Influx is According to Efflux

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.   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  (Matthew 7:15-27)

The two faculties with man from the Lord that are inviolable – freedom and rationality – the freedom to act according to reason; yet these two faculties can be abused by man. 

“The good which continually flows in from the Lord with man, does not perish except by evils and the derivative falsities, and by falsities and the derivative evils. For as soon as this good, continuous through the internal man, comes to the external or natural man, it is met by evil and falsity, by which the good is torn in pieces and extinguished in various ways as by wild beasts. By this the influx of good through the internal man is checked and stayed, and consequently the inner mind, through which is the influx, is closed, and only so much of the spiritual is admitted through it as to enable the natural man to reason and speak, but this only from earthly, bodily, and worldly things, and indeed contrary to good and truth, or in accordance with them from pretense or deceit. It is a universal law that influx adjusts itself according to efflux, and if efflux is checked influx is checked. Through the internal man there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord, and through the external there must be an efflux, namely into the life, that is, in the exercise of charity. When there is this efflux then there is continual influx from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; whereas if there is no efflux, but resistance in the external or natural man (that is, evil and falsity which tear to pieces and extinguish the inflowing good), it follows from the universal law just mentioned that the influx adjusts itself to the efflux, consequently that the influx of good draws back, and thereby the internal through which is the influx is closed; and through this closing there comes stupidity in spiritual things, even until the man who is such neither knows nor is willing to know anything about eternal life, and at last becomes insane, so that he opposes falsities against truths, calling them truths and the truths falsities, and evils against goods, making them goods and the goods evil. Thus he tears good completely to pieces.”  (Arcana Coelestia 5828:2-3)

For there to be a church ‘in man’ there must be what is internal and external, a higher mind and a lower mind which are concordant, discussed in the passage from True Christian Religion 595.  The Lord does not allow anything to be divided; consequently it must be in good and also in truth, or it must be in evil and also in falsity.  (Divine Providence 16) The passage goes on to say: But inasmuch as man can be, while he is living in the world, in good and in falsity at the same time, also in evil and in truth at the same time, and even in evil and in good at the same time, and thus be as it were a double man, and inasmuch as this division destroys that image, and thereby destroys the man, the Lord's Divine providence, in each and every particular of it, has as its end that this division shall not be. It is this conflict between these two minds that is discussed in the passage in True Christian Religion 596, which is defined as spiritual temptation.  However, before spiritual temptation can occur with anyone, the higher mind has to be reformed and regenerated; a conscience insinuated by the Lord through remains (those things that survived while the lower mind dominated by hereditary evils); for until that (higher mind) is enlightened by the Lord there is no reformation, thus no church with man. (Apocalypse Explained 527)

Conscience is not the nagging little voice of the lower mind that the words or actions we have engaged are wrong; conscience is the illumination and what has been received by the higher mind shinning down on the lower mind, recognizing how depraved and out of order it is.  This is spiritual temptation; the war between the higher mind’s will and thought and the lower mind’s will and thought.

We recall the great temptation Peter faced at the judgment hall when He denied the Lord three times.  Jesus had told Peter when he argued about his feet being washed, ‘you have no part with Me’ unless the lower mind be purified and agree with the higher mind (which the Lord had made clear to Peter that the higher mind, its will and thought was in order - He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean … John 13:10).  There is going to be a struggle and without it and victory in it – spiritual temptation – there is no regeneration.  What flows out of a man’s life in words and actions, (efflux), must not only represent, but also agree with the reformed and regenerated internal, and this is achieved with man speaking and acting as if of self and shunning evil heredity and evils acquired as sin against God (it is the lower mind from which we speak and act – for every word we speak and every deed we do is derived of the lower mind – everyone speaks and everyone does).  Though the higher mind has will and thought from doctrine, it is abused when the will and thought of the lower mind, from which we act and speak has the dominion, e.g., the universal law of influx – Influx is according to efflux.

