AE 148 - States and Names

AE 148 [1, 5]

. . . the quality of the state of the interior life 
is wholly unknown to those 
who are not in the interior life. 
Those who are in the interior life, 
are in love to the Lord, 
and no one is in love to the Lord 
except those who acknowledge 
the Divine in His Human.
Interior life is the spiritual life, 
in which the angels of heaven are; 
but the exterior life is the natural life, 
in which are all who are not in heaven. 
With those, moreover, 
who live according to 
the precepts of the Lord 
and acknowledge the Divine in His Human, 
the interior mind is opened, 
and a person then becomes spiritual; 
but those who do not so live, 
and do not acknowledge the Lord, 
remain natural.

"Name" in the Word 
signifies the quality of a person's state, 
because in the spiritual world each one is named 
according to the state of life in which he is, 
so variously; 
for spiritual speech is not like human speech; 
all things there are expressed according to
ideas of things and of persons; 
and these ideas fall into words.

 

AE 143 - Repenting; AE 146 - The Lord's Divine Human Is Divine Love

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 146

. . . 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 142 - The Consequence of Separating Truth from Good

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; 
truths with such have no life; 
and it is the life of truth, 
which is good, 
that conjoins, 
but not truth without life, 
or faith without charity.

 

AE 140 - Illustration of the Understanding in Regeneration

AE 140 [6-7]

It is to be noted, moreover, that a person can be 
in illustration in respect to the understanding, 
and yet in evil in respect to the will; 
for the intellectual faculty 
is separated from the voluntary 
with all who are not regenerated, 
and only with those who are regenerated 
do they act as one; 
for it is the office of the understanding 
to know, to think, and to speak truths, 
but of the will to will the things that are understood, 
and from the will, or from the love, 
to do them. 
The divorcement of the two 
is clearly manifest with evil spirits; 
when these turn themselves towards good spirits, 
they, too, understand truths, 
and also acknowledge them, 
almost as if they were illustrated; 
but as soon as they 
turn themselves away from good spirits, 
they return to the love of their will 
and see nothing of truth, 
and even deny the things they have heard.

To be able to have the understanding illustrated 
is granted to a person, for the sake of reformation; 
for in a person's will every evil resides, 
both that into which he is born 
and that into which he introduces himself; 
and the will cannot be corrected 
unless a person knows, 
and by the understanding acknowledges, 
truths and goods, and also falsities and evils; 
in no other way can he turn away from the latter
and love the former.

AE 138 - Where Satan Dwells / Spiritual Temptations

AE 138. 

In what precedes we are told in what company 
those are who are in temptations, namely, 
they are among those 
who are in falsities of every kind; 
for person, as to his body, is 
with people in the natural world, 
but as to thoughts and intentions 
he is with spirits in the spiritual world. 
When he comes into spiritual temptation, 
he is among those spirits who are in falsities; 
these bind his thoughts 
and hold them as it were bound in prison, 
and continually pour in calumnies*
against the truths of faith, 
and call forth the evils of his life; 
but the Lord continually protects a person 
by flowing in from the interior, 
and thus holds a person in constancy in resisting; 
such are spiritual temptations. 
. . . No one except those who acknowledge 
the Lord's Divine in His Human 
and who are in the spiritual affection of truth 
are let into spiritual temptations; 
the rest are natural people, 
who cannot be tempted.
__________

*misrepresentations intended to harm another's reputation
 

AE 135, 136 - Love to Him, and Faith In Him

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; 
nor is His Divine separate from the Human, 
but it is in the Human.

AE 136

There are two things that constitute 
a person's spiritual life, love and faith. 
Every good has reference to love, 
and every truth to faith; 
but truth with a person is of faith only so far 
as it is derived from the good of love; 
since every truth is from good, 
for it is the form of good, 
and all good is the esse (being) of truth. 
For good, when it is so formed 
as to appear to the mind, 
and through the mind in speech, 
is called truth; 
therefore it is said that good is the esse of truth.  

