TCR 694 - Eternal Rest

TCR 694

. . . the elder spoke with them again
about the eternal rest from labors
into which the blessed and happy come after death.
"Eternal rest," he said, "is not idleness,
for idleness produces languor, sluggishness,
numbness and drowsiness of the mind,
and consequently of the whole body;
and these are death, not life,
much less the eternal life
which the angels of heaven enjoy.
Eternal rest, therefore,
is a rest that dispels these states
and enables a person to live;
and it is only this that elevates the mind.
It consists therefore in some pursuit or occupation
by which the mind is aroused, quickened and delighted;
and this follows according to the use
from which, in which and for which
the work is performed.
Thus the whole heaven is viewed by the Lord
as a sphere of uses,
and every angel is an angel according to his use.
The delight of use bears him along
as a favorable current does a ship,
causing him to be in eternal peace,
and in the rest of peace.
This is the meaning of eternal rest from labors.
That an angel is quickened
as his mind is applied to use
is plainly evident from the fact
that every one enjoys conjugial love
in its vigor, potency and delight
according to his love of its use."

When the three strangers had been thus convinced
that eternal rest is not idleness
but joy in the performance of useful work,
some maidens came and presented them with
embroidered and woven articles . . ..

~ Jesus Tells the Samaritan Woman ~

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her, "Will you give Me a drink?"
(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to Him,
"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can You ask me for a drink?"
(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God
and Who it is that asks you for a drink
you would have asked Him
and He would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "You have nothing to draw with
and the well is deep.
Where can You get this living water?
Are You greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well and drank from it himself,
as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered,
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give him
will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life."

(John 4: 7-14)

TCR 688, 690 - John the Baptist Prepares the Way

TCR 688

. . . John was the prophet
sent to prepare the way for Jehovah God,
so that He might descend into the world
and accomplish the work of redemption;
and that he prepared the way by Baptism,
and at the same time by proclaiming the Lord's coming;
and that without such preparation
all in the world would have been smitten with a curse,
and would have perished.

TCR 690

The Baptism of John represented
the cleansing of the external person,
but Baptism among Christians at the present day
represents the cleansing of the internal person,
and this is regeneration.
It is written, therefore,
that John baptized with water,
but that the Lord baptized
with the Holy Spirit and with fire;
and for this reason the Baptism of John
is called the Baptism of repentance.

~ John the Baptist's Testimony ~

Now this was John's testimony
when the Jews of Jerusalem
sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely,
"I am not the Christ."

They asked him, "Then who are you?  Are you Elijah?"

He said, "I am not."

"Are you the Prophet?"

He answered, "No."

Finally they said, "Who are you?
Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?"

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"I am the voice of one calling in the desert,
'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

Now some Pharisees
who had been sent questioned him,
"Why then to you baptize if you are not the Christ,
nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

"I baptize with water," John replied,
"But among you stands One you do not know.
He is the One who comes after me,
the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

This all happened at Bethany
on the other side of the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.

(John 1:19-28)

TCR 682 - His Name

TCR 682 [1, 2, 3]

By the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
nothing else is meant in the Word
but an acknowledgment of Him
and a life according to His commandments.

. . . the Lord means not only His name,
but the acknowledgment of Him
as Redeemer and Savior,
and at the same time obedience to Him,
and at length faith in Him.

Jesus said, The sheep hear My voice,
and I call My own sheep by name,
and lead them out.
I go before them,
and the sheep follow Me,
for they know My voice.
(John 10:3, 4)

"By name," signifies, by their character as Christians;
and to follow Him is to hear His voice,
that is, to obey His commandments.

~ "To All Who Received Him" ~

He was in the world,
and though the world was made through Him,
the world did not recognize Him.
He came to that which was His own,
but His own did not receive Him.
Yet to all who received Him,
to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God --
children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband's will,
but born of God.

The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory,
the glory of the One and Only,
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

(John 1:10-14)

TCR 669, 676 - Introducing Baptism and Holy Supper

TCR 669

The two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper,
are in the Christian Church
like two jewels in the scepter of a king;
and if their uses are not known,
they are only like two figures of ebony carved on a staff.
They may also be compared
to two rubies or garnets on the cloak of an emperor;
but if their uses are not known,
they are only like
two cornelians or crystals on any gown.
. . . These things cannot be dug up and brought to light
except by means of the spiritual sense,
which at this day has been disclosed for the New Church,
for the sake of its use in the worship of the Lord.

Those sacraments may also be compared to
a temple in duplicate,
one temple above the other,
in the lower of which is preached
the gospel of the Lord's new coming,
and also of regeneration
and consequent salvation by Him.
From this temple, circling upwards from the altar,
is an ascent to the upper temple,
where the Holy Supper is celebrated;
and thence is a passage into heaven,
where the worshipers are received by the Lord.
They may also be compared to a tabernacle,
in which, behind the entrance,
appears the table on which
the show-bread is placed in order;
where there is also the golden altar for incense,
and in the midst the candlestick with lighted lamps,
by which all these things come into view;
and finally,
for those who allow themselves to be enlightened,
the veil is opened to the Holy of Holies,
where, instead of the ark
in which the Decalogue had reposed,
the Word is placed over which
is the mercy-seat with the golden cherubim.
These things are representations
of those two sacraments with their uses.

TCR 676

With a person an external without an internal
is like a temple without worship,
a building that may be used by any one as a stable.
. . . For the external person is not the person,
but only the form of a person;
it is the internal, that which is wise from God,
which constitutes the person.
So it is with those who are circumcised
and with those who are baptized,
unless they circumcise or wash their heart.

~ "Pray That You Will Not Fall Into Temptation." ~

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives,
and His disciples followed Him.
On reaching the place, He said to them,
"Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them,
knelt down and prayed,
"Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me;
yet not My will, but Yours be done."
An angel from heaven appeared to Him
and strengthened Him.
And being in anguish,
He prayed more earnestly,
and His seat was like drops of blood
falling to the ground.

When He rose from prayer
and went back to the disciples,
He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
"Why are you sleeping?" He asked them.
"Get up and pray
so that you will not fall into temptation."

(Luke 22:39-46)

TCR 666 - Conscience

TCR 666 [3]

All those who have conscience
speak and act from the heart
in everything that they say and do;
for having an undivided mind
they speak and act according to what
they understand and believe to be true and good.
Hence it follows that with those,
who are more than others in the truths of faith
and in their clear perception,
a more perfect conscience is possible
than with those who are less enlightened
and whose perception is obscure.
In a true conscience consists
the spiritual life itself of a person,
for in this his faith is conjoined with charity;
so that to act from conscience,
with those who possess it,
is to act from their spiritual life;
and to act contrary to conscience
is to act contrary to that life.

~ Who Serves? ~

Jesus said to them . .
"For who is greater,
the one who is at the table
or the one who serves?
Is it not the one who is at the table?
But I am among you as one who serves."

