Doing Good From The Word

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

All things of the church are perverted when the good of charity, which is the good of life, is separated and removed from faith as not contributing and effecting anything to salvation. Thereby all things of the Word and thence all things of the church are falsified, for the Lord says that the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments,

To love God above all things, and the neighbor as thyself.

These two commandments signify to live and act according to the commandments of the Word; for to love is to will and to do, since what a man interiorly loves, that he wills, and what he wills that he does. "The law and the prophets" signify all things of the Word.

There are two principles of evil and falsity into which the church successively falls.

• One is dominion over all things of the church and of heaven, which dominion is meant in the Word by "Babel" or "Babylonia;" into this the church falls by reason of evil
• The other is the separation of faith from charity, in consequence of which separation all the good of life perishes; (this is meant in the Word by "Philistia," and is signified by "the he-goat" in Daniel, and by "the dragon" in Revelation; into this the church falls by reason of falsity.)

"The dragon" especially signifies the religion of faith separate from charity — some things whereby the defenders of faith separate seduce the world: —

They especially seduce by teaching that as from oneself no one can do good that is in itself good, or can do good without placing merit in it, so good works can contribute nothing to salvation; nevertheless, goods should be done on account of use for the public good, and these are the goods that are meant in the Word and thence in preachings, and in some of the prayers of the church.

How great an error this is shall now be told.

When a man does good from the Word, that is, because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word, he does it not from himself but from the Lord, for the Lord is the Word (John 1:1, 14), and the Lord is in those things that man has from the Word, as He teaches in these words in John:

He that keepeth My Word, I will come unto him and will make My abode with him (John 14:23).

This is why the Lord so often commands that His words and commandments must be done; and that those who do them shall have eternal life; so also that everyone will be judged according to his works. From this it then follows that those who do good from the Word do good from the Lord, and good from the Lord is truly good, and so far as it is from the Lord there is no merit in it.

That good from the Word, thus from the Lord, is truly good, is evident also from these words in Revelation:

I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with Me (Rev. 3:20).

This shows that the Lord is always and continually present and bestows the effort to do good, but that man must open the door, that is, must receive the Lord; and he receives Him when he does good from His Word. Although this appears to man to be done as of himself, yet it is not of man but of the Lord in him. It so appears to man because he has no other feeling than that he thinks from himself and acts from himself; and yet when he thinks and acts from the Word he does it as if of himself, therefore he then also believes that he does it of the Lord.

From this it can be seen that the good that a man does from the Word is spiritual good, and that this conjoins man to the Lord and to heaven.

But the good that a man does for the world's sake and for the sake of the communities in the world, which is called civil and moral good, conjoins him to the world and not to heaven.

Moreover, the conjunction of the truth of faith is with spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor, because faith in itself is spiritual, and what is spiritual cannot be conjoined with any other good than what is equally spiritual. But civil and moral good, separate from spiritual good, is not good in itself, because it is from man; yea, so far as self and the world lie concealed in it, it is evil; this good, therefore, cannot be conjoined with faith, yea, if it were to be conjoined faith would be dissipated.

(from Apocalypse Explained 741:1-4)

Blessedness and Happiness in Love and Charity

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There is blessedness and happiness solely in the affection of good and of truth - a matter profoundly unknown to all who are in evil and its delight. To them, the blessedness in the affection of good and of truth appears either as something that is non-existent, or as something that is sad; while to some it appears as what is painful, and even deadly. This is the case with the genii and the spirits of hell, who think and believe that if the delight of the love of self and of the world, consequently of the evils therein originating, were taken away from them, nothing of life could remain to them. When they are shown that true life with its blessedness and happiness then begins, they feel a kind of sadness from the loss of their own delight.  When they are brought among those who are in such a life, pain and torture seize upon them; and besides this, they then begin to feel in themselves something that is cadaverous and direfully infernal so that they call heaven (which is the abode of this blessedness and happiness) their hell, and flee away, in order so far as possible to remove and hide themselves from the Lord's face.

That nevertheless all blessedness and happiness consist in the affection of the good which is of love and charity, and also of the truth which is of faith insofar as the latter leads to the former, can be seen from the fact that heaven (that is, angelic life) consists in this blessedness, and that it affects from the inmosts those who receive it, because it flows in through the inmosts from the Lord. Then also do wisdom and intelligence enter into and fill the inmost recesses of the mind, and kindle the good with heavenly flame, and the truth with heavenly light; and this with a perception of blessedness and happiness of which no description can be given except that they are unutterable. They who are in this state perceive how dead, how sad, and how lamentable is the life of those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world.

