LJC 74, 75, 77 - The Africans in the Spiritual World

LJC 74

All who acknowledge
one God as Creator of the universe,
and worship him,
entertain the idea of God as a human being,
saying that no one can have any other idea of God.
When they hear that many people
have an idea of God as being a kind of small cloud,
they ask where such people are to be found.
On being told that they are among the Christians,
they declare that this is impossible.
But they receive the reply
that these people have formed such an idea
because God is called in the Word a Spirit,
and they cannot think of spirit
as anything but a wisp of cloud,
being unaware that every spirit and every angel
is a human being.
They were further tested to see whether
their spiritual idea resembled their natural one,
and it was discovered that it is not similar
in the case of those
who inwardly acknowledge the Lord
as the God of heaven and earth.

LJC 75

The Africans comprehended
and received these things,
because they think
more interiorly and spiritually than others.

LJC 77

When I talked with Africans in the spiritual world,
they appeared dressed in striped linen,
saying that such clothing suited them,
and that their womenfolk wore garments of striped silk.
They told me that their children
often ask their nurses for food,
saying they are hungry,
and when food is set before them
they taste it to see whether it is suitable and eat a little.
From this it is clear that it is spiritual hunger,
the desire to know real truths,
which causes this,
for it is a correspondence.
When the Africans want to know how they stand
as regards affection for and perception of truth,
they draw their swords;
if they shine, they know they have real truths,
and the more they have the brighter they shine;
this too is due to correspondence.
On the subject of marriage
they said that although their law
allows them to marry more than one wife,
they do not take more than one,
because true marriage love is indivisible.
If it is divided, its essence, which is heavenly, is lost;
it becomes external and lewd,
quickly fading as their virility declines
and turning to loathing when it goes completely.
But true marriage love is internal
and untouched by lewdness,
so it lasts for ever,
growing equally in strength and delight.

LJC 71 - The Mohammedans in the Spiritual World

LJC 71

As regards their religious beliefs,
these have been permitted to be as they are
because they suit the oriental character,
so that they are accepted in so many kingdoms;
and also because the Ten Commandments
are made a part of their religious system,
and it contains something drawn from the Word;
but chiefly because in it
the Lord is recognized as the Son of God
and the wisest of all.
It has also served to banish
the idolatrous practices of many nations.
The reason no inward religion
was opened to them through Mohammed
was their practice of polygamy
which emits a stink towards heaven.
For the marriage of a husband with one wife
corresponds to
the marriage of the Lord and the church.

~ Those I Love ~

"Those whom I love
I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest, and repent."

(Revelation 3:19)

LJC 61 - Love of Ruling; LJC 64 - Worshiping Saints

LJC 61

It is known that a person has
from his parents
implanted or hereditary evil,
but in what it consists is known to few.
It consists in the love of ruling,
which is such, that as far as the reins are given it,
so far it bursts forth,
until it even burns with the lust of ruling over all,
and at length of wishing to be
invoked and worshiped as God.
This love is the serpent,
which deceived Eve and Adam,
for it said to the woman:

God knows,
that in the day you eat of the fruit of the tree,
your eyes will be opened,
and then you will be as God.
(Genesis 3:4-5)

As far therefore as a person
rushes with loosened reins into this love,
so far he turns himself away from God,
and turns towards himself,
and becomes an atheist;
and then the Divine truths which are of the Word,
may serve as means,
but because dominion is the end,
the means are in the heart only as they serve him.
This is the reason why
those who are in the mediate
and in the ultimate degree
of the love of ruling,
are all in hell, for that love is the devil there;
and in hell there are some of such a nature,
that they cannot bear
to hear any one speaking of God.

LJC 64

The worship of saints
is such an abomination in heaven,
that whenever they hear of it they are horrified,
because as far as worship is paid to any person,
in so far it is withheld from the Lord,
for thus He alone cannot be worshiped;
and if the Lord is not alone worshiped,
a discrimination is made,
which destroys communion,
and the felicity of life which flows from it.

 

LJC 58 - The Catholics

LJC  58

All those of the Papists (Catholics),
who have not been wholly idolaters,
and who, from their religious persuasion,
have done goods out of a sincere heart,
and have also looked to the Lord,
are led to societies
which are instituted in the confines
nearest to the Reformed,
and are instructed there,
the Word being read,
and the Lord preached to them;
and those who receive truths and apply them to life,
are elevated into heaven and become angels.
There are many such societies of them
in every quarter,
and they are guarded on all sides
from the treacheries and cunning devices
of the monks, and from the Babylonish leaven.
Moreover, all their infants are in heaven,
because, being educated by the angels
under the guidance of the Lord,
they know nothing of the falsities
of the religion of their parents.

 

LJC 48 - The Dutch

LJC 48

. . . Christians with whom the Word is read
and the Lord is worshiped,
are in the middle of the nations and people
of the whole spiritual world,
because the greatest spiritual light is with them,
and the light is radiated from there as from a center
into all the circumference even to the last boundary;
and it enlightens . . ..
In this middle,
the Reformed Christians have places allotted to them
according to their reception
of spiritual light from the Lord;
and since the English have that light
stored up in the intellectual part,
therefore they are in the inmost of that middle region;
and because the Dutch keep that light
more nearly conjoined to natural light,
and so there is no such brightness of light
apparent among them,
but in its place something not transparent
which is receptive of rationality from spiritual light,
and at the same time from spiritual heat . . ..
Another reason why they are in
these quarters of the Christian middle region is,
that trade is their final love,
and money is the mediate subservient love,
and that love is spiritual;
but where money is the final love,
and trade the mediate subservient love,
the love is natural, and partakes of avarice.
In the before-mentioned spiritual love,
which regarded in itself is the common good,
in which and from which is the good of the country,
the Dutch excel others.

LJC 39-40 - The English

LJC 30-40

There are two states of thought with a person,
an external and an internal state;
a person is in the external state in the natural world,
in the internal state in the spiritual world:
these states make one with the good,
but not with the evil.
What a person is as to his internal,
is rarely manifest in the natural world,
because from his infancy,
he has wished to be moral,
and has learned to seem so.
But what he is,
clearly appears in the spiritual world,
for spiritual light discloses it,
and also a person is then a spirit,
and the spirit is the internal person.
Now, since it has been given me to be in that light,
and from it, to see what the internal is
in the people of various kingdoms,
by an interaction of many years
with angels and spirits,
it behooves me to manifest it,
because of its importance.
Here I will say something of
the noble English nation only.

The more excellent of the English nation
are in the center of all Christians.
The reason why they are in the center is,
because they have interior intellectual light.
This is not apparent to any one in the natural world,
but it is conspicuous in the spiritual world.
This light they derive from the liberty of thinking,
and from that of speaking and of writing,
in which they are.
With others, who are not in such liberty,
intellectual light is darkened because it has no outlet.
. . . As soon as anything is said by these people,
or as soon as anything they approve is read,
that light shines forth,
and seldom before.

LJC 30-31 - The Salvation of the Sheep

LJC 30-31

When the Last Judgment was completed
there was joy in heaven
and such an increase of light
in the world of spirits as never before.
There is a description
of what the joy in heaven was like
after the dragon was cast down in Revelation:

"Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his  time is short."
(Revelation 12:10-12)

The light in the world of spirits
was due to the removal of those hellish communities
which had come between like clouds
overshadowing the earth.
A similar light also dawned on people in the world,
bringing them a new enlightenment.

