Psalm 16:7-11

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because You will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
(Psalm 16:7-11) NIV

AC 5013 - Which serves?

AC 5013
. . . it is according to order
that the spiritual should rule and the natural serve;
for the spiritual is prior, interior, and higher,
and nearer the Divine;
while the natural is posterior, exterior, and lower,
and more remote from the Divine.
For this reason the spiritual in a person and in the church
is compared to heaven, and is also called heaven;
and the natural is compared to earth, and is also called earth.
Consequently, it is that they who are spiritual,
that is, in whom the spiritual has ruled,
appear in the other life in the light of heaven
with the head upward toward the Lord,
and with the feet downward toward hell;
whereas they who are natural,
that is, they in whom the natural has ruled,
appear in the light of heaven
with the feet upward and the head downward,
however differently they may appear in their own light,
which is a fatuous light
resulting from the evil affections
and consequent fantasies in which they are.

Psalm 15

Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary?
Who may live on Your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken.
(Psalm 15) NIV

AC 4987, 4989 - the internal sense

AC 4987
The things in the internal sense are . . . continuous
and flowing from one state of a thing into another;
but when one state terminates,
and another of importance succeeds,
this is indicated by "it was" or "it came to pass;"
and a change of state less important by "and."
This is the reason why these expressions so frequently occur.

AC 4989 [2]
When a person comes into the other life,
as he does immediately after death,
if he is one of those who are taken up into heaven,
he will then know
that he retains nothing of the historicals of the Word,
and indeed knows nothing about Joseph,
nor about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
but only about the spiritual and Divine things
which he had learned from the Word
and had applied to his life.
Such things . . . are what are inwardly contained in the Word,
and are called its internal sense.

Psalm 14:5-6

. . . God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
(Psalm 14:5-6) NIV

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord?
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and everyday have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for He has been good to me.
(Psalm 13) NIV

AC 4981
. . . the "blessing of Jehovah," in the external sense
or in the sense which relates to the state of a person in the world,
is to be content in God,
and on that account to be content
with the state of honor and wealth in which one is,
whether it be among the honored and rich,
or among the less honored and poor;
for he who is content in God
regards honors and riches as means for uses;
and when he thinks of them
and at the same time of eternal life,
he regards the honor and riches as of no importance,
and eternal life as essential.

AC 4984
All uses from truths are goods of truth.
Truths which are not for use are separated;
some being retained, and some rejected.
. . . In their beginning all uses are truths of doctrine,
but in their progression they become goods;
they become goods
when the person acts according to these truths.
Thus the very action gives quality to truths,
for all action descends from the will,
and the will itself
makes that become good
which before was truth.
From this it is plain
that truth in the will
is no longer the truth of faith,
but the good of faith;
and that no one is made happy
by the truth of faith,
but by the good of faith;
for this affects the very thing
which is of a person's life,
namely, his will,
and gives it interior delight or bliss,
and in the other life
the happiness
which is called heavenly joy.

Psalm 12:5-6

"Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise," says the Lord.
"I will protect them from those who malign them."
And the words of the  Lord are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.
(Psalm 12:5-6) NIV

AC 4973 - "in their house" and "Lord"

AC 4973
There is in a person a natural mind and a rational mind;
the natural mind is in his external person,
the rational mind in his internal.
Memory-knowledges are the truths of the natural mind,
which are said to be "in their house"
when they are conjoined there with good;
for good and truth constitute together one house,
as husband and wife.
But the goods and truths here treated of 
are interior;
for they correspond to
the celestial
of the spiritual
from the rational,
which is represented by Joseph.
The interior corresponding truths in the natural mind
are applications to uses,
and the interior goods therein are uses.

[2] The name "Lord" is often used in the Word;
and one who has no knowledge of the internal sense
supposes that nothing more is meant by it
than what is meant by the use of this term in common speech;
but "Lord" is never used in the Word
except where good is treated of,
and the same is true of "Jehovah;"
but when truth is treated of, "God" and "King" are used.

Psalm 11:4-7

The Lord is in His holy temple;
the Lord is on His heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men;
His eyes examine them.
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked
and those who love violence His soul hates.
On the wicked He will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
For the Lord is righteous,
He loves justice;
upright men will see His face.
(Psalm 11:4-7) NIV

AC 4964 - the process of glorification and regeneration

AC 4964 [3]
As the Lord is represented by Joseph,
its being here said that Joseph was "brought down to Egypt,"
signifies that when the Lord glorified His internal man,
that is made it Divine,
He was first
infilled with the memory-knowledges of the church,
and from and by them
advanced to things more and more interior,
and at last even to those which are Divine.
For it pleased Him to glorify Himself,
that is, to make Himself Divine,
according to the same order
as that in which He regenerates man,
that is, makes him spiritual,
namely, from external things,
which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith,
successively to internal things,
which are of charity toward the neighbor
and of love to Him.

Psalm 10:12-18

Arise, Lord!  Lift up Your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?
But You, O God, do see trouble and grief;
You consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted;
You encourage them,
and You listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man,
who is of the earth,
may terrify no more.
(Psalm 10:12-18) NIV

AC 4954-4957 [portions] - the works of charity in their order

AC 4954
Then shall the king say to them on His right hand,
Come, you blessed of My Father,
possess the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you gathered Me;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came unto Me.
(Matthew 25:34-36).

AC 4955
. . . the works here enumerated
are the very works of charity in their order.
This no one can see
who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word . . .
which is Divine, because from the Lord.


AC 4956
The essence of charity toward the neighbor
is the affection of good and truth,
and the acknowledgment of self as being evil and false . . ..
He therefore who has charity toward the neighbor
is affected by good and truth,
because they are from the Lord,
and holds in aversion what is evil and what is false
because these are from self;
and when he does this,
he is in humiliation from self-acknowledgment,
and when he is in humiliation,
he is in a state of reception of good and truth from the Lord.
These are the characteristics of charity
which in the internal sense
are involved in these words of the Lord:

"I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you gathered Me;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came unto Me."

That these words involve such things,
no one can know except from the internal sense.
. . . the angels who are with a person
perceive these words no otherwise,
for by the "hungry"
they perceive those who from affection desire good;
by the "thirsty,"
those who from affection desire truth;
by a "stranger,"
those who are willing to be instructed;
by the "naked,"
those who acknowledge
that there is nothing of good and of truth in themselves;
by the "sick,"
those who acknowledge
that in themselves there is nothing but evil;
and by the "bound," or those who are "in prison,"
those who acknowledge
that in themselves there is nothing but falsity.

AC 4957
From all this it is evident
that there were Divine things within everything the Lord said . . .

Psalm 9:9-10

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a Stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know Your Name
will trust in You,
for You, Lord,
have never forsaken those who seek You.
(Psalm 9:9-10) NIV

AC 4931 - correspondence, influx, life

AC 4931
. . . heaven has reference to the Lord,
for the Lord is the all in all of heaven,
insomuch that heaven is
in the proper sense
the Divine good and Divine truth which are from the Lord.
For this reason heaven is distinguished
into as many provinces, so to speak,
as there are viscera, organs, and members in a person,
and with these also there is correspondence.
Unless there were such a correspondence
of a person with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord,
a person would not subsist even a single moment.
All these things are kept in connection by influx.

