The Ends for which the Lord Came

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE LORD'S COMING IS NOT HIS COMING TO DESTROY THE VISIBLE HEAVEN AND THE HABITABLE EARTH
AND TO CREATE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, AS MANY, FROM NOT UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD, HAVE HITHERTO SUPPOSED

The prevailing opinion in the churches at the present day is, that when the Lord shall come for the last judgment, He will appear in the clouds of heaven with angels and the sound of trumpets; will gather together all who still dwell on the earth, together with all who have died; will separate the wicked from the good, as a shepherd separates the goats from the sheep; will then cast the wicked or the goats into hell, and will raise the good or the sheep into heaven; and at the same time will create a new visible heaven and a new habitable earth, and will send down upon that earth the city called the New Jerusalem, built according to the description of it in the Apocalypse (chap. 21), that is, of jasper and gold, and the foundations of its wall of every precious stone, while its height, breadth, and length will be equal, each twelve thousand furlongs; also that into that city will be gathered all the elect, both those who are still alive and those who have died since the beginning of the world; that these will then return into their bodies, and in that magnificent city, as their heaven, will enjoy eternal blessedness. This is the prevailing opinion in the Christian churches of today respecting the Lord's coming and the last judgment. ...

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The Word in the letter was written by appearances and correspondences, consequently in all its particulars there is a spiritual sense, and in that sense the truth is in its own light while the sense of the letter is in shade.

In order therefore that the man of the New Church may not wander about, like the man of the old, in the shade that obscures the sense of the letter of the Word, especially in respect to heaven and hell and man's life after death, and here in respect to the Lord's coming, it has pleased the Lord to open the sight of my spirit, and thus introduce me into the spiritual world, and permit me not only to talk with spirits and angels, relatives and friends, and even with kings and princes who have finished their course in the natural world, but also to see the wonders of heaven and the miseries of hell, and thus to learn that man does not abide in some indefinite place in the earth, nor fly about blind and dumb in the air or in vacancy, but lives as a man in a substantial body in a much more perfect state (if he is among the blessed), than that in which he formerly lived when in the material body. In order therefore, that man from ignorance may not immerse himself still more deeply in this opinion respecting the destruction of the visible heaven and habitable earth, and in respect also to the spiritual world (because of which ignorance naturalism together with atheism, which among the learned has begun to take root in the interior rational mind, is spreading more widely, like mortification in the flesh, even extending to the external mind from which man speaks), I have been commanded by the Lord to make known various things that I have seen and heard respecting Heaven and Hell and respecting the Last judgment, and also to explain the Apocalypse, which treats of the Lord's coming the former heaven, the new heaven, and the holy Jerusalem. From these, when they have been read and understood, anyone can see what is meant by the Lord's coming, the new heaven, and the New Jerusalem.

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THIS COMING OF THE LORD WHICH IS HIS SECOND COMING, IS TAKING PLACE IN ORDER THAT THE EVIL MAY BE SEPARATED FROM THE GOOD, AND THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED AND DO BELIEVE IN HIM, MAY BE SAVED, AND THAT FROM THEM A NEW ANGELIC HEAVEN AND A NEW CHURCH ON EARTH MAY BE FORMED
AND WITHOUT THIS, NO FLESH COULD BE SAVED

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Matthew 24:22

That this second coming of the Lord does not take place for the purpose of destroying the visible heaven and habitable earth, has been shown in the preceding section. That it is not for the purpose of destroying anything, but to build up, consequently not to condemn but to save those who since His first coming have believed in Him and also those who may hereafter believe in Him, is evident from these words of the Lord:

God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved; he that believeth on Him is not judged, but he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:17, 18).

And elsewhere:

If any man hear My words and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world but to save the world: He that despiseth Me and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47-48).

That the last judgment took place in the spiritual world in the year 1757 has been shown in the little work on The Last Judgment (London, 1758); and further in a Continuation on the Last Judgment, (Amsterdam, 1763). To all this I can testify, because I saw it with my own eyes in a state of full wakefulness.