For man to sit back and do nothing, not participating in the affairs of life, with his hands hanging down awaiting influx, is a sure bet that thorns and thistles will be what dominates the lower mind – what flows in will be turned into evils and falsities, resulting in like deeds in his outward life.  Doing nothing is his deed!  Therefore, it is incumbent that the lower mind be cultivated (brought into correspondence with the higher mind) to receive from the higher mind in order to bring forth in the lower mind the speaking and actions of genuine goods and truths (Hebrews 6:7,8)

“… we would not be human if it did not seem to us that we lived on our own and that we therefore thought, intended, spoke, and acted on our own [DP 71-99, 174, 176]. It follows from this that unless we seemed to be managing everything that has to do with our occupations and our lives by our own prudence, we could not be led and managed by divine providence. It would be as though we stood there with our hands hanging limp, mouths open, eyes closed, holding our breath and waiting for something to flow into us.  In this way we would divest ourselves of everything human, which we get from the sense and feeling that we live, think, intend, speak, and act on our own; and as we did so, we would also divest ourselves of those two abilities called freedom and rationality by which we are differentiated from animals. Earlier in this work [Divine Providence] and also in Divine Love and Wisdom I have explained that if it were not for this appearance we would be incapable of receptivity and reciprocity, and therefore of immortality.

[2] So if you want to be led by divine providence, use your prudence as a servant and employee who faithfully manages the employer's assets. Prudence is the "talent" that was given to servants for business purposes, with an accounting required (Luke 19:13-25 [19:12-25]; Matthew 25:14-31).  [I might note here: it is not an egalitarian principle that is applied, but each received according to their several ability, that ability being their manner of life, their efflux.]

Prudence itself seems to be something we possess, and we believe that it is, as long as we keep that deadliest enemy of God and divine providence, love for ourselves, shut in. It lives in the depths of each one of us from birth. If we do not recognize it--and it does not want to be recognized--then it lives in perfect safety and guards the door to prevent us from opening it so the Lord can evict it.

We open the door by abstaining from evils as sins, apparently on our own, but admitting that it is being done by the Lord. This is the kind of prudence with which the divine providence can cooperate. (Divine Providence 210)

What use would all these passages be, if a person were to stand with his hands hanging down like a carved puppet fitted with movable joints, and wait for God to act upon him? It is what we SPEAK AND DO in this earth (from the lower mind) as if of self, knowing that the sap from the vine by contiguity with the branch that has been grafted in bears the fruit (usefulness).  As stated above, ‘influx adjusts itself to the efflux.’

The present state of our world and it’s moral depraved condition in which it has drifted, in part, is due to the so called Christian’s unwillingness to struggle to bring the earth (his lower mind), from which fruit is born, from which every word and deed is done, into correspondence with the revelation of the three-fold Word.  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (See Matthew 5:13-27)

The first heaven, the church on earth, is the heart and lungs for the surrounding viscera and organs of the world.  Therefore, as a church, we should be the light of the world and not bury it in a napkin or hide it under a bushel.  We should be activist toward right order and not think that right order will autonomously occur without our participation.  But right order can only be known from revelation of God’s eternal purpose (Sacred Scriptures 115); otherwise, self from self will try to fix itself with an external pretense or deceit of moral life and Christianity – the result will be a kingdom divided against itself which will surely fall.  (Matthew 12:25-37)  However, when the internal (higher mind) is first established in the revelation of the first principle of why creation – an angelic heaven from the human race - it will bind the strong man of the external (lower mind) and spoil his goods, when we as if of self cooperate; for influx is according to efflux.

[Passages from KJV Bible, Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Explained, Divine Providence, Sacred Scriptures, True Christian Religion]

Reception is According to the Form of the Receiving Vessel

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The influx from the spiritual world into man is in general of such a nature that man cannot think or will anything of himself, but everything flows in; good and truth from the Lord through heaven, thus through the angels who are with the man; evil and falsity from hell, thus through the evil spirits who are with the man; and this into the man's thought and will. This I know will appear a very great paradox because it is contrary to the appearance; but experience itself shall declare how the matter stands.

No man, spirit, or angel ever has any life from himself, thus neither can he think and will from himself; because in thinking and willing is the life of man, and speaking and acting is the life thence derived. For there is one only life, that of the Lord, which flows into all, but is variously received, and indeed according to the quality which a man has induced on his soul by his life. Hence with the evil, goods and truths are turned into evils and falsities, but with the good they are received - goods as goods, and truths as truths. This may be compared to the light of the sun flowing into objects, which is modified and varied in them diversely according to the form of the parts, and thus is turned into colors, some sad and some cheerful. While a man lives in the world he induces a form on the purest substances of his interiors, so that it may be said that he forms his soul, that is, its quality; and according to this form is received the life of the Lord, which is the life of His love toward the universal human race.