(Luke 22:25, 27)

 

TCR 661 - Three Universals of Hell and Heaven and How Each Regards Uses

TCR 661 [3, 4, 5-6, 14]

There are three universals of hell,
but they are diametrically opposite to those of heaven.
The universals of hell are these three loves:
the love of ruling from the love of self,
the love of possessing the property of others
from the love of the world, and scortatory love.
The universals of heaven opposite to these
are these three loves:
the love of ruling from the love of use,
the love of possessing worldly goods
from the love of performing uses
by means of them,
and love truly conjugial.

. . . the first universal love of hell,
(is) namely, the love of ruling from the love of self,
and  . . . the universal love of heaven corresponding to it,
(is) namely, the love of ruling from the love of uses.
. . . In order . . . that both may be perceived
they must be placed in contrast, one against the other;
just as a beautiful and handsome face
is seen to advantage when an ugly and deformed one
is placed in contrast with it.

The love of ruling from the love of self
is in the highest degree infernal
because to rule from the love of self
is to rule from the proprium (ego),
and person's proprium is by birth evil itself,
and evil itself is diametrically opposed to the Lord.
Therefore, the deeper people advance in that evil,
the more do they deny God
and the holy things of the Church,
and worship themselves and nature.
. . . This love is such that,
if it is unrestrained and no obstacle stands in its way,
it rushes on from stage to stage even to the very highest.
Even there it does not rest,
and grieves and laments if further progress is denied it.

With politicians this love mounts to such a degree
that they desire to be kings and emperors;
and, if possible,
to have dominion over all things in the world,
and to be styled king of kings, and emperor of emperors.
With the clergy this same love increases
till they desire to be gods;
and if that were possible,
to have dominion over all things in heaven,
and to be styled gods.
It will be seen in what follows
that such men in their heart
do not acknowledge any God.
Those on the other hand
who desire to rule from the love of uses
do not desire to rule from themselves but from the Lord,
since the love of uses is from the Lord,
and is the Lord Himself.
Such men regard dignities
only as means for performing uses,
which they place far above dignities;
whereas the others place dignities far above uses.

. . . the uses which we perform
are from the love of them,
which is within us from the Lord,
and this love finds its blessedness
from communication with others by means of uses.
We know from experience
that as far as we perform uses from the love of them,
the love increases, and with the love,
wisdom from which communication is made possible.
On the other hand,
as far as we keep uses within ourselves,
and do not share them,
the blessedness perishes.
Then use becomes like food retained in the stomach,
and as it is not diffused
to act as nourishment for the body and its parts,
it remains undigested, and causes sickness.
In a word, heaven is comprised of nothing but uses,
from first things to last.

What is use
but practical love of the neighbor?
and what holds the heavens together but this love?

~ Zacchaeus the Tax Collector ~

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus;
he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could not,
because of the crowd.
So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him,
since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot,
He looked up and said to him,
"Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today."
So he down down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter,
"He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
"Look, Lord!  Here and now I give
half of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,
I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house,
because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came
to seek and to save what was lost."

(Luke 19:1-10)

TCR 652 - A Sphere and a Current; TCR 660 - The Real Value

TCR 652 [3]

There is actually a sphere
proceeding continually from the Lord
and filling the entire spiritual and natural worlds
which raises all towards heaven.
It is like a strong current in the ocean
which unobservedly draws a vessel.
All who believe in the Lord
and live according to His precepts
enter that sphere or current and are elevated;
while those who do not believe,
are unwilling to enter,
but withdraw themselves to the sides,
and are there carried away by a current
the sets toward hell.

TCR 660

. . . the Church is valued for its charity and faith,
and not for the ritual
which has become associated with it.

A minister of the Church is esteemed
for his good will and love,
and at the same time
for his understanding in spiritual things,
and not for his affability and clerical garb.

Worship and the temple in which it is performed
may be similarly regarded.
Worship itself is performed in the will,
and it is conducted in the understanding
as in its proper temple;
and the temple is called holy,
not on its own account,
but from the Divine which is there taught.

A government also is loved
where good reigns together with truth,
but not where truth rules without good.
No one judges of a king from his retinue,
his horses and carriages,
but from the royalty which he is known to possess;
and royalty consists in loving and prudent governing.

~ The Persistent Widow ~

Then Jesus told His disciples a parable
to show them that they should
always pray and not give up.
He said:
"In a certain town there was a judge
who neither feared God nor cared about men.
And there was a widow in that town
who kept coming to him with the plea,
'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused.
But finally he said to himself,
'Even though I don't fear God or care about men,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
I will see that she gets justice,
so that she won't
eventually wear me out with her coming!'"

And the Lord said,
"Listen to what the unjust judge says,
And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones,
who cry out to Him day and night?
Will He keep putting them off?
I tell you,
He will see that they get justice, and quickly.
However, when the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?"

(Luke 18:1-8)

TCR 647 - The Former Church and the New Church

TCR 647

[1] The faith and imputation of the New Church
cannot be held along with those
of the former Church which still persists,
because they do not agree
in a third or even in a tenth of their doctrine.
For the faith of the former Church teaches
that three Divine Persons have existed from eternity,
each of whom singly, or by Himself, was God,
and also as so many Creators.
But the faith of the New Church is
that there was from eternity only one Divine Person,
and thus one God,
and that beside Him there is no other God.
The faith of the former Church has, therefore,
taught a Divine Trinity divided into three Persons;
but the faith of the New Church
teaches the Divine Trinity united in one Person.

[2] The faith of the former Church
was in a God invisible and inaccessible,
with whom there could be no conjunction;
and they thought of Him as a spirit,
of the same nature as ether or wind.
But the faith of the New Church is in a God
who is visible and accessible,
and with whom there can be conjunction,
in whom, as the soul in the body,
is God the invisible and inaccessible,
and with whom there can be no conjunction;
and they think of Him as a Man,
because the one God who was from eternity,
became Man in time.

[3] The faith of the former Church
attributes all power to the invisible God,
and denies it to the visible.
For it teaches that God the Father imputes faith,
and thereby bestows eternal life;
and that the visible God only intercedes;
and that they both give,
or according to the Greek Church,
God the Father gives, to the Holy Spirit,
who is the third in order God by Himself,
all power to work out the effects of that faith.
But the New Church attributes to the visible God,
in whom is the invisible, all power to impute,
and also to work out the effects of salvation.

[4] The faith of the former Church
is Primarily in God the Creator,
and not at the same time
in Him as Redeemer and Savior;
but the faith of the New Church is in one God,
who is at the same time
the Creator, Redeemer and Savior.

 [5] The faith of the former Church
is that repentance, remission of sins, renewal,
regeneration, sanctification and salvation
follow of themselves
the faith that is given and imputed,
without anything of a person being mingled
or conjoined with them.
But the faith of the New Church teaches
repentance, reformation, regeneration,
and thus the remission of sins,
with a person's co-operation.

[6] The former Church teaches
the imputation of Christ's merit,
and that it is included in the faith bestowed on a person.
But the New Church teaches
the imputation of good and of evil,
and at the same time of faith;
and that this imputation is
in accordance with the Sacred Scripture,
while the other is contrary to it.

