AC 5168 - why subordinating the natural is important

AC 5168 [2]
The subject treated of in the internal sense of this chapter
is the subordination of the exterior natural,
which is to be made subordinate
in order that it may serve the interior natural as a plane;
for unless it is made subordinate,
interior truths and goods,
and consequently interior thoughts
which have in them what is spiritual and celestial,
have not anything in which they can be represented;
for they are presented in the exterior natural
as in their face, or as in a mirror;
and therefore when there is no subordination
the person can have no interior thought;
[and] he cannot have any faith;
for there is no comprehension, whether distant or eminent,
and therefore no perception of such things.
The only thing that can make the natural subordinate,
and reduce it to correspondence,
is the good in which there is innocence,
which good in the Word is called "charity."
Sensuous things and memory-knowledges
are only the means into which this good may flow,
and in which it may present itself in form,
and unfold itself for every use;
but without this good in them,
memory-knowledges, even if the very truths of faith,
are nothing but scales among filth, which fall off.

Psalm 28:6-9

Praise be to the Lord,
for He has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him,
and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song.

The Lord is the strength of His people,
a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.
Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;
be their Shepherd and carry them forever.
(Psalm 28:6-9)

AC 5155 - providence or foresight?

AC 5155
. . . providence is predicated of good,
but foresight of evil;
for all good flows in from the Lord,
and therefore this is provided;
but all evil is from hell,
or from man's own which makes one with hell;
and therefore this is foreseen.
As regards evil,
Providence is nothing but the direction or determination
of evil to less evil, and as far as possible to good;
but the evil itself is foreseen.

AC 5148 - works from the will

AC 5148
. . . all works of charity are works from the will that are uses.

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
(Psalm 27:14)

AC 5130 - auras and charity from faith

AC 5130 [2]
He who is in a any love, whatever it may be,
is continually thinking about whatever belongs to that love;
and this although he is engaged in thought, in speech,
or in action relative to other things.
In the other life this is very evident
from the spiritual spheres about every one;
for simply from these spheres
it is known in what faith
and in what love
are all who are there,
and this even though they are thinking
and speaking of something entirely different,
for that which reigns universally in any one
produces a sphere of the same,
and displays his life before others.
From this may be seen what is meant when it is said
that we must be constantly thinking about the Lord,
salvation, and the life after death.
All who are in faith from charity do this,
and therefore they do not think ill of the neighbor,
and they have justice and equity
in every thing of their thought, speech, and action;
for that which reigns universally
flows into particulars and guides and governs them,
because the Lord keeps the person in such things
as are of charity and the derivative faith
and thus disposes everything to be in conformity with these.

Psalm 26:8,12

I love the house where You live, O Lord,
and the place where Your glory dwells.

My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly
I will praise the Lord.
(Psalm 26:8,12)

AC 5125 - sensuous things (things that come to a person through the senses of this world)

AC 5125 [2]
Whether sensuous things are in the first or last place
can easily be perceived by a person if he pays attention.
If he sanctions everything
to which the sensuous prompts or which it craves,
and disapproves of everything that the intellectual part dictates,
then sensuous things are in the first place,
and the person is governed by the appetites,
and is wholly sensuous.
. . . But if he does not sanction them,
but from within sees how they stray into falsities and incite to evils,
and strives to chasten them
and so reduce them to compliance
(that is, subject them to the intellectual and will parts
which are of the interior person),
then sensuous things are reduced into order,
that they may be in last place.
When sensuous things are in the last place,
a happy and blessed feeling flows from the interior person
into the delights of these things,
and increases them a thousandfold.

Psalm 25:1-5; 8-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in You I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in You
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me Your paths;
guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in You all day long.

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant.
(Psalm 25:1-5; 8-10) NIV

AC 5112 - point of view

AC 5112 [2]
. . .  the truths of faith look to the good of charity as their end.