[2] But all these provinces have reference to two kingdoms -
the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom.
The celestial kingdom
is the kingdom of the heart in the Grand Man,
and the spiritual kingdom
is the kingdom of the lungs;
in like manner as in a person,
in the whole and every part of whom reign
the heart and the lungs.
These two kingdoms are wonderfully conjoined;
and this conjunction is represented
in the conjunction of the heart and lungs in a person,
and in the conjunction of their operations . . ..

[3] While a person is an embryo,
or while he is yet in the womb,
he is in the kingdom of the heart;
but when he has come forth from the womb,
he comes into the kingdom of the lungs;
and if through the truths of faith
he suffers himself to be brought into the good of love,
he then returns from the kingdom of the lungs
into the kingdom of the heart in the Grand Man;
for he thus comes a second time into the womb
and is born again.

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
You have ordained praise
because of Your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
the son of man that You care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowed him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the baths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
(Psalm 8) NIV

(. . . the Lord has enemies - had not considered that.
Yet the hells are His enemies.  And so are we when
we live contrary to His Word.)

AC 4925, 4928 - Where is the good?

AC 4925 [1,2,4]
It has been a matter of dispute from the most ancient times
which is the firstborn,
whether the good which is of charity,
or the truth which is of faith;
and as good does not appear
while a person is being reborn and made a church,
but conceals itself in the interior person,
and manifests itself only in a certain affection
which does not fall clearly
into the sensation of the external or natural person,
until he has been reborn -
whereas truth makes itself known,
because it enters through the senses
and stores itself in the memory
of the external or natural person -
therefore many persons have fallen into the error of thinking
that truth is the firstborn,
and at last even into that of thinking
that truth is the essential of the church,
and so essential that truth, which they call faith,
has power to save without the good which is of charity.

From this one error very many others have been derived,
which have infected not only doctrine, but also life;
as for instance that no matter how a person lives,
provided he has faith he is saved;
that even the most wicked are received into heaven
if in the hour of death
they make profession of such things as are of faith;
and that everyone
can be received into heaven merely from grace,
whatever his life has been.
In consequence of holding this doctrine
they at last do not know what charity is,
nor do they care for it;
and finally they do not believe there is such a thing,
nor consequently that there is a heaven or a hell.
The reason is that faith without charity,
or truth without good, teaches nothing;
and the more it recedes from good,
the more foolish it renders a person.
For it is good into which and through which
the Lord flows and gives intelligence and wisdom,
thus a higher mental view,
and also perception as to whether a thing be so or not so.

. . . in the person who is being born anew,
. . . good is actually in the first place,
but truth apparently;
and that good does not appear
to be in the first place
while the person is being regenerated,
but becomes abundantly clear
when he as been regenerated.

AC 4928
. . . during a person's regeneration
good does not appear,
because it conceals itself in the interior person,
and only flows into truth through affection
according to the degrees of conjunction
of truth with it.
But when truth has been conjoined with good,
as when a person has been regenerated,
good manifests itself;
for a person then acts from good
and regards truths as from good,
because he is then more studious of life than of doctrine.

(But we can't skip the step of living according to His truth.
It's part of the process!)

Psalm 7:8-11; 14-17

Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
O righteous God,
Who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

My shield is God Most High,
Who saves the upright in heart.

He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble
gives birth to disillusionment.
He who digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit he has made.
The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
his violence comes down on his own head.

I will give thanks to the Lord
because of His righteousness
and will sing praise
to the name of the Lord Most High.
(Psalm 7:8-11; 14-17) NIV

AC 4918 - the birth of the church; AC 4922 - the opposite of spiritual good

AC 4918 [3]
A great sign was seen in heaven,
a woman encompassed with the sun,
and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;
and she bearing in the belly, cried out,
travailing in birth,
and in pain to be delivered.
(Revelation 12:1-2)

The "woman"
is the church;
the "sun with which she was encompassed"
is the good of love;
the "moon which was under her feet"
is the truth of faith;
the "stars"
are the knowledges of good and truth;
that there were "twelve" stars
is because "twelve" means all, and thus all things of faith;
"bearing in the belly"
means the truth of the church conceived;
"travailing in birth and in pain to be delivered"
means that it was received with difficulty.

AC 4922 [7]
 "Scarlet," in the opposite sense,
signifies the evil which is opposite to spiritual good:

Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
(Isaiah 1:18)

That "scarlet" signifies this evil
is because "blood" - also from its redness -
signifies in the genuine sense spiritual good,
or charity toward the neighbor,
but in the opposite sense violence offered to charity.

Psalm 6, portions

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
(Psalm 6:3-4, 8-9)

AC 4903, 4904 - seeing and doing

AC 4903
[Those] who are in the external alone without the internal
do not otherwise regard the internal of the church,
since they call that false which is true,
and that true which is false.
The reason is that no one can see from the external alone
whether a thing be false or true,
but only from the internal.
There must be an internal sight
which shall judge of those things which are of external sight,
and in order to do this
the internal sight must be wholly in the light of heaven;
and it is not in the light of heaven
unless it is in faith in the Lord,
and from this faith reads the Word.

AC 4904
To be produced,
when predicated of (asserted by) the church,
denotes the good which is produced by means of truth;
and it is produced
when truth passes through the understanding into the will,
and from the will into act.

Psalm 5:1-8

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O Lord,
You hear my voice;
in the morning
I lay my requests before You
and wait in expectation.
You are not a God
Who takes pleasure in evil:
and with You the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence;
You hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.

But I, by Your great mercy,
will come into Your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward Your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies -
make straight Your way before me.
(Psalm 5:1-8) NIV

AC 4899 - with or in?

AC 4899 [3]
It is one thing for the church to be with a people,
and another for the church to be in a people . . .

Psalm 4:5-8

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.
Many are asking,
"Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
(Psalm 4:5-8)

AC 4884 - doing

AC 4884 [2]
The truth which a person only knows or understands,
remains outside of his will,
and so outside of his life;
for a person's will is his life.
But when a person wills the truth,
it is then on the threshold of his life;
and when from willing he does it,
then the truth is in the whole person;
and when he does it frequently,
it not only recurs from habit,
but also from affection,
thus from freedom.

Psalm 3, a portion

But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the Lord I cry aloud,
and He answers me from His holy hill. 
Selah
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
(Psalm 3:3-6) NIV

AC 4868 - two teachings

AC 4868
. . . for the internal and the external sense [of the Word]
come together in the two precepts -
to love the Lord above all things,
and the neighbor as one's self. 

Psalm 2, portions

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
the kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against His Anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say,
"And throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
Then He rebukes them in His anger
and terrifies them His wrath, saying,
"I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill."
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
(Psalm 2:1-6, 12) NIV

AC 4857 - the soul of the Word

AC 4857 [2-3]
That this internal sense is contained in these words
can by no means appear from the letter,
for when they are read
the mind thinks of Judah, Timnah, and the shearing of a flock,
and not of spiritual things,
which are separate from person, place, and worldly use.
And yet angels, because they are in spiritual things,
perceive nothing else by these words
than such things as have been told;
for when the literal sense passes into the spiritual,
such things perish as relate to person, place, and the world;
and those take their place
that relate to the church, its state, and use therein.

