AC 4368 - Reading the Word in Love to the Lord vs. Self; AC 4372 - Spiritual Riches; AC 4373 - Inspiration

AC 4368 [2] - Reading the Word in Love to the Lord vs. Self

It is known that there are many within the church
who are affected by the Word of the Lord,
and who bestow much pains on the reading of it;
but still there are few who have as their end
that they may be instructed in the truth,
for most remain in their own dogma,
the confirmation of which from the Word
is their sole aim.
These seem to be in the affection of truth, but are not;
for those alone are in the affection of truth
who love to be instructed about truths,
that is, to know what the truth is,
and to search the Scriptures for this end.
No one is in this affection
except the person who is in good,
that is, who is in charity toward the neighbor,
and still more he who is in love to the Lord.
With these
good itself flows into truth,
and produces the affection,
for the Lord is present in this good.

AC 4372 - Spiritual Riches

Spiritual riches are predicated of truth,
and their uses of good.

AC 4373 [2] - Inspiration

. . . when these things are being read by a person
the angels . . . have no other idea than a spiritual one,
and with them the historical sense
is turned into this idea.
In this way do angelic thoughts
correspond with human thoughts.
It is such perpetual correspondences
that make the Word holy and Divine;
for thus by ascent the literal sense becomes spiritual,
and this even to the Lord,
where it is Divine.
This is inspiration.

AC 4358 - The Marriage of Good and Truth; AC 4359 - God's Providence

AC 4358 - The Marriage of Good and Truth

. . . good cannot have being without what it calls truths,
nor can truths exist without that which they call good.
The two join together of their own accord;
but as is the good
so are the truths
it joins to itself.
It is good that acknowledges them
and conjoins itself to them like a husband to his wife;
indeed the joining together of good and truths
is a marriage in the spiritual sense.
For good acknowledges its own truth,
and truth its own good,
and thereby they are joined together.

AC 4359 - God's Providence

. . . whatever God bestows is of His Providence.

AC 4353 - Act Precedes, Willing Follows

AC 4353 [3]

All Divine truth regards these two precepts --
to love God above all things,
and the neighbor as one's self.
It is these precepts from which
and for the sake of which
truths are,
and to which truths tend,
more nearly and more remotely.
Therefore when truths are put into act,
they are instilled successively
into their beginning and their end,
namely, into charity toward the neighbor,
and into love to the Lord;
and thereby truth becomes good,
which is called the good of truth;
and when this takes place,
it can then be conjoined with the internal person,
which conjunction becomes successively more interior,
in proportion as
more interior truths are implanted in this good.

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 it has been instilled in this,
the person no longer does good from truth,
but from good;
for he then begins to perceive therein
somewhat of blessedness,
and as it were somewhat of heaven.
This remains with him after death,
and by means of it
he is uplifted into heaven by the Lord.

AC 4342 - The Depth of Interior Truths; AC 4347 - The Use of Humiliation and Submission

AC 4342 - The Depth of Interior Truths

For the more that truths enter in by the interior way
the more they are purified from worldly and earthly things.

AC 4347 [2-3] - The Use of Humiliation and Submission

As regards humiliation and submission,
few know why this must be in the presence of the Divine
when a person is in worship;
and consequently they do not know what it effects.
. . . The Divine is not in any affection of glory,
for what glory has the Divine from man?
But He wills humiliation and submission,
not for His own, but for the person's sake.
For when person is in humiliation
he feels aversion for the evil and falsity in himself,
and thus removes them,
and on their removal
the Divine can flow in with good and truth.
Everyone may be aware of this in himself.
He who is of elated mind is in the love of self,
and not only sets himself above others,
but also cares nothing for the Divine,
and consequently rejects the influx of good,
and so its conjunction with truths.
This is the genuine reason
for a person's humiliation before the Divine.

It is therefore clear
that good cannot be conjoined with truths,
thus that a person cannot be regenerated,
unless he humbles and submits himself.

AC 4337 - The Good of Truth Is Truth in Will and Act

AC 4337 [2]

. . . regarded in itself the good of truth is only truth;
for so long as truth is in the memory only,
it is called truth;
but when in the will and then in act,
it is called the good of truth;
for to do truth is nothing else.
Whatever proceeds from the will is called good,
for the essential of the will
is love and the derivative affection;
and everything that is done from love and its affection
is named good.
Neither can truth be conjoined with the good that flows in
through the internal person
and is in its origin Divine . . .,
until the truth is truth in will and act;
that is, the good of truth.
For the good that flows in through the internal person
and is in its origin Divine,
flows into the will,
and there meets the good of truth
that has been instilled through the external person.

AC 4302 - The Order of Heaven; AC 4303 - Truths Distorted

AC 4302 [3] - The Order of Heaven

In short, the order of heaven consists
in the proper arrangement of truths
that are the truths of faith within goods
that are those of charity towards the neighbor,
and the arrangement of these goods
within the good that is the good of love to the Lord.

AC 4303 - Truths Distorted

. . . once truths have been distorted
they cease to be truths any longer;
and the more they are distorted into the reverse of truths
the nearer they get to falsities.

AC 4299 - Spiritual Temptations and Conscience

AC 4299 [1-2, 3]

. . . spiritual temptation is nothing else
than torment of conscience;
and consequently no one can be tempted
except those who are in celestial and spiritual good,
for these have conscience,
and all others have not,
and do not even know what conscience is.

Conscience is a new will and a new understanding
from the Lord;
thus it is the Lord's presence in a person.
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 is that the evils and falsities
which are in the person,
tempered by the goods and truths that are in him,
cannot endure a nearer presence.
This may be seen
from the things that take place in the other life:
that evil spirits cannot possibly
approach any heavenly society
without beginning to feel anguish and torment;
also that evil spirits cannot endure
to have angels look upon them,
for they are instantly tortured and fall into a swoon;
and also from the fact
that hell is remote from heaven,
for the reason that it cannot endure heaven,
that is, the Lord's presence which is in heaven.

Temptations and torments appear as if from the Divine,
because, as before said,
they come forth through the Lord's Divine presence;
but still they are not from the Divine, or from the Lord,
but from the evils and falsities
which are in the one who is being tempted or tormented.
For from the Lord nothing proceeds but the Holy
which is good and true and merciful.
This Holy, which is good and true and merciful,
is what those who are in evils and falsities cannot endure,
because they are opposites or contraries.

 

AC 4292 - Speech, Thought, Face

AC 4292 [4]

A person's speech represents his thought,
and his action represents his will.
Speech and action are a person's externals,
and thought and will his internals.
Furthermore, a person's face itself,
by its various looks,
represents both his thought and his will.

AC 4286 - The Internal and External of the Heavens, and "Jacob" & "Israel"

 AC 4286 [2, 7] - The Internal and External of the Heavens,
and "Jacob" & "Israel"

That there are three heavens, is known,
namely, an inmost heaven, a middle, and an ultimate;
or what is the same, a third, a second, and a first.
The inmost or third heaven is celestial;
for the angels there are called celestial
because they are in love to the Lord,
and are therefore most fully conjoined with the Lord,
and are consequently in wisdom above all the rest,
are innocent, and so are called innocences and wisdoms.
These angels are distinguished
into the internal and the external,
the internal being more celestial than the external.
The middle or second heaven is spiritual;
for the angels there are called spiritual
because they are in charity toward the neighbor,
that is, in mutual love, which is such
that the one loves the other more than himself;
and because they are such they are in intelligence,
and are consequently called intelligences.
These angels are also distinguished
into the internal and the external,
the internal being more spiritual than the external.
The ultimate or first heaven
is likewise celestial and spiritual,
but not in the same degree as the prior ones;
for what is natural adheres to these angels,
and they are therefore called
the celestial natural and the spiritual natural.
These also are in mutual love,
yet do not love others more than themselves,
but as themselves.
They are in
the affection of good and knowledge of truth,
and are likewise distinguished
into the internal and the external.