[7] The former Church teaches
the gift of faith in which is included the merit of Christ,
the person being as a stock or a stone;
and it also asserts
a person's utter impotence in spiritual things.
But the New Church teaches a faith wholly different,
not a faith in the merit of Christ
but in Jesus Christ Himself as God,
the Redeemer and Savior,
and in free will both to apply oneself to reception
and to co-operate with Him.

[8] The former Church
adjoins charity to its faith as an appendage,
but not as saving,
and on this relationship it forms its religion;
but the New Church unites
faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor
as two inseparable things,
and on this relationship forms its religion.
The two Churches have many other points of difference.

~ Trust ~

"Whoever can be trusted with very little
can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little
will also be dishonest with much.
So if you have not been trustworthy 
in handling worldly wealth,
who will trust you with true riches?
And if you have not been trustworthy
with some else's property,
who will give you property of your own?"

(Luke 16:10-12)

TCR 641 - Things Purely Divine

TCR 641

The merit and righteousness of the Lord are purely Divine,
and if things purely Divine
were applied and ascribed to a person
he would instantly die;
and like a log cast into the sun's pure fire,
he would be so consumed
that scarcely his ashes would remain.
Therefore, the Lord with His Divine
approaches both angels and men by means of light
tempered and moderated
according to the capacity and nature of each,
thus by means of that which
is adequate and accommodated;
and in like manner He approaches by means of heat.

~ A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath ~

On a Sabbath
Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
and a woman was there
who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.
She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
When Jesus saw her,
He called her forward and said to her,
"Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."
Then He put His hands on her,
and immediately
she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath,
the synagogue ruler said to the people,
"There are six days for work.
So come and be healed on those days,
not on the Sabbath."

The Lord answered him,
"You hypocrites!
Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath
untie his ox or donkey from the stall
and lead it out to give it water?
Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years,
be set free on the Sabbath day
from what bound her?"

When He said this,
all His opponents were humiliated,
but the people were delighted
with all the wonderful things He was doing.

(Luke 13:10-17)

TCR 625 - The Old Testament and Heavenly Glorifications

TCR 625

Once when I was meditating about
the Lord's second coming,
there suddenly appeared a flash of light
which forcibly struck my eyes;
and I therefore looked up, and lo,
the whole heaven above me appeared luminous,
and there from the east to the west in a continuous strain
a Glorification was heard;
and an angel stood near who said,
"That is a glorification of the Lord
on account of His coming.
It comes from the angels
of the eastern and western heavens."
From the southern and northern heavens
only a gentle murmur was heard.
And because all this was heard by the angel,
he first said to me
that these glorifications and celebrations of the Lord
are made from the Word.
Presently he said,
"Now they are glorifying and celebrating the Lord
especially by these words,
which are spoken in the prophecy of Daniel:

You saw iron mixed with miry clay,
but they shall not cohere.
But in those days
the God of the heavens shall make
a kingdom to arise which shall not perish for ages
it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
but itself shall stand for ages.
(Daniel 2:43, 44)

After this I heard the sound of singing,
and more deeply in the east I saw a flashing of light
more brilliant than the former;
and I asked the angel what the glorification there was.
He said it was in these words in Daniel:

I saw in the night visions, and behold,
one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven,
and there was given Him dominion, and a kingdom;
and all people and nations shall worship Him;
His dominion is the dominion of an age,
which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed.
(Daniel 7:13, 14)

Beside this they were celebrating the Lord
from these words in the Apocalypse:

To Jesus Christ be the glory and the might;
behold, He comes with clouds.
He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End,
the First and the Last,
Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty;
I John heard this from the Son of man
out of the midst of the seven candlesticks.
(Revelation 1:5-13; 22:8, 13; also Matthew 24:30, 32)

I looked again into the eastern heaven,
and it lighted up from the right side,
the illumination extended to the southern expanse,
and I heard a sweet sound,
and asked the angel
what it was pertaining to the Lord
that they were glorifying there;
and he said that it was in these words
in the Apocalypse:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
made ready as a bride for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the heaven saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them.
And an angel spoke with me, saying,
Come, and I will show thee the bride,
the wife of the Lamb.
And he carried me away in the spirit
to a great and high mountain,
and showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem.
(Revelation 21:1, 3, 9, 10)

I Jesus am the bright and morning star;
and the Spirit and the bride say, Come,
and He said I come quickly. Amen.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
(Revelation 22:16, 17, 20)

After this and more,
a general glorification
from the east to the west of heaven,
and also from south to north was heard;
and I asked the angel, "What now?"
He said, "The following from the prophets":

All flesh shall know
that I Jehovah am your Savior and your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 49:26)

Thus said Jehovah --
the King of Israel and Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts,
I am the First and the Last,
and beside Me there is no God.
(Isaiah 44:6)

It shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for Him that He may deliver us;
this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him.
(Isaiah 25:9)

The voice of one crying in the desert,
Prepare the way of Jehovah.
Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in strength;
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.
(Isaiah 40: 3, 5, 10, 11)

Unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given;
and His name shall be
Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty,
Father of eternity, Prince of peace.
(Isaiah9:6)

Behold the days will come
when I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and He shall reign King
and this is His name,
Jehovah our righteousness.
(Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15, 16)

Jehovah of Hosts is His name,
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel,
the God of the whole earth shall He be called.
(Isaiah 54:5)

In that day Jehovah shall be king over all the earth;
in that day Jehovah shall be one
and His name one.
(Zechariah 14:9)

Hearing and understanding these things
my heart greatly rejoiced,
and I went home joyfully,
and here I returned from the spiritual to the bodily state,
in which I wrote out all this that I had seen and heard.

~ Who to Fear ~

"I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
and after that can do no more.
But I will show you whom you should fear:
Fear him who,
after the killing of the body,
has power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear him."

(Luke 12:4-5)

TCR 623 - What Is Meant By Meditating on the Word Spiritually and Materially?; TCR 264 - Existence

TCR 623 [3, 4]

Every one who reads the Word devoutly
thinks interiorly about God, the neighbor and heaven.
Every one who thinks about God
from the point of view of His Person only,
and not from His Essence,
thinks materially;
he who thinks about the neighbor
from his outward form only,
and not from his character,
thinks materially;
and he who thinks about heaven only
from the point of view of place,
and not from the point of view of love and wisdom,
from which heaven is heaven, 
also thinks materially.

There are many attributes of the Divine Essence,
as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence,
eternity, love, wisdom, mercy and grace,
as well as others;
and there are attributes
that proceed from the Divine Essence,
namely, creation and preservation,
redemption and salvation,
enlightenment and instruction.
Every one who thinks about God
from the point of view of Person
has the idea of three Gods,
for he says that one God is the Creator and Preserver,
another is the Redeemer and Savior,
and the third is the Enlightener and Instructor.
On the other hand,
every one who thinks about God
from the point of view of His Essence;
has the idea of one God,
for he declares that God created us,
the same God redeemed and saves us,
and He also enlightens and instructs us.
This is the reason why
those who think about the Trinity of God
from the point of view of Person,
and thus materially,
cannot do otherwise,
from the ideas of their thought which is material,
than make three Gods of one.
Still, in contradiction to their thought,
they are compelled to say
that there is a union of those three by essence,
because, although in an uncertain way,
they also have thought about God
from the point of view of His Essence.