Psalm 24:3-6

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
He will receive blessings from the Lord
and vindication from God his Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who see Your face, O God of Jacob.
Selah.
(Psalm 24:3-6) NIV

AC 5115 - seeds, blossoms, fruits

AC 5115
. . . when a person is being reborn,
spiritual life flows into him (influx),
exactly as when a tree is budding
its life flows in through the heat from the sun.

[2] For the person who is being reborn
begins like a tree from seed
(and therefore the truth which is from good
is signified by "seed" in the Word);
and also like a tree he produces leaves,
then blossoms,
and finally fruit;
for he produces such things as are of intelligence,
which in the Word are signified by "leaves,"
then such things as are of wisdom,
which are signified by "blossoms,"
and finally such things as are of life, that is,
the goods of love and charity in act,
which in the Word are signified by "fruits."

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord
forever.
(Psalm 23) NIV

AC 5110 - these three are One

AC 5110 [3]
. . . the human being is such
that he cannot form in his mind
any idea at all of abstract realities
unless he associates with them some natural imagery
that has come to him from the world through his senses;
for without any such imagery
his thought becomes lost so to speak
in an abyss and is dissipated.
Therefore to prevent the idea of the Divine becoming lost . . .
and to prevent the defilement of this idea,
. . . Jehovah has been pleased
to make Himself known as He exists essentially
and as He manifests Himself in heaven,
namely as a Divine Man.
For the whole of heaven combines together
and presents itself in the human form . . .
the Grand Man, which is heaven.
This Divine, that is,
Jehovah's manifestation of Himself in heaven,
is the Lord from eternity.
It is also the appearance assumed by the Lord
when He glorified, that is, made Divine,
the Human within Him . . ..
. . . anyone can think of the Divine itself as Man,
and at the same time of the Lord
in whom the entire Divine and perfect Trinity dwell;
for within the Lord the Divine itself is the Father,
the Divine that manifests itself in heaven is the Son,
and the Divine proceeding from these is the Holy Spirit -
from which it is clear that these three are one,
as He Himself teaches.

Psalm 22:20-28

You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
Revere Him, all you descendants of Israel!
For He has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
He has not hidden His face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme
of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear You 
will I fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the Lord will praise Him -
my your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before Him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and He rules over the nations.
(Psalm 22:20-28) NIV

AC 5092 - night; AC 5097 - morning

AC 5092
"Night" in the spiritual sense
signifies a state of shade brought on by falsity from evil,
thus also obscurity, namely, of the mind.
The obscurity of night in the world is natural obscurity;
but the obscurity of night in the other life is spiritual obscurity.

. . . spiritual obscurity is threefold,
one kind being from the falsity of evil,
the second from ignorance of truth,
and the third is that of . . .
the sensuous things of the external man
relatively to the rational things of the internal man.
All these kinds of obscurity however,
arise from the fact that the light of heaven
(or intelligence and wisdom from the Lord) 
is not received;
for this light is continually flowing in,
but it is rejected, suffocated, 
or perverted by the falsity of evil;
is but little received by ignorance of truth;
and is dulled by being made general
by the sensuous things of the external man.

AC 5097
The variations of the light of heaven
are not variations like those of the light of the world . . .
but are variations of intelligence and love;
for the light of heaven is nothing else
than Divine intelligence from the Lord,
which is bright before the eyes;
and the heat of this light is the Lord's Divine love,
which is warm to the sense.
It is this light which gives a person understanding,
and this heat which gives him vital warmth
and a will of good.
Morning in heaven is a state of enlightenment
as to those things
which are of good and truth,
which state exists when it is acknowledged,
and still more when it is perceived,
that good is good
and that truth is truth.
Perception is internal revelation;
consequently by the "morning"
is signified what is revealed;
and because then
that becomes clear which before was obscure,
by "morning" is also signified what is clear.