It indeed appears incredible that it should be so,
but this is because so long as man lives in the world
he thinks from the natural and worldly things which are there,
and not from spiritual and celestial things;
and they who are immersed in bodily and earthly things
do not know that there is anything spiritual and celestial,
and still less that spiritual and celestial things
are distinct from worldly and natural things,
when yet they are distinct
as the spirit of man is distinct from his body.
Neither do they know
that the spiritual sense lives in the literal sense
as the spirit of man in his body,
and also that the spiritual sense in like manner
survives when the literal sense perishes;
so the internal sense may be called the soul of the Word.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on His Law 
he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like the chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Widows and the Doctrinals (teachings) of Charity & Faith

AC 4844 [3 & 4]
A "widow" is often mentioned in the Word,
and one unacquainted with the internal sense
cannot but believe that by a "widow" is signified a widow.
But a "widow" in the internal sense
signifies the truth of the church without good,
that is, those who are in truth without good
and still desire to be in good,
consequently who love to be led by good;
and a "husband" is the good which should lead.
In the Ancient Church
such persons were understood in the good sense by widows,
whether they were women or men.
For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbor
toward whom they were to exercise charity
into a number of classes,
some of which they called poor,
some miserable and afflicted,
some bound and in prison,
some blind and lame,
and others strangers, orphans, and widows;
and they dispensed works of charity to them
according to their qualities.
Their doctrinals taught them these things;
and that church knew no other doctrinals.
Wherefore they who lived at that time
both taught and wrote according to their doctrinals,
and consequently when they spoke of widows
they had in mind no other
than such as were in truth without good
and yet desired to be led by good. 

From this it is also plain
that the doctrinals of the Ancient Church
taught those things which related to charity and the neighbor,
and that their knowledges consisted
in knowing what external things signified.
For the church was representative
of spiritual and celestial things,
and therefore the spiritual and celestial things
which were represented and signified
were what they learned by means of doctrinals and knowledges.
But these doctrinals and knowledges
are at this day entirely obliterated,
and indeed to such a degree
that it is not known that they ever existed;
for the doctrinals of faith succeeded in their place,
which if widowed and separated from those of charity,
teach almost nothing.
For the doctrinals of charity teach what good is,
but the doctrinals of faith what truth is,
and to teach truth without good
is to walk as one who is blind,
because good is what teaches and leads,
and truth is what is taught and led.
There is as great a difference between these two doctrinals
as between light and darkness;
and unless the darkness be illumined by the light,
that is, unless truth be illumined by good, or faith by charity,
there is nothing but darkness.
So it is that no one knows by looking at it,
and consequently neither from perception,
whether truth is truth,
but only from doctrine learned in childhood
and confirmed in adult age. 
Consequently also it is
that churches differ so widely
that what one calls truth, another calls falsity,
and they are never in agreement.

AC 4837 - more than one wife

AC 4837
Marriage between two persons
who are in genuine conjugial love
corresponds to the heavenly marriage,
that is, to the conjunction of good and truth,
the husband corresponding to good,
and the wife to the truth of this good;
moreover, when they are in genuine conjugial love,
they are in this heavenly marriage.
Therefore wherever the church is,
it is never permitted to have more wives than one.
. . . Further, the marriage
of one husband with several wives
would present in heaven an idea or image
as if one good were conjoined with several truths
which do not agree together,
and thus as if there was no good;
for a good from truths which do not agree together
becomes none at all,
since good has its quality
from truths and their agreement. 

Matthew 28:1-7

After the Sabbath,
at the dawn on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake,
for an angel of the Lord
came down from heaven and,
going to the tomb,
rolled back the stone and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of him
that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the woman,
"Do not be afraid,
for I know that you are looking Jesus,
who was crucified.
He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said.
Come and see the place where He lay.
Then go quickly and tell His disciples:
'He has risen from the dead
and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
There you will see Him.'
Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb,
afraid and yet filled with joy,
and ran to tell His disciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them.
"Greetings," He said.
They came to Him,
clasped His feet and worshiped Him.
The Jesus said to them,
"Do not be afraid.
Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;
there they will see Me."
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had hold them to go.
When they saw Him, they worshiped Him;
but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."
(Matthew 28:1-10; 16-20) NIV

AC 4823 - "man and wife" and "husband and wife"

AC 4823 [2]
In the Word "man and wife," and also "husband and wife,"
are often mentioned;
and when "man and wife" are mentioned,
by "man" is signified truth,
and by "wife" good,
and in the opposite sense by "man" is signified falsity,
and by "wife" evil;
but when "husband and wife" are mentioned,
good is signified by "husband,"
and truth by "wife,"
and in the opposite sense evil is signified by "husband,"
and falsity by "wife."
The reason of this mystery is this:
in the celestial church the husband was in good,
and the wife in the truth of this good;
but in the spiritual church the man is in truth,
and the wife in the good of this truth;
such were they in fact then, and such are they now,
for the interiors of man have undergone this change.
Consequently, where celestial good
and celestial truth from it
are treated of in the Word,
it is said "husband and wife;"
but where spiritual good
and spiritual truth from it are treated of,
it is said "man and wife," or rather "man and woman."
From this, as also from the expressions themselves,
it is known what good and what truth
are treated of in the Word, in its internal sense. 

Matthew 28:62-66

The next day, the one after Preparation Day,
the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
"Sir," they said,
"we remember that while He was alive
that the deceiver said,
'After three days I will rise again.'
So give the order for the tomb to be made secure
until the third day.
Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the body
and tell the people
that He has been raised from the dead.
This last deception will be worse than the first."
"Take a guard," Pilate answered.
"Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how."
So they went and made the tomb secure
by putting a seal on the stone
and posting the guard.
(Matthew 28:62-66) NIV

AC 4807- the Last Judgement; 4809 - The Son of Man shall come in His glory

AC 4807
. . . the Last Judgment is not meant the last time of the world,
and that the dead will then for the first time rise again
and be gathered together before the Lord and judged;
but that there is meant the last time of everyone
who passes out of the world into the other life;
for then is his Judgment,
and this is the Judgment which is meant.
Yet that this is so 
does not appear from the sense of the letter,
but from the internal sense.
The reason why the Lord so spoke,
is that He spoke here, as everywhere else
in the Word of the Old and the New Testament,
by representatives and significatives;
for to speak by representatives and significatives
is to speak at the same time to the world and to heaven,
or to men and to angels.
Such speech is Divine, because universal,
and so is proper to the Word. .

AC 4809
When the Son of man shall come in His glory;
(Matthew 25:31)
signifies when the Divine truth shall appear in its light,
which takes place with every man when he dies,
for he then comes into the light of heaven,
in which he can perceive what is true and good,
and consequently what is his quality.
The "Son of man," in the internal sense of the Word,
is the Lord as to Divine truth,
thus is the Divine truth which is from the Lord.
"Glory" is the intelligence and wisdom derived therefrom,
which appear as light,
and before the angels as the resplendence of light.

Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:12-15; Luke 23:44-46; John 19:38-42

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor,
and the governor asked Him,
"Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
When He was accused by the chief priests and the elders,
He gave no answer.
Then Pilate asked Him,
"Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?"
But Jesus made no reply,
not even to a single charge -
to the great amazement of the governor.
(Matthew 27:11-14) NIV

"What shall I do, then,
with the one you call the king of the Jews?
Pilate asked them.
"Crucify Him!" they shouted.
"Why? What crime has He committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify Him!"
Wanting to satisfy the crowd,
Pilate released Barabbas to them.
He had Jesus flogged,
and handed Him over to be crucified.
(Mark 15:12-15) NIV

It was now about the Sixth hour,
and darkness came over the whole land
until the ninth hour,
for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called out with a loud voice,
"Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit."
When He had said this,
He breathed His last.
(Luke 23:44-46) NIV

Later, Joseph of Arimathea
asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.
Now Joesph was a disciple of Jesus,
but secretly because he feared the Jews.
With Pilate's permission,
he came and took the body away.
He was accompanied by Nicodemus,
the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.
Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about seventy-five pounds.
Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it,
with the spices, in strips of linen.
This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
At the place where Jesus was crucified,
there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb,
in which no one had ever been laid.
Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation
and since the tomb was nearby,
they laid Jesus there.
(John 19:38-42)

AC 4803 - heaven is continual purification

AC 4803
. . . the states of good spirits and of angels
are continually changing and perfecting,
and that they are thus raised
into the interiors of the province in which they are,
and so into nobler functions;
for in heaven there is a continual purification,
and so to speak new creation;
but still the case is such
that no angel can possibly attain absolute perfection
even to eternity.
The Lord alone is perfect;
in Him and from Him is all perfection.

Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:22-26; John 14:5-11; Luke 22:54-62

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
"Where do You want us to make preparations
for You to eat the Passover?"
He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
'The Teacher says:  My appointed time is near.
I am going to celebrate the Passover
with my disciples at your house.'"
So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them
and prepared the Passover.
(Matthew 26:17-19) NIV

While they were eating,
Jesus took bread,
gave thanks and broke it,
and gave it to His disciples, saying,
"Take it; this is My body."
Then He took the cup,
gave thanks and offered it to them,
and they all drank from it.
"This is My blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many," He said to them.
"I tell you the truth,
I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
When they had sung a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
(Mark 14:22-26) NIV

Thomas said to Him,
"Lord, we don't know where You are going,
so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered,
"I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
If you really knew Me,
You would know My Father as well.
From now on, you do know Him
and have seen Him.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: 
"Don't you know Me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father,
and that the Father is in Me?
The words I say to you are not just My own.
Rather, it is the Father,
living in Me,
who is doing His work.
Believe Me when I say
that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me . . .."
(John 14:5-11) NIV

Then seizing Him, they led Him away
and took Him into the house of the high priest.
Peter followed at a distance.
But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard
and had sat down together,
Peter sat down with them.
A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight.
She looked closely at him and said,
"This man was with Him."
But he denied it.  "Woman, I don't know Him," he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said,
"You also are one of them."
"Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted,
"Certainly this fellow was with Him, for he is a Galilean."
Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.
The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.
Then Peter remembered the word
the Lord had spoken to him:
"Before the rooster crows today,
you will disown me three times."
And he went outside and wept bitterly.
(Luke 22:54-62) NIV

John 13:1,3-8,12-17

It was just before the Passover Feast.
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power,
so that He had come from God and was returning to God;
so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing,
and wrapped a towel around His waist.
After that, He poured water into a basin
and began to wash His disciples' feet,
drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him,
"Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing,
but later you will understand."
"No," said Peter, "You shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered,
"Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
When He had finished washing their feet,
He put on His clothes and returned to His place.
"Do you understand what I have done for you?"
He asked them.
"You call Me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so,
for that is what I am.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher,
have washed your feet,
you also should was one another's feet.
I have set you an example
that you should do as I have done for you.
I tell you the truth,
no servant is greater than his master,
nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things,
you will blessed if you do them."
(John 13:1,3-8,12-17) NIV

AC 4783 - the sense of the letter

AC 4783
. . . the sense of the letter has general things,
which are as vessels,
and can be filled with truths and also with falsities,
and consequently be so explained as to favor anything;
and because they are general things,
they are also comparatively obscure,
having light from no other source than the internal sense;
for the internal sense is in the light of heaven,
because it is the Word for the angels;
but the sense of the letter is in the light of the world,
because it is the Word for people
before they come into the light of heaven from the Lord,
from which they then have enlightenment.

[2] . . . interpretations from the sense of the letter the Word
can be so explained as to favor anything,
is very clear from the fact
that all kinds of doctrines, and even of heresies,
are thus confirmed,
as for instance the dogma concerning faith separate
is confirmed by these words of the Lord:

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish,
but should have eternal life.
(John 3:16)

from which words, and also from other passages,
it is concluded that faith alone without works
is what gives eternal life;
and when those who are in this faith
have persuaded themselves of this,
they no longer attend to what the Lord
so often said concerning love to Him,
and concerning charity and works . . .:

"As many as received,
to them gave He power to be sons of God,
even to them that believe in His name;
who were born not of bloods,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God."
(John 1:12, 13)

[3] They who are in faith separate cannot believe otherwise
than that anyone can be admitted into heaven out of grace,
no matter how he has lived,
thus that not the life
but the faith remains with a person after death.
This they confirm also from the sense of the letter of the Word,
when yet it is evident from the very spiritual sense of the Word
that the Lord has mercy toward everyone,
thus that if heaven were of mercy or grace,
regardless of what the life has been, everyone would be saved.
The reason why they who are in faith separate
so believe is that they do not at all know what heaven is,
and this because they do not know what charity is.
If they knew how much peace and joy and happiness
there is in charity,
they would know what heaven is;
but this is altogether hidden from them.

[4] Again, they who are in faith separate
cannot believe otherwise
than that they will rise again with the body,
and this only at the day of judgment;
which they also confirm from many passages of the Word
explained according to the sense of the letter,
and at the same time taking no thought of what the Lord said
concerning the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-31);
and of what He said to the thief:

"Verily I say unto thee,
Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise"
(Luke 23:43);

and of what He said at other times.
The reason why they who are in faith separate so believe
is that if they were told that the body will not rise again,
they would wholly deny any resurrection,
for they do not know nor apprehend what the internal person is,
since no one can know what the internal person is,
and his life after death,
save he who is in charity,
for charity is of the internal person.

[5] They who are in faith separate cannot believe otherwise
than that the works of charity
consist solely in giving to the poor
and in assisting the miserable,
and this they also confirm
from the sense of the letter of the Word;
when yet the works of charity
consist in doing what is just and equitable,
each in his own employment,
from the love of what is just and equitable,
and of what is good and true.

