AE 128 - To Overcome

AE 128

. . . "to overcome" is to resist evils and falsities, 
and to tame and subdue them as one's enemies. 
But no one overcomes unless he is steadfast 
in the spiritual affection of truth, 
even to the end of his life in the world; 
then the work is finished; 
for a person remains to eternity such as he then is, 
namely, such as his life has been up to that point; 
death is what completes it. 
But no one is able to overcome 
except the Lord only. 
The person who supposes 
that he overcomes of himself, 
and not that it is the Lord with him that overcomes, 
does not overcome but succumbs; 
for it is spiritual faith that overcomes, 
and there is nothing of spiritual faith from a person, 
but the whole of it is from the Lord.

 

AE 125 - Be Faithful Until Death

AE 125

Be thou faithful even till death, 
(Revelation 2:10)

signifies steadfastness in truths to the end. 
This is evident without explanation. 
It is said "even till death," 
because such as a person is when he dies, 
such he remains to eternity; 
the life previously lived 
is only the life for the formation of his spirit.

AE 122 - Dominant Love and Devotional Reading

AE 122 [6]

. . . the love that is dominant 
turns the mind of him who reads 
to those things only that favor the love; 
for love is like a fire, 
which lights up the things that favor it, 
while the rest are either passed by as if not seen, 
or drawn over to one's side 
by perverse explanation and thus falsified.

 

AE 121 - "Fear Not"

AE 121

Fear not the things which you are to suffer, 
signifies that they should not grieve 
because such men persecute them. 
(Revelation 2:10)

This is evident from the signification of "fear not," 
as being, in reference to those 
about to suffer persecutions, 
that they should not grieve in mind; 
for fear with these is also grief; 
and from the signification of 
"the things which thou art to suffer," 
namely, from those 
who are in the doctrine of all falsities, 
as being that such are about to persecute. 

AE 118 - "Judah"

AE 118 [1, 2]

. . . for "Judah," in the highest sense of the Word, 
signifies the Lord in respect to celestial love, 
in the internal sense 
the Lord's celestial kingdom and the Word, 
and in the external sense doctrine from the Word, 
which is of the celestial church.

And as with them a church was instituted
in which all things were representative
and significative of things heavenly,
so by their names was signified
that which essentially makes the church,
namely, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself;
in the internal sense His Word;
and in the external sense doctrine from the Word.
From this it is clear
how greatly those are mistaken who believe,
according to the letter,
that the Jews are to be brought back
into the land of Canaan,
and that they have been chosen
and destined for heaven in preference to others;
. . . but that nation
has altogether rejected Him from its faith.


 

AE 118 - The Lord Loves to Share His Good and Truth

AE 118 [2]

The spiritual affection of truth 
has no other source than the Lord, 
because the Lord is 
Divine truth in heaven and in the church, 
for Divine truth proceeds from Him. 
And as the Lord loves 
to lead everyone to Himself, 
and to save them, 
and this He can do only by 
the knowledges of good and truth from the Word, 
so the Lord loves to impart these to people, 
and make them of the person's life, 
for in this way and no other 
can He lead a person to Himself and save him. 
From this it is clear 
that all spiritual affection of truth is from the Lord, 
and that no one can be in that affection 
unless he acknowledges 
the Divine of the Lord in His Human, 
for by such acknowledgment there is conjunction, 
and according to conjunction there is reception.

 

AE 117 - When We Don't Understand the Lord's Word

AE 117

And affliction, 
(Revelation 2:9)

signifies anxiety from a longing to know truths. 
. . . and these are in anxiety as to the spirit 
when they do not understand. 
That these have such anxiety 
when they do not understand, 
no one can know except those 
who are in the affection of truth 
for the sake of truth, 
that is, who are in spiritual affection . . .. 
The reason for this is, 
that such are conjoined to the angels of heaven, 
and angels continually long for truths, 
because they long for intelligence and wisdom; 
they long for these 
as a hungry person longs for food. 
For this reason also 
intelligence and wisdom are called spiritual food. 
A person also has this longing from infancy, 
for when he is an infant, 
and afterwards when a child, 
he is conjoined to heaven, 
and this longing is from heaven; 
but with those who turn themselves to the world 
it perishes.

