THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 30)
IN PROPORTION AS A MAN SHUNS EVILS AS SINS,
IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE DOES GOODS,
NOT FROM HIMSELF BUT FROM THE LORD.
The Word teaches that in proportion as a man has not been purified from evils, his goods are not good, nor are his pious things pious, and neither is he wise: it also teaches the converse:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly indeed appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also (Matt. 23:25-28).
The same appears from these words in Isaiah:
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? bring no more a meat- offering of vanity; incense is an abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, I cannot bear iniquity; your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; therefore when ye spread forth your hands I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, if ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of bloods. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they have been red, they shall be as wool (Isa. 1:10-18).
These words in brief amount to this: that unless a man shuns evils, nothing of his worship is good, and in like manner nothing of his works, for it is said, "I cannot bear iniquity, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil."
In Jeremiah:
Return ye every man from his evil way, and make your works good (Jer. 35:15).
That the same are not wise is declared in Isaiah:
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces (Isa. 5:21).
The wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent; woe unto them that are deeply wise, and their works are done in the dark (Isa. 29:14-15).
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and put their stay on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah. But He will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. For Egypt is man, and not God; and the horses thereof are flesh, and not spirit (Isa. 31:1-3).
Thus is described man's self-intelligence. "Egypt" is memory-knowledge; a "horse," the understanding therefrom; a "chariot," the doctrine therefrom; a "horseman," the intelligence therefrom; of all of which it is said, "Woe to them that look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah." Their destruction through evils is meant by: "He will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity." That these things are from man's Own, and that consequently there is no life in them, is meant by its being said that "Egypt is man and not God," and that "the horses thereof are flesh and not spirit." "Man" and "flesh" denote what is man's Own; "God," and "spirit," denote life from the Lord; the "horses of Egypt," denote self-intelligence. There are many such things in the Word concerning intelligence from self, and intelligence from the Lord, which can be seen only by means of the spiritual sense.
That no one is saved by means of goods from self, because they are not good, is evident from the following:
Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that doeth the will of My Father: many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty things? but then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matt. 7:21-23).
Then shall ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and ye shall begin to say, We did eat and drink in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets; but He shall say, I tell you I know ye not whence ye are, depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity (Luke 13:25-27).
For such persons are like the Pharisee,
Who stood in the temple and prayed, saying that he was not as other men, an extortioner, unjust, an adulterer; that he fasted twice in the week, and gave tithes of all that he possessed (Luke 18:11-14).
Such persons moreover are those who are called
Unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10)
(LIFE 30)