[2] Moreover, by "morning"
is signified in the supreme sense the Lord Himself,
for the reason that the Lord is the Sun
from which comes all the light in heaven,
and He is always in the rising, thus in the morning.
Moreover, He is always rising with everyone
who receives the truth which is of faith
and the good which is of love,
but He is setting with everyone who does not receive these
- not that the Sun sets there,
for as just said He is always in the rising;
but that he who does not receive,
causes Him as it were to set with himself.
This may be compared in some degree
to the changes of the sun of this world
in respect to the inhabitants of the earth;
for neither does this sun set,
since it always remains in its place and is always shining;
but it appears as if it set,
because the earth rotates about its axis once every day,
. . . therefore the setting is not in the sun,
but in the removal of the inhabitant of the earth from its light.
This comparison is illustrative;
and because in every part of nature
there is something representative of the Lord's kingdom,
it also instructs us
that the deprivation of the light of heaven
- that is, of intelligence and wisdom -
does not take place because the Lord,
who is the Sun of intelligence and wisdom,
sets with anyone,
but because the inhabitant of His kingdom 
removes himself,
that is, suffers himself to be led by the hell
by which he is removed.

Psalm 21:7

For the king trusts in the Lord;
through the unfailing love of the Most High
he will not be shaken.
(Psalm 21:7) NIV

AC 5075 - What is real?; AC 5076 - What is sinning?

AC 5075
. . . nothing that exists in the universe
is anything,
that is, is a real thing,
unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth . . .

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and God was the Word.
All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not anything made
that was made.
(John 1:1, 3)


AC 5076
. . . the signification of "sinning,"
as being to act contrary to Divine order;
Divine order itself is Divine truth from Divine good.

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.  Selah.
May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He answers him from His holy heaven
with the saving power of His right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

O Lord, save the King!
Answer us when we call!
(Psalm 20) NIV

AC 5068, 5069 - the Lord is King and righteous

AC 5068
That the Lord calls Himself "King" - in these words:

When the Son of Man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory . . .
then shall the King say unto them . . .
(Matthew 25:31-34)

is because the Lord's royalty is the Divine truth,
from which and according to which judgment is effected.
But from and according to it
the good are judged in one way,
and the evil in another.
The good, because they have received Divine truth,
are judged from good, 
and thus from mercy;
the evil, because they have not received Divine truth,
are judged from truth, 
and thus not from mercy;
for this they have rejected,
and consequently they continue to reject it in the other life.
To receive Divine truth is not only to have faith,
but also to practice it,
that is, to cause that which is of doctrine to become of the life.
It is from this that the Lord calls Himself "King."

AC 5069
All who are in the good of charity are called the "righteous"
- not that they are righteous from themselves,
but from the Lord,
whose righteousness is appropriated to them.
They who believe themselves righteous from themselves,
or made so righteous
that there is no longer anything of evil in them,
are not among the righteous, but among the unrighteous;
for they attribute good to themselves,
and also feel self-merit on account of it,
and such can never adore the Lord from true humiliation;
so that those who in the Word
are called the "righteous," and the "saints,"
are those who know and acknowledge
that all good is from the Lord,
and that all evil is from themselves . . ..

Psalm 19:7-14

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commandments of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure good;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
(Psalm 19:7-14) NIV

AC 5051, 5052 - conjugial love, special angels

AC 5051
. . . heavenly conjugial love exists
when a man together with his wife,
whom he loves most tenderly,
and with his children,
lives content in the Lord.
From this he has in this world an inward pleasantness,
and in the other life heavenly joy . . ..

AC 5052
The Lord instills conjugial love through the inmost heaven,
the angels of which are in peace beyond all others.
Peace in the heavens
is comparatively like springtime in the world,
which renders all things joyous,
for in its origin peace is the celestial itself.
The angels who are in the inmost heaven are the wisest of all,
and from their innocence they appear to others as infants,
for they love infants
much more than do their fathers and mothers.
They are present with infants in the womb,
and through them the Lord cares for the feeding
and full development of the infants therein;
thus they have charge over those who are with child.