Then I saw a vast number of angelic spirits
rising from the depths and being lifted up to heaven.
These were the sheep,
who had been kept back
and guarded by the Lord for centuries past,
to prevent them from coming into
the malign sphere of influence
emanating from the dragon -
people and having their charity stifled.

 

LJC 10 - The Goats, Not Regarding Evils as Sins

LJC 10

For the most part they were the goats
and those akin to them,
who are named in Matthew 25:31-46 (quoted below);
who indeed, in the world had not done evils,
for they had lived well morally;
but they had not done goods from a good origin,
for they had separated faith from charity,
and so had not regarded evils as sins.
__________

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him,
He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before Him,
and He will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on His right
and the goats on His left.

"Then the King will say to those on His right,
'Come, you who are blessed by My Father;
take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat,
I as thirsty and you gave Me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited Me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed Me,
I was sick and you looked after Me,
I was in prison and you came to visit Me.'

"Then the righteous will answer Him,
'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You,
or thirsty and give You something to drink?
When did we see You a stranger and invite You in,
or needing clothes and clothe You?
When did we see You sick
or in prison and go to visit You?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for Me.'

"Then He will say to those on His left,
'Depart from Me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in,
I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me,
I as sick and in prison
and you did not look after Me.'

"They also will answer,
'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison,
and did not help You?
He will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for Me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
(Matthew 25:31-46)

LJC 3 - Common Worldly Opinion and Spiritual Reality

LJC 3

It is a common opinion in the Christian world,
that the whole heaven we see,
and the whole earth inhabited by people
will perish at the day of the Last Judgment,
and that a new heaven and a new earth
will exist in their places;
that the souls of people will then receive their bodies,
and so that a person will again be a person as before.
This opinion has become a matter of faith,
because the Word has not been understood
otherwise than according to the sense of its letter;
and it could not be understood otherwise,
until its spiritual sense was disclosed,
also, because by many
the belief has been acquired
that the soul is only a breath exhaled by a person;
and that spirits, as well as angels,
are of the substance of wind.
While there was such a deficiency
of understanding concerning souls,
and concerning spirits and angels,
the Last Judgment could not be thought of
in any other manner.
But when it comes to be understood,
that a person is a person after death,
just as he was a person in the world,
with the sole difference
that then he is clothed with a spiritual body,
and not as before with a natural body;
and that the spiritual body appears
before those who are spiritual,
even as the natural body appears
before those who are natural,
it may then also be understood,
that the Last Judgment will not be in the natural,
but in the spiritual world;
for all the people
who were ever born and have died,
are together there.

LJC 1 - A Summary of Some of the Points in Last Judgment (LJ)

LJC = (Last Judgment Continued)
__________

LJC 1

The day of the Last Judgment does not mean
the destruction of the world.

The reproduction of the human race will never cease.

Heaven and Hell are from the human race.

All people who have ever been born
since the beginning of creation and have died
are in heaven or in hell.

The Last Judgment is to be where all are together,
and so in the spiritual world, not on earth.

The Last Judgment takes place
when a church comes to an end;
and this happens when there is no faith
because there is no charity.

All the predictions made in the Book of Revelation
are today fulfilled.

 

LJ 73 - The Future of the World and the Church After the Last Judgment

LJ 73

The future state of the world will be exactly the same
as it has been up to now;
for the mighty change which has taken place
in the spiritual world
does not cause any change
in the external appearance of the natural world.
So just as before there will be politics, peace-treaties,
alliances and wars . . ..

The future state of the church, however,
will not be the same.
It may seem much the same in outward appearance,
but inwardly it will be different.
In outward appearance the churches will be
divided from one another as before,
their teachings will differ as before,
and so will the religious systems of the heathen.
But people in the church
will from this time on
have more freedom in thinking about matters of faith,
and so about the spiritual matters
which have to do with heaven,
because of the restoration of spiritual freedom.
For now everything in the heavens and the hells
has been restored to order,
and it is from there
that all thought is influenced
about Divine matters or against them;
from the heavens when thought favors what is Divine,
from the hells when it opposes it.
But people will be unaware of this change of state,
since they do not reflect on it,
nor indeed do they know anything about
spiritual freedom or influence from the spiritual world.
However, in heaven this is perceived,
and people after their deaths can do so too.
It is because people have had
their spiritual freedom restored
that the spiritual sense of the Word
has now been disclosed,
and by this means Divine truths of a more inward kind
have been revealed.
For in their previous state
people would not have understood them,
and if anyone did so,
he would have profaned them.
. . . people's freedom depends upon
an equilibrium between heaven and hell;
and that people can only be reformed,
if they enjoy freedom.

 

~ "How Can You Believe?" ~

"How can you believe
if you accept praise from one another,
yet make no effort to obtain the praise
that comes from the only God?"

(John 5:44)

 

LJ 69, 71 - The First Heaven of the Last Judgment

LJ 66

. . . by "the first heaven"
is not meant the heaven formed of those
who have become angels
from the first creation of this world
to the present time,
for that heaven is abiding,
and endures to eternity;
for all who enter heaven
are under the Lord's protection,
and he who has once been received by the Lord,
can never be plucked away from Him.

LJ 71

. . . the quality of the first heaven was . . .
that those who are not spiritual
by acknowledgment of the Divine,
by a life of good,
and by the affection of truth,
but still keep up the appearance of being spiritual
by their outward piety,
talking about Divine matters,
and by honest dealings for self
- regarding or worldly motives -
these rush into the most wicked actions
their desires suggest,
as soon as they are left to
the guidance of their own internals.
Nothing stops them,
not the fear of God,
nor faith nor conscience.
That was why the inhabitants of the first heaven,
as soon as they were exposed
to their inner natures,
were seen to be linked with the hells.

 

~ The Light ~

"Everyone who does evil
hates the light,
and will not come into the light
for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth
comes into the light
so that it may be seen plainly
that what he has done
has been done through God."

(John 3:20-21)

 

LJ 65 - A New Heaven and a New Earth

LJ 65-66

I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
(Revelation 21:1)

That by "a new heaven and a new earth,"
and by the passing away of
the former heaven and the former earth
is not meant
the visible heaven and our habitable earth,
but an angelic heaven and a church . . .
and also in those which follow it.
For the Word in itself is spiritual,
and therefore treats of spiritual things;
and spiritual things are
the things of heaven and the church;
these are expressed by
natural things in the sense of the letter,
because natural things serve
as a basis to spiritual things,
and without such a basis
the Word would not be a Divine work,
because it would not be complete;
for the natural,
which is the ultimate in Divine order,
completes and makes the interiors,
which are spiritual and celestial,
to subsist upon it,
as a house upon its foundation.
Now because a person has thought of
the things of the Word
from the natural and not from the spiritual,
therefore, by "the heaven and the earth"
which are mentioned here and elsewhere,
they have understood none other than
the heaven and earth which exist
in the world of nature;
from this it is that everyone expects
the passing away and destruction of these,
and then also the creation of new ones.
But in case they should expect this everlastingly,
from age to age in vain,
the spiritual sense of the Word is opened,
so that it may be known what is meant
by many things in the Word . . ..

