AC 6677 - Why One Angel Can Subdue Thousands of Evil Spirits

AC 6677

For when those from hell molest anyone
they are allowed to set upon truths
but not upon forms of good,
the reason being that truths
are what can be made to suffer attack,
not forms of good.
The latter are protected by the Lord,
and when those from hell
do try to set upon forms of good
they are cast far down into hell.
They cannot stand the presence of good,
since the Lord is present in every form of good.
This explains why the angels,
being governed by good,
have so much power and control over hellish spirits
that just one of them can subdue
thousands of those from hell.
It should be recognized that good holds life within it,
for good springs from love,
and love is the life in a person.
If evil that springs from selfish and worldly love
and seems to be good to those governed by evil
attacks good which springs from heavenly love,
the life of the one fights against the life of the other.
And since the life belonging to the good
that comes with heavenly love
originates in the Divine,
the life belonging to selfish and worldly love
starts to be annihilated
if it comes into conflict with that life from the Divine.
For it is stifled
and so those involved suffer torment
like those in the threes of death.
Because of this they hurl themselves into hell,
where they recover the life that is theirs.
This is another reason why
evil genii and spirits are unable to attack good
and so do not dare to destroy it.
It is different with truth.
This has no life within it,
other than what it receives from good, that is,
from the Lord through good.

AC 6663 - In Afflictions or Combats the Lord Is Always Present

AC 6663

Most spirits who come from the world
and have lived the life of the Lord's commandments,
before they can be uplifted into heaven
and joined to societies there,
are infested by the evils and falsities pertaining to them,
to the end that they may be removed;
for there are impurities
which they have contracted in the life of the body
that in no wise agree with heaven.
The infestations take place by their being immersed
in their evils and falsities;
and while they are in them,
spirits are present who are in like evils and falsities,
and labor by every means
to lead them away from truth and good.
But still they are not immersed so deeply
in their evils and falsities
that the influx through the angels from the Lord
may not prevail;
and the balance is maintained with exactness.
The purpose of this is,
that he who is infested
may seem to himself to be in freedom,
and thus to fight against the evils and falsities of himself,
yet with the acknowledgment,
if not at the time, yet afterward,
that all the power of resisting was from the Lord.
When this is being done,
not only are the truths and goods strengthened
which had been implanted before,
but more are instilled;
this being the result of every spiritual combat
in which the combatant is victorious.
That it is so is also plain from common experience;
for he who defends his opinion
against others who attack it,
confirms himself the more in his opinion,
and then also finds other confirmations of it
which he had not before observed,
and also others which deny the opposite;
and in this way he strengthens himself in his opinion,
and also illustrates it with further considerations.
This is still more perfectly the case with spiritual combats,
because the combat takes place in the spirit,
and concerns goods and truths;
and especially because the Lord is present
and leads by the angels;
for the contest is concerning eternal life and salvation.
It is common in such combats
for the Lord to turn into good
all the evils which the hells intend;
wherefore it is not permitted them
to bring forth more or other evils
than can be turned into good
that is suited to him who is in combat.
The reason of this originates in the fact
that the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses,
and therefore nothing can be done there
that is not a source of good.

AC 6644 - "And Joseph Died"; AC 6648 - The Renewed Church In a Person to Eternity

AC 6644

And Joseph died,
and all his brethren, and all that generation.
(Exodus 1:6)

"And Joseph died,"
means that the case would now be different
with the internal of the church;
"and all his brethren, and all that generation,"
means also with the external in particular and in general;
"and the sons of Israel were fruitful, and were productive,"
means that the truths of the church increased as to good;
"and multiplied, and became very exceeding numerous,"
means that they increased very much
as to truths from good;
"and the land was filled with them,"
means even to fullness of the church.

AC 6648

. . . the subject now treated of is the renewed church;
for with the church in person the case is this:
while it is being set up anew the person is in truths
and by means of these good increases;
but when the church with him has been set up anew,
then the person is in good,
and from good in truths,
which then increase continually --
but little during his life in the world,
because here
cares for food and clothing, and for other things,
act as a hindrance;
but in the other life immeasurably,
and this perpetually to eternity;
for the wisdom which is from the Divine has no end.
Thus the angels are perfected continually,
and thus all are perfected who become angels
when they come into the other life;
for everything which is of wisdom
is of infinite extension,
and the things of wisdom are infinite in number.
From this it can be seen
that wisdom can increase to eternity,
and yet not reach far beyond the first degree;
for the reason that the Divine is infinite,
and that such is the case with what is from the infinite.

