Obstructing the Influx of Heavenly Love

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

All the external rites of the church were signs of the covenant and were to be sacredly observed because internal things were signified by them . . . The internal things are what belong to the covenant because they are effective of conjunction, and the external things are not so except by means of the internal ones. The external things were merely signs of the covenant, or tokens of the conjunction, by means of which they might call to mind the internal things and thereby be conjoined by means of these.  

All the internal things that belong to the covenant, or that are effective of conjunction, relate to love and charity, and proceed from love and charity; for on these two things, namely, loving God more than one's self, and loving the neighbor as one's self, "hang all the law and the prophets," that is, the universal doctrine of faith - 

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-35).

There are two so-called loves and their cupidities that obstruct the influx of heavenly love from the Lord; for when these loves reign in the interior and in the external man, and take possession thereof, they either reject or suffocate, and also pervert and contaminate, the inflowing heavenly love; for they are utterly contrary to heavenly love.

But insofar as these loves are removed, so far the heavenly love flowing in from the Lord begins to appear, nay, to give light in the interior man; and so far he begins to see that he is in evil and falsity; next that he is actually in uncleanness and filthiness; and finally that this has been his Own. They who are becoming regenerate are those with whom these loves are being removed.

Observation of this removal is possible also with the unregenerate, for when the cupidities of these loves are quiescent in them, as sometimes occurs when they are in holy meditation, or when the cupidities are lulled, as happens when they are in misfortunes, in sicknesses, and diseases, and especially at the moment of death, then, because bodily and worldly things are lulled and as it were dead, they observe something of heavenly light and the consequent comfort. But with these persons there is not removal of the cupidities in question, but only a lulling of them, for when they return into their former state, they at once relapse into the same cupidities. 

With the evil also, bodily and worldly things can be lulled, and they can then be as it were uplifted into a kind of heavenliness, as sometimes takes place with souls in the other life, especially those newly arrived, who intensely desire to see the glory of the Lord, because they had heard so much about heaven while they lived in the world. The external things above referred to are then lulled in them, and in this way they are carried into the first heaven and enjoy their desire. But they cannot remain long, because there is only a quiescence of the bodily and worldly things, and not a removal of them, as with the angels. Be it known that heavenly love is continually inflowing into man from the Lord, and that nothing else obstructs and impedes it, and causes its reception by the man impossible, except the cupidities of those loves and the falsities derived from them.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2037-2041)

Repentance

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

He who wishes to be saved must confess his sins and do repentance.

To confess sins is to become thoroughly acquainted with evils, to see them in oneself, to acknowledge them, to regard oneself as guilty, and to condemn oneself on account of them. When this is done before God, it is to confess sins.

To do repentance is after one has thus confessed his sins and from a humble heart has made supplication for their forgiveness, to desist from them and to lead a new life according to the commands of faith.

He who merely acknowledges that he is a sinner like all others, and who regards himself as guilty of all evils, and does not examine himself - that is, see his sins - does indeed make confession, but not the confession of repentance, for he lives afterward as he had done before.

He who leads a life of faith does repentance daily; for he reflects upon the evils that are in him, acknowledges them, guards himself against them, and supplicates the Lord for aid. For from himself man is continually falling, but is continually being raised up by the Lord. He falls from himself when he thinks what is evil with desire; and he is raised up by the Lord when he resists evil, and consequently does not do it. Such is the state with all who are in good; but they who are in evil are continually falling, and also are continually being uplifted by the Lord; but this to prevent them from falling into the most grievous hell of all, whither from themselves they incline with all their might: thus in truth uplifting them into a milder hell.

The repentance that is done in a state of freedom avails; but that which is done in a state of compulsion avails not. A state of compulsion is a state of sickness, a state of dejection of mind from misfortune, a state of imminent death; in a word, every state of fear which takes away the use of sound reason. When an evil man who in a state of compulsion promises repentance and also does what is good, comes into a state of freedom, he returns into his former life of evil. The case is otherwise with a good man, such states being to him states of temptation in which he conquers.

Repentance of the mouth and not of the life is not repentance. Sins are not forgiven through repentance of the mouth, but through repentance of the life. Sins are continually being forgiven man by the Lord, for He is mercy itself; but sins adhere to the man, however much he may suppose that they have been forgiven, nor are they removed from him except through a life according to the commands of faith. So far as he lives according to these commands, so far his sins are removed; and so far as they are removed, so far they have been forgiven. For by the Lord man is withheld from evil, and is held in good; and he is so far able to be withheld from evil in the other life, as in the life of the body he has resisted evil; and he is so far able to be held in good then, as in the life of the body he has done what is good from affection. This shows what the forgiveness of sins is, and whence it is. He who believes that sins are forgiven in any other way, is much mistaken.

