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John Chapter 15

1. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman.

2. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes it away; and every [branch] that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bear more fruit.

3. Now you are clean through the Word that I have spoken to you.

4. Abide in me, and I in you: as the branch cannot bear fruit from itself, unless it abide in the vine, no more can you, unless you abide in me.

5. I am the vine, you the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.

6. If any one abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast into the fire, and it is burned.

7. If you abide in me, and my sayings abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you.

8. In this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and become my disciples.

9. As the father has loved me, I also have loved you; abide you in my love.

10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, as I have kept the commandments of my father, and abide in his love.

11. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be filled.

12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

13. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his soul for his friends.

14. You are my friends, if you do whatever things I command you.

15. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knows not what his lord does; but I have called you friends, because all things which I have heard from my father, I have made known to you.

16. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that you may go, and bear fruit, and your fruit remain, that whatever you shall ask the father in my name, he may give it you.

17. These things I command you, that you love one another.

18. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before you.

19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, for this the world hates you.

20. Remember the Word that I said to you; the servant is not greater than his lord ; if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my Word, they will also keep your's.

21. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they had not had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23. He that hates me, hates my father also.

24. If I had not done amongst them the works which none other has done, they had not had sin; but now have they both seen, and hated, both me and my father.

25. But that the Word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the father, the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the father, he will testify of me.

27. And you also shall testify, because you are with me from the beginning.

exposition.

Verse 1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman, &c. Inasmuch as vine signifies the spiritual church, and the primary principle of that church is charity, in which the lord is present, and by which he conjoins himself to man, and by which he alone operates all good, therefore the lord compares himself to a vine, and describes the man of the church, or the spiritual church, in these words in John, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman; every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes away; but every one that bears fruit he purges it, that it may bear more fruit," John 15:1, 2. AC 1069.

Inasmuch as the intellectual principle of the spiritual man is made new and regenerated by truth, which is only from the lord, therefore the lord compares himself to a vine, and those who are implanted in truth, which is from himself, consequently who are implanted in himself, he compares to branches, and the good which is thence produced to fruit, in John, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman; every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away,"&c. AC 5113.

By a vineyard is signified the church as to truth, thus the truth of the church, which signification derives its origin from representatives in the spiritual world; for before spirits there appear vineyards full of grapes, with wine-presses in, them, when the angels hold discourse concerning a company who are principled in the truth of good: those representatives have not their rise in this circumstance, that such things exist in the earth, but from correspondence, that wine nourishes the body of man, in like manner as truth nourishes the soul. Hence it is that the lord called himself a vine in John, where he says, I am the vine, you the branches, without me you cannot do any thing, John 15:5, where vine denotes faith in the lord, consequently denotes the lord as to faith, for the lord is faith, inasmuch as faith is from him, for no faith is faith except what is from him, hence also it is, that a vine denotes the faith which is in him. AC 9139.

The Word teaches in the 15th chapter of John, verse 1 to 6, that no one can do good from himself, but from the lord. Doc. Life, DLife 29.

Every craving of evil in hell appears, when it is represented, as a noxious animal, either as a dragon, or as a basilisk, or as a viper, or as an owl, or as a bat, and so forth; in like manner the cravings of evil belonging to a wicked man appear, when he is viewed by angels; all these forms of cravings must be converted singly; the man himself who, as to the spirit, appears as a man-monster, or as a devil, must be converted, that he may become as a beautiful angel, and every craving of evil must be converted, that it may appear as a lamb, or a sheep, or as a dove and turtle, after the manner that the affections of good of the angels in heaven appear, when they are represented; but to convert a dragon into a lamb, a basilisk into a sheep, and an owl into a dove, can only be effected successively, by eradicating evil from its seed, and by implanting good seed in its place. But this cannot be done otherwise than comparatively as with the ingrafting of trees, the roots of which remain with some trunk, nevertheless the ingrafted branch turns the juice extracted through the old root into juice that bears good fruits. The branch which is to be ingrafted cannot be taken from any other stock but from the lord, who is the tree of life, agreeable to the lord's words in John 15:1-7. DP 296.

