AC 4592 - The Lord, Joseph and Benjamin

AC 4592 [2-6]

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

All people whatever are born natural,
with the power of becoming either celestial or spiritual;
but the Lord alone was born spiritual celestial,
and for this reason He was born at Bethlehem,
where is the boundary of the land of Benjamin,
for by "Bethlehem" is meant the spiritual of the celestial,
and by Benjamin is represented
the spiritual of the celestial.
The reason why the Lord alone
was born spiritual celestial
is that the Divine was in Him.
These things cannot possibly be comprehended
by anyone who is not in the light of heaven;
for he who is in the light of the world,
and has his perception therefrom,
scarcely knows what truth is and what good is,
still less what it is to ascend through degrees
to the interior things of truth and good;
thus he is in complete ignorance
of those innumerable things of truth and good
in every degree which are clear
before the angels as in noonday light.
So it is evident of what the nature is
of the wisdom of angels relatively to that of people.

There are six names
which frequently occur in the prophets
where the church is treated of, namely,
"Judah," "Joseph," "Benjamin,"
"Ephraim," "Israel," and "Jacob."
He who does not know
what of the good and truth of the church
is meant by each one of these in the internal sense
cannot possibly know anything
of the Divine arcana of the Word there.
Nor can he know what of the church is meant,
unless he knows what the celestial is which is "Judah,"
what the celestial of the spiritual is which is "Joseph,"
what the spiritual of the celestial is which is "Benjamin,"
what the intellectual of the church is which is "Ephraim,"
what the internal spiritual is which is "Israel,"
and what the external spiritual is which is "Jacob."

As regards Benjamin specifically,
as he represents the spiritual of the celestial,
and Joseph the celestial of the spiritual,
and thus both together
the intermediate between
the celestial and the spiritual person,
and as they are consequently most closely conjoined,
therefore also their conjunction is described
in the history of Joseph as follows:

Joseph told his brethren
that they must bring their youngest brother,
lest they should die.
(Gen. 42:20)

When they returned with Benjamin,
and Joseph saw Benjamin his brother,
he said, Is this your youngest brother?
And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
And Joseph made haste,
for his bowels did yearn toward his brother;
and he sought where to weep,
and he therefore entered into his chamber,
and wept there.
(Gen. 43:29-30)

He multiplied Benjamin's portion fivefold
above the portions of them all.
(Gen. 43:34)

After he had made himself known to his brethren,
he fell upon his brother Benjamin's necks and wept;
and Benjamin wept upon his necks.
(Gen. 45:14)

He gave changes of garments to them all,
but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver,
and five changes of garments.
(Gen. 45:22)

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

AC 4585 - Four Basic Terms; AC 4588 - "Midwife"

AC 4585 [4]

. . . (as) we have no terms more adequate for expressing
exterior things than the term natural,
for interior things than the term rational,
for those things which are of truth the term spiritual,
and those which are of good the term celestial,
it is absolutely necessary to make use of these terms,
for without terms adapted to the subject
nothing can be described.

AC 4588 - "Midwife"

That the midwife said unto her, Fear not.
(Genesis 35:17)

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

AC 4580 - "Pillars," a History

AC 4580

And Jacob set up a pillar
in the place in which He spoke with him,
a pillar of stone.
(Genesis 35:14)

. . . the meaning of a "pillar," as being the holy of truth . . ..

The pillars set up in ancient times were either for a sign, or for a witness, or for worship. Those for worship were anointed, and were then holy, and worship was also held there, thus in temples, in groves, in forests under the trees, and in other places. This ritual derived its representation from the fact that in the most ancient times stones were set up on the boundaries between families of nations, lest they should pass over the boundaries to do one another evil (as for instance in the case of Laban and Jacob, Gen. 31:52). That they should not pass the boundaries to do evil was to them a law of nations. And as the stones were on the boundaries, when the most ancient people (who in everything on the earth saw a corresponding celestial and spiritual thing) saw these stones as boundaries, they thought about the truths which are the ultimates of order. But their descendants, who beheld in objects less of what is spiritual and celestial, and more of what is worldly, began to think of them with sanctity merely from the veneration derived from old time. And at last the descendants of the most ancient people who lived immediately before the flood, and who no longer saw anything spiritual and celestial in earthly and worldly things regarded as objects, began to regard these stones as holy, pouring drink-offerings upon them, and anointing them with oil; and they were then called "pillars," and were used for worship.

