,
and of no account, because not called forth or formed. 

AC 4288 - representative church vs. representative of a church

AC 4288 [2]
But be it known what a representative church is,
and what the representative of a church.
A representative church
is when there is internal worship in external,
and the representative of a church
when there is no internal worship,
but nevertheless there is external.
In both there are nearly similar outward rituals,
that is, similar statutes, similar laws, and similar precepts.
But in the representative church
the externals correspond with the internals,
so as to make a one;
whereas in the representative of a church
there is no correspondence,
because the externals are either devoid of internals,
or are at variance with them.
In a representative church
celestial and spiritual love is the principal,
but in the representative of a church
bodily and worldly love is the principal.
Celestial and spiritual love is the internal itself;
but where there is no celestial and spiritual love,
but only bodily and worldly love,
the external is devoid of an internal.

AC 4268 - Jacob, Israel

AC 4286 [7, 8]
In general 'Jacob' in the Word
means the external aspect of the Church
and 'Israel' the internal,
for every Church has an external aspect
and it has an internal one . . ..
. . . because the Church in its entirety originates in the Lord,
both Jacob and Israel therefore
mean the Lord in the highest sense -
'Jacob' the Lord's Divine natural,
'Israel' His Divine spiritual.

Israel in the original language means
'one contending as a prince with God',
and these words mean in the internal sense
that he overcame in the conflicts that accompany temptations;
for it was through temptations
and the conflicts which take place in temptations
that the Lord made His Human Divine.
And it is temptations and victories in temptations
that make the spiritual person.
This is why Jacob first received the name Israel
after his wrestling -
'wrestling' meaning to undergo temptation . . ..

SD 5993
. . . genuine glory is the glory of uses
separated from self-regard,
thus solely for the sake of the use -
this ambition is heartfelt delight,
and inflows, not from self and its own flesh,
but from the Lord through heaven . . .

SD 6005
That the Lord moves a person
to think and will good as of himself,
is the very essential of reformation;
for thus it is appropriated to him as his own,
or thereby it enters his affection,
and becomes of the love.
This is reciprocation.

AC 4274 - temptation

AC 4274
And there wrestled a man with him.
(Genesis 32:24)
. . . no temptation can take place
unless the person is in the good of truth,
that is, in the love or affection of it.
For he who does not love his truth,
or is not affected by it,
cares nothing for it;
but he who loves it
is in anxiety lest it should suffer injury.

That the first of combat is as to truth, or concerning truth,
is because this is what he principally loves,
and that which is of anyone's love is
that which is assaulted by evil spirits;
but after the person loves good more than truth,
. . . he is tempted as to good.
But what temptation is few know,
because at this day few undergo any temptation,
for no others can be tempted
than those who are in the good of faith,
that is, in charity toward the neighbor.

AC 4270 - truths of faith

AC 4270
. . . truths of faith or doctrinal things,
and the works of faith 
which are first exercised,
are the things through which
the person who is being regenerated 
is insinuated into good.

SD 5988 - to love the Lord

SD 5988
. . . the love to the Lord which conjoins,
is the doing of His commandments,
as Himself teaches . . .

AC 4264 - Are there numbers in heaven?

AC 4264 [2]
I have sometimes wondered
that when the speech of the angels fell down
into the world of spirits,
it fell also into various numbers;
and also that where numbers were read in the Word,
real things were understood by the angels.
For number never penetrates into heaven,
because numbers are measures of both space and of time,
these being of the world and of nature,
to which in the heavens
correspond states and changes of states.
The most ancient people,
who were celestial people and had communication with angels,
knew what was signified by every number,
even by the compound ones;
and from them
their signification was handed down to their posterity,
and to the sons of the Ancient Church.
These are things which will hardly be credited
by the person of the church at this day,
who believes nothing to have been stored up in the Word
more holy than what appears in the letter.

AC 4256 - good sees truth and falsity

AC 4256

. . . when good is beginning to have the dominion over truth,
the natural person is in fear and distress,
and also enters into temptations.
The reason is that when truth was in the first place,
that is, when it seemed to itself to have the dominion,
falsities intermingled themselves;
for from itself truth cannot see whether it is truth,
but must see this from good;
and where falsities are,
there is fear at the approach of good.
. . . This is the reason why those who are to be regenerated,
after fear and distress come also into temptations,
for temptations are the Divine means for removing the falsities.
This is the most secret cause why a person
when being regenerated undergoes spiritual temptations.
But this cause is in no way apparent to the person,
because it is above the sphere of his observation,
as is everything which moves, harasses,
and torments the conscience. 