Luke 21:37-38; Luke 22:1-5

Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple,
and each evening He went out to spend the night
on the hill called the Mount of Olives,
and all the people came early in the morning
to hear Him at the temple.
(Luke 21:37-38) NIV

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
called the Passover,
was approaching,
and the chief priests and the teachers of the law
were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus,
for they were afraid of the people.
Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot,
one of the Twelve.
And Judas went to the chief priests
and the officers of the temple guard
and discussed with them
how he might betray Jesus.
They were delighted
and agreed to give him money.
He consented,
and watched for an opportunity
to hand Jesus over to them
when no crowd was present.
(Luke 22:1-5) NIV

AC 4769 - a "he-goat of the goats"

AC 4769 [2, 3]
. . . a "he-goat of the goats"
signifies those who are in faith separate,
is evident from Daniel:

Behold a he-goat of the goats came from the west
over the faces of the whole earth, and touched not the earth;
and the he-goat had a horn of aspect between his eyes.
Out of one of the four horns came forth a little horn,
and it grew exceedingly toward the south,
and toward the east, and toward comeliness.
Yea it grew even to the army of the heavens;
and some of the army and of the stars
it cast down to the earth,
and trampled upon them;
and it cast down truth unto the earth.
(Daniel 8:5, 9-10, 12)

The subject here treated of
is the state of the church in general,
not only the state of the Jewish Church,
but also that of the following,
which is the Christian Church;
for the Word of the Lord is universal.
The "he-goat of the goats" in respect to the Jewish Church,
signifies those who made nothing of internal truths,
but accepted external truths so far as they favored their loves,
which were that they might be the greatest and the wealthiest.
For this reason they recognized the Christ or Messiah
whom they were expecting,
simply as a king,
who would exalt them above all the nations and peoples
in the whole world,
and would make these subject to them as vilest slaves;
this was the source of their love for Him.
They did not at all know what love toward the neighbor was,
except that it was conjunction by participation in such honor,
and through gain.

[3] But the "he-goat of the goats"
in respect to the Christian Church
signifies those who are in external truths from delights,
that is, who are in faith separate;
for these also care nothing for internal truths,
and if they teach them
it is only that they may thereby win reputation,
be exalted to honors, and acquire gain.
These are the delights which are in their hearts
while truths are in their mouth.
Moreover, by wrong interpretations
they force the truths which are of genuine faith
to favor their loves.

John 12:20-36; 44-50

Now there were some Greeks
among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
They came to Philip,
who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request,
"Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went to tell Andrew;
Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Jesus replied,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains only a single seed.
But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
The man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in this world
will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves Me must follow Me;
and where I am,
My servant also will be.
My Father will honor the one who serves Me.
"Now My heart is troubled, and what shall I say?
'Father, save me from this hour'?
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!"
Then a voice came from heaven,
"I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."
The crowd that was there and heard it
said it had thundered;
others said an angel had spoken to Him.
Jesus said,
"This voice was for your benefit, not Mine.
Now is the time for judgment on this world;
now the prince of this world will be driven out.
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to Myself."
He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.
The crowd spoke up,
"We have heard from the Law
that the Christ will remain forever,
so how can you say,
'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?
Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
Then Jesus told them,
"You are going to have the Light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the Light,
before darkness overtakes you.
The man who walks in the dark
does not know where he is going.
Put your trust in the Light while you have it,
so that you may become sons of light."
When He had finished speaking,
Jesus left and hid Himself from them.

Then Jesus cried out,
"When a man believes in Me,
he does not believe in Me only,
but in the One who sent Me.
When he looks at Me,
he sees the One who sent Me.
I have come into the world as a Light,
so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.
"As for the person who hears my words
but does not keep them,
I do not judge him.
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
There is a judge for the one who rejects Me
and does not accept My words;
that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
For I did not speak of My own accord,
but the Father who sent Me commanded Me
what to say and how to say it.
I know that His command leads to eternal life.
So whatever I say
is just what the Father has told me to say.
(John 12:20-36; 44-50) NIV

AC 4763 - 'And he rent his garments.' (Genesis 37:29)

AC 4763
And he rent his garments.
(Genesis 37:29)
That this signifies mourning,
is evident from the signification of "rending the garments,"
as being mourning, namely,
on account of truth having been destroyed,
or because there was no faith.
We often read in the Word, especially the historic,
of persons rending their garments;
but the origin of this is not known at the present day,
and it is also unknown
that it was representative of grief on account of truth being lost.
This act became representative from the fact
that "garments" signified truths . . .
and by this is signified mourning for truth destroyed.

The Two Great Commandments

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
the Pharisees got together.
One of them, an expert in the law,
tested Him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied:
"'Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind,'
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments.
(Matthew 22:34-40) NIV

One of the teachers of the law came
and heard them debating.
Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked Him,
"Of all the commandments,
which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus,
"is this:
'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
The second is this:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is not commandment greater than these."
"Well said, Teacher," the man replied.
"You are right in saying that God is One
and that there is not other but Him.
To love Him with all your heart,
with all your understanding
and with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely,
He said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And from then on
no one dared ask Him any more questions.
(Mark 12:28-34) NIV

AC 4750 - the two essential loves and their opposites

AC 4750 [2-5]
Most things in the Word have a twofold sense,
namely, a good sense and its opposite.
From the good sense
the quality of the opposite one is known;
for whatever is contained in the opposite sense
is diametrically opposed
to what is contained in the good sense.

The goods of love are in general two -
the good of celestial love,
and the good of spiritual love.
Diametrically opposed to the good of celestial love,
is the evil of the love of self;
and diametrically opposed to the good of spiritual love,
is the evil of the love of the world.
They who are in the evil of the love of self
are against all good whatever;
but not so much so as those
who are in the evil of the love of the world.
In the Word, by Judah in the opposite sense
are represented those who are in the love of self;
and by Israel they who are in the love of the world.
The reason of this is
that by Judah was represented the Lord's celestial kingdom,
and by Israel His spiritual kingdom.

The hells also are distinct according to these two loves.
They who are in the love of self,
being against all good whatever,
are in the deepest and therefore the most grievous hell;
but they who are in the love of the world,
being not so much against all good whatever,
are in hells not so deep, and therefore less grievous.

The evil of the love of self is not, as is generally thought,
that external elation which is called pride;
but it is hatred against the neighbor,
and so a burning desire for revenge, and delight in cruelty.
These are the interiors of the love of self.
Its exteriors are contempt for others in comparison with self,
and an aversion to those who are in spiritual good,
and this sometimes with manifest elation or pride,
and sometimes without it;
for one who holds the neighbor in such hatred,
interiorly loves no one but himself . . ..