This remained after the flood in the Ancient Church, which was representative, but with the difference that the pillars served these people as a means for attaining to internal worship; for the infants and children were instructed by their parents in regard to what they represented, and were thus brought to know holy things, and to be affected with the things which the pillars represented. It is for this reason that the ancients had pillars for worship in their temples, groves, and forests, and upon hills and mountains. But when the internal of worship altogether perished with the Ancient Church, and they began to hold the externals as holy and Divine, and thus to worship them idolatrously, they then erected pillars for their several gods. And as the posterity of Jacob were most prone to idolatrous things, they were forbidden to erect pillars, and also to have groves, and even to hold any worship upon mountains and hills; but they were to be gathered together to one place, where the ark was, and afterwards where the temple was, thus to Jerusalem; otherwise each family would have had its own externals and idols that they would have worshiped, and consequently a representative of a church could not have been instituted with that nation.

AC 4572 - The Cause of Joy & Consolation; AC 4574 - Honorable & Becoming; AC 4575 - Truths Coming from the Lord's Divine Human

  AC 4572 [2] - The Cause of Joy & Consolation

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

AC 4574 [3] - Honorable & Becoming

What is honorable
is to will well to others from the heart
in the affairs of civil life,
and what is becoming
is to testify this in speech and gesture.

AC 4575 - Truths Coming from the Lord's Divine Human

Truths from the Divine marriage
are those which proceed from the Lord's Divine Human,
and are called holy,
for the Lord's Divine Human is the Divine marriage itself,
and the things which proceed from it are holy,
and are called celestial and spiritual,
and effect the heavenly marriage,
which is truth conjoined with good,
and good conjoined with truth.
This marriage exists in heaven,
and in everyone who is in heaven,
and also in everyone who is in the church,
provided he is in good and at the same time in truth.

AC 4554 - "Journeyed"; AC 4559 - "El-Bethel"

AC 4554 - "Journeyed"

And they journeyed.
(Genesis 35:5)

That this means what is continuous,
is evident from the meaning of "journeying,"
as being what is successive,
thus what is continuous,
namely, of progression toward interior things.

AC 4559 - "El-Bethel"

And called the place El-Bethel.
(Genesis 35:7)

That this means a holy natural,
is evident from the meaning of "Bethel,"
as being the Divine natural;
but when it is called "El-Bethel"
it is not the Divine, but a holy, natural;
for when the Lord made His Human Divine,
He first made it holy.
Between making it Divine and making it holy
there is this difference --
that what is Divine is Jehovah Himself,
but what is holy is from Jehovah.
The former is the Divine being,
but the latter is what comes forth from there.
When the Lord glorified Himself,
He made his Human also the Divine being, or Jehovah;
but before He did this,
He made His Human holy.
Such was the process
of the glorification of the Lord's Human . . ..

 

AC 4551 - Obedience

AC 4551

. . . the things of obedience are things actual,
for to obey involves doing in act.
. . . for what a person believes, he does.

 

 

AC 4538 - His Process and Ours

AC 4538

And God said unto Jacob.
(Genesis 35:1)

That this means the perception of natural good,
such as Jacob now represents,
from the Divine,
is evident from the meaning
in the historicals of the Word of "to say,"
as being to perceive,
consequently that "God said"
denotes perception from the Divine;
and from the representation of Jacob,
who here in the supreme sense
is the Lord as to natural good.
In the preceding pages it has been shown
what Jacob represents in the Word;
and as he represents various things,
the subject shall be briefly explained.

In the supreme sense
Jacob represents in general the Lord's Divine natural.
But as the Lord glorified His natural,
it was different in the beginning
from what it was in the progression,
and at the end.
Therefore Jacob represented various things,
namely, in the beginning
the Lord's natural as to truth,
in the progression
the Lord's natural as to the good of truth,
and at the end
the Lord's natural as to good.
For the Lord's glorification
proceeded from truth to the good of truth,
and finally to good,
as has already been frequently shown.
Now as this is the end,
Jacob represents the Lord as to natural good.
The reason why Jacob now represents
the Lord's Divine natural as to good,
is that this is the end, as before said.

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

Before he has learned these things,
he cannot know what good is,
by which is not meant civil good and moral good,
for these are learned in the world
by means of laws and statutes,
and by reflections upon the morals of people,
and therefore the nations outside the church
also know such things;
but by good is meant spiritual good,
which good is called in the Word charity;
and this good is in general
to will and do good to others for no selfish reason,
but from the delight of the affection.
This good is spiritual good,
and to it no person can attain
except by means of the truths of faith,
which are taught by the Lord by means of the Word
and preachings of the Word.