Man not reformed as to his spirit is like a panther, or like an owl, and may be compared to a bramble and a nettle; but a regenerate man is like a sheep or a dove, and may be compared to an olive and a vine. How then can a man-panther be converted into a man-sheep, or an owl into a dove, or a bramble into an olive, or a nettle into a vine, by any imputation, if by imputation be meant transcription? To effect such conversion, is it not necessary that the bestial principle of the panther and the owl, or the noxious principle of the bramble and the nettle, be first taken away, and thus the truly human and innocent principle be implanted? In what manner this is to be effected, the lord also teaches in John 15:1-7. CL 526.

Verse 4. Abide in me, and I in you, &c. Inasmuch as heaven in the whole and in part resembles a man by virtue of the Divine Human [principle] of the lord, therefore the angels say that they are in the lord, and some, that they are in his body, by which they understand that they are in the good of his love; as the lord himself also teaches, where he says, "Abide in me, and I in you: As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can you except you abide in me; for without me you can do nothing: Abide in my love: If you keep my precepts, you shall abide in my love," John 15:4-10. HH 81.

Hence it is evident what is the quality of the lord's presence in the heavens, that it is every where, and with every one in the good and truth which proceed from him; consequently that he is in his own with the angels; the perception of the lord's presence is in their interiors, from which interiors the eyes see, thus see him out of themselves, because there is continuity [between the eyes and the interiors.] Hence it may be manifest how it is to be understood, that the lord is in them, and they in the lord, according to the lord's words, Abide in me, and I in you, John 15:4. HH 147.

The reason why,man is only so far in god by virtue of divine omnipresence, as he lives according to order, is, because god is omnipresent, and because where he is in his own divine order, there he is as in himself, because himself is order, as was shown above. Now since man is created a form of divine order, god is in him, but, so far as man lives according to divine order, he is in him fully, whereas if he does not live according to divine order, god is still in him, but in his supreme principles, so as to give the faculty of understanding what is true, and of willing what is good, that is, the faculty to understand, and the inclination to love; but so far as man lives contrary to order, so far he closes the lower principles of his mind or spirit, and thus hinders god from descending and filling his lower principles with his presence, in consequence whereof god is in him, hut he is not in god. It is a general maxim in heaven that god is in every man whether evil or good, but that man is not in god, unless he lives according to order; for the lord says, That he wills that man should be in him, and he in man, John 15:4. TCR 70.

The lord said, God is glorified in him, also, God will glorify him in himself; and again, Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. The reason why the lord so spoke, is, because unification was reciprocal, of the Divine with the Human and of the Human with the Divine. The case is similar with all unification, so that unless it be reciprocal, it is not full, therefore the lord says, "Abide in me, and I in you: he that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit," John 15:4, 5. Doc. Lord, LORD 35.

In these two principles, freedom and rationality, consists the life, which is called angelical and human, from which consideration it may be manifest that an angel has a reciprocal principle for the sake of conjunction with the lord, but that the reciprocal principle, viewed in its own faculty, is not his, but the lord's. Hence it is that he falls away from what is angelical, if he abuses that reciprocal principle, from which he perceives and feels as his own what is the lord's, and he abuses it by appropriating it to himself. That conjunction is reciprocal, the lord himself teaches in John 15:4, 5, 6; and that the conjunction of the lord with man, and of man with the lord, is in those things which are of the lord, which are called his words, verse 7. DLW 116.

From these considerations it is evident that those two faculties, which are called rationality and liberty, are from the lord, and not from, man; and whereas they are from the lord, it follows that man wills and understands nothing at all from himself, but only as from himself. That this is the case, every one may confirm in his own mind, who knows and believes that all the will of good, and all the understanding of truth, is from the lord, and not from man, agreeably to the lord's words, Without me you can do nothing. DP 88.

They who do not immediately approach the lord, cannot be conjoined to him, thus neither to the father, and hence they cannot be principled in love which is from the Divine [Being or Principle;] for aspect conjoins, not intellectual aspect alone, but intellectual aspect grounded in the affection of the will, and the affection of the will is not given, unless man does the lord's precepts, wherefore the lord says, "He who does my precepts, he loves me, and I will come to him, and make abode with him," John 14:21-24. That all good things of love and charity are and proceed from the lord, when he is in the inmost principle, is evident from the lord's words in John 15:4, 5, 6. AR 933.