TCR 264

. . . all things, both living and not living,
both animate and inanimate,
exist from the marriage of good and truth,
and were created for it.
Not a single thing
has been created for truth alone or for good alone.
By itself
each of these has no reality,
but by that marriage all things exist
and acquire a character
in conformity with that marriage.

~ Blessed Are Those ~

As Jesus was saying these things,
a woman in the crowd called out,
"Blessed is the mother who gave You birth
and nursed You."

He replied, "Blessed rather are those
who hear the word of God and obey it."

(Luke 11:27-28)

TCR 615 - Without Free Will . . .

TCR 615   

He must be dull indeed
who does not see that a person cannot be regenerated
without free will in spiritual things.

Without free will
a person cannot approach the Lord
and acknowledge Him to be the Redeemer and Savior,
and the God of heaven and earth,
as He Himself teaches,
Then Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Me."
(Matthew 28:18)

Without free will
no one can believe,
that is, from faith look to and worship Him,
and apply himself to receive
the means and benefits of salvation from Him,
and from Him co-operate in their reception.

Without free will
no one can do anything
that is good to the neighbor, exercise charity,
and further, bring into his thought and will
much that has relation to faith and charity,
and give expression to this and carry it into effect.

Otherwise regeneration is but a word . . ..

~ Jesus Calms the Storm ~

One day Jesus said to His disciples,
"Let's go over to the other side of the lake."
So they got into a boat and set out.
As they sailed, He fell asleep.
A squall came down on the lake,
so that the boat was being swamped,
and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke Him, saying,
"Master, Master, we're going to drown!"

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters;
the storm subsided, and all was calm.
"Where is your faith?" He asked His disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another,
"Who is this?
He commands even the winds and water,
and they obey Him."


(Luke 8:22-25)

TCR 607 - Becoming Spiritual: TCR 610 - Regeneration and the Seven Churches

TCR 607 [2-3]

When it is said
that a person by regeneration becomes spiritual
it is not to be understood that he becomes spiritual
as an angel in himself is spiritual.
He becomes spiritual natural,
that is, there is a spiritual within his natural,
just as thoughts within speech,
and as will is within action;
for when the one ceases the other ceases also.
Similarly a person's spirit is in
every thing that is done in the body,
and it is this
which impels the natural to do what it does.
The natural in itself is passive, or a dead force,
but the spiritual is active, or a living power;
and a passive, or a dead force, cannot act of itself,
but it must be actuated by
an active, or by a living power.

As a person lives continually in communion
with the inhabitants of the spiritual world,
therefore, when he leaves the natural world,
he is immediately introduced among his like,
with whom he has been associated while in the world;
for he then enters the company of those
who resemble him in the affections of his will.
These he acknowledges,
as relatives and kinsfolk
acknowledge their own in the world.
This is the meaning of what is said in the Word
concerning those who die,
that they are gathered to their own.
It may now be evident from what has been said
that a regenerate person
is in communion with angels of heaven,
and an unregenerate person with spirits of hell.

TCR 610

. . . a person's regeneration is not effected in a moment,
but takes place gradually
from the beginning to the end of his life in the world,
and after this it is continued and perfected.
As he is reformed by combats and victories
over the evils of the flesh,
the Son of Man says to each of the seven Churches,
that He will bestow gifts on him that overcomes;

as to the Church of Ephesus,

"To him that overcomes
I will give to eat of the tree of life."
(Revelation 2: 7);

to the Church of Smyma,

"He that overcomes
shall not be hurt of the second death."
(Revelation 2: 11);

to the Church in Pergamos,

"To him that overcomes
I will give to eat of the hidden manna."
(Revelation 2: 17);

to the Church in Thyatira,

"To him that overcomes
I will give power over the nations."
(Revelation 2: 26);

to the Church in Sardis,

"He that overcomes . . .
shall be clothed in white raiment."
(Revelation 3: 5);

to the Church in Philadelphia,

"Him that overcomes
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God."
(Revelation 3: 12);

to the Church of the Laodiceans,

"To him that overcomes
will I grant to sit with me in my throne."
(Revelation 3: 21).

Lastly, this may be added,
that as far as a person is regenerated,
or as far as regeneration is perfected in him,
he attributes nothing of good and truth,
that is, of charity and faith
to himself, but to the Lord;
for the truths which he successively acquires
plainly teach this.

~ The Widow's Son ~

Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain,
and His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him.
As He approached the town gate,
a dead person was being carried out --
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
And a large crowd from the town was with her.
When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her
and He said, "Don't cry."

Then He went up and touched the coffin,
and those carrying it stood still.
He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"
The dead man sat up and began to talk,
and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God.
"A great prophet has appeared among us," they said.
"God has come to help His people."
this news about Jesus spread throughout Judea
and the surrounded country.

(Luke 7:11-17)

TCR 596 - Spiritual Temptations

TCR 596

. . . it is well known
that the flesh is opposed to the spirit,
and the spirit to the flesh;
and that the flesh with its lusts must be subdued
before the spirit can act
and the person become new.
Following this discord between the two wills
there arises a combat
which is called spiritual temptation;
but this temptation or combat
 is not between good and evil,
but between the truths of good and the falsities of evil.
For good itself cannot fight,
but it fights by means of truths;
nor can evil fight of itself,
but by means of its own falsities.
Similarly the will of itself cannot fight,
but it does so by means of the understanding,
where its truths reside.

A person supposes
that this is only a combat within himself,
and is felt as pangs of conscience;
yet it is the Lord and the devil,
that is, hell, that are fighting in him,
and they contend for dominion over him,
or as to which shall possess him.
The devil, or hell, attacks him
and calls forth the evil in him,
while the Lord defends him
and calls forth the good.
Although this conflict takes place in the spiritual world,
still it is waged within the person
between the truths of good and the falsities of evil
that are in him.
He ought, therefore, to fight wholly as of himself,
for he enjoys free will
to act with the Lord or with the devil;
he acts with the Lord
if he continues in the truths that spring from good,
and with the devil
if he continues in the falsities that spring from evil.
Consequently it follows that whichever conquers,
whether the internal person or the external,
rules over the other.
They are like two hostile kings who contend
which shall be the ruler of the other's kingdom;
he who conquers takes the kingdom
and subjects all its inhabitants to his authority.
In this case also,
if the internal person conquers,
it obtains the rule,
and subdues all the evils of the external person,
and regeneration proceeds;
but if the external person conquers,
it gains the mastery,
and disperses all the good of the external person,
and thus all possibility of regeneration is destroyed.

