AC 5662 - "Peace be to you, fear not."

AC 5662

And he said, Peace be to you, fear not.
(Genesis 43:23)

That this means that it is well, let them not despair,
is evident from the meaning of "peace," as being to be well;
and from the meaning of "fear not,"
as being let them not despair.
For the internal sense treats of a change of state,
in that they no longer procure truths
and through them good
by their own power;
but are presented with them from the Lord.
And because they supposed
that they would thus lose their own (proprium, ego),
thus freedom, and consequently all the delight of life,
they were in despair,
as is plain from what has gone before.

. . . That "peace" denotes it is well,
is because it is the inmost,
and from there the universally reigning thing,
in each and all things in heaven;
for peace in heaven is like spring on earth,
or like the dawn,
which does not affect us by sensible changes,
but by a universal pleasantness
that flows into everything that is perceived,
and fills with this pleasantness
not only the perception itself
but also the several objects.
At the present day scarcely anyone knows
the meaning of "peace" where mentioned in the Word,
as in the benediction,
"Jehovah lift up His faces you, and give you peace"
(Numbers 6:26);
and in other places.
Almost everyone believes peace to be
security from enemies,
and also tranquillity at home and among companions.
Such peace is not meant in this passage,
but a peace which immeasurably transcends it --
the heavenly peace just now spoken of.
This peace can be bestowed on no one
unless he is led by the Lord
and is in the Lord, that is, in heaven
where the Lord is all in all;
for heavenly peace flows in
when the greediness arising from
the love of self and the love of the world are taken away.
These are what take peace away,
for they infest a person's interiors,
and at last cause him to make rest consist in unrest,
and peace in annoyances,
because his delight is in evils.
So long as a person is in these
he cannot possibly know what peace is,
indeed, he so long believes that such peace is nothing;
and if anyone says that it becomes perceptible
when the delights from the love of self and the world
are taken away, he laughs,
because he makes peace consist in the delight of evil,
which is the opposite of peace.

Because such is the nature of peace,
namely, the inmost of all happinesses and blessednesses,
and for this reason the universal that reigns in them all,
therefore the ancients used
as a common form of speech the words,
"Peace be unto you," when they meant that it be well;
and asked whether people "had peace"
when they meant "Is it well?"
See what has been said and shown above
in regard to peace, namely:
That peace in heaven is like spring and the dawn on earth
(n. 1726, 2780):
That peace in the supreme sense is the Lord,
in the representative sense His kingdom,
and that it is the Lord's Divine
affecting with good from the inmost (n. 3780, 4681):
That all unrest is from evil and falsity,
but peace from good and truth (n. 3170).

AC 5651 - Being Perfected

AC 5651 [3-4]

Regeneration is nothing else
than that the natural be subjugated,
and the spiritual obtain the dominion;
and the natural is subjugated
when it is reduced to correspondence.
When the natural has been reduced to correspondence,
it does not react any more,
but acts as it is commanded,
and obeys the spiritual,
almost as the acts of the body
obey the behest of the will,
and as the speech,
together with the expression of the face,
conforms to the influx of the thought.
From this it is plain
that for a person to become spiritual
the natural must needs become
as nothing whatever in respect to willing.

But be it known
that it is the old natural that must become as nothing,
because this has been formed from evils and falsities;
and when it has become as nothing
the person is then gifted with a new natural,
which is called the spiritual natural-spiritual
from the fact that the spiritual is what acts through it,
and manifests itself through it,
as the cause through the effect.
It is known that the cause is everything of the effect.
Consequently the new natural
in its thinking, willing, and producing effect,
is nothing else than the representative of the spiritual.
When this comes to pass
the person receives good from the Lord;
and when he receives good he is gifted with truths;
and when he is gifted with truths
he is perfected in intelligence and wisdom;
and when he is perfected in intelligence and wisdom
he is blessed with happiness to eternity.

AC 5639 - What Is the Spiritual?

AC 5639

In its essence within a person
the spiritual is the very affection of good and truth
for the sake of good and truth,
and not for the sake of self,
and also the affection of what is just and fair
for the sake of what is just and fair,
and not for the sake of self.
When a person feels in himself delight and pleasantness,
and still more if he feels happiness and blessedness,
from these affections,
this is the spiritual in him,
which comes not from the natural,
but from the spiritual world or from heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord.
This then is the spiritual,
which when it reigns in a person,
affects and as it were tinges
all that he thinks, wills, and does,
and causes the thoughts and the acts of his will
to partake of the spiritual,
until at last these also become spiritual in him,
as when he passes
out of the natural into the spiritual world.
In a word, the affection of charity and faith,
that is, of good and truth,
and the delight and pleasantness,
and still more the happiness and blessedness so derived,
which are felt inwardly in a person
and make him a person truly Christian,
are the spiritual.

AC 5623 - The Ability & Capacity to Receive Truth

AC 5623

Truth in the abilities means in the capacities for receiving it,
thus according to the capacities.
But the capacities or abilities for receiving truth
are wholly according to good,
because the Lord adjoins them to good;
for when the Lord flows in with good
He also flows in with capacity.
Consequently truth received in the abilities
means according to goods.
. . . But on the other hand
those who are in evil,
have no capacity for receiving truth.
This comes from pleasure and consequent desire.
Those who are in good
have pleasure in perfecting good by means of truth,
because good takes its quality from truths;
and therefore they desire truths.
But those who are in evil have pleasure in evil,
and in confirming it by falsities,
and therefore they desire falsities;
and because they desire falsities
they are averse to truths.
For this reason they have no capacity for receiving truths,
for they reject or stifle or pervert them
as soon as they reach the ear
or occur to the thought.
Besides, every person who is of sound mind
has a capacity for receiving truths;
but those who turn to evil
extinguish this capacity,
and those exalt it
who turn to good.

AC 5620 - "Honey"; AC 5621 - Aromatic Wax

AC 5620 [1]

That "honey" denotes delight is because it is sweet,
and everything sweet in the natural world
corresponds to what is delightful and pleasant
in the spiritual world.
The reason why it is called its delight, that is,
the delight of truth from good in the exterior natural,
is that every truth and especially every truth of good
has its own delight;
but a delight from the affection of these,
and from the derivative use.

AC 5621

. . . aromatic wax means the truth of good;
for all spices, being sweet-scented,
in the internal sense mean the truths which are from good.
This may be seen from the fact
that truths from good are perceived in heaven pleasantly,
like sweet-scented things in the world;
and therefore when the perceptions of the angels
are turned into odors,
as of the Lord's good pleasure often happens,
they are then smelt as fragrances
from spices and from flowers.
This is the reason why frankincense and incense
were compounded of materials of grateful odor,
and were employed for a holy use;
and also why aromatics were mixed with the anointing oil.
One who does not know
that such things derive their cause
from things perceived in heaven,
may be of the opinion that they were commanded
merely to render outward worship grateful;
but in that case
there would be in them nothing of heaven,
or nothing holy,
and consequently such matters of worship
would not have anything Divine in them.

AC 5608 - Loving the Lord: Innocence and Charity

AC 5608 [1, 3]

That more interior things are meant by
"little children" and by "boys,"
is because innocence is meant by both,
and innocence is what is inmost.
In the heavens
the inmost or third heaven consists of those
who are in innocence,
for they are in love to the Lord;
and because the Lord is innocence itself,
therefore those who are there,
being in love to Him,
are in innocence.
These, although they are the wisest of all in the heavens,
yet appear to others like little children.
It is for this reason,
and also because little children are in innocence,
that by "little children" in the Word is meant innocence.

. . . in the spiritual world:
just as the end, cause, and effect
are distinct from one another,
so in the spiritual world
are love to the Lord,
charity toward the neighbor,
and the works of charity.
When these three become one or exist together,
the first must be in the second,
and the second in the third.
And also as in the works of charity:
unless charity from affection or the heart is within them,
they are not works of charity;
and unless love to God is within charity,
it is not charity.

