AC 10057 - the circle of life

AC 10057 [3-5]
. . . the circle of the regeneration of a person
is like the circle of his life in general;
and that it is in like manner instituted in the will
by means of an influx out of heaven from the Lord.

[4] Hence also it is plain that there are two states
in the person who is being regenerated,
the first when the truths of faith are being implanted
and conjoined with the good of charity,
the second when he speaks from the good of charity
by means of the truths of faith,
and acts according to these;
thus that the first state
is from the world through the natural man into the spiritual,
thus into heaven;
and the second
is from heaven through the spiritual man into the natural,
thus into the world.
As said above, the spiritual or internal man is in heaven,
and the natural or external man is in the world.
This circle is the circle of the regeneration of a person,
and consequently is the circle of his spiritual life.

[5] From what has been said,
some idea may be formed of the glorification of the Lord's Human;
for as the Lord glorified His Human, so He regenerates a person,
and therefore, as already often said,
the regeneration of a person is an image of the glorification of the Lord.
From this it is evident that the first state of His glorification
was to make His Human Divine truth,
and to unite it with the Divine good that was in Him;
and that the second state
was to act from Divine good through Divine truth.
For heaven and the church are founded through the Divine truth
that proceeds from the Lord's Divine good;
and through this are regenerated all who are in the church.

AC 10052 & 10053 - "the King of Glory"

AC 10052 [2]
The Divine Itself is the Divine good of the Divine love;
and as the Lord united His Human with this,
and thus made His Human also Divine,
therefore it cannot be said that His Human was regenerated,
but glorified,
for "to glorify" is to make Divine.

AC 10053
. . . when the Lord was in the world
He made His Human Divine truth,
and successively also by unition with the Divine good
which was in Him and was the being of His life,
He made His Human Divine good,
thus one with Jehovah.

[2] That where the Lord is treated of "glorification"
denotes the unition of His Human with the Divine Itself
which was in Him, thus with Jehovah His Father,
by which unition He made His Human also the Divine good,
is manifest from the passages in the Word
where mention is made of "glory," and "glorification,"
when spoken of Jehovah or the Lord, as in these passages:

The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 40:5).

I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness,
to open the blind eyes,
to bring forth from the prison him that is bound;
I am Jehovah;
this is My name,
and My glory will I not give to another.
(Isaiah 42:6-8).

These passages treat of the Lord,
and by "the glory of Jehovah" is meant the Lord as to Divine truth,
for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the "glory of Jehovah".

[3] Hence also it is that the Lord is called the "King of glory," as in David:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye doors of the world,
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
Jehovah strong and a Hero, Jehovah a Hero of war.
(Psalms 24:7-10).

The Lord is here called the "King of glory"
from the Divine truth from which He fought, conquered, and subdued the hells;
that this was done from His Human when He was in the world;
hence it is that He is called
"Jehovah strong and a Hero of war,"
and a "Hero" also in Isaiah:

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and His name is God, Hero, the Father of Eternity.
(Isaiah 9:6).

AC 10044 - "I am the First and I am the Last"

AC 10044 [8]
There is a continual connection,
and an influx according to the connection,
of all things from the Lord through the heavens to the church on earth.
By the heavens are meant the angels who are there;
by the church are meant the people who are true people of the church;
and by Man in the first is meant the Lord as to His Divine Human.
That from the First through the last
or ultimate all things are held together in connection,
and stand together, is meant by the words of the Lord:

I am the First and I am the Last,
My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
and My right hand has spanned the heaven;
when I call them together,
they stand together.
(Isaiah 48:12-13)

AC 10040 - Holy Supper

AC 10040 [2]
For this reason also it has of the Lord's Divine Providence
come to pass that in the Holy Supper the bread is given,
which is "the flesh;" and not the wine,
which is "the blood;"
and yet the blood is what gives life to the flesh,
as the wine does to the bread.
For as bread without wine does not give nourishment to the body,
so neither does the good of love,
which is signified by "bread" and by "flesh,"
without the truth of faith, which is signified by "wine" and by "blood,"
give nourishment to the soul.

In comments under this number on the blog, is the whole of AC 10040.

AC 10038 - "hell fire"

AC 10038
That "to be burned with fire"
denotes to be consumed by the evils of the love of self,
is because this love consumes all the goods and truths of faith.
That the love of self does this is known to scarcely anyone at this day,
and consequently neither is it known that this love is hell with a person,
and that it is meant by "hell fire."