The Lord's coming is for the purpose of forming a new heaven of those who have believed in Him, and for the purpose of establishing a new church of those who shall hereafter believe in Him, inasmuch as these two are the ends for which He came. The very end for which the universe was created was no other than the formation from men of an angelic heaven, where all who believe in God shall live forever in eternal blessedness; for the Divine love which is in God and essentially is God, can intend nothing else, and the Divine wisdom which is also in God and is God, can effect nothing else. As the end for which the universe was created was an angelic heaven from the human race, and at the same time a church on earth (for man enters heaven through the church); and as the salvation of men (which is to be effected in men who are to be born in the world), is thus the continuation of creation, so throughout the Word the term "to create," which is frequently used, means to form for heaven, as in the following passages:

Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a firm spirit in the midst of me (Ps. 51:10).

Thou openest Thine hand, they are satisfied with good; Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created (Ps. 104:28, 30).

A people that shall be created shall praise Jah (Ps. 102:18).

Thus hath said Jehovah thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel; I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine. Everyone that is called by My name into My glory have I created him (Isa. 43:1, 7).

In the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee (Ezek. 28:13, 15).

This is said of the king of Tyre:

That they may see, know, consider and understand that the hand of Jehovah hath done it, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it (Isa. 41:20).

From all this the meaning of the term "to create" in the following passages can be seen:

Jehovah creating the heavens, spreading forth the earth, giving breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk in it (Isa. 42:5; 45:12, 18).

Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth; be ye glad forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing (Isa. 65:17, 18).

The Lord's presence is unceasing with every man, both the evil and the good, for without His presence no man lives; but His Coming is only to those who receive Him, who are such as believe on Him and keep His commandments. The Lord's unceasing presence causes man to become rational, and gives him the ability to become spiritual. This is effected by the light that goes forth from the Lord as the sun in the spiritual world, and that man receives in his understanding; that light is truth, and by means of it man has rationality. But the Lord's coming is to him who joins heat with that light, that is, love with truth; for the heat that goes forth from that same sun is love to God and love toward the neighbor. The mere presence of the Lord, and the consequent enlightenment of the understanding, may be likened to presence of solar light in the world; unless this light is joined with heat all things on earth become desolate. But the coming of the Lord may be likened to the coming of heat, which takes place in spring; because heat then joins itself with light, the earth is softened, and seeds sprout and bring forth fruit. Such is the parallelism between the spiritual things which are the environment of man's spirit, and the natural things which are the environment of his body.

The same is true of the man of the church in the composite or collective sense as of the individual or single man. Man in the collective or composite sense is the church among many, while the individual or single man is the church in anyone of those many. It is according to Divine order that there should be what is general and what is particular, and that both should be together in every single thing, and that otherwise particulars cannot have existence and permanence; just as there are no particulars within man without generals by which they are surrounded. The particulars in man are the viscera and their parts, and the generals are the coverings which surround not only the whole man, but also everyone of the viscera, and every single part thereof.

The same is true of every beast, bird, and worm; also every tree, shrub, and seed; nor can a tone be produced by a stringed instrument or the breath, unless there is a most general from which each least particular of the modulation derives its general, in order to exist. The same is true of every bodily sense, as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; and also of all the internal senses, which belong to the mind. All this has been said by way of illustration, to make clear that in the church also there is what is general and what is particular, also what is most general; and that this is why there have been four preceding churches in order, from which progression what is most general in the church has arisen, and in succession the general and the particular of each church. In man also there are two most general things from which all the generals and the several particulars derive their existence. In his body these two most general things are the heart and lungs; in his spirit they are the will and understanding. On these four depend all things pertaining to his life, both in general and in particular, all of which without them would fall asunder and die. And so would it be with the whole angelic heaven, and with the whole human race, and even with the whole created universe, if they did not all in general, and each in particular depend on God, on His love and His wisdom.