 

LJ 59 - Why the Divine Order Ensures

LJ 59

. . . Divine order ensures
that all are preserved
who could possibly be preserved,
and this until they could no longer be
among good people.
All therefore are preserved
who can put on
a pretense of spiritual life in externals
and display it in their morality,
as if it underlay it,
no matter what they are like in internals
as regards faith and love.
Those too are preserved
who make an external show of holiness,
even if without any internal content.
Many of those people were like this,
able to conduct
pious conversations with the common people,
to adore the Lord in holy fashion,
to implant religious belief in people's minds
and bring them to think about heaven and hell,
and make them continue to do good
by preaching about good works.
Many have thus been led to a life devoted to good,
and so into the way to heaven.
As a result many of that religion have been saved,
though few of those are who led them.
These are the kind of people the Lord meant
by false prophets,
who come in sheeps' clothing
and inwardly are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15).
Prophets in the internal sense of the Word
mean those who teach truth
and by truth lead towards good;
false prophets are those who teach falsity,
and by it lead people astray.

LJ 57 - The Keys Given to Peter

LJ 57

I spoke with some of those people
about the keys given to Peter,
asking whether they believed
the Lord's power over heaven and hell
was transferred to him.
Since this is a fundamental point
in their religious system,
they strongly insisted on it,
saying that there was no doubt at all about it,
since it is plainly stated.
When I asked whether they knew
that the details of the Word contain a spiritual sense,
and that this is how the Word is understood in heaven,
they started by saying that they did not.
But later they said that they would inquire,
and on doing so they were taught
that the details of the Word contain a spiritual sense,
which is as different from the literal sense
as what is spiritual is from what is natural.
Moreover, they were taught
that none of the names used in the Word
has that meaning in heaven,
but there something spiritual is understood instead.
Finally they were informed
that instead of Peter
there is meant in the Word
the church's truth of faith
coming from the good of charity.
Rock, which is mentioned along with Peter,
has a similar meaning, for we read:

You are Peter and upon this rock
I will build my church.
(Matthew 16:18)

This does not mean
that any power was given to Peter,
but to truth arising from good;
for all power in the heavens
belongs to truth arising from good,
or to good acting by means of truth,
and because all good and truth come from the Lord,
and nothing is from a person,
all power belongs to the Lord.

 

LJ 54, 55 - The Babylon in Revelation

LJ 54

By Babylon are meant
all who wish to have dominion by religion.
To have dominion by religion,
is to have dominion over the souls of people,
thus over their very spiritual life,
and to use the Divine things,
which are in their religion, as the means.
All those who have dominion for an end,
and religion for the means are in general Babylon.

LJ 55

They acknowledge and adore the Lord
apart from all power of saving:
they entirely separate His Divine from His Human,
and transfer to themselves His Divine power,
which belonged to His Human;
for they remit sins;
they send to heaven;
they cast into hell;
they save whom they will;
they sell salvation;
thus they arrogate (take on) to themselves
what belongs to the Divine power alone:
and since they exercise this power,
it follows that they make gods of themselves,
each one according to his station,
by transference from the highest of them,
whom they call Christ's vicar,
down to the lowest;
thus they regard themselves as the Lord,
and adore Him,
not for His own sake, but for theirs.
They not only adulterate and falsify the Word,
but even take it away from the people,
lest they should enter into the smallest light of truth;
and not satisfied with this, they moreover annihilate it,
acknowledging the Divine in the decrees of Rome,
superior to the Divine in the Word;
so that they exclude all from the way to heaven;
for the acknowledgment of the Lord, faith in Him,
and love to Him,
are the way to heaven;
and the Word is what teaches the way:
so it is, that without the Lord,
by means of the Word,
there is no salvation.
. . . All these things they do for the sole end
that they may possess the world and its treasures,
and live in luxury and be the greatest,
while the rest are slaves.
But domination such as this,
is not that of heaven over hell,
but of hell over heaven,
for as far as the love of having dominion is with a person,
especially with the person of the church,
so far hell reigns.
. . . From this summary it may appear
that they have no church there (in hell), but Babylon;
for the church is where the Lord Himself is worshiped,
and where the Word is read.

LJ 46 - Before the Flood, After the Flood, and When the Lord Came

LJ 46

A Last Judgment has twice before existed on this earth,
because every judgment exists at the end of a church,
. . . and there have been two churches on this earth,
one before the flood,
and one after it.
The church before the flood is described
in the first chapters of Genesis
by the new creation of the heaven and the earth,
and by paradise;
its end, by the eating of the tree of science,
and the subsequent particulars;
and its Last Judgment by the flood;
the whole by mere correspondences,
according to the style of the Word;
in the internal or spiritual sense of which,
by "the creation of the heaven and the earth,"
the institution of a new church is meant . . .;
by "the paradise in Eden," its celestial wisdom;
by "the tree of science," and by "the serpent,"
the scientific which destroyed it;
and by "the flood,"
the Last Judgment upon the people
of whom it consisted.
But the other church, which was after the flood,
is also described in certain passages in the Word
(as in Deuteronomy 32:7-14), and elsewhere.
This church was extended
through much of the Asiatic world,
and was continued with the posterity of Jacob.
Its end was when the Lord came into the world.
A Last Judgment was then effected by Him
upon all who belonged to that church
from its first institution;
and, at the same time,
upon the residue from the first church.
The Lord came into the world for that end,
to reduce all things in the heavens into order,
and through the heavens all things on earth,
and at the same time to make His Human Divine;
for if this had not been done,
no one could have been saved.

LJ 41 - Seeing the Quality of the Lord's Church on Earth

LJ 41

The quality of the Lord's church on earth,
cannot be seen by any person,
so long as he lives in the world,
still less how the church
in process of time
has turned aside from good to evil.
The reason is,
that a person while he is living in the world,
is in externals,
and only sees those things
which appear before his natural person;
but the quality of the church as to spiritual things,
which are its internals,
does not appear in the world.
Yet it does appear in heaven as in clear day,
for the angels are in spiritual thought,
and also in spiritual sight,
and consequently see nothing but spiritual things.

LJ 34 - Restoring Order Is the Goal of the Last Judgment

LH 34

. . . all a person's evil is from hell,
and all his good is from heaven.

Now since evil increases over good
at the end of the church,
all are then judged by the Lord,
the evil are separated from the good,
all things are reduced into order,
and a new heaven is established,
and also a new church upon earth,
and thus equilibrium is restored.
it is this then which is called the Last Judgment . . ..

 

LJ 30 - When Are We Judged?

LJ 30

. . . no one is judged from the natural person,
(as) long as he lives in the natural world,
for a person is then in a natural body;
but every one is judged in the spiritual person,
. . . when he comes into the spiritual world,
for then a person is in a spiritual body.
It is the spiritual in a person which is judged,
but not the natural,
for this cannot be held guilty of any fault or crime,
since it does not live of itself,
but is only the servant,
and instrument by which the spiritual person acts.
Consequently it also is,
that judgment is effected upon people
when they have put off their natural,
and put on their spiritual bodies.
In the spiritual body moreover,
a person appears such as he is
with respect to love and faith,
for every one in the spiritual world
is the effigy (image) of his own love,
not only as to the face and the body,
but also as to the speech and the actions. . ..

LJ 28 - Where Did the Last Judgment Occur?