[2] For there are two fires of life with a person;
one is the love of self,
the other is love to God.
They who are in the love of self cannot be in love to God,
because these loves are opposite.
They are opposite because the love of self produces all evils,
which are contempt for others in comparison with self,
enmity against those who do not favor,
and finally hatreds, revenges, ferocities, cruelties;
which evils wholly resist the Divine influx,
and consequently extinguish the truths and goods of faith and of charity,
for these are what flow in from the Lord.
Anyone who reflects
is able to know that everyone's love is the fire of his life;
for without love there is no life, and such as the love is such is the life;
and from this it can be known
that the love of self produces evils of every kind,
and that it so far produces them as it is regarded as the end,
that is, so far as it reigns.
The worst kind of the love of self is the love of ruling for the sake of self,
that is, solely for the sake of honor and self-advantage.
They who are in this love
are indeed able to make a profession of faith and charity;
but they do this with the mouth, and not with the heart;
nay, the worst of them regard the things of faith and charity,
thus the holy things of the church, as means to attain their ends.

AC 10030 - good which is not good, does not cohere with the truths of faith

AC 10030 [4]
This good is external good without internal,
such as is the good of merit,
good for the sake of self and for the sake of the world;
thus for the sake of profit, honor, and reputation;
for the sake of friendship on account of these,
or for the sake of favor;
and also merely on account of the fear of the law;
and not for the sake of the good of charity,
which is the good of one's fellow-citizen the good of human society,
the good of our country,
and the good of the church.

AC 10022 - as evils & falsities are removed, the Lord can flow in

AC 10022 [2]
. . . when a person has been purified from evils and falsities,
which is effected by their removal,
then good and truth from the Lord flow in,
and insofar as good and truth flow in,
in this state, so far they are implanted, and so far they are conjoined;
for the Lord is continually present with good and truth with every person,
but He is not received except insofar as evils and falsities are removed,
thus insofar as the person is purified from them.
The conjunction of truth and good is regeneration.

AC 10019 - the Divine power of the Lord saves the human race

AC 10019 [3]
The Divine power of the Lord,
which was represented by the filling of the hands of Aaron and his sons,
is the Divine power of saving the human race;
and the power of saving the human race
is power over the heavens and over the hells.
For a person is saved by this power of the Lord, and not by any other;
because all the good which is of love, and all the truth which is of faith,
flow in through the heavens from the Lord,
and they cannot flow in unless the hells are removed,
for all evil, and from this all falsity, are from the hells.
Man is saved by the removal of the evils
and the derivative falsities that are from the hells,
and by the influx then
of the good of love and of the truth of faith through heaven from the Lord.

AC 9995 - thinking? or willing?

AC 995 [2]
From this it can be seen
why a person finds it so difficult to distinguish
between thinking and willing;
for when he wills anything,
he says that he thinks it;
and often
when he thinks anything,
that he wills it.
And yet they are distinct,
like truth and good . . ..

AC 9974 & 9978 - merit and fighting the hells

AC 9974
Those who believe that they merit heaven by the good which they do,
do goods from themselves, and not from the Lord.

AC 9978
Those who place merit in works
cannot fight against the evils which are from the hells,
for no one can do this from himself;
but the Lord fights and conquers
for those who do not place merit in works.

AC 9965 - damnation

AC 9965
For no one is damned on account of the omission of external rites;
but on account of the evils of the heart,
thus on account of the omission of them from evil of heart.

AC 9960 - in the Word

AC 9960 [14]
. . . in the Word there is no word devoid of value,
and that there is nothing in it anywhere
that is not holy, because it is Divine.

AC 9954 - anointing, and "the Anointed of Jehovah"

AC 9954 [5]
The reason why the altar, and the Habitation with all things therein,
were anointed, was that they might represent the Divine and holy things
of heaven and of the church, consequently the holy things of worship;
and they could not represent these things
unless they had been inaugurated by means of something
that represented the good of love;
for the Divine enters through the good of love,
and through this good is present in heaven and in the church,
consequently also in worship.
Without this good the Divine does not enter, and is not present,
but what is a person's own, and with this, hell;
and when hell is present, evil and falsity are present;
for a person's own is nothing else.

[7] The reason why Aaron was anointed,
and why his sons were anointed,
and even their garments,
was that they might represent the Lord as to Divine good,
and as to the Divine truth thence derived;
Aaron, the Lord as to Divine good;
and his sons, the Lord as to the Divine truth thence derived;
and in general, that the priesthood
might represent the Lord as to the whole work of salvation.

