AC 3824 - Internal Truths

 AC 3824

Internal truths are said to be
conjoined with the natural
when they are learned, acknowledged, and believed.
In the natural of a person, that is, in the memory,
there are truths both external and internal,
and they are there
in the form of memorized doctrinal things;
but they have not been conjoined
until the person is affected with them
for the sake of the use of life,
that is, until they are loved for the sake of life;
for then good is coupled with them,
whereby they are conjoined with the rational,
consequently with the internal person.
In this way
there is an influx of life into them from the Lord.

AC 3817 - Loving One's Country

AC 3817 [3]

. . . he who loves his country,
and has such an affection toward it
as to find a pleasure in promoting
its good from good will,
would lament if this should be denied him,
and would entreat that there might be granted
the opportunity to do good to it;
for this is the object of his affection,
consequently the source of his pleasure and bliss.
Such a one is also honored,
and is exalted to posts of dignity;
for to him these are means of serving his country,
although they are called rewards.
But those who have no affection for their country,
but only an affection of self and the world,
are moved to take action
for the sake of honors and wealth,
which also they regard as the ends.
Such persons set themselves before their country
(that is, their own good before the common good),
and are relatively sordid;
and yet they more than all others
are desirous to make it appear
that they do what they do from a sincere love.
But when they think privately about it,
they deny that anyone does this,
and marvel that anyone can.
Those who are such in the life of the body
with regard to their country, or the public good,
are such also in the other life
with regard to the Lord's kingdom,
for everyone's affection or love follows him,
because affection or love is the life of everyone.

AC 3796, 3798 - Acknowledging Affection for the End Use

AC 3796 [2-3]

The genuine affections of truth and of good
which are perceived by people
are all from a Divine origin, because from the Lord;
but on the way, as they descend,
they diverge into various and diverse streams,
and there form for themselves new origins;
for as they flow into affections
not genuine but spurious,
and into the affections of evil and falsity in the person,
so are they varied.
In the external form
these affections often present themselves
like the genuine ones;
but in the internal form
they are of this spurious character.
The sole characteristic from which they are known
is their end;
if as regards their end
they are for the sake of self or the world,
then these affections are not genuine;
but if as regards their end
they are for the sake of the good of the neighbor,
the good of societies, the good of our country,
and especially if for the good of the church
and the good of the Lord's kingdom,
then they are genuine,
because in this case
they are for the sake of the Lord,
inasmuch as the Lord is in these goods.

It is therefore the part of a wise person
to know the ends that are in him.
Sometimes it appears
as if his ends were for self
when yet they are not so;
for it is the nature of a person
to reflect upon himself in everything,
and this from custom and habit.
But if anyone desires to know
the ends that are within him,
let him merely pay attention to
the delight he perceives in himself
from the praise and glory of self,
and to the delight he perceives
from use separate from self;
if he perceives this latter delight,
he is in genuine affection.
He must also pay attention to
the various states in which he is,
for the states themselves
very much vary the perception.
A person can explore these things in himself,
but not in others;
for the ends of each person's affection
are known to the Lord alone.

AC 3798

. . . no one can see and acknowledge
the interiors of the Word
unless he is in good as to life.

AC 3776 - The Origins of Real Charity

AC 3776 [2]

. . . charity which looks like charity
 in outward appearance
is not always charity inwardly.
It is from the end in view
that one recognizes which kind of charity it is
and where it originates.
Charity which springs from
a selfish or a worldly end in view
is not charity inwardly.
Nor indeed ought it to be called charity.
But charity which springs from the neighbor,
the common good, heaven, and so the Lord,
as the end in view is charity itself
and contains the affection for doing good
from the heart,
and therefore contains the delight of life,
which in the next life becomes a blessed delight.
It is highly important for a person to know this
if he is to know
what the Lord's kingdom is within himself.