Psalm 18:30-32

As for God, His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is flawless.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
(Psalm 18:30-32) NIV

AC 5044 - temptations, peace and garments woven with gold

AC 5044
With all who are in temptations
there flows in truth from the Lord,
which rules and governs the thoughts
and raises up the sufferers
whenever they fall into doubts and even into despair.
This governing truth
is that truth and such truth
as they have learned from the Word or from doctrine,
and have confirmed in themselves.
Other truths are indeed at such times also called to mind,
but they do not govern the interiors.
Sometimes the truth which governs
is not presented visibly before the understanding,
but lies hidden in obscurity, yet it still governs;
for the Divine of the Lord flows into it,
and thus keeps the interiors of the mind in it,
and therefore when it comes into light,
the person who is in temptation
receives consolation and is relieved. 

[2]
It is not this truth itself,
but the affection of it,
by which the Lord governs those who are in temptations;
for the Divine flows only
into those things which are of the affection.
The truth which is implanted and rooted
in a person's interiors
is implanted and rooted by affection,
and not at all without affection;
and the truth
which has been implanted and rooted by affection,
clings there, and is recalled by affection;
and when this truth is so recalled,
it presents the affection that is conjoined with it,
which is the man's reciprocal affection.
As such is the case with the person who is in temptations,
therefore no one is admitted into any spiritual temptation
until he reaches adult age,
and has thus become filled with some truth
by which he can be governed;
otherwise he sinks under the temptation,
and then his latter state is worse than the first.

[3]
Peace is a state of blessedness in the heavens,
affecting with good and truth from the inmosts;
so the Lord is called the "Prince of peace,"
and it is said that
"of the multiplying of His principality and peace
there shall be no end."

[13]
"The king's daughter is all glorious within;
and of inweavings of gold is her garment,
in needlework shall she be brought to the king . . ."

the "king's daughter" is the Lord's spiritual kingdom,
which is called His spiritual kingdom
from the Lord's Divine truth,
here described by her garment of inweavings
of gold and of needlework . . ..

Psalm 17:6-9,14

I call on You, O God, for You will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show the wonder of Your great love,
You who save by Your right hand
those who take refuge in You from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.

O Lord, by Your hand
save me from such men,
from men of this world
whose reward is in this life.
(Psalm 17:6-9,14) NIV

Psalm 17:6-9,14

I call on You, O God, for You will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show the wonder of Your great love,
You who save by Your right hand
those who take refuge in You from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.

O Lord, by Your hand
save me from such men,
from men of this world
whose reward is in this life.
(Psalm 17:6-9,14) NIV

AC 5025 - spiritual good and truth

AC 5025
. . . spiritual truth and good desire
that a person should not
take pleasure in dignities or in any preeminence over others,
but in services rendered to his country,
and to societies in general and in particular . . ..
The merely natural person
is wholly ignorant what this pleasure is,
and denies its existence . . .
for he regards himself in everything he does . . ..

Psalm 16:7-11

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because You will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
(Psalm 16:7-11) NIV

AC 5013 - Which serves?

AC 5013
. . . it is according to order
that the spiritual should rule and the natural serve;
for the spiritual is prior, interior, and higher,
and nearer the Divine;
while the natural is posterior, exterior, and lower,
and more remote from the Divine.
For this reason the spiritual in a person and in the church
is compared to heaven, and is also called heaven;
and the natural is compared to earth, and is also called earth.
Consequently, it is that they who are spiritual,
that is, in whom the spiritual has ruled,
appear in the other life in the light of heaven
with the head upward toward the Lord,
and with the feet downward toward hell;
whereas they who are natural,
that is, they in whom the natural has ruled,
appear in the light of heaven
with the feet upward and the head downward,
however differently they may appear in their own light,
which is a fatuous light
resulting from the evil affections
and consequent fantasies in which they are.

Psalm 15

Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary?
Who may live on Your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken.
(Psalm 15) NIV

AC 4987, 4989 - the internal sense

AC 4987
The things in the internal sense are . . . continuous
and flowing from one state of a thing into another;
but when one state terminates,
and another of importance succeeds,
this is indicated by "it was" or "it came to pass;"
and a change of state less important by "and."
This is the reason why these expressions so frequently occur.

