AC 3424 & 3436 - a well of living water

A Well of Living Water
AC 3424 [2]
That the Word of the Lord is such
that it gives life to him that thirsts,
that is, to him that desires life . . ..
That the Word is living and therefore gives life,
is because in its supreme sense the Lord is treated of,
and in the inmost sense His kingdom,
in which the Lord is all;
and this being the case,
there is in the Word life itself,
which flows into the minds of those
who read the Word with reverence . . ..

AC 3436
The doctrine of faith . . . is the very literal sense of the Word,
for the Word is doctrine itself;
and although the Word
as to the literal sense
is such that truths may be drawn from it,
it is also such that things not true
may be confirmed from it,
as is well known from the existence of heresies.
But he who reads the Word in order to be wise,
that is, to do what is good and understand what is true,
is instructed according to his end and affection;
for unknown to him
the Lord flows in and enlightens his mind,
and where he is at a loss,
gives understanding from other passages.

[2] Moreover the person who is in simple good,
and in simplicity believes the Word
according to its literal sense,
when instructed in the other life by angels
is gifted with the faculty of perceiving truths;
and in the meantime the few truths he has
are made alive by charity and innocence . . ..

AC 3419 - the Word is a holy writing

AC 3419 [2-3]
. . . when angelic speech
(which is incomprehensible to a person
because spiritual and celestial)
descends to a person, who is in a natural sphere,
it falls into representatives and significatives
such as are in the Word,
and so it is that the Word is a holy writing;
for in order to be a full correspondence
that which is Divine cannot be presented in any other way
before the natural person.

And as the ancients were in
representatives and significatives of the Lord's kingdom,
in which there is nothing but celestial and spiritual love,
they had also doctrinal things
that treated solely of love to God
and of charity toward the neighbor;
and by virtue of these doctrinal things
they were called the wise.
From these doctrinal things they knew
that the Lord would come into the world,
and that Jehovah would be in Him,
and that He would make the human in Himself Divine,
and would so save the human race.
From these doctrinal things they also knew what charity is,
namely, the affection of being of service to others
without any end of recompense;
and also what is the neighbor
toward whom there should be charity,
namely, all in the universe,
but still each with discrimination.
At this day these doctrinal things are utterly lost . . ..

AC 3417 - a single angel

AC 3417 [3]
. . . a single angel has greater power
than myriads of infernal spirits,
yet not from himself, but from the Lord;
and he has it from the Lord
in the proportion that he believes
that he has no power from himself,
thus that he is the least;
and this he can believe only so far as he is in humiliation
and in the affection of being of service to others,
that is, only so far as he is in the good of love to the Lord,
and of charity toward the neighbor.

AC 3404 -the vision of Infinity & Eternity and that of angels and people

AC 3404 [2]
It is known that the Divine is infinite as to being,
and eternal as to manifestation,
and that the finite is not capable of comprehending the infinite,
nor indeed the eternal,
for the eternal is the infinite as to manifestation;
and as the Divine Itself is infinite and eternal,
all things which are from the Divine are also infinite and eternal,
and being infinite cannot possibly be comprehended by angels,
because these are finite.
For this reason the things which are infinite and eternal
are presented before the angels in appearances which are finite;
but still in such appearances as are very far above
the sphere of a person's comprehension.
For example,
a person cannot possibly have any idea of the eternal
except from time;
and this being the case,
he cannot possibly comprehend what is from eternity,
thus what the Divine was before time,
or before the world was created.
And so long as there is in his thought anything of an idea from time,
if he thinks on the subject
he must necessarily fall into errors
from which he cannot be extricated.
But to the angels, who are not in the idea of time,
but in the idea of state,
it is given to perceive this most clearly,
for the eternal with them is not the eternal of time,
but the eternal of state,
without the idea of time.

AC 3402 - the Lord protects against profanation

AC 3402 [2-3]
. . . it is of the Lord's providence
that no one should be admitted into good and truth -
that is, into the acknowledgment and affection of them -
any further than he can remain in them,
on account of the danger of eternal damnation . . ..