AC 6637 - What Belonging to a Church Really Is

AC 6637

As Israel represents the good of truth, or spiritual good,
and his sons spiritual truths in the natural,
therefore the sons of Israel represent the church;
for the church is the church
from spiritual good and from the derivative truths.
He who is not in spiritual good,
that is, in the good of charity,
and in spiritual truths, that is, in the truths of faith,
is not of the church,
in spite of his having been born within it.
For the whole heavenly kingdom of the Lord
is in the good of love and of faith;
and unless the church is in the like,
it cannot be the church,
because it is not conjoined with heaven,
for the church is the Lord's kingdom on earth.

Its being called the church
is not from the fact that the Word is there,
and that there are doctrinal things therefrom,
nor from the fact that the Lord is known there,
and that the sacraments are there;
but it is the church from the fact
that people live according to the Word,
or according to doctrine from the Word,
and so that the doctrine is the rule of life.
Those who are not of this character
are not of the church, but are outside of it;
and those who live in evil,
thus those who live contrary to doctrine,
are further outside the church than the Gentiles
who know nothing whatever of the Word, of the Lord,
and of the sacraments;
for the former,
because they know the goods and truths of the Church,
extinguish the church in themselves,
which the Gentiles cannot do,
because they do not know them.
Be it further known
that everyone who lives
in the good of charity and of faith
is a church and kingdom of the Lord,
and from this is called a temple,
and also a house, of God.
The church in general is constituted of those
who are churches in particular,
however far apart they may be.
This then is the church which is meant here
and in what follows by the "sons of Israel."

AC 6628-6633 - Lost Wisdom and the Lost Doctrine of Charity

AC 6628 - 6633

. . . the Doctrine of Charity
was the doctrine in the Ancient Churches,
and that this doctrine conjoined all the churches,
and so made one out of many;
for they acknowledged
as people of the church
all who lived in the good of charity,
and called them brethren,
however greatly they might be at variance in the truths
which at this day are called the truths of faith.
In these one instructed another,
and this was among their works of charity;
nor were they indignant
if one did not accede to the opinion of another,
knowing that
everyone receives truth
in proportion as he is in good.

Such being the character of the Ancient Churches,
they were more interior people,
and being more interior they were more wise;
for those who are in the good of love and of charity
are as to the internal
people in heaven,
and in an angelic society there which is in like good.
From this they have
an elevation of mind to interior things,
and consequently to the things of wisdom;
for wisdom can come from no other source than heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord;
and in heaven there is wisdom,
because there they are in good.

But in course of time this ancient wisdom decreased;
for insofar as the human race removed itself
from the good of love to the Lord
and of charity toward the neighbor,
so far it also removed itself from wisdom,
because so far it removed itself from heaven.
From this it is that people from internal became external,
and this successively.

And when a person became external,
he also became worldly and corporeal;
and when he is of this character
he no longer cares for the things of heaven;
for they have been so far removed
as not to be believed to exist;
because the delights of earthly loves,
and with these all evils
which from these loves
are delightful to him,
then take complete possession of the whole person;
and then all that he hears about the life after death,
about heaven, and about hell,
is like chaff in the wind,
which flies away as fast as it is seen.

From this also it is
that the Doctrine of Charity,
which was so precious among the ancients,
is at this day one of the lost things;
for who at this day knows
what in the genuine sense charity is,
and what in the genuine sense the neighbor is?
when yet this doctrine abounds
in arcana so many and so great
that it cannot be described as to a thousandth part.
The whole Sacred Scripture is nothing else
than the doctrine of love and of charity,
as the Lord also teaches, saying,
"You shall love the Lord thy God from all your heart,
and in all your soul,
and in all your mind;
this is the first and great commandment:
the second is like unto it,
You shall love your neighbor as thyself;
on these two commandments
hang the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40).
"The law and the prophets" are the Word
in all and each of its parts.

As the doctrine of charity is at this day
one of the lost things,
and as the doctrine of faith is consequently
much alienated from the truth,
this doctrine may
of the Lord's Divine mercy be delivered
before the several chapters of the Book of Exodus,
and thus be restored to the church.

