AC 3628 - Two Forces

AC 3628 [3]

. . . in order that anything may exist and subsist
there must needs be two forces.
The forces which flow in and act from within
are from heaven and through heaven from the Lord,
and have in themselves life.
This is very clearly manifest from the organ of hearing:
unless there were interior modifications,
which are of life,
and to which correspond the exterior modifications
which are of the air,
here would be no hearing.
The same is also evident from the organ of sight:
unless there were interior light which is of life,
and to which corresponds the exterior light
which is of the sun,
no vision would be possible.
The case is the same with all the other organs
and members in the human body:
there are forces acting from without,
which are natural and in themselves not living,
and there are forces acting from within,
in themselves living,
which keep every organ in its connection,
and cause it to live,
and this according to the form
such as has been given them for use.

AC 3623 - "Lives"

AC 3623

As for the plural form of 'life' ("lives"),
when this is used
both the life of the will
and that of the understanding are meant,
and therefore both the life of good
and that of truth are meant.
For a person's life consists in nothing else
than good and truth
which hold life from the Lord within them.
Devoid of good and truth,
and of the life which these hold within them,
no one is human.
For devoid of these
no one would ever have been able
to will or to think anything.
Everything that a person wills
originates in good or in that which is not good,
and everything he thinks
originates in truth or in that which is not truth.
Consequently a person possesses
two kinds of life
and these make one
when his thinking flows from his willing,
that is, when truth which is the truth of faith
flows from good which is the good of love.

AC 3605 - "To Hate"; AC 3617 - The Conjunction and Union of Good and Truth

AC 3605 [2, 4]

That in the internal sense "to hate"
denotes to be averse to
is because it is predicated of good,
which is represented by Esau,
and good does not even know what hatred is,
being the direct opposite of it,
and opposites are never possible
in the same subject;
but instead of hatred,
good, or they who are in good,
feel a kind of aversion;
so it is that "hatred" here in the internal sense
denotes to be averse to;
for the internal sense is principally for
and therefore when it comes down from there
and passes into the literal sense,
the feeling of repugnance enters into words
that denote hatred
when historical narratives refer to hatred.
Yet at the same time no idea of hatred
is present in the minds of those in heaven. 
This case is like that . . .
the words in the Lord's prayer,
"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
The idea of temptation and evil is rejected
until something purely angelic, that is to say, good,
devoid of any idea of temptation or evil remains.
And coupled with this purely angelic idea
there is a kind of indignation and a repugnance
to any thought of evil
when thinking about the Lord.

. . . for such as is a person's quality,
such the Lord appears to him.

AC 3617

. . . without the conjunction
in the natural of truth with good,
and the union of good with truth,
there is no regeneration . . ..

AC 3603 - The Four Ages of a Person

AC 3603 [3]

In his first age a person knows only by memory
the things contained in the Word,
and in like manner
what is in the doctrinal matters of faith;
and he believes himself to be good
when he is acquainted with many things therefrom,
and can apply some of them,
not to his own life,
but to the life of others.
In his second age, when he is more grown up,
he is not content to know only by memory
the things contained in the Word and in doctrine,
but begins to reflect upon them from his own thought,
and insofar as he adds thereto from his own thought,
insofar he is pleased;
and thereupon he is in the affection of truth
from a kind of worldly love,
which love is also the means
of his learning many things
that without it would be left unlearned.
In his third age,
if he is one of those who can be regenerated,
he begins to think about use,
and to reflect on what he reads in the Word
and absorbs from doctrinal matters for the sake of use;
and when he is in this state the order is inverted,
so that truth is no longer so much put in the first place.
But in his fourth age,
when comes the age of his regeneration,
because then the state is full,
he loves the Word
and the doctrinal things that are from the Word
-- that is, truth --
for the sake of the good of life,
consequently from the good of life.
Thus good comes to be in the prior place,
which until this time
was apparently in the posterior place.

AC 3593 - Before & After Regeneration, Simply Put; AC 3596 - Why Some Things Aren't Explained

AC 3593

. . . the two states of the person
who is being regenerated --
the state before he has been regenerated,
and the state after he has been regenerated --
namely, that in the state
before he has been regenerated,
truths apparently have the dominion;
while in the state after he has been regenerated,
truths give place,
and good receives the dominion.