The First Palm Sunday

As they approached Jerusalem
and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
"Go to the village ahead of you,
and at once you will find a donkey tied there,
with her colt by her.
Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you,
tell him that the Lord needs them,
and he will send them right away."
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your King comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" (Isa. 62:11)
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
The brought the donkey and the colt,
placed their cloaks on them,
and Jesus sat on them.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
while others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road.
The crowds that went ahead of Him
and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!"
When Jesus entered Jerusalem,
the whole cit was stirred and asked,
"Who is this?"
The crowds answered,
"This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
(Matthew 21:1-11) NIV

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
"I tell you," He replied,
"If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city,
He wept over it and said,
"If you, even you, had only known on this day
what would bring you peace -
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you
when your enemies will build an embankment against you
and encircle you and him you in on every side.
They will dash you to the ground,
you and the children within your walls.
The will not leave one stone on another,
because you did not recognize
the time of God's coming to you."
(Luke 19:39-44) NIV

At first His disciples did not understand all this.
Only after Jesus was glorified
did they realize that these things
had been written about Him
and that they had done these things to Him.
Now the crowd that was with Him
when He called Lazararus from the tomb
and raised him from the dead
continued to spread the word.
Many people, because they had heard
that He had given this miraculous sign,
went out to meet Him.
So the Pharisees said to one another,
"See, this is getting us nowhere.
Look how the whole world has gone after Him!"
(John 12:16-19) NIV

This is a charming video using the verses from Mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sqenkYE4nas

AC 4748 - a fragrant odor

AC 4748 [2]
The reason why frankincense and incenses
were used in sacred rites among the ancients,
is that odor corresponds to perception,
and a fragrant odor,
such as that of spices of various kinds,
to a grateful and pleasing perception,
such as is that of truth from good,
or of faith from charity.
Indeed the correspondence is such
that in the other life,
whenever it is the good pleasure of the Lord,
perceptions themselves are changed into odors.
What is here signified in detail by
"spices, balsam, and stacte," may be seen
from other passages in which they are mentioned.
In general they signify interior truths in the natural,
but such as are from good therein;
for truths by themselves do not make the natural,
but good by truths.
So its varieties are according to
the quality of the truth conjoined with good,
consequently according to the quality of the good;
for good has its quality from truths.

John 12:1-11

Six days before the Passover,
Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived
whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor.
Martha served, while Lazarus was among those
reclining at the table with Him.
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard,
and expensive perfume;
she poured in on Jesus' feet
and wiped His feet with her hair.
And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of His disciples,
Judas Iscariot, who later was to betray Him, objected,
"Why wasn't this perfume sold
and the money given to the poor?
I was worth a year's wages."
He did not say this because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief;
as keeper of the money bag,
he used to help himself to what was put into it.
"Leave her alone," Jesus replied.
"It was intended
that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial.
You will always have the poor among you,
but you will not always have Me."
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out
that Jesus was there and came,
not only because of Him
but also to see Lazarus,
whom He had raised from the dead.
So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
for on account of him
many of the Jews were going over to Jesus
and putting their faith in Him.
(John 12:1-11)

AC 4738 - persuasive spirits are always working in opposition to the Lord

AC 4738
It was the Divine truth
concerning the Lord's Divine Human
that it would claim for the church,
for by Joseph, as before said,
this truth is specifically signified. 

[2] As further regards this truth,
be it known that the Ancient Church acknowledged it,
and also the primitive Christian Church;
but after the papal sway had grown
even to domination over all human souls,
and had exalted itself . . .
then the Divine was taken away from the Lord's Human,
that is, a distinction was then made
between His Divine and His Human. 

[3] How this was decreed in a certain council
has also been revealed to me.
There appeared to me certain spirits . . .
who were talking together,
but about what I did not hear.
I was then told that they were some of those
who composed the council in which the decree was made
regarding the Lord's two natures,
the Divine and the human.
Presently it was granted me to converse with them.
They said
that those who had the greatest influence in the council,
and who were superior to the rest in rank and authority,
came together in a dark room
and there concluded that both a Divine and a human nature
should be attributed to the Lord;
chiefly for the reason
that otherwise the papal sway could not be maintained.
For if they had acknowledged
the Lord to be one with the Father,
as He Himself says,
no one could have been acknowledged as His vicar on earth;
for schisms were arising at that time
by which the papal power might have fallen
and been dissipated unless they had made this distinction;
and for the strengthening of this invention
they sought out confirmations from the Word,
and persuaded the rest. 

[4] The spirits added that by this means
they were able to rule in heaven and on earth,
because they had it from the Word
that to the Lord was given all power in heaven and on earth,
which power could not have been attributed to any vicar
if His Human also were acknowledged to be Divine;
for they knew that no one was allowed
to make himself equal to God,
and that the Divine had this power of Itself,
but not the Human, unless it had been given it,
as it was afterwards to Peter.
They continued, that the schismatics of that day
were men of acute discernment,
whom in this way they were able to quiet,
and by this means the papal power was also confirmed.
From all this it is evident that this distinction was invented
merely for the sake of dominion;
and that for this reason
they were not willing to know
that the power given to the Lord's Human
in heaven and on earth
shows that it also is Divine.
That Peter, to whom the Lord gave the keys of heaven,
does not mean Peter,
but the faith of charity,
which, because it is from the Lord alone,
is the power of the Lord alone . . ..

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus;
he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could not,
because of the crowd.
So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him,
since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot,
He looked up and said to him,
"Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today."
So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter,
"He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
"Look, Lord.
Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,
I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house,
because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
what was lost.
(Luke 19:1-10)

AC 4735 - the Lord's Human

AC 4735
All the holy in heaven proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human,
and therefore all the holy in the church . . ..

[2] The Lord's Human, after it was glorified or made Divine,
cannot be thought of as human,
but as the Divine love in human form . . .
for the Lord from Divine love made His Human Divine;
just as a person through heavenly love
becomes an angel after death,
so that he appears . . .
as a form of love and charity under the human shape.
It is plain from this that by the Lord's Divine Human,
in the celestial sense is signified the Divine love itself,
which is love toward the whole human race,
in that it wills to save them
and to make them blessed and happy to eternity,
and to make its Divine their own
so far as they can receive it.
This love and the reciprocal love of a person to the Lord,
and also love toward the neighbor,
are what are signified and represented in the Holy Supper -
the Divine celestial love by the flesh or bread,
and the Divine spiritual love by the blood or wine.

[4] As "blood" in the celestial sense
signifies the Divine spiritual or the Divine truth
proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human,
it therefore signifies the holy proceeding;
for the Divine truth
proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human
is the holy itself.

[5] Holiness is nothing else, nor from any other source.

Mark 10:32-33; Luke 18:34

They were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way,
and the disciples were astonished,
while those who followed were afraid.
Again He took the Twelve aside
and told them what was going to happen to Him.
"We are going up to Jerusalem," He said,
"and the Son of Man will be betrayed
to the chief priests and teachers of the law.
They will condemn Him to death
and will hand Him over to the gentiles,
who will mock Him and spit on Him,
flog Him and kill Him.
Three days later He will rise."
(Mark 10:32-33) NIV

The disciples did not understand any of this.
Its meaning was hidden from them,
and they did not know what He was talking about.
(Luke 18:34) NIV

AC 4727 - the Divine Human; AC 4730 - charity

AC 4727 [2]
. . . it is love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor
that make a person new and sanctify him,
while the Divine love itself made the Lord Divine.
For love is the very being of a person,
and so is his living;
and it forms a person according to an image of itself,
just as the soul of person, which is his interior essence,
as it were creates or fashions the body into an image of itself;
and indeed in such a way
that by means of the body
it acts and has sensation just as it wills and thinks.
. . . The Human of Him whose soul was Jehovah Himself
(as was the case with the Lord,
for He was conceived of Jehovah)
could not when glorified be other than Divine.
From this it is plain how greatly those err
who make the Lord's Human, after it was glorified,
to be like the human of a person,
when yet it is Divine.
From His Divine Human proceeds all the wisdom,
all the intelligence, and also all the light, in heaven.
Whatever proceeds from Him is holy;
and the holy that is not from the Divine is not holy.