In regard to aspect, as relating to the lord, it signifies his divine presence, and the reason is, because the lord knows all, and they in their turn know the lord, who are principled in love and faith towards him, hence it is that the lord is present with these in the good things of love, and in the truths of faith, which appertain to them from him; for those things are the lord in heaven and in the church, since the things which proceed from him are not only his, but are himself; hence it is evident, in what manner the lord is in man, thus in what manner it is to be understood what he spoke in John, "Abide in me, and I in you; he that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit." AE 25.

Verse 5. For apart from me you can do nothing. These words are thus to be understood, that man of himself cannot procure to himself any other faith than what is natural, which is a persuasion that a thing is so, because a man of authority has pronounced it so; neither can he procure to himself any other charity than what is natural, which is an endeavour to secure favour for the sake of some recompense, in both which [namely natural faith and natural charity] is the selfhood of man, and not yet life from the lord; nevertheless man by both prepares himself to be a receptacle of the lord, and in proportion as he prepares himself, so the lord enters, and causes his natural faith to become spiritual faith, in like manner his charity, and thus both are made alive, which effect takes place when man approaches the lord as the god of heaven and earth. TCR 359.

From the above passage it may be concluded, that without the Word no one has any spiritual intelligence, which consists in knowing that there is a god, a heaven and hell, and a life after death; without the Word also no one knows any thing of the lord, of faith and love towards him, thus nothing about redemption, by which nevertheless there is salvation. SS 114.

Verse 6. If any one abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them and cast into the fire, and it is burned. Every man, who from natural becomes spiritual, passes through two states, and through the first is introduced into the second, and thus from the world enters into heaven; the first state is called a state of reformation, in which man is in the full liberty of acting according to the rational principle of his understanding; and in the second state, which is called a state of regeneration, he is likewise in similar liberty, but on this occasion he wills and acts, and also thinks and speaks, from a new love and a new intelligence which are from the lord ; for in the first state the understanding is the principal agent, and the will a secondary one; but in the second state the will is primary, and the understanding secondary. The man, who stops in the first state, and does not enter into the second, is like a tree, which only bears leaves, and not fruits, concerning which it is said in the Word, that it is to be rooted up and cast into the fire, John 15:5, 6. TCR 105, 106.

Who does not know that a lamb cannot act otherwise than as a lamb, nor a sheep otherwise than as a sheep, and on the other hand, a wolf cannot otherwise than as a wolf, and a tiger than as a tiger; and that if those beasts were mixed together, the wolf would devour the lamb, and the tiger the sheep. Who does not know that a fountain of sweet water cannot from its vein emit bitter water; and that a good tree cannot produce evil fruits; and that a vine cannot bring forth prickles as a thorn, nor a lily a sting like a nettle, nor a hyacinth tear the skin like a thistle? Wherefore those evil plants are rooted out of fields, vineyards, and gardens, and gathered in heaps to be burned. So also it is with the wicked on their arrival in the spiritual world, according to the lord's words, Matt 13:30, John 15:6. TCR 653.

Verse 7. If you abide in me, and my sayings abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you. From the perception which men have at this day in relation to faith, it is impossible to discover that faith is a complex of truths in every limit of its extension, and still less, that man may contribute something towards the attainment of faith in himself; when nevertheless faith in its essence is truth, for it is truth in its light, and consequently as truth may be procured, so also may faith; for who, if he be so disposed, cannot approach the lord ? And who again, if he be so disposed, cannot collect truths from the Word? And every truth in the Word, and from the Word, is lucid, and truth lucid is faith. The lord, who is light itself, enters by influx into every man, and in whomsoever he finds truths collected from the Word, in him he enlightens those truths, and so makes them constituent of faith; and this is what the lord says in John, That they should abide in him, and his sayings should abide in them, John 15:7; where the sayings of the lord are truths. TCR 349.

From these considerations it may be manifest, that an angel has a reciprocal principle for the sake of conjunction with the lord, but that a reciprocal principle viewed in its own faculty is not his, but the lord's. Hence it is, that if he abuses that reciprocal principle, from which he perceives and is made sensible of what is the lord's being as his own, which abuse is occasioned by appropriating it to himself, he then falls from what is angelical. That conjunction is reciprocal, the lord himself teaches in John 14:20-24; 15:4, 5, 6; and that the conjunction of the lord with man, and of man with the lord, is in those things which are of the lord, which are called his sayings, John 15:7. DLW 116.

