The Fire of Life

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That which anyone does from love remains inscribed on his heart, for love is the fire of life, thus is the life of everyone. Consequently such as is the love, such is the life; and such as is the life, thus such as is the love, such is the whole man as to soul and as to body.

As love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor make the life of heaven with man, so when they reign do the love of self and the love of the world make the life of hell with him, for these loves are opposite to the former; and therefore those with whom the loves of self and of the world reign, can receive nothing from heaven; but all that they receive is from hell. For whatever a man thinks, and whatever he wills, or whatever a man believes, and whatever he loves is either from heaven or from hell.

From this it is that those in whom the love of self and the love of the world make the life, desire what is good for themselves alone, and not for others except for the sake of themselves. And as their life is from hell, they despise others in comparison with themselves, they are angry with others if they do not favor them, they hold them in hatred, they burn with revenge against them, and even desire to vent their rage upon them. At last these things become the delights of their life, thus their loves.

These are they who have hell in them, and who after death come into hell, because their life is in agreement with the life of those who are in hell; for all there are of this character; and everyone comes to his own people.

As these persons receive nothing from heaven, in their hearts they deny God and the life after death, and consequently hold in contempt all things of the church. It avails not that they do good to their fellow-citizen, to society, to their country, and to the church; or that they speak well about these; because they do all this for the sake of themselves and the world, in order to save appearances, and to secure reputation, honors, and gains. These are the external bonds by which such persons are brought to do what is good, and are withheld from doing what is evil. As for internal bonds, which are those of conscience, and which dictate that what is evil must not be done because it is sin, and is contrary to the Divine laws, they have none.

And therefore when these persons come into the other life, which takes place immediately after death, and external things are taken away from them, they rush headlong into every wickedness in accordance with their interiors, such as contempt of others in comparison with themselves, enmity, hatred, revenge, rage, cruelty, and also into hypocrisy, fraud, deceit, and many other kinds of wickedness. These are then the delights of their life; and therefore they are separated from the good, and cast into hell.

In the world many such persons are not aware that these thing are the delight of their life, because these things hide themselves in the loves of self and of the world; and at that time such persons call all things goods that favor these loves; and all things that confirm them they call truths. Neither do they know and acknowledge any other goods and truths, because they receive nothing from heaven, which they have closed against themselves.

As love is the fire of life, and everyone's life is in accordance with his love, it may from this be known what heavenly fire is, and what infernal fire.—

Heavenly fire is love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor

Infernal fire is the love of self

and the love of the world, and the consequent concupiscence of all evils, which spring from these loves as from their fountains.

The nature of the life with those who are in hell can be inferred from what it would be among such persons in the world if external bonds were taken away, and there were no internal bonds to restrain them.

The life of man cannot be changed after death. It then remains such as it had been. Nor can the life of hell be transferred into the life of heaven, because they are opposites. From this it is evident that those who come into hell remain there forever; and that those who come into heaven remain there forever.

(Arcana Coelestia 10740 - 10749)

Activity Within a Regenerate Man

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF THE REGENERATE MAN

AND

ON THE INFLUX OF THE INTERNAL MAN INTO THE EXTERNAL

A few words shall be said about what the regenerate man is relatively to the unregenerate man, for in this way both will be apprehended.

• With the regenerate man there is a conscience of what is good and true, and he does good and thinks truth from conscience; the good which he does being the good of charity, and the truth which he thinks being the truth of faith.

• The unregenerate man has no conscience, or if any, it is not a conscience of doing good from charity, and of thinking truth from faith, but is based on some love that regards himself or the world, wherefore it is a spurious or false conscience.

• With the regenerate man there is joy when he acts according to conscience, and anxiety when he is forced to do or think contrary to it

• But it is not so with the unregenerate, for very many such men do not know what conscience is, much less what it is to do anything either according or contrary to it, but only what it is to do the things that favor their loves. This is what gives them joy, and when they do what is contrary to their loves, this is what gives them anxiety.

• With the regenerate man there is a new will and a new understanding, and this new will and new understanding are his conscience, that is, they are in his conscience, and through this the Lord works the good of charity and the truth of faith.

• With an unregenerate man there is not will, but instead of will there is cupidity, and a consequent proneness to every evil; neither is there understanding, but mere reasoning and a consequent falling away to every falsity.

