AE 240 - the understanding of truth & the understanding of good and the will of truth & the will of good

AE 240 [2]
There is the understanding of truth, and the understanding of good;
the understanding of truth
is the understanding of such things as are of faith,
and the understanding of good
is the understanding of such things as are of love and charity.
There is also the will of truth and the will of good;
the will of truth is with those who are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom;
but the will of good with those who are of His celestial kingdom.
The latter, because they are in love to the Lord, and from this in mutual love,
which is to them charity towards the neighbor,
have truths inscribed on their hearts, and consequently do them;
and what proceeds out of the heart is out of the will of good,
"heart" meaning the will of good.
But those who are in love towards the neighbor, which love is charity,
have truths inscribed not on their hearts but on the memory,
and therefore on the intellectual mind,
and what proceeds therefrom out of the affection is the will of truth.
Thus it is that spiritual angels are distinguished from celestial angels.
The latter appear naked in heaven, but the former clothed.
Celestial angels appear naked
because they have no need of the memory to retain truths,
nor of understanding therefrom to comprehend them,
because they have them inscribed on the heart,
that is, on the love and will, and consequently see them.
But spiritual angels appear clothed
because they have truths inscribed on the memory
and consequently on the understanding,
and truths of the memory and of the understanding therefrom
correspond to garments;
they therefore all appear clothed according to their intelligence.

AE 237 - from the Lord

AE 237 [8]
. . . as faith with its truths are from the Lord,
and thus not meritorious,
so are charity with its goods.

AE 235 - What does the Lord tell us a thousand times?

AE 235 [2]
. . . what is more frequently declared by the Lord,
than that they ought to do His words, His commandments, His will,
and that every one shall be recompensed according to his deeds;
also that the whole Word is based upon two commandments,
which are to love God,
and to love the neighbor;
also that loving God is doing His commandments?

What people must do in order to be saved
is said a thousand times in each Testament,
also that hearing and knowing are nothing without doing.

AE 232 - charity

AE 232 [3]
. . . charity itself, which is spiritual affection,
is formed by truths from the Word,
and so far so as it is formed by these, so far it is spiritual.

AE 229 - spiritual delight

AE 229 [2]
But the reason why faith is called the first principle of the church is,
that it is the first to appear;
for what a person believes, that he thinks, and sees in thought;
whereas that with which a person is spiritually affected,
he does not think, nor, therefore, does he see it in thought,
but he perceives it in a certain sense which has no reference to sight,
but to another sensitive, which is called that of delight.
And because this delight is spiritual,
and above the feeling of natural delight,
a person does not perceive it, until he becomes spiritual,
that is, when he is regenerated by the Lord.

AE 223b- boys and girls playing in the streets

AE 223b [9]
Thus said Jehovah; I will return to Zion,
and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
then Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth.
And the streets of the city
shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.
(Zechariah 8:3-5)

Here "Zion" does not mean Zion, nor "Jerusalem" Jerusalem;
but "Zion" means the celestial church,
and "Jerusalem" that church in respect to the doctrine of truth;
therefore it is called "a city of truth;"
"the streets of the city" signify the truths of doctrine;
"boys and girls playing in the streets"
signify the affections of truth and good.
. . . "to play" means what pertains to interior festivity,
which is the affection of truth and good.

AE 222a - "to write"

AE 222a [2]
"To write upon one" means to implant in the life,
because to write is to commit to paper anything
from the memory, thought, or mind,
that is to be preserved;
in the spiritual sense, therefore,
it signifies that which is to endure in a person's life,
inscribed on it and implanted in it.
Thus the natural sense of this expression is turned into a spiritual sense;
for it is natural to write upon paper and in a book,
but it is spiritual to inscribe on the life,
which is done when anything is implanted in the faith and love,
since love and faith make a person's spiritual life.
Because "to write" signifies to implant in the life,
it is said of Jehovah or the Lord that "He writes,"
and that "He has written in a book,"
meaning that which is inscribed by the Lord on a person's spirit,
that is, on his heart and soul,
or what is the same, on his love and faith.

AE 219 - heaven is heaven

AE 219 [5]
. . . heaven is heaven
from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord . . .

AE 209 - the Lord has the power

AE 209 [4]
. . . all the power that angels and people have
from the Lord
is from the good of love;
and since the good of love does not act from itself but through truths,
therefore all power is from the good of love through truths,
and with those who are spiritual,
from the good of charity through the truths of faith.
For good takes on a quality through truths,
good without truths having no quality
and where there is no quality
there is neither force nor power.
From this it is clear,
that good has all power through truths,
or charity through faith,
and neither charity apart from faith
nor faith apart from charity has any power.

AE 208 - "doorway", "door", "gate"

AE 208 [2]
. . . because all things that signify heaven and the church
signify also the things of heaven and the church,
and here the things that introduce,
which are truths out of good from the Lord,
and because these truths are from the Lord,
and are therefore His, yea, are Himself in them,
therefore "doorway," "door," and "gate" to heaven and the church,
mean in the highest sense the Lord.
From this is clear the signification of what the Lord says in John:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you,
he that enters not through the door into the sheepfold,
but climbs up another way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he that enters in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep;
to him the porter opens.
I am the door of the sheep,
through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved,
and shall go in and go out,
and find pasture.
(John 10:1-3, 7, 9)

Here "to enter in through the door"
is evidently to enter in through the Lord,
for it is said, "I am the door of the sheep."
To enter in through the Lord is to
approach Him,
acknowledge Him,
believe in Him,
and love Him,
as He teaches in many passages;
thus is a person admitted into heaven,
and in no other way . . .

AE 204 - Why He is called "holy" and "true"

AE 204
He is called "holy" because charity is from Him,
and "true" because faith is from Him.
That the Lord is called "holy" because charity is from Him,
and consequently that "holy" in the Word
is predicated of charity and of faith therefrom . . ..
But the Lord is called "true" because faith is from Him,
and consequently "true" in the Word is predicated of faith,
for the reason that all truth is of faith;
for that is called "true" which is believed;
other things are not of faith because they are not believed.
But because the faith of charity is here treated of,
something shall first be said about faith and what it is.

[2] There is spiritual faith, and there is faith merely natural.
Spiritual faith is wholly from charity, and in its essence is charity.
Charity, or love towards the neighbor,
is to love truth, sincerity, and what is just,
and to do them from willing them.
For the neighbor in the spiritual sense is not every person,
but it is that which is with a person;
if this be truth, sincerity, and what is just,
and the person is loved on account of these,
then the neighbor is loved.
That this is what charity means, in the spiritual sense,
anyone may know if he will but reflect.

AE 198 - perception & reception

AE 198
. . . all intelligence and wisdom are from Divine truths
according to the perception of them
and their reception in the life.
To see truths, and to see what they are, is of perception;
and to live according to them is of reception;
and according to perception and reception
there is intelligence and wisdom.

AE 195 - to live a moral life from a spiritual origin

AE 195 [2]
A person lives a moral life from a spiritual origin
when he lives it from religion;
that is, when he thinks,
when anything evil, insincere, or unjust presents itself:
that this must not be done because it is contrary to the Divine laws.
When one abstains from doing such things
in deference to Divine laws
he acquires for himself spiritual life,
and his moral life is then from the spiritual;
for by such thoughts and faith
a person communicates with the angels of heaven,
and by communication with heaven
his internal spiritual person is opened,
the mind of which is a higher mind,
such as the angels of heaven have,
and he is thereby imbued with heavenly intelligence and wisdom.
From this it can be seen
that to live a moral life from a spiritual origin is to live from religion,
and within the church, to live from the Word;
for those who live a moral life from religion and from the Word
are elevated above their natural person,
thus above what is their own [proprium],
and are led by the Lord through heaven;
consequently they have faith, the fear of God, and conscience,
and also the spiritual affection of truth,
which is the affection of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word,
for to such people these are Divine laws,
according to which they live.
Many of the heathen live such a moral life,
for they think that evil must not be done
because it is contrary to their religion;
this is why so many of them are saved.