In order to obtain a clear idea of the nature of this life of the love of self and of the world (or what is the same, of a life of pride, avarice, envy, hatred, revenge, unmercifulness, adultery), let any person of talent make for himself an impersonation of some one of these evils; or if he can, let him paint it before his eyes in accordance with the ideas he is able to conceive of it from experience, knowledge, and reason, and he will then see, in proportion to the energy of his description or picture, how horrible these evils are, and that they are diabolical forms, in which there is nothing human. Forms such as these do all those become after death who perceive the delight of their life in such evils, and the greater is their delight in them, the more horrible are their own forms.

On the other hand, let the same person delineate for himself an impersonation of love and charity, or let him express it before his eyes under some form; and then in proportion to his power of description or portrayal he will see that the form is angelic, full of bliss and beauty, and pervaded within with what is heavenly and Divine.

Can anyone believe that these two forms can abide together? or that the diabolical form can be put off and be transmuted into the form of charity? and this by a faith to which the life is contrary? For after death everyone's life remains, or what is the same, his affection; and in accordance with this is then all his thought, and consequently his faith, which thus manifests itself as it had been at heart.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2363)

How the Literal Sense of the Word Serves

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

How the truth of the literal sense of the Word serves spiritual truth, shall be briefly told.

The man of the church first learns truth from the literal sense of the Word, which is general truth accommodated to the apprehension of the external man, who is in natural light. This truth is received by an external way, that is, by hearing, and is stored up in the memory of the external man, where are also various memory-knowledges derived from the world.

Afterward, the things stored up in this memory are subjected to the sight or view of the internal man, who sees from the light of heaven. The internal man calls forth therefrom by selection the truths which agree with the good which flows in from the Lord by the way of the soul, and which the man had received. There the Lord conjoins these truths with good. The truths which are thus conjoined in the internal man are called "spiritual truths," and the good with which the truths are conjoined is called "spiritual good." This good, formed by means of truths, is what makes the spiritual life of man. The truths themselves there are called "the truths of faith," and the good is called "the good of charity." The good in which truths have thus been implanted is the church with man.

From this it is plain in what manner the truths of the literal sense of the Word serve for the formation of spiritual truths, in general for the formation of faith and of charity, which make the spiritual life, which life consists in being affected with truths for the sake of good, and in being affected with good from truths, and finally in being affected with truths from good.
---
For the truths of the literal sense of the Word, stored up in the natural memory of man, form there as it were a field for the view of the internal man, into which light from heaven flows. From this field, as before said, the internal man selects such things as agree with the good in him, comparatively as the eye selects from the field of a garden such things as conduce to the uses of its life.

(from Arcana Coelestia 9034:2; 9035)

The Lord Alone Preserves From Evils

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. (Exodus 15:26)

All the disease that I have put on the Egyptians, I will not put upon thee. That this signifies that they are to be withheld from the evils that pertain to those who are in faith separate and in a life of evil, is evident from the signification of "disease," as being evil (of which below)

• from the representation of the Egyptians, as being those who are in faith separate and in a life of evil (see Arcana Coelestia n. 7097, 7317, 7926, 8148)

• from the signification of "not to put upon thee," when said of disease, by which evil is signified, as being that they are to be withheld from evil; for Jehovah, that is, the Lord, does not take away evil; but withholds man from it, and keeps him in good (Arcana Coelestia n. 929, 1581, 2256, 2406, 4564, 8206).

From this it is that by "not to put disease upon them" is signified that they are to be withheld from evils.

That "disease" denotes evil, is because in the internal sense are signified such things as affect the spiritual life.

The diseases which affect this life [spiritual life] are evils, and are called cupidities [‘to desire’ - covet] and concupiscences [‘beginning to desire’ - lust].

Faith and charity make the spiritual life. This life sickens when falsity takes the place of the truth which is of faith, and evil takes the place of the good which is of charity - for these bring this life unto death, which is called spiritual death, and is damnation, as diseases bring the natural life unto its death.

Hence it is that by "disease" is signified in the internal sense evil; and by "the diseases of the Egyptians," the evils into which those cast themselves who had been in faith separate and in a life of evil, whereby they had infested the upright, which evils have been treated of in what precedes, where the plagues in Egypt were treated of.

Evils are also meant by "diseases" in other passages in the Word, as in Moses:

If thou wilt keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, Jehovah will remove from thee all sickness, and will not put upon thee all the evil weaknesses of Egypt, which thou hast known; but will give them upon thy haters (Deut. 7:11, 15).