• With the regenerate man there is celestial and spiritual life.

• But with the unregenerate man there is only corporeal and worldly life, and his ability to think and understand what is good and true is from the Lord's life through the remains before spoken of, and it is from this that he has the faculty of reflecting.

• With the regenerate the internal man has the dominion, the external being obedient and submissive.

• But with the unregenerate the external man rules, the internal being quiescent, as if it had no existence.

• The regenerate man knows, or has a capacity of knowing on reflection, what the internal man is, and what the external.

• But of these the unregenerate man is altogether ignorant, nor can he know them even if he reflects, since he is unacquainted with the good and truth of faith originating in charity.

Hence may be seen what is the quality of the regenerate, and what of the unregenerate man, and that they differ from each other like summer and winter, and light and darkness; wherefore the regenerate is a living, but the unregenerate a dead man.

WHAT IS THE INTERNAL MAN — WHAT IS THE EXTERNAL MAN

What the internal man is, and what the external, is at this day known to few, if any. It is generally supposed that they are one and the same, and this chiefly because men believe that they do good, and think truth from what is their own, for it is the nature of man's Own to believe this; whereas the internal man is as distinct from the external as heaven is from earth.

Both the learned and the unlearned, when reflecting on the subject, have no other conception respecting the internal man than its being thought, because it is within; and of the external man that it is the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, because this is without. Thought, however, which is thus ascribed to the internal man, does not belong thereto; for —

• In the internal man, there are nothing but goods and truths which are the Lord's
  

• In the interior man, conscience has been implanted by the Lord
  

And yet the evil, and even the worst of men, have thought, and so have those who are devoid of conscience, which shows that man's thought does not belong to the internal, but to the external man.

• That the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, is not the external man, is evident from the fact that spirits equally possess an external man, although they have no such body as they had during their life in this world.

But what the internal man is, and what the external, no one can possibly know unless he knows that —

• There is in every man a celestial and a spiritual that correspond to the angelic heaven, a rational that corresponds to the heaven of angelic spirits, and an interior sensuous that corresponds to the heaven of spirits.
  

For there are three heavens, and as many in man, which are most perfectly distinct from each other; and hence it is that after death —

• The man who has conscience is first in the heaven of spirits

• Afterwards is elevated by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits
  

• Lastly into the angelic heaven

— which could not possibly take place unless there were in him as many heavens, with which and with the state of which he has the capacity of corresponding.

From this I have learned what constitutes the internal, and what the external man.

• The internal man is formed of what is celestial and spiritual
  

• The interior or intermediate man, of what is rational
  

• The external man of what is sensuous, not belonging to the body, but derived from bodily things

— and this is the case not only with man, but also with spirits.

To speak in the language of the learned, these three, the internal, the interior, and the external man, are like end, cause, and effect; and it is well known that there can be no effect without a cause, and no cause without an end.

Effect, cause, and end, are as distinct from each other as are what is exterior, what is interior, and what is inmost.

Strictly speaking, the sensuous man - or he whose thought is grounded in sensuous things - is the external man, and the spiritual and celestial man is the internal man, and the rational man is intermediate between the two, being that by which the communication of the internal and the external man is effected.

I am aware that few will apprehend these statements, because men live in external things, and think from them. Hence it is that some regard themselves as being like the brutes, and believe that on the death of the body they will die altogether, although they then first begin to live.

After death, those who are good —

• At first live a sensuous life in the world or heaven of spirits
  

• Afterwards, an interior sensuous life in the heaven of angelic spirits
  

• Lastly, an inmost sensuous life in the angelic heaven, this angelic life being the life of the internal man, and concerning which scarcely anything can be said that is comprehensible by man.

The regenerate may know that there is such a life by reflecting on the nature of the good and the true, and of spiritual warfare, for it is the life of the Lord in man, since the Lord — through the internal man — works the good of charity and the truth of faith in his external man. What is thence perceived in his thought and affection is a certain general which contains innumerable things that come from the internal man, and which the man cannot possibly perceive until he enters the angelic heaven.

THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF HEAVEN AND OF HEAVENLY JOY

But in order that I might know the nature and quality of heaven and of heavenly joy, for long and often I have been permitted by the Lord to perceive the delights of heavenly joys, so that as I know them from actual experience I can indeed know them, but can by no means describe them. 