AC 5576 - Hunger In Heaven And On Earth

AC 5576 [2-5]

Hunger in the spiritual world or in heaven
is not hunger for food,
because the angels do not feed upon material food,
which is for the body that a person carries about in the world;
but it is hunger for such food as nourishes their minds.
This food, which is called spiritual food,
is to understand truth and be wise in good;
and wonderful to say the angels are nourished by this food;
which has been made evident to me from the fact
that after little children who die
have been instructed in heaven
in the truths of intelligence and the goods of wisdom,
 they no longer appear as little children, but as adults,
and this according to their increase in good and truth;
and also from the fact
that the angels continually long for
the things of intelligence and wisdom,
and that when they are in the evening,
that is, in a state in which these things fail,
they are so far in what is relatively not happiness,
and they then hunger and long for nothing more
than that the morning may dawn for them afresh,
and that they may return into their life of happiness,
which is of intelligence and wisdom.

That to understand truth and to will good is spiritual food,
may also appear to everyone who reflects
that when anyone is enjoying
material food for the nourishment of the body,
his food is more nourishing
if he is at the same time in cheerful spirits
and conversing on agreeable topics,
which is a sign that there is
a correspondence between spiritual food for the soul
and material food for the body.
And the same is further evident from the fact
that when one who longs to imbue his mind
with the things of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom
is kept from them,
he begins to be saddened and distressed,
and like one who is famished
longs to return to his spiritual food,
and thereby to the nourishment of his soul.

That there is spiritual food which nourishes the soul
as material food nourishes the body
may also be seen from the Word, as in Moses:

Man does not live by bread only;
but by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah
does man live.
(Deuteronomy. 8:3; Matthew 4:4)

The "utterance of the mouth of Jehovah"
is in general the Divine truth
which proceeds from the Lord,
thus all truth of wisdom,
specifically the Word,
in which and from which are the things of wisdom.

And in John:

Labor not for the meat which perishes,
but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life,
which the Son of man shall give unto you
(John 6:27);

that this meat is the truth of wisdom
which proceeds from the Lord is evident.

From this too it may be known what is meant
by these words of the Lord in the same chapter:

My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
(John 6:55);

namely, that the Lord's "flesh" is Divine good,
and His "blood" Divine truth;
for when the Lord made His whole Human Divine,
then His flesh was nothing else than Divine good,
and His blood Divine truth.
It is evident that in the Divine
nothing material is to be understood;
and therefore "food" in the supreme sense,
that is, when predicated of the Lord,
is the good of the Divine love for saving the human race.
This food is what is meant by the Lord's words in John:

Jesus said to the disciples,
I have meat to eat that you do not know.
My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,
and to perfect His work
(John 4:32, 34);

"to do the will of Him that sent Him,
and to perfect His work"
is to save the human race;
the Divine from which this is done
is the Divine love.

AC 5530 - Our Love Is What Is In Our Core or Midst

AC 5530 [2]

With those who are in the loves of self and of the world,
such things as favor these loves are in the midst,
and such as slightly favor them are in the circumferences;
and the things which are contrary to them,
as those which relate
to love to God and love toward the neighbor,
are thrown out.
In such a state are the infernals.
And this order sometimes causes
a lucidity to appear about them;
but within this lucidity, where they themselves are,
all is dusky, monstrous, and horrible.

But with the angels
there is a flaming radiance in the midst
from the good of celestial and spiritual love,
and from this there is a light or brightness round about.
Those who so appear are likenesses of the Lord;
for the Lord Himself,
when He showed His divine to Peter, James, and John,
"shone in the face as the sun,
and His raiment became as the light" (Matthew 17:2).
That the angels who are likenesses
appear in flaming radiance and consequently in white
is plain from the angel who descended from heaven
and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulcher:
His appearance was as lightning,
and his raiment white as snow (Matthew 28:3).

AC 5508 - Accidental? Or Providence?

AC 5508 [2-3, 5]

. . . everything that befalls or happens,
which in other words is called accidental,
and is ascribed to chance or fortune,
is of providence.
Divine providence works in this way
invisibly and incomprehensibly in order
that a person may in freedom
ascribe an event either to providence or to chance;
for if providence acted visibly and comprehensibly,
there would be danger of a person's believing,
from what he sees and comprehends,
that it is of providence,
and afterward changing into the contrary.
In this way truth and falsity
would be conjoined in the interior person,
and truth would be profaned,
which profanation is attended with eternal damnation.
Therefore it is better for such a person
to be kept in unbelief than to be in faith
and then recede from it.

This is what is meant in Isaiah:

Say to this people,
Be ever hearing, but never understanding,
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their eyes dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.
(Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40).

It is for this reason also
that miracles are not performed at this day,
for these, like all visible and comprehensible things,
would compel people to believe,
and whatever compels takes away freedom;
when yet all the reformation and regeneration of a person
is effected in his freedom.
That which is not implanted in freedom does not stay.
It is implanted in freedom
when the person is in the affection of good and truth.

That a person at this day
ought to believe what he does not see,
is evident from the Lord's words to Thomas, in John:

Because you have seen Me, Thomas,
you have believed:
blessed are they who do not see,
and yet believe.
(John 20:29)

That the things which happen
(in other words which are ascribed to chance or fortune)
are of the Divine providence,
the church indeed acknowledges,
but still does not believe;
for who does not say,
when apparently by chance
he comes out of some great peril,
that he has been preserved by God,
and also gives God thanks?
And likewise when he is exalted to honors,
and also when he becomes wealthy,
he calls it a blessing from God.
Thus the person of the church acknowledges
that what happens is of providence,
but still does not believe.
But on this subject,
of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said elsewhere.

 

AC 5503 - Everything God Does

AC 5503

. . . from the meaning of "God's doing,"
as being providence;
for everything that God does
can be expressed by no other word than providence.
The reason of this is
that in everything that God or the Lord does
there is the eternal and the infinite,
and these are in the word "providence."

AC 5478 - Being Full or Being Empty

AC 5478

That the truths of the church are understood
by those who are in good
(that is those with whom
these truths are conjoined with good)
quite differently from what they are by those
who are not in good,
seems indeed like a paradox,
but still it is the truth.
For truths are spiritually understood
by those who are in good,
because these persons are in spiritual light;
but they are understood naturally
by those who are not in good,
because these are in natural light.
So truths on the part of those who are in good
have truths continually conjoined with them;
but on the part of those who are not in good
they have conjoined with them very many fallacies,
and also falsities.
The reason of this is
that truths with those who are in good
extend themselves into heaven;
while truths with those who are not in good
do not extend themselves into heaven.
Consequently truths with those who are in good are full,
but with those who are not in good they are nearly empty.
This fullness and this emptiness
are not apparent to a person
so long as he lives in the world,
but they appear to the angels.
Did a person but know how much of heaven
there is in truths conjoined with good,
he would feel very differently about faith.

AC 5461 - When We Live to Let the Lord Flow In

AC 5461

. . . when faith in the will,
or the will of doing the truth of faith,
is separated from those
who are in the truths of the church,
then connection with the Divine is so slight
that it is hardly more than acknowledgment;
for the influx of the Divine from the Lord
with the regenerate person is into good
and from there into truth,
or what is the same,
into the will and from there into the understanding.
Insofar therefore as the person
who is in the truths of faith
receives good from the Lord,
so far the Lord forms in him
a new will in his intellectual part,
and so far the Lord flows in,
and produces the affection of doing what is good,
that is, of exercising charity toward the neighbor.

AC 5433 - The Affection of Truth

AC 5433 [2]

. . . where there is the affection of truth,
there is not the affection of gain;
and where there is the affection of gain,
there is not the affection of truth.

. . . when a person thinks
that earthly things are everything,
he believes himself to be
more learned and wiser than everybody else,
in that he himself does not accept
the truths known to the Church,
and at the same time says
that they exist for those who are simple.
The affection that moves a person is therefore
either an earthly affection or else a heavenly one,
for he cannot have his being simultaneously
with angels from heaven and with spirits from hell;
for if he did
he would be left hanging between heaven and hell.
But when he is moved by
an affection for truth for truth's own sake,
that is, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom
(where Divine Truth is present)
and so for the Lord's sake, he is among angels.
He does not in this case despise material gain
insofar as it enables him to lead his life in the world.
But such gain is not his end in view,
only the useful purposes it serves
which are seen by him as intermediate ends
leading on to an ultimate heavenly one.
This being so,
his heart is by no means at all set on material gain.