(Arcana Coelestia 5846,5847)

The One That Conquers Rules

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A follow up to Article - Gold Is Still Gold
Whether It Flashes Before The Fire or
Has Its Surface Blackened By The Smoke

WHEN THIS TAKES PLACE
A CONFLICT ARISES BETWEEN THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN
AND THEN THE ONE THAT CONQUERS RULES OVER THE OTHER.

A conflict then arises because the internal man is reformed by means of truths; and from truths he sees what is evil and false, which evil and falsity are still in the external or natural man; consequently disagreement first springs up between the new will, which is above, and the old will, which is below; and as the disagreement is between the two wills, it is also between their delights; for the flesh, it is well known, is opposed to the spirit and the spirit to the flesh, and the flesh with its lusts must be subdued before the spirit can act and man become new. After this disagreement of the two wills a conflict arises; and this is called spiritual temptation. This temptation or conflict does not take place between goods and evils, but between the truths of good and the falsities of evil. For good cannot fight from itself but fights by means of truths; nor can evil fight from itself but by means of its falsities; just as the will cannot fight from itself but by means of the understanding where its truths reside.

Man is not sensible of that conflict except as in himself, and as remorse of conscience; and yet it is the Lord and the devil (that is, hell) that are fighting in man, and they are fighting for dominion over him, or to determine who shall possess him. The devil or hell attacks man and calls out his evils, while the Lord protects him and calls out his goods. Although that conflict takes place in the spiritual world, still it takes place in man between the truths of good and the falsities of evil that are in him; therefore man must fight wholly as if of himself, for he has the freedom of choice to act for the Lord, and also to act for the devil; he is for the Lord, if he abides in truths from good, and for the devil, if he abides in falsities from evil. From this it follows that whichever conquers, the internal man or the external, that one rules over the other; precisely like two hostile powers contending as to which shall be master of the other's kingdom-the conqueror takes possession of the kingdom, and places all in it under obedience to himself. In this case, therefore, if the internal man conquers, he obtains dominion and subjugates all the evils of the external man, and regeneration then goes on; but if the external man conquers, he obtains the dominion, and dissipates all the goods of the internal man, and regeneration perishes.

(True Christian Religion 596)

Gold Is Still Gold, Whether It Flashes Before The Fire Or Has Its Surface Blackened By The Smoke

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In every created thing in the world, whether living or dead, there is an internal and an external; one never exists without the other, as there is no effect without a cause; and every created thing is esteemed according to its internal goodness, or is deemed base if internally malignant, as external goodness is when within it there is internal malignity. Every wise man in the world and every angel in heaven so judges. But the nature of the unregenerate man and of the regenerate, may be illustrated by comparisons.

The unregenerate man who simulates a moral citizen or a Christian, may be likened to a corpse wrapped in aromatics, which nevertheless exhales a putrid odor that infects the aromatics, insinuates itself into the nostrils, and injures the brain. He may also be likened to a mummy, gilded or placed in a silver coffin, upon looking beneath the covering of which a hideously black body comes to view.

Again, he may be likened to bones or skeletons in a sepulchre that is adorned with lapis lazuli and other gems; also to the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, but whose internal was nevertheless infernal (Luke 16:19). Still again he may be likened to sweet-tasting poison, to a poison hemlock in flower, to fruit with a bright skin, but inwardly worm-eaten, and also to an ulcer covered first with a plaster and then with a thin skin, but with nothing within but foul matter. In the world only those who have no internal goodness, and who therefore judge by the appearance, can estimate the internal by the external; but in heaven it is otherwise. For when the body which is moveable about the spirit and easily directed from evil to good, is separated by death, the internal remains, for this constitutes the man's spirit; and then at a distance he looks like a serpent that has shed his skin, or like rotten wood stripped of its bark or covering in which it looked so well.