AC 4730 [3]
The fundamental of charity
is to act rightly and justly in everything
which belongs to one's duty or employment -
as for example,
if one who is a judge
punishes an evil doer according to the laws,
and does so from zeal,
he is then in charity toward the neighbor;
for he desires his amendment, thus his good,
and also wills well to society and his country,
that it receive no further injury from the evildoer;
thus he can love him if he amends,
as a father the son whom he chastises;
and thus he loves societies and his country,
which are to him the neighbor in general.

Luke 18:15-17

People were also bringing babies to Jesus
to have Him touch them.
When the disciples saw this,
they rebuked them.
But Jesus called the children to Him and said,
"Let the little children come to Me,
and do not hinder them,
the the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
I tell you the truth,
anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God
like a little child
will never enter it.
(Luke 18:15-17) NIV

AC 4712 - the Lord's influx; AC 4715 - His Infinity; AC 4720 - general principles

AC 4712
That every coming of the Lord is also signified,
is because by Joseph
is represent the Lord as to the Divine spiritual;
and therefore when it is said
that Joseph should go and see the peace of his brethren,
the coming of the Lord is signified.
By every coming is meant
whenever truth from the Word flows into the thought.

AC 4715 [2]
. . . the lower things of the church
are said to be from the Lord's natural and sensuous Divine;
not that in the Lord these things are lower,
because in the Lord and in His Divine Human all is infinite,
inasmuch as He is Jehovah as to each essence,
 . . . It is so said because of the quality of those who receive.

AC 4720 [3]
It is plain . . . that when the general principle is false,
all things savor of falsity.

Luke 17:1-4

Jesus said to His disciples:
"Things that cause people to sin are bound to come,
but woe to that person through whom they come.
It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea
with a millstone tied around his neck
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
So watch yourselves.
"If your brother sins,
rebuke him,
and if he repents,
forgive him.
If he sins against you seven times in a day,
and seven times comes back to you and says,
'I repent,'
forgive him."
(Luke 17:1-4) NIV

AC 4696 - receiving the light from the Lord

AC 4696
The "sun" in the supreme sense signifies the Lord,
because He appears as a sun to those in heaven
who are in celestial love;
and the "moon" also in the supreme sense signifies the Lord,
because He appears as a moon to those in heaven
who are in spiritual love;
all the light in heaven is from Him.
Therefore the light from the sun there
is the celestial of love, or good,
and the light from the moon there
is the spiritual of love, or truth . . ..

The Divine which comes from the Lord
is in the supreme sense the Divine in Him;
but in the relative sense is the Divine from Him.
The Divine good from Him
is what is called celestial,
and the Divine truth from Him
is what is called spiritual.
When the rational receives these,
the good and the truth of the rational are what are signified;
but when the natural receives them,
the good and truth of the natural are what are signified.

Luke 16:14-15, 17, 27-31

The Pharisees, who loved money,
heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
He said to them,
"You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men,
but God knows your hearts.
What is highly valued among men
is detestable in God's sight."
(Luke 16:14-15) NIV

"It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear
than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law."
(Luke 16:17) NIV

"He answered,
'Then I beg you father,
send Lazarus to my father's house,
for I have five brothers.
Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied,
'They have Moses and the Prophets;
let them listen to them.'
"'No, father Abraham,' he said,
'but if someone from the dead goes to them,
they will repent.'
"He said to him,
'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead.'"
(Luke 16: 27-31) NIV

AC 4681, 4687 - the Lord and His Divine Truth

AC 4681
For to "speak for peace"
means to wish anyone well,
inasmuch as by "peace"
the ancients understood
in the supreme sense the Lord Himself,
in the internal sense His kingdom and life therein, or salvation,
but in the external sense safety or health in the world.
The contrary of this is
not to be able to speak for peace to anyone,
that is, not to wish him well,
thus to be averse to . . . Divine truth.

AC 4687 [3]
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and God was the Word.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us;
and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-4, 14)

the "Word" is the Divine truth,
which in its essence is the infinite coming-forth
from the infinite being,
and is the Lord Himself as to His Human.
This very Human is
from which truth Divine now proceeds and flows into heaven,
and through heaven into the minds of men;
consequently which rules and governs the universe,
as it has ruled and governed it from eternity;
for it is one and the same with the infinite being,
because He conjoined the Human with the Divine,
which was done by this,
that He made the Human in Himself also Divine.
From this it is now evident
that the supreme of truth Divine is the Lord's Divine Human,
and so that the supreme
among the doctrinal things of the church is
that His Human is Divine.

Luke 15:8-10

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.
Does she not light a lamp,
sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
And  when she finds it,
she calls her friends and neighbors together and says,
'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'
In the same way, I tell you,
there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."
(Luke 15:8-10) NIV

AC 4670 - the reading the Word; AC 4673 - the "Spirit of truth"; AC 4677 - colors

AC 4670 [2]
. . . there is no historical statement in the Word
which does not involve what is heavenly;
into which it is also changed
when it passes from the thought of the person who is reading,
to the angels with him,
and through the angels to heaven,
where from every historical of the Word
a spiritual sense is produced.

AC 4673
. . . all Divine truth is from Divine good
and proceeds from there.
If the like is not the case with a person,
he is not in the Lord.
This Divine truth is the holy itself of the spirit
which proceeds from the Lord,
and which is called the "Paraclete,"
and the "Spirit of truth."

AC 4677
The colors seen in the other life
are from the variation of the light there,
and are so to speak modifications of intelligence and wisdom;
for the light which appears there
is from the Divine truth that is from the Lord,
or is the Divine spiritual from Him,
or what is the same,
is Divine intelligence and wisdom,
which appears as light
before the eyes of angels and spirits.
So it is evident what is signified by the colors from that light,
namely, qualities of truth,
thus its appearances,
and that they appear from the affections of good and truth.

Luke 14:12-14

Then Jesus said to His host,
"When you give a luncheon or dinner,
do not invite your friends,
your brothers or relatives,
or your rich neighbors;
if you do,
they may invite you back
and so you will be repaid.
But when you give a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, and blind,
and you will be blessed.
Although they cannot repay you,
you will be repaid
at the resurrection of the righteous."
(Luke 14:12-14) NIV

AC 4663 - we will be what we are

AC 4663 [3]
. . . he who is the works of charity,
or what is the same, in a life of faith,
is capable of receiving faith,
if not in the body,
yet in the other life;
but one who is not
in the works of charity, or in a life of faith,
is by no means capable of receiving faith,
either in the body or in the other life.
For evil does not accord with truth,
but the one rejects the other . . .

Luke 13: 15-16; 34-35

"You hypocrites!
Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath
untie his ox or donkey from the stall
and lead it out to give it water?
Then should not this woman
a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years,
be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
When He said this,
all His opponents were humiliated,
but the people were delighted
with all the wonderful things He was doing.
(Luke 13:15-16) NIV

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were not willing!
Look, your house is left to you desolate.
I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say,
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
(Luke 13: 34-35) NIV

AC 4644 - in and from the Divine

AC 4644
. . . the things which are in the Divine
never appear to anyone,
but the things which are from the Divine appear
in a very general manner
according to the understanding into which they fall,
and yet only as faint outlines.