AC 6603, 6605 - In the Spiritual World

AC 6603

In the spiritual world
the affection of knowing truth and good
corresponds to the serenity of the atmosphere.

AC 6605

. . . everyone in an angelic society is a heaven in least form.
The varieties of their human form are in accordance
with the quality of good and of truth with them.
So it is that every spirit and angel appears in a form
wholly in accordance with the communication
of his thoughts and affections with the societies.
Consequently the more they are in good and truth,
so are they in a more beautiful form.

AC 6587 - In Order for a Church to Exist

AC 6587 [2-3]

A church in order to exist must be internal and external,
for there are those who are in the internal of the church,
and those who are in its external;
the former are few,
but the latter are very numerous.
Nevertheless with those with whom is the internal church,
the external must be also,
for the internal of the church
cannot be separated from its external;
and also with those with whom is the external church,
the internal must be also,
but with these the internal is in obscurity.

The internal of the church consists in
willing good from the heart,
and in being affected with good;
and its external consists in doing it,
and this according to the truth of faith
which the person knows from good;
but the external of the church
consists in the devout performance of rituals,
and in doing works of charity,
according to the precepts of the church.
From this it is evident that the internal of the church
is the good of charity in the will.
Therefore when this ceases,
the church itself also ceases,
for the good of charity is its essential.
External worship indeed remains afterward, as before,
but then it is not worship, but a rite,
which is preserved because it has been so appointed;
but this rite, which appears like worship,
is like a shell without a kernel,
for it is an external which remains
wherein is no internal.
When such is the state of the church it is at its end.

AC 6580 - Establishing the Spiritual Church Within Us

AC 6580

In the preceding verses of this chapter (Genesis 50)
the subject treated of is the spiritual church
that was to be set up again;
and after the external or natural
has been made completely submissive
to the internal or spiritual --
which is meant by Joseph's brethren
falling down before him
and offering themselves to him for servants --
the subject now treated of
is this church when set up again,
which is described in these verses
by Joseph's dwelling in Egypt,
and by sons being born of Ephraim,
and of Machir the son of Manasseh.

With the person who is a spiritual church
there is life from the internal
in the memory-knowledges of the church;
for the memory-knowledges with him
are made subordinate,
and reduced into such order
that they receive the influx of good and of truth,
so as to be receptacles of influx from the internal.
It is otherwise with those who are not a church,
the memory-knowledges with these persons
being so disposed
that things confirmatory of truth and good
have been rejected to the sides,
thus far removed from the light of heaven;
and thereafter the things that remain
are receptive of falsity and evil.

AC 6574 - Temptations in the Spiritual World; AC 6578 - Hope and Trust

AC 6574 [2-3] - Temptations in the Spiritual World

In the other life
the Lord permits infernal spirits
to lead the good into temptation,
consequently to pour in evils and falsities;
which they do with all endeavor;
for when they are doing this,
they are in their life and its delight.
But the Lord Himself is then present
with those in temptation,
both immediately, and mediately by angels,
and resists by rebutting the falsities of the infernal spirits,
and by dissipating their evil,
thus giving refreshment, hope, and victory.
So with those who are in the truths of good,
the truths of faith and the goods of charity
are more inwardly implanted
and more strongly confirmed.
This is the means by which spiritual life is bestowed.

From all this it is evident
what is meant in the internal sense
by the words in this verse, namely,
that those who have been alienated from truth and good,
as are the spirits who induce temptations,
intend nothing but evil,
but that the Divine turns it into good,
and this according to order from eternity,
from which comes life
to those who are in the truths of good.
For be it known that the infernal spirits
to whom it is permitted thus to trouble the good,
intend nothing but evil;
for they desire with all their might
to drag them down from heaven and cast them into hell;
because it is the very delight of their life
to destroy anyone as to his soul; thus to eternity.
But not one whit is permitted them by the Lord,
except to the end that good may come of it,
namely, that truth and good
may be brought into shape and strengthened
with those who are in temptation.
In the universal spiritual world reigns the end
which proceeds from the Lord,
which is that nothing whatever,
not even the least thing, shall arise,
except that good may come from it.
It is from this that the Lord's kingdom is called
a kingdom of ends and uses.