AC 4989 [2]
When a person comes into the other life,
as he does immediately after death,
if he is one of those who are taken up into heaven,
he will then know
that he retains nothing of the historicals of the Word,
and indeed knows nothing about Joseph,
nor about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
but only about the spiritual and Divine things
which he had learned from the Word
and had applied to his life.
Such things . . . are what are inwardly contained in the Word,
and are called its internal sense.

Psalm 14:5-6

. . . God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
(Psalm 14:5-6) NIV

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord?
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and everyday have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for He has been good to me.
(Psalm 13) NIV

AC 4981
. . . the "blessing of Jehovah," in the external sense
or in the sense which relates to the state of a person in the world,
is to be content in God,
and on that account to be content
with the state of honor and wealth in which one is,
whether it be among the honored and rich,
or among the less honored and poor;
for he who is content in God
regards honors and riches as means for uses;
and when he thinks of them
and at the same time of eternal life,
he regards the honor and riches as of no importance,
and eternal life as essential.

AC 4984
All uses from truths are goods of truth.
Truths which are not for use are separated;
some being retained, and some rejected.
. . . In their beginning all uses are truths of doctrine,
but in their progression they become goods;
they become goods
when the person acts according to these truths.
Thus the very action gives quality to truths,
for all action descends from the will,
and the will itself
makes that become good
which before was truth.
From this it is plain
that truth in the will
is no longer the truth of faith,
but the good of faith;
and that no one is made happy
by the truth of faith,
but by the good of faith;
for this affects the very thing
which is of a person's life,
namely, his will,
and gives it interior delight or bliss,
and in the other life
the happiness
which is called heavenly joy.

Psalm 12:5-6

"Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise," says the Lord.
"I will protect them from those who malign them."
And the words of the  Lord are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.
(Psalm 12:5-6) NIV

AC 4973 - "in their house" and "Lord"

AC 4973
There is in a person a natural mind and a rational mind;
the natural mind is in his external person,
the rational mind in his internal.
Memory-knowledges are the truths of the natural mind,
which are said to be "in their house"
when they are conjoined there with good;
for good and truth constitute together one house,
as husband and wife.
But the goods and truths here treated of 
are interior;
for they correspond to
the celestial
of the spiritual
from the rational,
which is represented by Joseph.
The interior corresponding truths in the natural mind
are applications to uses,
and the interior goods therein are uses.

[2] The name "Lord" is often used in the Word;
and one who has no knowledge of the internal sense
supposes that nothing more is meant by it
than what is meant by the use of this term in common speech;
but "Lord" is never used in the Word
except where good is treated of,
and the same is true of "Jehovah;"
but when truth is treated of, "God" and "King" are used.

Psalm 11:4-7

The Lord is in His holy temple;
the Lord is on His heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men;
His eyes examine them.
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked
and those who love violence His soul hates.
On the wicked He will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
For the Lord is righteous,
He loves justice;
upright men will see His face.
(Psalm 11:4-7) NIV

AC 4964 - the process of glorification and regeneration

AC 4964 [3]
As the Lord is represented by Joseph,
its being here said that Joseph was "brought down to Egypt,"
signifies that when the Lord glorified His internal man,
that is made it Divine,
He was first
infilled with the memory-knowledges of the church,
and from and by them
advanced to things more and more interior,
and at last even to those which are Divine.
For it pleased Him to glorify Himself,
that is, to make Himself Divine,
according to the same order
as that in which He regenerates man,
that is, makes him spiritual,
namely, from external things,
which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith,
successively to internal things,
which are of charity toward the neighbor
and of love to Him.

Psalm 10:12-18

Arise, Lord!  Lift up Your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?
But You, O God, do see trouble and grief;
You consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted;
You encourage them,
and You listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man,
who is of the earth,
may terrify no more.
(Psalm 10:12-18) NIV

AC 4954-4957 [portions] - the works of charity in their order

AC 4954
Then shall the king say to them on His right hand,
Come, you blessed of My Father,
possess the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you gathered Me;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came unto Me.
(Matthew 25:34-36).

AC 4955
. . . the works here enumerated
are the very works of charity in their order.
This no one can see
who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word . . .
which is Divine, because from the Lord.