AE 194 - laboring in the vineyard

AE 194 [2]
. . . all times in the Word, as a day, a week, a month, a year, an age,
signify states of life . . .

A householder hired laborers into his vineyard,
who labored from the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh,
and received equal reward.
(Matthew 20:1-16)

. . . "laboring in the vineyard"
is acquiring for oneself spiritual life
by the knowledges of truth and good from the Word
applied to the uses of life. . .
"vineyard" in the Word signifies the spiritual church,
and with a person spiritual life . ..
"three" signifies a full state,
or what is complete even to the end, likewise "six" and "nine."
But "eleven" signifies a state not yet full, and yet a receptive state
such as there is with well-disposed children and infants.
The "twelfth hour," to which all labored,
signifies truths and goods in their fullness . . ..

AE 186 - a moral life

AE 186a
. . . moral life apart from spiritual life
is the life of the love of self and the love of the world,
while moral life that is from spiritual life
is a life of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor;
this life is the life of heaven,
but the other life is what is called spiritual death.

AE 185 - "works"

AE 185
I know thy works, (Revelation 3:1)
"Works" signify the things that are of life
because they are the effects of life,
for they proceed from the life of everyone.
If the life is good the works are good,
but if the life is evil the works are evil.
The life that is in works is the intention,
which is of the will,
and of the thought therefrom;
and this life is the life of a person's spirit;
for it is the spirit in a person that intends and thinks.
Without this life in works
they would be only motions like those of automatons.
For this reason the wise do not look at the works,
but at the life that is in the works, namely, at the intention.
This is especially true of the angels who are with a person;
they do not see his works, but only the intentions of his mind,
and conclude therefrom what the person's state is.
From this it can be seen that "works" in the spiritual sense mean the life;
and as the life of a person is diverse,
depending mainly upon his love,
it is his love that is especially signified by "works" .
This is why it is said to the angel of each church in the beginning,
"I know thy works;" which therefore means
that the Lord knows the whole life of a person,
and its quality in respect to love.

AE 183 - heart & spirit

AE 183 [2]
Create for me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart God doth not despise.
(Psalms 51:10, 17).

In these passages "heart" signifies the good of love,
and "spirit" the truth of faith,
from which a person has spiritual life;
for there are two things that make all of a person's life,
namely, good and truth;
these two when united in a person make his spiritual life.

AE 179 - the star of the morning

AE 179
And I will give him the morning star,
(Revelation 2:28)
signifies intelligence and wisdom from the Lord's Divine Human.
This is evident from the signification of "stars,"
as being the knowledges of good and truth;
and as they signify the knowledges of good and truth,
they also signify intelligence and wisdom,
for all intelligence and wisdom come
by means of the knowledges of good and truth.
It is evident also from the signification of "morning"
as being the Lord in respect to His Divine Human,
therefore "the morning star"
means intelligence and wisdom from Him.
"Morning" is often mentioned in the Word,
and its signification varies
according to the connection in the internal sense;
in the highest sense it signifies the Lord, and also His coming;
in the internal sense it signifies His kingdom and church,
and their state of peace.
Moreover, it signifies the first state of a new church,
and also a state of love, and a state of illustration,
consequently a state of intelligence and wisdom,
and also a state of the conjunction of good and truth,
the state in which the internal man is conjoined to the external.
"Morning" has such various significations,
because in the highest sense it signifies the Lord's Divine Human;
it therefore also signifies all things that proceed from the Divine Human,
for the Lord is in those things that proceed from Him,
even so that it is He there.

AE 176 & 177 - natural truths & the Word in the letter

AE 176
Natural truth is truth in the memory, not in life;
truth of life is good.

Truths in the natural person are knowledges and cognitions,
from which a person can think, reason, and conclude naturally
respecting the truths and goods of the church,
and the falsities and evils which are opposed to these,
and can consequently be in some natural illustration when he reads the Word.
For the Word in the letter is not understood without illustration;
and illustration is either spiritual or natural.
Spiritual illustration is only with those who are spiritual;
and the spiritual are those that are of the good of love
and charity and in truths therefrom;
while mere natural illustration is with those who are natural.

AE 177 [2-3]
... to read the Word solely for the repute of erudition or for fame,
that they may be exalted to honors and gain wealth,
is to read it for the sake of self and the world as ends,
thus from the loves of self and the world.
And as these loves are of a person's proprium [a person's self]
so the things that a person sees and perceives from them
are from self-intelligence.

But those who read the Word from the spiritual affection of truth,
which affection is a love of knowing truth because it is truth,
see truths in the Word,
and rejoice in heart when they see them;
and this because they are in illustration from the Lord.

AE 175a - the Lord alone

AE 175a
... the Lord scatters evils by means of truths.
He first reveals them to a person by means of truths,
and when a person acknowledges the evils,
the Lord scatters them.

AE 166, 167 - Truth

AE 166
. . . the Lord called Himself "the Son of man,"
because He was Divine truth,
and because every truth of heaven and the church
proceeds from Him . . .

AE 167
Truth in the will
and from that in the act
is willing and doing
what a person knows and thinks to be true . . .

AE 163 - what the Lord spoke

AE 163 [7]
Those who know nothing of the internal sense of the Word
may believe that the words that the Lord spoke
involve nothing more than what is obvious in the sense of the letter,
when yet every particular of what the Lord spoke has a spiritual meaning,
for He spoke from the Divine,
and thus in the presence both of heaven and of the world.

AE 154 - celestial love, spiritual love

AE 154
. . . celestial love
is to do the commandments of the Lord from the affection of the will,
and spiritual love
is to do them from the affection of the understanding.

AE 150 - our external and internal

AE 150
When a person is born,
the external or natural person is first opened;
and afterwards,
as he grows up and is perfected in intelligence and wisdom,
the internal or spiritual person is opened.
The external or natural person is opened
by such things as a person derives from the world,
while the internal or spiritual person
is opened by such things as he derives from heaven . . ..
The things in the world . . .have reference, in general,
to all things of civil and moral life;
while the things in heaven . . . have reference, in general,
to all things of love and faith.

AE 146 - the Lord is Divine Love Itself

AE 146 [6]
. . . it is the same whether you say
the Lord's Divine Human, or the Divine Love,
for the Lord is Divine Love itself,
and what proceeds from Him
is Divine good united to Divine truth;
both are of love,
and are also the Lord in heaven . . .

AE 143 - repenting

AE 143
. . . no one repents
unless he actually separates himself
from the things of which he has repented;
and he separates himself from them
only when he shuns them and turns away from them.

AE 142 - separating good from truth, or charity from faith, is against Divine order

AE 142
. . . those who separate truth from good, or faith from charity,
turn away from themselves all influx of heaven into the goods they do,
in consequence of which their goods are not good;
for heaven flows in,
that is, the Lord through heaven,
into the good of a person's love;
he, therefore, that rejects the good of charity from the doctrine of the church,
and receives instead only those things that are called matters of faith,
is shut out of heaven . . .

AE 140 - an enlightened understanding

AE 140 [7]
The possibility of having his understanding enlightened
has been granted to a person for the sake of reformation.
For in a person's will dwells every kind of evil,
both that into which he is born,
and that into which he comes of himself;
and the will cannot be amended unless a person knows,
and by the understanding acknowledges,
truths and goods,
and also evils and falsities,
otherwise he cannot turn away from the latter and love the former.