They have such anxiety when they read the Word 
and do not well understand it, 
because all the truths of heaven and the church
are from the Word, 
and lie concealed therein in its spiritual sense, 
and are not opened to any 
except those as are conjoined to heaven, 
since that sense of the Word is in heaven. 
Yet the spiritual sense itself of the Word 
does not flow in with a person out of heaven, 
but it flows into his affection, 
and through this into the knowledges that he has, 
and thus kindles his longing, 
and he then receives 
the genuine truths of the church 
so far as he can see them 
from the literal sense of the Word. 
Everyone who is in the spiritual affection of truth
is conscious that the things that he knows are few, 
and the things that he does not know are infinite. 
He is aware, moreover, 
that knowing and acknowledging this 
is the first step towards wisdom; 
and that those who pride themselves 
on the things they know, 
and believe themselves on account of these 
to be most intelligent, 
have not reached this first step.

AE 115 - The Spiritual Affection of Truth

AE 115

The Lord said to 
the angel of this church (Smyrneans), 
"I am the First and the Last, 
who was dead and is alive," 
(Revelation 2:8)

because those within the church 
that are in the spiritual affection of truth 
are treated of here. 
These are such 
as search out truths from the Word, 
and when they find them they rejoice in heart, 
solely because they are truths. 
. . . The spiritual affection of truth, 
which is loving truth because it is truth, 
exists only with those 
who are conjoined to the Lord 
by the acknowledgment of His Divine in the Human, 
and by faith in it; 
since all the truth of heaven 
and all the truth of the church 
is from no other source 
than the Lord's Divine Human; 
for out of this proceeds Divine truth, 
which is called 
"the Spirit of Truth," or "the Holy Spirit." 
From this the angels of heaven 
have all their affection of truth 
and all their wisdom. 
It is with these that the Lord is alive.

 

AE 112 - Looking Up or Down and Knowledges Are Vessels

AE 112 [2, 4-5]

In general, 
there are affections of truth from two sources, 
namely, from a natural and from a spiritual source. 
Those who are in the affection of truth 
from a natural source 
look first to self and the world, 
and so are natural; 
but those who are in the affection of truth 
from a spiritual source 
look first to the Lord and to heaven, 
and so are spiritual. 
A person's affection or love 
looks either downwards or upwards; 
those who look to self and the world 
look downwards, 
but those who look to the Lord and to heaven 
look upwards. 
A person's interiors, which are of his mind, 
actually look in the same direction 
as his love or affection does, 
for love determines them; 
and such as is the determination 
of a person's interiors, which are of his mind, 
such after death does the person remain to eternity. 
Looking downwards or upwards is looking 
from love through the understanding, 
thus through the things 
that form and make the understanding, 
which are the knowledges of truth and good.

The spiritual comes to a person 
from no other source than from charity. 
Those who are in spiritual affection 
are interested in the Word, 
and desire nothing more earnestly 
than to understand it. 
But as there are innumerable things therein 
that they do not understand, 
because the Word in its bosom is spiritual 
and the spiritual includes infinite arcana, 
therefore, so long as a person lives in the world 
and then sees from the natural person, 
he can only be a little 
in the knowledges of truth and good, 
and in generals only, in which, however, 
innumerable things may be implanted 
when he comes into the spiritual world or heaven.

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 110 - "Paradise of God"

AE 110 [1, 3]

Heaven and the church are called the "paradise of God," 
because the Lord is in the midst of them, 
and from Him is all intelligence and wisdom.

. . . the Lord is in the good of His love 
with a person, spirit, and angel.

To love God and to believe in Him 
involve all things that the church teaches, 
called doctrinals and knowledges, 
since from these is God loved and believed in. 
There is no love and faith 
without previous knowledges; 
for without knowledges a person would be empty.

 

AE 108 - Hearkening or Understanding and Doing

AE 108

"He that has an ear 
let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches," 
is said to each of the churches, 
in order that everyone 
who is of the church may know 
that it is not knowing and understanding 
the truths and goods of faith, 
or doctrinals, or even the Word, 
that makes the church, 
but hearkening, that is, understanding and doing; 
for this is signified by the words 
"He that has an ear let him hear 
what the Spirit said unto the churches." 
Because this makes the church 
and forms heaven with a person, 
and knowing and understanding, 
apart from doing, does not . . ..