AC 3596

But because these matters are such
as to be beyond the range of anything
grasped by the natural person
and so cannot be seen except in the light
in which the rational or internal person sees --
a light in which few see at the present day
because few are regenerate --
it is better not to elucidate them any further,
for the elucidation of things which are not known
and which go beyond the range
of a person's understanding
does not throw light on them
but rather puts them in the shade.
What is more, such things ought also to exist
as a superstructure
built upon ideas of natural truths
by means of which they can be grasped;
but these ideas too are lacking at the present day.
This also explains why the phrases prior
to that under discussion here
have been explained so briefly
and solely as to the internal sense
of the words used.

~ God's Chosen Servant ~

But the Pharisees went out
and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.
Many followed Him,
and He healed all their sick,
warning them not to tell who He was.
This was to fulfill what was spoken
through the prophet Isaiah:

"Here is My servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear His voice in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break,
and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out,
till He leads justice to victory.
In His name the nations will put their hope."

(Matthew 12:15-21 - quote from Isaiah 42:1-4)

AC 3576 - Truth Being Conjoined With Good; AC 3584 - A Society Together

AC 3576 [2]

. . . so long as truth is being conjoined with good,
good is apparently made to take a lower place;
but that it will be in the prior place,
and then there will be
a conjunction of the rational
with the good of the natural,
and thereby with the truth;
and thus truth will come to be of good . . ..

AC 3584

. . . truths and good . . form a society together,
at last making as it were one city;
and in such a manner
they also consociate (work together).
This originates from the form of heaven,
in which the angels are ranged in order according to
the relationships and affinities of good and truth,
and thus together constitute one kingdom or one city,
from which truths and goods flow in with a person,
and are disposed in him into a similar form,
and this by the Lord alone.

AC 3573 - Facial Expressions

 AC 3573 [3, 4]

. . . the rational mind, that is,
the inward areas of will and understanding with a person
ought to present themselves in his natural mind.
Just as the natural mind presents itself
in the face and facial expressions,
so much so that the face
is the outward expression of the natural mind,
so ought the natural mind
to be the outward expression of the rational mind.
When rational and natural are joined together,
as they are with those who are regenerate,
whatever a person wills
and thinks inwardly within his rational
makes itself evident in his natural;
and this in turn makes itself evident in the face.
This is what the face is to angels
and what it was to the most ancient people
who were celestial.
Indeed they were never afraid
that others might know their ends and intentions,
for they willed nothing but good.
For anyone who allows himself to be led by the Lord
never intends or thinks anything else.
Where a state such as this exists
the rational as regards good
joins itself to the good of the natural directly,
and through the good of the natural
to the truths of the natural.
It also joins itself indirectly through the truth there
in the rational to the truth in the natural,
and through this to the good there.
All this effects an indissoluble joining together.

But how far mankind is removed at the present day
from this state, and so from the heavenly state,
may be seen from the belief
that practical wisdom requires one, in the world,
to use words, also to perform acts,
as well as to adopt facial expressions
which are other than what one in fact thinks and intends.
Indeed it is believed
that one should so control the natural mind itself
that in unison with its face
it acts in quite an opposite way
from inward thoughts and desires
that flow from an evil end in view.
To the most ancient people this was utterly abominable,
and people who behaved in that way
were expelled as devils from their community.
From these considerations,
as from effects and the signs of those effects,
one may see what the joining together
of the rational or internal man
as regards good and truth
with his natural or external man implies.
One may thus also see
what one who is an angel is like
and what one who is a devil is like.
 

AC 3570 - The Natural and the Rational

AC 3570 [1-2, 6]

When the natural is in the state
in which it is outwardly good and inwardly truth,
it then admits many things which are not good,
but which nevertheless are useful,
being means to good in their order.
But the good of the rational
does not conjoin and appropriate to itself
from this source anything
but that which is in agreement with its own good;
for good receives nothing else,
and whatever disagrees, it rejects.
The rest of the things in the natural it leaves,
in order that they may serve as means
for admitting and introducing more things
that are in agreement with itself.