[11] . . . the Lord alone was "the Anointed of Jehovah"
in very essence and in very performance,
because the Divine good was in Him;
and the Divine truth proceeding from this good
was in His Human while He was in the world.
The kings of the earth, however, were not "the Anointed of Jehovah,"
but they represented the Lord, who alone is "the Anointed of Jehovah;"
and therefore on account of this anointing
it was sacrilegious to injure the kings of the earth.
But the anointing of the kings of the earth was done with oil,
while the anointing of the Lord as to the Divine Human
was done with the Divine good itself of the Divine love,
which the oil represented.
From this it is that He was called "the Messiah," and "the Christ,"
"Messiah" in the Hebrew tongue meaning "the Anointed,"
in like manner as "Christ" in the Greek tongue (John 1:41; 4:25)

AC 9943 - all intelligence & wisdom

AC 9943
For all wisdom and intelligence
are from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord's Divine good.
There are no other wisdom and intelligence that really are such,
because there are none from any other source.
Intelligence is to know and understand truths Divine,
and afterward to have faith in them;
and wisdom is to will and love these truths,
and from this to live according to them.

AC 9938 - "gifts and offerings"

AC 9938 [2]
. . . "gifts and offerings made to the Lord"
by a person are in their essence gifts and offerings
made to a person by the Lord;
and their being called "gifts and offerings" is from the appearance.
All who are wise in heart see this appearance;
but not so the simple;
and yet the gifts and offerings of the latter are grateful,
insofar as they are offered from ignorance in which is innocence.
Innocence is the good of love to God, and dwells in ignorance,
especially with the wise in heart;
for they who are wise in heart know and perceive
that there is nothing of wisdom in themselves from themselves;
but that everything of wisdom is from the Lord,
that is, everything of the good of love, and everything of the truth of faith;
thus that even with the wise innocence dwells in ignorance.
From this it is evident that the acknowledgment of this fact,
and especially the perception of it, is the innocence of wisdom.

AC 9930 - And thou shall make a plate of pure gold. (Exodus 28:36)

AC 9930
And thou shall make a plate of pure gold.
That this signifies enlightenment from the Lord's Divine good,
is evident from the signification of "a plate," as being enlightenment;
and from the signification of "gold," as being the good of love,
here the Lord's Divine good,
because there was inscribed upon it, "Holiness to Jehovah."
That "the plate" denotes enlightenment, was from its brightness,
for it was resplendent from gold upon Aaron's forehead,
and all brightness signifies enlightenment
such as is in the heavens from the Lord as the Sun.
Enlightenment in the heavens is wisdom and intelligence
from the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord from that Sun,
for this enlightens their interiors.
Their interiors correspond to the understanding with man,
which is enlightened by the Lord
when the truth and good of the church and heaven are perceived;
for the understanding is the recipient subject;
because without a subject there is no reception.

AC 9918 & 9921 - pomegranates and bells of gold

AC 9918
Pomegranates . . are signified memory-knowledges of good. . ..
That pomegranates were put upon the skirts of the robe,
was because "the skirts" signified the ultimates or extremes
of heaven and the church,
and the ultimates or extremes of the church are memory-knowledges,
as is evident from what was said above,
about the successive order of goods and truths
in the heavens and with a person.
The memory-knowledges of good and truth
which are signified by "the pomegranates,"
are doctrinal things from the Word,
which are memory-knowledges insofar as they are in the memory
which is in the external or natural person.
But when they enter into the memory
which is in the internal or spiritual person,
as is the case when the person lives according to them,
then doctrinal things as to truth become of faith,
and doctrinal things as to good become of charity,
and are called spiritual.
When this is done,
they almost vanish out of the external or natural memory,
and appear as it were innate,
because they are then implanted in the person's life,
like all those things which through daily use
have become as it were of his nature.

AC 9921
And bells of gold . . . signifies all things of doctrine and of worship
from good passing over to those who are of the church . . ..
That they are from good is signified by their being of gold,
for "gold" signifies good.
That "the bells" denote all things of doctrine and of worship
passing over to those who are of the church,
is because by means of the bells the people heard and perceived
the presence of Aaron in his ministration,
for by "the people" are signified those who are of the church,
and by "Aaron's ministry" are signified all things of doctrine and of worship;
and therefore it is said in what follows:

And they shall be upon Aaron to minister;
and the voice thereof shall be heard
when he goes in unto the holiness before Jehovah,
and when be cometh out.
(Exodus 28:35)

from which it is plain what is signified by "the bells."
The reason why these bells were put in the skirts,
was that the holy things of doctrine are in the extremes,
and the hearing and perception are there, and are from thence.

AC 9915 - embroiderer, thinker, weaver

AC 9915 [2]
The will receives the celestial, or good;
the intellectual receives the spiritual, or truth from this good;
and the memory-knowledge
which makes the understanding of the natural man,
brings the two former to a close.
These three are signified in the Word by
"the embroiderer," "the thinker,"* and "the weaver."
. . . "the embroiderer," or "the embroidered work"
denotes memory-knowledge,
also that "the thinker,"*
or that which is thought, denotes the understanding . . ..
Thus "the weaver" denotes the will.
The reason why "the weaver" denotes the will
is that the will flows into the understanding, and weaves it,
insomuch that the things which are in the understanding
are woven fabrics from the will;
for that which the will wills,
it forms so as to appear to the sight in the understanding.
This sight is thought,
consequently by "the thinker"* is signified the understanding.