LJ 28

Concerning the Last Judgment,
it is believed that the Lord will then appear
in the clouds of heaven with the angels in glory,
and awaken from the sepulchers
all who have ever lived since the beginning of creation,
clothing their souls with their bodies;
and thus summoned together
He will judge them,
those who have done well,
to eternal life or heaven,
those who have done ill,
to eternal death or hell.
The churches derive this belief
from the sense of the letter of the Word,
nor could it be removed,
so long as people did not know
that there is a spiritual sense within each thing
which is said in the Word,
and that this sense is the Word itself,
to which the sense of the letter serves
for a foundation or basis,
and that without such a letter,
the Word could not have been Divine,
or have served in heaven, as in the world,
for the doctrine of life and faith,
and for conjunction.
He therefore who knows the spiritual things
corresponding to the natural things in the Word,
can know that by
"the Lord's coming in the clouds of heaven,"
is not meant such an appearance of Him,
but His appearance in the Word;
for "the Lord" is the Word,
because He is the Divine truth;
"the clouds of heaven" in which He is to come,
are the sense of the letter of the Word,
and "the glory" is its spiritual sense;
"the angels" are the heaven from which He will appear,
and those also are the Lord as to Divine truths.
From this the meaning of these words is now evident,
namely, that when the end of the church is,
the Lord will open the spiritual sense of the Word,
and thus the Divine truth, such as it is in itself;
therefore that this is the sign
that the Last Judgment is at hand.
 

NJHD 27 - Going From a Village to a Great City

NJHD 27

. . . when a person passes
from the natural world into the spiritual,
it is like going from a village into a great city.
That the natural world cannot be
compared with the spiritual world as to quality,
may appear from this,
that not only have all the things
which are in the natural world
have an existence there,
but innumerable others besides,
which never were seen in this world,
nor can be presented to the sight,
for spiritual things there are modeled
each to its own type by appearances, as if natural,
each with an infinite variety;
for the spiritual so far exceeds
the natural in excellence,
that the things are few
which can be produced to the natural sense;
the natural sense not receiving one of the thousands
which the spiritual mind receives;
and all things which belong to the spiritual mind,
are presented, even in forms to their sight.
This is the reason why it is impossible
to describe what the spiritual world is,
as regards its magnificent and stupendous things.
These moreover increase
in proportion to the multiplication
of the human race in the heavens,
for all things are there presented in forms
which correspond to the state of each
as to love and faith,
and from these as to intelligence and wisdom;
thus with a variety which increases continually,
as the multitude increases.
So it has been said by those
who have been elevated into heaven,
that they saw and heard things there,
which no eye has ever seen,
and no ear has ever heard.
From these things, it may appear
that the spiritual world is such,
that the natural world can not be compared with it.

LJ 24 - The Natural Person, the Spiritual Person and Living to Eternity

NJHD 24

Up to now it has been generally believed
that people will not go to heaven or to hell
before the day of the Last Judgment,
when souls will return to their own bodies
so that they can enjoy
what are believed to be
the peculiar properties of the body.
Simple people have been brought to believe this
by those who have made a profession of being wise
and have inquired into people's inner state.
These have had no idea of the spiritual world,
but only the natural one,
and so no idea of the spiritual person either.
They have therefore been unaware
that the spiritual person,
which everyone has within his natural person,
has human form just as the natural person.

. . . The spiritual person
is what is called a person's spirit,
which is seen in the spiritual world
in complete human form
and which lives on after death.

 

~ A Tree and Its Fruit ~

"No good tree bears bad fruit,
nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.
people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
or grapes from briers.
The good man brings good things out of
the good stored up in his heart,
and the evil man brings evil things out of
the evil stored up in his heart.
for out of the overflow of his heart
his mouth speaks."

(Luke 6:43-45)

LJ 18, 20 - Heaven Is From the Human Race

LJ 18

That heaven is from the human race,
is evident from this,
that angelic and human minds are similar;
both enjoying the faculty
of understanding, of perceiving, and of willing;
both being formed for receiving heaven.
For the human mind possesses wisdom
as well as the angelic;
but it is not so wise in the world,
because it is in a terrestrial body,
in which its spiritual mind thinks naturally,
for its spiritual thought,
which it has in common with an angel,
then flows down into the natural ideas
corresponding with the spiritual,
and is perceived in them.
But it is otherwise when the mind of a person
is freed from its connection with the body;
then it no longer thinks naturally but spiritually;
and when spiritually it then thinks
what is incomprehensible and ineffable*
to the natural person, as an angel does.
From this it is evident,
that a person's internal,
which is called his spirit,
in its essence is an angel.

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

LJ 20

"To create in the image of God,
and in the likeness of God,"  (Genesis 1:26)
is to confer upon a person
all things of Divine order from firsts to ultimates,
and so to make him an angel
as to the interior of his mind.

LJ 10, 13 - The Lord, His Word, and the Eternity of Heaven

LJ 10

It is indeed possible
that the human race on one earth may perish,
which comes to pass
when they separate themselves entirely
from the Divine,
for then humankind no longer has spiritual life,
but only natural, like that of beasts;
and when a person is such
no society can be formed,
and held bound by laws,
since without the influx of heaven,
and thus without the Divine government,
humankind would become insane,
and rush unchecked into every wickedness,
one against another.
But although the human race,
by separation from the Divine,
might perish on one earth,
which, however, is provided against by the Lord,
yet still they would continue on other earths . . .
that the human race on this earth
would have perished,
so that not one person
would have existed on it at this day,
if the Lord had not come into the world,
and on this earth assumed the Human,
and made it Divine;
and also, unless the Lord had given here
such a Word as might serve for a basis
to the angelic heaven,
and for its conjunction.

LJ 13

The angelic heaven is the end
for which all things in the universe were created,
for it is the end
on account of which the human race exists,
and the human race is the end
regarded in the creation of the visible heaven,
and the earths included in it.
Where fore that Divine work,
namely, the angelic heaven,
primarily has respect to infinity and eternity,
and therefore to its multiplication without end,
for the Divine Himself dwells therein.
From this it is also clear,
that the human race will never cease,
for were it to cease,
the Divine work would be limited to a certain number,
and thus its looking to infinity would perish.

LJ 1, 4 - Understanding "The Last Judgment"

 LJ = Last Judgment
__________

LJ 1

Those who have not known
the spiritual sense of the Word,
have understood
that everything in the visible world
will be destroyed in the day of the Last Judgment;
for it is said,
that heaven and earth are then to perish,
and that God will create
a New Heaven and a New Earth.
In this opinion
they have also confirmed themselves
because it is said,
that all are then to rise from their graves,
and that the good are then to be separated
from the evil, with more to the same purpose.
But it is thus said in the sense of the letter of the Word,
because the sense of the letter of the Word is natural,
and in the ultimate of Divine order,
where each and every part
contains a spiritual sense within it.
For which reason,
he who comprehends the Word
only according to the sense of the letter,
may be led into various opinions,
as indeed has been the case in the Christian world,
where so many heresies have thus arisen,
and every one of them is confirmed from the Word.
But since no one has hitherto known,
that in the whole and in every part of the Word
there is a spiritual sense,
nor even what the spiritual sense is,
therefore those who have embraced this opinion
concerning the Last Judgment are excusable.
But still they may now know,
that neither the visible heaven
nor the habitable earth will perish,
but that both will endure;
and that by "the New Heaven and the New Earth"
is meant a New Church,
both in the heavens and on the earth.
It is said a New Church in the heavens,
for there is a church in the heavens,
as well as on the earth;
for there also is the Word,
and likewise preachings,
and Divine worship as on the earth;
but with a difference,
that there all things are in a more perfect state,
because there they are not in the natural world,
but in the spiritual;
consequently all there are spiritual people,
and not natural as they were in the world.

LJ 4

"To create" in the spiritual sense of the Word
also means to form, to establish, and to regenerate;
so by "creating a new heaven and a new earth"
means to establish a New Church
in heaven and on earth . . ..
So it is, that "the new creation" of a person
is his reformation, since he is made anew,
that is, from natural he is made spiritual;
and so it is that "a new creature" is a reformed person.