 

Comment re AC 4247 & 4256:
There are numbers that teach us that charity unites and doctrine divides.  These are often brought up in sermons, classes, etc. as 'the' only truth we should live.  But this truth is only part of the picture.

Good comes first because it is the essence of the Lord and His gift to us.  In order to really receive this good, we have to learn stuff - worldly things (knowledges), and spiritual things (truths).   Those things, the real truths, hold the good, and become a tool we can put into action or use.  The more we do what the Lord wants us to do, such as living by the Ten Commandments (because He told us to), and apologizing and trying again not to hurt Him (shunning evils as sins), the more the truths we learn are filled with His good, and become charity.  Doctrine should not be seen as evil, but as something we look to the Lord with.  The more we focus on His Will and the less we focus on ours, the better the doctrine, and the more useful He makes us when we are serving Him and our neighbor.  The circle.

AC 4247 - the circle

AC 4247 [2, 3]
. . . in the beginning of regeneration
a person is not as yet in knowledges.
At that time, however, as good is continually flowing in,
it produces the affection of truth;
which is from no other source
than the continual endeavor of Divine good to flow in.
From this it is evident
that even at that time good is in the first place,
and acts the principal part,
although it appears as if it were truth that did this.
But when a person is being regenerated
(which takes place in adult age when he is in knowledges),
good then manifests itself;
for the person is not then
so much in the affection of knowing truth,
as in the affection of doing it.
Heretofore truth had been in his understanding,
but now it is in his will;
and when it is in the will,
it is in the person;
for the will constitutes the person himself.
Such is the constant circle in a person
that everything of knowledge is insinuated through
the sight or through the hearing into the thought,
and from this into the will,
and from the will through the thought into act.

. . . first of all, the truths of faith
are insinuated through the hearing or through the sight,
and are then stored up in the memory;
from which they are successively elevated into knowledge,
and at last flow into the will,
and when in this
they proceed from there through thought into act;
and if they cannot go into act,
they are in endeavor, which is itself an internal act,
and whenever there is an opportunity
this becomes an external act.
Be it known, however, that while there is this circle,
nevertheless it is good which produces the circle;
for the life which is from the Lord
does not flow in except into good, thus through good,
and this from the inmosts.
That the life which flows in through the inmosts
produces this circle, may be seen by everyone,
for without life nothing is produced;
and as the life which is from the Lord
does not flow in except into good and through good,
it follows that good is that which produces;
and that it flows into truths,
and appropriates them to itself,
insofar as the person is in the knowledges of truth,
and is at the same time desirous to receive them.

SD 5945, 5952, 5961 - how to live and the reading of the Word

SD 5945
It should be known . . .
that so long as a person is in knowledges only,
and not in any life according to them,
he is in his proprium and led by self;
but, when he is in a life according to them
. . . he is elevated out of his proprium,
and is led by the Lord.
This person does not perceive, but still it is so;
and so far as a person is led by the Lord,
so far is there good in him,
or good is what he wills and thinks.
But it should be thoroughly known,
that nobody can live according to the knowledges from the Word,
except from them
he reflect upon his thoughts, intentions and deeds,
that is, examine himself,
and abstain from evils and do good as from himself:
otherwise, there is no reception by a person;
and if there is no reception,
there is no conjunction with the Lord;
therefore, neither can he be led by the Lord. 

SD 5952
. . . to not lead a life according to the Divine laws,
but merely to regard the civil laws, separately,
is foolish.

SD 5961
I spoke with those who placed the only means of salvation
in reading the Word.
. . . I told them, that this does not save,
but that they must live according to the Word,
and that nobody can live according to the Word
except he be in the doctrine of truth from it;
otherwise, they do not know how they are to live,
for, from the sense of the letter of the Word,
they are able to defend everything that belongs to their life . . ..
It was shown also what is the nature of the Word in the letter,
but that those who are in doctrine from the Word,
see the Word and read it, quite differently;
they consequently understand it,
and are thus able to become rational:
otherwise, this cannot take place.
It was shown, also,
that the reading of the Word is not attended to by the Lord,
and therefore does not promote salvation,
unless they are in the life of truth;
and that they cannot be in the life of truth,
except they be in doctrine from the Word;
for the Lord regards
a person's heart and soul, or love and faith,
and according as these are, or as is the quality of the person,
in such a manner is the Word attended to and received.
The reading of the Word, apart from these,
is mere sound destitute of rational or spiritual thought.