The removal of good and truth,
consequently of the angels,
from the person who is in evil and falsity
is not apparent to him,
because he is then in the persuasion that evil is good,
and that falsity is truth,
and this from the affection of them and the consequent delight;
and when he is in this state
it is impossible for him to know
that good and truth have been removed from him.

. . . To know good and truth, that is,
to hold them in the memory,
and to talk about them,
is not to possess them;
but to possess them
is to be affected by them from the heart;
neither does anyone possess good and truth
when he is affected by them
for the sake of gaining reputation and wealth;
for in this case
he is not affected by good and truth,
but by honor and gain,
and he makes the former the means of obtaining the latter.
In the other life
the goods and truths that such persons have known,
and have even preached,
are taken away from them,
and there remains the love of self and of the world,
from which is their life.

From this it is evident how the case is with good and truth,
namely, that no one is allowed
to approach them with affection and faith,
unless he is of such a character
that he can continue in them to the end of his life.
But they who profane
are those who cannot be withheld from them.

AC 3392 - Isaac, laughing, Rebekah,& Abimelech

AC 3392
And behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman.
(Genesis 26:8)
That this signifies that Divine good was present in Divine truth,
or that Divine good was adjoined to Divine truth,
is evident from the representation of Isaac,
as being the Divine good of the Lord's rational;
from the signification of "laughing,"
as being the love or affection of truth;
and from the representation of Rebekah,
as being the Divine truth of the Lord's rational.
Consequently it is evident
that "Isaac laughing with Rebekah his woman"
signifies that Divine good was present with Divine truth.
The sense of the words in the series is that at first
spiritual truth is received for the reason that it is called Divine;
and afterwards because the Divine is in it,
 which is clearly seen by those who are being regenerated
and are becoming people of the spiritual church.
These are they who are meant by "Abimelech;"
that is, who are in the doctrine of faith,
and look to truths in knowledges.

AC 3379 - what makes a church?

AC 3379
. . . churches are not churches because they are so called,
and because they profess the Lord's name;
but because they are in the good and truth of faith.
The good and truth of faith is that which constitutes the church,
indeed, which is the church,
for in the good and truth of faith is the Lord,
and where the Lord is, there is the church.

SD 4773m - heavenly joy consists of an active life of usefulness

SD 4773m  
. . . people at this day, do not know what heavenly joy is,
. . . but that they suppose it to consist in this,
that they should be cared for by angels and spirits,
and should thus breathe joy in idleness; and this to eternity.
That this is false, was shown them by the fact,
that there are no spirits and angels who have not been people:
Secondly, that in heaven,
it is not permitted to be served by others,
but to serve others;
and that mere joy in idleness,
vanishes away in a few hours or days, since it is without life.
Idleness at length wearies everyone . . ..
But . . . heavenly joy consists in an active life, thus in use;
and that according to the use they possess joy,
so that use is the subject of joy . . ..

Concerning the uses which angels perform,
and by virtue of which they perceive joy,
it was also said, that these are very numerous,
and more remarkable than a person ever believes.
Glorifying the Lord is not a use, but a recreation;
for [angels] glorify the Lord in every use.
This the Lord loves.
Their uses, also, are
(1) to be with people, to insinuate there goods and truths,
     and to turn aside evils and falsities.
(2) To instruct spirits who come from the world.
(3) To instruct infants.
(4) To awaken the dead,
      and to lead and inform those who are awakened.
(5) To watch over these, and, moreover,
      to attend to domestic duties there . . .
      besides other things innumerable.
In these things the angels take such joy as is indescribable:
for these things relate to mutual love,
or charity towards the neighbor.

AC 3365 - why there are appearances of truth

AC 3365
. . .the rational is such that it cannot possibly understand Divine things,
for it is finite,
and the finite cannot understand what is of the infinite;
and consequently truths Divine from the Lord
are presented before the rational by means of appearances.
So it is that doctrinal things are nothing but appearances of truth Divine,
that is, nothing but celestial and spiritual vessels,
within which is what is Divine;
and because the Divine,
that is, the Lord,
is in them, 
they affect us,
from which comes the conjunction of the Lord with angels and people.