(True Christian Religion 768; 772-775)

The Night Followed by a Morning

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THE NIGHT IS FOLLOWED BY A MORNING
WHICH IS
THE COMING OF THE LORD

As the successive states of the church in general and in particular are described in the Word by the four seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and by the four divisions of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and as the present church in Christendom is the night, it follows that the morning, that is, the beginning of a new church, is now at hand. That the successive states of the church are described in the Word by the four states of the light of day, can be seen from the following passages:

Unto evening and morning two thousand and three hundred; then the holy one shall be justified. The vision of the evening and the morning is truth (Dan. 8:14, 26).

Crying to me from Seir, Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh and also the night (Isa. 21:11-12).

The end is come; the morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; behold the day cometh; the morning is gone forth (Ezek. 7:6-7, 10).

Jehovah in the morning shall bring His judgment to light; nor shall He fail (Zeph. 3:5).

God is in the midst of her; God shall help her at the return of the morning (Ps. 46:5).

I have waited for Jehovah; my soul looketh for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, I say, more than watchmen for the morning; for with Him is plenteous redemption, and He will redeem Israel (Ps. 130:5-8).

In these passages "evening" and "night" mean the last time of the church, and "morning" the first. The Lord Himself is also called the morning in the following passages:

The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to Me. He shall be as the light of the morning, a morning without clouds (2 Sam. 23:3-4).

I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star (Rev. 22:16).

From the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of Thy youth (Ps. 110:3).

These passages refer to the Lord. Because the Lord is the morning, He arose from the sepulchre early in the morning, being about to begin a new church (Mark 16:2, 9).

That it is the Lord's coming that is to be waited for can be clearly seen from His prediction respecting it in Matthew:

As Jesus was sitting upon the Mount of Olives the disciples drew near unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? (Matt. 24:3).

After the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matt. 24:29, 30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).

As were the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not, shall the Son of man come (Matt. 24:37, 39, 44, 46).

In Luke:

When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).

In John:

Jesus said of John, If I will that he tarry till I come (John 21:22-23).

In the Acts of the Apostles:

When they saw Jesus taken up into heaven, two men stood by them in white apparel, who said, Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have see Him go into heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

In the Apocalypse:

The Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. Behold I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his work (Rev. 22:6-7, 12).

And again:

I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that heareth, let him say, Come; and he that is athirst, let him come; and he that wisheth, let him take the water of life freely (Rev. 22:16-17).

He that testifieth these things saith, Yea, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Rev. 22:20-21).

The Lord is present with every man, urging and pressing to be received.

His first coming, which is called the dawn, is when man receives Him, which he does when he acknowledges Him as his God, Creator, Redeemer, and Savior.

From this time man's understanding begins to be enlightened in spiritual things, and to advance into a more and more interior wisdom.

As he receives this wisdom from the Lord, he advances through morning into day, and this day lasts with him into old age, even to death

After death he passes into heaven to the Lord Himself; and there, although he died an old man, he is restored to the morning of his life, and the rudiments of the wisdom implanted in him in the natural world grow to eternity.

The man who has faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor is a church in particular; and the church in general is composed of such. It is wonderful that every angel, in whatever direction he turns his body and face, sees the Lord in front of him; the Lord being the sun of the angelic heaven; and this appears before their eyes when they are engaged in spiritual meditation.

The same is true, in respect to the sight of his spirit, of any man in the world in whom the church is; but because this sight is veiled over by the natural sight, to which the other senses add their allurements, and because the objects of these senses are such things as pertain to the body and the world, this state of the man's spirit is unknown. This seeing the Lord in front, however one may turn, originates in this —

That all truth (which is the source of wisdom and faith), and all good (through which love and charity exist), are from the Lord, and are the Lord's in man; consequently every truth of wisdom is like a mirror in which the Lord is seen, and every good of love is an image of the Lord.

This is the cause of this wonderful appearance.

But an evil spirit constantly turns away from the Lord, and looks continually to his own love, and this he does in whatever direction he turns his body and face. The cause of this is the same, but reversed; for every evil is an image, in a sort of form, of a man's ruling love, and falsity therefrom presents that image as in a mirror.