AC 3768 - What Is Natural; How Is Spiritual; AC 3773 - Churches and the Two Great Commandments

AC 3768 [2]

The natural person can indeed know,
and also perceive,
what good and truth are,
but only natural and civic good and truth;
but spiritual good and truth he cannot know,
because this must come from revelation,
thus from the Word.
For example: a person may know
from the rational that is possessed by everyone
that his neighbor ought to be loved,
and that God ought to be worshiped;
but how the neighbor is to be loved,
and how God is to be worshiped,
thus what spiritual good and truth are,
can be known only from the Word --
as that good itself is the neighbor,
consequently those who are in good,
and this according to the good in which they are;
and that good is the neighbor
because the Lord is in good,
and therefore
in the love of good the Lord is loved.

AC 3773

As regards the Word being opened to the churches,
and being afterwards closed,
the case is this:
in the beginning of the setting up of any church,
the Word is at first closed to the men of it,
and is afterwards opened,
the Lord so providing;
and thus they learn that all doctrine
is founded on the two commandments --
that the Lord is to be loved above all things,
and the neighbor as themselves.
When these two commandments
are regarded as the end,
the Word is opened;
for all the Law and the Prophets,
that is, the whole Word,
so depend on these commandments
that all things are derived from them
and therefore all have reference to them.
And whereas the people of the church
are then in the principles of truth and good,
they are enlightened
in everything they see in the Word;
for the Lord is then present with them
by means of angels,
and teaches them (although they are unaware of this),
and also leads them into the life of truth and good.

This may be seen also from the case of all churches,
in that they were such in their infancy,
and worshiped the Lord from love,
and loved the neighbor from the heart.
But in process of time
churches withdraw from these two commandments,
and turn aside from the good of love and charity
to the so-called things of faith,
thus from life to doctrine;
and insofar as they do this,
so far the Word is closed.

 

AC 3761, 3762 - From External Truth to Internal Good

AC 3761

In the supreme sense it is shown
how the Lord elevated His natural
even to the Divine,
according to order,
by ascending from external truth
through the degrees to internal good;
and in the representative sense,
how the Lord makes new the natural of person
when He regenerates him,
according to a similar order.

AC 3762 [1-2]

Those truths are called the truths of love
which have been elsewhere termed celestial truths,
for they are knowledges that relate to
charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord;
in the supreme sense, in which the Lord is treated of,
they are the truths of Divine love.

These truths, that relate to
charity toward the neighbor and to love to the Lord,
must be learned
before it is possible for a person to be regenerated;
and must also be acknowledged and believed;
and insofar as they are
acknowledged, believed, and ingrafted in the life,
so far the person is regenerated,
and insofar they are at the same time
implanted in the person's natural,
in which they are as in their own ground.
They are first implanted therein
through instruction by parents and teachers;
next from the Word of the Lord;
and afterwards
through the person's own reflection about them;
but by these means
they are merely stored up
in the memory of the natural person,
being classed among the knowledges therein,
but still not acknowledged, believed,
and ingrafted,
unless the life is in accordance with them;
for in this case the person comes into affection,
and insofar as he comes into affection from life,
so far these truths
are implanted in his natural as in their ground.
The truths which are not thus implanted
are indeed with the person,
but are merely in his memory
as a matter of mere knowledge or history,
which serves no other purpose
than to be talked about
and made the means of getting a reputation
which is to serve for
the acquisition of riches and honors.
But in this case these truths are not implanted.

AC 3741, etc. - The Grand Man, the Shape of Heaven

 AC 3741

The heavenly kingdom presents the form of one man,
for the reason that all the things therein
correspond to the Only Lord --
that is, to His Divine Human --
who alone is Man. 
From correspondence with Him,
and from being an image and likeness of Him,
heaven is called the Grand Man.

AC 3742

That there is one only life,
which is from the Lord alone,
and that angels, spirits, and people
are only recipients of life . . ..