AC 4956
The essence of charity toward the neighbor
is the affection of good and truth,
and the acknowledgment of self as being evil and false . . ..
He therefore who has charity toward the neighbor
is affected by good and truth,
because they are from the Lord,
and holds in aversion what is evil and what is false
because these are from self;
and when he does this,
he is in humiliation from self-acknowledgment,
and when he is in humiliation,
he is in a state of reception of good and truth from the Lord.
These are the characteristics of charity
which in the internal sense
are involved in these words of the Lord:

"I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you gathered Me;
naked, and you clothed Me;
I was sick, and you visited Me;
I was in prison, and you came unto Me."

That these words involve such things,
no one can know except from the internal sense.
. . . the angels who are with a person
perceive these words no otherwise,
for by the "hungry"
they perceive those who from affection desire good;
by the "thirsty,"
those who from affection desire truth;
by a "stranger,"
those who are willing to be instructed;
by the "naked,"
those who acknowledge
that there is nothing of good and of truth in themselves;
by the "sick,"
those who acknowledge
that in themselves there is nothing but evil;
and by the "bound," or those who are "in prison,"
those who acknowledge
that in themselves there is nothing but falsity.

AC 4957
From all this it is evident
that there were Divine things within everything the Lord said . . .

Psalm 9:9-10

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a Stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know Your Name
will trust in You,
for You, Lord,
have never forsaken those who seek You.
(Psalm 9:9-10) NIV

AC 4931 - correspondence, influx, life

AC 4931
. . . heaven has reference to the Lord,
for the Lord is the all in all of heaven,
insomuch that heaven is
in the proper sense
the Divine good and Divine truth which are from the Lord.
For this reason heaven is distinguished
into as many provinces, so to speak,
as there are viscera, organs, and members in a person,
and with these also there is correspondence.
Unless there were such a correspondence
of a person with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord,
a person would not subsist even a single moment.
All these things are kept in connection by influx.

[2] But all these provinces have reference to two kingdoms -
the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom.
The celestial kingdom
is the kingdom of the heart in the Grand Man,
and the spiritual kingdom
is the kingdom of the lungs;
in like manner as in a person,
in the whole and every part of whom reign
the heart and the lungs.
These two kingdoms are wonderfully conjoined;
and this conjunction is represented
in the conjunction of the heart and lungs in a person,
and in the conjunction of their operations . . ..

[3] While a person is an embryo,
or while he is yet in the womb,
he is in the kingdom of the heart;
but when he has come forth from the womb,
he comes into the kingdom of the lungs;
and if through the truths of faith
he suffers himself to be brought into the good of love,
he then returns from the kingdom of the lungs
into the kingdom of the heart in the Grand Man;
for he thus comes a second time into the womb
and is born again.

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
You have ordained praise
because of Your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
the son of man that You care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowed him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the baths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
(Psalm 8) NIV

(. . . the Lord has enemies - had not considered that.
Yet the hells are His enemies.  And so are we when
we live contrary to His Word.)

AC 4925, 4928 - Where is the good?

AC 4925 [1,2,4]
It has been a matter of dispute from the most ancient times
which is the firstborn,
whether the good which is of charity,
or the truth which is of faith;
and as good does not appear
while a person is being reborn and made a church,
but conceals itself in the interior person,
and manifests itself only in a certain affection
which does not fall clearly
into the sensation of the external or natural person,
until he has been reborn -
whereas truth makes itself known,
because it enters through the senses
and stores itself in the memory
of the external or natural person -
therefore many persons have fallen into the error of thinking
that truth is the firstborn,
and at last even into that of thinking
that truth is the essential of the church,
and so essential that truth, which they call faith,
has power to save without the good which is of charity.

