Spiritual background for EXODUS 26    previous  -  next  -  text  -  Exodus  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY AND OF FAITH

AC 9585. All that is called Freedom which is of the will, thus which is of the love; whence it is that Freedom manifests itself by means of the delight of willing and thinking, and of the consequent doing and speaking. For all delight is of love, and all love is of the will, and the will is the being of man‘s life.

AC 9586. To do evil from the delight of love appears like Freedom; but is slavery, because from hell. To do good from the delight of love appears to be Freedom, and also is Freedom, because it is from the Lord. It is therefore slavery to be led by hell, and it is Freedom to be led by the Lord. This the Lord teaches in John:--

Everyone that doeth sin is the servant of sin. The servant abideth not in the house forever; the Son abideth forever. If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:34-36).

AC 9587. The Lord keeps man in the Freedom of thinking; and in so far as outward bonds, which are the fear of the law and for life, and the fear of the loss of reputation, of honor, and of gain, do not hinder, He keeps him in the Freedom of doing; but, through Freedom, He bends him away from evil; and, through Freedom, He bends him to good; leading him so gently and silently that the man knows no otherwise than that everything proceeds from himself. Thus the Lord, in Freedom, inseminates and inroots good in the very life of the man, which good remains to eternity. This the Lord teaches in Mark:--

So is the Kingdom of God, as a man who casteth seed into the earth; the seed germinateth and groweth, while he knoweth not. The earth beareth fruit of its own accord (Mark 4:26-28);

"the kingdom of God" denotes heaven with man, thus the good of love and the truth of faith.

AC 9588. That which is inseminated in Freedom remains, because it is inrooted in the very will of man, which is the being of his life. But that which is inseminated under compulsion does not remain, because what is of compulsion is not from the will of the man, but is from the will of him who compels. For this reason worship from Freedom is pleasing to the Lord, but not worship from compulsion; for worship from Freedom is worship from love, because all Freedom is of love.

AC 9589. There is heavenly Freedom, and there is infernal Freedom. Heavenly Freedom is to be led by the Lord, and this Freedom is the love of what is good and true. But infernal Freedom is to be led by the devil, and this Freedom is the love of what is evil and false; properly speaking, it is concupiscence.

AC 9590. They who are in infernal Freedom believe it to be slavery and compulsion not to be allowed to do what is evil and to think what is false at pleasure. But they who are in heavenly Freedom feel horror in doing what is evil and in thinking what is false, and if they are compelled thereto, they are in torment.

AC 9591. From all this it can be seen what Free Will is, namely, that is to do what is good from choice, or from the will; and that they are in this Freedom who are led by the Lord.

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE FIRST EARTH SEEN IN THE STARRY HEAVEN

AC 9693. After I had been carried across that great chasm, I at last arrived at a place where I stayed; and then spirits appeared to me above, with whom it was granted to speak. From their speech, and their peculiar way of looking at things, and of setting them forth, I clearly perceived that they were from another earth; for they were quite different from the spirits of our solar system. On the other hand they too noticed from my speech that I had come from afar.

AC 9694. After speaking together for awhile about various matters, I asked them what God they worship. They said they worship a certain angel who appears to them as a Divine man, for he flashes with light; and he instructs them and enables them to perceive what they ought to do. They said further that the Great God is in the Sun of the angelic heaven, and that He appears to their angel, but not to themselves; and that He is so great that they do not dare to adore Him.

AC 9695. The angel whom they worshiped was an angelic society, to which it was granted by the Lord to preside over them, and to teach them the way of what is just and right. Therefore they have light from a certain flame, which appears like a fiery and yellow torch. The reason of this is that they do not worship the Lord; and consequently have no light from the Sun of the angelic heaven, but from an angelic society; for when allowed by the Lord, an angelic society can present such a light to spirits who are in a lower sphere.

AC 9696. For the rest, they were modest, somewhat simple, but still thought very well. The nature of their understanding could be inferred from the light they bad; for the understanding is according to the reception of the light which is in the heavens; because the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord as a Sun is what shines there, and enables the angels not only to see, but also to understand.

AC 9697. They were questioned about the sun of their world, which gives light to their earth; and they said that to them the sun has a flaming appearance. And when I represented to them the size of the sun of our earth, they said that their sun is smaller; but to our eyes their sun appears as a star; and I was told by the angels that it is one of the smaller stars. They also said that the starry heaven is seen from their earth.

AC 9698. I was instructed that the inhabitants and spirits of that earth relate in the Grand Man to something in the spleen, which was confirmed by an influx into the spleen while they were talking with me.

AC 9699. My sight was afterward opened so that I could in some measure look upon their earth itself, and there appeared many meadows and forests with trees in foliage, and also woolly sheep.

AC 9700. The subject of the First Earth seen in the Starry Heaven will be continued at the end of the following chapter.

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