Inasmuch now as the Word is from the lord alone, and treats of the lord alone, it follows, that when man is taught from the Word, he is taught from the lord, for the Word is divine. Who can communicate what is divine, and impress it on hearts, but the Divine [Being or Principle] itself, from whom it is, and of whom it treats? Wherefore the lord says, where he speaks of his conjunction with his disciples, that they should abide in him, and his sayings abide in them. DP 172.

That they who are in the lord, and the lord in them, are in all power, so that they have ability in all that they will, the lord himself declares in John, "If you abide in me, and my words in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you," by which words is described the power of those who are in the lord, since they do not will any thing, and thus do not ask any thing, but from the lord, and whatever they will and ask from the lord, this is done, for the lord says, Without me you cannot do any thing, abide in me, and I in you; such power have the angels in heaven, that if they only will any thing, they obtain it; nevertheless they do not will any thing but what is for use, and this they will as from themselves, but still from the lord. AR 951.

Verse 8. In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, &c. It is believed in the world, that by Glory be to God, is meant, that god wills to receive glory from man for the sake of himself, and that he is affected with it, and on that account is beneficent, but this is a fallacy, inasmuch as god wills to receive glory from man for the sake of man, since thus man attributes all things to the Divine [Being] and nothing to himself, and when this is the case, the Divine [Being] can then flow in with the divine truth, and give to man intelligence and wisdom; thus, and no otherwise, the lord is glorified in man; the lord also loves every one, and from love wills that his glory, that is, divine truth, may be in them, which the lord also teaches in John 15:7, 8. AE 33.

All glorification of the lord, which is performed by the angels of heaven and by the men of the church, is not from themselves, but flows in from the lord ; the glorification which is from men, and not from the lord, is not from the heart, but only from an active principle of memory, and thus from the mouth, and what proceeds only from those sources, and not from the heart through them, is not heard in heaven, thus neither is it received by the lord, but passes off, like any other sound, into the world; this glorification is not acknowledgement from the heart that all good and all truth is from the lord. It is said acknowledgement from the heart, and thereby is meant from the life of love, for heart in the Word signifies love, and love is a life according to the lord's precepts; when man is in this life, then there is glorification of the lord, which is acknowledgement from the heart, that all good and truth is from the lord ; this likewise is understood by glorifying in John, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you; in this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and become my disciples." AE 288.

It was customary amongst the ancients to say, Blessed be god, and Blessing be to god, also Glory and wisdom be to god, by which they did not understand that he has blessing, glory, and wisdom, inasmuch as he is the source from which all blessing, glory, and wisdom proceed; but they understood that those things may be communicated from him to all; thus they expressed themselves, to the intent that those things might be referred to god alone, and nothing to themselves, and that thus they might speak from the Divine [Being or Principle] and not from themselves. AE 465.

The reason why giving glory denotes to acknowledge and worship the lord, is, because to give glory signifies that he alone has glory, inasmuch as he is the god of heaven and earth, and at the same time to acknowledge that all things of the church are from him, thus all salvation and eternal life, from which consideration it follows, that to give glory and to glorify, when they relate to god, denotes to worship and adore him. Glory in the Word, where it is predicated of the lord, properly signifies the divine truth proceeding from him, by reason that divine truth is the light of heaven, and from that light, angels and men have not only all intelligence and wisdom, but also all happiness, and besides all magnificence in the heavens, which is ineffable; these things, therefore, are what are properly signified by the glory of god ; and since this is glory, it follows, that the glory of the lord consists in enlightening angels and men, and gifting them with intelligence and wisdom, and blessing them with things happy and delightful, and likewise magnifying them with all things in the heavens, and that this glory is not from the love of glory, but from love towards the human race; wherefore the lord says in John, "In this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and become my disciples." AE 673.

Verse 10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, &c. In proportion as any one is principled in good, and from good loves truths, in the same proportion he loves the lord, since the lord is good itself and truth itself; the lord therefore is with man in good and in truth, and if the latter is loved from the former, then the lord is loved, and no otherwise; this the lord teaches in John, "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love." The precepts, words, and commandments of the lord are truths. Doc. Life, DLife 38.

Verse 10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, &c. To him, who loves any one, and who believes in him, nothing is more the object of his wish, than to will and to do what that other wills and thinks; for he only desires to know his will and thought, thus his good pleasure; it is otherwise with him, who does not love, neither believe. The case is similar with love to god, as the lord also teaches in John, "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; my commandment is, that you love one another," John 15:10, 12. AC 10144.