John 11: 7-9; 47-53

Then He said to His disciples,
"Let us go back to Judea."
"But Rabbi," they said,
"a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you,
and yet you are going back there?"
Jesus answered,
"Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
A man who walks by day will not stumble,
for he sees by this world's light.
It is when he walks by night that he stumbles,
for he has no light."
(John 11: 7-9) NIV

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees
called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
"What are we accomplishing?" they asked.
"Here is this Man performing many miraculous signs.
If we let Him go on like this,
everyone will believe in Him,
and then the Romans will come
and take away both our place and our nation."
Then one of them, named Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, spoke up,
"You do not realize that it is better for you
that one man die for the people
than that the whole nation perish."
He did not say this on his own,
but as high priest that year he prophesied
that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,
and not only for that nation
but also for the scattered children of God,
to bring them together and make them one.
So from that day
they plotted to take His life.
(John 11: 47-53) NIV

AC 4641 - the Lord's Divine Natural Good

AC 4641
The Lord's Divine Natural Good represented by 'Esau'
is that which was Divine
and which He had from when He was born;
for He had been conceived from Jehovah
and therefore had what was Divine even from birth.
It existed in Him as His soul
and was consequently the central core of His life.

Outwardly this had been clothed
with what He took upon Himself from His mother.
But since that which He took from her was not good
but essentially evil,
He cast this out by means of His own power,
in particular by means of the conflicts
that came with temptations.
Then after that 
He joined this Human
which He made new within Himself
to the Divine Good
which He had had from when He was born.

John 10:11-21

"I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
The hired hand is not the Shepherd who owns the sheep.
So when he sees the wolf coming,
he abandons the sheep and runs away.
Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
The man runs away because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep.
"I am the Good Shepherd;
I know My sheep and My sheep know Me -
just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father -
and I lay down My life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.
I must bring them also.
They too will listen to My voice,
and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.
The reason my Father loves Me
is that I lay down My life -  only to take it up again.
No one takes it from Me,
but I lay it down of My own accord.
I have authority to lay it down
and authority to take it up again.
This command I received from My Father."
At these words
the Jews were divided. 
Many of them said,
"He is demon-possessed and raving mad.  Why listen to Him?"
But others said,
"These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon.
Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
(John 10:11-21) NIV

AC 4623 - the real and the not real

AC 4623
But be it known
that the life of sense with spirits is twofold,
namely, real and not real.
The one is distinguished from the other by the fact
that everything is real
which appears to those who are in heaven,
whereas everything is unreal
which appears to those who are in hell.
For whatever comes from the Divine (that is, from the Lord)
is real, because it comes from the very being of things,
and from life in itself,
but whatever comes from a spirit's own is not real,
because it does not come from the being of things,
nor from life in itself.
They who are in the affection of good and truth
are in the Lord's life, thus in real life,
for the Lord is present in good and truth through the affection;
but they who are in evil and falsity through the affection,
are in the life of what is their own, thus in a life not real,
for the Lord is not present in evil and falsity.
The real is distinguished from the not real in this -
that the real is actually such as it appears,
and that the not real is actually not such as it appears.

John 9: 24-34

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind.
"Give glory to God," they said.
"We know this Man is a sinner."
He replied, "Whether He is a sinner or not, I don't know.
One thing I do know.
I was blind but now I see!"
Then they asked him, "What did He do to you?
How did He open your eyes?"
He answered, "I have told you already
and you did not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you want to become His disciples, too?"
Then they hurled insults at him and said,
"You are this Fellow's disciple!
We are disciples of Moses!
We know that God spoke to Moses,
but as for this Fellow,
we don't even know where He comes from."
The man answered,
"Now that is remarkable!
You don't know where He comes from,
yet He opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners.
He listens to the godly man who does His will.
Nobody has ever heard
of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
If this Man were not from God,
He could do nothing."
To this they replied,
"You were steeped in sin at birth;
how dare you lecture us!"
And they threw him out.

AC 4619-4621 - putting off the former and putting on a new

AC 4619
And was gathered unto his peoples.
(Genesis 35:29)
When anyone died the ancients said
that "he was gathered to his peoples,"
and thereby meant in the proximate sense
that he was among his own in the other life.
For during his bodily life
every person is
 as to his spirit
in company with spirits and angels,
and also comes among the same after death.
This is what was meant by the "peoples"
to whom he is gathered.
But in the internal sense of the Word,
where the goods and truths of the church
or of the Lord's kingdom are treated of,
by "being gathered to one's people"
is signified to be among the truths and goods
which agree or correspond.
All the heavenly societies are in truths and goods,
but as the truths and goods there
are related as by the relationships and connections of earth,
with every shade of difference

AC 4620
Old and sated of days.
(Genesis 35:29)
That this signifies newness of life,
is evident from the signification of "old,"
as being the putting off of a former state
and the putting on of a new one . . ..

AC 4621
That "being buried" is in the internal sense rising again,
is because when the body has died the soul rises again.
So when "burial" is mentioned in the Word
the angels do not think of the body which is cast off,
but of the soul which rises again;
for they are in spiritual ideas,
thus in the things that belong to life;
and therefore
all things that belong to death in the natural world,
signify such things as belong to life in the spiritual world.

Luke 12: 15; 49-53

"Watch out! 
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
a man's life does not consist
in the abundance of his possessions."
(Luke 12: 15) NIV

"I have come to bring fire on the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled!
But I have a baptism to undergo,
and how distressed I am until it is completed!
Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?
No, I tell you, but division.
From now on there will be
five in one family divided against each other
three against two
and two against three.
They will be divided,
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
(Luke 12: 49-53) NIV

AC 4609 - human words, heavenly ideas

AC 4609
. . . human words are from ideas
formed from the things
which are in the light of the world.
The ideas which are from the light of heaven
transcend these to such a degree
that they cannot be expressed,
but only to some extent thought of
by those to whom it has been given
to withdraw their mind from things of sense.

Luke 11: 9-13; 33-36

"So I say to you:
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.
"Which of you fathers,
if your son asks for a fish,
will give him a snake instead?
Or if he asks for an egg,
will give him a scorpion?
If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

"No one lights a lamp
and puts it in a place where it will be hidden,
or under a bowl.
Instead he puts it on its stand,
so that those who come in may see the light.
Your eye is the lamp of your body.
When your eyes are good,
your whole body also is full of light.
But when they are bad,
your body also is full of darkness.
See to it, then,
that the light within you 
is not darkness.
Therefore,
if your whole body is full of light,
and no part of it dark,
it will be completely lighted,
as when the light of a lamp shines on you.
(Luke 11: 9-13; 33-36) NIV

Luke 10:38-41

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way,
He came to a village
where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him.
She had a sister called Mary,
who sat at the Lord's feet
listening to what He said.
But Martha was distracted
by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to Him and asked,
Lord, don't You care
that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered,
"you are worried and upset about many things,
but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better,
and it will not be taken away from her."
(Luke 10:38-41) NIV