. . . in the supreme sense
both "Jacob" and "Israel" denote the Lord,
"Jacob" as to the Divine natural,
and "Israel" as to the Divine spiritual.
Thus the external which is of the Lord's kingdom
and of his church, is "Jacob,"
and the internal is "Israel" . . ..

AC 4273 - States of Truth & Good Evolve; AC 4274 - "Wrestling"

AC 4273 - States of Truth & Good Evolve

. . . the state of truth and good
is of one kind of the beginning,
of another in its progress,
and still another in the end . . ..

AC 4274 - "Wrestling"

And there wrestled a man with him.
(Genesis 32:24)

That this means temptation as to truth,
is evident from the meaning of "wrestling,"
as being temptation.
Temptation itself is nothing else
than a wrestling or combat;
for truth is assaulted by evil spirits
and is defended by the angels
who are with the person.
The perception of this combat by the person
is the temptation.
But 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.
Nothing else produces
the understanding life of person
except that which he believes to be true,
nor his will life
except that which he has impressed upon himself
as being good;
and therefore when that is assaulted
which he believes to be true,
the life of his understanding is assaulted;
and when that which he has impressed upon himself
as being good is assaulted,
the life of his will is assaulted;
so that when a person is being tempted,
his life is at stake.
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,
which takes place when the order is being inverted,
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.
If they who are not in this charity were to be tempted,
they would succumb at once;
and they who succumb come into
the confirmation of evil and the persuasion of falsity;
for the evil spirits with whom they are thus associated
then conquer within them.
This is the reason why at this day
few are admitted into any spiritual temptation,
but only into some natural anxieties,
in order that they may thereby be withdrawn
from the loves of self and of the world,
into which they would otherwise rush without restraint.
 

AC 4267 - "Lord," Servant", "Brethren"

AC 4267

That good is relatively a lord,
and truth relatively a servant,
and that they are nevertheless called "brethren,"
has been shown many times.
They are called "brethren"
because when good and truth have been conjoined,
good is then presented in truth as in an image,
and they afterwards act in conjunction
to produce the effect.
But good is called "lord" and truth "servant"
before they have been conjoined,
and still more so
when there is a dispute about the priority.

AC 4256 - The Use of Temptations; AC 4257 - A Person Perishes; AC 4263 - Why Goods and truths Are Mentioned So Often

AC 4256  [2] - The Uses of Temptations

. . . when truth occupied the first position,
that is, when it seemed to itself
to have dominion over good,
falsities intermingled themselves.
For truth is not able to see from itself
whether it is the truth,
but has to do so from good;
and where falsities exist
so does fear
when good draws near.
Furthermore all who are governed by good
start to experience fear when falsities are seen
in the light received from good,
for they fear falsities
and want to have them rooted out.
But they cannot be rooted out
if they are well established,
except by Divine means provided by the Lord.
This explains why,
following the experience of fear and distress,
those who are to be regenerated
enter into temptations too;
for temptations are the Divine means
by which falsities are removed.
And this reason why a person
who is being regenerated
undergoes spiritual temptations
is a most profound one.
Yet it is not seen at all by the person himself
because it lies beyond his range of discernment,
as does everything
which stirs, pricks, and torments his conscience.

AC 4257 - A Person Perishes

. . . a person also perishes completely
when the Church
and that which belongs to the Church
perishes in him;
that is, when the affection for truth,
which strictly is the meaning of 'mother'
and which constitutes the Church in a person,
is destroyed.

AC 4263 - Why Goods and Truths Are Mentioned So Often

The reason why goods and truths
are mentioned so many times,
and why they are meant by so many different things,
is that everything in heaven or in the Church
has a relationship with them --
everything of love and charity with good,
and everything of faith with truth.
Yet the genera and species of good and truth
are countless, indeed limitless,
as becomes clear from the fact
that all who are governed by good
are within the Lord's kingdom
and yet good is not one and the same
with one community as it is with another,
nor is it even one and the same
with one individual within a community
as it is with another.
For it is by no means possible
for one and the same good
to exist in two individuals,
still less in many,
for if one and the same good existed in them,
there would not even be two,
let alone many of them.
Every single whole consists of varying parts,
doing so through heavenly harmony and concord.

 

AC 4248, 4249 - Temptations

AC 4248

When the state with the person
who is being regenerated
is being inverted, that is, when good takes the first place,
then come temptations.
Before this time the person cannot undergo them,
because he is not yet in the knowledges
with which to defend himself,
and to which he may have recourse for comfort.
For this reason also
no one undergoes temptations
until he has arrived at adult age.
Temptations are what unite truths to good.

AC 4249

. . . temptation comes from
the angels holding the person in good and truths
while evil spirits are holding him in evils and falsities.

AC 4241, 4243, 4245 - Truths From Good and Truths That Are the Source of Good

AC 4241

Truths derived from this, that is, from good,
are quite different from truths
which are the source of good.
Truths which are the source of good are those
which a person takes to himself before regeneration,
whereas truths which are derived from good are those
which he takes to himself after regeneration.
For after regeneration truths are the product of good
since good is now the source
of his perception and knowledge that they are truths.

AC 4243

People who are regenerate are governed by this good,
as also are those who possess conscience,
that is, who no longer reason whether it is the truth
but do it because it is the truth,
and so who have taken it to themselves in faith and in life.

AC 4245

The things which are the substance and the basis
of a person's thought have an affect on him.
If he were to think from the goods of charity
he would see plainly that the truths of faith
occupied the second position,
and he would also see truths themselves
so to speak in light.
For the good which flows from charity
is like a flame which provides light
and so illuminates every single thing
which he had previously assumed to be true.
He would also discern
how falsities had intermingled themselves
and had taken on the appearance of truths.

AC 4233 - The Beginning of Genesis 32

AC 4233

And Jacob went to his way,
and the angels of God ran to meet him.
And Jacob said when he saw them,
This is the camp of God;
and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
(Genesis 32:1-2)

"And Jacob went to his way,"
means the successive advance of truth
toward its conjunction with spiritual and celestial good;
"and the angels of God ran to meet him,"
means enlightenment from good;
"and Jacob said when he saw them,
This is the camp of God,"
means heaven;
"and he called the name of that place Mahanaim,"
means the quality of the state.

 

AC 4231 - Who Is of the Church?

 AC 4231

. . . when a new church is being created by the Lord,
there then appears first of all
the good of the natural, that is,
good in the external form
together with its affection and truths.
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 he may seem to be
by virtue of that good which he is born with.