After a man has examined himself, and has acknowledged his sins, and has done repentance, he must remain constant in good up to the end of life. If however he afterward falls back into his former life of evil, and embraces it, he commits profanation, for he then conjoins evil with good, and consequently his latter state becomes worse than his former one, according to the Lord's words:

When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, but findeth none; then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, and findeth it empty, and swept, and garnished for him, then goeth he, and joineth to himself seven other spirits worse than himself, and having entered in they dwell there; and the last things of the man become worse than the first (Matt. 12:43-45).

(Arcana Coelestia 8387-8394)

After The Resurrection They Are Not Given In Marriage

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the Gospels are found these words:

Certain of the Sadducees who deny the resurrection, asked Jesus, saying, Master, Moses wrote, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother shall take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren, one after the other of whom took the wife; but they died childless. At last the woman died also.

Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of them shall she be? But Jesus, answering, said unto them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to attain to another age, and the resurrection from the dead, shall neither marry nor be given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are like unto angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him. (Luke 20:27-38; Matt. 22:23-32; Mark 12:18-27.)

There are two things which the Lord taught by these words:

First, that man rises again after death; and second, that in heaven they are not given in marriage. That man rises again after death, He taught by saying, that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, and that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. He also taught the same in the parable of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven (Luke 16:22-31).

The second point, that in heaven they are not given in marriage, He taught by the statement, that those who are accounted worthy to attain to another age neither marry nor are given in marriage. That here no other nuptials are meant than spiritual nuptials is very evident from the words which immediately follow: that they cannot die any more because they are like unto angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. By spiritual nuptials is meant conjunction with the Lord. This is effected on earth, and when effected on earth, it is effected in heaven also. Therefore, in the heavens they are not again married and given in marriage. This is also meant by the words, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but they which are accounted worthy to attain to another age, neither marry nor are given in marriage. They are also called by the Lord sons of the nuptials (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19); and, in the present passage, angels, sons of God, and sons of the resurrection.

That marrying means being conjoined with the Lord, and that entering into marriage means being received into heaven by the Lord, is clear from the following passages: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man, a king, who made a wedding for his son, and sent forth servants and invited to the wedding. (Matt. 22:1-14.)

The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins, who went forth to meet the bridegroom; of whom five, being prepared, went in to the wedding (Matt. 25:1-seq.).

From verse 13 in that chapter, where it is said, Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh, it is evident that by the bridegroom, the Lord meant himself. Also from the Apocalypse:

The time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 19:7, 9.

(Conjugial Love 41)

Charity: The Brother of Faith

Excerpts from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That charity is the "brother" of faith is evident to everyone from the nature or essence of faith. This brotherhood was represented by Esau and Jacob and was the ground of their dispute about the birthright and the consequent dominion.

For both faith and charity are the offspring of the church.

The union of faith and charity is called "the covenant of brethren" (Amos 1:9).

Jacob was desirous of supplanting his brother Esau, as is evident also in Hosea:

To visit upon Jacob his ways, according to his doings will He recompense him; he supplanted his brother in the womb (Hos. 12:2-3).

But that Esau, or the charity represented by Esau, should nevertheless at length have the dominion, appears from the prophetic prediction of their father Isaac:

By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass, when thou hast the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Gen. 27:40)

Or what is the same, the Church of the Gentiles, or new church, is represented by Esau, and the Jewish Church is represented by Jacob; and this is the reason for its being so often said that the Jews should acknowledge the Gentiles as brethren; and in the Church of the Gentiles, or primitive church, all were called brethren, from charity.

Such as hear the Word and do it are likewise called brethren by the Lord (Luke 8:21)

Those who hear are such as have faith; those who do are such as have charity; but those who hear, or say that they have faith, and do not, or have not charity, are not brethren, for the Lord likens them unto fools

Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:21-27).

(from Arcana Coelestia 367)

The Precepts of Life

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

But as regards the Precepts of Life, such as all things in the Decalogue, and many in the Law and the Prophets — these, being of service to man's very life, are of use in both senses, both the literal and the internal.