SD 4754m - conjugial love; SD 4771m - grating teeth

SD 4754m
. . . conjugial love is the holiest of all things . . .


SD 4771m
. . . those who have impressed themselves with natural falsities,
and have confirmed themselves in them,
and drawn from them many inferences,
and who from those things
reason about spiritual things in the other life:
for there is not any correspondence
[between these natural falsities and spiritual truths]
but, they clash:
hence the grating of the teeth.) 

AC 3336 - priority and superiority and our regeneration

AC 3336 [2-3]
It is easy to see that nothing can possibly enter
into a person's memory and remain there,
unless there is a certain affection or love which introduces it.
If there is no affection, or what is the same, no love,
there will be no observation.
It is this affection, or love,
with which the thing that enters connects itself,
and being connected remains;
as is evident from the fact that
when a similar affection or love returns,
the thing itself recurs . . . and this in a series.
From this comes a person's thought;
and from this thought his speech.
. . . This is the teaching of experience,
and on reflection everyone may be confirmed in it.

The doctrinal things of truth enter in like manner into the memory;
and the things that at first introduce them
are affections of various loves . . ..
Genuine affection, which is of the good of charity,
is not then observed; but still it is present;
and so far as it can be present,
it is joined together by the Lord to the doctrinal things of truth . . ..
When therefore the time comes that the person can be regenerated,
the Lord inspires the affection of good,
and through this excites the things
which have been joined together by Him to this affection,
which things are called in the Word "remains;"
and then by means of this affection
(that is, of the affection of good),
by successive steps the Lord removes the affections of other loves,
consequently also the things that have been connected with them.
And thus the affection of good, 
or what is the same, the good of life,
begins to have the dominion.
It indeed had the dominion before,
but this could not appear to the person;
for insofar as a person is in the love of self and of the world,
the good which is of genuine love does not appear.
From this it may now be seen
what is signified in the internal sense by the things historically
related concerning Esau and Jacob.

SD 4745m - knowing; SD 4749m - living

SD 4745m
It is they who are in good
that are enlightened by the Lord.
With the culture of the present day . . .
that people believe a person to be cultured and learned,
provided they know many things,
and still more when they have, of themselves,
devised several means to confirm them:
and yet this is not to be learned, that is, enlightened,
for even falsities can equally be confirmed;
and, from confirmation,
one may be persuaded that the thing is so. 

AS 4749m
. . . truths of doctrine . . .
teach what sort of life a person ought to lead;
if they are not for the sake of that end
they profit nothing.

. . . so far as willing good and thinking good
is in the doing of good,
so far is there life in the externals;
and he who wills good and thinks good, does good;
for life cannot exist without an effect:
however, he who does not will good and think good
but yet does good,
is a hypocrite.

AC 3325 - the firstborn - good or truth?

AC 3325 [3,4,5,9]
. . . within the church there are more
not being regenerated than being regenerated;
and as they who are not being regenerated
draw conclusions from the appearance,
therefore there has been a dispute
even from ancient times
as to whether the priority belongs to truth or to good.
With those who have not been regenerated,
and also with those who have not been fully regenerated,
the opinion has prevailed that truth is prior,
for as yet they have no perception of good;
and so long as anyone has no perception of good,
he is in shade or in ignorance in relation to these things.
But they who have been regenerated, being in good itself,
are able from the consequent intelligence and wisdom
to observe what good is,
and that it is from the Lord,
and that it flows in through the internal person into the external,
and this continually,
the person being altogether unconscious of it;
and that it joins itself to the truths of doctrinal things
that are in the memory;
consequently that in itself good is prior,
although before it had not appeared so.