That some such thing is also implanted in nature may be inferred from certain plants, in their striving to rise above the herbage that surrounds them, to look at the sun; and again from the fact that some of them turn towards the sun from his rising to the end of the day that they may ripen under his auspices. Nor do I doubt that there is a like endeavor and effort in all the twigs and branches of every tree; but not being elastic enough to bend and turn, the act is checked. Moreover, it is clear to anyone investigating the matter, that all the whirlpools either of inland or ocean waters spontaneously follow in their motion the general course of the sun.

Why, then, should not man, who was created in the image of God, so turn, unless by means of his gift of freedom of choice he turns that endeavor and effort, implanted in him by the Creator, in another direction? This may also be likened to a bride's constantly keeping before the sight of her spirit something of the image of her betrothed, and seeing him in his gifts as in mirrors, longing for his coming, and when he comes receiving him with the joy in which her bosom's love finds its delight.

(True Christian Religion 764-767)

An Appetite for Goods and Truths

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

— THE STATE OF LIFE OF SPIRITS AND ANGELS IN THE HEAVENS —

In heaven this state is that spirits and angels have their morning, midday, and evening, also twilight, and again morning, and so on. It is their morning when the Lord is present and blesses them with manifest happiness: they are then in the perception of good. It is their midday when they are in the light of truths; and it is their evening when they are removed therefrom, and then it appears to them that the Lord is more remote and is hidden from them. All who are in heaven undergo and pass through these alternations, and cannot otherwise be continually perfected, for thereby they have relatives, and from the relatives a more perfect conception, since they thereby know what is not happy, because they thereby know what is not good and what is not true.

It is worthy of admiration that to eternity one state is never exactly like another, and also that one spirit and angel does not pass through the like changes of state as another, for the reason that one is not exactly like another in respect to good and truth; just as neither is one man exactly like another in the face. Nevertheless out of these varieties the Lord makes a one.

It is a general canon that everyone that has any quality comes forth from various things which are reduced into such unanimity that by agreement of harmony they all appear as a one. In the heavens the unity thus formed, or union, is effected through love and charity.

[I]n the Word "evening," occurs with the angels at the times when they do not perceive the Lord to be present; for there is in heaven a continual perception of the Lord. When they are in a state of non-perception they are not then affected with good, neither do they see truth, as before; this troubles them, but shortly afterward the dawn comes, and so the morning.

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ENLIGHTENMENTS IN THE OTHER LIFE

[T]he times of day, as morning, noon, and evening, correspond to the enlightenments in the other life, and the enlightenments there are those of intelligence and wisdom, for in the light of heaven there is intelligence and wisdom. There are alternations of enlightenment there, like morning, noon, and evening on earth. The states of shade, like those of evening, do not arise from the sun there, that is, the Lord, who is always giving light, but from the angels' own, for insofar as they are let into their own they come into a state of shade or evening, and insofar as they are lifted out of their own into a heavenly own, they come into a state of light.

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WITH REGARD TO DESOLATION OR FAMINE BEING VERY GRIEVOUS

[B]e it known that truths and goods and the knowledges thereof make the spiritual life of those who are in heaven, for these are the celestial and spiritual foods with which they are nourished. These foods are given them daily by the Lord. When it is morning with them, goods are supplied; when it is noon, truths are supplied; but when it is evening, goods and truths are lacking, and this even unto twilight and the return of morning. The angels are then kept in a state of appetite, which is of such a nature that they long for these things more than those who are hungry on earth long for food. This state is signified by "famine," and it is a kind of desolation, but not such as exists with those who are in the lower earth.

Scarcely anyone in this world can believe that the angelic heaven has such an appetite for truths and goods and the knowledges of these; for they who are intent on nothing else than gain and glory and indulgence in pleasures, will wonder that such things are a matter of life to the angels, and will say, What are knowledges of good and of truth to me? what have these to do with life? The things which give life and the delight of life are riches, honors, and pleasures. But be it known to them that the life which is from these things is the life of the body, and not the life of the soul, and that the former life perishes with the body, but the latter remains to eternity; and that they consult their own evil who during their abode in this world think nothing about the spiritual life.