AC 4245 - obscurity

AC 4245
There are few at this day who are being regenerated,
and still fewer who reflect;
for which reason the things here said about truth and good
cannot but be obscure,
and perchance of such a nature
as not to be acknowledged . . ..

AC 4234 - Jacob

AC 4234
And Jacob went to his way.
(Genesis 32:1)
That this signifies the successive advance of truth
toward its conjunction with spiritual and celestial good,
is evident from the representation of Jacob,
as being here the truth of the natural.
What Jacob represented has been already stated,
namely, the Lord's natural;
and as where Jacob is treated of in the historical narrative,
in the internal sense the Lord is treated of,
and how He made His natural Divine,
therefore Jacob first represented the truth in that natural,
and then the truth to which was adjoined the collateral good
which was "Laban;"
and after the Lord had adjoined this good,
Jacob represented it;
but such good is not the good Divine in the natural,
but is a mediate good
by means of which the Lord could receive good Divine;
and this mediate good was the good
that Jacob represented when he withdrew from Laban.
Nevertheless, in itself,
this good is truth which from its mediate character
possesses the capacity of conjoining itself
with the good Divine in the natural.
Such then is the truth that Jacob now represents. 

[2] For after Jacob withdrew from Laban and came to the Jordan,
thus to the first entrance into the land of Canaan,
he advances into the representation of this conjunction;
for in the internal sense the land of Canaan signifies heaven,
and in the supreme sense the Lord's Divine Human.
It is for this reason that by the words,
"and Jacob went to his way,"
is signified the successive advance of truth
toward conjunction with spiritual and celestial good. 

[3] But these things are of such a nature
 . . . that the most general things of this subject
are unknown in the learned world, even among Christians.
For it is scarcely known what the natural in a person is,
and what the rational,
and that these are altogether distinct from each other;
and scarcely even what spiritual truth is,
and what its good,
and that these also are most distinct from each other.
Still less is it known that when a person is being regenerated,
truth is conjoined with good,
in one distinct way in the natural,
and in another distinct way in the rational,
and this by innumerable means.
 It is not even known that the Lord made His Human Divine
according to the same order
as that in which He regenerates a person. 

[4] Since therefore these most general things are unknown,
it must needs be that whatever is said about them
will appear obscure.
Nevertheless they have to be stated,
because otherwise the Word cannot be unfolded
as to its internal sense.
At the very least
this may be the means of showing 

how great angelic wisdom is,
and also of what kind it is,
for the internal sense of the Word 
is chiefly for the angels.

SD 5933 - conjunction with heaven

SD 5933
Nobody can be conjoined with heaven,
and therefore with the Divine,
save by such things as are of the Word,
and so of the Church.
A person who is not in these,
no matter how morally, that is, sincerely and justly, he lives,
still has no conjunction with heaven.
The reason is,
because a person becomes spiritual
solely by the things which are of the Word and the Church;
and all who are in the heavens are spiritual.
To become spiritual, is not only to know those things,
and to speak of them,
but also to be affected by them,
thus to live according to them.
The life of a person according to these things,
and for the sake of them,
makes the person spiritual . . .

AC 4231 - the good of the natural

AC 4231
By the good of the natural
is not meant the good into which a person is born,
or which he derives from his parents,
but a good which is spiritual in respect to its origin.
Into this no one is born,
but is led into it by the Lord
through the knowledges of good and truth.
Therefore until a person is in this good
(that is, in spiritual good),
he is not a person of the church,
however much from a good
that is born with him
he may appear to be so. 

SD 5908 - the clarity of Divine Truths

SD 5908
. . . Divine Truths are in clearness,
and are pleasing,
when read in the light of heaven,
and are in shade,
and are consequently unpleasing,
when in natural light with other writing . . ..

AC 4219 - the Grand Man

AC 4219
. . . heaven in its entirety is the Grand Man,
and heaven is called the Grand Man
because it corresponds to the Lord's Divine Human.
For the Lord alone is Man,
and angels and spirits, as well as people on earth,
are likewise men only insofar as they are dependent on Him.
Let nobody suppose that anyone is man
because he has a human face and a human body,
and has a brain and also organs and limbs.
All of these he has in common with animals,
and therefore these are the things
which die and become a corpse.
But a person is man by virtue
of his being able to think and will as a human being,
and so of his being able to receive things that are Divine,
that is which are the Lord's. 