If thou wilt not obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, by keeping to do all His commandments and His statutes, Jehovah will send on thee the curse, the disquiet, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of thy hand which thou doest, until thou be destroyed, because of the wickedness of thy works, whereby thou hast forsaken Me. Jehovah shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He has consumed thee from upon the land; Jehovah shall smite thee with consumption, and with a hot fever, and with a burning fever, and with a raging fever, and with drought, and with blasting, and with jaundice, which shall pursue thee until thou perish: Jehovah shall smite thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with the itch, that thou canst not be healed. Jehovah shall smite thee with fury, and with blindness, and with amazement of heart. Thou shalt become mad from the look of thine eyes. Jehovah shall smite thee with a sore ulcer, upon the knees, and upon the thighs, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of the foot unto the crown of thy head. He will throw back on thee all the weakness of Egypt, also every disease, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law. Jehovah shall give thee a trembling heart, consumption of eyes, and grief of soul (Deut. 28:15, 20-22, 27, 28, 34, 35, 60, 61, 65).

By all the diseases here named are signified spiritual diseases, which are evils destroying the life of the will of good, and falsities destroying the life of the understanding of truth; in a word, destroying the spiritual life which is of faith and charity. Moreover natural diseases correspond to such things, for every disease in the human race is from this source, because from sin.

As death is from no other source than sin, and sin is all that which is contrary to Divine order, therefore evil closes the very smallest and most invisible vessels, of which are composed the next larger ones, also invisible; for the vessels which are smallest of all and wholly invisible are continued from man's interiors. Hence comes the first and inmost obstruction, and hence the first and inmost vitiation into the blood. When this vitiation increases, it causes disease, and finally death. If, however, man had lived a life of good, his interiors would be open into heaven, and through heaven to the Lord; and so too would the very least and most invisible little vessels (the traces of the first threads may be called little vessels, on account of the correspondence). In consequence man would be without disease, and would merely decline to extreme old age, even until he became again a little child, but a wise one; and when the body could no longer minister to his internal man or spirit, he would pass without disease out of his earthly body into a body such as the angels have, thus out of the world directly into heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 5726; see also n. 5712)

Moreover every disease corresponds to its own evil. The reason is that everything of man's life is from the spiritual world, and therefore if his spiritual life sickens, evil is derived therefrom into the natural life also, and becomes a disease there. (See what has been said from experience about the correspondence of diseases with evils, Arcana Coelestia n. 5711-5727.)

Like things are signified by "diseases" in other passages, as in Moses:

Ye shall worship Jehovah your God, that He may bless thy bread, and thy waters; and I will take disease away from the midst of thee (Exod. 23:25).

If ye shall reject My statutes, and if your soul loathe My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, while ye make My covenant vain, I will enjoin terror upon you, with consumption, and with burning fever, that shall consume the eyes, and torment the soul (Lev. 26:15, 16)

signifying the decrease of truth, and the increase of falsity; "burning fever" denotes the cupidity of evil. Further in these passages:

Wherefore will ye add a going back? the whole head is diseased, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wound, and scar, and flesh blow, not pressed out, and not bandaged, and not mollified with oil (Isa. 1:5, 6);

that here by "disease," "wound," "scar," and "blow," are meant sins, is hidden from no one.

Woe to the shepherds of Israel, the feeble sheep have ye not strengthened, the sick one have ye not healed, and the broken one have ye not bandaged (Ezek. 34:2, 4).

Mine iniquities are gone over my head, my wounds have putrefied, they have consumed away, because of my foolishness, for my bowels are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh (Ps. 38:4, 5, 7).

As by "diseases" are signified the corruptions and evils of spiritual life, therefore by the various kinds of diseases are signified also the various kinds of corruptions and evils of that life. (That by "pestilence" is signified the vastation of good and truth, see n. 7102, 7505; and by "leprosy," the profanation of truth, n. 6963.) That in general by "diseases" are signified sins, can also be seen in Isaiah:

A man of sorrows, and known of disease; whence is as it were a hiding of faces from Him. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not: nevertheless He hath borne our diseases, and hath carried our griefs, and through His wounds health hath been given us (53:3-5);

speaking of the Lord.

As diseases represented the hurtful and evil things of the spiritual life, therefore by the diseases which the Lord healed is signified liberation from various kinds of evil and falsity which infested the church and the human race, and which would have led to spiritual death. For Divine miracles are distinguished from other miracles by the fact that they involve and have regard to states of the church and of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore the Lord's miracles consisted chiefly in the healing of diseases. This is meant by the Lord's words to the disciples sent by John:

Tell John the things which ye hear and see: the blind see, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor hear the gospel (Matt. 11:4, 5).