And two phrases from AE 140 that struck me this morning:

. . . there exhales an abominable sphere of whoredom.

. . . with evils that gush out of the love of self.

AE 131, 135 - He came.

AE 131 [2]
. . . "sword" in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity,
and falsity against truth,
and therefore the dispersion of falsities,
and also spiritual temptation. . .

Jesus said that He came not to send peace on earth,
but a sword.
(Matthew 10:34)

Here by "sword" is meant the combat of temptation.
It was so said, because people at that time were in falsities,
and the Lord uncovered interior truths,
and only by combats from such truths
can falsities be cast out.

AE 135
By the Lord's "name" in the Word
is meant primarily the acknowledgment of the Divine in His Human,
because all things of love and faith are from that;
for Divine goods which are of love,
and Divine truths which are of faith,
proceed from no other source than from the Lord alone;
and these cannot flow in with a person
unless he thinks of the Lord's Divine
at the same time that he thinks of His Human . . .

AE 130 - by "angels" in the Word Divine truths are signified

AE 130 [8,10]
Because by "angels" in the Word Divine truths are signified,
therefore the people through whom Divine truths are made known
are sometimes called "angels" in the Word, as in Malachi:

The priest's lips ought to guard knowledge,
and they shall seek the law at his mouth,
because he is the angel of Jehovah.
(Malachi 2:7).

He is said to be the "angel of Jehovah,"
because he teaches Divine truth;
not that he is the angel of Jehovah,
but the Divine truth that he teaches is.
Moreover, it is known in the church that no one has Divine truth from himself.

It is said that by "angels" in the Word, in its spiritual sense,
Divine truths proceeding from the Lord are meant,
because these constitute the angels;
when angels utter these truths,
they speak not from themselves, but from the Lord.
The angels not only know that this is so,
but they also perceive it.
The person who believes that nothing of faith is from himself,
but that all faith is from God,
also knows this, indeed, but he does not perceive it.

AE 122 - to deny oneself

AE 122 [4]
Jesus said unto His disciples,
If any one will come after Me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross,
and follow Me.
(Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34)

"to deny oneself" is to put away evils that are from proprium [the self-life].

AE 116 - will & works

AE 116
. . . will is the cause and works are the effects,
and it is well known that
when will ceases work ceases.

AC 112 - knowledges & life lead to the spiritual affection of truth

AC 112 [3]
. . . without the knowledges of truth and good from the Word
no one can know anything of the Lord,
of the angelic heaven,
or of charity and faith;
and that which a person does not know,
he cannot think,
thus cannot will,
and accordingly cannot believe and love.

[4] . . . those who are in the spiritual affection of truth
are also in the life of charity,
for from that they have have spiritual affection.

[5] A person who is in the affection of truth from a spiritual origin
knows many more things than he knew before;
for the general knowledges that he has are like vessels
that can be filled with many things,
and they are also actually filled when he comes into heaven.

AE 109 - trees; AE 110 - paradise

AE 109
. . . trees signify those things that are internally in a person,
which pertain to his interior mind, or his external mind,
the boughs and leaves
those things which pertain to the knowledges of truth and good,
and the fruits the goods of life themselves.
This signification of trees originates in the spiritual world;
for in that world trees of all kinds are seen;
and these trees correspond to the interiors of the minds of angels and spirits;
beautiful and fruitful trees to the interiors of those
who are in the good of love, and thence in wisdom;
trees less beautiful and fruitful to those who are in the good of faith;
but trees bearing leaves only, and without fruit,
to those who are only in the knowledges of truth;
and trees of a dismal hue, with malignant fruits,
to those who are in knowledges and in evil of life;
but by those who are not in knowledges, and are in evil of life,
trees are not seen, but instead stones and sand.

AE 110
. . . it is believed that,
by the paradise treated of in the second chapter of Genesis,
is meant a paradisaical garden,
whereas no terrestrial paradise is there meant,
but a heavenly paradise,
which those possess
who have intelligence and wisdom
from the knowledges of good and truth.

AE 107 - to live well from religion

AE 107
To live well from religion
is to think,
to will,
and to do,
because it is so taught in the Word,
and because the Lord has commanded it.

AE 102a - Where is the Lord?

AE 102a [2]
. . . the Lord is in every one
in the goods of love and of faith
that are from Him.

AE 102b - Is it spiritual affection or natural affection?

AE 102b [7]
To love and to do truth for the sake of truth,
and good for the sake of good,
is to have affection for truth and good for their sake,
and not for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, or gain.
Such affection of truth and good is a truly spiritual affection;
but the affection of truth and good
for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, or gain,
is a merely natural affection.

AE 98 - works, toil, & endurance

AE 98
I know thy works, and thy toil, and thy endurance,
(Revelation 2:2)
signifies all things that they will, think, and do,
thus all things of love and faith in the spiritual and in the natural person.
This is evident from the signification of "works,"
as being the things that are of the will and love;
and from the signification of "toil,"
as being the things that are of thought and faith;
and from the signification of "endurance,"
as being the things done from will and thought,
or the things that these do.
. . . all things done by a person
flow out from the interiors belonging to his mind,
also that the mind is the all in everything that person does,
and that the body is a mere obedience through which is exhibited,
in a form visible before the eye, that which the mind wills and thinks.
This is why those external things here mentioned,
"works," "toil," and "endurance,"
signify willing, thinking, and consequent doing,
or what is the same,
loving, believing, and consequent presenting in act.

AE 86 - Abide in Me.

Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
you shall ask whatever you will,
and it shall be done unto you.
Abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments,
you shall abide in My love.
He that abides in Me, and I in him,
the same bears much fruit;
for without Me you cannot do anything.
(John 15:4-10)

AE 86
. . . so far as the Lord is received in faith and in love
so far as He is in a person,
and so far as He is in a person
so far He removes evils,
thus the hells and eternal death.
This the Lord alone does . . ..

. . . the only means whereby
a spirit can be formed and constituted for heaven
is receiving the Lord in faith and love;
for the Lord alone, by His presence in faith and love with a person,
removes evils, and forms a person into an image of heaven,
which is an angel.

AE 77 - all affections have corresponding gestures in the body

AE 77
And I fell at His feet,
signifies adoration from humiliation of heart in presence of the Divine. . ..
Humiliation of heart is meant,
because humiliation that springs from the heart
in presence of the Divine
produces that prostration.
All affections, whatsoever they are,
have corresponding gestures in the body. . ..
Humiliation before a person produces a bowing down,
according to the estimation of him;
but in presence of the Divine
it produces total prostration,
especially when a person thinks that the Divine
in respect to power and wisdom is everything,
and a person in comparison is nothing,
or that from the Divine is all good
and from a person nothing but evil.
When a person is in this acknowledgment from the heart
he comes as it were out of himself,
and so falls upon his face,
and when he is thus out of himself
he also is removed from the proprium [what is his own],
which in itself is wholly evil;
when this is removed, the Divine fills him and raises him up;
not that the Divine desires such humiliation on its account,
but because evil is then removed,
and so far as evil is removed with a person so far the Divine flows in;
for evil alone stands in the way.