The rational is in the internal person,
and what is there being transacted
is unknown to the natural,
for it is above the sphere of its observation;
and for this reason the person
who lives a merely natural life
cannot know anything of what is taking place with him
in his internal person, that is, in his rational;
for the Lord disposes all such things
entirely without the person's knowledge.
So it is that a person knows nothing
of how he is being regenerated,
and scarcely that he is being regenerated.
But if he is desirous to know this,
let him merely attend to the ends
which he proposes to himself,
and which he rarely discloses to anyone.
If the ends are toward good,
that is to say,
if he cares more for his neighbor and the Lord
than for himself,
then he is in a state of regeneration;
but if the ends are toward evil,
that is to say,
if he cares more for himself
than for his neighbor and the Lord,
let him know that in this case
he is in no state of regeneration.

. . . the rational disposes the natural,
in order that it may serve it as the soul
or what is the same,
may serve the end, which is the soul,
to perfect itself,
that it may be of use in the Lord's kingdom.

~ Living and Teaching ~

Anyone who breaks
one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever practices and teaches these commands
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 5:19)

AC 3562 - The End in View

AC 3562

. . . the end in view determines
a person's happiness or unhappiness in the next life,
for the end is the inmost aspect of every cause,
so much so
that if the end does not exist within the cause,
indeed if it is not its all,
no cause exists at all.
The end is in a similar way
the inmost aspect of every effect,
for an effect springs from such a cause.
This being so, whatever exists with a person
owes its very being
to the end which he has in view.
In the next life therefore
a person's state is determined by.

~ The Last Temptation in the Desert ~

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain
and showed Him
all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
"All this I will give you," he said,
'if You will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Away from Me, Satan!
For it is written:
'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"

Then the devil left Him,
and angels came and attended Him.

(Matthew 4:8-11)

AC 3540 - Every Good; AC 3542 - The Yoke

AC 3540
 
Every good has its own truths,
and every truth has its own good,
which must be conjoined together
in order for them to be anything.

AC 3542 [4]

. . . to "put the neck under the yoke"
means to serve.

AC 3538 - One House; AC 3539 - Such Is the Love, Such Is the Life

AC 3538

When the rational acts from the will part or good,
through the intellectual part or truth,
then the rational mind is called "one house."
From this also
heaven itself is called the "house of God,"
because therein is nothing else than good and truth,
and the good acts through truth
united or conjoined with itself.
This is also represented in marriages
between a husband and wife
who constitute one house,
by reason that conjugial love comes forth
from the Divine marriage of good and truth;
and both the husband and the wife
have a will from good,
but with a difference such as is
that of good in respect to its own truth;
and therefore good is meant by the husband,
and truth by the wife;
for when there is one house,
then good is the all therein,
and truth, being of good, is also good.

AC 3539 [4]

. . . love is the very life of a person,
and that such as the love is,
such is the life;
and likewise that everything
delightful and everything pleasant is from love,
consequently all joy and all happiness;
and therefore also such as the love is,
such is the joy and such the happiness.
A person is also able
to apprehend in his understanding,
even should his will dissent or go contrary to,
that the happiest life is from
love to the Lord and from charity toward the neighbor,
because the very Divine flows into it;
and on the other hand
that the most miserable life is from
the love of self and the love of the world,
because hell flows into it . . ..

AC 3528 - Perception

AC 3528

. . . all perception,
which is internal sensation,
comes forth from good,
but not from truth,
except from good through truth;
for the Lord's Divine life flows into good,
and through good into truth,
and thus produces perception.

AC 3518 - Receiving Good and Deriving Good; AC 3519 - The Lord Enters Through Innocence

AC 3518 [2]

. . . with every person who is being regenerated
the good which he receives
from the Lord as from a new father is interior,
but the good which he derives
from his parents is exterior;
the former good,
which he receives from the Lord,
is called spiritual; but the latter,
which he derives from his parents,
is called natural good.
The good that a person derives from his parents
is serviceable first of all for his reformation,
for by means of it are introduced
as by what is pleasurable and delightful,
first, memory-knowledges,
and afterwards the knowledges of truth;
but when it has served as a means for this use
it is separated from these;
and then spiritual good comes forth and manifests itself.
This must be evident from much experience,
as from the single instance
that when a child is first instructed
he is affected with the desire of knowing,
not at first for any end that is manifest to himself,
but from a certain pleasure and delight
that is born with him
and is also derived from other sources;
but afterwards, as he grows up,
he is affected with the desire of knowing
for the sake of some end,
as that he may excel others, or his rivals;
and next for some end in the world;
but when he is to be regenerated,
he is affected from the delight and pleasantness of truth;
and when he is being regenerated,
which takes place in adult age,
from the love of truth,
and afterwards from the love of good;
and then the ends which had preceded,
together with their delights,
are separated little by little,
and to them succeeds interior good from the Lord,
which manifests itself in his affection.
From this it is evident that the former delights,
which had appeared in the outward form as good,
had served as means.
Such successions of means are continual.