NJHD 311 & 312 - The Need for Order in Ecclesiastical and Civil Government

NJHD 311

There are two things
which ought to be in order with humankind,
namely, the things which are of heaven,
and the things which are of the world.
The things which are of heaven are called ecclesiastical,
and those which are of the world are called civil.

NJHD 312

Order cannot be maintained in the world
without governors, who are to observe all things
which are done according to order,
and which are done contrary to order;
and who are to reward those
who live according to order,
and punish those who live contrary to order.
If this be not done, the human race will perish;
for the will to command others,
and to possess the goods of others,
is innate from heredity with everyone,
from which proceed enmities, envyings, hatreds,
revenges, deceits, cruelties, and many other evils.
Wherefore, unless they were kept under restraint
by the laws, and by rewards suited to their loves,
which are honors and gains for those who do goods;
and by punishments contrary to those loves,
which are the loss
of honors, of possessions, and of life,
for those who do evils;
the human race would perish.

 

NJHD 302, 303, 304, 310 - More on the Lord

 NJHD 302

The Lord more than all
endured the most grievous temptations.

The Lord alone,
from His own proper power,
fought against the hells,
and over came them.
Consequently the Lord alone
became justice and merit.

The last temptation of the Lord
was in Gethsemane and on the cross,
at which time He gained a full victory,
by which He subjugated the hells,
and at the same time glorified His Human.

NJHD 303

In the Word "the Son of man" means the Divine truth,
and "the Father" the Divine good.

Because the Lord was the Divine truth,
He was the Divine wisdom.

The Lord alone
had perception and thought from Himself,
above all angelic perception and thought.

The Divine truth could be tempted,
but not the Divine good.

NJHD 304

So far as the Lord was united with the Father,
so far He spoke as with Himself;
but at other times as with another.

The Lord united the Divine truth,
which was Himself,
with the Divine good which was in Himself.

The union was reciprocal.

Union is said of the the Lord's Human and the Divine,
but conjunction between people and the Divine.

NJHD 310

The Lord does not desire glory from a person
for the sake of Himself,
but of the person's salvation.

The true acknowledgment
and true worship of the Lord
is to do His commandments,
shown from the Word.

NJHD 288-290 - The Lord

NJHD 288

That the Divine and Human of the Lord is one Person,
is from the faith received in the whole Christian world,
which is to this effect:

Although Christ is God and Man,
still He is not two, but one Christ;
indeed, He is altogether one and a single Person;
because as the body and the soul are one man,
so also God and Man are one Christ.

This is from the Athanasian creed.

NJHD 289
Those who, concerning the Divinity,
have the idea of three Persons,
cannot have the idea of one God;
if with the mouth they say one,
still they think three;
but those who, concerning the Divinity,
have the idea of three in one Person,
can have the idea of one God,
and can say one God,
and also think one God.

NJHD 290

The idea of three in one Person is had,
when it is thought that the Father is in the Lord,
and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him;
the Trinity is then in the Lord,
the Divine itself which is called the Father,
and the Divine Human which is called the Son,
and the Divine proceeding
which is called the Holy Spirit.

 

NJHD 279 - Divine Order

NJHD 279

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord
is the source of order,
and the Divine good is the essential of order.

The Lord is order,
since the Divine good and the Divine truth
are from the Lord,
indeed, are the Lord,
in the heavens and on earth.

Where order is,
the Lord is present,
but where order is not,
the Lord is not present.

Good, because it is the essential of order,
disposes truths into order,
and not vice versa.

The entire heaven,
as to all the angelic societies,
is arranged by the Lord
according to His Divine order,
because the Divine of the Lord with the angels
makes heaven.

A person is not born into good and truth,
but into evil and falsity,
thus not into Divine order,
but into what is contrary to order,
and on this account into mere ignorance,
and he ought therefore necessarily be born anew,
that is regenerated,
which is done by Divine truths from the Lord,
and by a life according to them,
to the intent that he may be inaugurated into order,
thus become a person.

So far as a person lives according to order,
so far he has intelligence and wisdom.
 

NJHD 278 - The Influx of the Lord

NJHD 278

The Lord is life itself . . ..
Life from the Lord flows in
with angels, spirits, and people,
in a wonderful manner.
The Lord flows in from His Divine love,
which is of such
that it wills what is its own
should be another's.
All love is such;
thus the Divine love infinitely more so.

The chief of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels
consists in perceiving and knowing
that the all of life is from the Lord.

A person is so created,
that his inmost,
and from here in those which follow in order,
he can receive the Divine
by the good of love and the truths of faith,
and on this account he lives to eternity . . ..

NJHD 276 - More on the Lord's Divine Providence

NJHD 276

The Lord, from providence,
rules all things according to order,
and thus providence is government
according to order.
He rules all things either from will or from leave,
or from permission;
thus in various respects
according to a person's quality.

Providence acts invisibly,
in order that a person may not be compelled
to believe from visible things,
and so that his free-will may not be injured;
for unless a person has freedom
he cannot be reformed,
thus he cannot be saved.

Unless the Divine providence of the Lord
were universal,
from and in the most single things,
nothing could subsist.

All things are disposed by it into order,
and kept in order
both in general and in particular.

A person's own proper prudence
is like a small speck of dirt in the universe,
while the Divine providence
is respectively as the universe itself.

The Lord has providence and foresight,
and the one does not exist without the other.
Good is provided by the Lord,
and evil foreseen.

There is no such thing as predestination or fate.
All are predestined to heaven,
and none to hell.

The Divine Providence of the Lord

NJHD 267

The government of the Lord
in the heavens and in the earths
is called Providence;
and because all the good of love
and all the truth of faith,
from which is salvation,
are from Him,
and nothing at all from man . . ..

NJHD 268

The Divine Providence of the Lord extends
to the most minute things of a person's life;
for there is only one fountain of life,
which is the Lord,
from whom we are, we live, and we act.

NJHD 269

. . . the Divine Providence does not regard
that which soon passes away,
and ends with the life of a person of the world,
but it regards that which remains to eternity,
thus which has no end.

NJHD 271

If a person were compelled
to that which he does not will,
his mind would continually incline
to that which he wills;
and besides,
every one strives after what is forbidden,
and this from a latent cause,
because he strives for freedom.
From this it is evident
that unless people were kept in freedom,
good could not be provided for him.

NJHD 275

It is to be known
that there is a providence,
and there is foresight;
good is what is provided by the Lord,
but evil is what is foreseen by the Lord.
The one must accompany the other,
for what comes from a person is nothing but evil,
but what comes from the Lord
is nothing but good.

 

NJHD 261 - The Science of the Word

NJHD 261

The Word, as to is literal sense
is written by mere correspondences,
thus by such things
as represent and signify spiritual things
which relate to heaven and the church.
This was done for the sake of the internal sense,
which is contained in every part.

For the sake of heaven,
since those who are in heaven
do not understand the Word
according to the sense of the letter,
which is natural,
but according to its internal sense,
which is spiritual.

The Lord spoke by correspondences,
representatives, and significatives
because He spoke from the Divine.
So the Lord spoke at the same time
before the world and before heaven.

The ancient wise men were delighted with the Word,
because of the representatives and significatives in it,
from experience.