As further regards desolation, it is for the sake of inducing appetite, for goods and truths are received in accordance with this; and when the desires excited by appetite are obtained, they cause satisfaction and happiness. Wherefore in the other life they who are in desolation are soon afterward refreshed, and attain their desires. By means of such alternations are all made perfect. It is worthy of note that the alternations of the day in the natural world — morning, midday, evening, night, and again morning — perfectly represent the alternations in the spiritual world, with only this difference: that the alternations of the spiritual world flow into the understanding and the will, and sustain those things which are of the life; while the alternations in the natural world flow into those things which are of the body, and sustain them.

What is still more worthy of note is that the shades of evening and the darkness of night do not come from the Lord, but from things that belong to angels, spirits, and men. For the Lord as a Sun is continually shining and flowing in, but evils and falsities from what is one's own, being in men, spirits, and angels, turn and convert them from the Lord, and thus lead them into the shades of evening, and those who are evil into the darkness of night; in like manner as the sun of our world is continually shining and inflowing, but the earth by its rotation turns itself away from it, and brings itself into shade and darkness.

The reason why these alternations take place in the natural world is that the natural world comes forth from the spiritual world, and therefore also subsists from it; and hence it is that universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord's kingdom. The reason why these alternations exist in the spiritual world is that all who are in heaven may be continually perfected. From this there are such alternations also in the natural world, for otherwise all things therein would perish with drought.

Yet be it known that in heaven there is no night, but only evening, which is succeeded by the twilight that precedes the morning. But in hell there is night. There are alternations there also, but these are opposite to the alternations in heaven; for in hell morning is the heat of cupidities, noon is the itching of falsities, evening is anxiety, and night is torment. Yet through all these alternations the night dominates, and it is only the variations of shade and of the darkness of night that present these alternations.

Be it further known that in the spiritual world the alternations with one person are not like those with another; and also that the alternations there are not distinguished into stated times, because it is the variations of state that present them to view; for in place of times in the natural world there are states in the spiritual world.

(from Arcana Coelestia 5962; 5672; 6110)

WHAT IS PERPETUAL — WHAT IS ETERNAL

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

— STATE AND CHANGE OF STATE —

Time and the succession of time, or space and the extension of space, cannot be predicated of man's interiors, that is, of his affections and the thoughts therefrom because these interiors are not in time nor in place - although to the senses in the world it appears as if they were - but are in interior things which correspond to time and place. These interior things which correspond we have to call states, because there is no other word by which these corresponding things can be expressed. The state of the interiors is said to be changed when the mind or heart is changed as to affections and consequent thoughts - as from sadness to joy, or from joy to sadness again; from impiety to piety or devotion; and so on. These changes are called changes of state, and are predicated of the affections, and of the thoughts also insofar as they are governed by the affections; but changes of state of the thoughts are in those of the affections like particulars in generals, and are relatively variations.

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HOW THE NOTION OF TIME CAN BE CHANGED INTO THE NOTION OF STATE
OR THAT WHEN "TIME" OCCURS IN THE WORD
SOMETHING RELATING TO STATE IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD

[T]he thoughts of angels do not derive anything from time or from space, because they are in heaven; for when they left the world, they left also the notion of time and space, and put on notions of state, that is, of the state of good and truth. Wherefore when man reads the Word and then thinks of time and of the things belonging to time, the angels with him do not perceive anything of time, but perceive instead the things that are of state, which also correspond thereto. Neither does man in his interior thought perceive time, but only in his exterior, as may appear from the state of man when his exterior thought is lulled to rest, that is, when he is sleeping; and also from various other experiences.