AC 3747 [2]

. . . there are three degrees of life in a person,
as there are three degrees of life in the heavens,
that is, three heavens; 
and that a person
so corresponds to the three heavens
that when he is in the life of good and truth,
and by this life an image of the Lord,
he is himself in image a little heaven.

AC 3748

. . . all things that belong to any one's life,
that is, which are of his love and affection,
follow him and are in him as the soul is in its body,
because from these
he has formed and given quality to his soul.

AC 3735 - When a Person Reads the Word In a Holy State

 AC 3735 [2]

. . . when in a holy state a person thinks of bread,
as for instance of the bread in the Holy Supper,
or of the "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer,
then the thought which the person has about bread
serves the angels who are with him
as an objective representative for thinking about
the good of love which is from the Lord;
for the angels apprehend nothing
of a person's thought about bread,
but instead of this
have thought concerning good,
for such is the correspondence.
In like manner
when in a holy state a person thinks about raiment,
the thought of the angels is about truth;
and so it is with everything else in the Word.
This shows what is the nature
of the conjunction of heaven and earth by the Word,
namely, that a person
who reads the Word in a holy manner
is by such correspondence
conjoined closely with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord,
even although the person thinks
only of those things in the Word
which are in the sense of its letter.
The holiness itself then present with the person
comes from an influx
of celestial and spiritual thoughts and affections,
such as angels have.

AC 3726, 3727, 3728 - It Is Essential That Truth and Good Work Together

AC 3726 [1-2]

That truth is the ultimate of order,
may be seen from the fact
that good cannot terminate in good, but in truth,
for truth is the recipient of good.

Good in a person without truth,
that is, without conjunction with truth,
is such good as there is in little children,
who as yet have nothing of wisdom,
because they have nothing of intelligence;
but insofar as a child
in his advancement to adult age
receives truth from good,
or insofar as truth in him is conjoined with good,
so far he becomes a man.
This shows that good is the first of order,
and truth the last;
and thus it follows that a person
ought to begin from memory-knowledges,
which are the truths of the natural person,
and afterwards from doctrinal things,
which are the truths of the spiritual person in his natural,
in order to be initiated into the intelligence of wisdom;
that is, to enter into spiritual life,
whereby man becomes man.
For example,
in order that person as a spiritual person
may love his neighbor,
he must first learn what spiritual love or charity is,
and who is his neighbor.
Before he knows this
he may indeed love his neighbor,
but as a natural,
not as a spiritual person,
that is, from natural good,
not from spiritual good;
whereas after he has attained this knowledge,
then spiritual good from the Lord
may be implanted therein;
and this is the case
with all the rest of what are called
knowledges, or doctrinal things, or in general, truths.

AC 3727 [5]

. . . to worship truth separate from good,
or faith separate from charity,
is contrary to the Divine,
because contrary to order . . ..

AC 3728 [1, 2]

. . . truth without good is not truth,
but is a sound void of life,
and such that it is dissipated of itself.

So the church is not a church
from faith separate from charity;
but from truth which is from good,
or from faith which is from charity.

AC 3718 - Two Kinds of Fear

AC 3718

Speaking generally, "fear" is of two kinds --
fear in what is not sacred,
and fear in what is sacred;
fear in what is not sacred
is the fear in which are the wicked;
but fear in what is sacred
is the fear in which are the good.
This latter fear (to wit that in which are the good)
is called reverential or sacred fear,
and is the result of
our wonder at and longing for
what is Divine,
and also of our love.
Love that is devoid of reverential or sacred fear
is as it were devoid of savor,
or is like food unseasoned with salt,
and consequently insipid;
but love that is attended with fear
is like food that is seasoned,
but yet does not taste of salt.
The fear of love is a fear of
injuring the Lord in any way,
or of injuring the neighbor in any way,
thus of injuring what is good and true in any way,
and consequently
of injuring the sacred things of love and faith
and the consequent worship.
But this fear is various,
and is not the same
with one person as with another.
Speaking generally,
the greater the amount of the love of good and truth,
the greater the fear of injuring them;
and yet in the same proportion
this fear does not appear to be fear;
whereas the less the amount
of the love of good and truth,
the less the fear on their account,
and the less this fear appears to be love,
but appears to be fear;
consequently, with such the fear of hell.
And where there is nothing
of the love of good and truth,
there is nothing of reverential or sacred fear;
but only fear of the loss
of honor, of gain, of reputation for the sake of these,
and also of penalties and death;
which fear is external,
and chiefly affects the body
and the natural person and its thoughts;
whereas the former fear,
that is, reverential or sacred fear,
chiefly affects the spirit,
that is, the internal person, and its conscience.