. . . good is the firstborn
(that is, the good of love to the Lord,
and of love toward the neighbor,
for there is no other good than that which is good from these loves)
. . . all are called "firstborn" who are in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor,
and these were also represented in the Jewish Church by
what is firstborn, that is,
they are meant by it in the relative sense,
because the Lord is the Firstborn,
and all that are firstborn are His likenesses and images.

That the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Firstborn,

From Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness,
the Firstborn of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth.
(Rev. 1:5)

In order that all that had been written
and represented concerning Him might be fulfilled,
He was likewise by birth the firstborn.

Inasmuch as the firstborn represented the Lord,
and those who are the Lord's by virtue of love to Him,
therefore the tribe of Levi was accepted instead of every firstborn,
and this because Levi represented the Lord as to love.
"Levi" also signifies love,
for "Levi" is "adhesion" and "conjunction,"
and in the internal sense adhesion and conjunction are love.

AC 3321 - thinking from the natural

AC 3321
A person's rational receives truths before his natural;
and this to the end
that the Lord's life, which as before said is of love,
may flow in through the rational into the natural,
and dispose the natural, and reduce it to obedience.
For the rational is purer, and the natural grosser;
or what is the same,
the rational is interior and the natural exterior;
and . . . it is according to order
that the interior or purer can flow into the exterior or grosser,
but not the reverse.

So it is that a person's rational
can be accommodated to truths and receive them
before his natural . . ..
For as is also known,
the internal person can see truths and also will them,
but the external refuses assent and resists;
for in the natural person there are memory-knowledges
which are in a great measure
derived from the fallacies of the senses,
and which notwithstanding their being false
the person believes to be true;
there are also things without number
which the natural person does not understand;
for he is relatively in shade and thick darkness,
and that which he does not understand,
he believes either not to exist, or not to be so;
there are likewise evil loves
which are of the love of self and of the world,
and all things that favor these he calls truths;
and when the person yields to these the dominion,
all things that result are contrary to spiritual truths.
There are also in the natural person reasonings
that are grounded in falsities impressed from infancy.
. . . This also causes him to believe the body to be everything;
and all that does not fall into the natural sense,
he scarcely believes to be anything.  

SD 4721m - resisting, only a little, helps; SD 4726m - can't sleep?

SD 4721m
. . . when a person resists,
or fights against evil and falsity only a little,
he can be in a state opposite to them,
and in delight and pleasantness.
So, only the discernment of resistance,
or its admission,
is sometimes sufficient . . .

SD 4726m
. . . thought belongs to wakefulness,
and produces wakefulness.

AC 3318 - "And he was weary." (Genesis 25:29)

AC 3318
That "weary" here signifies a state of combat . . .
 
. . . A person is nothing but an organ, or vessel,
which receives life from the Lord . . ..
The life which inflows with a person from the Lord
is from His Divine love.
This love, or the life . . . inflows and applies itself
to the vessels (truths) which are in a person's rational,
and to those which are in his natural.
In consequence of the hereditary evil
into which a person is born,
and of the actual evil which he acquires,
these vessels are in a contrary position within him
relative to the inflowing life (from the Lord),
yet so far as the life which flows in
can dispose the vessels to receive it,
it does so dispose them.
These vessels in the rational person, and in the natural,
are what are called truths . . ..
Good itself, which has life from the Lord,
or which is life,
is that which flows in and disposes. 

. . . This cannot possibly be effected
so long as the person is in that state into which he is born,
and to which he has reduced himself;
for the vessels are not obedient,
being obstinately resistant, and hardening themselves
against the heavenly order according to which the life acts;
for the good which moves them, and with which they comply,
is of the love of self and of the world
. . . and therefore before they can be rendered compliant
and fit to receive anything of the life of the Lord's love,
they must be softened.
This softening is effected by no other means than temptations;
for temptations remove all that is of the love of self
and of contempt for others in comparison with self,
consequently all that is of self-glory,
and also of hatred and revenge on this account.
When therefore the vessels have been
somewhat tempered and subdued by temptations,
they begin to become yielding to, and compliant with,
the life of the Lord's love,
which continually flows in with a person.