After a person has been instructed in the truths of faith,
he is gradually led by the Lord to will the truth,
and also from willing to do it.
This truth is called the good of truth,
for the good of truth is truth in will and act;
and it is called the good of truth
because the truth which has been of doctrine
then becomes of the life.
At last, when the person perceives delight
in willing good and in doing it from will,
it is no longer called the good of truth, but good;
for he is then regenerate,
and no more wills and does good from truth,
but truth from good;
and the truth which he then does
is also as it were good,
for it derives its essence from its origin, which is good.
From all this it is evident why and from where it is
that Jacob in the supreme sense
represents the Lord's natural as to good.
The reason why Jacob here represents this good,
is that in the internal sense
further progress is now treated of, namely,
toward the interior things of the natural,
which are "Israel".
No one who is being regenerated by the Lord
can be led to these interior things
until the truth with him has become good.

AC 4526, 4530 - Heavenly Light and Color

AC 4526 - Heavenly Light

The reason why a person is able to acquire intelligence
by means of the things which appear before him
in the light of this world,
is that a higher light (that is, the light of heaven)
flows into the objects which are of the light of the world,
and causes them to appear
representatively and correspondently;
for the light which is above the light of the world
is a light that proceeds from the Lord,
who illumines the universal heaven.
The very intelligence and wisdom that are from the Lord
appear there as light.
It is this light which produces
a person's understanding or internal sight,
and when it inflows through the understanding
into the objects of this world's light,
it causes them to appear
representatively and correspondently, thus intellectually.
And as the eyesight which is in the natural world
corresponds to the sight of the understanding
which is in the spiritual world,
it corresponds to the truths of faith,
because these belong to genuine understanding;
for truths produce all a person's understanding,
inasmuch as all his thought
is employed in deciding that a thing is so, or is not so;
that is, that it is true, or is not true.

AC 4530 - Heavenly Color

In general the colors seen in the other life
have splendor and whiteness
insofar as they come from the truth of intelligence;
and they have refulgence (brilliance) and crimson
insofar as they come from the good of wisdom.
Those colors which derive their origin from these sources
also belong to the provinces of the eyes.

 

AC 4496 - Cupidities = Greed for Money or Possessions

AC 4496

When they were in pain.
(Genesis 34:25)

That this means cupidities is evident
from the signification of the "pain" after circumcision,
as being cupidity.
The reason why this pain means cupidity
is that circumcision means purification
from the love of self and of the world,
and all the cupidity of the flesh is from these loves,
and is therefore meant by this "pain,"
because when a person is being purified from these loves,
as is the case when he is being regenerated,
he is in pain and anxiety,
and it is the cupidities then being removed
which are in pain and anguish.

AC 4493 - The Secret Reason

 AC 4493 [4-6]

If a person of the Most Ancient Church
had read the historic or prophetic Word,
he would have seen its internal sense
without any previous instruction or explanation,
and this so fully
that the celestial and spiritual things of this sense
would have at once occurred to him,
and scarcely anything in the sense of the letter;
thus the internal sense would have been
in clearness to him,
but the sense of the letter in obscurity.
He would be like one who hears another speaking
and gets the meaning without attending to the words.

But if a person of the Ancient Church
had read the Word
he could not have seen its internal sense
without previous instruction or explanation;
thus the internal sense would have been
in obscurity to him,
but the sense of the letter in clearness.
He would be like one who hears another speaking
and is intent upon the words
while not attending to the meaning,
which is thus lost to him.

But when a person of the Jewish Church
reads the Word,
he apprehends nothing beyond the sense of the letter,
he is not aware that there is any internal sense,
and also denies it;
and at the present day the case is the same
with a person of the Christian Church.

All this shows what was the difference
between those represented by Hamor and Shechem
(who being of the remains of the Most Ancient Church
were in internals and not in externals),
and those signified by the sons of Jacob
(who were in externals and not in internals);
and it shows further that Hamor and Shechem
could not accede to externals
and accept those among the sons of Jacob
without their internals being closed;
thus causing their eternal destruction.

This is the secret reason why
Hamor and Shechem with their families were slain,
which otherwise would not have been permitted.
But this does not exculpate the sons of Jacob
from having committed an enormous crime.
They knew nothing of this secret reason,
and it was not the end they had in view.
Everyone is judged according to his end or intention,
and that their intention was fraudulent
is plainly stated in the thirteenth verse;
and when any such crime is permitted by the Lord,
it is evil men and their infernal instigators
who are the authors of it.
Nevertheless all the evil
which the evil intend and do to the good
is turned by the Lord into good,
as in the present instance,
in that Hamor and Shechem with their families
were saved.