However, in order to give some idea of it I may say that heavenly joy is an affection of innumerable delights and joys that form one general simultaneous joy, in which general joy, that is, in which general affection, there are harmonies of innumerable affections that do not come distinctly to perception, but obscurely, because the perception is very general. Yet I was permitted to perceive that there are things innumerable within it, in such order as can never be described, these innumerable things being such as flow from the order of heaven. 

Such order exists in every least thing of the affection, all of which together are presented and perceived as a very general one according to the capacity of him who is the subject of it. 

In a word, in every general joy or affection there are illimitable things ordinated in a most perfect form, and there is nothing that is not alive or that does not affect even the inmost things of our being, for heavenly joys proceed from inmost things. I perceived also that the joy and deliciousness came as if from the heart, and very softly diffused themselves through all the inmost fibers, and so into the congregated fibers, with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber is as it were nothing but joy and deliciousness, and the whole derivative perceptive and sensitive sphere the same, being alive with happiness. In comparison with these joys, the joy of bodily pleasures is like gross and pungent dust as compared with a pure and gentle breeze. (Arcana Coelestia 545)

The things here said about the internal man, being above the apprehension of very many, are not necessary to salvation. It is sufficient to know that there is an internal and an external man, and to acknowledge and believe that all good and truth are from the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 977, 978)

Are "Works" Required?

Selections from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, is formed of those who repent of evil works is also manifest from the Lord's words to the churches:

• To Ephesus; I know thy works; I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first charity. Repent, and do the former works; or else I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent (Rev. 2:2, 4-5).

• To the church in Pergamos; I know thy works, repent (Rev. 2:13, 16).

• To the church in Thyatira; I will deliver her into affliction, except they repent of their works, I will give unto everyone of you according to his works (Rev. 2:19, 22-23).

• To the church in Sardis; I have not found thy works perfect before God, repent (Rev. 3:1-3).

• To the church in Laodicea; I know thy works, be zealous, and repent (Rev. 3:15, 19).

(from Apocalypse Revealed 72)

I KNOW THY WORKS — The Lord Sees All the Interiors and Exteriors of Man at Once

I know thy works, signifies that He sees all the interiors and exteriors of man at once.

"Works" are often mentioned in Revelation, but few know what is meant by works. This is known, that ten men can do works which externally appear alike, but which yet are dissimilar with them all; and this because they proceed from different ends and different causes, the end and the cause rendering the works either good or evil; for every work is a work of the mind, therefore, such as is the quality of the mind, such is the work. If the mind is charity, the work becomes charity; but if the mind is not charity, the work does not become charity; still, however, they may both appear alike in externals.

Works appear to men in external form, but to angels in internal form; and to the Lord their quality is apparent from inmost to outmosts. Works in their external form appear like the outside of fruits, but works in their internal form appear like the inside of fruits, where there are innumerable edible parts, and in the midst seeds, in which there are also things innumerable, which are too minute for the keenest eye to discern, yea, which are above the intellectual sphere of man. Such are all works, the internal quality of which the Lord alone sees, and which the angels also perceive from the Lord, when man is doing them.

(from Apocalypse Revealed 76)

The Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once — He sees that they are in falsities, and yet as to life in goods, which they believe to be the goods of life, when yet they are not.

(from Apocalypse Revealed 94)

I WILL GIVE UNTO EVERYONE ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS

I will give unto everyone according to his works, signifies that He gives unto everyone according to the charity and its faith which are in his works. That "works" are the containers of charity and faith, and that charity and faith without works are only like airy images, which vanish as soon as they have appeared.

(from Apocalypse Revealed 141)

FOR THEIR WORKS FOLLOW WITH THEM

For their works follow with them, signifies as they have loved and believed, and thence have done and spoken. By "the works which follow with them" are signified all things which remain with man after death. It is known, that the externals, which appear before men, derive their essence, soul, and life from the internals, which do not appear before men, but which appear before the Lord and the angels; the latter and the former, or the externals and the internals taken together, are works; good works, if the internals are in love and faith, and the externals act and speak from them; but evil works, if the internals are not in love and faith, and the externals act and speak from them. If the externals act and speak as if from love and faith, those works are either hypocritical or meritorious. Ten persons may do works which are similar in externals, but still they are dissimilar, because the internals from which the externals proceed are dissimilar.