. . . it is then that good begins to be conjoined with truths;
first in the rational person, and afterwards in the natural . . ..
This is the reason why a person is regenerated,
that is, made new, by temptations;
or what is the same, by spiritual combats;
and that he is afterwards gifted with another nature;
being made mild, humble, simple, and contrite in heart.
From these considerations
it may now be seen what use temptations promote,
namely, that good from the Lord may not only flow in,
but may also dispose the vessels to obedience,
and thus conjoin itself with them.
. . .  the first of conjunction takes place
by means of combats,
which are those of temptations,
it is evident that by "he was weary" is signified a state of combat. 

But as regards the Lord,
who in the supreme sense is here treated of,
He by the most grievous temptation combats
reduced all things in Himself into Divine order,
insomuch that there remained nothing at all of the human
which He had derived from the mother,
so that He was not made new as are other people,
but altogether Divine.
For the person who is made new by regeneration
still retains in himself an inclination to evil,
and even evil itself;
but is withheld from evil by an influx of the life of the Lord's love,
and this with a force exceeding great;
whereas the Lord utterly cast out
all the evil that was hereditary to Him from the mother,
and made Himself Divine,
even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths.
This is that which in the Word is called "glorification."

SD 4702 m - resusitation of the dead

SD 4702m
Two or three times I was let into a place
where there is a resurrection of the dead
- really what is called place is state -
where there were celestials.
This [that celestials are present] is known from the fact,
that when the Lord and celestial angels are present,
that something aromatic is perceived from corpses.
And it was stated, that the Lord is there specially present,
wherefore also celestial angels are there;
because, without such presence of the Lord,
there would be no resuscitation of the dead.

AC 3310 - the good of life from doctrinal things

AC 3310 [3]
Those who are being regenerated,
at first do what is good from doctrinal things,
for of themselves they do not know what is good,
but learn it from the doctrinal things of love and charity;
from these they know who the Lord is;
who is the neighbor;
what love is, and what charity;
thus what good is.
. . . one who by nature inclines to adulteries, thefts, and murders,
but who learns from the commandments of the Decalogue
that such things are of hell,
and so abstains from them.
In this state he is affected by the commandments
because he is afraid of hell,
and from these and likewise from many things in the Word
he learns how he ought to direct his life;
and in this case when he does what is good,
he does it from the commandments.
But when he is in good,
he begins to be averse to the adulteries, thefts, and murders
to which before he had been inclined;
and when he is in this state,
he no longer does what is good from the commandments,
but from good, which then is in him.
In the former state he learns good from truth;
in the latter state he teaches truth from good.

SD 4668m - the Divine sphere of ends and uses

SD 4668m
I clearly perceived the Divine sphere of ends and uses,
and more things than are possible to say.
. . .  from that sphere, flow, and are ruled,
all things, and every single detail,
which were of thought and speech . . .

AC 3305 - "And he called his name Jacob" (Genesis 25:26)

AC 3305 [2]
Those who confine themselves to the sense of the letter
suppose that in the Word Jacob is used to mean
every one of those people descended from Jacob,
and for that reason they apply to those people everything
that has been stated about Jacob either as history or as prophecy.
But the Word is Divine
in that first and foremost every single thing within it
has regard not just to one particular nation or people
but to the whole human race,
namely to everyone present, past, and future.
More than that, it has reference to the Lord's kingdom in heaven;
and in the highest sense to the Lord Himself.
This is what makes it a Divine Word.
If it were concerned with merely one particular nation
it would be human only
and would have nothing more of the Divine within it
than the existence among that nation of holy worship. 

SD 4668m - the Divine sphere of ends & uses

SD 4668m
I clearly perceived the Divine sphere of ends and uses,
and more things than are possible to say.
. . .  from that sphere, flow, and are ruled,
all things, and every single detail,
which were of thought and speech . . .

AC 3299 - "twins being in her womb" (Genesis 25:24)

AC 3299

It is good which gives life, but through truth.
Both these are called soul,
but still good is principally the soul,
while truth clothes it as with a kind of tender vessel or body,
so that the good is in the truth.
This is what is signified by "twins being in her womb."