From this one error very many others have been derived,
which have infected not only doctrine, but also life;
as for instance that no matter how a person lives,
provided he has faith he is saved;
that even the most wicked are received into heaven
if in the hour of death
they make profession of such things as are of faith;
and that everyone
can be received into heaven merely from grace,
whatever his life has been.
In consequence of holding this doctrine
they at last do not know what charity is,
nor do they care for it;
and finally they do not believe there is such a thing,
nor consequently that there is a heaven or a hell.
The reason is that faith without charity,
or truth without good, teaches nothing;
and the more it recedes from good,
the more foolish it renders a person.
For it is good into which and through which
the Lord flows and gives intelligence and wisdom,
thus a higher mental view,
and also perception as to whether a thing be so or not so.

. . . in the person who is being born anew,
. . . good is actually in the first place,
but truth apparently;
and that good does not appear
to be in the first place
while the person is being regenerated,
but becomes abundantly clear
when he as been regenerated.

AC 4928
. . . during a person's regeneration
good does not appear,
because it conceals itself in the interior person,
and only flows into truth through affection
according to the degrees of conjunction
of truth with it.
But when truth has been conjoined with good,
as when a person has been regenerated,
good manifests itself;
for a person then acts from good
and regards truths as from good,
because he is then more studious of life than of doctrine.

(But we can't skip the step of living according to His truth.
It's part of the process!)

Psalm 7:8-11; 14-17

Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
O righteous God,
Who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

My shield is God Most High,
Who saves the upright in heart.

He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble
gives birth to disillusionment.
He who digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit he has made.
The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
his violence comes down on his own head.

I will give thanks to the Lord
because of His righteousness
and will sing praise
to the name of the Lord Most High.
(Psalm 7:8-11; 14-17) NIV

AC 4918 - the birth of the church; AC 4922 - the opposite of spiritual good

AC 4918 [3]
A great sign was seen in heaven,
a woman encompassed with the sun,
and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;
and she bearing in the belly, cried out,
travailing in birth,
and in pain to be delivered.
(Revelation 12:1-2)

The "woman"
is the church;
the "sun with which she was encompassed"
is the good of love;
the "moon which was under her feet"
is the truth of faith;
the "stars"
are the knowledges of good and truth;
that there were "twelve" stars
is because "twelve" means all, and thus all things of faith;
"bearing in the belly"
means the truth of the church conceived;
"travailing in birth and in pain to be delivered"
means that it was received with difficulty.

AC 4922 [7]
 "Scarlet," in the opposite sense,
signifies the evil which is opposite to spiritual good:

Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
(Isaiah 1:18)

That "scarlet" signifies this evil
is because "blood" - also from its redness -
signifies in the genuine sense spiritual good,
or charity toward the neighbor,
but in the opposite sense violence offered to charity.

Psalm 6, portions

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
(Psalm 6:3-4, 8-9)

AC 4903, 4904 - seeing and doing

AC 4903
[Those] who are in the external alone without the internal
do not otherwise regard the internal of the church,
since they call that false which is true,
and that true which is false.
The reason is that no one can see from the external alone
whether a thing be false or true,
but only from the internal.
There must be an internal sight
which shall judge of those things which are of external sight,
and in order to do this
the internal sight must be wholly in the light of heaven;
and it is not in the light of heaven
unless it is in faith in the Lord,
and from this faith reads the Word.

AC 4904
To be produced,
when predicated of (asserted by) the church,
denotes the good which is produced by means of truth;
and it is produced
when truth passes through the understanding into the will,
and from the will into act.

Psalm 5:1-8

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O Lord,
You hear my voice;
in the morning
I lay my requests before You
and wait in expectation.
You are not a God
Who takes pleasure in evil:
and with You the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence;
You hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.

But I, by Your great mercy,
will come into Your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward Your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies -
make straight Your way before me.
(Psalm 5:1-8) NIV

AC 4899 - with or in?

AC 4899 [3]
It is one thing for the church to be with a people,
and another for the church to be in a people . . .

Psalm 4:5-8

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.
Many are asking,
"Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
(Psalm 4:5-8)

AC 4884 - doing

AC 4884 [2]
The truth which a person only knows or understands,
remains outside of his will,
and so outside of his life;
for a person's will is his life.
But when a person wills the truth,
it is then on the threshold of his life;
and when from willing he does it,
then the truth is in the whole person;
and when he does it frequently,
it not only recurs from habit,
but also from affection,
thus from freedom.