Who does not see that there is an internal and an external, and that these two make one? For who does not see that the understanding and will are the internal of man, and speech and action his external? For who can speak and act without the understanding and the will? And since everyone sees this, he may also see that works are external and internal at the same time; and because the external derives its essence, soul, and life from its internal, as was said above, it follows that the external is such as is its internal; consequently, that "the works which follow with them" are according as they have loved and believed, and thence have done and spoken. That good works are charity and faith, and that the internal of man or the internal man does not consist in understanding without willing, but in willing and thence understanding, consequently that it does not consist in believing without loving, but in loving and thence believing; and that the doing these things is the external of man, or the external man. From these things it is evident, that by "the works that follow with them" is signified according as they have loved and believed, and thence have done and spoken. The same is signified by "works" in the following passages:

In the day of judgment God will render to every man according to his works (Rom. 2:6).

We must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may give account of the things which he hath done by the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10).

The Son of man will come in the glory of His Father, and then shall He render to everyone according to his works (Matt. 16:27).

They that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).

They were judged according to those things which were written in the books, all according to their works (Rev. 20:12-13).

Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his works (Rev. 22:12).

I will give to everyone of you according to his works (Rev. 2:23).

I know thy works (Rev. 2:1-2, 4, 9, 13, 19, 26; 3:1-3, 7-8, 14-15, 19).

I will recompense them according to their work, and according to the deed of their hands (Jer. 25:14).

Jehovah doeth with us according to our ways and according to our works (Zech. 1:6; and in many other places).

(from Apocalypse Revealed 641)

ALL WERE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR INTERNAL LIFE IN EXTERNALS

The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works, signifies that all were judged according to their internal life in externals.

By "the dead" are signified all who died from the earth, and were then in the world of spirits. "Out of those things which were written in the books," signifies out of the interiors of everyone's mind then laid open. "According to their works," signifies, according to the internal life of everyone in externals.

WORKS OF THE MIND AND WORKS OF THE BODY

There are works of the mind and works of the body, both of them at once internal and external.

• The works of the mind are intentions and endeavors

• The works of the body are words and actions

Each of these proceed from the internal life of man, which is of his will or love. Whatsoever does not close in works, either internal which relate to the mind, or external which relate to the body, are not in the life of man, for they inflow from the world of spirits but are not received, therefore they are like images that strike the eyes, or as odors that affect the nostrils, from which a man turns away his face.

To which may be added the following from Paul:

In the day of anger and revelation of the just judgment of God; who will render to everyone according to his deeds (Rom. 2:5, 6).

For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10).

(from Apocalypse Revealed 868)

The Capacity for Receiving Truths

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Few know what freedom is, and what non-freedom is.

All that which is of any love and its delight appears to be freedom, and that which is contrary to these, non-freedom.

• What is of the love of self and the love of the world, and of their cupidities, appears to man as freedom, but it is infernal freedom
  
  
• What is of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, consequently of the love of good and truth, is freedom itself, and is heavenly freedom.

Infernal spirits do not know that there is any other freedom than that which is of the love of self and the love of the world; that is, of the cupidities (inordinate desire) of commanding, of persecuting and hating all who do not serve them, of tormenting everyone, of destroying the universe if they could for the sake of self; of taking away and claiming to themselves whatever is another's. When they are in these and similar things, they are in their freedom, because they are in their delight. Their life consists in this freedom to such a degree that if it were taken away from them, nothing more of life would remain to them than that of a newborn infant. This was also shown by living experience.

A certain evil spirit was in the persuasion that such things could be taken away from him, and that in this way he could come into heaven; consequently that his life could be miraculously changed into heavenly life; on which account those loves together with their cupidities were taken away from him (which is done in the other life by dissociation), and he then appeared like an infant paddling with his hands, which he could scarcely move; and he was at the same time in such a state as to be less able to think than any infant, and unable to speak anything at all, or to know anything. But he was soon restored to his delight, and thus to his freedom.

From this it is manifest that it is impossible for anyone to come into heaven who has procured a life for himself from the love of self and the world, and consequently who is in the freedom of these loves; for if that life were taken away from such a person, he would not have anything of thought and will remaining.