AC 4218 - The Grand Man

AC 4218

In order that the reader may have a general knowledge
of how the case is with the Grand Man,
let him bear in mind
that the universal heaven is the Grand Man,
and that heaven is called the Grand Man
because it corresponds to
the Divine Human of the Lord;
for the Lord alone is Man,
and an angel and a spirit,
and also a man on earth,
are men in exact proportion
to what they have from Him.
Let no one believe that man is man
from his possession of
a natural human face, body, brain,
and organs and members;
for all these are common to him with brute animals,
and therefore these are what die
and become a carcass.
But man is man from being able
to think and will as a man,
and thus to receive what is Divine,
that is, what is of the Lord.
By this man distinguishes himself
from beasts and wild animals;
and in the other life also
his quality as a man is determined by
what he has received from the Lord
and made his own in the life of the body.
__________

man = all human, all humankind

AC 4211 - Thinking About the Lord; AC 4213 - Those in Tranquillity and Peace; AC 4214 - Enlightenment and Light from the Lord; AC 4215 - The End Goal

AC 4211 [2] - Thinking About the Lord

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,
but not with one concerning whom he has no 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;
and this accounts for the fact
that no conjunction is possible
with the Lord's Supreme Divine,
but only with His Divine Human,
and through His Divine Human with His Supreme Divine.
So it is said in John
that no one has 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 so also He is called the Mediator.

AC 4213 - Those in Tranquillity and Peace

. . . those who are conjoined
in respect to good and truth
are in tranquillity and in peace.
. . . for the good of love and charity confer peace.

AC 4214 [1, 2] - Enlightenment and Light from the Lord

As regards enlightenment,
it is all from the Lord,
and through the good that is in the person;
and such as is the good,
such is the enlightenment.

That which is from the light of heaven is in good,
that is, is with those who are in good,
and who from good are able to see truth,
and to know as in clear day
whether a thing is so, or is not so.

AC 4215 [2] - Regarding the End Goal

For he who regards himself as the end,
and not as an intermediate end to good,
and desires to be conjoined with another
as to that end,
is in evil.

 

AC 4205 - Good and Truth Together

AC 4205 [1, 2]

It has been stated above
that conjunction is effected by good,
and that good flows in according to the reception.
But the reception of good
is not possible in any other way
than according to truths,
truths being that which good flows into;
for good is the agent,
and truth is the recipient;
and therefore all truths are recipient vessels.

. . . 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.
From all this it is also evident
that the reception of good
is according to the nature of the truths.

AC 4197 - One Truth; AC 4198 - The Presence of the Lord

AC 4197 [7-8, 9] - One Truth

The command given in the representative church,
that all truth shall stand
on the word of two or three witnesses,
and not on that of one
(Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6, 7; 19:15; Matt. 18:16),
is founded on 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.
These are the things
on which the law in question is founded,
although in the outward form
it appears to be founded in the civic state;
the one however is not contrary to the other,
as is also the case
with the precepts of the Decalogue . . .
written upon the tables of stone
are called in one word the "testimony,"
as in Moses:

Jehovah gave unto Moses,
when He had made an end of speaking with him
upon Mount Sinai,
the two tables of the testimony,
tables of stone,
written with the finger of God.
(Exodus 31:18)

because they were of the covenant,
thus of the conjunction between the Lord and man;
which conjunction cannot come into existence
unless man keeps the precepts,
not only in external form,
but also in internal.

AC 4198 - The Presence of the Lord

As regards the presence of the Lord,
He is present with everyone,
but according to the reception;
for everyone's life is from the Lord alone.
Those who receive His presence in good and truth,
are in the life of intelligence and wisdom;
but those who do not receive
His presence in good and truth,
but in evil and falsity,
are in the life of insanity and folly;
but yet are in the capacity
of understanding and being wise.
. . . may be seen from their knowing
how to feign and simulate what is good and true
in the outward form,
and thereby to captivate people,
which would be by no means the case
if they had not this capacity.

AC 4194 - Conjunction

AC 4194

For all who are in good
are conjoined with the Divine of the Lord,
and on account of this conjunction
are called by the Lord "brethren;"
as in Mark:

Jesus looking round on them which sat about Him,
said, Behold My mother, and My brethren;
for whosoever shall do the will of God,
the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.
(Mark 3:31, 34-35)
.
All conjunction is through love and charity,
as everyone can see;
for spiritual conjunction is nothing else
than love and charity.
That love to the Lord is conjunction with Him is clear;
and that charity toward the neighbor is the same,
is evident from the words of the Lord in Matthew:

Inasmuch as you did it
unto one of the least of these My brethren,
you did it unto Me.
(Matthew 25:40);

the subject treated of here
being the works of charity.

AC 4174 - Acting To Merit Salvation; AC 4180 - "Dread" and the Divine Truth Proceeding

AC 4174

. . . all who are being reformed
at first suppose that good is from themselves,
and therefore that by the good which they do
they merit salvation;
for their supposing that they merit salvation
by the good which they do
is the result of their supposing
that the good is from themselves,
for the one idea coheres with the other.
But those who suffer themselves to be regenerated
do not confirm this in their thought,
or persuade themselves that it is so;
but the idea is gradually dissipated.
For so long as anyone is in the external person,
as is the case with all
in the beginning of their reformation,
he cannot do otherwise than think so,
because he thinks solely from his external person.
But when the external person
together with evils is being removed,
and the internal person is beginning to work;
that is, when the Lord flows in
through the internal person with the light of intelligence,
and thereby enlightens the external person;
the person then begins to believe otherwise,
and ascribes good not to himself,
but to the Lord.

AC 4180 [1, 5]

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.

As the Divine truth proceeds from the Divine Human,
but not from the Divine Itself,
it is therefore the Divine Human
which is here signified by the "Dread of Isaac;"
for, as just now said,
it is the Divine truth which terrifies,
but not the Divine good.
That the Divine truth proceeds
from the Lord's Divine Human,
but not from the Divine Itself,
is an arcanum not hitherto disclosed.
The case is this:
Before the Lord came into the world
the Divine Itself flowed into the whole heaven;
and as heaven then
consisted for the most part of the celestial,
that is, of those who were in the good of love,
through this influx,
by the Divine Omnipotence,
there was brought forth the light
which was in the heavens,
and thereby wisdom and intelligence.
But after the human race had removed itself
from the good of love and charity,
that light could no longer be produced through heaven,
nor, consequently,
the wisdom and intelligence that would
penetrate down to the human race.
For this cause, from the necessity of their being saved,
the Lord came into the world,
and made the Human in Himself Divine,
in order that as to His Divine Human
He might become the Divine Light,
and might thus illuminate
the universal heaven and the universal world.
From eternity He had been the Light itself,
for that Light was from the Divine Itself through heaven.
And it was the Divine Itself
which took on the human, and made this Divine;
and when this was made Divine,
He could then thereby illuminate
not only the celestial heaven itself,
but also the spiritual heaven,
and likewise the human race,
which received and receives the Divine truth in good,
that is,
in love to Him and in charity toward the neighbor,
as is manifest in John:

As many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
to them that believe on 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)

AC 4154 - All Truth From the Divine

AC 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.

AC 4149 & AC 4151 - States of Good and Evil and How We React

AC 4149

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 truths may be compared to
the fibers that compose one of the bodily organs,
in accordance with the form of which fibers
there results the organ,
and consequently its operation,
which operation is effected by means of
the life that flows in through the soul;
and this life is from the good which is from the Lord.
It is thus that good, although one,
is yet various with every individual,
so various as never to be similar in every respect
with one as with another.
So also it is that the truth of one
can never subsist in the good of another.
For all the truths with everyone who is in good
communicate with one another,
and produce a certain form,
and therefore the truth of one
cannot be transferred into another;
but when it is transferred,
it passes into the form of him who receives it,
and puts on another aspect.
But this arcanum is too deep
to be expounded in a few words.