But be it known that there are in general two states, a state of good and a state of truth. The state of good is called a state of being, but the state of truth a state of coming into existence; for being is of good, and the derivative coming into existence is of truth. Space corresponds to the state of being, and time to the state of coming into existence. Hence it may be seen that when man reads "and it came to pass in this time," the angels with him can by no means perceive these words as man does. So likewise in other instances. For whatever is written in the Word is of such a nature that with angels it is turned into a corresponding sense, which does not at all appear in the sense of the letter; because what is worldly of the sense of the letter is turned into what is spiritual of the internal sense.

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ALL PERIODS OF TIME SIGNIFY STATES
AS HOUR, DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, AGE
AS NOON, EVENING, NIGHT, MORNING
AS SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER, SPRING
AS INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD, YOUTH, ADULT AGE, AND OLD AGE

And it came to pass about three months after. That this signifies a new state, is evident from the signification of "three" as being what is complete, and hence the last and the first together, or the end and the beginning together; and from the signification of "month" as being state. For in the internal sense all periods of time signify states, as hour, day, week, month, year, age; and also the lesser divisions of time, as noon, evening, night, and morning, which are times of the day; and as summer, autumn, winter, and spring, which are times of the year; and also the several periods of life, as infancy and childhood, youth, adult age, and old age; all of which times, with others, signify states.

That times signify states is because times do not exist in the other life. The progression of the life of spirits and angels indeed appears as in time; but they have no thought from times, as men in the world have; their thought is from states of the life, and this without notion of times. The reason of this is that the progressions of their life are not distinguished into different ages, for there they do not grow old, and there are no days or years, because their sun, which is the Lord, is always rising and never sets. Hence no notion of time enters their thoughts, but only a notion of state and its progressions - notions being taken from the things that are and exist before the senses.

These things must needs seem paradoxical, but only for the reason that man in every idea of his thought has somewhat adjoined from time and space. From this source are his memory and recollection, and also his lower thought, the ideas of which are called material. But that memory out of which comes such ideas is quiescent in the other life. They who are in that life are in interior memory, and in the ideas of its thought; and thought from this latter memory has not times and spaces adjoined to it, but states and their progressions instead. Hence also it is that they correspond, and in consequence of such correspondence times in the Word signify states. (That man has an exterior memory which is proper to him in the body, and also an interior memory which is proper to his spirit, may be seen above, n. 2469-2494.)

That by about three months after is signified a new state, is because by "months," into which also times in the world are distinguished, is signified state, and by "three" is signified the last and the first together, or the end and the beginning together, as said above. Because in the spiritual world there is a continual progression of states from one into another, and consequently in the last or end of every state there is a first or beginning, hence what is continuous, therefore by the words about three months after is signified a new state. It is similar also in the church, which is the spiritual world or the Lord's kingdom on earth, the last of the church with one nation being always the first of the church with another. As the last is thus continued into the first, it is several times said of the Lord that He is the Last and the First as in Isaiah 41:4

Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

In the same:

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. 44:6

And in Revelation 21:6:

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

In the same:

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 22:13

and thereby in the relative sense is signified what is perpetual, and in the supreme sense what is eternal.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4850; 4814; 4901)

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— TO ALLAY UNREST OF MIND BY THE HOPE OF SOMETHING —
UNREST OR MOURNING OVER DESTROYED GOOD AND TRUTH
THIS MOURNING CANNOT BE ALLAYED EXCEPT
BY INTERPRETATIONS FROM THE WORD

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

For the sense of the letter has general things, which are as vessels, and can be filled with truths and also with falsities, and thus be so explained as to favor anything; and because they are general things, they are also comparatively obscure, having light from no other source than the internal sense; for the internal sense is in the light of heaven, because it is the Word for the angels; but the sense of the letter is in the light of the world, because it is the Word for men before they come into the light of heaven from the Lord, from which they then have enlightenment. From this it is evident that the sense of the letter is of service to the simple for initiation into the internal sense.

That by interpretations from the sense of the letter the Word can be so explained as to favor anything, is very manifest from the fact that all kinds of doctrines, and even of heresies, are thus confirmed, as for instance the dogma concerning faith separate is confirmed by these words of the Lord:

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life (John 3:16)

from which words, and also from other passages, it is concluded that faith alone without works is what gives eternal life; and when those who are in this faith have persuaded themselves of this, they no longer attend to what the Lord so often said concerning love to Him, and concerning charity and works, thus not to what is said in John:

As many as received, to them gave He power to be sons of God, even to them that believe in His name; who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12, 13).