I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a Man clothed in linen,
His face as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as lamps of fire,
and His feet like the splendor of burnished brass.
I alone saw the vision; but the men that were with me saw it not;
but great fear fell upon them, and they fled.
And there remained no strength in me;
and I came into a deep sleep, and my face upon the ground.
But lo, a hand touched me,
and set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands,
and He said, Fear not.
(Daniel 10:5-12)

This state is also described in Ezekiel, when he saw the cherubs,
by which is signified the Lord in respect to Providence:

When I saw the glory of Jehovah, I fell upon my face,
and I heard a voice of One that spoke.
And He said unto me,
son of man, stand upon thy feet, that I may speak to thee.
And the spirit entered into me when He spoke unto me,
and set me upon my feet, and I heard Him that spake unto me.
(Ezekiel 1:28; 2:1-2; 3:24)

Likewise also, when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John,
of which it is thus written in Matthew:

While Peter was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them;
and behold, a voice out of the cloud saying,
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.
And when the disciples heard these things they fell on their face,
and were sore afraid.
And Jesus came and touched them, and said,
Arise, be not afraid.
And when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no one save Jesus only.
(Matthew 17:5-8)

From this it is apparent
of what nature is the presence of the Divine Human of the Lord with a person,
when person is in a state of humiliation of heart,
namely, that he falls upon his face,
and by the touch of the Lord's hand is raised upon his feet.
It was plainly the presence of the Lord in respect to the Divine Human;
since it was the "Son of man" who was in the midst of the lampstands
that appeared in this way before John;
and the "Son of man" is the Lord as to the Divine Human . . ..

AE 71 - And His voice as the voice of many waters (Revelation 1:15)

AE 71
And His voice as the voice of many waters (Revelation 1:15),
signifies Divine truth in ultimates.
This is evident from the signification of a "voice"
when it is from the Lord, as being Divine truth;
and from the signification of "waters,"
as being the truths of faith, and also the knowledges of truth;
and since the knowledges of truths are in ultimates,
"the voice as the voice of many waters,"
because it is said of the Lord,
signifies Divine truth in ultimates.

I will pour waters upon him that is thirsty,
and streams upon the dry ground;
I will pour My spirit upon your seed,
and My blessing upon your offspring.
(Isaiah 44:3)

They have forsaken Jehovah,
the fountain of living waters.
(Jeremiah 17:13)

O God, early will I seek You;
my soul is thirsty,
I am weary without waters.
(Psalm 63:1).

AE 67 - As white wool, as snow (Revelation 1:14)

AE 67
As white wool, as snow,
signifies in respect to good and truth therein.
This is evident from the signification of "white wool"
as being good in ultimates;
and from the signification of "snow,"
as being truth in ultimates.
"Snow" means truth in ultimates
by reason of the water of which it is composed,
and its whiteness and brightness.
"White wool," signifies good in ultimates,
because wool upon lambs and sheep
has a signification like that of hair upon man;
and "lambs," and "sheep" signify good,
"lambs" celestial good, and "sheep" spiritual good.
From this it is that the "hairs,"
by which Divine truth in ultimates is signified,
are said to be "white as white wool, and as snow."

So also of the Lord, when He was transfigured:

His garments became glistening, exceeding white as snow,
so as no fuller on earth can whiten them.
(Mark 9:3)

And concerning the Ancient of Days, in Daniel:

I saw until the thrones were cast down,
and the Ancient of Days did sit,
whose garment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head as white wool.
(Daniel 7:9).

Garment also signifies the Divine in ultimates;
and the Ancient of Days, the Lord from eternity.

AE 63 - Blessed are you . . .

AE 63
Blessed are you when men shall hate you for the Son of man's sake.
(Luke 6:2)
"For the Son of man's sake"
is for the sake of Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord.
Divine truth is the All of faith in and of love to the Lord.
Because the evil deny these things,
and those who deny also hate them,
while the good acknowledge them,
therefore it is said that the good are blessed.

AE 54, 55 - portions of Revelation 1:10

AE 54
On the Lord's day.
That this signifies, Divine influx at the time,
is evident from the signification of the Lord's day,
as being when the Lord instructs a person,
thus when He enters by influx.
The Lord's day is the day of the sabbath,
and the sabbath in the Ancient Churches,
which were representative churches,
was the most holy thing of worship,
because it signified the union of the Divine and Human in the Lord,
and so also the conjunction of His Divine Human with heaven.
But after the Lord united His Divine with His Human,
then that holy representative ceased,
and that day became a day of instruction.
For this reason revelation was made to John on the Lord's day;
revelation, in this case, is instruction concerning the state of the church.

AE 55
And I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.
The reason why "behind me" signifies clearly (or manifestly), is
because those things that flow from heaven into the affection of a person,
flow into the back part of the head,
and thus enter clearly into his perception;
for the things which enter into the affection are perceived clearly,
all the life of perception being from that source;
but the things that flow from heaven immediately into the thought,
flow into the part above the forehead.
It is therefore evident what is signified by John's hearing behind him,
and by his afterwards turning to see the voice which spake with him.
The reason why a trumpet, or horn,
signifies Divine truth to be revealed from heaven, is,
because Divine truth is sometimes so heard when it flows down from the Lord
through the heavens to a person;
for it becomes louder in its descent and thus flows in.
But it is heard in this way only in the beginning,
by those to whom Divine truth is to be revealed in the ultimate sense,
which is representative of interior things;
afterwards it is heard as a human voice.

AE 41, 52 - the Alpha & Omega, the Divine Human

AE 41 - Revelation 1:8
I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End,
signifies that He governs all things from firsts through ultimates,
and thus all things of heaven to eternity. . ..
These things are said of the Lord's Divine Human,
for they are said of Jesus Christ,
by which name His Divine Human is meant.
By means of this the Lord is in firsts and in ultimates.

AE 52 - Revelation 1:9
And for the testimony of Jesus Christ,
signifies that the Lord's Divine Human may be acknowledged.
This is evident from the signification of "testimony,"
as being acknowledgment in heart;
and from the signification of the names "Jesus" and "Christ,"
as being the Lord in respect to His Divine Human.
These things are said concerning the church of the Gentiles,
which is about to receive Divine truth
and acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human.
The Christian church indeed, acknowledges the Lord's Divine,
but not His Divine Human;
when, therefore, they think and speak about the Lord from doctrine,
they separate His Human from the Divine,
and make His Human like the human of another man;
when yet the Divine is in His Human as the soul is in the body.

AE 32 - Unto God and His Father (Revelation 1:6)

AE 32
Unto God and His Father,
signifies by Divine truth and Divine Good.
This is evident from this,
that "God" is the Divine truth,
and "Jehovah" is the Divine good;
therefore in the Word
the Lord is called "God" when Divine truth is treated of,
and "Jehovah" when Divine good is treated of . . .
here it is said "Father" instead of Jehovah,
because the Father of the Lord was Jehovah,
and by "Father" the like is meant as by "Jehovah."
By both "God" and "the Father" the Lord alone is meant;
for the Father was in Him as the soul is in its body . . ..
This was why He said:

But if I do it, even though you do not believe me,
believe the miracles,
that you may know and understand
that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
(John 10:38; 14:10, 11)

Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
The words I say to you are not just my own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work.
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. . .
(John 14:10, 11)

I and the Father are one.
(John 10:30)

But a time is coming, and has come,
when you will be scattered, each to his own home.
You will leave me all alone.
Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
(John 16:32)

portions Revelation 1 & 22

Revelation 1:4-8

John to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace be unto you, and peace,
from him which is, and which was, and which is to come;
and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;
to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he comes with clouds;
and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him:
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so, Amen.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 22:6-7,12-14,21

And he said unto me,
These sayings are faithful and true:
and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel
to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Behold, I come quickly:
blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Revelation 21:22-27

I did not see a temple in the city,
because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light,
and the Lamb is its lamp.
The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
On no day will its gates ever be shut,
for there will be no night there.
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
(Revelation 21:22-27)

From AR 876:
"But they that are written in the Lamb's book of life"
signifies that no others will be received into the New Church,
which is the New Jerusalem,
but they who believe in the Lord,
and live according to His commandments in the Word.

AE 28 - Firstborn

AE 28 [2]
. . . the Lord in respect to the Divine Human is called "the Firstborn,"
for the reason that all good proceeds from Him . . .