AC 4478, 4479, 4480, 4482 - What Various Words Mean or Signify or Reading the Word to Understand the Spiritual

AC 4478 - "city" and "inhabitants"

. . . in ancient times
a city was nothing else than one family of a nation,
and the dwelling together of those who were of one family
was called a "city."
And as in the internal sense
it is not the family that is understood,
but the quality of the family in respect to life and doctrine,
by "city" is meant the truth of doctrine,
and by its "inhabitants" the good of doctrine.
But when the inhabitants of a city are called
the "men" of the city,
it is not the good of doctrine
but its truths which are then meant,
for in the Word "men" [viri] denote truths.

AC 4479 - "peaceable"

. . . in the spiritual sense those are called "peaceable"
who are in agreement
as to the doctrinal things and dogmas of the church.

AC 4480 - "to dwell in the land"

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

AC 4482 [1, 3] - measures

In the Word,
description according to measures
does not mean measures in the internal sense,
but qualities of state;
for measures imply spaces,
and in the other life there are no spaces or times,
but states corresponding thereto,
and therefore the lengths, breadths, and heights
of measured space mean
such things as belong to state.
That "length" means holiness,
"height" good,
and "breadth" truth . . .
and therefore by a "land broad in spaces" is meant
the extension of the truth of doctrine in the church.

The reason why "breadth" has this meaning
is that in the spiritual world, or in heaven,
the Lord is the center of all things,
for He is the sun there.
Those who are in a state of good
are interior in proportion to
the quality and quantity of the good in which they are,
and therefore "height" is predicated of good.
Those who are in a like degree of good
are also in a like degree of truth,
and therefore are as it were at a like distance,
or, so to speak, in the same circumference,
and so "breadth" is predicated of truths;
and therefore when a person is reading the Word
this is what the angels who are with him
understand by "breadth."
In those historicals of the Word
where the ark, the altar, the temple,
and the spaces outside the cities are treated of,
by the dimensions of these in respect to
lengths, breadths, and heights,
are perceived the states of good and truth.
The case is similar where the new earth,
the new Jerusalem,
and the new temple are treated of in Ezekiel (40 to 47),
by which are signified heaven and a new church,
as may be seen from every particular.
So also in John,
where it is said of the new Jerusalem
that it will be foursquare,
and its length as great as its breadth (Rev. 21:16).

AC 4459 - Loving Gold and Silver

AC 4459 [6]

Those who love gains and profits
merely for the sake of the gold and silver,
in the possession of which
consists the sole delight of their life,
are in outermost or lowest things,
for the objects of their love are merely earthly;
whereas those who love gold and silver
for the sake of some use,
lift themselves above earthly things
according to the use.
The very use that a person loves
determines his life and distinguishes it from others;
an evil use makes the person infernal,
and a good use makes him heavenly --
not indeed the use itself,
but the love of the use,
for everyone's life is in his love.

AC 4447 - The Land of Canaan

AC 4447 [2, 3]

The remains of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial
still existed in the land of Canaan,
especially among those called Hittites and Hivites.
The reason why these remains did not exist anywhere else
was that the Most Ancient Church called "Man" or "Adam"
was in the land of Canaan,
and therefore the "garden of Eden,"
by which was meant
the intelligence and wisdom of the men of that church,
and by the trees in it their perception,
was in that land.
And because intelligence and wisdom
were meant by this "garden" or paradise,
the church itself was meant by it;
and because the church was meant,
so also was heaven;
and because heaven,
so also in the supreme sense, was the Lord;
and therefore in this sense
the "land of Canaan" itself signifies the Lord,
in the relative sense heaven and also the church,
and in the individual sense the person of the church;
and therefore also the term "land" or "earth"
when mentioned alone in the Word has a like meaning;
the "new heaven and new earth" being a new church
in respect to its internal and its external.
That the Most Ancient Church
was in the land of Canaan . . . and the result of this was
that the places there became representative,
and for this reason Abram was commanded to go there,
and the land was given to his descendants
the sons of Jacob
in order that the representatives of the places
in accordance with which the Word was to be written,
might be retained.

All this shows what is here meant by the
"Church among the Ancients," namely,
remains from the Most Ancient Church.
And as these remains existed
among the Hittites and Hivites,
therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
together with their wives,
obtained a place of burial with the Hittites in their land;
and Joseph with the Hivites.