AC 3519 [6]

The reason was that Jehovah or the Lord
cannot appear to anyone,
not even to an angel,
unless he to whom He appears
is in a state of innocence;
and therefore
as soon as the Lord is present with anyone
he is let into a state of innocence;
for the Lord enters through innocence,
even with the angels in heaven.

AC 3509, 3513 - Regenerating

AC 3509 [2]

The rational mind is distinguished into two faculties,
one faculty being called the will,
and the other the understanding.
During a person's regeneration,
that which proceeds from the will
is called good,
and that which proceeds from the understanding
is called truth.
Before a person has been regenerated
the will does not act as one with the understanding;
but the former wills good,
while the latter wills truth;
insomuch that an effort of the will is perceived
as being quite distinct from one of the understanding.
This however is perceived only by those who reflect,
and who know what the will is
and the things that belong thereto,
and what the understanding is
and the things that belong thereto;
but it is not perceived by those
who do not know these things
and therefore who do not reflect,
for the reason that the natural mind
is regenerated through the rational mind,
and this according to an order such
that the good of the rational
does not flow immediately into
the good of the natural and regenerate it,
but through the truth which is of the understanding,
thus in appearance from the truth of the rational.

AC 3513 [2]

If good, that is,
love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor,
form the internal or rational person,
and through this
the external or natural person corresponding to it,
then the person becomes in particular and in general
an image of heaven,
consequently an image of the Lord;
but if contempt
for the Lord and for the good and truth of faith,
and hatred toward the neighbor,
form the internal person,
then the person becomes
in particular and in general an image of hell;
and especially when at the same time this is done
in what is holy,
for from this comes profanation.
 

** They Came to His Tomb **

After the Sabbath,
at dawn on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake,
for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven
and, going to the tomb,
rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of him
that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women,
"Do not be afraid,
for I now that you are looking for Jesus,
who was crucified.
He is not here;
He has risen,
just as He said.
Come and see the place where He lay."

(Matthew 28:1-6)

 

AC 3493 - First the Rational Then the Natural; AC 3504 - Being Blessed

AC 3493

. . .the rational is regenerated before the natural,
for the reason that the rational is more interior
and thus nearer to the Divine;
and also because it is purer,
and thus fitter to receive the Divine than is the natural;
and further because the natural
is to be regenerated through the rational.

AC 3502 [2]

The natural does not become new,
or receive life corresponding to the rational,
that is, is not regenerated,
except by means of doctrinal things,
or the knowledges of good and truth --
the celestial man by the knowledges of good first,
but the spiritual man by the knowledges of truth first.
Doctrinal things, or the knowledges of good and truth,
cannot be communicated to the natural person,
thus cannot be conjoined and appropriated,
except by means of
delights and pleasantnesses accommodated to it,
for they are insinuated
by an external or sensuous way;
and whatever does not enter
by some delight or pleasantness
does not inhere, thus does not continue.

AC 3504

That my soul may bless you.
(Genesis 27:4)

. . .the meaning of " being blessed,"
as being to be gifted with celestial and spiritual good;
for the good of infancy and of the consequent life,
which is the same as the good of the natural,
and which is represented by Esau,
is not spiritual good --
the good of infancy being devoid
of knowledge and intelligence,
and thus of wisdom.
The good of infancy becomes spiritual good
through the implanting of truth,
thus through regeneration;
from which comes the correspondence
between rational and natural things . . ..

** The Next Day **

The next day, the one after Preparation Day,
the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
"Sir," they said, "we remember
that while He was still alive
that deceiver said,
'After three days I will rise again.'
So give the order
for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.
Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the body
and tell the people
that He has been raised from the dead.
This last deception will be worse than the first."

"Take a guard," Pilate answered.
"Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.
So they went and made the tomb secure
by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

(Matthew 27:62-66)