The 'Good' Loved by the Lord

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

As the "breast" from correspondence denotes the good of charity, and the good of charity is to do what is good from willing it, therefore John, who represented this good, lay on the breast or in the bosom of the Lord (John 13:23, 25); by which is signified that this good was loved by the Lord; for "to lie on the breast and in the bosom" denotes to love. He who knows this is also able to know what is signified by these words of the Lord to Peter and to John:

Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him again, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, Son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved, therefore he said, Lord Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep. Verily I say unto thee, When thou wast younger, thou girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hand, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldest not. When He had said this, He said to him, Follow Me. Peter turning about saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also lay on His breast at supper. Peter seeing him saith, Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, If I will that he abide till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me (John 21:15-21)

no one can know what these words signify except by the internal sense, which teaches that the twelve disciples of the Lord represented all things of faith and of love in the complex, as did the twelve tribes of Israel; and that Peter represented faith, James charity, and John the works or goods of charity. ...

As faith without charity does not love the Lord, and yet can teach such things as belong to faith and love, and to the Lord, therefore the Lord said three times, "Lovest thou Me," "Feed My lambs," and "Feed My sheep," and for this reason the Lord says, "When thou wast younger, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldest not," by which is signified that the faith of the church in its rising is in the good of innocence like an infant; but that when it is in its setting, which is in the end of the church, faith would be no longer in this good, nor in the good of charity; and that then evil and falsity would lead, which are signified by "when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldest not;" thus from being free it would become enslaved.

"To gird" denotes to know and perceive truths in light from good; "to walk" denotes to live according to these truths; hence "to gird himself and walk whither he would," denotes to act from freedom, and to act from freedom is to act from the affection of truth from good; and is to be led by the Lord; but "to be girded by another, and to be led whither he would not," denotes to be a slave, and to be a slave is to act from evil, thus to be led by hell.

That "lambs," of which the Lord first speaks, denote those who are in the good of innocence; and that "sheep," of which the Lord speaks in the second and third place, denote those who are in the good of charity and from this in faith; and that "three" denotes a whole period from beginning to end. Therefore, as the Lord spoke to Peter concerning the church from its rising to its setting, He said three times, "Lovest thou Me?"

But by "John following the Lord" was signified that they who are in the goods of charity follow the Lord and are loved by the Lord, neither do they draw back; while they who are in faith separate not only do not follow the Lord, but are also indignant about it, like Peter at that time - not to mention more arcana which are contained in the above words. From all this it is also plain that to "lie on the breast and in the bosom of the Lord" denotes to be loved by Him, and that this is said of those who are in the goods of charity, like what is said of His "carrying them in His bosom" (Isa. 40:10, 11), and of "lying in the bosom" (2 Sam. 12:3).

(from Arcana Coelestia 10087)

Heinous Offenses Against Heaven and The Church

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 2:14-17

1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ...
9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

Num 25:1-3, 9

The Lord protects those who are in truths and goods, that they may not be harmed by those who speak from seeming illustration, and yet have the disposition and intention to lead astray. He who believes that Balaam could harm the sons of Israel by enchantments is much deceived; for enchantments could have availed nothing against them; this Balaam himself confessed when he said: Divination avails not against Jacob, nor enchantments against Israel (Num. 23:23).

Balaam could lead that people astray by craft, because that people were such in heart; with the mouth only they worshiped Jehovah, but in heart they worshiped Baal-peor, and because they were such this was permitted.

It is to be noted, moreover, that a man 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 man, for the sake of reformation; for in man'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 man 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.

It was among the statutes where sacrifices were instituted that some part of the sacrifices, especially of the thank-offerings, should be burnt from the altar, and some part eaten in the holy place. The "sacrifices" themselves signified worship from love and faith, and the "eating" of them signified appropriation of the good thereof.  As the eating of things sanctified to Jehovah signified the appropriation of good, so the eating of the sacrifices offered to the gods of the nations, and which were called "idol-sacrifices," signified the appropriation of evil.

To "commit whoredom," in the spiritual sense, signifies to become imbued with falsities, so also to falsify truths, can be seen from many passages in the Word. The same was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the daughters of Moab; for all historical parts of the Word involve spiritual things and signify them.  And as the eating of idol-sacrifices by the sons of Israel and their whoredoms with the daughters of Moab involved such things (for what things signify they involve), therefore it was commanded that the heads of the people should be hung up to Jehovah before the sun; and for the same reason Phinehas the son of Eleazar thrust through a man of Israel and a Midianitish woman in the place of their lust, and for doing that he also was blessed; and for the same reason there were slain of Israel twenty and four thousand (as may be seen, Num. 25:1 to the end).  Such punishments and such plagues merely because of the eating of idol-sacrifices, and committing whoredom with the women of another nation, would never have been commanded to be done, unless they had involved heinous offenses against heaven and the church, which do not appear in the literal sense of the Word, but only in its spiritual sense.  The heinous offenses involved were the profanation at once of the goods and of the truths of the church, and this, as has been said above, was the appropriation of evil and falsity.

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 man'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.

Repent, signifies dissociation from these.  This is evident from the signification of "repent," as being in reference to the things signified by "the doctrine of Balaam," and by "the doctrine of the Nicolaitans," to be dissociated from them.  Nor is repentance anything else; for 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.

(from Apocalypse Explained 140 - 143)

The Presence of the Lord with Man; The Conjunction of the Lord with Man

Portions from passages in Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... man is born natural that he may become spiritual; and so long as he remains natural he is in night, and as in sleep, respecting spiritual things; and that then he does not even know the distinction between the external natural and the internal spiritual man. ...
...
the Lord ... alone opens the internals of human minds and makes them spiritual; and He puts these [spiritual] within things natural in order that they [natural] also may derive a spiritual essence, as in fact they do if He [the Lord] is approached, and if the life is according to His precepts; which are in brief, that one should believe in Him and shun evils because they are of the devil and from the devil; and do goods because they are of the Lord and from the Lord; and do both as if of one's self, and at the same time believe that they are done by the Lord through him. The very reason why the Lord alone opens the internal spiritual man, and brings this into the external natural man, is that every man thinks naturally and acts naturally, and for that reason could not perceive anything spiritual and receive it into his natural if God had not put on the natural human, and made also that Divine. ...
...
... [the interiors of the mind], which in themselves are spiritual ... can be opened only by the Lord .... The real reason why they are opened by the Lord when He is acknowledged, and is approached as God of heaven and earth, and with those who live according to His precepts is, that otherwise there is no conjunction, and without conjunction there is no reception. There is the presence of the Lord with man, and there is conjunction with Him.

To go to Him brings presence, and to live according to his precepts effects conjunction.

And His presence only is without reception; but presence and at the same time conjunction is with reception.

Concerning these matters I will relate this that is new from the spiritual world: There, every one is made present by thought about him; but no one is conjoined to another except from the affection of love, and the affection of love is insinuated by doing his words and his pleasure. This fact, familiar in the spiritual world, takes its origin from the Lord, in that He is thus present and is thus conjoined.

(from Conjugial Love 340, 341)