AE 22 - grace is the affection of truth from good

AE 22
Grace to you and peace,
signifies the delight of truth and good.
This is evident from the signification of
"grace" as being the delight of truth. . .
and from the signification of
"peace," as being the delight of the good of innocence and love . . ..

[2] In general, Divine grace is all that is given from the Lord;
and as all that is so given has relation to faith and love,
and faith is the affection of truth from good,
this is meant in particular by Divine grace:
for to be gifted with faith and love,
or with the affection of truth from good,
is to be gifted with heaven, thus with eternal blessedness.

AE 15 - to will & to do

AE 15
To do is to will,
and to will is to do;
because in deeds the will is everything.

AE 8 - spiritual perception

AE 8
. . . that which an angel speaks is out of heaven;
for when an angel communicates to a person
such things as pertain to heaven and the church,
he does not speak as a person speaks with a person,
who brings forth out of his memory what another has told him;
but that which an angel speaks flows in continuously,
not into his memory,
but immediately into his understanding,
and from that into words.

Only those who are in the good of love have spiritual perception.
This is because they receive heavenly things not only with the hearing,
but also with the love;
and to receive with the love is to receive fully,
since the things so received are loved;
moreover, those who thus receive,
see these things in their understanding,
where the sensation of their internal sight is.

ISB 20 - a spiritual fisherman

ISB 20
I was once asked how from a philosopher I became a theologian;
and I answered,
In the same manner that fishermen were made disciples
and apostles by the Lord;
and that I also from early youth had been a spiritual fisherman.
On hearing this the inquirer asked,
What is a spiritual fisherman?
I replied that a fisherman in the spiritual sense of the Word,
signifies a man who investigates and teaches natural truths,
and afterwards spiritual truths rationally.

[2] To the question, How is this demonstrated? I said,
From these passages in the Word:

Then the waters shall fail from the sea,
and the river shall be dried up and become dry,
therefore the fishers shall mourn,
and all that cast a hook into the sea shall be sad.
(Isaiah 19:5, 8)

In another place:

Upon the river whose waters were healed,
the fishers stood from Engedi;
they were there in the spreading forth of nets;
according, to its kind was their fish,
as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
(Ezekial 47:9-10)

And in another place:

The saying of Jehovah,
Behold, I will send to many fishers,
who shall fish the sons of Israel.
(Jeremiah 16:16)

So it is evident, why the Lord chose fishermen for disciples, and said:

Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
(Matthew 4:18-19; Mark 1:16-17).

And to Peter after he had caught a multitude of fishes:

From henceforth thou shalt catch men.
(Luke 5:9-10)

. . . "water" signifies natural truths (AR n. 50, 932);
likewise "a river" (AR n. 409, 932);
"fish," those who are in natural truths (n. 405);
and so "fishermen" signify those who investigate and teach truths.

[4] On hearing this my interrogator raised his voice and said,
Now I can understand why
the Lord called and chose fishermen to be His disciples,
and therefore I do not wonder that He has also called and chosen you,
since, as you have said,
you were from early youth a fisherman in a spiritual sense,
that is, an investigator of natural truths;
that you are now an investigator of spiritual truths,
is because these are founded on the former.
To this he added, because he was a man of reason,
that the Lord alone knows who is adapted to receive
and to teach those things which are of His New Church,
whether someone among the primates,
or someone among their servants.
Moreover, what theologian among Christians
does not first study philosophy at college,
before he is inaugurated as a theologian;
and from what other source has he intelligence?

ISB 12 & 14 - spiritual, natural; the light of heaven

ISB 12 [4]
That a person is rational from the union of spiritual things with natural,
is evident from the analytical processes of his thought;
and that he is moral from the honorableness of his conduct
and the graces of his bearing.
These he has from the faculty of receiving influx from the Lord
through the angelic heaven, where is the very abode of wisdom and love,
thus of rationality and morality.
From these things it is perceived,
that what is spiritual and what is natural, being united in a person,
cause him to live a spiritually natural man.
The reason that he lives in a similar and yet dissimilar manner after death,
is because his soul is then clothed with a substantial body,
as in the natural world it was clothed with a material body.

ISB 14
The understanding in a person can be elevated into the light, that is,
into the wisdom in which the angels of heaven are,
according to the cultivation of his reason;
and in like manner his will can be elevated into the heat of heaven,
that is, into love, according to the deeds of his life;
but the love of the will is not elevated
except so far as the person wills and does
those things which the wisdom of the understanding teaches.

ISB 9 - the body serves the soul

ISB 9 [5]
. . . those who distinguish between spiritual things and natural things,
and deduce the latter from the former;
these also perceive that the influx of the soul into the body is spiritual,
and that natural things, which are of the body,
serve the soul for vehicles and means,
that it may produce its effects in the natural world.

ISB 4 - influx & reasoning

ISB 4 [3-4]
. . . all influx proceeds from a sun;
spiritual influx from its sun, and natural influx from its sun.
The internal sight of a person, which is the sight of his mind,
receives influx from the spiritual sun;
but the external sight, which is that of the body,
receives influx from the natural sun;
and in operation they unite,
just as the soul does with the body.

From these things it is evident
into what blindness, thick darkness, and foolishness they may fall
who know nothing about the spiritual world and its sun:
into blindness, because the mind
that depends on the sight of the eye alone
becomes in its reasonings like a bat,
which flies by night here and there to a suspended cloth;
into thick darkness, because the sight of the mind,
when the sight of the eye flows into it from within,
is deprived of all spiritual light, and becomes like an owl;
into foolishness, because the person still thinks,
but from natural things concerning spiritual things,
and not the reverse; thus insanely, stupidly, and foolishly.

BE 120 - the holy truth

BE 120
There appeared a magnificent palace,
and in its inmost a temple.
In the midst of the latter was a table of gold,
upon which was the Word,
beside which two angels were standing.
Around it were seats in three rows:
the seats of the first row were covered with silken cloth of a purple color;
the seats of the second row, with silken cloth, of a blue color;
and the seats of the third row, with white cloth.
Under the roof, high above the table,
there appeared a widespread canopy, shining with precious stones,
from the splendor of which there shone forth as it were a rainbow,
as when heaven clears up after a shower.

. . . we have clearly seen, and so acknowledge as the holy truth,
that in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity,
which is the Divine from which, that is called the Father;
the Divine Human, which is the Son;
and the proceeding Divine, which is the Holy Spirit, crying out,
That in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9).
Thus there is one God in the church.

BE 119 - the Divine Esse which is the Divine Essence is One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivisible

BE 119
. . . the Divine Esse is the Divine Esse in Itself, not from Itself;
because from Itself supposes an Esse in Itself from another,
and thus supposes a God from God, which is not given.
That which is from God is not called God, but is called the Divine . . .

. . . He is our Lord Jesus Christ
both as to the Divine
from which, and as to
the Divine Human:
since the Itself, which is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself,
was His soul from the Father,
and thus the Divine Life, which is Life in itself.
It is otherwise in every person:
in him the soul is not life, but a recipient of life.
The Lord also teaches this, saying:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;

and again:

As the Father has life in Himself,
so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself.

. . . that instead of a Trinity of Persons
there be there understood a Trinity of Person,
which is given only in the Lord Jesus Christ;
and instead of the birth of a Son of God
there be understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time;
because as to the Human, which He took to Himself in time,
He is called openly the Son of God.