 

AE 105 - Be Mindful

AE 105

Be mindful therefore of where you have fallen, 
and repent, 
and do the first works, 
(Revelation 2:5)

signifies the remembrance of former things, 
and the remembrance 
of having deviated from the truth; 
and this, in order that the good of life 
of the church at its beginning 
may come into mind.
. . . That a life in accordance with knowledges 
is the essential of the church, 
and not knowledges apart from such a life, 
can be seen by everyone who thinks about it; 
for knowledges, 
so long as there is no life according to them, 
reside in the memory only; 
and so long as they reside there only 
they do not affect a person's interiors; 
for memory is given to a person to be a receptacle, 
from which may be taken 
what will be serviceable to the life; 
and things are serviceable to the life 
when a person wills them and does them.

The whole spirit of a person is nothing but his will; 
when, therefore, a person becomes a spirit, 
he is unable to resist anything 
that is favored by his will, 
for the whole person strives after it. 
. . . a person's will is what gives form to his spirit, 
and that a person's spirit 
after it has left the body is his will. 
Whether you say will or love it is the same, 
for what a person loves he wills . . .. 
The knowledges of good and truth, 
before they enter a person's will or love, 
contribute nothing whatever to his salvation, 
because they are not within the person: 
but out of him. 
But still knowledges are necessary, 
for without them 
a person can know nothing of spiritual life, 
and he who knows nothing of spiritual life 
cannot become spiritual; 
for that which a person knows 
he can think, can will, and can do, 
but not that which he does not know. 

 

AE 104 - Charity: Living His Truth

AE 104

Charity is life, 
because all life in accordance with 
the precepts of the Lord in the Word 
is called "charity;" 
therefore to exercise charity 
is to live according to those precepts.

 

AE 10 - For the Sake of His Name

AE 102 [1, 3,  4]

In many passages of the Word it is said, 
"for the sake of Jehovah's name," 
"for the sake of the Lord's name," 
"for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ," 
that "the name of God should be sanctified," 
and the like. 
Those whose thoughts do not go beyond 
the sense of the letter 
suppose that the name alone is meant; 
but what is meant is not the name, 
but everything whereby the Lord is worshiped; 
and all of this has relation to love and faith. 
Therefore by "the Lord's name" in the Word 
all things of love and of faith 
by which He is worshiped are meant . . ..

. . . by "Jesus" is meant the Lord 
in respect to Divine good; 
and by "Christ" the Lord in respect to Divine truth . . ..

The "name of the Lord," in the New Testament 
means the like as the "name of Jehovah" in the Old, 
because the Lord there is Jehovah.

 

AE 100 - The Apostles

AE 100

. . . those who are in the knowledges 
of the holy things of the church 
need first to know in general 
what good and truth are, 
also what evil and falsity are, 
for upon this knowledge 
all other knowledges are founded.

The kingdom of God on the earth is the church. 
From this it is evident what is meant by "apostles" 
in the spiritual sense of the Word, 
namely, not the twelve apostles 
who were sent by the Lord 
to teach concerning Him and His kingdom, 
but all who are in the truths of the church, 
and in a sense abstracted from persons, 
the truths themselves. 

 

AE 98 - Works, Toil, Endurance

AE 98 [1, 5]

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.

. . . 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 a 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 wing, thinking, and consequent doing, 
or what is the same, 
loving, believing, and consequent presenting in act. 
But still these things are not comprehensible, 
unless it is also known 
that a person has two faculties, 
called will and understanding, 
and that these two faculties 
are called by the one term "mind;" 
also that man has an internal and an external-
an internal in the light of the spiritual world, 
and an external in the light of the natural world. 

"Works" are so frequently mentioned, 
because the sense of the letter of the Word 
is made up solely of things external, 
which are in nature 
and which appear before the eyes: 
and this in order that there may be 
a spiritual sense in each particular, 
as a soul in a body, 
for otherwise the Word would not be 
a means of communication with the angels, 
for it would be 
like a house without a foundation.

. . . when "works" are mentioned, 
angels, because they are spiritual, 
do not understand works, 
but the things from which works spring, 
which are, as was said above, 
the will or love, 
and thought therefrom which is of faith.
"Toil," in the spiritual sense, 
means all things that a person thinks, 
because spiritual toiling is thinking. 
And "endurance" 
signifies all things that a person does, 
because "to endure" here means to be assiduous, 
and to put away 
the obstructions in the natural person 
that are continually rising up and hindering.