AC 4151 [3, 5,6]

Speaking generally, the case is
that no one ever has good and truth which is his own,
but all good and truth flow in from the Lord,
both immediately,
and also mediately through angelic societies;
and yet it appears as if
the good and truth were the person's,
to the intent that they may be appropriated to him,
until he comes into a state to know,
and then to acknowledge,
and at last to believe,
that they are not his,
but the Lord's.

The same is the case with evil and falsity.
According to the doctrinals from the Word,
the devil is continually endeavoring to seduce a person,
and is continually inspiring evil;
and therefore when anyone commits a great crime;
it is said that he has suffered himself
to be led astray by the devil.

That this is the case has frequently been shown to spirits
who had come recently from the world into the other life.
But some of them have said
that if all evil and falsity also flow in,
nothing of evil and falsity can be attributed to them,
and they are not in fault,
because these come from another source.
But they received for answer
that they had appropriated evil and falsity
by believing that they think and will of themselves;
whereas if they had believed as the case really is,
they would not then have appropriated the evil and falsity,
for they would have believed
all good and truth to be from the Lord;
and if they had believed this,
they would have suffered themselves
to be led by the Lord,
and therefore 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;
according to the Lord's words in Mark 7:15:

Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean'
by going into him.
Rather, it is what comes out of a man
that makes him 'unclean.'

AC 4136 - Changing Goods; AC 4145 - Mediate Good and Conjugial Love

AC 4136 [2]

With those who are not being regenerated,
it is not goods that are changed,
but affections and their delights.
But with those who are being regenerated
there are changes of state of goods,
and this from infancy even to the close of life.
For the Lord foresees
what kind of a life a person is going to lead,
and how he is going to suffer himself
to be led by the Lord;
and because all things are foreseen
both in general and in particular --
indeed, the smallest singulars --
they are also provided.

AC 4145

Collateral good, or that which does not inflow directly,
is that good which has been called mediate good,
for this good derives many things
from worldly things which appear as goods,
but are not goods;
while the good that flows in directly
is that which comes immediately from the Lord,
or from the Lord mediately through heaven,
and is Divine good
separated from such worldly good as just referred to.

Every person who is being regenerated
is first in mediate good,
in order that it may serve for introducing
genuine goods and truths;
but after it has served this use,
this good is separated,
and the person is brought to good
which flows in more directly.
Thus the person who is being regenerated
is perfected by degrees.
For example: he who is being regenerated
believes at first that the good
which he thinks and does is from himself,
and that he also merits something;
for he does not yet know,
and if he knows he does not comprehend,
that good can flow in from some other source,
nor that it can be otherwise
than that he should be recompensed,
because he does it from himself.
Unless at first he believed this,
he would never do any good.
But by this means he is initiated
not only into the affection of doing what is good,
but also into knowledges
concerning good and also concerning merit;
and when in this manner he has been led
into the affection of doing what is good,
he then begins to think differently
and to believe differently, namely,
that good flows in from the Lord,
and that by the good
which he does from his own (self or proprium)
he merits nothing;
and at last when he is in the affection of
willing and doing what is good,
he altogether rejects self-merit,
and even has an aversion for it,
and is affected with good from good.
When he is in this state,
good flows in directly.

Take also as an example conjugial love:
the good which precedes and initiates
is beauty, or agreement of manners,
or an outward adaptation of the one to the other,
or equality of condition,
or a desired condition.
These goods
are the first mediate goods of conjugial love.
Afterwards comes conjunction of minds,
wherein the one wills as the other,
and perceives delight in doing
that which pleases the other.
This is the second state;
and then the former things,
though still present,
are no longer regarded.
Finally there follows a unition
in respect to celestial good and spiritual truth,
in that the one believes as the other,
and the one is affected by the same good as the other.
When this state comes,
both are together in the heavenly marriage,
which is that of good and truth,
and thus are in conjugial love --
for conjugial love is nothing else --
and the Lord then flows into
the affections of both as into one affection.
This is the good that flows indirectly;
but the former goods,
which flowed in indirectly,
served as means of introduction to this.

AC 4121 - 'Brothers'; AC 4122 - 'And Pursued Him'

 AC 4121 [1-2]

In the internal sense 'brothers'
means people who are governed by
the same kind of goodness and truth,
that is, they share the same affection for these.
Indeed all in the next life
are grouped together in different communities
on the basis of their affections;
and those so grouped together in any community
constitute a brotherhood.
They do so
not because they call themselves brothers
but because they are such
through their being joined to one another.
In the next life it is goodness and truth
that lie behind that which on earth is called
a blood-relationship and a relationship by marriage,
and for this reason
the latter correspond to that goodness and truth.
Indeed regarded in themselves
forms of goodness and truth
acknowledge no other father than the Lord,
for they exist from Him alone,
and therefore all who are governed by
forms of goodness and truth
exist in a brotherly relationship with one another.
Yet degrees of affinity exist,
determined by the particular nature
of each form of goodness or truth.
In the Word these degrees are meant by
brothers, sisters, sons-in-law, daughters- in-law,
grandsons, granddaughters,
and many other names for relatives in a family.

On earth however
these names are given to people
because they have the same parents,
no matter how much these people
differ from one another in affection.
But that kind of brotherly relationship and affinity
is dissolved in the next life,
and unless on earth
they have been governed by the same affection
they all enter different brotherly relationships.

AC 4122

'And pursued him'
(Genesis 31: 23)
means a continuing intense desire to be joined.
This is clear from the meaning here of 'pursuing'
as a continuing intense desire to be joined.
The subject at this point in the internal sense
is the separation of
intermediate good from genuine good
after intermediate good had served its use.
A full description of the process of separation
is what the internal sense contains here.
Yet the process is such
that not even the existence of it
is perceptible to man,
but to angels it is seen quite clearly,
including its countless variations.
Thus they see and perceive in one
who is being regenerated
and with whom they are present as servants
all the changes of state he undergoes.
And in accordance with those changes,
and by means of them, the Lord
enables those angels to lead him towards good,
insofar as he allows himself to be led.
It is because that process
serves so great a use in heaven
that it is dealt with so extensively here.
It also shows the nature of the internal sense -
that it is the angelic Word.

** The Lord's Grief and Pain **

When God created man,
He made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female
and blessed them.
And when they were created,
He called them "man."

(Genesis 5:1.5-2)

The Lord saw how great man's wickedness
on the earth had become,
and that every inclination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The Lord was grieved
that He had made man on the earth,
and His heart was filled with pain.

(Genesis 6:5-6)

AC 4110 - The Spirits With a Person; AC 4111 - Changes of State in the Other Life; AC 4112 - Good and Truth in the Word

AC 4110 [2]

There are good spirits,
there are spirits of an intermediate kind,
and there are evil spirits.
These are linked to a person
when he is being regenerated,
to the end that through them
he may be introduced into genuine goods and truths --
which the Lord effects by means of angels.
But they are the kinds of spirits
or communities of spirits
who do not accord, except for a time,
with the one to be regenerated,
and therefore when they have performed their use
they are separated.
The separation of them is effected in differing ways --
the separation of the good spirits in one way,
that of the spirits of the intermediate kind in another,
and that of the evil spirits in yet another.
The separation of the good spirits
is effected without their being directly conscious of it,
for they know from the Lord's good pleasure
that all is well with them
wherever they are or to wherever the Lord takes them.
But the separation of the spirits of the intermediate kind
is effected by many means until they depart in freedom.
They are returned to the state of their own good,
and consequently to the state of the use they serve
and of the end they therefore have in view,
so that in that state
they may experience the delight and blessing
that are their own.
But because they have derived pleasure
out of their previous connection
with the one who is being regenerated
they are several times returned to
and then released from that connection
until they no longer take any delight in staying with him
and so depart in freedom.
Evil spirits too are indeed removed in freedom,
but in a kind of freedom
which appears to them to be freedom.
They are linked to the person
who is being regenerated
so that they may introduce negative ideas
which have to be dispelled,
the intention being that this person
may be strengthened all the more in truths and goods.
And when he starts to be strengthened in these,
those spirits take no delight in staying with him,
only in separation from him.
In this way they are separated by a feeling of freedom
that accompanies their delight.
This is how the separation takes place
of spirits present with a person
when he is being regenerated,
and how as a consequence
changes of his state
as regards good and truth are brought about.