~ A Tree and Its Fruit ~

"No good tree bears bad fruit,
nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.
People do not pick figs from thornbushes,
or grapes from briers.
The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his heart,
and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in his heart.
For out of the overflow of his heart
his mouth speaks."

(Luke 6:43-45)

TCR 587 - That a Person May Be Regenerated

TCR 587

. . . that a person may be regenerated,
it is necessary
that it be done by means of the understanding,
as by a mediate cause;
and this is effected by the instruction
which the understanding receives,
first from teachers and parents,
and afterwards from reading the Word,
from sermons, books and conversation.
What the understanding so receives are called truths,
so that it is the same
whether it is said that reformation
is effected by means of the understanding
or by means of the truths which it receives.
For truths instruct a person
in whom and in what
he ought to believe,
and also what he ought to do,
as whatever a person does,
he does from the will according to the understanding.

Since, then, the will of a person itself is by birth evil,
and the understanding teaches
what is evil and what is good,
and he has the power to will, or not to will,
either the one or the other,
it follows that he must be reformed
by means of the understanding.
So long as he sees and acknowledges in his own mind
that evil is evil,
and that good is good,
and thinks that good ought to be chosen,
that state is called reformation;
but when he determines to shun evil and do good,
then commences the state of regeneration.

~ The Devil Tries to Tempt Jesus ~

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
where for forty days
He was temped by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and at the end of them He was hungry.

The devil said to Him,
"If You are the Son of God,
tell this stone to become bread."

Jesus answered,
"It is written:  'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
(Deuteronomy 8:3)

The devil led Him up to a high place
and showed Him in an instant
all the kingdoms of the world.
And he said to Him,
"I will give you all their authority and splendor,
for it has been give to me,
and I can give it to anyone I want to.
So if You worship me,
it will all be Yours."

Jesus answered, "It is written:
'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'"
(Deuteronomy 6:13)

The devil led Him to Jerusalem
and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.
"If you are the Son of God," he said,
"throw Yourself down from here.
For it is written:

"'He will command His angels concerning You
to guard You carefully;
they will lift You up in their hands,
so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone."
(Psalm 91:11, 12)

Jesus answered, "It says:
'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
(Deuteronomy 6:16)

When the devil had finished all this tempting,
he left Him until an opportune time.

(Luke 4:1-13)

TCR 572, 573, 580 - Regeneration and Salvation

TCR 572

In the Word the regenerate are called
sons of God, and born of God;
and regeneration is described by
a new heart and a new spirit.

TCR 573

. . . "to be created" . . . signifies to be regenerated,
this term is applied to him who is born again
and, as it were, created anew.

TCR 580 [3]

All can be regenerated and thus saved
because the Lord with His Divine Good and Truth
is present with every person.
From this presence every one has life,
and hence the faculty of understanding
and the faculty of willing,
and to these is added free will in spiritual things.
These gifts are wanting in no person;
and means for their use are also provided;
for Christians these are to be found in the Word,
and for Gentiles in the religion of any one
which teaches that there is a God,
and sets forth precepts respecting good and evil.
From all this it follows
that every one can be saved;
consequently if a person is not saved,
the fault is not the Lord's but that person's,
because he fails to co-operate with the Lord.

~ John the Baptist to the Crowds ~

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him,
"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you that out of these stones
God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees,
and every tree that does not produce good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

John answered, "the man with two tunics
should share with him who has none,
and the one who has food should do the same."

Tax collectors also came to be baptized.
"Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

"Don't collect any more than you are required to,"
he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him,
"And what should we do?"

He replied, "Don't extort money
and don't accuse people falsely --
be content with your pay."

(Luke 3:7-14)

TCR 571, 572 - Two States

TCR 571

There are two states
which a person must enter and pass through
as he progresses from the natural to the spiritual.
The first state is called reformation,
and the other regeneration.
In the first, a man looks from his natural state
towards the spiritual and desires to attain it;
in the second, he becomes a spiritual natural man.
The first state is formed
by means of truths which will belong to faith,
and by which he looks towards charity;
the second is formed
by means of the goods of charity,
by which he enters into the truths of faith;
or, what is the same thing, the first is a state
of thought from the understanding,
the other is a state of love from the will.
When this state begins, and as it progresses,
a change, a complete turn round as it were,
takes place in the mind;
for the love of the will flows into the understanding,
guiding and leading it to think
in agreement with its love.
Therefore, as far as the good of love
plays a leading part in a person's life,
and the truths of faith a secondary part,
the person is spiritual, and a new creature.
He then acts from charity, a
nd speaks from faith;
he feels the good of charity,
and perceives the truth of faith.
He is then in the Lord and in peace,
and thus regenerated.
A person who in the world
has entered upon the first state,
can after death be introduced into the second;
but he who has not entered upon the first state
while in the world,
cannot be introduced into the second after death,
and thus cannot be regenerated.

TCR 572

In the Word
the regenerate are called the sons of God,
and born of God;
and regeneration is described by
a new heart and a new spirit.

 

~ God My Savior ~

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has been mindful
of the humble state of His servant.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him,
from generation to generation.

(Luke 1:46.5-48, 50)

TCR 567 -Do Actual Repentance Once or Twice a Year

TCR 567 [2, 5]

The Lord Himself
preached repentance for the remission of sins,
and that people should believe in Him;
and He commanded His disciples to preach the same.

. . . actual repentance consists
in a person examining himself,
recognizing and acknowledging his sins,
owning that he is guilty of them,
confessing them before the Lord,
imploring help and power to resist them,
and thus desisting from them and leading a new life,
and doing all this as of himself.
Do this once or twice a year,
when you come to the Holy Communion;
and afterwards,
when the sins of which you have been guilty
present themselves, then say to yourselves,
We will not commit them
because they are sins against God.'
This is actual repentance.

~ Some Women Were Watching ~

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two
from top to bottom.
And when the centurion,
who stood there in front of Jesus,
heard His cry and saw how He died,
he said, "Surely this Man was the Son of God!"

Some women were watching from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James the Younger and of Joses,
and Salome.
In Galilee these women had followed Him
and cared for His needs.
Many other women
who had come up with Him to Jerusalem
were also there.

(Mark 15: 37-41)

TCR 539 - After Examination; TCR 563 - Habits

TCR 539

There are two duties incumbent on a person
after examination, namely,
supplication and confession.
There will be supplication that the Lord may be merciful,
and that He may give power to resist the evils
of which he has repented,
and supply the inclination and desire to do good;

Since without the Lord a man can do nothing.
(John 15:v. 5)

There will be confession, that the penitent sees,
recognizes and acknowledges his evils, and perceives
that he is a miserable sinner.
There is no need
to enumerate one's sins before the Lord,
or to supplicate for their remission.
Their enumeration is unnecessary,
because the penitent has already searched them out,
and seen them in himself;
and consequently they are present before the Lord,
as they are present to himself.
Moreover, the Lord led him in the work of examination,
and, revealing his sins to him,
inspired him with sorrow for them
and at the same time
with the endeavor to desist from them
and begin a new life.