AC 3712 - Divine Doctrine Is Divine Truth Is The Word of the Lord

AC 3712 [2-3]

Divine doctrine is Divine truth;
and Divine truth is all the Word of the Lord;
Divine doctrine itself is
the Word in the supreme sense,
in which the Lord alone is treated of;
and from this,
Divine doctrine is the Word in the internal sense,
in which the Lord's kingdom
in the heavens and on earth is treated of.
Divine doctrine is also the Word in the literal sense,
in which the things that are
in the world and upon earth are treated of.
And whereas the literal sense contains within it
the internal sense,
and this the supreme sense,
and as the literal sense
altogether corresponds thereto
by means of representatives and significatives,
therefore also the doctrine therefrom is Divine.
As Jacob represents the Lord's Divine natural,
he represents also the Word as to the literal sense;
for it is well known that the Lord is the Word,
that is, all Divine truth.

The natural of the Word is circumstanced
no otherwise than is its literal sense,
for this is relatively a cloud;
whereas its rational --
that is, the interior spiritual of the Word --
is circumstanced as is the internal sense;
and as the Lord is the Word,
it may be said that the internal sense
is represented by Isaac,
but the supreme sense by Abraham.
From this we can see what is meant by
conjunction with Divine doctrine,
when this is predicated of the Lord's Divine natural
which is represented by Jacob.
Nevertheless these things are not so in the Lord,
for all in Him is Divine good,
and not Divine truth,
and still less Divine natural truth;
but Divine truth is the Divine good
appearing in heaven before the angels,
and on earth before men;
and although it is an appearing,
still it is Divine truth,
because it is from the Divine good;
just as light is of the sun,
because from the sun.

AC 3709 - Truths of the Good of Doctrine

AC 3709

Truths of the good of doctrine are
the doctrinal things of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor,
which are said to be conjoined
with good in the natural person
when to know them for the sake of doing them
is a pleasure and a delight.

AC 3703 - The God of Abraham; AC 3704 - The God of Isaac

AC 3703

And He said,
I am Jehovah the God of Abraham thy father.
(Genesis 28:13)

That this means the Lord,
that from Him that good comes,
is evident from the fact
that Jehovah is the Divine being itself of the Lord,
who from the Divine good
is called "the God of Abraham."
(. . . Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine good.)
And because the Divine good is that from which are
all celestial and spiritual goods,
and derivatively all truths also,
it is here said "Abraham the father" . . ..
That in the internal sense "father" means good,
is because good is that from which all things
are in both general and particular,
and truth is that through which
they all come into manifestation;
thus from the marriage of good and truth.
Heaven itself, which consists of nothing else
than the Divine marriage of good and truth,
is from the Divine marriage of good and truth
and of truth and good in the Lord.

AC 3704

And the God of Isaac.
(Genesis 28:13)

That this means the Lord as to the Divine Human,
is evident from the representation of Isaac,
as being the Lord's Divine rational;
and as the rational is
that in which the human begins,
and thus from which and by which the human is;
therefore here by the "God of Isaac"
is meant the Divine Human of the Lord.
As in heaven, and with a person,
and even in universal nature,
all things both in general and in particular
have relation to good and truth,
therefore also the Lord's Divine
is distinguished into Divine good and Divine truth,
and the Lord's Divine good is called "father,"
and his Divine truth "son";
but the Lord's Divine is nothing else than good;
indeed, good itself;
and Divine truth is the Lord's Divine good
so appearing in heaven; that is, before the angels.

