Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
SO LONG AS THE EVILS IN THE EXTERNAL MAN ARE NOT PUT AWAY
The external of man's thought is in itself of the same character as its internal; and that the two cohere like things that are not only one within the other but also one from the other; consequently one cannot be set aside unless the other is also. It is so with every thing external that is from an internal, and with every thing posterior that is from a prior, and with every effect that is from a cause.
Since, then, lusts with their subtleties constitute in the evil the internal of thought, and the enjoyments of lusts together with their devices constitute their external of thought, and the latter and the former are joined together as one, it follows that the internal cannot be cleansed from lusts so long as the evils in the external man are not put away.
It should be understood that man's internal will is that which is in the lusts, and the internal understanding is that which is in the subtleties, and that the external will is that which is in the enjoyments of the lusts, and the external understanding is that which is in the devices from the subtleties.
Anyone can see that lusts and their enjoyments make one, and that the subtleties and devices make one; also that these four are in one series, and together make as it were one bundle; and from this again it is clear that the internal, which consists of lusts, can be cast out only by the putting away of the external, which consists of evils.
Lusts through their enjoyments produce evils; but when evils are believed to be allowable, which comes from the agreement of will and understanding, the enjoyments and the evils then make one. It is acknowledged that this agreement is equivalent to doing the thing; and this is what the Lord says:
Whosoever looketh on another's woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:28).It is the same with other evils.
From all this it can now be seen that evils must surely be put away from the external man that man may be cleansed from the lusts of evil; for until this is done there is no possible exit for lusts; and if there is no exit the lusts remain within and breathe out enjoyments from themselves, and so they urge men on to the consent, thus to the doing.
Through the external of thought the lusts enter the body; when therefore there is consent in the external of thought the lusts are at once present in the body; and the enjoyment that is felt is there. That as the mind is such is the body, thus the whole man, may be seen in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 362-370). This may be made clear by comparisons and also by examples.
By comparisons: Lusts with their enjoyments may be likened to fire; the more a fire is fed the more it burns; and the freer the course given it the further it spreads, until in a city it consumes the houses, and in a forest the trees. In the Word the lusts of evil are likened to fire, and their evils to its burning. Moreover, in the spiritual world, lusts of evil with their enjoyments appear like fires; infernal fire is nothing else. Lusts may also be likened to floods and inundations of water when dikes or dams give way. They may also be likened to gangrenous sores and ulcers, which, if they run their course or are not cured, bring death to the body.
By examples: It is made clear that unless the evils in the external man are put away the lusts and their enjoyments grow and multiply. The more a thief steals the more he loves to steal, till at last he cannot refrain; so with the defrauder, the more he defrauds. The same is true of hatred and revenge, of luxury and intemperance, of whoredom and blasphemy, and the like. Every one knows that the love of ruling from the love of self increases as rein is given to it; equally the love of possessing from love of the world; these seem to be without limit or end.
All this makes clear that so far as the evils in the external are not put away their lusts multiply, and that lusts increase to the extent that evils have loose rein.
Man is not able to perceive the lusts of his evil; he does perceive their enjoyments, although he does not think much about them; for the enjoyments divert the thoughts and banish reflection. Consequently, unless one knew from some other source that his lusts are evils he would call them good, and from freedom in accordance with the reason of his thought he would give expression to them; and when he does that he appropriates them to himself.
So far as he confirms evils as allowable he enlarges the court of the ruling love, which is his life's love. Lusts are what constitute its court; for they are like its ministers and attendants, through which it governs the exteriors that constitute its kingdom. But as is the king such are the ministers and attendants, and such the kingdom. When a king is a devil his ministers and attendants are insanities, and the people of his kingdom are falsities of every kind, which his ministers (whom they call wise although they are insane), cause, by means of reasoning from fallacies and by means of illusions, to appear as truths, and cause to be acknowledged as truths. Can such a state in man be changed except by putting away the evils in the external man? For thereby the lusts that cling to the evils are put away. Otherwise no exit is open for the lusts; for they are shut in like a besieged city, or like a closed ulcer.
(from Divine Providence 111-113)