But heavenly freedom is that which is from the Lord, and in it are all the angels in the heavens. As before said this is the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love, and thus of the affection of good and truth. The quality of this freedom may be seen from the fact that everyone who is in it communicates his blessedness and happiness to another from inmost affection, and that it is a blessedness and happiness to him that he is able to communicate it. And because the universal heaven is such, it follows that everyone is a center of all forms of blessedness and happiness, and that all these belong at the same time to each angel. The communication itself is effected by the Lord, by wonderful inflowings in an incomprehensible form, which is the form of heaven. This shows what heavenly freedom is, and that it is from the Lord alone.

How far distant heavenly freedom (which is from the affection of good and truth) is from infernal freedom (which is from the affection of evil and falsity), is evident from the fact that when the angels in heaven merely think about such freedom as is from the affection of evil and falsity, or what is the same, from the cupidities of the love of self and the world, they are immediately seized with internal pain; and on the other hand, when evil spirits merely think about the freedom which is from the affection of good and truth, or what is the same, from the desires of mutual love, they at once come into anguish; and what is wonderful, so opposite is the one freedom to the other, that the freedom of the love of self and the world is hell to good spirits; and on the other hand, the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love is hell to evil spirits. Hence all in the other life are distinct according to their kinds of freedom, or what is the same, according to their loves and affections, consequently according to the delights of their life, which is the same as according to their lives; for lives are nothing else than delights, and these are nothing else than affections which are of the loves.

The good of life, or the affection of good, is insinuated by the Lord by an internal way, without man's knowing anything about it; but the truth of doctrine, or faith, by an external way, into the memory, whence it is called forth by the Lord in His own time and according to His own order, and is conjoined with the affection of good. This is done in man's freedom; for as before said, man's freedom is from affection. Such is the insemination and inrooting of faith. Whatever is done in freedom is conjoined, but that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined; as may be seen from considering that by no possibility can anything be conjoined except that by which we are affected: affection is the very thing that receives; to receive anything contrary to the affection is to receive it contrary to the life. Hence it is manifest that truth of doctrine, or faith, cannot be received except by the affection of it. But such as is the affection, such is the reception. It is only the affection of truth and good that receives the truth of faith; for they agree, and because they agree, they conjoin themselves together. (Arcana Coelestia 2870 - 2874)

TRUTH GRATUITOUSLY BESTOWED

Truth in the abilities means in the capacities for receiving it, thus according to the capacities. But the capacities or abilities for receiving truth are wholly according to good, because the Lord adjoins them to good; for when the Lord flows in with good, He also flows in with capacity. Hence truth received in the abilities means according to goods. That the capacities for receiving truth are according to good is evident from much experience in the other life.

• They who are in good there have the capacity not only for perceiving truth, but also for receiving it, yet according to the amount and quality of the good in which they are.

• But they who are in evil have on the other hand no capacity for receiving truth. This comes from pleasure and consequent desire.

They who are in good have pleasure in perfecting good by means of truth, because good takes its quality from truths; and therefore they desire truths.

But they who are in evil have pleasure in evil, and in confirming it by falsities, and therefore they desire falsities; and because they desire falsities they are averse to truths. For this reason they have no capacity for receiving truths, for they reject or stifle or pervert them as soon as they reach the ear or occur to the thought.

Besides, every man who is of sound mind has a capacity for receiving truths; but they extinguish this capacity who turn to evil, and they exalt it who turn to good. (from Arcana Coelestia 5623)

Those Received in the New Church by the Lord

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Revelation 14:4

These were bought from among men, firstfruits to God and the Lamb, signifies those received in the New Church by the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "those bought by the Lord," as being those who receive instruction from the Word, especially respecting the Lord, and who live according to it. The same are meant by those called "redeemed by the Lord;" and "the redeemed" are those who have been regenerated by the Lord and these are those who follow the Lord, that is, are led by Him. Also from the signification of "firstfruits of God and the Lamb," as being those who have given themselves to the Lord and have been adopted by Him.

That those who are of the New Church are meant is evident from their being called "firstfruits to God and to the Lamb," since those who are received in that church acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and live according to His commandments.

No others are received in the New Church which is called "the New Jerusalem," because those who do not believe this and live thus are not in accord with the life of heaven, nor with the light there, nor with the heat there: for the light there is the Divine truth, which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom; and the heat there is the Divine good, which is the source of all love and charity.