AC 3697, etc. - He Dreamed of a Stairway

AC 3697

And he dreamed,
and behold, a stairway set up on the earth,
and its top reaching to heaven;
and behold, the angels of God
going up and coming down on it.
And behold, Jehovah was standing above it,
and He said,
I am Jehovah,
the God of Abraham your father,
and the God of Isaac;
the land on which you are lying
I will give to you and to your seed.
And your seed will be as the dust of the earth,
and you will break forth towards the sea,
and towards the east,
and towards the north,
and towards the south;
and in you will all the families of the ground
be blessed -
and in your seed.
And behold, I am with you,
and will guard you wherever you go,
and will bring you back to this ground;
for I will not leave you
until I have done what I have spoken about to you.
(Genesis 28:12-15)

**  'He dreamed'
means foresight.
**  'And behold, a stairway set up on the earth'
means a communication of lowest truth
and of good derived from this truth.
**  'And its top reaching to heaven'
means with the Divine.
**  'And behold, the angels of God
going up and coming down on it'
means an infinite and eternal communication
and the consequent joining together -
a going up, so to speak, from what is lowest,
and after that, when order has been inverted,
a coming down to it.
**  'And behold, Jehovah was standing above it'
means the Lord at the highest point.
**  'And He said, I am Jehovah,
the God of Abraham your father'
means the Lord in whom that good originated.
**  'And the God of Isaac'
means the Lord's Divine Human.
**  'The land on which you are lying I will give to you'
means that the good on which the Natural rested
was His own in origin.
**  'And to your seed'
means truth also.
**  'And your seed will be as the dust of the earth'
means that Divine natural Truth
would be as natural good.
**  'And you will break forth towards the sea,
and towards the east'
means infinite extension of good,
**  while 'and towards the north, and towards the south'
means infinite extension of truth -
thus every state of good and truth.
**  'And in you will all the families of the ground
be blessed'
means that all truths taught by doctrine
which look to good will be joined to good.
**  'And in your seed'
means and to truth.
**  'And behold, I am with you'
means the Divine.
**  'And will guard you wherever you go'
means Divine Providence.
**  'And will bring you back to this ground'
means conjunction with doctrine that is Divine.
**  'For I will not leave you
until I have done what I have spoken about to you'
means that nothing would be missing
to prevent its actually happening.

AC 3698

And he dreamed.
(Genesis 28:12)

That this means foresight,
is evident from the meaning of "dreaming,"
as being in the internal sense
to foretell future things;
for prophetic dreams, which were Divine,
were predictions of things to come,
as is evident from those related in the Word.
Such being, in the internal sense,
the meaning of "dreams" and of "to dream,"
therefore in the supreme sense,
in which the Lord is treated of,
they meany foresight;
for predictions are from the Lord's Divine foresight.

AC 3700

. . . the Lord, or what is the same, the Divine,
which is from the Lord alone,
is the all in all of heaven;
and whatever is not from the Divine there,
is not of heaven.
For this reason it has been occasionally said above
that the Lord is heaven itself,
and that all who are in heaven are in the Lord.

AC 3701

, , , in the Lord all is infinite and eternal;
infinite in respect to being,
and eternal in respect to manifestation.

AC 3702

. . . in the Word of the Old Testament
the Lord is so often call "Jehovah";
and that in the Word of the New Testament
He is no where called "Jehovah,"
but instead of Jehovah, "the Lord".