AC 6578 - Hope and Trust

. . . there is a marriage
of truth which is of the understanding,
and of good which is of the will,
in every detail of the Word;
for "comforting" is said of the understanding,
and "speaking upon the heart," of the will;
therefore also his "comforting them" means hope,
for this is of the understanding by means of truth;
and his "speaking upon their heart" means trust,
for this is of the will by means of good,
because genuine trust is impossible with any
but those who are in the good of charity;
and genuine hope with any
but those who are in the good of faith.

AC 6551 - Why the Cave Of Machpela Is Mentioned So Often

AC 6551

That something special is meant
by Abraham's having bought
the cave of the field of Machpelah,
which is before Mamre,
from Ephron the Hittite,
is evident from its being said so many times,
as in previous chapters:

The field of Ephron which was in Machpelah,
which was before Mamre, was made sure.
(Genesis 23:17)

After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife
in the cave of the field of Machpelah
upon the faces of Mamre.
And the field and the cave that is there
were deeded to Abraham
for a possession of a sepulcher
from the sons of Heth.
(Genesis 23:19, 20)

They buried Abraham in the cave of Machpelah,
in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,
which is upon the faces of Mamre;
the field which Abraham bought
from the sons of Heth.
(Genesis 25: 9,10)

Bury me in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah,
which is upon the faces of Mamre,
in the land of Canaan,
which Abraham bought with the field
from Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a sepulcher.
The purchase of the field,
and of the cave that is therein,
was from the sons of Heth .
(Genesis 49:30-32)

And in this chapter:
They buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
which Abraham bought with the field
for a possession of a sepulcher,
from Ephron the Hittite,
upon the faces of Mamre.
(Genesis 50:13)

The special thing which is meant
by this frequent repetition in nearly the same words,
is that by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
is represented the Lord;
by their burial is represented
resurrection and resuscitation;
by the cave of the field of Machpelah,
the beginning of regeneration;
by Ephron the Hittite,
those who receive the good of faith
and suffer themselves to be regenerated;
and by the sons of Heth, the spiritual church.
And it is because all these things combined
mean the setting up again of a spiritual church
that they are so many times repeated.

AC 6516 - When the Word Is Read

AC 6516

When the Word is being read,
the Lord flows in and teaches;
and wonderful to say
there are writings in the spiritual world also,
which I have sometimes seen,
and have been able to read,
but not to understand;
yet they are clearly understood by good spirits and angels,
because they are in accord with their universal language;
and it has been given me to know
that every word therein,
down to the very syllables,
involves such things as belong to that world,
thus spiritual things;
and that they are there perceived from the breathing,
and from the affection resulting from their utterance,
thus from a softer or harsher modifying forth;
but this perhaps scarcely anyone will believe.
This has been disclosed
in order that it may be known
that the names in the Word,
having been written in heaven,
are at once perceived there
in respect to their meaning.

AC 6502 - "Medicine"

AC 6502

. . . "medicine" means
that which preserves from falsities and evils;
for when the truth of faith leads to the good of life,
it preserves, because it withdraws from evils.

AC 6497 - Genesis 50, an Overview

AC 6497

After treating of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
by whom in the supreme sense is represented the Lord,
this last chapter of Genesis
in the internal sense treats of the church --
that after the celestial church had perished,
a spiritual church was instituted by the Lord.
The beginning and progress of this church
are described in the internal sense,
and at the close of the chapter, its end;
and that in its stead
the mere representative of a church was instituted
among the descendants of Jacob.

 

Several Short Passages About the Lord's Loving Providence

AC 6485

. . . for many reasons
Providence acts silently and secretly;
and that if it acted openly,
a person could not possibly be reformed.

AC 6487

All the things which are from the Lord are most essential;
but they do not follow in order from necessity,
but in a manner
that is applicable to the freedom of a person.

AC 6489

. . . nothing is permitted
except for the end that some good may come out of it;
but as a person has freedom,
in order that he may be reformed,
he is bent from evil to good
so far as he suffers himself to be bent in freedom . . ..

AC 6494

. . . not even a hair falls from the head
without the will of God.