AC 5423 - Correspondence Is; AC 5428 - The Glory of Heaven and the Angels

AC 5423 - Correspondence Is

Correspondence is
the appearing of the internal in the external,
and its representation within;
so when there is no correspondence,
there is no appearing of the internal in the external,
and therefore no representation of it within.

AC 5428 [1, 3] - The Glory of Heaven and the Angels

. . . the glory of heaven is the Divine
that shines forth from every thing that appears there,
and is the perception of Divine things,
and the consequent wisdom;
but that this glory is possessed
only by those in heaven
who regard the magnificence there as nothing
in comparison with wisdom,
and attribute all wisdom
to the Lord
and none at all to themselves . . ..

. . . the angels are overwhelmed with sorrow and grief
if permitted to think and to will from themselves . . ..

AC 5400 - The Light of the Internal Sense; AC 5407 - "Life"

AC 5400 - The Light of the Internal Sense

. . . the internal sense comes forth
when the things of the world are removed,
because the internal sense relates to
such things as are of heaven.
The light of heaven, by which is sight there,
is Divine truth from the Lord,
which appears before the eyes of the angels as light,
a thousand times brighter than the midday light in the world;
and as this light has life in it,
therefore at the same time
that it illumines the eyesight of the angels,
it illumines also the sight of their understanding,
and causes a perception of truth
in accordance with the amount and quality
of the good in which they are.

AC 5407 - "Life"

That heaven in general
and eternal happiness in particular
is called "life,"
is because the wisdom of good
and the intelligence of truth are there;
and in the wisdom of good
and the intelligence of truth
is life from the Lord,
from whom is the all of life.

AC 5398 - A Brief Summary of the Internal Meaning of Genesis 42 and Beyond

AC 5398

In this chapter and in those which follow
about Joseph and the sons of Jacob,
in the internal sense is described
the regeneration of the natural
as to the truths and goods of the church --
that this is not effected by means of memory-knowledges,
but by influx from the Divine.
At the present day
those who are of the church
know so little about regeneration
that it is scarcely anything.
They do not even know
that regeneration goes on
through the whole course of life of one
who is being regenerated,
and that it is continued in the other life;
or that the arcana of regeneration
are so innumerable
that scarcely a ten thousandth part of them
can be known by the angels,
and that those they do know
are what effect their intelligence and wisdom.
The reason why
those who are of the church at this day
know so little about regeneration
is that they talk so much about
remission of sins and about justification,
and believe that sins are remitted in a moment,
and some that they are wiped away
like filth from the body by water,
and that a person is justified by faith alone
or by the confidence of a single moment.
The reason why the people of the church so believe
is that they do not know what sin or evil is.
If they knew this,
they would know that sins can by no means
be wiped away from anyone,
but that when the person is kept in good by the Lord
they are separated or rejected to the sides
so as not to rise up,
and that this cannot be effected
unless evil is continually cast out,
and this by means which are unlimited in number,
and for the most part unutterable.

Those in the other life
who have brought with them the opinion
that a person is justified in a moment by faith,
and wholly cleansed from sins,
are astounded when they see
that regeneration is effected by means unlimited
in number and unutterable,
and they then laugh at and call insane
the ignorance in which they had been in the world
in regard to
the instantaneous remission of sins and justification.
They are sometimes told
that the Lord remits the sins of those
who desire it from the heart;
yet still they are not thereby
separated from the diabolical crew,
to whom they are held fast by the evils
that attend their life,
which they have with them complete.
They then learn by experience
that to be separated from the hells
is to be separated from sins,
and that this cannot be done
except by thousands upon thousands of ways
known to the Lord only,
and this -- if you will believe it --
in a continual succession to eternity.
For a person is so evil
that he cannot to eternity
be fully delivered from even one sin,
but can only by the mercy of the Lord
(if he has received it)
be withheld from sin,
and kept in good.

In what manner therefore
a person receives new life and is regenerated,
is contained in the sanctuary of the Word,
that is, in its internal sense,
chiefly to the end
that when the Word is being read by a person
the angels may thereby be in their happiness of wisdom,
and also be at the same time
in the delight of serving as means.
In this and the following chapters about Joseph's brethren,
the subject treated of in the supreme internal sense
is the glorification of the Lord's natural,
and in the representative sense,
the regeneration of the natural in person by the Lord,
here as to the truths of the church therein.

AC 5395 - The Lord's Kingdom

AC 5395

For the Lord's kingdom is nothing but a kingdom of uses;
and if in an earthly kingdom
every one is valued and honored according to his use,
how much more is this the case in the heavenly kingdom!

 

AC 5368 - The Natural Ought to Apply Itself and Obey

AC 5368

Those who are in worldly things only,
and yet more those who are in bodily things,
and still more those who are in earthly ones,
cannot apprehend what is meant by saying that
the natural ought to apply itself and obey.
They suppose that there is only one thing
that acts in a person,
and therefore that there is not one thing in him
to command,
and another to obey;
and yet it is the internal person that should command,
and the external that should obey,
and that does obey when the person
has not the world as the end,
but heaven,
and not self
but the neighbor,
consequently when he regards bodily and worldly things
as means and not as the end;
and he so regards them
when he loves his neighbor more than himself,
and the things of heaven more than those of the world.
When this is the case,
the natural obeys;
the natural is the same as the external person.

AC 5360 - When Goods and Truths Fail

AC 5360

That a famine denotes such a lack, or desolation,
is because celestial and spiritual food
are nothing else than good and truth.
These are what angels and spirits are nourished by,
and what they hunger for when hungry,
and thirst for when thirsty;
and therefore material food also corresponds to them --
as bread to celestial love,
and wine to spiritual love,
as well as everything that pertains to bread or food,
and to wine or drink.
When therefore there is a lack of such things,
there is a "famine,"
and in the Word
this is called "desolation" and "vastation" -
"desolation" when truths fail,
and "vastation" when goods fail.

. . . That last state of a church
which precedes the state of a new church,
is properly meant and described in the Word
by "vastation" and "desolation."
By the same words is described also
the state that precedes a person's regeneration,
which state is here meant by the seven years of famine.

AC 5353 - To Be Born Again; AC 5355 - The Multiplication of Good and Truth

AC 5353 [1-2] - To Be Born Again

But what it is to be born again is known only to few,
for the reason that few know what good and evil are,
and this because they do not know
what charity toward the neighbor is;
if they knew this,
they would also know what good is,
and from good what evil is;
for all that is good
comes from genuine charity toward the neighbor.

But no one can be in this good from himself,
because it is the celestial itself
which flows in from the Lord.
This celestial flows in continually,
but evils and falsities
stand in the way of its being received;
and therefore in order that it may be received
it is necessary for a person to remove evils,
and as far as he is able falsities also,
and thus dispose himself to receive the influx.
When after evils have been removed
the person receives the influx,
he at the same time receives
a new will and a new understanding;
and from the new will he feels delight
in doing good to the neighbor from no selfish end,
and from the new understanding
he perceives delight in learning what is good and true
for its own sake and for the sake of the life.
Inasmuch as this new understanding and new will
come into existence through influx from the Lord,
the person who has been regenerated
acknowledges and believes that the good and truth
with which he is affected
are not from himself but from the Lord,
and also that whatever is from himself, or of his own,
is nothing but evil.