AC 4439 - Jacob Represents

AC 4439

. . . in very many passages in the Word
the external Ancient Church is represented by Jacob.
The reason why Jacob represents this church
is that in the supreme sense
he represents the Lord's Divine natural,
to which the external church corresponds.
But by his "sons" are meant his descendants,
who extinguished in themselves
the truth that existed among the ancients,
and thus destroyed that which was of the church,
the result being
that only its representative remained with them.

AC 4434 - Correspondences Through Love Truly Conjugial

AC 4434 [9]

Since through love truly conjugial
marriages on earth correspond to the heavenly marriage,
which is that of good and truth,
therefore the laws delivered in the Word
concerning betrothals and marriages
wholly correspond to the spiritual laws
of the heavenly marriage,
as that they were to espouse only one wife
(Mark 10:2-8; Luke 16:18);
for such is the case in the heavenly marriage,
namely, that good cannot be conjoined
except with its own truth,
and truth with its own good.
If good were conjoined with any other truth than its own,
it would not subsist at all,
but would be rent asunder and so would perish.
In the spiritual church
the wife represents good and the man represents truth,
but in the celestial church
the husband represents good and the wife truth;
and ---what is a mystery --
they not only represent those things
but also in actual fact correspond to them.

AC 4424 - Gnashing of Teeth

AC 4424 [3]

There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;
(Matthew 24:51)

means their state in the other life,
"wailing," their state as to evils,
and "gnashing of teeth," their state as to falsities.
For in the Word
the "teeth" mean the lowest natural things,
in the genuine sense the truths of these natural things,
and in the opposite sense their falsities.
The teeth moreover correspond to these things,
and therefore the "gnashing of teeth"
is the collision of falsities with truths.
Those who are in mere natural things,
and who are in these from the fallacies of the senses,
and who believe nothing but what they see from them,
are said to be in the "gnashing of teeth,"
and also in the other life appear to themselves to be so
when they draw conclusions from their fallacies
concerning the truths of faith.
In a church vastated (laid waste) as to good and truth
such persons abound.

 

AC 4404 - AC 4405 - The Correspondences of the Senses, Particularly Sight

AC 4404 - AC 4405

As regards the correspondence of the senses,
speaking generally
the sense of touch corresponds to the affection of good,
the sense of taste to the affection of knowing,
the sense of smell to the affection of perceiving,
the sense of hearing to the affection of learning,
and also to obedience,
and the sense of sight to the affection of understanding
and of being wise.

The reason why the sense of sight corresponds to
the affection of understanding and being wise,
is that the sight of the body corresponds precisely
to the sight of its spirit, thus to the understanding.
For there are two lights,
one which is of the world from the sun,
the other which is of heaven from the Lord.
In the light of the world there is no intelligence,
but there is intelligence in the light of heaven.
Consequently insofar as those things with a person
which are of the light of the world are illumined
by those which are of the light of heaven,
thus insofar as these two classes of things
correspond to each other,
so far the person understands and is wise.

AC 4390 - "Building a House"; AC 4394 - Being in the Lord's Kingdom; AC 4402 - Good Acts

AC 4390 - "Building a House"

And built him a house.
(Genesis 33:17)

That this means the increase of good from truth . . .
is evident from the meaning of "building a house,"
as being to instruct the external person
in intelligence and wisdom.
And as intelligence belongs to truth,
and wisdom to good,
by "building a house" is here meant
the increase of good from truth.
What the good of truth is,
has been already stated, namely,
that it is truth in will and act.
This truth is what is called good,
and the conscience which is from this good
is called a conscience of truth.
This good which is from truth increases in proportion
as the person exercises charity from willing well,
thus in proportion and in such a manner
as he loves the neighbor.

AC 4394 - Being in the Lord's Kingdom

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

AC 4402 - Good Acts

. . . good acts by truth when it exerts power.


 

AC 4380, 4383 - Two Short Truths; AC 4385 - How Correspondences Work

AC 4380

. . . good and truth from the Lord fill the whole heaven.

AC 4383

. . . all things both in general and in particular
are foreseen by the Lord,
even what they will be to eternity.

AC 4385 [2]

For correspondences work in the following way:
They are very much like
a person talking in a foreign language
to someone else who instantly understands what is meant
as if in his own language,
the sounds and pronunciation of the words actually used
being no hindrance to him.
So it is with the internal sense of the Word,
which sense is in perfect agreement
with the universal language which angels use,
that is, with the spiritual speech
which is expressive of their thought.
Their speech is spiritual
because their thought
is a product of the light of heaven
which shines from the Lord.

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 . . ..