AC 6495

. . . the influx which is from the Lord
is the good of heavenly love,
thus of love toward the neighbor.
In this love the Lord is present,
for He loves the universal human race,
and desires to eternally save every member of it;
and as the good of this love is from Himself,
He Himself is in it;
thus He is present with the person
who is in the good of this love.

AC 6472 - The Lord Flows Into All, Yet Leaves Us in Freedom; AC 6476 - The Lord's Prayer

AC 6472 - The Lord Flows Into All, Yet Leaves Us in Freedom

. . . the Lord inflows in two ways:
through heaven mediately,
and from Himself immediately;
and that from Himself
He flows both into a person's rational things,
which are his interior things,
and into his natural things,
which are his exterior ones.
That which flows in from the Lord
is the good of love and the truth of faith,
for that which proceeds from the Lord
is the Divine truth in which is the Divine good;
but these are variously received with a person,
namely, in accordance with his quality.

The Lord does not compel a person
to receive what flows in from Himself;
but leads in freedom,
and so far as the person allows,
through freedom leads to good.
Thus the Lord leads a person according to his delights,
and also according to fallacies
and the principles received therefrom;
but gradually He leads him out from these;
and this appears to the person
as if it were from himself.
Thus the Lord does not break these things,
for this would be to do violence to freedom,
which however must needs exist,
in order that the person may be reformed.
That the Lord flows in with a person in this manner,
namely, not only mediately through heaven,
but also immediately from Himself,
both into the interior and the exterior things in the person,
is a secret hitherto unknown.

AC 6476 - The Lord's Prayer

Whenever I have been reading the Lord's prayer,
I have plainly perceived an elevation toward the Lord
which was like an attraction,
and at the same time my ideas were open,
and from this there was effected a communication
with some societies in heaven;
and I noticed that there was an influx from the Lord
into every detail of the prayer,
thus into every idea of my thought
that was from the meaning of the things in the prayer.
The influx was effected with inexpressible variety,
that is, not the same at one time as another;
so also it was made evident
how infinite are the things contained in the prayer,
and that the Lord is present in every one of them.
 

AC 6443 - Those Who Are Being Elevated Into Heaven

AC 6443

. . . those who are being elevated into heaven
are at first in obscurity;
for they cannot come to clearness
until they have been in heaven,
and have been instructed
with respect to truths
by the Lord through the angels,
into whose society they are sent;
for there is need of time
in order that the obscurity induced by falsities
may be dissipated.

** The Way of Holiness **

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the Lord will return.
they will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

(Isaiah 35:8-10)

AC 6439 - When

AC 6439

. . . when the Lord is present it shall be done . . ..

AC 6435 - Mountains and Hills

AC 6435 [15]

The reason why "mountains" and "hills" meant
the goods of celestial and spiritual love,
was that they were prominent above the earth,
and by things prominent and high
were meant those which were of heaven,
and in the supreme sense which were of the Lord.
For the "land of Canaan"
meant the Lord's heavenly kingdom;
as a consequence all things in that land were meaningful,
the "mountains" and "hills"
being meaningful of such things as are high;
for when the most ancient people
who were of the celestial church
ascended a mountain
they thought of height, and from height, of what is holy,
because Jehovah or the Lord
was said to dwell "in the highest,"
and because in the spiritual sense
"height" denoted the good of love.

AC 6427 - The Spiritual Kingdom

AC 6427 [1-2]

This kingdom consists of those
who are in the truth of faith,
but who make this the truth of life,
and thus good;
for when the truth of faith is lived,
it becomes good,
and is called the "good of truth,"
but in its essence
it is truth in act.

In the Lord's spiritual church
the truth of faith is various,
for what is said to be truth in one church
which in another is said not to be truth,
and this according to the doctrine of each;
thus it is doctrinal things that are called truths.
These truths are what are conjoined with good,
and make the good of the spiritual church;
and thus its good becomes such as is its truth,
for good has its quality from truths.

Consequently it is evident
that the good of the spiritual church is impure;
and because it is impure,
the spiritual cannot be admitted into heaven
except by Divine means.
The absolute Divine means was
that the Lord came into the world
and made the Human in Himself Divine;
by this the spiritual were saved.
But because the good with them is impure,
they must needs be infested by evils and falsities,
and thus be in combats;
but the Lord provides that by means of these combats
the impurity in them may gradually be purified,
for the Lord fights for them.