Judges end of 2-3; SD 4630m, 4652m - misfortunes

Judges 2:19-23, 3:1-2
But when the judge died, the people returned to ways
even more corrupt than those of their fathers,
following other gods and serving and worshiping them. 
They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said,
"Because this nation has violated the covenant
that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me,
I will no longer drive out before them
any of the nations Joshua left when he died.
I will use them to test Israel and see
whether they will keep the way of the LORD
and walk in it as their forefathers did.
The LORD had allowed those nations to remain;
He did not drive them out at once
by giving them into the hands of Joshua.
These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites
who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan
(He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of
the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience) . . .

SD 4630m
. . .  the misfortunes of the faithful, which, it is well-known,
they suffer as much as, and even more than, the unfaithful.
The reason was told why some of them are thus let into trials:
some, for the reason that they may not attribute good to themselves;
for, if they were exempted [from trials],
then would they attribute it to their own goodness, consequently,
they would unjustifiably claim to themselves merit and justice.
In case this should happen, they are let into common misfortunes,
so that they come to grief as far as life riches
and possessions are concerned, equally with others.
If, however, they were of such a character
that they would not consequently attribute good to themselves,
they would more often be exempted from ordinary misfortune.
So, there are hidden causes at work:
for it is known, that, when misfortune arrives,
any of the faithful think about good,
and in such sort that they consider they should be spared
on account of the good they have done;
and if then, they were to be spared,
they would boast it was on account of their being good,
and, so, would taunt the wicked with this;
consequently, would unjustifiably claim good to themselves.) 

SD 4652m
Consequently it may be evident,
that a person is lead of the Lord
by continuous constraints to foreseen ends;
and yet, by means of his freedom.

SD 3286 - the work of regeneration

SD 3286 [3]
The work of regeneration
is chiefly concerned in bringing about the correspondence
of the natural person to the rational person,
not only in general, but also in particular;
and the natural person is reduced to correspondence
by the Lord through the rational,
in that good is insinuated into the rational,
and in this good
as in ground
truths are implanted,
and then by means of rational truths
the natural is reduced to obedience;
and when it obeys,
then it corresponds;
and insofar as it corresponds,
so far is the person regenerate.

AC 3267 - the spiritual church

AC 3267 [2-3]
With the Lord's spiritual church the case is this:
It is scattered throughout the whole world,
and everywhere varies as to articles of belief, or the truths of faith;
and these varieties are the derivations which are signified by the "births,"
and which come forth both at one and the same time
and also one after another.
It is the very same with the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens,
in which there is variety as to the things of faith,
and this to such a degree that there is not one society,
nor even one person in a society,
that in the things of the truth of faith
has an idea altogether in agreement with the ideas of others
but nevertheless the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens is a one;
the reason of which is that with all there
charity is the principal thing;
for charity makes the spiritual church,
and not faith, unless you call charity faith.

He who is in charity loves his neighbor,
and when the neighbor differs from him in matters of belief,
he excuses it provided that his neighbor lives in good and truth.
He also does not condemn the well-disposed Gentiles,
although they are ignorant of the Lord,
and do not know anything of the faith.
For he who is in charity, that is, who lives in good,
receives from the Lord truths of such a quality as agree with his good,
and Gentiles receive such truths as in the other life
that may be bent into truths of faith.
But he who is not in charity, that is, who does not live in good,
can never receive any truth; he may indeed know truth,
but it is not implanted in his life;
thus he may indeed have it in his mouth, but not in his heart.
For truth cannot be conjoined with evil,
and therefore those who know the truths
 which are called the articles of belief,
and do not live in charity or in good,
although they are in the church because born in it,
are yet not of the church,
for there is nothing of the church in them,
that is nothing of good with which truth may be conjoined.