The science of correspondences and representatives
was the chief science among the ancients.
. . . But at this day it is among the sciences
which are lost, particularly in Europe.
Nevertheless this science is more excellent
than all other sciences,
since without it
the Word is not understood . . ..

NJHD 260 - The Amazing Internal Sense of the Word

NJHD 260

The Word in its internal sense
contains innumerable things,
which exceed human comprehension.

In also contains inexplicable things.
Which are represented only to angels,
and understood by them.

The internal sense of the Word
contains arcana (secrets) of heaven,
which relate to the Lord and His kingdom
in the heavens and on earth.
Those arcana do not appear in the sense of the letter.

Many things in the prophets
appear to be disconnected,
when yet in their internal sense
they cohere in a regular and beautiful series.

In the Word,
and particularly in the prophetical parts of it,
two expressions are used
that seem to signify (mean) the same thing,
but one expression has relation to good,
and the other to truth;
thus one relates to what is spiritual,
the other to what is celestial.

Goods and truths are conjoined
in a wonderful manner in the Word . . ..
and thus there is
a Divine marriage and a heavenly marriage
in the Word, and in every part thereof.

The Divine marriage is the marriage of
Divine good and Divine truth,
thus it is the Lord,
in whom alone that marriage exists.

The Word is the doctrine of Love to the Lord,
and of charity towards the neighbor.

NJHD 256 - The Word and Enlightenment

NJHD 256 - The Word is not understood
except by those who are enlightened.

The human rational cannot apprehend Divine things,
nor even spiritual things,
unless it is enlightened by the Lord.

The Lord enables those who are enlightened
to understand truth,
and to see how to reconcile
those things in the Word
which may appear to contradict each other.

The Word in the sense of the letter
is not consistent with itself,
and sometimes it appears contradictory.

And therefore it may be explained and strained
by those who are not enlightened,
to confirm any opinion or heresy whatever,
and to patronize any worldly and corporeal love.

Those who read the Word
from the love of truth and good,
are enlightened from it,
but not those who read it
from the love of fame, gain, or honor,
thus from the love of self.

Those who are in the good of life,
and thereby in the affection of truth,
are enlightened.

Those whose internal is open,
and consequently who as to their internal person
are capable of being elevated
into the light of heaven,
are enlightened.

Enlightenment is an actual opening
of the interiors of the mind,
and elevation of them into the light of heaven.

Holiness from the internal,
that is, through the internal from the Lord,
inflows with those who esteem the Word to be holy,
though they themselves do not know it.

Those who are led by the Lord are enlightened,
and see truths in the Word,
but not those who are led by self.

Those who love truth because it is truth,
that is, who love to live according to Divine truths,
are led by the Lord.

Those things which are from one's own intelligence
have no life in them,
since nothing good proceeds from a person's proprium.

Those who have much confirmed themselves
in false doctrine cannot be enlightened.

 

 

NJHD 251-252 - What the Divine Has Revealed

NJHD 251-252

Since . . . a person lives after death,
and then lives to eternity,
and a life awaits him according to his love and faith,
it follows that the Divine,
out of love towards the human race,
has revealed such things as may lead to that life,
and contribute to a person's salvation.
What the Divine has revealed,
is with us the Word.

The Word,
because it is a revelation from the Divine,
is Divine in each and all things;
for what is from the Divine cannot be otherwise.
What is from the Divine descends
through the heavens even to people;
wherefore in the heavens it is accommodated to
the wisdom of the angels who are there,
and on earth it is accommodated to
the understanding of the people who are there.
Wherefore in the Word there is an internal sense,
which is spiritual, for the angels,
and an external sense, which is natural, for people.
It is from this
that the conjunction of heaven with a person
is effected through the Word.

NJHD 246 - Where the Church Exists

NJHD 246

The church exists specifically where the Word is,
and where the Lord is thereby known,
and thus where Divine truths are revealed.

Still those who are born where the Word is,
and where the Lord is thereby known,
are not of the church,
but those who are regenerated by the Lord
by the truths of the Word,
that is those who live the life of charity.

Those who are of the church,
or in whom the church is,
are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth,
that is, they love truth because it is truth;
and they examine from the Word
whether the doctrinals
of the church in which they were born
are true.

But the church,
where the Lord is known and where the Word is,
is like the heart and lungs in a person
in respect to the other parts of the body,
which live from the heart and lungs
as from the fountains of their life.

From this it is,
that unless there were a church where the Word is,
and where the Lord is thereby known,
the human race could not be saved.

To know truth and good,
and to act from them,
is the external of the church,
but to will and love truth and good,
and to act from them,
is the internal of the church.

The church is not with a person,
unless the truths of doctrine
are implanted in the good of charity with him,
thus in the life.

In the Most Ancient Church
there was immediate revelation;
in the Ancient Church,
revelation was by correspondences;
in the Jewish Church,
by a living voice;
and in the Christian Church,
by the Word.

NJHD 241, 242-244 - The Church Is

NJHD 241, 242-244

That which constitutes heaven with a person,
also constitutes the church . . ..

The church is said to be where
the Lord is acknowledged
and where the Word is,
for the essentials of the church are
love and faith in the Lord from the Lord;
and the Word teaches how a person must live
that he may receive love and faith from the Lord.

That there may be a church,
there must be doctrine from the Word,
since without doctrine
the Word is not understood.
Doctrine alone, however,
does not constitute the church with a person,
but a live according to it.
So it follows that faith alone
does not constitute the church with a person,
but the life of faith,
which is charity.
Genuine doctrine is
the doctrine of charity and faith together,
and not the doctrine of faith separate from charity;
for the doctrine of charity and faith together
is the doctrine of life;
but not the doctrine of faith
without the doctrine of charity.

Those who are out of the church
and acknowledge one God,
and live according to their religious principle,
and in some charity towards the neighbor,
are in communion with those who are of the church;
for no person who believes in God
and lives well,
is condemned.
From this it is evident,
that the church of the Lord is in the whole world,
although specifically,
where the the Lord is acknowledged,
and where the Word is.

NJHD 232-233 - Heaven Is In a Person

NJHD 232-233

Heaven is with every person
according to his reception
of love and faith from the Lord;
and those who receive heaven from the Lord
while they live in the world,
come into heaven after death.

Those who receive heaven from the Lord
are those who have heaven in themselves,
for heaven is in a person,
as the Lord also teaches:

Neither shall they say of the kingdom of God,
'Here it is,' or There it is,'
for the Kingdom of God is within you.
(Luke 17:21)

 

NJHD 223-227 - What Is Resurrection?

NJHD 223-227

A person is so created
that as to his internal he cannot die;
for he can believe in and also love God,
and thus be conjoined to God by faith and love;
and to be conjoined to God is to live to eternity.

This internal is with every person who is born;
his external is that by which he brings into effect
the things which are of his faith and love.
The internal is called the spirit,
and the external is called the body.
The external, which is called the body,
is accommodated to the uses in the natural world,
this is rejected when a person dies;
but the internal, which is called the spirit,
is accommodated to the uses in the spiritual world,
this does not die.
This internal is then a good spirit and an angel,
if the person had been good in the world;
but an evil spirit if the person had been evil in the world.

The spirit of a person after the death of the body,
appears in the spiritual world in a human form,
in every respect as in the world.
He enjoys the faculty
of seeing, of hearing, of speaking, and of feeling,
as in the world;
and he is endowed with every faculty
of thinking, of willing, and of acting,
as in the world;
in a word, he is a person as to each and every thing,
except that he is not encompassed with
the gross body which he had in the world.
This he leaves when he dies,
nor does he ever resume it.