AC 5355 - The Multiplication of Good and Truth

When person is in good,
that is, in love toward the neighbor,
he is also in the love of truth;
consequently insofar as he is in this good,
so far he is affected by truth,
for good is in truth as the soul in its body.
As therefore good multiplies truth,
so it propagates itself;
and if it is the good of genuine charity,
it propagates itself in truth and by truth indefinitely;
for there is no limit to good or to truth.
The Infinite is in all things in general and in particular,
because they are all from the Infinite;
but still the indefinite
can never in any way reach the Infinite,
because there is no ratio
between the finite and the Infinite.
In the church today
there is rarely any multiplication of truth,
for the reason that at this day
there is no good of genuine charity.
It is believed to be sufficient
to know the dogmas of faith of the church
in which the person is born,
and to confirm them by various means.
But one who is in the good of genuine charity,
and from that in the affection of truth,
is not content with this,
but desires to be enlightened from the Word
as to what truth is,
and to see the truth before he confirms it.
Moreover, he sees it from good,
because the perception of truth is from good;
for the Lord is in good,
and gives the perception.
When a person receives truth in this way,
it increases indefinitely.
In this respect it is like a little seed,
which grows into a tree,
and produces other little seeds,
which in turn produce a garden, and so on.

AC 5340, 5342 - Truth, Good, Natural & Spiritual Life; AC 5344 - The Correspondences Within & Regeneration

AC 5340

Truth is conjoined with good
when a person feels delight in doing well to the neighbor
for the sake of what is true and good,
and not for the sake of self or the world.
When a person is in this affection,
the truths he hears or reads or thinks
are conjoined with good,
as is usually noticeable
from the affection of truth for the sake of that end.

AC 5342 [4]

. . . no one can be admitted and received into heaven
unless he has received spiritual life,
and no one can receive spiritual life
unless he is being regenerated,
and no one can be regenerated
except through the good of life
conjoined with the truth of doctrine:
from this he has spiritual life.
That no one can come into heaven
unless he has received
spiritual life through regeneration,
the Lord plainly declares in John:

Truly, truly I say unto you,
Except a man be born anew,
he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
(John 3:3)

AC 5344

The interior things
of the interior natural
are those in it called spiritual,
and the spiritual things within
are those which are from the light of heaven,
from which light are illumined
the things within which are from the light of the world,
and which are properly called natural;
in the spiritual things within
are stored up truths adjoined to good.
The spiritual things within
are those which correspond to
the angelic societies in the second heaven,
with which heaven a person communicates
by means of remains.
This is the heaven that is opened
when a person is being regenerated,
and is closed
when he does not suffer himself to be regenerated;
for remains --
or truths and goods stored up in the interiors --
are nothing else than correspondences
with the societies of that heaven.

AC 5335 - Thirty

AC 5335

And Joseph was a son of thirty years.
(Genesis 41:46)

That this means a full state of remains,
is evident from the meaning of "thirty,"
as being full of remains;
and from the meaning of "years," as being states.

The number "thirty" in the Word
means somewhat of combat,
and it also signifies full of remains.
The reason why it has this twofold meaning,
is that it is composed of five and six multiplied together,
and also of three and ten so multiplied.
From five multiplied by six it means
somewhat of combat,
because "five" means somewhat,
and "six" combat;
but from three multiplied by ten it means full of remains,
because "three" signifies what is full,
and "ten" remains;
that a compound number involves the like
as its components

. . . as a person cannot be regenerated,
that is, be admitted to the spiritual combats
through which regeneration is effected,
until he has received remains to the full,
it was ordained that the Levites
should not do any work in the tent of meeting
until they had completed thirty years,
which work or function is also called "warfare," . . ..
Something similar is said of the sons of Gershon,
and of the sons of Merari (Num. 4:22-23, 29-30, 35, 39, 43).
The like is involved in David's being thirty years old
when he began to reign (2 Sam. 5:4).

From all this it is now plain
why the Lord did not manifest Himself
until He was thirty years of age (Luke 3:23);
for He was then in the fullness of remains.
But the remains the Lord had
He Himself procured for Himself,
and they were of the Divine;
and by means of them
He united the Human essence to the Divine essence,
and made the Human essence Divine.
From Him then it is that "thirty years"
means a full state as to remains,
and that the priests the Levites entered
upon their functions when they were thirty years old,
and that David,
because he was to represent the Lord as to the royalty,
did not begin to reign until he was thirty;
for every representative is derived from the Lord,
and therefore every representative looks to the Lord.

AC 5331 - Pharaoh Changes Joseph's Name

AC 5331

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah.
(Genesis 41:45)

That this signifies the quality of
the celestial of the spiritual at that time,
is evident from the signification of a "name"
and of "calling a name," as being the quality.
In its original language "Zaphenath-paneah" means
"a revealer of hidden things
and an opener of things to come,"
by which in the celestial sense is meant the Divine therein;
for to reveal hidden things,
and to open things to come,
is of God alone.
This is the quality this name involves,
and it is also the quality of the celestial of the spiritual;
for the celestial of the spiritual
is the good of truth in which is the Divine,
or which is immediately from the Divine.
This, namely
the celestial of the spiritual in which is the Divine,
belonged to the Lord alone when He was in the world,
and was the Human in which the Divine Itself could be,
and which could be put off
when the Lord made all the Human in Himself Divine.

AC 5323 - "Bend the Knees"

AC 5323

. . . in the original language
"abrech" means "bend the knees,"
and the bending of the knees is adoration.
For all inward endeavors that are of the will,
thus of the love or affection, consequently of the life,
have outward acts or gestures corresponding to them;
which acts or gestures flow from the very correspondence
of outward things with inward ones.
Holy fear with its consequent humiliation
(and therefore adoration),
has acts or gestures corresponding to itself,
namely, bending the knees,
falling down upon the knees,
and also prostrating the body down to the earth.
In this state, if the adoration is from genuine humiliation,
or if the humiliation is from genuine holy fear,
there is a failing of the spirits,
and consequently a giving way of the joints
in the border or intermediate region
where the spiritual is conjoined with the natural,
thus where the knees are;
for the parts below
have correspondence with natural things,
and those above with spiritual things.
So it is that the bending of the knees is a sign
representative of adoration.
With celestial people this act is spontaneous;
but with spiritual people it is a result of will.

AC 5321 - The Divine Truth Through the Lord's Divine Human

AC 5321 [2]

From the Divine Itself
nothing of doctrine can possibly proceed
except through the Divine Human,
that is, through the Word,
which in the supreme sense
is the Divine truth from the Lord's Divine Human.
Not even the angels in the inmost heaven
can apprehend that which proceeds immediately
from the Divine Itself,
because it is infinite,
and therefore transcends all apprehension,
even that of angels.
But that which proceeds
from the Lord's Divine Human
they can apprehend,
because it treats of God as a Divine Man,
concerning whom
some idea can be formed from the Human;
and any idea whatever
formed about the Human is accepted,
provided it flows from the good of innocence,
and is in the good of charity.
This is what is meant by the Lord's words in John:

No man has seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has set Him forth.
(John 1:18)

In the same:

You have neither heard the Father's voice at any time,
nor seen His shape.
(John 5:37)

And in Matthew:

No one knows the Father, save the Son,
and those to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
(Matthew 11:27)

AC 5316 - Why Pharaoh Gave Joseph the Power

AC 5316

. . . Pharaoh deprived himself of his own authority,
and put all Egypt under Joseph.
These things were so done of the Divine Providence,
in order that Joseph might put on the representation
of the celestial of the spiritual the Lord had
when He was in the world,
and by means of which
He disposed His natural and also His sensuous,
in order that progressively
He might make them both Divine.
This was done to Joseph
to the end that the Word that was to be written about him
might contain Divine things,
thus such things as in the heavens are most holy
and are suited to the angels who are in the heavens;
for the angels there are in the Lord,
because they are in the sphere
of the Divine truth proceeding from Him;
and therefore the Divine things
in the Word's internal sense
relative to the Lord and to the glorification of His Human
so greatly affect them
that they perceive from them
all the blessedness of their wisdom and intelligence.

AC 5309 - "God Has Caused You to Know"

AC 5309

For as much as God has caused you to know all this.
(Genesis 41:39)

That this means because it has foresight and providence,
is evident from the meaning of "knowing,"
when predicated of God,
as being foresight and providence;
for it cannot be said of God
that He takes knowledge of a thing,
because He knows all things from Himself,
whereas a person's capacity to know something
is derived from Him.
Therefore in God "to know" is to foresee and to provide:
to foresee is to know from eternity to eternity,
and to provide is to do this.
The reason why the celestial of the spiritual
has foresight and providence,
is that in the internal sense the Lord is here treated of,
who is the celestial of the spiritual represented by Joseph.