AC 4111 [3]

For speaking generally,
the changes of state in the other life
are nothing else than approaches to the Divine
and removals from the Divine.

AC 4112

. . . where truth is treated of in the Word,
good is also treated of,
because of the heavenly marriage of good and truth
in every particular of the Word.

AC 4103. 4104, 4108 - Choosing Between Two Kingdoms, the Spiritual and the Natural

AC 4103

. . . a person is in heaven as to his interiors
when he is in spiritual love and faith.

AC 4104 [5]

Every person of adult age
who possesses any judgment,
and will give the matter any consideration,
is able to know that he is in two kingdoms,
namely, in a spiritual kingdom and in a natural kingdom;
and also that the spiritual kingdom is interior,
and the natural kingdom exterior;
and consequently that he can set one before the other,
that is, he can regard one as the end
in preference to the other;
and thus that the one
which he regards as his end, or prefers,
rules with him.
If therefore he regards the spiritual kingdom as his end,
and prefers it
(that is, the things that belong to this kingdom),
he then acknowledges as the principal and primary,
love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor,
and consequently
all things that confirm this love and charity,
and are said to be of faith;
for these belong to that kingdom;
and in this case
all things in his natural are arranged and set in order
in accordance therewith,
in order that they may be subservient and obedient.
But when a person has as his end
and sets first the natural kingdom
(that is, the things it contains),
he then extinguishes
all that is of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor,
and all that is of faith,
insomuch that he makes them of no account whatever;
but makes the love of the world and of self,
and all that belongs thereto,
to be everything.
When this is the case,
all things in his natural are arranged in order
in accordance with these ends,
thus in utter contrariety to the things of heaven;
and in this way he makes hell in himself.
To regard as an end is to love,
for every end is of the love,
because whatever is loved is regarded as the end.

AC 4108 [2]

As regards the conjunction
of the rational and the natural in a person,
be it known that the rational
is of the internal person and the natural of the external;
and that their conjunction produces the human,
of such a quality as is the conjunction,
and that there is conjunction when they act as a one;
and they act as a one
when the natural ministers
and is subservient to the rational.
With a person this is impossible
unless it is done by the Lord;
but with the Lord it was done by Himself.

 

AC 4096, 4099 - The Societies of Spirits and Angels Work With Good and Truths

AC 4096 [5, 6]

But how the case is with good
when it adjoins truths to itself by affections,
and with truths
when they apply themselves to it,
cannot so well appear
when the idea or thought is directed to good and truth,
but better when it is directed to
the societies of spirits and angels
through which these flow in;
for as before said,
a person's willing and thinking
come from these societies,
that is, flow in from them,
and appear as if they were in him.
To know how the case herein is
from the societies of spirits and angels,
is to know it from causes themselves;
and to know it from the heaven of angels
is to know it from the ends of these causes.
There are also historical things
which adjoin themselves,
and illustrate these things,
causing them to appear more plainly.

Even then, however,
doubts and sometimes denials
are excited by the spirits
who have been joined to the person;
but insofar as affection prevails,
so far he is led to the affirmative,
and he is then confirmed in truths by these very things.
When good flows in in this manner,
it is not perceived that it comes through angels,
because it flows in so interiorly,
and into the person's obscurity
which he has from worldly and corporeal things.
Be it known however
that good does not flow in from the angels,
but through the angels from the Lord;
and this all the angels confess,
and therefore
they never claim for themselves any good,
and are even indignant
when anyone attributes it to them.
From all this then, as from causes themselves,
it may be seen how the case is
with the adjoining of good to truths,
and with the application of these latter,
which are the subjects here treated of
in the internal sense.

AC 4099 [1-2]

. . . unless it is known how the case is
with the goods and truths which are insinuated
by means of a mediate good,
or unless it is known of what nature are
the societies of spirits which serve as mediate good.
The societies of spirits which serve as mediate good
are those which are in worldly things;
but the societies of angels
which serve for introducing the affections of truth
are not in worldly but in heavenly things.

These two kinds of societies are in action
about a person who is being regenerated;
and insofar as
he is initiated by the angels into heavenly things,
so far are the spirits
who are in worldly things removed;
and unless they are removed,
truths are dissipated.
For worldly things and heavenly things
are in agreement in a person
when heavenly things rule over worldly ones;
but they are in disagreement
when worldly things rule over heavenly things.
When they are in agreement,
truths are multiplied in the person's natural;
but when they are in disagreement
truths are diminished, and even consumed,
because worldly things darken heavenly things,
and so consequently place them in doubt;
but when heavenly things have rule,
they throw light upon worldly things,
and place them in clear light,
and dispel doubts.
Those things rule which are loved above all others.

AC 4075, 4077 - The Presence and Use of Societies and Angels; AC 4085 - When An Angel Speaks; AC 4091 - What Proceeds From the Lord

AC 4075

When the Lord made the human in Himself Divine,
He too had around Him societies of spirits and angels,
for He willed that all things
should be done according to order;
but He summoned to Himself
such as might be of service,
and changed them at His good pleasure;
yet He did not take from them
and apply to Himself
anything of good and truth,
but only from the Divine.
In this manner
He also reduced into order both heaven and hell,
and this by successive steps,
until He had fully glorified Himself.

AC 4077 [2-3]

The case is similar with every person
who is being regenerated, namely,
that societies are applied to him by the Lord
which serve for introducing genuine goods and truths,
not from themselves,
but by their means;
and when he who is being regenerated
is transferred to other societies,
those who had previously been with him are indignant.
But these things do not appear to the person,
because he does not believe
that he is in the company of spirits and angels;
but they appear clearly to the angels,
and to those also
to whom of the Lord's Divine mercy
it is granted to speak with them,
and to be among them as one of them.

The spirits lament greatly
that a person does not know this,
nor even that they are with him;
and still more that many deny not only their presence,
but also that there is a hell and a heaven.
This however they ascribe to a person's stupidity;
the fact being
that a person has not the least of thought,
nor the least of will,
which does not come
from the Lord by influx through spirits;
and it is by them as means
that the Lord governs the human race,
and each person in particular.

AC 4085

. . .  an angel does not speak from himself,
but from the Lord,
especially when he speaks in a dream . . ..

AC 4091

. . . whatever the Lord provides
proceeds from Him,
and whatever proceeds from Him is holy . . ..