This continuation of life is meant by the resurrection.
The reason why people believe
that they will not rise again before the Last Judgment,
when the whole visible world will perish,
is because they have not understood the Word,
and because sensual people
place all their life in the body,
and believe that unless this shall live again,
it will be all over with the person.

The life of a person after death
is the life of his love and the life of his faith;
consequently such as his love and faith had been,
when he lived in the world,
such his life will remain to eternity.
With those who loved
themselves and the world above all things,
it is the life of hell;
and with those who had loved God above all things,
and the neighbor as themselves,
it is the life of heaven.

 

NJHD 210, 211, 213 - Holy Supper

NJHD 210, 211, 213

The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord,
that by it there may be conjunction
of the church with heaven,
thus with the Lord . . ..

But how conjunction is effected by it
is not understood by those who do not know
the internal or spiritual sense of the word . . ..

. . . when a person partakes of the bread,
which is the body,
he is conjoined to the Lord
by the good of love to Him from Him;
and when he partakes of the wine,
which is the blood,
he is conjoined to the Lord
by the good of faith in Him from Him.
But it is to be known
that the conjunction with the Lord
by the Sacrament of the Supper,
is effected with those alone
who are in the good of love and faith
in the Lord from the Lord.
With these there is conjunction by the Holy Supper;
with others there is presence, but not conjunction. 

NJHD 203-204, 206 - Baptism

NJHD 203-204, 206

All regeneration is effected by the Lord,
through the truths of faith,
and a life according to them.
Baptism therefore testifies
that the person is of the church,
and that he can be regenerated:
for in the church the Lord is acknowledged,
who alone regenerates,
and there also is the Word,
which contains the truths of faith,
by which regeneration is effected.

This the Lord teaches in John:

Except a man be begotten of water and of the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
(John 3:5)

"Water" in the spiritual sense
is the truth of faith from the Word;
"the spirit" is a life according to that truth;
and "to be begotten" is to be regenerated thereby.

As baptism is for a sign and memorial of these things
therefore a person may be baptized as an infant,
and if not then,
he may be baptized as an adult.

 

NJHD 200 - The Lord Combats for Us

NJHD 200

A person cannot by any means
combat against evils and falsities from himself,
because that would be to fight against all the hells,
which the Lord alone can subdue and conquer.

Temptation is of no avail,
and productive of no good,
unless a person believes,
at least after the temptation,
that the Lord had fought and conquered for him.

In every temptation there is freedom,
although it does not appear so,
but the freedom is interiorly with a person
from the Lord,
and he therefore combats and is willing to conquer,
and not to be conquered,
which he would not do without freedom.
The Lord effects this by means of
the affection of truth and good
impressed on the internal person,
although the person does not know it.
For all freedom is of affection or love,
and according to its quality.

NJHD 198, 199 - During Temptations

NJHD 198

The person who is regenerating
comes into temptations,
when evil endeavors to gain dominion over good,
and the natural person over the spiritual person.
Those who are regenerated,
are first let into a state of tranquility,
then into temptations,
and afterwards return
into a state of tranquility of peace,
which is the end.

NJHD 199

Truths and good,
thus the things which belong to faith and charity,
are confirmed and implanted by temptations.
And evils and falsities are removed,
and room made for the reception of goods and truths.
By temptations
the loves of self and the word,
from which proceed all evils and falsities,
are broken.

By the temptations in which a person conquers,
evil spirits are deprived of the power
of rising up against him any further.
The hells dare not rise up
against those who have suffered temptations
and have conquered.

Before a person undergoes temptations,
the truths and goods which are with him
are arranged in order by the Lord,
that he may be able to resist the evils and falsities
which are with him,
and are excited from hell.
In temptations the Lord provides good
where the evil spirits intend evil.
After temptations
the Lord reduces truths with goods into a new order,
and arranges them in a heavenly form.

 

~ Come to Me ~

Come to Me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you
and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
for My yoke is easy
and My burden is light."

(Matthew 11:28-30)

 

NJHD 197 - When in Temptation

NJHD 197

A state of temptation is an unclean and filthy state,
inasmuch as evils and falsities are injected,
and also doubts concerning goods and truths.
Also, because in temptations there are indignations,
pains of the mind,
and many affections that are not good.
There is also obscurity and doubt
concerning the end.
And likewise
concerning the Divine Providence and hearing,
because prayers are not heard in temptations
as they are out of them.
And because a person
when he is in temptation,
seems to himself to be in a state of damnation.
Because a person perceives clearly
what is doing in his external person,
consequently the things which
evil spirits inject and call forth,
according to which he thinks of his state;
but he does not perceive
what is doing in his internal person,
consequently the things which flow in
by means of angels from the Lord,
and therefore he cannot judge of his state . . ..

Temptations are generally carried to desperation,
which is their ultimate.
In the temptation itself there are also despairings,
but that they terminate in a general one.
In a state of despair a person speaks bitter things,
but the Lord does not attend to them.
When the temptation is finished,
there is at first a fluctuation
between the truth and falsity.
But afterwards truth shines,
and becomes serene and joyful.

NJHD 187, 190, 195 - Temptations - The War Between Good and Evil

NJHD 187

Only those who are being regenerated,
undergo spiritual temptations;
for spiritual temptations
are pains of mind induced by evil spirits
with those who are in goods and truths.
While those spirits excite the evils
which are with them,
there arises the anxiety of temptation.
A person does not know
where this anxiety comes from,
because he does not know its origin.

NJH 190

In temptations,
the dominion of good over evil,
or of evil over good,
is contended for.
Evil which wills to have dominion,
is in the natural or external person,
and good is in the spiritual or internal person.
If evil conquers, the natural man has dominion;
if good conquers, the spiritual has dominion.

NJHD 195

The Lord alone combats for a person in temptations.
If a person does not believe
that the Lord alone combats and conquers for him,
he undergoes only external temptation;
which is not serviceable to him.

 

NJHD 183, 186 - Our Proprium and Regeneration by the Lord

NJHD 183

A person of himself,
so far as he is under the influence
of his hereditary nature and proprium,
is worse than the brute animals.
Therefore of himself he continually looks to hell.
Therefore, if a person should be led
by his own proprium,
he could not possibly be saved.

A person's proprium must be removed
that the Lord and heaven
may be able to be present.
It is actually removed
when he is regenerated by the Lord.
"Creating" a person, in the Word,
means to regenerate him.

The end of regeneration is,
that the internal or spiritual person may rule,
and the external or natural person serve.

NJHD 186

There are two states
of the person who is regenerated;
first when he is led by truth to good;
second, when he acts from good,
and from good sees truth.
. . . when  a person is regenerating,
he looks to good from truth;
but when regenerated,
he regards truth from good.
thus a turning over as it were takes place,
in that the state of a person is inverted.

The internal or spiritual person,
and the external or natural person,
must each of them be regenerated,
and the one by means of the other.
The internal person must be regenerated
before the external,
since the internal person is in the light of heaven,
and the external person in the light of the world.

He who is regenerated,
must necessarily undergo temptations.
Because temptations take place
for the sake of the conjunction of good and truth,
and also on account of the conjunction
of the internal and the external person.