AC 5307 - The Spirit of God

AC 5307

For the "spirit of God" denotes
that which proceeds from the Divine,
thus from good itself,
because the Divine is good itself,
and that which proceeds from it
is truth in which is good,
which is what is meant in the Word by the "spirit of God;"
for the spirit itself does not go forth,
but truth itself in which is good,
or holy truth,
the spirit being instrumental in bringing it forth.
This truth in which is good
is here the celestial of the spiritual,
which is represented by Joseph.

It is known in the church
that "Joseph" in the spiritual sense is the Lord . . ..
For the Lord is represented by
Abraham, and also by Isaac, as well as by Jacob,
and He is also represented by Moses and Elijah,
by Aaron, by David, besides by many others in the Word,
and yet not in the same way by one as by another.
By Abraham the Lord is represented as to the Divine Itself,
by Isaac as to the Divine rational,
by Jacob as to the Divine natural,
by Moses as to the law or historic Word,
by Elijah as to the prophetic Word,
by Aaron as to the priesthood,
and by David as to the royalty.
. . .That which Joseph represents is called
"the celestial of the spiritual from the natural,"
the only words by which it can be expressed.
For the celestial is good from the Divine,
and the spiritual is truth from that good,
and thus is the truth of the good from His Divine Human.
This the Lord was when He lived in the world;
but when He had glorified Himself,
He passed above it,
and became the Divine good itself
or Jehovah even as to the Human.

AC 5293 - "Food" - Especially Spiritual Food

AC 5293

And let them gather all the food.
(Genesis 41:35)

That this means all things that are of use,
is evident from the meaning of "gathering,"
as being to bring together and preserve;
and from the meaning of "food,"
as being things that are of use.
In the internal sense "food" properly means
the things that nourish the soul of a person,
that is, that nourish him after death,
for he then lives as a soul or spirit,
and no longer needs material food,
but spiritual food,
which consists in everything that is of use,
and everything that is conducive to use.
That which is conducive to use
is to know what is good and true;
that which is of use
is to will and do what is good and true.
These are the things that nourish the angels,
and are therefore called spiritual and heavenly food.
A person's mind within which
are his interior understanding and interior will,
or his intentions or ends,
is not nourished by any other food
even while he lives in the body.
Material food does not penetrate to the mind,
but only to the things of the body,
which that food sustains to the end
that this mind may enjoy its food
while the body enjoys its food,
that is, that this mind may be sound in a sound body.

That "food" in the spiritual sense
denotes everything that is of use,
is because all a person's knowing,
and all his understanding and being wise,
and therefore all his willing,
ought to have use for their end;
consequently the quality of his life
is according to the quality of his use.

AC 5287 - In Proportion

AC 5287 [2]

. . . in proportion as any one loves himself more than others,
in the same proportion he is less wise.

AC 5272 - The "Word" and Creation; AC 5276 - How Knowledges Become Truths

AC 5272  - The "Word" and Creation

. . . Divine revelation is called the "Word,"
and so also is the Lord in the supreme sense.
And by the "Word," when predicated of the Lord,
and also of revelation from Him,
in the proximate sense is meant Divine truth,
from which all things that are real have their existence.

That all things that are real
have come into existence
and do come into existence
through the Divine truth that is from the Lord,
and thus through the Word,
is a secret that has not yet been disclosed.
It is believed that by this is meant
that all things have been created
by God's saying and commanding as a king in his kingdom.
It is not this, however,
that is meant by all things having been made
and created through the Word,
but it is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good,
that is, from the Lord,
from which all things have come into existence
and do come into existence.
The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good
is the veriest reality
and the veriest essential in the universe,
and it is this that makes and creates.
Scarcely anyone has any other idea of the Divine truth
than as of a word that issues
from the mouth of a speaker
and is dispersed in the air.
This idea of the Divine truth has produced the opinion
that by the "Word" is meant only a command,
thus that all things were made merely by a command,
and thus not from any real thing
that has proceeded from the Divine of the Lord;
but as already said
it is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord,
the veriest reality and essential,
that is the source of all things,
and from which are the forms of good and of truth.

AC 5276 - How Knowledges Become Truths

Knowledges do not become truths in a person
until they are acknowledged by the understanding,
which takes place when they are confirmed by him;
and these truths do not become his own
until he lives according to them;
for nothing is made a person's own
except that which becomes of his life,
for thus he himself is in the truths,
because his life is in them.

 

AC 5268 - "Seven" also Meanings & Why for All Words; AC 5270 - Reformation and Desolation

AC 5268 -  "Seven" Meanings & Why

As "seven" means what is holy,
so too in the opposite sense
it means what is profane;
for most of the expressions in the Word
have also an opposite sense,
and this for the reason
that the same things that take place in heaven,
on flowing down toward hell,
are turned into the opposite things,
and actually become opposite.
So it is that the holy things meant by "seven"
there become profane.

AC 5270 [2] - Reformation and Desolation

During his reformation
a person first learns truths
from the Word or from doctrine,
and stores them up in the memory.
When one who cannot be reformed
has learnt truths and stored them up in the memory,
he believes that this is sufficient;
but he is much mistaken.
The truths he has acquired
must be initiated and conjoined with good;
and this cannot be done
so long as the evils
of the love of self and the love of the world
remain in the natural person.
These loves were the first introducers,
but the truths cannot possibly be conjoined with them;
and therefore in order that conjunction may be effected,
the truths introduced and retained by these loves
must first be banished,
though they are not really banished,
but are drawn within so as not to appear,
for which reason it is called
a "seeming" privation of truth.
When this has been done,
the natural is illumined from within,
and the evils of the love of self
and the love of the world give way;
and in the degree in which they give way
truths are stored up,
and are conjoined with good.
The state when a person
is seemingly deprived of the truths
is called in the Word "desolation,"
and is also compared to "evening,"
in which a person is before he comes into the morning;
and therefore in the representative church
the day began from the evening.

AC 5259 - Everything Goes from High to Low

AC 5259 [2]

. . . nothing that is beneath
can do anything of itself;
but that which it can do,
it has from what is higher;
and because this is so,
it evidently follows that everything is
from the Most High, that is, from the Divine.
Consequently a person's thinking from the understanding
and acting from the will,
he has from the Most High or from the Divine.
But his thinking falsely and acting evilly
comes from the form he has impressed upon himself;
and his thinking truly and acting well
is from the form he has received from the Lord;
for it is known that one and the same power and energy
produces different motions
according to the configurations
in the mediates and the extremes;
thus in a person,
life from the Divine
produces diverse thoughts and actions,
according to the forms.

AC 5253 - Time, Space, Person; AC 5256 - The Human Glorified Is the Divine

AC 5253 - Time, Space, Person

There are three things in general
that perish from the literal sense of the Word
when it becomes the internal sense,
namely, what is of time,
what is of space,
and what is of person.
The reason is that in the spiritual world
there is neither time nor space,
these two belonging to nature;
and therefore it is said of those who die,
that they pass out of time,
and leave behind all that is of time.
That in the spiritual world
nothing is regarded as determined to person
is because directing the attention in speech to person
narrows and limits the idea,
instead of extending it and making it unlimited.
Extension and absence of limitation in speech
cause it to be universal,
and to comprise and be able to express
innumerable and also ineffable things.
Consequently the speech of the angels is of this character,
especially the speech of the celestial angels,
which is relatively unlimited;
and in consequence everything of their speech
flows into the infinite and the eternal,
consequently into the Divine of the Lord.

AC 5256 - The Human Glorified Is the Divine

. . . the Divine foresees,
consequently knows what is therein.
For when the Lord was in the world
He indeed had foresight and providence in the human,
but from the Divine;
but since His glorification
these are from the Divine alone;
for the Human glorified is the Divine.
Regarded in itself the human is nothing but a form
receptive of life from the Divine;
but the Lord's glorified Human, or His Divine Human,
is not a form recipient of life from the Divine,
but is the very being of life;
and that which proceeds therefrom is life.
Such is the idea that the angels have
in regard to the Lord . . ..