SD 5898 - in the other world, the Lord's Protecting Sphere

SD 5898 
At the back were many who joined themselves together
to destroy those whom the Lord protected.
There were many of these groups.
They began, moreover, to assail [their victims];
but it was immediately noticed
that those whom the Lord protected were
surrounded by the sphere of the Lord's Divine.
That sphere unfolded itself towards those who assailed,
and some ventured to enter it;
but they were . . . instantly penetrated
with such anxiety of heart
that they became like those who struggle in agony,
some, throwing themselves down on the ground,
writhing like serpents . . ..

AC 4211 - the Mediator

AC 4211 [2]
A person's conjunction with the Lord
is not a conjunction with His Supreme Divine Itself,
but with His Divine Human;
for a person can have no idea whatever
of the Lord's Supreme Divine,
which so transcends his idea
as altogether to perish and become nothing;
but he can have an idea of His Divine Human.
For everyone is conjoined by thought and affection
with one concerning whom he has some idea . . ..
If when anyone is thinking about the Lord's Human,
he has holiness in his idea,
he is thinking also of that holy
which coming from the Lord fills heaven,
so that he is also thinking of heaven;
for in its complex heaven bears relation to a person,
and it does this from the Lord . . ..
So it is said in John
that no one hath seen God at any time,
except the Only begotten Son (1:18);
and that no one can come to the Father except through Him;
and consequently He also is called the Mediator.

AC 4205 - good from the Lord can only be fixed in truths

AC 4205 [2]
. . .  no truth can ever be implanted
with genuine affection,
and become rooted interiorly,
unless the person is in good;
for the genuine affection of truth
is from the good
which is of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor.
The good flows in from the Lord,
but is not fixed except in truths;
for in truths
good is welcomed,
because they are in accord.

SD 5890 - Compassion

SD 5890
. . . a hint was conveyed to him,
that he was not in internal and genuine compassion,
which does not exist
except through the knowledges of good and truth.

SD 5879 - the dragon, Michael

SD 5879
By the dragon
are meant all those who are in
the knowledge of doctrinals and of the Word,
and not in the life of charity.
Those who are in the knowledge of doctrinals and of the Word,
and at the same time in the life of charity,
are Michael. 

AC 4197 - the harmony of the Divine fountain

4197 [1, 7]
But they who live in this good (that is, in mutual charity),
although they have no Divine truths
direct from the Divine fountain
(that is, from the Word),
they nevertheless have not their good closed up,
but is such that it can be opened;
and it also is opened in the other life,
when they are there instructed in the truths of faith,
and concerning the Lord. 

. . . the Divine law that one truth does not confirm good,
but a number of truths;
for one truth without connection with others
is not confirmatory,
but a number together,
because from one
may be seen another.
One does not produce any form,
and thus not any quality,
but only a number that are connected in a series.
For as one tone does not produce any melody,
still less harmony,
so neither does one truth.

SD 5855 - conscience

SD 5855
. . . conscience is grief
that one has acted contrary to the Divine Commandments,
also that one has thought contrary to them.
. . . he who possesses religion,
and loves Divine things,
has conscience,
for he experiences pain
if he had thought, intended,
and still more if he had done,
anything opposed to the Divine.

AC 4189 - a direct line with the Lord

AC 4189 [3]
Those within the church who are in truth and good
are not in a collateral line,
but in the direct line,
for they have the Word,
and through the Word
they have direct communication with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord . . .

SD 5829 - thinking; SD 5839 - ease

SD 5829
Merely thinking and talking does not constitute religion.

SD 5839
They were all such as did not take pleasure in any use
for the sake of the use,
but performed every use for the sake of a living,
and for the sake of honors, reputation and profit,
as ends.
In a word,
ease was their delight;
and they who love ease more than use,
collect evils in their spirit . . ..

AC 4180 - the "Dread"; and the Holy which proceeds from the Lord

AC 4180
The "Dread" is mentioned because the Divine truth is meant,
for the Divine truth carries with it fear, dread, and terror
to those who are not in good;
but not so the Divine good,
which terrifies no one.