AE 131 (con't) - Swords Combating Against Truth and Destroying It

AE 131 [6, 10-11, 18, 19] 

As most expressions in the Word 
also have a contrary sense, 
so also has "sword;" 
in that sense it signifies falsity 
combating against truth and destroying it. 
The vastations of the church, 
which take place 
when there are no longer any truths, 
but only falsities, 
are described in the Word by a "sword,"

"They have denied Jehovah when they have said, 
It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; 
neither shall we see sword and famine."
(Jeremiah 5:12)

In the same:

"The young men shall die by the sword; 
and their sons and their daughters 
shall die by famine."
(Jeremiah 11:22)

"Young men" are those who are in truths, 
and in the abstract, truths themselves; 
"to die by the sword" is to be destroyed by falsities; 
"sons and daughters" 
are the knowledges of truth and good; 
"famine" is a dearth of these.

In Lamentations:

"We get our bread with peril of our souls, 
because of the sword of the wilderness."
(Lamentations 5:9)

"The wilderness" is where there is no good 
because there is no truth; 
its "sword" is the destruction of truth; 
"bread" is good, 
which is got with "peril of souls," 
because all good is implanted in person 
by means of truth.

From this it is now evident 
what is signified in the Word by "the long sword," 
"the short sword," or the "sword" in both senses. 
Such things are signified by "sword" 
by reason also of appearance in the spiritual world. 
When spiritual combats take place there, 
which are combats of truth against falsity 
and of falsity against truth, 
various weapons of war, as swords, spears, 
shields, and the like are seen; 
not that the combats are maintained by these, 
but they are mere appearances, 
representative of spiritual combats. 
When falsities are fiercely combating truths, 
there sometimes appears from heaven 
the brightness or flashing of a sword 
vibrating every way, 
and causing great terror, 
by which those who are combating from falsities 
are dispersed.

This makes clear what is meant 
by these words in Ezekiel:

"They shall be horribly afraid 
when I shall brandish My sword before their faces, 
that they may tremble every moment for their soul." 
(Ezekiel 32:10-12)

And in the same:

"Prophesy and say, 
a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished, 
that it may have luster, 
that the heart may melt. 
Ah! It is made into lightning."
(Ezekiel 21:9-10, 15)

The sword causes so great terror 
because "iron," of which a sword is made, 
signifies truth in ultimates, 
and the brightness and flashing 
are from the light of heaven 
and from vibration of this light upon the sword. 
The light of heaven 
is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. 
When Divine truth falls upon those 
who are in falsities strikes terror.

 

AE 131 - The Sword Meaning Truth Fighting Falsity

AE 131 [1, 2, 5]

"These things says He that has 
the sharp two-edged sword,"
(Revelation 2:13)
signifies the Lord, who alone combats in temptation.

. . . by "wars" in the Word are signified spiritual wars, 
and spiritual wars are wars of truths against falsities 
and of falsities against truths; 
and as "wars" in the Word have such a signification, 
all weapons of war, as "sword," "spear," 
"bow," "arrows," "shield," and many others, 
signify each some special thing 
pertaining to spiritual combat; 
especially the "sword," 
because in wars they fight with swords.

"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.

In Revelation:

"There was given unto him 
that sat on the red horse a great sword."
(Revelation 6:4)

In another place:

"Out of the mouth of him that sat on the white horse 
went forth a sharp sword, 
that with it he should smite the nations. 
The rest were killed with the sword of him 
that sat upon the horse."
(Revelation 19:15,21)

By "sword" in these passages 
is signified truth combating and destroying; 
this destruction is especially apparent 
in the spiritual world; 
there those that are in falsities 
cannot sustain the truth; 
when they come into the sphere of light, 
that is, where Divine truth is, 
they are in anguish, 
like those who are struggling with death; 
and so they are also deprived of truths 
and are vastated.

 

AE 130 - "Angels" and Divine Truths

AE 130 [4, 10]

. . . angels have no power of themselves, 
but all power is the Lord's through His Divine Truth.

It is said that by "angels" in the Word, 
in its spiritual sense, 
are meant Divine truths proceeding from the Lord, 
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. 
That nothing of faith is from a person, 
but all faith is from God, 
is the same as saying 
that nothing of truth that has life is from a person, 
but all truth is from God, 
for truth is of faith and faith is of truth.

 

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 . . ..