AC 5247, 5249 - The Details of the Word and the Angels

AC 5247

. . . all the details of the Word are holy;
but the holiness therein
is not apparent to the understanding,
except that of one who knows its internal sense;
nevertheless by influx from heaven
it comes to the perception of him
who believes the Word to be holy.
This influx is effected through
the internal sense in which the angels are;
and although this sense is not understood by the person,
still it affects him,
because in it the affection of the angels is communicated.
From this it is plain also
that the Word has been given to a person
in order that he may have communication with heaven,
and that the Divine truth which is in heaven
may affect him by means of the influx.

AC 5249

And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph,
and they brought him hastily out of the pit;
and he shaved,
and changed his garments,
and came to Pharaoh.
(Genesis 51:14)

What the words in this verse  involve
is clear from what has been unfolded,
for they treat of Joseph,
how he was freed from the pit and came unto Pharaoh.
By Joseph in the internal sense
is represented the Lord as to the celestial of the spiritual,
and by Pharaoh is represented
the natural or external person;
by the pit in which Joseph was
is represented the state of the Lord's temptation
as to the celestial of the spiritual;
and by his being called from the pit by Pharaoh
is meant the state of deliverance from temptations,
and further,
the subsequent state of influx and communication
with the new natural.
From this it is plain
that in the internal sense is here described
how the Lord made His natural new, and at last Divine.

These are the things the celestial angels think
when this history is being read by a person;
moreover, to think such things is to them most delightful,
for they are in the Lord's Divine sphere,
thus as it were in the Lord,
and in a perception of inmost joy
when thinking of the Lord
and of the salvation of the human race
by the Lord's making Divine the Human in Him;
and in order that the angels
might be kept in this most heavenly joy,
and at the same time in wisdom,
that Divine process is fully described
in the internal sense of the Word,
and at the same time
therein the process of a person's regeneration;
for the regeneration of a person
is an image of the Lord's glorification.
Some may possibly wonder
what the angels converse together about,
and consequently what people who become angels
converse about after death;
but be it known to them that it is about such things
as are contained in the internal sense of the Word,
namely, about the Lord's glorification,
His kingdom, the church,
the regeneration of a person
through the good of love and the truth of faith;
but they speak about these things
by means of secret things
that are for the most part inexpressible.

AC 5228 - Perception; AC 5229 - "To Remember" Is To Be Conjoined

AC 5228 - Perception

. . . perception is nothing else than
the speech or thought of the angels who are with a person.
When this speech or thought flows in,
it becomes the perception that a thing is so,
or is not so,
but only with those
who are in the good of love and of charity,
for it flows in through good.
With these this perception produces thoughts,
for to them what is perceptive is the general of thought.
Yet perception from thought is not actually given,
but only apparently.
But no more can be said regarding this mystery,
because, as already said,
it is unknown at this day what perception is.

AC 5229 - "To Remember" Is To Be Conjoined

The reason why "to remember" is conjunction,
is that the remembering
of anyone in the other life conjoins;
for as soon as any spirit
calls another to mind he appears present,
and so present that they speak together.
It is for this reason that angels and spirits
can meet all persons whom they have known
or have heard of,
can see them present and speak with them,
when the Lord allows them to call them to mind.

AC 5223 - "Magi," "Magicians," "Wise Men"; AC 5225 - The Expanded View in Heaven

AC 5223 - "Magi," "Magicians," "Wise Men"

. . . those who were skilled in and taught these knowledges
were called "magi," or "magicians," and "wise men;"
those who were skilled in mystical memory-knowledges
were called "magicians,"
and those skilled in memory-knowledges not mystical
were called "wise men;"
consequently those who taught interior memory-knowledges
were called "magicians,"
and those who taught exterior memory-knowledges
were called "wise men."

AC 5225 - The Expanded View in Heaven

. . . in the spiritual world, or in heaven,
not persons but things come into view,
for persons limit the idea,
and concentrate it upon something finite;
whereas things do not limit and concentrate it,
but extend it to the infinite, thus to the Lord.
For this reason also,
no person named in the Word is perceived in heaven,
but in his stead
the thing that is represented by that person;
so also no people or nation is perceived,
but only its quality.
Indeed, not even is any historic statement of the Word
about a person, nation, or people, known in heaven;
and consequently it is not known
who Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
the Israelitish people, and the Jewish nation were,
but it is there perceived what Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
the Israelitish people, and the Jewish nation denote;
and the same in all other cases.
Thus the angelic speech is without limitation,
and is also relatively universal.

AC 5212 - Kine and Corn; AC 5214 - What Makes Memory-knowledges of No Use

 AC 5212  [2, 4] - Kine and Corn

The reason why there were two dreams,
one of the seven kine (cows)
and the other of the seven ears of corn,
is that in the internal sense both naturals,
the interior and the exterior, are treated of,
and in what follows, the rebirth of both.
By the "seven kine" are meant
the things of the interior natural
called truths of the natural;
and by the "seven ears of corn,"
the truths of the exterior natural
called memory-knowledges.

. . . the "kingdom of God,"
which is compared to the blade, the ear, and the corn,
is heaven in a person through regeneration;
for one who has been regenerated
has the kingdom of God within him,
and becomes in image the kingdom of God or heaven.
The "blade" is the first memory-knowledge;
the "ear" is the memory-knowledge of truth
derived from there;
the "corn" is the derivative good.

AC 5214 - What Makes Memory-knowledges of No Use

The memory-knowledges of no use
are those which have no other end
than glory and pleasure.
These ends are of no use,
because they do not benefit the neighbor.

AC 5202 - The Amazing Processes of Regeneration

AC 5202 [4]

From his early infancy
to the last of his life in the world
and thereafter to eternity,
the person who is in good
is being born again every moment,
not only as to interiors,
but also as to exteriors,
and this by amazing processes.
It is these processes that for the most part
constitute angelic wisdom,
which is known to be ineffable,
and to contain such things
as ear has not heard, nor eye seen,
neither have entered into the thought of a person.
The internal sense of the Word
treats of things like these,
and thus is adapted to angelic wisdom;
and when it flows from this wisdom
into the sense of the letter
it becomes adapted to human wisdom,
and thereby in a hidden way
affects those who are in the desire from good
of knowing truths from the Word.
___________

ineffable - too great or extreme
to be expressed or described in words

AC 5199 - Spiritual Beauty

AC 5199

Spiritual beauty is the affection of interior truth,
and spiritual look is faith;
as a consequence by "beautiful in look"
is meant the affection of the truth of faith.
That spiritual beauty is the affection of interior truth,
is because truth is the form of good.
Good itself which is from the Divine in heaven
is that from which angels have life;
but the form of their life is given
by means of the truths which are from this good.
And yet beauty is not produced by the truth of faith,
but by the affection itself within the truths of faith,
which is from good.
Beauty that is from the truth of faith alone
is like that of a painted or sculptured face;
but beauty from the affection of truth,
which is from good,
is like that of a living face animated by heavenly love;
for such as is the love or affection
that beams from the form of the face,
such is the beauty.
From this it is that the angels appear in ineffable beauty;
from their faces beams forth
the good of love through the truth of faith,
which not only appear before the sight,
but are also perceived
from the spheres coming from them.

AC 5194 - "Two"

AC 5194

The reason 'two' means a joining together (conjunction)
is that every single thing in the spiritual world,
and consequently in the natural world,
has two forces associated with it -
goodness and truth.
Good is an active inflowing force,
truth a passive, recipient one.
Also, because everything
has these two forces associated with it,
and because nothing can ever be brought forth
unless the two are made one
by becoming so to speak married to each other,
a joining together is therefore meant by them.