AC 4067 - The Good and Evil Present with a Person

AC 4067 [3-4]

. . . the good present with a person seems to him to be something that is a simple or single whole, but in fact it is something so complex, consisting of so many varying features, that he cannot possibly explore even so much as its general ones. And the same applies to the evil present with a person. But as is the good present with a person, so is the community of angels present with him; and as is the evil present with a person, so is the community of evil spirits present with him. A person chooses certain communities for himself, that is, he places himself within one of these; for like is brought into association with like. For example, one who is grasping chooses for himself communities of like-minded spirits who are motivated by his kind of desire; one who loves himself pre-eminently and despises others chooses for himself others who are like himself; while one who takes delight in acts of revenge chooses for himself such as delight in these; and so on with everyone else. Those spirits are in communication with hell, with man in the midst of them and utterly under their control, so much so that he is not under his own jurisdiction but under theirs, although he imagines from the delight he experiences, and so from the freedom he has, that he is in control of himself. But one who is not grasping, or one who does not love himself pre-eminently and does not despise others, or one who does not take delight in acts of revenge, dwells in a community of like-minded angels and through them is led by the Lord, and indeed by means of freedom to everything good and true to which he allows himself to be led. And as he allows himself to be led to good which is more interior and more perfect, so he is conveyed to more interior and more perfect angelic communities. His changes of state are nothing else than changes of communities. The truth of this is evident to me from continuing experience which has lasted for several years now, from which it has become something as ordinary and everyday for me as any ordinary everyday thing experienced by anyone since he was a young child.

These considerations now make clear the situation with the regeneration of man, and with the intermediate delights and forms of good by which a person is conveyed by the Lord from the state of the old man to that of the new, that is to say, it is effected by means of angelic communities and by changes of those communities. Intermediate forms of good and delight are nothing else than such communities, with which the Lord brings man into contact so that by means of them he may be introduced to spiritual and celestial kinds of good and truth. Once he has been conveyed to these, those communities are separated, and more interior and more perfect ones become linked to him. Nothing else than this is understood by the intermediate good meant by 'Laban', and nothing else by the separation of that good, which is the subject of the present chapter.
__________

Man is not specifically male but male and female.
 

AC 4060 - Coming In the Clouds of Heaven

AC 4060 [7-9]

And they will see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory
(Matthew 24:30.5)

means that at that time
a revelation of the internal sense of the Word -
the sense in which the Lord is present -
will take place.
'The Son of Man' means Divine truth within the Word,
'the clouds' the literal sense.
'Power' has reference to the good
and 'glory' to the truth present there.
. . . This is the kind of coming of the Lord
that is meant here,
not a literal manifestation of Him in clouds.
 
Next follows a reference
to the establishment of a new Church,
which takes place
once the old has been brought to ruin and cast aside.

He will send out His angels
with a trumpet and a loud voice
(Matthew 24:31)

means election - not by visible angels,
still less by trumpets and by loud voices,
but by an influx of holy good and of holy truth
from the Lord through angels,
so that the expression 'angels' in the Word
means something essentially the Lord's.
In this instance it means
things which come from the Lord
and have reference to the Lord.
'A trumpet and a loud voice'
means the proclamation of the Gospel,
as in other places in the Word.

And they will gather the elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other
(Matthew 24:31.5)

means the establishment of a new Church,
'the elect' being people in whom
the good of love and faith dwell,
'the four winds' from which they will be gathered
being all states of good and truth,
and 'one end of the heavens to the other'
the internal and the external features of the Church.

These are the considerations
that are meant by these words spoken by the Lord.

AC 4041, 4048 - Heaven and the Brain

AC 4041

The heavenly form is amazing,
and quite surpasses all human intelligence;
for it is far above the ideas of the forms
that a person can possibly conceive of
from worldly things,
even with the aid of analysis.
All the heavenly societies are arranged in order
in accordance with this form,
and wonderful to say
there is a gyration according to these forms,
of which angels and spirits are not sensible.
This is like the daily movement
of the earth round its axis,
and its annual movement round the sun,
which its inhabitants do not perceive.
It has been shown me
of what is the nature of this heavenly form
in the lowest sphere;
it was like the form of the circumvolutions
seen in the human brains.
It was given me to perceptibly see this flow
(that is, these gyrations),
and this continuously for several days;
and in this way I was assured
that the brain is formed in accordance with
the form of the flow of heaven.
But the interior things therein,
which do not appear to the eye,
are in accordance with the interior forms of heaven,
which are quite incomprehensible;
and I was told by the angels
that from this it can be seen
that mankind has been created
according to the forms of the three heavens;
and that in this way
the image of heaven has been impressed upon him,
so that a person is a little heaven in the least form;
and that this is the source
of his correspondence with the heavens.

AC 4048

There was one who spoke to me close to my head,
and I perceived from the sound
that he was in a state of tranquillity
like that of a kind of peaceful sleep.
. . . those who were like him
relate to the longitudinal sinus,
which is between the two hemispheres of the brain,
and is there in a quiet state,
however much the brain may be in tumult
on both sides of it.

AC 4031 - The Lord Works In Freedom

AC 4031 [4]

A person's freedom is what the Lord works in,
and by which He bends him;
for all freedom is of his love or affection,
and therefore of his will.
If a person does not receive good and truth in freedom,
it cannot be appropriated to him, or become his.
For that which anyone is compelled to is not his,
but belongs to him who compels,
because although it is done by him,
he does not do it of himself.
It sometimes appears
as if a person were compelled to good,
as in temptations and spiritual combats;
but that he has then a stronger freedom
than at other times . . ..
It also appears
as if a person were compelled to good,
when he compels himself to it;
but it is one thing to compel one's self,
and another to be compelled.
When anyone compels himself,
he does so from a freedom within;
but to be compelled is not from freedom.
This being the case, it is evident into what shades,
and thus into what errors,
those are able to cast themselves
who reason concerning the Providence of the Lord,
the salvation of people,
and the damnation of many,
and yet do not know
that it is freedom by which the Lord works,
and by no means compulsion;
for compulsion in things of a holy nature
is dangerous,
unless it is received in freedom.

AC 4015 - Being Regenerated or the Disposition of Order

AC 4015

Disposition into order by the interior power of truth,
is the power of the interior person
acting into the exterior,
or of the spiritual person into the natural;
for all disposition into order
of the good and truth in the natural person
comes from the spiritual person
(that is, through the spiritual person from the Lord),
and in fact through the truth therein;
for the Lord inflows into the good
of the spiritual or interior person;
and through the truth therein into the natural person;
but not immediately through the good,
until the person has been regenerated;
and therefore
all the disposition into order in the natural person
is effected by the interior person.
The natural, or natural person,
cannot possibly be disposed into order
(that is, be regenerated)
in any other way.
That this is done by the interior person
is evident from the acknowledgment of truth,
which unless it is made by
the interior person is not acknowledgment;
and also from conscience,
which is the acknowledgment of truth
by the interior person;
and also from perception.
As disposition into order is effected by
the interior person by means of truth,
power is predicated of truth,
and also the "rod" by which power is meant;
as well as the "hand," by which also power is meant;
as may be confirmed
by very many passages in the Word.
Not that there is power in truth from itself, but in good;
and thus in truth from good;
that is, in truth through good from the Lord.
This shows to some extent what is meant by
the disposition into order of the interior power of truth.
In the supreme sense,
in which the Lord is treated of,
His own power is meant;
for the Divine has its own power,
because this is from no other.