The things contained in the literal sense were for the people and peoples of that period, who did not apprehend internal things; the things contained in the internal sense were for the angels, who have no care for external things. Unless the precepts of the Decalogue contained internal things also, they would never have been promulgated on Mount Sinai with so great a miracle; for such things as it contains, such as that parents are to be honored, that men must not steal, must not kill, must not commit adultery, must not covet what is another's, are things which the Gentiles also know and have prescribed in their laws; and which the sons of Israel as men must have been well acquainted with, without such a promulgation. But as those precepts were for the service of life, in both senses, and were as external forms produced from internal, that corresponded to each other — this was the reason why they came down out of heaven upon Mount Sinai with so great a miracle, and in their internal sense were uttered and heard in heaven, while in their external sense they were uttered and heard on earth.

Take as an example the promise that they who honor their parents shall have their days prolonged upon the land: by "parents" the angels in heaven perceived the Lord; by the "land," His kingdom, which those who worship Him from love and faith should eternally possess as sons and heirs; whereas by "parents" men on earth understood parents; by "land," the land of Canaan; by the "prolongation of their days," the years of their life.

Take again the precept that men must not steal: by this the angels who were in heaven perceived that they should take nothing away from the Lord, and should not claim anything of righteousness and merit for themselves; whereas men on earth understood that they must not steal; from which we can see that these precepts are true in both senses.

Take again the precept that men must not kill: by this the angels in heaven perceived that they should not hate anyone, and should not extinguish anything of good and truth with anyone; whereas men on earth understood that their friends must not be killed.

The case is the same with all the other precepts.

(Arcana Coelestia 2609)

The Cupidity of Gain and Avarice

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)

"What gain is it?" signifies that there would be nothing of profit or of eminence, is because this was said from cupidity and avarice.

The cupidity of gain and avarice has within it the desire not only to possess the whole world but also to plunder and even to kill everyone for the sake of gain; indeed one impelled by such cupidity would commit murder for but little were not the laws a hindrance. Moreover, such a man in his possession of gold and silver regards himself as the greatest in power, however in external appearance he may seem otherwise, which shows that there is in avarice not only the love of the world, but also the love of self, and indeed the filthiest love of self. For elevation of mind, or pride, in those who are sordidly avaricious, is not so conspicuous outwardly, because it is sometimes unconcerned about wealth for the sake of display; nor is it that kind of the love of self which is usually conjoined with pleasures; for such have little concern about the body, and its food and clothing. But it is a love entirely earthly, having no other end than money, in the possession of which it believes itself, not actually but potentially, above all others. It is evident from this that in avarice there is the lowest and vilest love of self, for which reason in the other life the avaricious appear to themselves to be among swine —

What sordid phantasies the ideas of thought of those who have been sordidly avaricious are turned into, is evident from their hell, which is deep under foot. A vapor exhales from it like that from hogs whose bristles are being scraped off in a scalding trough. There are the homes of the avaricious. Those who come thither at first appear black, but by the scraping off of their hair, as is done with hogs, they seem to themselves to become white. So they then appear to themselves, but still there remains therefrom a mark by which they are known wherever they go. (from n. 939);

and they above all others are against all good whatever. Consequently they are in such thick darkness that they are utterly unable to see what is good and what is true; they do not at all apprehend that there is any internal belonging to man which lives after death, and at heart they laugh at those who say so.

The Jewish nation had been of such a nature from the beginning, and therefore it was impossible for anything internal to be opened plainly to them, as is evident from the Word of the Old Testament; and being rooted in this worst kind of the love of self, they would defile interior truths and goods, and would thus profane them more than all others, unless they were removed by avarice so far from internal things, and were thereby kept in thick darkness, for they cannot profane so long as they do not acknowledge. It is for this reason that the Lord says of them in John, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44); and of Judas Iscariot, who represented the Jewish Church, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70). By Judas also in that he sold the Lord.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4751)

A Nexus of Correspondences

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Representations are nothing but images of spiritual things in natural ones, and when the former are rightly represented in the latter, the two correspond. Yet the man who knows not what the spiritual is, but only the natural, is capable of thinking that such representations and derivative correspondences are impossible, for he might say to himself, How can the spiritual act upon the material? But if he will reflect upon the things taking place in himself every moment, he may be able to gain some idea of these matters; namely, how the will can act upon the muscles of the body, and effect real actions; also how thought can act upon the organs of speech, moving the lungs, trachea, throat, tongue, and lips, and thus produce speech; and also how the affections can act on the face, and there present images of themselves, so that another often thereby knows what is being thought and felt.

These examples may give some idea of what representations and correspondences are. As such things are now presented in man, and as there is nothing that can subsist from itself, but only from some other, and this again from some other, and finally from the First, and this by a nexus of correspondences, they who enjoy some extension of judgment may draw the conclusion that there is a correspondence between man and heaven; and further, between heaven and the Lord who is the First.

(Arcana Coelestia 4044)