AC 3690 - The Histories of the Word; AC3691 - The Core of True Charity

AC 3690 [2]

All the histories of the Word
are truths more remote
from essential Divine doctrinal things,
but still are of service
to little children and older children,
in order that thereby they may be
by degrees
introduced into the interior doctrinal matters
of truth and good;
and at last to Divine things themselves;
for within them, in their inmost, is the Divine.
While children are reading them
and are affected by them from innocence,
the angels who are with them
are in a happy celestial state,
being affected from the Lord with the internal sense,
consequently with those things
which the historical facts represent and mean;
and it is the celestial happiness of the angels
that flows in and causes the delight with the children.
In order that this first state may exist,
that is, the first state of infancy and childhood
of those to be regenerated,
the histories of the Word were given,
and were so written
that all things therein
both in general and in particular
contain within them things Divine.

AC 3691 [5]

. . . in true charity the Lord is present . . .

AC 3679 - Thought That Corresponds

AC 3679 [4]

With respect to thought, the case is this:
So long as a person lives in the body
he thinks from the rational in the natural,
but with a difference accordingly
as the natural corresponds to the rational,
or does not so correspond.
When the natural corresponds,
the person is rational, and thinks spiritually;
but when the natural does not correspond,
the person is not rational,
nor can he think spiritually;
for with the person
whose natural corresponds to his rational
the communication is opened,
so that the light of heaven from the Lord
can flow in through the rational into the natural,
and enlighten it with intelligence and wisdom;
consequently the person becomes rational
and thinks spiritually.
But with the person whose natural
does not correspond to the rational
the communication is closed,
and there only flows in
somewhat of light in general round about,
and through chinks
through the rational into the natural;
and the result is that the person is not rational,
and does not think spiritually;
for a person thinks according to
the influx of the light of heaven that he enjoys.
This shows that every person thinks according to
the state of correspondence
in respect to good and truth
of the natural with the rational.

AC 3667 - "God Shaddai"; AC 3669 - Good Which Is vs. Good From Which

AC 3667 [1-2, 3]

The reason why "God Shaddai" means temptations,
is that in ancient times
they distinguished the Supreme God (that is, the Lord)
by various names,
and this in accordance with His attributes,
and in accordance with
the goods which are from Him,
and also in accordance with the truths . . ..
Those who were of the Ancient Church
by all these names understood only one God,
namely, the Lord, whom they called Jehovah;
but after the church had declined from good and truth,
and at the same time from this wisdom,
they began to worship as many gods
as there were names of the one God;
insomuch that every nation,
and at last every family,
acknowledged one of them for its own god;
so came the many gods
of which mention is often made in the Word.

[The same thing took place
in the family of Terah the father of Abraham,
and also in the house of Abraham himself,
who worshiped other gods,
and especially the God Shaddai.

But as specifically regards God Shaddai,
the Lord had been so called in the Ancient Church
with respect to temptations
and to blessings and benefits after temptations . . ..
This is the reason why
by "God Shaddai" in the internal sense
are meant temptations.
By temptations is effected
a conjunction of good and truth . . ..

AC 3669

Those who are being regenerated,
before their regeneration is completed
are in the good which is from truth;
whereas the same when regenerated
are in the good from which is truth.

AC 3665 - Knowledges & Truths Through the Ages

AC 3665 [2-3, 5]

When a person is being regenerated,
he is at first led by the Lord as an infant,
then as a child,
afterwards as a youth,
and at last as an adult.
The truths he learns as an infant child
are altogether external and corporeal,
for as yet he is unable to apprehend interior truths.
These truths are no other than
knowledges of such things as contain,
in their inmost, things Divine;
for there are knowledges of things
that do not contain anything Divine in their inmost;
and there are knowledges that do contain it.
The knowledges that do contain what is Divine
are such that they can admit interior truths
more and more, successively, and in order;
whereas the knowledges which do not contain
what is Divine are such that they do not admit,
but reject these interior truths;
for the knowledges of external and corporeal
good and truth are like ground,
which according to its quality
admits seeds of one nature and not of another,
bringing to maturity one kind of seeds,
and suffocating another.
Knowledges which
contain in their inmost what is Divine,
admit into them
spiritual and celestial truth and good,
possessing this capacity from the Divine
which is within,
and which disposes;
but the knowledges which do not
contain in them what is Divine,
admit only what is false and evil,
such being their nature.
Those knowledges of external and corporeal truth
which admit spiritual and celestial truth and good,
are here meant by the
"daughters of Laban of the house of Bethuel;"
but those which do not thus admit them,
are meant by the "daughters of Canaan."