This type of marriage exists in every single thing
within the natural order and its three kingdoms;
without it nothing whatever can come into existence.
For anything to come into existence
within the natural order
there needs to be heat and light,
heat in the natural world
corresponding to the good of love in the spiritual world,
and light corresponding to the truth of faith.
These two - heat and light -
must act as one if anything is to be brought forth.
If they do not act as one,
as is the case in winter time,
nothing at all is brought forth.
The same holds true on a spiritual level,
as is quite evident with the human being,
who has two mental powers - will and understanding.
The will has been formed
so that it may receive spiritual heat,
that is, the good of love and charity,
while the understanding has been formed
so that it may receive spiritual light,
that is, the truth of faith.
Unless these two residing with a person make one
nothing is brought forth,
for the good of love devoid of the truth of faith
cannot give
definition and particular character to anything,
while the truth of faith devoid of the good of love
cannot bring anything into effect.
So that the heavenly marriage may exist in a person
therefore, or rather
so that a person may be in the heavenly marriage,
those two entities must make one in him.

AC 5173 - Cause & Endeavor; AC 5177 - Worry About the Future

AC 5173 [2, 3] - Endeavor

. . . the truth is that in all and each of the things
in nature and her three kingdoms
there is an inward active force from the spiritual world;
and unless this were so,
nothing whatever in the natural world
could act as cause and effect,
and consequently nothing could be produced.

. . . it is according to laws known in the learned world
that when endeavor ceases, motion ceases,
and also that everything of determination
is in endeavor,
and that in motion there is nothing real except endeavor.
It is clear that this force or endeavor in action or motion
is the spiritual in the natural;
for to think and will is spiritual,
and to act and be moved is natural.

AC 5177 - Worry About the Future

Those who have been very solicitous about the future . . .
when confirmed by act,
greatly dulls and retards the influx of spiritual life;
for they attribute to themselves
that which is of the Divine Providence;
and those who do this
obstruct the influx,
and take away from themselves the life of good and truth.


 

AC 5159, AC 5164 - When Regenerate

 AC 5159 [4]

. . . in the regenerate
interior things have dominion over exterior things,
while in the unregenerate exterior things
have dominion over interior things.
It is the ends in a person that have the dominion,
for the ends subordinate and subject to themselves
all things that are in him.
His veriest life is from no other source than his end,
because his end is always his love.

AC 5164 [2]

. . . in the Lord's kingdom or heaven
those who are the greatest
(that is, those who are inmost)
are servants more than others,
because they are in the greatest obedience,
and in deeper humiliation than the rest . . ..

AC 5155 - Providence and Foresight; AC 5156 - "Being Hanged Upon Wood"

 AC 5155 - Providence and Foresight

. . . providence is predicated of good,
but foresight of evil;
for all good flows in from the Lord,
and therefore this is provided;
but all evil is from hell,
or from a person's own (proprium)
which makes one with hell;
and therefore this is foreseen.

AC 5156 - "Being Hanged Upon Wood"

And shall hang thee upon wood.
(Genesis 40:19)

That this means rejection and damnation,
is evident from the meaning of
"being hanged upon wood,"
as being rejection and damnation;
for hanging upon wood was a curse,
and a curse is a rejection from the Divine,
consequently damnation.

. . . Among the Jewish nation
there were two main penalties --
stoning and hanging.
Stoning was on account of falsity,
and hanging upon wood was on account of evil;
and this because "stone" is truth,
and in the opposite falsity;
and "wood" is good,
and the opposite sense evil . . .

AC 5145 - The Degrees Within Us, and How They Are Planes to Live On

AC 5145 [2-3, 4, 5]

Interiorly the human being is divided into separate degrees,
and each degree has its own termination
that serves to separate it from the degree beneath it.
This is so with every degree
from the inmost one to the outermost.
The interior rational constitutes the first degree,
the degree in which celestial angels are,
that is, where the inmost or third heaven is.
The exterior rational makes up the second degree,
the one in which spiritual angels are,
that is, where the middle or second heaven is.
The interior natural makes up the third degree,
the one in which good spirits are,
that is, where the last and lowest or first heaven is.
And the exterior natural, the level of the senses,
makes up the fourth degree, in which a person is.

These degrees also exist within a person,
each degree completely distinct and separate.
Consequently, if he leads a good life,
he is interiorly a miniature heaven;
that is, his interiors correspond to the three heavens.
Also, if he has led a life of charity and love
he can be taken after death
all the way up to the third heaven.
But if he is to be someone like this,
each degree within him
must be furnished with its own specific termination
that makes it separate from the next one.
When those degrees do have those terminations,
making them distinct and separate from one another,
each degree has a floor
on which good flowing in from the Lord
can rest and where it is received.
Without such terminations acting as floors
that good is not received but passes straight through,
as if through a sieve
or through 'a basket with holes in it',
down to the sensory level.

. . . In the case of those who, like celestial angels,
have the ability to perceive what is good and true,
terminations exist in every degree,
from the first to the last.
Unless each degree has its own termination,
no perceptive abilities such as these can exist.
. . . In the case of those who, like spiritual angels,
have conscience, terminations likewise exist,
but only in the second degree
or else in the third down to the last.
For them the first degree is closed.
One must say in the second degree
or else in the third
because conscience is twofold - interior and exterior.
Interior conscience is one that concerns itself
with what is spiritually good and true,
exterior conscience
one that concerns itself with what is just and fair.
Conscience itself is an interior floor which provides
inflowing Divine Good with a termination;
but those who have no conscience
do not have any interior floor to receive that influx.
In their case
good passes straight through to the exterior natural,
or the natural level of the senses,
where it is turned, as has been stated, into foul delights.
These people sometimes feel pain
like that of conscience,
but this is not conscience.
The pain is caused by the loss of what they delight in,
such as the loss of position,
gain, reputation, life, pleasures,
or the friendship of others who are like themselves.
They suffer pain because
the terminations which they possess
consist in those kinds of delights.

All whose interior degrees of the will
have been furnished with terminations
are raised up to heaven,
for the inflowing Divine is able to lead them there.
But all whose interior degrees of the will
have not been furnished with terminations
make their way to hell,
for what is Divine passes straight through
and is turned into that which is hell-like,
as when the heat of the sun falls on foul excrement
and a disgusting stench is given off by it.
Consequently
all who have had conscience are saved,
but those who have had no conscience
are incapable of being saved.

AC 5135 - Beliefs

AC 5135 [3]

The things which person
as a little child in its first age
learns eagerly or believes,
and which he afterward either confirms,
or doubts about, or denies,
are especially these:

that there is a God, and that He is one;
that He has created all things;
that He rewards those who do well,
and punishes those who do evil;

that there is a life after death,
in which the evil go to hell
and the good to heaven,
thus that there is a hell and a heaven,
and that the life after death is eternal;

also that he ought to pray daily,
and this with humility;

that the Sabbath day is to be kept holy;
that parents are to be honored;
and that no one must commit
adultery, murder, or theft;
with other like things.

AC 5128 - Within Life

AC 5128 [4-5]

The principal sign whether a person
is merely sensuous or is rational,
is from his life;
not such as appears in his speech and his works,
but such as it is within these;
for the life of the speech is from the thought,
and the life of the works is from the will,
and that of both is from the intention or end.
Such therefore as is the intention or end
within the speech and the works,
such is the life;
for speech without interior life is mere sound,
and works without interior life are mere movements.
This is the life which is meant when it is said
that "the life remains after death."
If a person is rational,
he speaks from thinking well,
and acts from willing well,
that is, he speaks from faith and acts from charity;
but if a person is not rational,
he may then indeed begin to act, and also to speak,
as a rational man;
but still there is nothing of life from the rational in him;
for a life of evil closes up
every way or communication with the rational,
and causes the person to be
merely natural and sensuous.

There are two things
which not only close up the way of communication,
but even deprive a person of the capacity
of ever becoming rational -- deceit and profanation.
Deceit is like a subtle poison which infects the interiors,
and profanation mixes
falsities with truths and evils with goods:
through these two the rational wholly perishes.

AC 5122 - The Lord Knows & Provides

AC 5122 [3]

. . . the Lord knows all things
and every single thing,
and provides for them every moment.
If He were to pause even for an instant,
all the progressions would be disturbed;
for what is prior looks to what follows
in a continuous series,
and produces series of consequences to eternity.
From this it is plain
that the Divine foresight and providence
are in everything, even the very least;
and that unless this were so,
or if they were only universal,
the human race would perish.