BE 118 - an east wind blew

BE 118 [3-4]
Then immediately an east wind blew . . .
and there appeared a tabernacle, as to its outward form simple.
And the angels who were with me said,
"Behold, the tabernacle of Abraham,
such as it was when the three angels came to him
and announced the future birth of Isaac.
It appears indeed simple to the eye,
but nevertheless according to the influx of light from heaven
it becomes more and more magnificent."
And they were permitted to open the heaven,
in which were the spiritual angels who excel in wisdom,
and then from the influx of light from heaven there,
the Tabernacle appeared as a temple resembling that of Jerusalem;
and on looking into it, I saw that the stone in the floor,
under which the Word was deposited,
was set with precious stones,
from which there issued forth bright rays as of lightning
that shone upon the walls,
and caused beautiful variegations of color on certain cherubic forms
that were sculptured on them.
As I was admiring these things, the angels said,
"You shall see something yet still more wonderful."
And it was permitted them to open the third heaven,
in which were the celestial angels who are in love,
and then from the light there inflowing that whole temple disappeared,
and in its stead was seen the Lord alone,
standing on the foundation stone, which was the Word,
in the same form that He appeared to John (Rev. 1).
But because holiness then filled the interiors of the minds of the angels,
occasioning in them an inclination to fall on their faces,
suddenly the way of light from the third heaven was closed by the Lord,
and the way from the second heaven opened;
in consequence of which the former appearance of the temple returned,
and also of the tabernacle, but this was in the temple.
Hereby was illustrated the meaning of these words:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them.
(Revelation 21:3).

And by these:

And I saw no temple in the New Jerusalem,
for the Lord God Omnipotent and the Lamb are the temple of it.
(Revelation 21:22)

BE 114 - actual repentance

BE 114 [5]
Actual repentance consists in a person examining himself,
in knowing and acknowledging his sins,
in making himself guilty,
in confessing them before the Lord,
in imploring help and power to resist them,
and thus in desisting from them,
and leading a new life,
and doing all these things as of himself.
Do this once or twice in a year, when you come to the Holy Communion;
and afterwards when the sins, whereof you made yourselves guilty, recur,
then say to yourselves,
we will not consent to them,
because they are sins against God;
this is actual repentance.

BE 113 - those who are in good from the Lord

BE 113
. . . if anyone from purpose or confirmation
acts against any other commandment of the Decalogue;
he then also offends against the rest,
because he does not account anything a sin.
It is very similar with those who are in good from the Lord.
These, if from the will and understanding,
or from purpose and confirmation,
they abstain from one evil because it is a sin, abstain from all,
and still more if they abstain from many;
for whenever anyone abstains,
from purpose and confirmation,
from any evil, because it is a sin,
he is kept by the Lord in the purpose of abstaining from the rest;
wherefore if through ignorance,
or any predominant lust of the body, he does an evil,
it nevertheless is not imputed to him,
because he did not purpose it to himself, nor confirm it with himself.
A person comes into this kind of purpose,
if he examines himself once or twice a year,
and repents of the evil he discovers in himself.

BE 111 - shunning evils, doing goods

BE 111 [2-3]
That a person is led into good through regeneration by the Lord.
That there is regeneration,
and that unless one is regenerated,
he cannot enter into heaven . . ..
That regeneration is purification from evils,
and thus renovation of life . . ..
That this is effected by faith in the Lord,
and by a life according to His commandments . . ..
That evils ought to be shunned,
because they are of the devil and from the devil;
that goods ought to be done,
because they are of God and from God;
and that the Lord is to be approached,
that He may lead us so to do.

BE 92 - two things which form heaven in a person

BE 92
There are two things which form heaven in a person, namely,
the truths of faith and the goods of charity;
the truths of faith effect the presence of the Lord,
and show the way to heaven,
and the goods of charity effect conjunction with the Lord,
and introduce into heaven.
And everyone is there introduced into light according to his affection of truth,
and into heat according to his affection of good.
. . . the affection of truth is faith in its essence,
and the affection of good charity in its essence,
and the marriage of them both constitutes the church . . ..
The church and heaven make one.

BE 83 - the sheep and the he-goats

BE 83
It is a general rule of religion,
that as far as anyone does not will goods,
and consequently does not do them,
so far he wills evils,
and consequently does them;
and on the contrary,
that as far as anyone does not will evils,
and consequently does not do them,
so far he wills goods,
and consequently does them.
These latter are the "sheep,"
but the former are the "he-goats."

BE 78 - the sun, moon, and stars

BE 78
The day of Jehovah comes,
a day of darkness,
the sun and moon shall not cause their light to shine,
and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
(Joel 2:1, 2, 10)

After the affliction of those days,
the sun shall be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
{Matthew 24:29,30)

By "the sun" in the above passages is meant love;
by "the moon" faith;
and by "the stars" the knowledges of good and truth;
and by "the powers of the heavens"
those three as the supports and firmaments
of the heavens where the angels are,
and of the churches where people are . . .

BE 69 - as of self

BE 69 [3]
. . . a person is capable of reforming and regenerating himself
as of himself,
provided he only acknowledge in his heart
that his ability is from the Lord.
Every person who does the work of repentance,
is reformed and regenerated.
Both must be done by a person
as of himself,
but this as of himself
is also from the Lord,
because the Lord gives both the power to will and perform,
and never takes it away from anyone.

BE 57 - salvation

BE 57
. . . without the Advent of the Lord into the world,
no mortal could have been saved,
and that they are saved who believe on Him and live well.

BE 44 - shunning evil, doing good, believing in the Lord

BE 44 (end)
The three remaining propositions, namely,
That evils ought to be shunned,
because they are of the devil and from the devil;
and that goods ought to be done,
because they are of God and from God;
but that it is to be believed that they are from the Lord,
with him and through him.
There is no need to illustrate and demonstrate these;
for the whole Sacred Scripture, from beginning to end, proves them,
and, in short, teaches nothing else
but to shun evils, and do goods, and to believe in the Lord God.
Besides, without these three there is not any religion,
for religion is of the life;
and life is to shun evils and do goods,
and a person cannot do goods and shun evils except as of himself.
Wherefore if these three are removed from the church,
the Sacred Scripture, together with religion,
is likewise removed at the same time:
which being removed the church is not a church.

BE 43 - the faith of the New Church

BE 43
And this faith is in God the Savior Jesus Christ
which in its simple form is as follows:

1. That there is One God in Whom is the Divine Trinity,
   and He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
   
2. Saving Faith is to believe in Him.
3. Evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil,
   and from the devil.
   
4. Goods ought to be done, because they are of God, and from God.
5. And they ought to be done by a person as of himself,
   but it is to be believed that they are from the Lord,
   with Him and through Him.

TCR 846 - the Word's spiritual sense

TCR 846
In every detail the Word contains a spiritual sense
corresponding to the natural sense,
and by means of that sense
the Word forms a conjunction between people in the church and the Lord;
it also creates an association with angels,
and the holiness of the Word resides in that sense.

TCR 829 - levels in a person

TCR 829
. . . religion occupies the highest levels in a person,
and the highest levels give life and light to the levels below . . .

TCR 814 - freedom

TCR 814
When the freedom to speak and write is restricted,
so is freedom of thought,
that is to say,
freedom to take the widest view of things is kept under restriction.

TCR 805 - the love of married couples

TCR 805
. . . the true love of married couples is a heavenly love,
and it is untouched by a desire to dominate.

TCR 787 - one visible God

TCR 787
This new church is the crown of all the churches
which have up to now existed upon earth,
because it will worship one visible God,
in whom is the invisible God,
as the soul is in the body.
In this way
and no other
is God's conjunction with a person possible,
because a person is natural and so thinks in a natural fashion;
and conjunction must take place in his thinking
and so in the affection of his love,
and this happens when a person thinks of God as Man.

TCR 782 - Why New Jerusalem?