Psalm 3, a portion

But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the Lord I cry aloud,
and He answers me from His holy hill. 
Selah
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
(Psalm 3:3-6) NIV

AC 4868 - two teachings

AC 4868
. . . for the internal and the external sense [of the Word]
come together in the two precepts -
to love the Lord above all things,
and the neighbor as one's self. 

Psalm 2, portions

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
the kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against His Anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say,
"And throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
Then He rebukes them in His anger
and terrifies them His wrath, saying,
"I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill."
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
(Psalm 2:1-6, 12) NIV

AC 4857 - the soul of the Word

AC 4857 [2-3]
That this internal sense is contained in these words
can by no means appear from the letter,
for when they are read
the mind thinks of Judah, Timnah, and the shearing of a flock,
and not of spiritual things,
which are separate from person, place, and worldly use.
And yet angels, because they are in spiritual things,
perceive nothing else by these words
than such things as have been told;
for when the literal sense passes into the spiritual,
such things perish as relate to person, place, and the world;
and those take their place
that relate to the church, its state, and use therein.

It indeed appears incredible that it should be so,
but this is because so long as man lives in the world
he thinks from the natural and worldly things which are there,
and not from spiritual and celestial things;
and they who are immersed in bodily and earthly things
do not know that there is anything spiritual and celestial,
and still less that spiritual and celestial things
are distinct from worldly and natural things,
when yet they are distinct
as the spirit of man is distinct from his body.
Neither do they know
that the spiritual sense lives in the literal sense
as the spirit of man in his body,
and also that the spiritual sense in like manner
survives when the literal sense perishes;
so the internal sense may be called the soul of the Word.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on His Law 
he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like the chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Widows and the Doctrinals (teachings) of Charity & Faith

AC 4844 [3 & 4]
A "widow" is often mentioned in the Word,
and one unacquainted with the internal sense
cannot but believe that by a "widow" is signified a widow.
But a "widow" in the internal sense
signifies the truth of the church without good,
that is, those who are in truth without good
and still desire to be in good,
consequently who love to be led by good;
and a "husband" is the good which should lead.
In the Ancient Church
such persons were understood in the good sense by widows,
whether they were women or men.
For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbor
toward whom they were to exercise charity
into a number of classes,
some of which they called poor,
some miserable and afflicted,
some bound and in prison,
some blind and lame,
and others strangers, orphans, and widows;
and they dispensed works of charity to them
according to their qualities.
Their doctrinals taught them these things;
and that church knew no other doctrinals.
Wherefore they who lived at that time
both taught and wrote according to their doctrinals,
and consequently when they spoke of widows
they had in mind no other
than such as were in truth without good
and yet desired to be led by good. 

From this it is also plain
that the doctrinals of the Ancient Church
taught those things which related to charity and the neighbor,
and that their knowledges consisted
in knowing what external things signified.
For the church was representative
of spiritual and celestial things,
and therefore the spiritual and celestial things
which were represented and signified
were what they learned by means of doctrinals and knowledges.
But these doctrinals and knowledges
are at this day entirely obliterated,
and indeed to such a degree
that it is not known that they ever existed;
for the doctrinals of faith succeeded in their place,
which if widowed and separated from those of charity,
teach almost nothing.
For the doctrinals of charity teach what good is,
but the doctrinals of faith what truth is,
and to teach truth without good
is to walk as one who is blind,
because good is what teaches and leads,
and truth is what is taught and led.
There is as great a difference between these two doctrinals
as between light and darkness;
and unless the darkness be illumined by the light,
that is, unless truth be illumined by good, or faith by charity,
there is nothing but darkness.
So it is that no one knows by looking at it,
and consequently neither from perception,
whether truth is truth,
but only from doctrine learned in childhood
and confirmed in adult age. 
Consequently also it is
that churches differ so widely
that what one calls truth, another calls falsity,
and they are never in agreement.