Hence it is that it is so often said that the Lord "healed all disease and weakness" (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 14:14, 35, 36; Luke 4:40; 5:15; 6:17; 7:21; Mark 1:32-34; 3:10).

(Arcana Coelestia 8364)

The Divine Made Comprehensible

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

"The celestial of the spiritual," ... is meant the Lord. The same may also be said abstractedly of Him, because He [the Lord] is the celestial itself and the spiritual itself, that is, good itself and truth itself.

As regards man, these cannot indeed be conceived of abstractedly from person, because what is natural is adjoined to everything of his thought; nevertheless, when we consider that everything in the Lord is Divine, and that the Divine is above all thought, and altogether incomprehensible even to the angels, consequently if we then abstract that which is comprehensible, there remains being and coming-forth itself, which is the celestial itself and the spiritual itself, that is, good itself and truth itself.

Nevertheless, as man is such that he can have no idea of thought whatever about abstract things unless he adjoins something natural which has entered from the world through the senses (for without some such natural thing his thought perishes as in an abyss and is dissipated), therefore lest what is Divine should perish in man when he is wholly immersed in bodily and earthly things, and with whomsoever it remained it should be defiled by an unclean idea, and together with what is Divine everything celestial and spiritual thence derived should also perish, it pleased Jehovah to present Himself such as He actually is, and such as He appears in heaven, namely, as a Divine Man. For everything of heaven conspires to the human form, as may be seen from what has been shown at the end of the chapters [in the works: Arcana Cœlestia] concerning the correspondence of all things of man with the Grand Man, which is heaven. This Divine, or this of Jehovah in heaven, is the Lord from eternity. The same the Lord took also upon Him when He glorified or made Divine the human in Himself, as is very evident from the form in which He appeared before Peter, James, and John, when He was transfigured —

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.  (Matt. 17:1, 2)

and also in which He at times appeared to the prophets. It is from this that everyone is able to think of the Divine Itself as of a Man, and at the same time of the Lord, in whom is all the Divine, and a perfect Trinity, for in the Lord the Divine Itself is the Father, this Divine in heaven is the Son, and the Divine thence proceeding is the Holy Spirit. That these are a one, as He Himself teaches, is hence manifest.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 5110:2,3)

In Accordance with the Laws of Order

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Divine omnipotence is in order, and that its government, which is called Providence, is in accordance with order, and that it acts continually and to eternity in accordance with the laws of its order; nor can it act against them or change them one iota, because order, with all its laws, is Himself.

The omnipotent God created the world from the order within Him, that is, into the order in which He is, and in accordance with which He rules. He impressed upon the universe and each and all things of it its own order, upon man his order, upon the beast its order, upon bird and fish and worm, and every tree and even every blade of grass, upon each its own order. But to illustrate by examples, I will mention briefly the following

• The laws of order enjoined upon man are, that he should acquire for himself truths from the Word, and reflect upon them naturally, and as far as he can, rationally, and thus acquire for himself a natural faith.

• The laws of order on the part of God then are, that He will draw near and fill these truths with His Divine light, and thus fill the man's natural faith (which is mere knowledge and persuasion) with a Divine essence. In this and in no other way can faith become saving. It is the same with charity.

But some particulars shall be briefly mentioned.

• God, in accordance with His laws, is able to remit sins to any man only so far as the man, in accordance with his laws, refrains from them.

• God able to regenerate a man spiritually only so far as the man, accordance with his laws, regenerates himself naturally.

God is in an unceasing endeavor to regenerate man, and thus save him, but this He is unable to accomplish except as man prepares himself as a receptacle, and thus levels the way and opens the door for God. A bridegroom cannot enter the chamber of a virgin till she becomes his bride; for she shuts the door and keeps the key to herself within, but when the virgin has become a bride she gives the key to the bridegroom.

God could not by His omnipotence have redeemed men unless He had become Man. Neither could He have made His Human Divine unless that Human had first been like the human of a babe, and then like that of a boy, and unless afterwards the Human had formed itself into a receptacle and habitation, into which its Father might enter, which was done by His fulfilling all things in the Word, that is, all the laws of order therein - so far as He accomplished this, He united Himself to the Father, and the Father united Himself to Him.

(from True Christian Religion 73)

The Destructive Nature of the Love of Self

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

They who are in the loves of self and of the world cannot possibly believe that they are in things so filthy and unclean as they actually are in, for there is a certain pleasure and delight that soothes, favors, and allures, and causes them to love that life, to prefer it to all other life, and thereby to suppose that there is nothing of evil in it.