NJHD 177, 181 - How Regeneration Happens

NJHD 177

No person can be regenerated
unless he knows such things as are of the new life,
that is, of spiritual life.
The things which are of the new life,
or which are of the spiritual life,
are truths which are to be believed
and goods which are to be done;
the former are of faith,
the latter of charity.
These things no one can know from himself,
for a person understands only those things
which are obvious to the senses,
from which he procures to himself a light
which is called natural light,
from which he sees nothing else
than what relates to the world and to self,
but not the things which relate to heaven and to God.
These he must learn from revelation.
As that the Lord, who is God from eternity,
came into the world to save the human race;
that He has all power in heaven and in earth;
that the all of faith and the all of charity,
thus all truth and good,
is from Him;
that there is a heaven, and a hell;
and that a person is to live to eternity,
in heaven if he has done well,
in hell if he has done evil.

NJHD 181

The internal person is first regenerated by the Lord,
and afterwards the external,
and the latter by means of the former.
For the internal person is regenerated
by thinking those things
which are of faith and charity,
but the external by a life according to them.
This is meant by the words of the Lord:

Unless anyone be born of water and the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
(John 3:5)

"Water," in the spiritual sense, is the truth of faith,
and "the spirit" is a life according to it.

 

NJHD 170 - Evils; NJHD 171 - Falsities; NJHD 172 - Profanation

NJHD 170

Evils shut out the Lord.

Evils are as it were heavy,
and fall of themselves into hell;
and so also falsities that are from evil.

NJHD 171

Evil falsifies truth,
because it draws aside and applies truths to evil.

Truth is said to be falsified,
when it is applied to evil by confirmations.

Falsified truth is contrary to truth and good.

NJHD 172

Profanation is a mixing together of good and evil,
as also of truth and falsity in a person.

No one can profane goods and truths,
or the holy things of the church and the Word,
except those who first acknowledge, believe,
and still more live according to them,
and afterwards recede from and live according to them,
and afterwards recede from and do not believe,
and who live to themselves and the world.

NJHD 159-163 - Confess Sins and Repent

NJHD 159-63

He who would be saved must confess his sins,
and do the work of repentance.

To confess sins,
is to know evils,
to see them in one's self,
to acknowledge them,
to make himself guilty,
and to condemn himself on account of them.
When this is done before God,
it is the confession of sins.

To do the work of repentance,
is to desist from sins
after he has thus confessed them,
and from a humble heart
has made supplication for remission,
and to live a new life
according to the precepts of charity and faith.

He who only acknowledges universally
that he is a sinner,
and makes himself guilty of all evils,
and yet does not explore himself,
that is, see his own sins,
makes confession,
but not the confession of repentance;
he, because he does not know his own evils,
lives afterwards as he did before.

He who lives the life of charity and faith
does the work of repentance daily;
he reflects upon the evils which are with him,
he acknowledges them,
he guards against them,
he supplicates the Lord for help.
For a person of himself continually lapses,
but he is continually raised by the Lord,
and led to good.
Such is the state of those who are in good.
But they who are in evil lapse continually,
and are also continually elevated by the Lord,
but are only withdrawn
from falling into the most grievous evils,
to which of themselves they tend
with all their endeavor.

NJHD 152, 155-156 - Merit or Reward

NJHD 152

Those who do good for the sake of reward,
do not do good from the Lord,
but from themselves,
for they regard themselves in the first place . . .
because they regard their own good;

NJHD 155-156

Because all good and truth are from the Lord,
and nothing of them from a person,
and because good from a person is not good,
it follows that merit belongs to no person,
but to the Lord alone.
The merit of the Lord consists in this,
that from His own power
He has saved the human race,
and also, that He saves those who do good from Him.
So it is that in the Word,
he is called "just" to whom
the merit and justice of the Lord are ascribed,
and he is called "unjust" to whom are ascribed
his own justice and the merit of self.

The delight itself,
which is in the love of doing good
without an end to reward,
is a reward which remains to eternity,
for heaven and eternal happiness
are implanted into that good by the Lord.

NJHD 141, 143, 148 - Freedom

NJHD 141

All freedom is of love,
for what a person loves,
this he does freely;
also from this
all freedom is of the will,
for what a person loves, this he also wills;
and because love and the will
make the life of a person,
so also does freedom.
From these things it may appear what freedom is,
namely, it is that which is of the love and the will,
and consequently of the life of a person.

NJHD 143

The reason a person has the freedom
of thinking evil and falsity,
and also of doing it,
so far as the laws do not withhold him,
is in order that he may be
capable of being reformed;
for goods and truths
are to be implanted in his love and will,
so that they may become of his life,
and this cannot be done
unless he has the freedom
of thinking evil and falsity
as well as good and truth.
This freedom is given to every person by the Lord,
and so far as he does not love evil and falsity,
so far, when he thinks what is good and true,
the Lord implants them in his love and will,
consequently in his life,
and thus reforms him.
What is implanted in freedom, this also remains,
but what is implanted in a state of compulsion,
this does not remain,
because what is from compulsion
is not from the will of the person,
but from the will of him who compels.

NJHD 148

No one is compelled by the Lord.

 

NJHD 139 - Of Conscience; NJHD 140 - Of Perception

NJHD 139 - Of Conscience

Conscience is more true,
in proportion as it is formed from more genuine truths.
In general, conscience is two-fold, interior and exterior,
and interior conscience is of spiritual good,
which in its essence is truth,
and exterior conscience is of moral and civil good,
which in its essence is sincerity and justice,
in general, uprightness.

Pain of conscience is anxiety of mind
on account of injustice, insincerity, and any evil,
which a person believes to be against God,
and against the good of the neighbor.
If anxiety is felt when a person thinks evil,
it is from conscience.
Pain of conscience is an anguish felt
on account of the evil which a person does,
and also on account of
the privation of good and truth.
Since temptation is a combat of truth and falsity
in the interiors of a person,
and since in temptations there is pain and anxiety,
therefore no others
are admitted into spiritual temptations,
but those who have conscience.

NJHD 140 - Of Perception

Perception consists in seeing what is true and good
by influx from the Lord.
Perception is given only with those
who are in the good of love
from the Lord to the Lord.
Perception is given with those in heaven who,
while they lived in the world,
brought the teachings of the church
which are from the Word
immediately into the life,
and who did not first commit them to memory;
thus the interiors of their minds were formed
to the reception of the Divine influx;
and because of this
their understanding is in heaven
in continual enlightenment.
They know innumerable things,
and are wise beyond measure.
Those who are in perception,
do not reason concerning the truths of faith,
and if they reasoned their perception would perish.
Those who believe
that they know and are wise from themselves,
cannot have perception.

Those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom,
have perception;
but those who are in the spiritual kingdom,
have no perception,
but conscience in its place.
Those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom
do not think from faith,
like those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom,
because those who are in the celestial kingdom
are in perception from the Lord of all things of faith.
The celestial angels,
because they know the truths of faith from perception,
are not even willing to name faith.

 

NJHD 131, 133, 138 - Conscience

NJHD 131, 133, 138

Conscience, with the person of the church,
is formed by the truths of faith from the Word,
or from doctrine out of the Word,
according to their reception in the heart;
for when a person knows the truths of faith,
and comprehends them in his own manner,
and then wills them and does them,
he then acquires conscience.
Reception in the heart is reception in the will,
for the will of a person is what is called the heart.
From this it is that they who have conscience,
speak from the heart the things which they speak,
and do from the heart the things which they do.
They have also an undivided mind,
for they act according to that
which they understand and believe
to be true and good.

So it is that they are in the tranquility of peace,
and in internal happiness,
when they act according to conscience . . ..

. . . conscience is the plane
and receptacle of the influx of heaven.