If they are told that no one can believe in the Lord unless he is in charity, they straightway take refuge in interpretations such as these - that the law has been abrogated, that they were born in sins and so cannot do good of themselves, and that they who practice cannot but claim merit for themselves; and they also confirm these things from the sense of the letter of the Word, as from what is said in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14)

and from other passages; although these do not at all apply to the case.

They who are in faith separate cannot believe otherwise than that anyone can be admitted into heaven out of grace, no matter how he has lived, thus that not the life but the faith remains with man after death. This they confirm also from the sense of the letter of the Word, when yet it is evident from the very spiritual sense of the Word that the Lord has mercy toward everyone, thus that if heaven were of mercy or grace, regardless of what the life has been, everyone would be saved. The reason why they who are in faith separate so believe is that they do not at all know what heaven is, and this because they do not know what charity is. If they knew how much peace and joy and happiness there is in charity, they would know what heaven is; but this is altogether hidden from them.

Again, they who are in faith separate cannot believe otherwise than that they will rise again with the body, and this only at the day of judgment; which they also confirm from many passages of the Word explained according to the sense of the letter, and at the same time taking no thought of what the Lord said concerning the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-31); and of what He said to the thief: Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43); and of what He said at other times. The reason why they who are in faith separate so believe is that if they were told that the body will not rise again, they would wholly deny any resurrection, for they do not know nor apprehend what the internal man is, since no one can know what the internal man is, and his life after death, save he who is in charity, for charity is of the internal man.

They who are in faith separate cannot believe otherwise than that the works of charity consist solely in giving to the poor and in assisting the miserable, and this they also confirm from the sense of the letter of the Word; when yet the works of charity consist in doing what is just and equitable, each in his own employment, from the love of what is just and equitable, and of what is good and true.

They who are in faith separate see nothing else in the Word than what confirms their dogmas, for they have no interior insight. They who are not in the affection of charity having only an external sight, or lower insight, from which no one can possibly see higher things, since they appear to him like darkness. Hence they see falsities as truths, and truth as falsities, and thus by interpretations from the sense of the letter they destroy the good pasture, and defile the clear waters of the sacred fountain or the Word, according to these words in Ezekiel:

Is it a small thing to you that ye eat up the good pasture, and trample with your feet the remainder of your pastures? Ye drink the settling of the waters, the remains ye disturb with your feet; ye strike with your horns all the infirm till ye have scattered them abroad (Ezek. 34:18, 21).

(from Arcana Coelestia 4783)

Hope To Invert The State

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
TO APPEASE UNREST OF MIND BY THE HOPE OF SOMETHING
THE INVERSION OF THE STATE OF TRUTH

When they who are in truth, or in the affection of truth, do not live according to the truth which they know and with which they are affected, there is then somewhat of pleasure and delight derived from the love of self or the love of the world, which has adjoined itself to the affection of truth, and which appears as good, when yet it is not good, except as regards the use, in that truths may thus be introduced and learned which afterwards may be serviceable to real good and its life. When truth is in this state, that is, they who are in the affection of truth, then truth is said to have self-derived life, which is not life, as is evident from the fact that in the love of self, and the love of the world, or in their pleasure and delight, there is not life; but in celestial and spiritual love, and in their delight and pleasure. Therefore when truth, that is, they who are in such an affection of truth, are deprived of that life, they then for the first time receive life, or are then for the first time vivified.

These things cannot possibly be apprehended by those who are in the affection of self and of the world, for they believe that no other life is possible; consequently that if they should be deprived of that life, they would altogether cease to live; for they who are in that life can in no wise know what spiritual and heavenly life is. When yet the fact is that when they are deprived of that life of the affection of self and of the world, then life flows in from the Lord such as is the angelic and heavenly life, together with ineffable wisdom and happiness; and when the former life is viewed from this life, it appears as no life, or as the unclean life of brute animals, inasmuch as there is nothing of the Divine therein, except that they can think and speak, and thus appear in external form like others.