TCR 563

It is well known that habit forms a second nature,
and consequently
that what is easy to one person is difficult to another;
so it is with self-examination,
and the confession of sins
that have been discovered.
There is nothing easier than for
a hired laborer, a porter, or a farmer
to work with his hands from morning till evening,
while a gentleman, or one delicately brought up,
could not do such work for half an hour
without fatigue.
It is easy for an out-runner
with staff and suitable shoes to run for miles;
while a person accustomed to ride in a coach
can with difficulty run even slowly
from one street to the next.
Every workman who is diligent at his work
performs it easily and willingly,
and when he leaves it, is glad to return to it;
whereas another, skilled in the same trade but slothful,
can scarcely be driven to it.
The case is the same in every employment and pursuit.
There is nothing easier
than for a person of pious habits to pray to God;
and on the other hand,
more difficult for one who is a slave to impiety.
No priest, preaching for the first time before a king,
is free from nervousness;
but when he has been accustomed to it,
he proceeds with boldness.
What is easier than for a man angel
to raise his eyes towards heaven,
and for a man devil to cast his downward towards hell?
If, however, the latter is a hypocrite,
he can likewise look upward towards heaven,
though his heart is turned away.
It is the end regarded,
and the habit thence formed,
which determine the character.

~ The High Priest Asked ~

Again the high priest asked Him,
"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"I am," said Jesus.
"And you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One
and coming on the clouds of heaven."

(Mark 14:61.5-62)

TCR 530, 535 - How Should a Person Repent?

TCR 530

The question then is, How ought a person to repent?
The answer is, Actually; that is, by examining himself,
recognizing and acknowledging his sins,
praying to the Lord and beginning a new life.
There can be no repentance for a person
without self-examination . . . ;
but examination must lead to a recognition of his sins,
their recognition to the acknowledgment that they are in him;
and these three duties
to the confession of his sins before the Lord,
prayer for help,
and then the beginning of a new life.
This is actual repentance.

TCR 535

Actual repentance, which consists in self-examination,
in the recognition and acknowledgment of one's sins,
in prayer to the Lord,
and in beginning a new life,
is exceedingly difficult
in the Reformed Christian world for many reasons
which will be given in the last article of this chapter;
therefore an easier kind of repentance
will be mentioned here.
When this is present in a person
who is meditating and intending any evil,
it causes him to say,
"I am thinking of this, and intending it;
but as it is a sin, I will not do it."
By this means the temptation from hell is broken,
and its further entrance prevented.
It is a remarkable fact
that it is easy for any one to rebuke another
who is intending evil, and say to him,
"Do not do this, because it is a sin,"
and yet it is difficult for him to say the same to himself.
For in the latter case it is a matter of will,
but in the former a matter of thought,
easily communicated because very superficial.

Inquiry was made in the spiritual world
as to who could exercise this repentance,
and they were found to be
as rare as doves in a vast wilderness.
Some said that they could do it,
but that they were not able to examine themselves
and confess their sins before God.
However, all who do good from a religious motive
certainly avoid actual evils;
yet seldom do they reflect
upon the interior things of the will,
imagining that they are not in evil
because they are in good;
in fact, that the good conceals the evil.
But, my friend,
the first essential of charity is to shun evils,
as the Word, the Decalogue, Baptism, the Holy Supper
and reason itself, all teach;
for how can any one shun evils and put them away
unless he examines himself?
and how can good become good
unless it is inwardly purified?
I know that all people of piety,
and all people of sound reason,
will assent to this when they read it,
and see that it is genuine truth;
yet there are few that will act accordingly.

~ Watch! ~

"No one knows about that day or hour,
not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son,
but only the Father.
Be on guard! Be alert!
You do not know when that time will come.
It's like a man going away:
He leaves his house and put his servants in charge,
each with his assigned task,
and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

"Therefore keep watch
because you do not know
when the owner of the house will come back --
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
If he comes suddenly,
do not let him find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to everyone:
'Watch!'"

(Mark 13:32-37)

 

TCR 525 - Sin and Self-examination

TCR 525

. . . the evil of sin
is evil against the neighbor;
and the evil against the neighbor
is also evil against God,
and this is sin.

The knowledge of sin, however, is of no avail
unless a person examines his own actions,
and sees whether
he has committed any particular deed,
either secretly or openly.
Before this is done
it is all mere knowledge,
and what proceeds from the preacher is only sound,
passing in at one ear and out at the other;
and it finally becomes nothing more
than the expression of pious thought,
for the most part unreal and fanciful.
But it is altogether different
when a person examines himself
according to his rational conception of sin,
and, coming upon some evil, says to himself,
"This is a sin,"
and abstains from it
through fear of eternal punishment.

 

~ James and John Make a Request ~

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him.
"Teacher," they said,
"we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

"What do you want Me to do for you?" He asked.

They replied, "Let one of us sit at Your right
and the other at Your left in Your glory."

"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said.
"Can you drink the cup I drink
or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"

"We can," they answered.

Jesus said to them,
"You will drink the cup I drink
and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,
but to sit at My right or left
is not for Me to grant.
These places belong to those
for whom they have been prepared."

(Mark 10:35-40)

 

TCR 508 - Nunc Licit

TCR 508

One day there appeared to me a magnificent temple.
It was square in form,
and its roof was in the shape of a crown,
with its lofty arches rising on high all round.
Its walls were continuous windows of crystal
and its gate of pearly substance.
Within on the south side, and facing the west
was a pulpit on the right of which lay the open Word,
surrounded with a blaze of light
whose brightness enveloped and illumined
the whole pulpit.
In the center of the temple was the shrine,
before which a veil was hung.
This was now drawn back,
and there stood a golden cherub
having in his hand a sword
which he waved this way and that.

While I was looking at these things
there flowed into my thought
a perception of what they all signified.
The temple signified the New Church;
the gate of pearl, entrance into this Church;
the windows of crystal, the truths which enlighten it;
and the pulpit, the priesthood and preaching.
The Word open upon the pulpit
and illuminating the upper part of it,
signified its internal sense,
which is spiritual, now revealed;
the shrine in the center of the temple,
the conjunction of that Church with the angelic heaven;
and the golden cherub within it,
the Word in the sense of the Letter.
The waving of the sword in the hand of the cherub
signified that the sense of the Letter
can be turned this way and that,
provided this is done in application to some truth;
and the drawing aside of the veil before the cherub
signified that now the Word is opened.

When I approached nearer
I saw this inscription over the gate,
"Now it is permitted" (Nunc licet);
which signified that one may now enter
with understanding into the mysteries of faith.
On seeing this inscription
I was impressed with the thought
that it is extremely dangerous
to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith
which are the product of a person's own intelligence,
and therefore consist of falsities;
and still more dangerous
to confirm them from the Word.
For this closes the higher reaches of the understanding,
and gradually the lower also,
to such a degree that matters of a theological nature
not only become distasteful,
but drop out of the mind completely,
like writing from a worm-eaten book
and the nap from moth-eaten cloth.
The understanding is then engaged only
with political matters that concern a person's life
in the state to which he belongs,
with civil affairs that relate to his own employment,
and with the domestic affairs of his own household.
In all these a person devotes himself to nature,
and loves her for the allurements of her pleasures,
as an idolater loves the golden image
he hugs to his bosom.