AC 4007 - White Robes

AC 4007 [4]

. . . by "white" is meant the truth of faith;
the "white garments" and "white robes"
being nothing else.
But the truth of faith does not belong to those
who believe that they have faith of themselves,
and thus are wise from themselves;
but to those who believe
they have faith and wisdom from the Lord,
for to these are faith and wisdom given
because they ascribe nothing
of truth and good to themselves,
still less believe that they have merit
through the truths and goods they possess;
and less still that they are justified thereby;
but only by ascribing them to the Lord;
thus all things to His grace and mercy.

AC 3994 - Innocence Is the Essential of Love and Charity

 AC 3994

In all good there must be innocence
in order that it may be good.
Charity without innocence is not charity;
and still less
is love to the Lord possible without innocence.
For this reason innocence is the very essential
of love and charity, consequently of good.
A proprium (own, ego) that is innocent
is to know, acknowledge, and believe,
not with the mouth but with the heart,
that nothing but evil is from one's self,
and that all good is from the Lord;
and therefore
that what is a person's proprium (own, ego)
is nothing but blackness;
that is to say, not only the proprium of his will,
which is evil,
but also the proprium of his understanding,
which is falsity.
When a person is
in this confession and belief from the heart,
the Lord flows in with good and truth,
and insinuates into him a heavenly proprium,
which is white and lustrous.
No one can ever be in true humility
unless he is in
this acknowledgment and belief from the heart;
for he is then in annihilation of self,
indeed, in the loathing of self,
and thus in absence from self;
and in this manner he is then in a state
capable of receiving the Divine of the Lord.
It is by this means
that the Lord flows in with good
into a humble and contrite heart.

** A Great Multitude in White Robes **

After this I looked
and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne
and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes
and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

(Revelation 7:9-10)

AC 3982 - Harmony ; AC 3987 - Both the Evil and the Good Can Do Good

AC 3982 [2, 3]

The goods that are in people,
as well within the church as without it,
are absolutely various,
so various that the good of one person
is never precisely like that of another.
The varieties come forth from the truths
with which the goods are conjoined;
for all good has its quality from truths,
and truths have their essential from goods.
Varieties also come forth
from the affections of everyone's love;
which are enrooted in
and appropriated to
a person by his life.
Even in the man who is within the church
there are few genuine truths,
and still fewer in the person
who is without the church;
so that the affections of genuine truth
are rare among people.

Nevertheless those who are in the good of life,
that is, who live in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor,
are saved.
That these can be saved is because
the Divine of the Lord is in the good of love to God
and in the good of charity toward the neighbor;
and where the Divine is within,
there all things are disposed into order,
so that they can be conjoined with
the genuine goods and genuine truths
that are in the heavens.
That this is the case may be seen
from the societies that constitute heaven,
which are innumerable,
and all of which in both general and particular
are various in respect to good and truth,
and yet all taken together form One Heaven;
being circumstanced as are
the members and organs of the human body,
which, although everywhere various,
nevertheless constitute one man.
For a one that is formed of many
is never constituted of units of exactly the same pattern;
but of varying things harmoniously conjoined.
Everyone is composed
of various things harmoniously conjoined;
 and the case is the same
with the goods and truths in the spiritual world,
which, although various,
so that they are never precisely the same
with one as with another,
nevertheless make a one from the Divine
through love and charity.
For love and charity are spiritual conjunction;
and their variety is heavenly harmony,
which makes such concord
that they are a one in the Divine,
that is, in the Lord.

AC 3987

. . . it is of the interior person to will good to another,
and thereby to think good;
but of the external person to do good,
and thereby to teach good.
Unless doing good is conjoined with willing good,
and teaching good with thinking good,
there is no good in the person;
for the evil can will evil and do good,
and also think evil and teach good,
as everybody can know.
Hypocrites and profane persons
are in this study and art more than others,
so much so indeed
that they can palm themselves off as angels of light,
when yet they are devils within;
from all which it is evident
that good can be made fruitful with no one,
unless doing good is conjoined with willing good,
and teaching good with thinking good;
that is, unless the external person
is conjoined with the internal.

AC 3975 - "Serving"

AC 3975

For whom I have served you.
(Genesis 30:26)

That this means from His own power,
is evident from the meaning of "serving,"
as being labor and study,
and which when predicated of the Lord,
means His own power;
for from His own power
the Lord procured for Himself
Divine goods and Divine truths,
and made His Human Divine.

 

** And They Sang **

And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slain,
and with Your blood
You purchased men for God
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.
You have made them to be
a kingdom and priest to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."

Then I looked
and heard the voice of many angels,
numbering thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousand times ten thousand.
They encircled the throne
and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and on the sea,
and all that is in them, singing:

"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

The four living creatures said, "Amen,"
and the elders fell down and worshiped.

(Revelation 5:9-14)

AC 3969 - The Lord's Divine Spiritual

AC 3969 [16, 17]

As regards the Lord's Divine Spiritual,
or the Divine truth,
which in the supreme sense
is represented by Joseph,
it is not in the Lord,
but is from the Lord;
for the Lord is nothing but Divine good;
but the Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good.
To speak comparatively,
this is like the sun and its light;
the light is not in the sun,
but proceeds from it.

The Divine Spiritual that proceeds from the Lord
is called in the Word the "spirit of truth,"
and is holy truth;
not being of any spirit,
but of the Lord through a spirit sent by Him;
as may be seen from
the words of the Lord Himself in John:

When He, the Spirit of Truth, shall come,
He will guide you into all the truth;
for He shall not speak from Himself;
but what things soever He shall hear,
these shall He speak;
and He shall declare unto you
the things that are to come.
He shall glorify Me;
for He shall take of Mine,
and shall declare it unto you.
(John 16:13-14)

 

AC 3963 - The Church Exists

AC 3963 [2]

. . . the church exists
from the affection of truth in which there is good,
and the affection of good from which is truth;
but not from the affection of truth
in which there is not good,
nor from the affection of good
from which is not truth.
Those who say that they are of the church,
being in the affection of truth
and not in the good of truth,
that is, who do not live according to truths,
are much mistaken.
These are outside the church,
although within its congregation;
for those are in the affection of evil,
with which truth cannot be conjoined.
Their affection of truth is not from the Lord,
but from themselves;
for they have regard to themselves,
to the intent that
by the knowledges of truth they may gain reputation,
and thereby honors and wealth;
but they have no regard to the church,
nor to the Lord's kingdom,
and still less to the Lord.
But those who are in the affection of good
from which there is not truth,
are not of the church,
although within its congregation;
for they are in natural and not spiritual good,
and suffer themselves to be led
into every kind of evil and falsity,
if only the appearance of good
is induced upon the evil,
and the appearance of truth upon the falsity.

** The Alpha and the Omega **

"I am the Alpha and the Omega,"
says the Lord God,
"Who is,
and who was,
and who is to come,
the Almighty."

(Revelation 1:8)

 

AC 3957 - A Person Ought Have a Care

AC 3957 [7]

. . . heaven, or the Lord through heaven,
is continually working and inflowing with good and truth;
and that if there is not then in a person --
in their interior person
which lives after the death of the body --
some recipient of good and truth,
as a ground or plane,
the good and truth that flow in cannot be received;
and for this reason
a person while living in the body
ought to be solicitous
to procure such a plane within himself;
but this cannot be procured
except by thinking what is good toward the neighbor,
and by willing what is good to him,
and therefore doing what is good to him,
and thus by acquiring the delight of life in such things.
This plane is acquired by means of
charity toward the neighbor,
that is, by means of mutual love;
and is what is called conscience.
Into this plane
the good and truth from the Lord can inflow,
and be received therein . . ..