The knowledges which are learned
from infancy to childhood
are like most general vessels,
which are to be filled with goods,
and in proportion as they are filled
the person is enlightened.
If the vessels are such
as to admit into them genuine goods,
then the person is enlightened
from the Divine that is within them,
and this successively more and more;
but if they are such
that genuine goods cannot be in them,
then the person is not enlightened.
It does appear that he is enlightened,
but this is from a fatuous light,
which is that of falsity and evil,
whereby he is more and more darkened
in respect to good and truth.

With regard to these very knowledges
of external or corporeal truth
which are from collateral good,
and which as before said
contain in them what is Divine,
and thus are capable of admitting genuine goods --
such as are the knowledges with young children
who are afterwards regenerated --
they are in general such
as are contained in the historicals of the Word,
such as what is said there concerning paradise,
concerning the first man in it,
concerning the tree of life in its midst,
and concerning the tree of knowledge,
where was the serpent that practiced the deception.
These are the knowledges
that contain within them what is Divine,
and admit into them
spiritual and celestial goods and truths,
because they represent and signify (mean)
these goods and truths.
Such knowledges also are all other things
in the historicals of the Word,
as what is said concerning
the tabernacle and the temple
and concerning the construction of these;
in like manner what is said concerning
the garments of Aaron and of his sons;
also concerning the feasts of tabernacles,
of the firstfruits of harvest, of unleavened bread,
and concerning other like things.
When such knowledges as these
are known and thought of by a young child,
the angels who are with him
think of the Divine things
which they represent and mean;
and because the angels are affected from them,
their affection is communicated,
and causes the delight and pleasure
which the child experiences from them;
and prepares his mind to receive
genuine truths and goods.
Such and very many others are the knowledges
of external and corporeal truth
that are derived from collateral good.

AC 3652 - The Word Was Written

AC 3652 [5]

. . .  each and all of the things recorded in the Word
concerning the Jewish and Israelitish people
are representative of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens,
and of His kingdom on earth;
that is, of the church, as has been often shown.
So it is that by "Jerusalem" in the internal sense
is nowhere meant Jerusalem,
nor by "Judea," Judea.
But these matters were of such a nature
as to be capable of representing
the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom,
and the events took place
for the sake of the representation.
In this way the Word could be so written
as to be adapted to the apprehension of the person
who should read it,
and also to the understanding of the angels
who are with the person.
This likewise was the reason
why the Lord spoke in the same manner;
for had He spoken otherwise,
His Word would not have been adapted to
the understanding of those who read it,
especially at that time;
nor to the understanding of the angels;
thus it would neither have been received by people,
nor understood by the angels.

AC 3631, 3638 - Heaven; AC 3646 - Ends

AC 3631

. . . heaven is never shut,
but that the greater its numbers
the stronger is the endeavor,
the stronger the force,
and the stronger the action;
and further,
that the heaven of the Lord is immeasurable,
so immeasurable as to exceed all belief;
the inhabitants of this earth
being very few in comparison,
and almost as a pool compared with the ocean.

AC 3638

. . . the form of heaven is such
as to bear a constant relation to
a Grand Man relatively to the Lord;
and that all the angels are not only with the Lord,
but in the Lord;
or what is the same,
that the Lord is with them, and in them . . ..

AC 3646 [2]

Ends are nothing but loves,
for that which is loved
is regarded as the end.