But with the regenerate man it is different. His internal is good, and his external resembles the external of the other. And yet his external differs from that of the unregenerate as heaven differs from hell, since the soul of good is in it, and it matters not to him whether he is a great man, who dwells in a palace, and goes surrounded by attendants, or lives in a cottage and is waited upon by a boy; or even whether he is a primate clad in a purple robe and wearing the cap of his rank, or the shepherd of a few sheep in a wood, clothed in a loose rustic frock and wearing a little cap on his head.

Gold is still gold, whether it flashes before the fire or has its surface blackened by the smoke; whether it is melted into a beautiful form like that of an infant, or into an ugly one like that of a mouse. Mice made of gold and placed beside the ark, were acceptable and pleasing (1 Sam. 6:3-5); for gold signifies internal good. Diamonds and rubies obtained from whatever matrix, lime or clay, are in like manner esteemed according to their internal goodness, the same as those in the necklace of a queen; and so on. From all this it is clear that the external is estimated from the internal, and not the reverse.

(True Christian Religion 595)

Profaning What Is Holy

Excerpt from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... it is the inner level from which the outer level arises and that the outer level therefore derives its essence from the inner level ...

When our inner nature is essentially hellish ... and our outer nature seems spiritual in its form, though ... the outer derives its essence from the inner, you may ask where that essence is hiding in the outer. It is not in our gestures, our tone of voice, our language, or our expression. However, it is still hidden in all four of these. What is hidden shows through them very clearly in the spiritual world, because when we move from this physical world into the spiritual world, which happens when we die, then we leave behind those outward appearances along with our bodies, but keep the inner qualities that were hidden away in our spirits. Then if that inner nature was hellish, we look like demons just as we were in spirit while we were living in this world. Surely everyone realizes that we all leave those outward things behind along with our bodies and become engaged with deeper things when we become spirits.

... in the spiritual world there is a sharing of feelings and consequent thoughts, which means that none of us can say anything except what we are actually thinking. Also, our faces change there and become images of our feelings, so others can see from our faces what we are really like. Hypocrites are sometimes allowed to say what they are not thinking, but their tone of voice sounds discordant because of their deeper thoughts, and they can be recognized by this discord. So we can tell that the inner nature is hidden within the tone, the language, the expression, and the gestures of the outer, and that while people in the physical world are not sensitive to this, it is obvious to angels in the spiritual world.

We can see from this that as long as we are living in this physical world, we can be let into wisdom about spiritual matters and even into a love for them, and that this does and can happen both to people who are completely earthly-minded as well as to people who are spiritual. The difference is, though, that the latter are reformed when this happens, while the former are not. It may seem as though they love wisdom, but they love it only the way an adulterer loves a fine woman--like a prostitute. He talks soothingly to her and gives her beautiful clothes, but privately he is thinking, "She is nothing but a worthless whore. I will get her to believe that I love her, because she takes my fancy, but if she does not take to me, then I will discard her." The inner self is the adulterer, and the outer self is the woman.

If we then backslide from wisdom and love and go against them, we profane what is holy. There are many kinds of profanation of what is holy ... This is the worst of all, though, because people who commit this kind of profanation are no longer human after death. They are alive, but they are trapped in their wild hallucinations. ....

In this world, people do not know that this is what happens after death to individuals who commit profanation; and they do not know this because they do not understand the reason for it. The real reason is that if we acknowledge divine things and believe them at first and then backslide and deny them, we mix what is holy with what is profane; and once they have been mixed together, the only way they can be separated results in complete destruction.

(a) Everything we willingly think and say and do becomes part of us and remains so, whether it is good or evil.

(b) The Lord is constantly using his divine providence to make provisions and arrangements so that what is evil will be by itself and what is good by itself, and so that they can be kept separate.

(c) However, this cannot be accomplished if we first acknowledge the truths that faith discloses and live by them and afterwards backslide and deny them.

(d) Then we mingle what is good and what is evil so completely that they cannot be separated.

(e) Since what is good and what is evil need to be separated in each one of us, and since they cannot be separated in people like this, everything truly human about them is destroyed.

(Divine Providence 224 - 226)

A Holy Emanation From The Lord's Divine Human

From Arcana Coelestia  ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... the Lord's Divine Spiritual, or the Divine truth, which in the supreme sense is represented by Joseph, it is not in the Lord, but is from the Lord; for the Lord is nothing but Divine good; but the Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good.