** The End of the Prayer Jesus Prayed Before His Arrest **

"Righteous Father,
though the world does not know You,
I know You,
and they know that You have sent Me.
I have made You known to them,
and will continue to make You known
in order that the love You have for Me
may be in them
and that I Myself may be in them."

(John 17:25-26)

AC 3952 - The Heavenly Marriage

  AC 3952 [1-2]

. . . the heavenly marriage is
that of good with truth and of truth with good,
yet is not between good and truth
of one and the same degree,
but between good and truth
of a lower and of a higher degree,
that is, not between the good of the external person
and the truth of the same,
but between the good of the external person
and the truth of the internal;
or what is the same,
not between the good of the natural person
and its truth,
but between the good of the natural person
and the truth of the spiritual person.
This conjunction is that which makes the marriage.

It is the same in the internal or spiritual person;
the heavenly marriage there
is not between the good and the truth in that person;
but between the good of the spiritual person
and the truth of the celestial person;
for the celestial person is relatively in a higher degree.
Nor is there a heavenly marriage between
the good and the truth in the celestial person;
but between the good of the celestial person
and the truth Divine which proceeds from the Lord.
From this it is also evident
that the Divine marriage itself of the Lord
is not between the good Divine
and the truth Divine in His Divine Human,
but between the good of the Divine Human
and the Divine Itself, that is,
between the Son and the Father;
for the good of the Lord's Divine Human
is that which is called in the Word the "Son of God,"
and the Divine Itself is called the "Father."   
   

AC 3938 - Heavenly Affections

AC 3938 [4, 5, 6, 7]

All affections have their delights;
but such as are the affections,
such are the delights.
The affections of evil and falsity
also have their delights;
and before a person begins to be regenerated,
and to receive from the Lord
the affections of truth and good,
these delights appear to be the only ones;
so much so that people believe
that no other delights exist;
and consequently that if they were deprived of these,
they would utterly perish.
But those who receive from the Lord
the delights of the affections of truth and good,
gradually see and perceive
the nature of the delights of their former life,
which they had believed to be the only delights --
that they are relatively vile, and indeed filthy.
And the further a person advances into
the delight of the affections of truth and good,
the more does he begin to regard
the delights of evil and falsity as vile;
and at last to hold them in aversion.

. . . the delight of charity
is that which fills the universal heaven,
and constitutes the blessedness and happiness there;
and if you will to believe it,
it constitutes the intelligence and wisdom also,
together with their delights;
for into the delights of charity
the Lord inflows
with the light of truth and the flame of good,
and with the derivative intelligence and wisdom.

. . . everyone can be admitted into heaven,
because heaven is denied by the Lord to no one;
. . . the life there is that of love to the Lord
and of love toward the neighbor,
which constitutes all the sphere and happiness
of the life there . . ..

Such is the happiness of being content in God.

AC 3934 - Works: Thinking, Willing, and Doing Good

AC 3934 [2,4, 8]

That a "troop" in the external sense means works,
is because these correspond to the good of faith;
for the good of faith produces works,
because the good of faith is not possible without works,
just as thinking good and willing good
are not possible without doing good.
The one is the internal,
and the other the corresponding external.

Works of charity are those
which flow from charity as from their soul;
but works of faith are those which flow from faith.
Works of charity exist with the regenerate person;
and works of faith with him
who has not yet been regenerated,
but is being regenerated;
the case being the same as it is
with the affections of good and of truth;
for the regenerate person
does good from the affection of it,
thus from willing good;
but the person who is to be regenerated
does good from the affection of truth,
thus from knowing good.

. . . a person is never in charity and faith
unless he is in works,
for this reason "works"
are so frequently mentioned in the Word . . .

Moreover be it known
that the Lord's kingdom commences in a person
from the life which is of works,
for he is then in the beginning of regeneration;
but when the Lord's kingdom is in a person,
it terminates in works,
and then the person is regenerate.
For his internal person
is then within his external person
in correspondence . . .
and his works are of his external person,
while charity and the derivative faith
are of his internal person;
and therefore in this case his works are charity.

AC 3927 - Wrestlings

AC 3927 [1, 2, 3]

. . . temptations are nothing else than
wrestlings of the internal person with the external,
or of the spiritual person with the natural;
for each desires to rule,
and when dominion is in question,
combat arises, which is here called "wrestling."

That in the supreme sense
these words mean own power,
is because the Lord,
when He was in the world and in the human there,
sustained all temptations from His own power,
and conquered from His own power;
differently from every person,
who never sustains any spiritual temptation
and conquers in it from his own power;
for it is the Lord
who sustains and conquers within him.

. . . in spiritual temptations
there is dispute about dominion,
as to which shall have the supremacy,
the internal person or the external;
or what is the same,
the spiritual person or the natural,
for these are opposed to each other.
For when a person is in temptations,
his internal or spiritual person
is ruled by the Lord through angels;
but his external or natural person
through infernal spirits;
and the combat between them
is that which is perceived by the person as temptation.
When a person is such in faith and life
that he can be regenerated,
he will conquer in temptations;
but when he is such that he cannot be regenerated,
he yields in temptations.

** Jesus to the People Then to the Jews Who Believed **

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said,
"I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows Me
will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life."

(John 8:12)

To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said,
"If you hold to My teaching,
you are really My disciples.
then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free."

(John 8:31)

AC 3921 - The Lord's Judgment and Mercy; AC 3922 - Every Truth; AC 3923 - Faith and the Holy of Faith (Charity)

AC 3921

. . . for the Lord judges all from justice,
and hears all from mercy.
He judges from justice because from Divine truth,
and He hears from mercy because from Divine good;
from justice He judges those
who do not receive the Divine good;
and from mercy He hears those who do.
But still when He judges from justice,
it is also at the same time from mercy;
for in all Divine justice there is mercy,
as in Divine truth there is Divine good.

AC 3922

. . . every truth that is acknowledged
is given by the Lord.

AC 3923

For he who affirms mere faith with himself,
and not the holy of faith, that is, charity
(for this is the holy of faith),
and does not affirm this by the good of life,
that is, by the works of charity,
can no longer have a relish for the essence of faith,
because he rejects it.
Affirmation together with acknowledgment
is the first general principle with the person
who is being regenerated,
but is the last with him who has been regenerated . . ..

AC 3913 - The Natural Person and the Spiritual Person

AC 3913 [3]

. . . the natural person does not in the least
agree with the spiritual person,
but disagrees so far as to be altogether opposite.
For the natural person
regards and loves himself and the world;
but the spiritual person
does not regard himself and the world,
except insofar as is conducive to
the promotion of uses in the spiritual world;
and thus regards its service
and loves it from the use and end.
The natural person seems to himself
to have life when he is elevated to dignities,
and thus to supereminence over others;
but the spiritual person seems to himself
to have life in humility,
and in being the least.
Nor does he disregard dignities,
provided that by them as means
he can be of service to his neighbor,
to the community, and to the church.
Yet he does not reflect for the sake of himself
upon the dignities to which he is elevated,
but for the sake of the uses
which he regards as the ends.
The natural person is in his bliss
when he is richer than others,
and possesses the world's wealth;
but the spiritual person is in his bliss
when he is in the knowledges of truth and good,
which are his riches;
and still more when he is in
the practice of good according to truths;
and yet he does not despise riches,
because by means of them
he can be in that practice, and in the world.