Whatever favors anyone's love and the life thence derived is believed to be good.

Hence also the rational consents, and suggests falsities which confirm and cause such blindness that they see nothing of the nature of heavenly love; and if they were to see it they would say in their hearts that it is a wretched affair, or a thing of naught, or something of the nature of a phantasy that takes hold of the mind, as in sickness.

But that the life of the love of self and of the world, together with its pleasures and delights, is filthy and unclean, may be seen by everyone who is willing to think from the rational faculty with which he is gifted. The love of self is the source of all the evils that destroy civic society. From it, as from an unclean pit, spring all hatreds, all revenges, all cruelties, nay, all adulteries. For anyone who loves himself either holds in contempt or reviles or hates everybody else who does not serve him or who does not further his interests or who fails to show him favour; and when he hates, he breathes nothing but revenges and cruelties, and this in proportion to the degree in which he loves himself, so that this love is destructive of society and of the human race. That in the other life the love of self is most filthy, and that it is diametrically opposite to the mutual love in which heaven consists.

And as the love of self is the source of hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and adulteries, it is the source of all things that are called sins, wickednesses, abominations, and profanations, and therefore when this love is in the rational part of man, and is in the cupidities and phantasies of his external man, the influx of heavenly love from the Lord is continually repelled, perverted, and contaminated. It is like foul excrement, which dissipates, nay, defiles, all sweet odor; it is like an object that turns the continually inflowing rays of light into dark and repulsive colors. It is like a tiger, or a serpent, which repels all fondling, and kills with bite and poison those who offer it food; or like a vicious man who turns even the best intentions of others, and their very kindnesses, into what is blameworthy and malicious. (from Arcana Coelestia 2045)

Those within the church who are in falsity, and at the same time are in the love of self, are most especially those who profane holy things; but they who are in any other love whatever not so much, for the love of self is the most foul of all, because it is destructive of society, and thus of the human race. That it is also diametrically opposed to mutual love, in which heaven consists, and thus is destructive of heavenly order itself, may be seen from the evil spirits and genii in the other life; and also from the hells, in which nothing reigns but the love of self; and because the love of self reigns there, so do all kinds of hatreds, revenges, and cruelties, because these are derived from it.

Mutual love in heaven consists in the fact that they love the neighbor more than themselves, the effect of which is that the whole heaven represents as it were one man; for by means of mutual love all are so consociated by the Lord, and hence it is that the happinesses of all are communicated to each one, and those of each one to all. Consequently the heavenly form is such that everyone is as it were a kind of center, thus a center of communications, and consequently of happinesses, from all; and this in accordance with all the differences of mutual love, which are innumerable. And because those who are in that love perceive the highest happiness in being able to communicate to others that which flows into them, and this from the heart, the communication becomes perpetual and eternal; and on this account, as the Lord's kingdom increases, so the happiness of each angel increases. As the angels are in distinct societies and abodes, they do not think of this; but the Lord thus disposes all things both in general and in particular. Such is the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens.

Nothing else endeavors to destroy this form and this order than the love of self, and therefore all in the other life who are in the love of self are more deeply infernal than others, for the love of self communicates nothing to others, but extinguishes and suffocates their delights and happinesses. Whatever delight flows into them from others, they receive to themselves, concentrate it within themselves, turn it into the filthiness of self, prevent its going any further, and thus destroy all that tends to unanimity and consociation. From this comes disunion, and consequently destruction. And as every such person desires to be served, courted, and adored by others, and loves no one but himself, hence comes dissociation, which is determined and puts itself forth into lamentable states, so that they perceive nothing to be more delightful than to torture others, in direful modes and by phantasies, from hatred, revenge, and cruelty. When such persons come to any society where mutual love resides, they are cast down of their own accord, like impure and dead weights in a pure and living aura, because all the influent delight is terminated in themselves; and because they exhale a foul idea of self, their delight is there turned into a cadaverous stench, by which they are made sensible of the hell of self, besides being seized with terrible anguish.

From this we can see that it is the nature of the love of self to be destructive not only of the human race, but also of heavenly order; and thus that there is nothing in it but impurity, filthiness, profaneness, and hell itself - however little this may appear to those who are in it. They are in the love of self who despise others in comparison with themselves, and hate those who do not favor, serve, and pay a kind of worship to them; and who find a cruel delight in revenge, and in depriving others of honor, reputation, wealth, and life. They who are in the love of self are in these evils; and they who are in these evils may know that they are in the love of self. (from Arcana Coelestia 2057)