The dogmas of the Christian Churches
at the present day
are not derived from the Word,
but are the product of man's own intelligence,
thus consisting of falsities, and they have, moreover,
been confirmed by some passages from the Word.
Therefore, among Roman Catholics,
of the Divine Providence of the Lord,
the Word has now been taken
out of the hands of the laity;
but among Protestants, it is an open Book,
although it is closed where it is maintained,
as is commonly asserted,
that the understanding is to be kept
under obedience to their faith.

It is otherwise, however, in the New Church.
Here one is permitted to enter with the understanding
into all its interior truths,
and also to confirm them by the Word.
The reason is
that its doctrines are truths in series from the Lord,
revealed by means of the Word;
and confirmation of these
by rational considerations
opens the higher reaches of the understanding
and so elevates it into the light
which the angels of heaven enjoy.
This light in its essence is truth,
and in this light
the acknowledgment of the Lord
as the God of heaven and earth
shines in all its glory.
This is meant by
the inscription over the gate of the temple,
"Now it is permitted" (Nunc licet),
and also by the veil of the shrine
being drawn aside before the cherub.
For it is a canon of the New Church
that falsities close the understanding
and truths open it.

After these things I saw, as it were,
an infant overhead, holding in his hand a paper.
As he approached me,
he gradually attained
the stature of a man of middle height.
He was an angel from the third heaven,
where all at a distance appear as infants.
When he reached me, he handed me the paper;
but as it was written in the curved letters
peculiar to that heaven,
I gave it back to him
requesting that some of the angels there
might express the meaning of the words in terms
adapted to the ideas of my thought.
He returned it; and this is what was written:
"Henceforward enter into the mysteries of the Word,
which has hitherto been a closed Book;
for all its truths are so many mirrors of the Lord."

~ Again, Jesus Predicts His Death ~

They were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way,
and the disciples were astonished,
while those who followed were afraid.
Again He took the twelve aside
and told them what was going to happen to Him.
"We are going up to Jerusalem," He said,
"and the Son of Man will be betrayed
to the chief priests and teachers of the law.
They will condemn Him to death
and will hand Him over to the Gentiles,
who will mock Him and spit on Him,
flog Him and kill Him.
Three days later He will rise."

(Mark 10:32-34)

TCR 507 - Three Universal Loves

TCR 507 [2, 3, 6]

There are three universal loves,
enkindled in every person from creation:
the love of the neighbor, a spiritual love,
which is the love of performing uses;
the love of the world, a material love,
which is the love of possessing wealth;
and the love of self, a corporeal love,
which is the love of ruling over others.
A person is truly a person when the love of the neighbor,
or the love of performing uses, constitutes the head;
and the love of the world,
or the love of possessing wealth,
constitutes the breast and the abdomen;
and the love of self, or the love of ruling,
constitutes the feet and the soles of the feet.

. . . no person is wise in spirit but from the Lord,
which is the case when he is born again
and created anew by Him.

. . . why these three loves are enkindled in every person:
the love of use, the love of the world and the love of self;
it is that he may think from God,
and yet altogether as of himself.
He said that the things
that are highest in a person's mind
are turned upward towards God,
what are in the middle region
are turned outward towards the world,
and what are in the lowest region
are turned downward towards the body;
and because these are turned downward,
a person thinks wholly as of himself,
when nevertheless he thinks from God.

~ Jesus Predicts His Death ~

He then began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders,
chief priests and teachers of the law,
and that He must be killed
and after three days rise again.
He spoke plainly about this,
and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples,
He rebuked Peter.
"Get behind Me, Satan!" He said.
"You do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."

Then He called the crowd to Him
along with His disciples and said:
"If anyone would come after Me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel
will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
yet forfeit his soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of him
when he comes in His Father's glory
with the holy angels."

And He said to them,
"I tell you the truth,
some who are standing here will not taste death
before they see the kingdom of God come with power.

(Mark 8:31-38; 9:1)
 

TCR 504 - Everyone Enjoys Spiritual Free Will

TCR 504 [2]

. . . every person, the evil as well as the good,
enjoys spiritual free will;
but that hell sometimes extinguishes it in the wicked,
while heaven exalts and kindles it in the good.

~ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve ~

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
Calling the Twelve to Him,
He sent them out two by two
and gave them authority over evil spirits.

These were His instructions:
"Take nothing for the journey except a staff --
no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.
Whenever you enter a house,
stay there until you leave that town.
And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave,
as a testimony against them."

They went out and preached
that people should repent.
They drove out many demons
and anointed many sick people with oil
and healed them.

(Mark 6:6.5-13)

TCR 497, 498, 499 , 502 - Free Will

TCR 497 [1-4]

The following are the reasons why free will
resides in a person's will and understanding:

1. Those two faculties must first be
instructed and reformed,
and by means of them
the two faculties of the external person
by which he speaks and acts.

2. Those two faculties of the internal person
constitute his spirit, which lives after death,
and is subject only to the Divine law,
the first principle of which requires
that a person should reflect upon the law,
practice it and be obedient to it as of himself,
and yet from the Lord.

3. Because a person as to his spirit
is midway between heaven and hell,
thus between good and evil,
and consequently in equilibrium,
he therefore enjoys free will in spiritual things.
. . . So long, however, as he lives in the world,
he is as to his spirit in equilibrium
between heaven and the world;
and he then hardly knows
that as he withdraws from heaven
and draws near to the world, he draws near to hell.
His knowledge regarding this is of an uncertain nature,
in order that even in this matter
he may be in freedom and be reformed.

4. Those two faculties, the will and the understanding,
are the receptacles of the Lord,
the will being the receptacle of love and charity,
and the understanding of wisdom and faith.
The Lord operates each of these
while a person is in perfect freedom,
in order that a mutual and reciprocal conjunction
may be effected,
on which salvation depends.

5. Every judgment passed on a person after death
is in accordance with the use he has made
of free will in spiritual things.

TCR 498 [2]
A person is obsessed by two loves,
the love of ruling of all,
and the love of possessing the wealth of all.
These two loves,
if restraints upon them were relaxed,
surge on without limit;
and they are the chief source of the hereditary evils
into which a person is born.
This was the sin of Adam,
that he wished to become as God . . ..

TCR 499 [3]

. . . the enjoyment of free will in spiritual things
has been granted to a person from birth
to the end of his life in this world,
and afterwards to eternity.

TCR 502

The Divine omnipotence is not without order.
God Himself is Order;
and since all things were created from God,
they were also created from order, in order and for order.
There is an order into which a person was created,
namely, that his happiness or his misery
should depend on his free will in spiritual things.
For, as was said above,
without free will a person could not have been created,
nor could beast, bird or fish.
Beasts, however, have only natural free will,
whereas a person has natural
and at the same time spiritual free will.