TCR 782
The reason why the new church is meant
by the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21),
is that Jerusalem was the capital city in the land of Canaan.
It was there that the temple was and the altar where sacrifices were made,
and so the Divine worship to which three times a year
every male in the whole land was commanded to come.
It was also because Jerusalem is where the Lord was, and taught in its temple;
and He afterwards there glorified His Human.
These are the reasons why Jerusalem means the church.

TCR 774 - the Lord's perpetual presence

TCR 774
The Lord is perpetually present with every person,
wicked as well as good,
for no one could live without His presence.
But His coming is restricted to those who receive Him,
and these are those who believe in Him
and keep His commandments.
It is the Lord's perpetual presence
which gives a person the faculty of reason
and the ability to become spiritual.


Create for me, God, a clean heart,
and make new a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

TCR 754 - the results of self-love and love of the world

TCR 754
There are various ways in which a church comes to an end.
It happens principally through circumstances
which cause falsity to look like truth;
and when this happens, the good which is inherently good,
what is called spiritual good, can no longer exist.
What is then believed to be good
is only natural good, the product of a moral life.
The reason for truth coming to an end,
and good with it,
is principally the two natural loves
which are diametrically opposed to the two spiritual loves;
these are called self-love and love of the world.
When self-love is dominant,
it is the opposite of love to God;
and when the love of the world is dominant,
it is the opposite of love towards the neighbor.
Self-love is wishing well to no one but oneself,
except for selfish reasons;
and likewise the love of the world.
Once those loves have got a grip,
they spread like mortification through the body,
and stage by stage destroy every part of it.

TCR 746 - the love of service, or uses, holds society together

TCR 746
At a person's first creation . . .
he was endowed with wisdom and the love of wisdom,
not for his own sake, but so that he might share it with others.
So there is a warning attached to the wisdom of the wise,
that no one is to keep his wisdom to himself alone,
or live for himself alone,
but is to share it at the same time with others.
That is the origin of society, which could not otherwise exist.
To live for others is to perform services.
Services are what hold society together,
and there are as many ways of doing this
as there are ways of doing good,
and services are beyond counting.
There are spiritual services,
which have to do with love to God and love towards the neighbor.
There are moral and political services,
which have to do with the love of the community and country
in which a person lives, and with his colleagues and fellow-citizens.
There are natural services,
which have to do with the love of the world and its demands.
And there are bodily services,
which have to do with looking after oneself,
so as to be able to perform higher services.

All these services are imprinted on a person,
and they follow in their proper order, one after the other;
when they are present together,
then one is contained within another.

Moreover, every love has its own pleasure,
for this is what gives it life;
and the pleasure of the love of service is a heavenly pleasure
which enters into the pleasures that follow in turn,
and in accordance with the order in which one follows the other
it uplifts them and makes them everlasting.

TCR 739 - the joys & everlasting happiness of heaven

TCR 739 [7]
. . . the joys of heaven and everlasting happiness are not places,
but are the conditions of a person's life.
The conditions of life in heaven arise from love and wisdom;
and because it is service which holds together love and wisdom,
the conditions of life in heaven are due to their combination in service.

TCR 734 - What is heavenly joy?

TCR 734
The pleasure of service
arising from love
by means of wisdom
is the soul
and life
of all heavenly joys.

TCR 726 - How does reciprocal conjunction work?

TCR 726 [2]
Real love towards the neighbor
and real faith
come only from the Lord;
and both are conferred upon a person
when he of his own free will
does good on the natural level to the neighbor,
and believes truths with his reason,
and looks to the Lord,
doing all these three things because of the commandments in the Word.
Then the Lord plants charity and faith in his midst,
and makes both of these spiritual.
So the Lord conjoins a person to Himself,
and the person conjoins himself to the Lord;
for conjunction is impossible if it is not reciprocal.

TCR 719 - the Lord is present

TCR 719
The Lord is present both with the worthy and the unworthy,
because He is omnipresent in heaven and in hell, and also in the world,
and so with the wicked as well as with the good.
But in the case of the good, that is the regenerate,
He is present both at the universal and particular level,
for the Lord is in them and they are in the Lord,
where the the Lord is, there is heaven.

TCR 714 - particulars and universals

TCR 714
For particulars to be kept in their proper order and relationship
there must be universals from which they come into being
and in which they continue in being.
The particulars must also in some way
be an image of the universals to which they refer;
otherwise the whole world would cease to exist along with its parts.
It is this relationship which ensures
that everything in the universe has been preserved intact
from the first day of creation down to the present,
and will continue into the future.
It is well known
that everything in the universe has reference to good and truth.
The reason is that all things were created by God
from the Divine good of love
by means of the Divine truth of wisdom.

TCR 700-701 - the holy treasure that is Holy Supper

TCR 700-701
But because real Christianity is now for the first time arising,
the new church meant by the New Jerusalem in Revelation
is now being established by the Lord;
in this God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are acknowledged as one,
because they are in one person.
It has therefore pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word,
so that this church may reap
the real benefit of the sacraments of baptism and the Holy Supper.
This comes about when people see with the eyes of their spirit,
that is, with the understanding,
the holiness hidden within them,
and grasp this holiness for themselves
by the means which the Lord taught us to use in His Word.

Without the disclosure of the spiritual sense of the Word,
or what is the same thing,
without the revelation of how natural things correspond to spiritual ones,
the holiness of the sacrament which is the subject of the chapter
could not more be inwardly acknowledged than a treasure hidden in a field.

TCR 694 - everlasting rest is the pleasure of service

TCR 694 [7]
'Everlasting rest,' he said, 'is not leisure,
since that reduces the mind and so the whole body
to a state of feebleness, torpidity, stupidness and somnolence . . .
So everlasting rest is a rest that banishes all those ills
and makes people alive.
This can only be something that uplifts the mind.
So it is some interest or task which excites, enlivens and delights the mind.
This depends upon the purpose for which, in which and towards which it aims.
This is why the whole of heaven is seen by the Lord as a coherent purpose,
and it is the purpose he serves
that makes every angel an angel.
The pleasure of service carries him along,
as a favorable current does a ship,
and confers upon him everlasting peace and the rest peace gives.
This is what is meant by everlasting rest from labors.
The extent to which an angel is alive
depends upon his mental commitment arising from service.

TCR 684 - the purpose behind baptism

TCR 684
The third purpose of baptism, which is its end in view,
is a person's regeneration.

This is the real purpose behind baptism,
and so the end with a view to which it was instituted.
The reason is that one who is truly a Christian
gets to know and acknowledge the Lord the Redeemer, Jesus Christ;
and since He is the Redeemer, He is also the Regenerator.
Redemption and regeneration are one . . ..
Another reason is that a Christian possesses the Word,
in which is available a description of the means of regeneration,
and these are faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor.
This is the same as when it is said of the Lord
that He will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire
(Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8-11; Luke 3:16; John 1:33).
The Holy Spirit means the Divine truth of faith,
fire the Divine good of love or charity,
both of these proceeding from the Lord . . .
These two are the means
by which all regeneration is accomplished by the Lord.

The reason why the Lord Himself was baptised by John
(Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9; Luke 3:21, 22)
was not only to introduce the practice of baptism for the future
and to lead the way by His example,
but also because He glorified His Human and made this Divine,
just as He regenerates a person and makes him spiritual.

TCR 676 - washing your heart

Matthew 18: 16-20
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.
"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth
goes into the stomach and then out of the body?
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,
and these make a man 'unclean.'
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
These are what make a man 'unclean'.

TCR 676
The external person is not a person,
but only the figure of a person;
for it is the internal,
the power to be wise which comes from God,
which makes the person.
It is much the same with the circumcised and the baptized,
unless each circumcises or washes his heart.

TCR 666 - What is conscience?