To speak comparatively, this is like the sun and its light; the light is not in the sun, but proceeds from it; or it is like a fire, the light of which is not in the fire, but proceeds from the fire. The Divine good itself is also compared in the Word to the "sun," and to "fire," and is likewise called the "sun" and "fire." The Lord's celestial kingdom lives from the good which proceeds from the Lord; but His spiritual kingdom from the truth thence derived; and therefore in the other life the Lord appears to the celestial as a sun; but to the spiritual as a moon. Both heat and light proceed from the sun, the heat being - to speak comparatively - the good of love, which is also called celestial and spiritual heat; and the light, the truth thence derived, which is also called spiritual light. But within the celestial heat and spiritual light that in the other life proceed from the Lord as a sun, there are the good of love and the truth of faith, thus wisdom and intelligence; for all that which proceeds from the Lord is living.

From this we can see what the Divine Spiritual is; and whence comes the spiritual kingdom, and the celestial kingdom; and that the spiritual kingdom is the good of faith, that is, charity, which flows in from the Lord immediately, and also mediately through the celestial kingdom.

The Divine Spiritual that proceeds from the Lord is called in the Word the "spirit of truth," and is holy truth; not being of any spirit, but of the Lord through a spirit sent by Him; as may be seen from the words of the Lord Himself in John:

When He, the Spirit of Truth shall come, He will guide you into all the truth; for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak; and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-14).
===
... the truths which become the truths of faith with a person have their origin in good, and also because what emanates from the Lord's Divine Human is Divine Truth originating in Divine Good. That being so, the Holy Spirit is a holy influence emanating from the Lord; the actual Spirit does not emanate from Him but the holy utterances made by the Spirit, as anyone may see who gives thought to the matter. The fact that the Holy Spirit, also referred to as the Paraclete, is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, and the fact that the word 'holy' is used in reference to Divine Truth, is clear from the Lord's words in John,

I will ask the Father to give you another Paraclete, to remain with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all that I said to you. John 14:16, 17, 26.

In the same gospel,

When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from the Father, He will bear witness to Me. John 15:26.

And in the same gospel,

When He the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak. He will glorify Me, for He will receive from what is Mine and declare It to you; all things whatever that the Father has are Mine, therefore I said that He will receive from what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-15.

If one compares these places with very many others one may understand that the Holy Spirit is a holy emanation from the Lord's Divine Human, for the Lord says, 'Whom the Father will send in My name', also 'Whom I shall send to you from the Father', as well as 'He will receive from what is Mine and declare it to you; all things whatever that the Father has are Mine, therefore I said that He will receive from what is Mine and declare it to you'. It is also evident that the word 'holy' is used in reference to truth because the Paraclete is called 'the Spirit of truth'.

(Arcana Coelestia 3969:16,17: 6788)

Temptation as to Truth vs Natural Anxieties

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Temptation itself is nothing else than a wrestling or combat; for truth is assaulted by evil spirits and is defended by the angels who are with the man. The perception of this combat by the man is the temptation.

But no temptation can take place unless the man is in the good of truth, that is, in the love or affection of it.

For he who does not love his truth, or is not affected by it, cares nothing for it; but he who loves it is in anxiety lest it should suffer injury.

Nothing else produces the understanding life of man except that which he believes to be true, nor his will life except that which he has impressed upon himself as being good; and therefore when that is assaulted which he believes to be true, the life of his understanding is assaulted; and when that which he has impressed upon himself as being good is assaulted, the life of his will is assaulted; so that when a man is being tempted, his life is at stake.

That the first of combat is as to truth, or concerning truth, is because this is what he principally loves, and that which is of anyone's love is that which is assaulted by evil spirits; but after the man loves good more than truth, which takes place when the order is being inverted, he is tempted as to good.

But what temptation is few know, because at this day few undergo any temptation, for no others can be tempted than those who are in the good of faith, that is, in charity toward the neighbor. If they who are not in this charity were to be tempted, they would succumb at once; and they who succumb come into the confirmation of evil and the persuasion of falsity; for the evil spirits with whom they are thus associated then conquer within them. This is the reason why at this day few are admitted into any spiritual temptation, but only into some natural anxieties, in order that they may thereby be withdrawn from the loves of self and of the world, into which they would otherwise rush without restraint.

(Arcana Coelestia 4274)