AE 365 - Enlightenment and Peace

AE 365 [2, 3, 12, 40]

. . . when the understanding of the Word is destroyed,
dissensions arise in the church.
By good is meant the good of love to the Lord,
and the good of love towards the neighbor,
because all good is of love;
when these goods do not exist
with the people of the church,
then the Word is not understood;
for the conjunction of the Lord
and the conjunction of heaven
with the person of the church is by good;
therefore, if there is no good with him,
no enlightenment can be given;
for all enlightenment, when the Word is read,
is out of heaven from the Lord;
and when there is no enlightenment,
then the truths that are in the Word are in obscurity,
[and] then dissensions arise.
That the Word is not understood if man is not in good,
is evident from this fact,
that in every particular of the Word
there is the heavenly marriage,
that is, the conjunction of good and truth;
therefore, if good is not present
to a person reading the Word,
neither does truth appear,
for truth appears from good,
and good by means of truths.

The state of the case is this:
in proportion as a person is in good,
in the same proportion the Lord flows in,
and gives the affection of truth,
and consequently understanding;
for the interior human mind
is altogether formed as an image of heaven,
and all heaven is formed
according to the affections of good,
and of truth from good;
therefore, unless good is with a person,
that mind cannot be opened,
still less can it be formed for heaven;
it is formed by the conjunction of good and truth.
From this it is also evident,
that unless a person is in good,
truths have not any ground in which they may be received,
nor heat from which they may grow:
for truths with the person who is in good,
are like seeds in the ground in the time of spring;
whereas truths with the person who is not in good,
are like seeds in ground
bound by frost in the time of winter,
when there is neither grass, nor flower,
nor tree, still less fruit.

. . . when evils and falsities are removed,
and no longer infest,
then the Lord flows in with peace . . ..

"The work of Jehovah is peace;
and the labor of justice
quietness and security even for ever;
that My people may dwell in a habitation of peace,
and in tents of securities,
and in quiet resting-places.
(Isaiah 32: 17, 18)

Peace is called the work of Jehovah,
because it is solely from the Lord,
and everything that exists by virtue of peace from the Lord,
with those who are in conjunction with the Lord,
is called the work of Jehovah;
so it is said, the work of Jehovah is peace.
The labor of justice signifies good conjoined with truth,
in which peace consists;
for labor in the Word is predicated of truth,
justice of good,
and quietness of the peace therein.
Security for ever signifies
that so there will be
no infestation and fear from evils and falsities.
Consequently it is evident what is signified by,
"that My people may dwell in a habitation of peace,
and in tents of securities, and in quiet resting-places,"
namely, that they are in heaven where the Lord is,
and from there in the good of love and of worship
infestation from the hells,
and thus in the delights of good
and the pleasantnesses of truth.
The habitation of peace
denotes heaven where the Lord is;
tents of securities denote the goods of love
and of the consequent worship
without infestation by evils and falsities from hell;
and quiet resting-places denote the delight of good,
and the pleasantnesses of truth.