TCR 666 [1, 3]
. . . conscience regarded in itself is not any distress,
but is a spiritual willingness to do what religion and faith dictate.
Thus it is that those who enjoy a conscience
live in tranquil peace and inward blessedness
when they act according to conscience,
and in some unease when they act against it.

All who have a conscience speak from the heart when they speak,
and act from the heart when they act;
for they have their minds undivided,
speaking and doing according to what
they understand and believe truth and good to be.

Psalm 103

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

(New King James Version)

TCR 659 - imputed or attributed

TCR 659
No evil that a person thinks is imputed to him,
because he was so created as to be able to understand
and thus think either good or evil
- good from the Lord and evil from hell -
for he is between these two,
and from his freedom of choice in spiritual things
has the ability to choose either one or the other.
. . . If the person then adopts the evils,
they are received by the old will and added to those in it;
but if he adopts goods with truths,
the Lord forms a new will and a new understanding above the old,
and there
by means of truths
He gradually implants new goods,
and by means of these
subjugates the evils that are below and removes them,
and arranges all things in order.
. . . if the evils that a person thinks were to be imputed to him,
reformation and regeneration would be impossible.

TCR 661 - performing uses or services

TCR 661 [15]
All who believe in the Lord
and shun evils as sins,
perform uses from the Lord;
but all who do not believe in the Lord
and do not shun evils as sins,
perform uses from themselves and for their own sake.

TCR 652 - the sphere radiated by the Lord

TCR 652 [3]
There is in fact a sphere continuously radiated by the Lord,
which raises all to heaven;
this fills the whole of both the spiritual and natural worlds.
It is like a strong current in the ocean,
which invisibly draws a ship along.
All who believe in the Lord
and live in accordance with His commandments
come within that sphere or current, and are raised up.
But those who do not believe
are unwilling to come within it,
but take themselves off to one side or the other,
and are there swept away by the stream bound for hell.

TCR 639 - persuasion & proof

TCR 639
. . . every idea which has been fixed in the mind by persuasion and proof;
. . . eventually they look like tapestries
fixed by many nails to a wall
stuck together out of crumbling stones.

TCR 630 - the Word teaches

TCR 630
. . . the Word teaches from beginning to end
that one should shun evils
because they are the devil's work and come from the devil,
and one should do good deeds
because they are God's work and come from God;
and one should do these things of oneself,
under the Lord's working.

TCR 623 - the Divine Essence

TCR 623 [4]
The Divine Essence has many attributes,
such as
omnipotence, omniscience,
omnipresence, eternity,
love, wisdom,
mercy, grace and others too.
There are also attributes which proceed from the Divine Essence;
creation and preservation,
redemption and salvation,
enlightenment and instruction.

. . . everyone who thinks of God in terms of Essence makes God one;
God created us. . .
and He too redeems and saves us,
and also enlightens and instructs us.

TCR 619 - truths

TCR 619
. . . there is no knowing the Lord without truths;
and without truths there is no faith and so no charity.

TCR 614 - a gift from the Lord

TCR 614
. . . a person is held back from evil
and kept in good by the Lord.
This is the gift he receives by regeneration.

TCR 596, 599 - struggles or temptations and then peace from the Lord

TCR 596
. . . the internal person is reformed by means of truths,
which enable him to see what is evil and false;
and these truths are still in his external or natural man.
. . . there is dissension between the new will, which is above,
and the old will, which is below.
Since it is dissension between wills,
it is between the pleasures of either,
for it is well known that the flesh opposes the spirit, and the spirit the flesh,
and the flesh with its lusts must be tamed,
before the spirit can act and the person can become a new person.
Following this dissension of the wills,
a struggle, known as spiritual temptation, takes place.
But this temptation or struggle is not between good and evil,
but between the truths that accompany good
and the falsities that accompany evil.
For good is unable to struggle of itself, but does so by means of truths.
Nor can evil struggle of itself, but does so by means of its falsities.
This is like the will being unable to struggle of itself,
but doing so by means of the understanding, which is where its truths are.

A person does not feel this struggle to be anywhere but in himself . . ..
The devil, or hell, attacks the person and calls forth the evil in him,
while the Lord protects him and calls forth the good in him.
But although that struggle takes place in the spiritual world,
at the same time it takes place in the person
between the truths that accompany good
and the falsities that accompany evil present within him.
A person ought therefore to struggle exactly as if of himself,
since he has the free will to act on the Lord's side or on the devil's.
He is on the Lord's side if he holds to truths from good,
on the devil's if he holds to falsities from evil.

TCR 599
By struggles and temptations in the world
the Lord glorified His Human, that is, He made it Divine.
It is likewise now with people individually;
when someone is subject to temptations,
the Lord struggles for him,
overcoming the spirits of hell who assail him;
and after his temptation He glorifies him,
that is, renders him spiritual.
After His universal redemption
the Lord brought everything in heaven and in hell into a state of order.
He does much the same with a person after temptation,
for He brings into a state of order
everything in him relating to heaven and the world.
After the act of redemption the Lord established a new church;
likewise too He establishes in a person what is to do with the church,
and makes him a church at the level of the individual.
After redemption
the Lord granted peace to those who believed in Him; for He said:

I leave peace with you,
my peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give it to you.
John 14:27

Likewise He grants to a person after temptation to feel peace,
that is, gladness of mind and consolation.
These facts show that the Lord is the Redeemer for ever.

TCR 583, 587 - beginnings

TCR 583
The natural births mentioned in the Word refer to spiritual births . . .
and these are the Lord's work . . .

TCR 587
. . . reformation takes place through the understanding
or through the truths the understanding receives.
For truths teach the person in whom and what he should believe,
and what he should do, so what he should will.
For anything a person does
is the result of the will acting in accordance with the understanding.
Since then a person's will is of itself evil from birth,
and because it is the understanding which teaches us
what is evil and what is good,
and it is possible to will the one and not will the other,
it follows that a person must be reformed through the understanding.
So long as anyone sees and mentally acknowledges
that evil is evil, and good is good,
thinking that good ought to be chosen,
for so long is his state called reformation.
But when his will is to shun evil and do good,
that is when his state of regeneration begins.

TCR 571, 580 - reformation, regeneration, and co-operation

TCR 571
There are two states which a person must enter upon and undergo
to pass from being natural to being spiritual.
The first state is called reformation, the second regeneration.
In his first state a person looks from his natural to his spiritual person
and desires to be spiritual;
in the second state he becomes spiritual-natural.
The first state is formed by means of the truths
which must become part of faith,
and these enable him to look towards charity.
The second state is formed by the kinds of good which make up charity,
and from them he enters into the truths of faith.
To put this in other terms,
the first state is one of thought on the part of the understanding,
but the second is one of love on the part of the will.
When this state begins and develops, a mental change takes place;
for there is a turning-point,
following which the love of the will flows into the understanding,
and drives and guides it to think in harmony and in keeping with its love.
In so far therefore as the good of love then plays the leading role,
and the truths of faith take second place,
to that extent he is a spiritual person and a new creature.
Then charity inspires his actions, faith his speech;
he feels the good of charity and perceives the truth of faith.
Then he is in the Lord and in a state of peace,
and so he is regenerated.

TCR 580 [3]
The reason why all can be regenerated and so saved
is that the Lord is present with His Divine good and truth with every person.
This is the source of his life, and of his ability to understand and will,
and of the free will he has in spiritual matters;
no one is without these.
Moreover the means are given.
Christians have the means in the Word,
non-Christians in any religion at all,
if it teaches the existence of God and commandments about good and evil.
From this it follows that everyone can be saved.
Consequently, if a person is not saved,
it is not the Lord who is to blame but the person;
and he is to blame for failing to co-operate.