The Holy which proceeds from the Lord
has in itself Divine good and Divine truth.
These proceed continually from the Lord.
From them is the light which is in the heavens,
and therefore the light which is in human minds,
and consequently wisdom and intelligence,
for these are within that light.
But that light, or wisdom and intelligence,
affects all according to their reception.
Those who are in evil do not receive the Divine good,
for they are in no love and charity;
for all good is of love and charity.
The Divine truth however can be received even by the evil,
but only by their external person, not by their internal.

AC 4167 - three planes, three forms of conscience & regeneration

AC 4167
There are in a person two planes*
upon which are founded the celestial and spiritual things
which are from the Lord.
The one plane is interior, and the other exterior.
The planes themselves are nothing else than conscience.
Without these planes (that is, without conscience)
nothing celestial and spiritual from the Lord
can possibly be fixed,
for it would flow through like water through a sieve.
For this reason they who are without such a plane
(that is, without conscience)
do not know what conscience is;
in fact, they do not believe
that there is anything spiritual and celestial.

The interior plane or interior conscience
is where are good and truth in the genuine sense;
for the good and truth that inflow from the Lord
activate this conscience.
But the exterior plane is the exterior conscience,
and is where there is what is just and equitable . . ..
There is also an outermost plane,
which likewise appears as conscience,
but is not conscience,
namely, the doing of what is just and equitable
for the sake of self and the world, that is,
for the sake of one's own honor or fame,
and for the sake of the world's wealth and possessions,
and also for fear of the law.

These three planes are what rule a person,
that is, they are the means through which the Lord rules him.

By means of the interior plane
(that is, by means of a conscience of spiritual good and truth)
the Lord rules those who have been regenerated.
By means of the exterior plane
(or by means of a conscience of what is just and equitable,
that is to say, by means of a conscience
of what is good and true of both a moral and a civic kind)
the Lord rules those who have not yet been regenerated,
but who can be regenerated,
and also are being regenerated;
if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life.
But by means of the outermost plane,
which appears like conscience, and yet is not conscience,
the Lord rules all the rest, even the evil;
for without this government
these would rush into all wicked and insane things,
and do so rush when they are without the restraints of this plane.
All those who do not suffer themselves
to be ruled by means of these planes
are either insane, or are punished according to the laws. 

With the regenerate
these three planes act as a one;
for the one flows into the other,
and an interior one disposes an exterior one.
The first plane, or conscience of spiritual good and truth,
is in a person's rational;
but the second plane,
or conscience of moral and civic good and truth
(that is, of what is just and equitable)
is in a person's natural.


* (in the translation by Elliot, this is translated as 'bases')

SD 5778 - the speech of angels; living from proprium

SD 5778
Angels do not speak anything else than those things
which are of wisdom, faith and love,
and of happiness therefrom:
these interiorly affect the person who is in them.

. . . so far as a person acts from proprium,
that is, without the living faith that all good is from the Lord,
what is from the Lord is not able to flow in,
nor anything be arranged into order in the external person.
Proprium is that which is contrary to the Divine:
it appears also as black,
not able to receive anything out of heaven.

AC 4154 - the holy of the affection of interior truth

4154 [3]
All the truth that is from the Divine is in that which is holy,
for it cannot be otherwise,
because the truth that is from the Divine is holy.
It is said to be holy from the affection
(that is, from the love)
which flows in from the Lord,
and causes the person to be affected with the truth.

SD 5775 - heaven

SD 5775
. . . the universal heaven
in the Lord's sight
is in the figure of a person,
and that it is from this that angels are people,
and that it is owing to the influx of the Divine into heaven,
inasmuch as the Divine makes heaven -
consequently, angels are such
from reception of the Divine
and not in the least from their proprium . . ..

AC 4149 [2]
Every spiritual good has its own truths;
for where this good is,
there are its truths.
Regarded in itself good is one,
but it becomes various by means of truths;
. . . For all the truths with everyone who is in good
communicate with one another,
and produce a certain form, and . . .
the mind of one 
is never altogether like that of another . . ..

AC 4151 [5,6,7]
. . . as all good and truth are from the Lord,
so all evil and falsity are from hell. . .
and if they had believed this,
they would have suffered themselves to be led by the Lord,
and so would have been in a different state,
and then the evil which entered into their thought and will
would not have affected them,
because not evil but good would have gone out of them;
for it is not the things that enter in,
but those which go out 
that affect us . . ..