AC 5118 - The Interior and Exterior Natural

AC 5118

. . . the interior natural
is that which communicates with the rational
and into which the rational flows,
and the exterior natural
is that which communicates with the senses,
or through them with the world,
thus into which the world flows.
As regards influx,
it is continuous from the Lord
through the rational into the interior natural,
and through this into the exterior;
but that which flows in
is changed and turned according to the reception.
With the unregenerate,
goods are there turned into evils,
and truths into falsities;
but with the regenerate,
goods and truths are there presented as in a mirror.
For the natural is like a face
representative of the spiritual things
of the internal person;
and this face becomes representative
when the exteriors correspond to the interiors.

AC 5116 - The Rebirth of a Person

AC 5116

. . . the budding and fruiting of a tree
represent the rebirth of a person --
its becoming green from the leaves
represents the first state;
the blossoming the second,
which is the next before regeneration;
and the fruiting the third,
which is the very state of the regenerate.
It is from this that "leaves" signify (mean)
the things of intelligence, or the truths of faith,
for these are the first things of the rebirth or regeneration;
while "blossoms" signify the things of wisdom,
or the goods of faith,
because these immediately precede
the rebirth or regeneration;
and "fruits" signify those things which are of life,
or the works of charity,
because these follow and constitute
the very state of the regenerate.

AC 5110 - The Divine Human, the Lord from Eternity

AC 5110 [3]

For everything of heaven conspires to the human form . . ..
This Divine, or this of Jehovah in heaven,
is the Lord from eternity.
The same the Lord took also upon Him
when He glorified or made Divine
the human in Himself,
as is very evident from the form in which He appeared
before Peter, James, and John,
when He was transfigured (Matt. 17:1, 2);
and also in which He at times appeared to the prophets.
It is from this that everyone is able to think
of the Divine Itself as of a Man,
and at the same time of the Lord,
in whom is all the Divine, and a perfect Trinity,
for in the Lord the Divine Itself is the Father,
this Divine in heaven is the Son,
and the Divine proceeding from there is the Holy Spirit.
That these are a one,
as He Himself teaches,
is consequently clear.

AC 5097 - "Morning"

AC 5097

Morning in heaven is a state of enlightenment
as to those things which are of good and truth,
which state exists when it is acknowledged,
and still more when it is perceived,
that good is good and that truth is truth.
Perception is internal revelation;
so by the "morning" is signified (meant) what is revealed;
and because then that becomes clear
which before was obscure,
by "morning" is also signified what is clear.

Moreover, by "morning" is signified
in the supreme sense the Lord Himself,
for the reason that the Lord is the Sun
from which comes all the light in heaven,
and He is always in the rising, thus in the morning.
Moreover, He is always rising with everyone
who receives the truth which is of faith
and the good which is of love,
but He is setting with everyone
who does not receive these --
not that the Sun sets there,
for as just said He is always in the rising;
but that he who does not receive,
causes Him as it were to set with himself.
This may be compared in some degree
to the changes of the sun of this world
in respect to the inhabitants of the earth;
for neither does this sun set,
since it always remains in its place
and is always shining from there;
but it appears as if it set,
because the earth rotates about its axis once every day,
and at the same time removes its inhabitant
from the sight of the sun;
and therefore the setting is not in the sun,
but in the removal
of the inhabitant of the earth from its light.
This comparison is illustrative;
and because in every part of nature
there is something representative of the Lord's kingdom,
it also instructs us
that the deprivation of the light of heaven --
that is, of intelligence and wisdom --
does not take place because the Lord,
who is the Sun of intelligence and wisdom,
sets with anyone,
but because the inhabitant of His kingdom
removes himself, that is,
suffers himself to be led by the hell
which is what removes him.

AC 5092 - "Night"

AC 5092

"Night" in the spiritual sense
signifies a state of shade brought on by falsity from evil,
thus also obscurity, namely, of the mind.
The obscurity of night in the world is natural obscurity;
but the obscurity of night in the other life
is spiritual obscurity.
The former arises from the absence of the sun of this world
and the deprivation of light therefrom,
but the latter from the absence of the sun of heaven
which is the Lord,
and the deprivation of light
(that is, of intelligence) therefrom.
This deprivation does not arise
from the sun of heaven setting, like the sun of the world,
but from a person or spirit being in falsity from evil,
and removing himself,
and thus bringing obscurity upon himself.
From the mere idea of night
and its obscurity in both senses,
it is evident how the spiritual sense stands
relatively to the natural sense of this same thing.
Moreover, spiritual obscurity is threefold,
one kind being from the falsity of evil,
the second from ignorance of truth,
and the third is
that of exterior things relatively to interior things,
thus of the sensuous things of the external person
relatively to the rational things of the internal person.
All these kinds of obscurity however,
arise from the fact that the light of heaven
(or intelligence and wisdom from the Lord)
is not received;
for this light is continually flowing in,
but it is rejected, suffocated, or perverted
by the falsity of evil;
is but little received by ignorance of truth;
and is dulled by being made general
by the sensuous things of the external person.

 

AC 5089 - It Is Important to Think Above Worldly Things

AC 5089 [2]

Unless a person's thought
can be elevated above sensuous things,
so that these are seen as below him,
he cannot understand any interior thing in the Word,
still less such things as are of heaven
abstracted from those which are of the world;
for sensuous things absorb and suffocate them.
It is for this reason
that those who are sensuous
and have zealously devoted themselves
to getting knowledges,
rarely apprehend anything of the things of heaven;
for they have immersed their thoughts in such things
as are of the world, that is,
in terms and distinctions drawn from these,
thus in sensuous things,
from which they can no longer be elevated
and thus kept in a point of view above them;
thus neither can their thought
be any longer freely extended
over the whole field of the things of the memory,
so as to select what agrees
and reject what is in opposition,
and apply whatever is in connection;
for as already said t
heir thought is kept closed and immersed in terms,
and thus in sensuous things,
so that it cannot look around.
This is the reason why the learned
believe less than the simple,
and are even less wise in heavenly things;
for the simple can look at a thing
above terms and above mere knowledges,
thus above sensuous things;
whereas the learned cannot do so,
but look at everything from terms and knowledges,
their mind being fixed in these things,
and thus bound as in jail or in prison.

~ The Lord Says, "Do Not Be Afraid" ~

They came out with all their troops
and a large number of horses and chariots --
a huge army,
as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
All these kings joined forces and made camp together
at the Waters of Merom,
to fight against Israel.

The Lord said to Joshua,
"Do not be afraid of them,
because by this time tomorrow
I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain."

(Joshua 11:4-6)

AC 5077 - The Senses, Truths and Goods

AC 5077 [3, 4]

That sensuous which is especially subject
to the intellectual part is the sight;
that which is subject
to the intellectual part and secondarily to the will part
is the hearing;
that which is subject to both together
is the sense of smell,
and still more the taste;
but that which is subject to the will part
is the touch.

And be it known further
that all the truths which are said to be of faith
pertain to the intellectual part;
and that all the goods which are of love and charity
are of the will part.
Consequently it belongs to the intellectual part
to believe, to acknowledge, to know, and to see
truth and also good,
but to the will part to be affected with and to love these;
and that which a person
is affected with and loves, is good.

AC 5076 - Sin

AC 5076

That they sinned.
(Genesis 50:1)

That this signifies inverted order,
is evident from the signification of "sinning,"
as being to act contrary to Divine order:
whatever is contrary to this is "sin."
Divine order itself is Divine truth from Divine good.
All are in this order who are in truth from good,
that is, who are in faith from charity,
for truth is of faith, and good is of charity;
and they are contrary to this order
who are not in truth from good,
consequently who are in truth from evil,
or in falsity from evil;
nothing else is signified by "sin."
Here by their "sinning" --
the butler and the baker --
is signified that external sensuous things
were in inverted order relatively to interior things,
so that they did not accord or did not correspond.