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

AC 5461

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

AC 5433 - The Affection of Truth

AC 5433 [2]

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

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

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

AC 5423 - Correspondence Is

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

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

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

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

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

AC 5400 - The Light of the Internal Sense

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

AC 5407 - "Life"

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

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

AC 5398

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

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

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

AC 5395 - The Lord's Kingdom

AC 5395

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

 

AC 5368 - The Natural Ought to Apply Itself and Obey

AC 5368

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

AC 5360 - When Goods and Truths Fail

AC 5360

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

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

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

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

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

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

AC 5355 - The Multiplication of Good and Truth

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

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

AC 5340

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

AC 5342 [4]

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

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

AC 5344

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

AC 5335 - Thirty

AC 5335

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

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

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

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

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

AC 5331 - Pharaoh Changes Joseph's Name

AC 5331

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

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

AC 5323 - "Bend the Knees"

AC 5323

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

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

AC 5321 [2]

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

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

In the same:

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

And in Matthew:

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

AC 5316 - Why Pharaoh Gave Joseph the Power

AC 5316

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

AC 5309 - "God Has Caused You to Know"

AC 5309

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

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

AC 5307 - The Spirit of God

AC 5307

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

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

AC 5293 - "Food" - Especially Spiritual Food

AC 5293

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

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

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

AC 5287 - In Proportion

AC 5287 [2]

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

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

AC 5272  - The "Word" and Creation

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

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

AC 5276 - How Knowledges Become Truths

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