And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. (Genesis 27:34-42)

In respect to the circumstance that good had the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life, which is signified by Esau comforting himself for Jacob to kill him, the case is this: with a man who is being regenerated, the good in him is continually in the purpose to invert the state, and to reduce it into such order that truth may not be in the prior place, but in the posterior, as is consonant with the state of heaven. But this purpose lies deeply concealed, nor is it observed until the purpose has been effected. The case herein is as it is with conjugial love, which does not appear during infancy and childhood, but still lies hidden within; nor does it come forth until each and all things have been so disposed that it can manifest itself; meanwhile it produces all means that are suited to itself; that is, they are produced. The case is the same in the vegetable kingdom: in every tree and in every plant there lies inmostly concealed an endeavor to produce fruits or seeds; but this endeavor cannot manifest itself until it has first produced all the means, namely, branches, leaves, and flowers, which being produced the endeavor comes forth into act.

So also is it with those who are born anew: the conjugial principle of good and truth long lies hidden within ... but still it is present as an endeavor in the efficient cause and thence in the effect ... yet it does not appear until all things have been disposed into order ... and when they have been so disposed, it for the first time comes forth and manifests itself. It is this endeavor which is meant by the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life. Hence it is manifest that the internal sense is altogether different from that which is expressed in the sense of the letter, namely, that it treats of the reduction of truth into order, and its vivification, and not of the destruction and privation of its life.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3610)

From Purpose and Confirmation

Selection from Brief Exposition ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is said in the church, that no one can fulfill the law, especially since whosoever offends against one commandment of the Decalogue, offends against all. This form of speaking, however, is not such as it sounds; for this is to be understood in this manner:

Whosoever from purpose or from confirmation acts against one commandment, acts against all the rest, since to act thus from purpose or from confirmation is to deny altogether that it is a sin, and he who denies it to be sin, makes light of acting against all the rest of the commandments.

Who does not know, that he who is a fornicator is not therefore a murderer, a thief, or a false witness, nor even willing to be such? But he who is an adulterer from purpose and confirmation, makes light of all things relating to religion, and consequently pays no regard to murders, thefts, and false witness, not abstaining from them because they are sins, but for fear of the law or loss of reputation. The case is similar, if anyone from purpose or confirmation acts against any other commandment of the Decalogue; he then also offends against the rest, because he does not account anything a sin.

It is very similar with those who are in good from the Lord. These, if from the will and understanding, or from purpose and confirmation, they abstain from one evil because it is a sin, abstain from all, and still more if they abstain from many; for whenever anyone abstains, from purpose and confirmation, from any evil, because it is a sin, he is kept by the Lord in the purpose of abstaining from the rest; wherefore if through ignorance, or any predominant lust of the body, he does an evil, it nevertheless is not imputed to him, because he did not purpose it to himself, nor confirm it with himself.

A man comes into this kind of purpose, if he examines himself once or twice a year, and repents of the evil he discovers in himself. It is otherwise with him who never examines himself.

It is permitted to confirm this by the following. I have met with many in the spiritual world, who have lived like other people in the natural world, feasting sumptuously, being splendidly clothed, making interest by trade like others, frequenting play houses, joking on amatory affairs as if from lust, with other things of a similar nature, and yet the angels charged such things as evils of sin in some, and did not impute them as evils in others, declaring the latter innocent, and the former guilty. On being asked the reason of such distinction, when both had indulged in like practices, they replied, that they consider all according to their purpose, intention, and end, and distinguish them accordingly; and therefore that they excuse and condemn those whom the end excuses or condemns, inasmuch as good is the end that influences all who are in heaven, and evil is the end that influences all who are in hell.

From what has been said it now plainly appears, to whom sin is imputed, and to whom it is not imputed.

(from Brief Exposition 113)