AC 9910 - the robe of the ephod

AC 9910.
And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
And there shall be a mouth of the head of it in the midst thereof;
there shall be a lip for the mouth of it round about,
the work of the weaver,
as the mouth of a coat of mail it shall be, that it be not rent.
And upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue,
and of crimson, and of scarlet double-dyed,
upon the skirts thereof round about;
and bells of gold in the midst of them round about;
a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate,
upon the skirts of the robe round about.
And it shall be upon Aaron to minister;
and the voice thereof shall be heard when he goes in
unto the holiness before Jehovah, and when he goes out; that he die not.
(Exodus 28:31-35)

"And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod,"
signifies Divine truth in the internal form in the spiritual kingdom;
"all of blue,"
signifies by means of influx from the good of the celestial kingdom;
"and there shall be a mouth of the head of it in the midst thereof,"
signifies the method of the influx from what is above;
"there shall be a lip for the mouth of it round about,"
signifies bounded and closed on every side;
"the work of the weaver,"
signifies from the celestial;
"as the mouth of a coat of mail it shall be, that it be not rent,"
signifies thus strong and safe from injury;
"and upon the skirts of it thou shalt make,"
signifies in the extremes where is what is natural;
"pomegranates,"
signifies memory-knowledges of good;
"of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet double-dyed,"
signifies from the good of charity and of faith;
"upon the skirts thereof round about,"
signifies in the extremes where the natural is, on every side;
"and bells of gold"
signifies all things of doctrine and of worship
from good passing over to those who are of the church;
"in the midst of them round about,"
signifies from what is within the memory-knowledges of good on every side;
"a bell of gold and a pomegranate,
a bell of gold and a pomegranate,
upon the skirts of the robe round about,"
signifies thus everywhere;
"and it shall be upon Aaron,"
signifies a representative of the Lord;
"to minister,"
signifies when engaged in worship and in evangelization;
"and the voice thereof shall be heard,"
signifies the influx of truth
with those who are in the heavens and who are on earth;
"when he goes in unto the holiness before Jehovah,
and when he goes out,"
signifies in every state of good and truth in worship;
"that he die not,"
signifies that the representative does not perish,
and therewith the conjunction with the heavens.

AC 9905 - the Urim and Thummim

AC 9905
And thou shalt put unto the breastplate of judgment the Urim and Thummim.
That this signifies the shining forth of Divine truth from the Lord in ultimates,
is evident from the signification of "the breastplate of judgment,"
as being Divine truth shining forth from the Divine good of the Lord;
and from the signification of "the Urim and Thummim,"
as being light and the shining forth therefrom.
That "the Urim and Thummim" denote light shining forth,
is because through the stones in the breastplate
the light of heaven shone forth with variety
according to the answers that were being given through them.
For this reason they were of different colors.
For the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord's Divine good
appears before the angels as light, and from it is all the light of heaven.
The colors derived from it, which are modifications of this light with the angels,
are variegations of intelligence and wisdom with them;
for all wisdom and intelligence are from this Divine truth or light.
From this it can be seen
that by the shining forth of various colors from this light,
Divine truths, which are answers, are presented to view in the heavens.
In like manner there was a shining forth through the Urim and Thummim,
when inquiry was made of the Divine.
But be it known that when the shining forth appeared,
then at the same time an answer to the subject of inquiry
was given in an audible voice.
This was done through angels,
to whom this answer was revealed by the Lord
by means of such a shining forth;
for, as before said,
Divine truths which are answers appear in this manner in the heavens.

[3] . . . the signification of "the Urim and Thummim;"
for "Urim" means a shining fire;
and "Thummim," the shining forth therefrom;
the "shining fire" denotes the Divine truth
from the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love,
and the "shining forth" denotes this same truth in ultimates, thus in the effect.
But be it known that in the Hebrew tongue "Thummim" means "integrity;"
but in the angelic tongue a "shining forth."
It is said "in the angelic tongue"
because the angels converse with one another
from the very essence of the subject perceived inwardly within themselves,
thus according to its quality.
From this the speech flows forth into a conformable sound
that is audible to the angels only.
The shining forth of the Divine truth is, in sound,
"Thummim," whence comes its name.
The like is perceived by the angels when thum is read in the Hebrew tongue,
by which is signified what is entire, or integrity.
It is from this that by "integrity,"* in the internal sense of the Word,
is signified Divine truth in the effect,
which is a life according to the Divine commandments.