All man's affection and thought therefrom not only is within him and constitutes his life but is also outside of him and constitutes the sphere of his life. This is why heaven is divided into societies according to the varieties of the affections and their thoughts; consequently unless the affections and the thoughts therefrom are spiritual, which are formed solely by the acknowledgment of the Lord and a life according to His commandments, they cannot be admitted into any society of heaven, for they are repugnant thereto; and this is why those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and do not live according to His commandments in the Word cannot be consociated with the angels of heaven. That this is so has been proved to me by much experience.

There were some who had the same idea of the Lord as of any other man, and had lived in the faith of the present day, which is cogitation (or thought) without any good of life. As these believed that eternal life is merely being admitted into heaven, so according to their wish they were admitted into a certain society; but as soon as the light of heaven struck their eyes, their sight, and at the same time their understanding, began to be wholly darkened, and they began to fall into a stupor and into foolishness; and when the heat of heaven breathed upon them they began to be tormented in a direful manner, and their head and limbs began to writhe like serpents; consequently they cast themselves downwards, swearing that admission to heaven, unless they were in the light and heat of heaven, was hell to them, and that they had not known that everyone has heaven from love and its faith, or from a life according to the Lord's commandments in the Word, and from faith in the Lord, and not at all from faith without the life of faith, which is charity.

WHAT "FIRSTFRUITS" SIGNIFY IN THE WORD

It shall now be told briefly what "firstfruits" signify in the Word. The signification of firstfruits is similar to that of "firstborn;" but "firstborn" is predicated of animals, and "firstfruits" of vegetables; thus —

"the firstborn" are such as are born first

"firstfruits" are from the first products

both of them signify the spiritual good that is first formed, which in itself is truth from good which is from the Lord. This has its origin in the fact that there are two minds in man, a natural mind and a spiritual mind. From the natural mind alone nothing is produced but evil and its falsity; but as soon as the spiritual mind is opened, good and its truth are produced; and that which is first produced is meant by the "firstborn" and the "firstfruits." And as all things that are born and produced from the spiritual mind are from the Lord and not from man, these were sanctified to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, because they were His, and thus were holy. And as that which is born or produced first signifies all things that follow in their order, as a leader is followed by his people, or a shepherd by his flock, so "the giving of the firstborn and the firstfruits to the Lord" signified that all the rest were also His.

But that this may come yet more clearly into the understanding it is to be known that the merely natural mind is formed to the idea or image of the world, but the spiritual mind to the idea or image of heaven; also that the spiritual mind is not opened to any man, except by the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine and by a life according to His commandments; and until this mind has been opened no good and no truth therefrom are produced; but as soon as it is opened these are produced, and what is produced is from the Lord. Therefore the first thing that is produced is called holy, and signifies that all things that are afterwards produced are holy. This makes clear that the opening of the womb or matrix signifies the opening of the spiritual mind. This signification of opening the womb or matrix is from correspondence, the womb corresponding to the good of celestial love.

Because this is what is signified by "firstfruits," and because the things pertaining to the harvest, as wheat, barley, and the rest, and also wool, signified the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and the clean and useful beasts had a similar signification, so the firstborn of the latter and the firstfruits of the former were given to the Lord; and as the high priest represented the Lord as to His priestly function, which is the good of love, these things were given to that priest, and thus all things that were products of the corn, wine, and oil were made holy. But respecting these firstfruits see the statutes for the sons of Israel in the law of Moses; as respecting the first of the products of all corn, of oil, of wine, of the fruit of the tree, also of the fleece, likewise of the firstborn of the herd and the flock; and that these were given as holy to Jehovah, and by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest (Exod. 22:29; Num. 13:20; 15:17-22; 18:8-20; Deut. 18:4; 26:1 to the end): also concerning the feast of the first fruits of harvest and of the first fruits of bread (Exod. 23:14-16, 19, 26; Lev. 23:9-15, 20-25; Num. 28:26 to the end; and elsewhere).

From all this it can now be seen that "firstfruits to God and to the Lamb" mean those who will be of the New Church which is called "the New Jerusalem," who acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and live a life of love, that is, a life according to the Lord's commandments in the Word. In such and in no others is the spiritual mind opened; therefore no others are led by the Lord, or "follow Him whithersoever He goeth." That "God and the Lamb" means in Revelation the Lord as to the Divine Itself, and at the same time as to the Divine Human.

(from Apocalypse Explained 865)