SDm 4599 - life

SDm 4599
There were some who had general affection,
and, since there was not in it anything of detail,
they took away the life of the body . . .
or induced lassitude of mind,
with lassitude of the body . . .
and a certain indigestion in the stomach;
for the reason that there is little vitality in such general affection.
Life itself consists in the intelligence and wisdom of truth;
and, if this is absent,
there is little vitality, or there is lassitude. 

SDm 4547 - Conscience, and can we know we are in charity?

SDm 4547 (Spiritual Diary Minor)
Conscience is not given without charity towards the neighbor.
A person is in so obscure a perception and idea,
that be is unable to know whether he has charity,
because he is not much sensible of affection;
nor, if he has it, does he reflect upon it;
but it is known from his zeal towards good and truth,
and towards justice and right.
He then has charity, if he is in zeal,
namely, in the zeal of punishing the evil
for the end that they may become good
and that the good may not be hurt,
and that the community or public might be freed from such;
for then he has charity,
although it does not so appear;
nor is he himself able to know this.

AC - various bits and pieces: pun?, charity, death of Abraham, our loves, our souls

AC 3245
. . . (concerning which see above) . . .
[Comment: 
How many times in the Heavenly Doctrines does the
Lord give us this direction?  Many!! 
So - for those of you who love a play on words -
is this simply a physical instruction or a spiritual one?]

AC 3249
. . . charity toward the neighbor is nothing else
than a life according to the Lord's commandments.

AC 3253
And Abraham expired and died.
(Genesis 25:8)
That this signifies the end of the representation by Abraham,
is evident from the signification of "expiring and dying,"
as being to cease or come to an end;
here, the end of the representation.
For nothing of Abraham's life which is described in the Word
has reference to Abraham, except merely in the historical sense;
but everything has reference to the Lord and His kingdom;
and therefore when it is said of Abraham
that he "expired and died,"
it cannot signify in the Word (that is, in its genuine sense)
anything else than that
the state representative of the Lord by Abraham came to an end.

AC 3255
. . . all who are in the same good
meet and are together in the other life,
and likewise all who are in the same truth.

[2]  . . . while a person lives in the body
he is always
as to his soul
in some society of spirits in the other life.;
the person who is evil is in a society of infernal spirits;
and the person who is good is in a society of angels.
Thus everyone is in a society of such spirits as he is in agreement with,
either as to good and truth,
or as to evil and falsity;
and into this same society the person comes when he dies.

AC 3236 - What is spiritual good and the spiritual truth attached to this good?

AC 3236 [2]
Spiritual good in a person
is in general what is called the good of faith,
and this is no other than charity toward the neighbor;
but in order that it may be charity,
it must come from the new will
with which the spiritual person is gifted by the Lord.
The spiritual truth adjoined to this good
is what is called the truth of faith,
and this is no other than that which regards charity first
as the end for the sake of which it exists;
and afterwards
as the beginning from which it proceeds;
but in order that it may be the truth of faith to the spiritual person,
or faith,
it must come from the new understanding
with which he is gifted by the Lord;
and the new understanding
must have its light from the new will.

SD 4533 - the universal affirmative; SD 4534 - the doubting negative

SD 4533
It is solely a universal affirmative
with which a person is imbued as to truths by the Lord,
as that the Word is the Word,
that the Lord is the Lord,
that Providence is in the most singular things.
When one is in this principle,
although he is but obscurely aware of its existence,
innumerable affirmatives are insinuated by the Lord.

SD 4534
The contrary is the case with those who are in contrary affirmatives,
or those of the false, that is,
in the principles and persuasions of the false,
or in a doubting negative,
still more those who are positively in the negative respecting truths.

AC 3214 - angelic communications

AC 3214
Representatives of things spiritual and celestial
sometimes come forth in a long series . . .
in such an order successively as is marvelous.
. . . They are very delightful,
for something new and unexpected continually follows in succession,
and this until what is represented is being fully perfected;
and when all things have been perfectly represented,
it is possible to contemplate everything in one view;
and then it is at the same time given to take note 
of what is signified by each detail.
Moreover good spirits are in this way
initiated into spiritual and celestial ideas.