~ The Twelve Apostles ~

Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to Him those He wanted,
and they came to Him.
He appointed twelve -- designating them apostles --
that they might be with Him
and that He might send them out to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons.
These are the twelve He appointed:
Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter);
James son of Zebedee
and his brother John
(to them He gave the name Boanerges,
which means Sons of Thunder);
Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

(Mark 3:13-19)

TLC 490 - Everything that God Created Was Good

TCR 490

Everything that God created was good,
as is evident from the first Chapter of Genesis,
where it is said, verses 10, 12, 18, 21, 25,
"God saw that it was good;"
and finally, verse 31,
"God saw everything that He had made,
and, behold, it was very good."
The same is also evident
from the primeval state of man in paradise;
but evil originated with man,
as is evident from the state of Adam after the Fall,
in that he was driven out of paradise.
Hence it is clear that unless man
had been endowed with free will in spiritual things,
God Himself and not man
would have been the cause of evil.
Consequently God must have created both good and evil;
and it is dreadful to imagine that He created evil.
God did not create evil,
although He endowed man with free will in spiritual things,
and He never inspires him with any evil,
because He is Good itself.
God is omnipresent in good,
perpetually urging and entreating to be received;
and if He is not received,
still He does not withdraw.
If He were to do so
man would instantly perish;
indeed he would be annihilated,
for man's life, as well as
the subsistence of all things of which it consists,
is from God.

Evil, then, was not created by God,
but was introduced by man;
for man turns into evil
the good which continually flows in from God,
by turning away from God towards himself.
When this happens,
the delight of good remains,
but is now changed into the delight of evil;
for unless a delight apparently similar to the former
remained with him,
the man would cease to live,
since delight constitutes the life of his love.
These two delights are, nevertheless,
diametrically opposed to each other,
although man is not aware of this
as long as he lives in the world.
After death, however,
he will enter into the knowledge and clear perception of it;
for then the delight of the love of good
is changed into heavenly blessedness,
and the delight of the love of evil
into infernal horror.
From what has been said it is evident
that every man is predestined to heaven,
and none to hell
but man consigns himself to hell
by the abuse of his free will in spiritual things,
whereby he delights in what emanates from hell.
For, as was stated above,
every man is held midway between heaven and hell,
in order that he may be in equilibrium
between good and evil,
and hence enjoy free will in spiritual things.

~ "Which Is Lawful?" ~

Another time He went into the synagogue,
and a man with a shriveled hand was there.
Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus,
so they watched Him closely to see
if He would heal him on the Sabbath.
Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand,
"Stand up in front of everyone."

Then Jesus asked them,
"Which is lawful on the Sabbath:
to do good or to do evil,
to save life or to kill?"
But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and,
deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts,
said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand."
He stretched it out,
and his hand was completely restored.
Then the Pharisees went out
and began to plot with the Herodians
how they might kill Jesus.

(Mark 3:1-6)

TCR 485 - Free Will; TCR 486 - Predestination

TCR 45

. . . without free will in spiritual things
a person would have nothing by which
the Lord might effect conjunction with him;
and yet without reciprocal conjunction
there could be no reformation and regeneration,
and consequently no salvation.

TCR 486 [1, 3]

Predestination is an offspring
of the faith of the present Church.

But what more pernicious doctrine
could have been devised,
or what more cruel notion concerning God
could have been conceived
than that some of the human race
were predestined to damnation?
For it would be a cruel faith,
that the Lord, who is Love itself and Mercy itself,
wills that a multitude of people should be born for hell,
or that countless thousands should be born accursed,
that is, should be born devils and satans;
and that from His own infinite Divine Wisdom
He did not provide,
and does not still provide,
that those who live well and acknowledge God
should not be cast into the fire of everlasting torment.
Yet the Lord is the Creator and Savior of all,
and He alone leads all,
and wills the death of no one.
What then, can be believed or conceived more dreadful
than that multitudes of nations and peoples
should under His direction and oversight
be delivered up by predestination to the devil
as prey to glut his voracious appetite?
This, however,
is the offspring of the faith of the present Church;
but the faith of the New Church abhors it as monstrous.

~ "I Am With You Always" ~

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw Him,
they worshiped Him;
but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey 
everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."

(Matthew 28:16-20)
 

TCR 475, 476 - Where A Person's Mind Is Kept By the Lord

TCR 475

A person's mind is his spirit,
which lives after death,
and is in continual association with similar spirits
in the spiritual world;
while by means of the material body
with which it is clothed,
his spirit is in association with people in the natural world.

A person does not know
that he is in the midst of spirits as to his mind,
because those spirits
with whom he is associated in the spiritual world
think and speak spiritually;
but a person's spirit,
as long as he is in the material body,
does so naturally.
Moreover, spiritual thought and speech cannot be
understood or perceived by the natural person,
nor can spirits understand his;
and for the same reason they cannot see one another.
When, however, a person's spirit
is in association with spirits in their world,
he there also enjoys
spiritual thought and speech with them,
for his mind is interiorly spiritual,
though exteriorly natural.
He, therefore, communicates with spirits by his interiors,
but with people by his exteriors.
It is by virtue of this communication
that a person perceives things
and thinks about them analytically.
If this were not open to a person
his thoughts would be limited to those of the beasts,
and if all intercourse with spirits were cut off from him
he would instantly perish.

TCR 476

Every person from infancy to old age
changes his place or situation in the world of spirits.
When an infant, he is kept in the eastern quarter,
towards the north there;
when an adolescent, 
as he learns the rudiments of religion,
he gradually recedes from the north towards the south;
and when a young adult,
as he begins to think from his own mind,
he is borne towards the south.
Later, when he comes to judge for himself
and becomes his own master,
as he increases in such things as interiorly relate
to God and to love towards the neighbor,
he progresses still southward but towards the east.
If, however, he inclines to evil,
and becomes engrossed in it,
he moves towards the west;
for all in the spiritual world
have their dwellings in certain quarters.
In the east are those who are in good from the Lord,
for the sun is there,
in the center of which is the Lord.
In the north are those who are in ignorance;
in the south, those who are in intelligence;
and in the west, those who are in evil.

A person is kept in this intervening or middle region
between heaven and hell
not as to his body, but as to his spirit;
and as his spirit changes its state,
by drawing near to good or evil,
it is transferred to a place or situation
in one or other of the quarters,
and enters the company of those who dwell there.
It should be known, however,
that the Lord does not
transfer the person to this place or that,
but the person himself effects the change.
If he chooses good, then he, together with the Lord,
or rather the Lord together with him,
transfers his spirit towards the east;
but if he chooses evil, then he, together with the devil,
or rather the devil together with him,
transfers his spirit towards the west.
It is to be observed
that when heaven is here mentioned,
the Lord also is meant,
because the Lord is the All in all of heaven;
and when the devil is mentioned,
hell is meant 
because all those who are there are devils.