 

AE 96 - What Proceeds from His Divine Itself; AE 97 - Walking in the Midst

AE 96

. . . What immediately proceeds from His Divine Itself 
does not reach a person, 
because His Divine Itself is invisible 
and therefore does not fall within the thought, 
and what does not fall within the thought 
does not fall within the faith; 
for everything that is of faith must be thought. 
. . . The knowledges of truth and good 
are here treated of first, 
because they are the first things of the church; 
for no one can be initiated into faith and charity, 
which constitute the church, 
except by means of knowledges from the Word 
that pertain to the church.

AE 97

He that walks in the midst 
of the seven golden lampstands, 
(Revelation 2:1)

. . .  the Lord was seen
"in the midst of the lampstands," 
because "midst" signifies inmost; 
"lampstands" signify heaven and the church, 
and "walking" signifies life . . ..
That "walking" signifies living, 
and in reference to the Lord, Life itself, 
is from appearances in the spiritual world, 
where all walk according to their life, 
the evil in no other ways than those that lead to hell, 
but the good in no other ways 
than those that lead to heaven; 
consequently all spirits are known there 
from the ways wherein they are walking. 
Moreover, ways actually appear there; 
but to the evil, the ways towards hell only, 
and to the good, the ways towards heaven only; 
and thus everyone is brought to his own society.

 

AE 95 - The Angel of the Ephesian Church

AE 95

To the angel of the Ephesian church write, 
(Revelation 2:1)

signifies for remembrance to those within the church 
who are in knowledges of truth and good 
from the Word. 
This is evident from the signification of "writing," 
as being for remembrance.

. . . It is said, "from the internal sense," 
since all things in Revelation are prophetic, 
and things prophetic can be explained 
only by the internal sense. 
. . . And since these arcana cannot be seen 
by the merely natural person, 
those who account the Word holy 
pass those things by 
that they do not understand, 
saying that there is a hidden meaning there
that is unknown to them, 
and that some call mystical. 
That this is the spiritual of the Word 
is known by some, 
because they think of the Word 
as being in its core 
spiritual for the reason that it is Divine. 
, , , this is the spiritual sense of the Word, 
and that the Word
 is understood in this sense by angels, 
and that by means of this sense 
there is conjunction of heaven 
with the people of the church. 

 

AE 92, 93 - Becoming Spiritual

AE 92

. . . by the "seven churches" 
all who are in truths from good, 
and by the "seven angels" 
all in heaven that correspond to them; 
and since heaven and the church 
make one by correspondence, 
it is said in what follows, 
"To the angel of the church, write," 
and not, Write to the church.
. . . there is correspondence 
when a person has become spiritual, 
and a person becomes spiritual 
when he acknowledges the Divine 
and especially the Lord, 
and loves to live 
according to the precepts in the Word, 
for when he does this he is conjoined with heaven; 
and then the spiritual 
corresponds with the natural which is with him.

AE 93

. . . doctrinals alone, 
or the knowledges of truth and good alone, 
do not make a person spiritual, 
but a life according to them; 
for doctrinals or knowledges 
without a life according to them 
live only in the memory and then in the thought, 
and all things that live there only, 
live in the natural person; 
consequently a person does not become spiritual 
until these enter the life, 
and they enter the life 
when a person wills the things which he thinks, 
and consequently does them.

 

AE 90 - "The Seven Stars Are the Angels of the Seven Churches"

AE 90

. . . "the seven stars are 
the angels of the seven churches" 
are signified all who receive 
goods and truths from the Lord.

By "angels" are here meant those who in heaven 
are in like correspondent good and truth 
with those in the church, 
because the universal heaven 
is divided into societies, 
and the societies are arranged according to 
the affections of good and truth 
in general and in particular. 
. . . All these societies are called "angels," 
and each one is called an "angel;" 
and also a society when viewed from a distance, 
and when so presented 
as to be seen as a one, 
appears as a single angel. 
Moreover, there is a complete correspondence 
of heaven with the church, 
or of the angels of heaven 
with the people of the church; 
through this correspondence heaven 
makes a one with the church. 
From this it is clear what is here meant by 
the "angels of the seven churches," 
and in the following chapter 
by the "angel" of each church, 
where it is said, 
"Write to the angel of the Ephesian church," 
"to the angel of the church of the Smyrneans," 
"to the angel of the Pergmean church," 
"to the angel of the church of Thyatira," 
"to the angel of the church in Sardis," 
"to the angel of the Philadelphian church," 
and "to the angel of the Laodicean church;" 
the command evidently was to write, 
not to angels but to churches, that is, 
to those who are 
in such good and truth from the Lord 
and who are described by each church.