I have occasionally discoursed with the angels on this subject, who have told me how much they are surprised that the men of the church do not know, that to love god and their neighbour is to love what is good and true, and from willing it to do it; when yet they may know, that every one testifies love by willing and doing what another wills, and that thus he is loved in return, and conjunction is effected, and not by loving him, and still not doing his will, which in itself is not to love. And likewise that they may know, that the good proceeding from the lord is a likeness of him, inasmuch as he is in it, and that they become likenesses of him, and are conjoined to him, who make goodness and truth the properties of their life, by willing and doing; to will also is to love to do. That this is the case, the lord also teaches in the Word, "If you keep my commandments^ you shall abide in my love." HH 16.

Verses 14, 15. You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants. &c. That to receive divine truth from the lord in doctrine and life, is to be free, the lord also teaches in the above words; for by friends are here understood such as are free, since friends are here opposed to servants. It is therefore added, "All things which I have heard from my father, I have made known to you, that you may go and bring forth fruit;" where to command and make known has relation to doctrine, and to bring forth fruit has relation to life; that these things are from the lord, is taught at verse 16, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you. AE 409.

Verse 16. That whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it you. By the name of god is signified all in one complex by which god is worshiped, consequently the all of love and of faith. AC 2724.

It is not here meant that they should ask the father in the name of the lord, but that they should ask the lord himself, since there is no other passage open to the divine good, which is the father, but by [or through] the Divine Humanity of the lord, as is also known in the church; wherefore to ask the lord himself, is to ask according to the truths of faith, and what is so asked is granted, as he himself says in a former passage in John, "If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." This may be still further manifest from this consideration, that the lord is the name of jehovah, concerning which it is thus written in Moses, "I send my angel before you, to keep you in the way, beware of his faces, and hear his voice, because my name is in the midst of him," Exodus 23:20, 21. AC 6674.

See chap. 14:6, Exposition.

Verses 18 to 25. Jesus said, If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before you; because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, for this the world hates you, &c. That the lord's disciples are hated by all those, who do not think of his divinity at the same time that they think of his humanity, cannot be known from those who are in the world, but from the same in the other life, where they burn with such hatred against those who approach the lord alone, as cannot be described in a few words, desiring nothing more than to slay them and to murder them; the reason is, because all who are in the hells are against the lord, and all who are in the heavens are with the lord ; and they who are of the church, and do not acknowledge the divinity of the lord in his humanity, act in unity with the hells, whence they derive so great hatred. AE 137.

Verse 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. What proceeds from the Divine Human [principle] of the lord is divine truth from divine good; hence it is that the Holy Spirit is the holy [principle] which proceeds from the lord ; for the Spirit himself does not proceed, but the holy [principle] which the Spirit speaks. That the Holy Spirit, which is also called the Comforter, is the divine truth proceeding from the Divine Humanity of the lord, and that holy is predicated of divine truth, is manifest from the lord's words in John, "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the father, the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the father, he will testify of me." AC 6788.

The Holy Spirit is the divine truth, and also the divine virtue and operation, proceeding from the one only god, in whom is a Divine Trinity, consequently proceeding from the lord god the Saviour. Properly speaking, the divine truth, and consequently the the Word, is signified by the Holy Spirit, and in this sense the lord himself is also the Holy Spirit; but whereas, in the church at this day, the divine operation, which is specified by the Holy Spirit, is actual justification, therefore this divine operation is here considered as the Holy Spirit, and of this we now propose chiefly to speak, especially as the divine operation is effected by means of the divine truth which proceeds from the lord; and that which proceeds is of one and the same essence with him from whom it proceeds, like these three, the soul, the body, and the proceeding virtues, which together form one essence, in man a merely human essence, but in the lord divine and human also, these being, after his glorification, united together, like the prior with its posterior, and like essence with its form; thus the three essentials, called father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the lord are one. That the lord is divine truth, or the very divine truth itself, was shown above; and that the Holy Spirit is also the same, is evident from these passages: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of counsel and might; he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked; and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and truth the girdle of his reins," Isaiah 11:1, 4, 5; "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of jehovah shall lift up a standard against him; then shall the Redeemer come to Zion," Isaiah 59:19, 20; "The Spirit of the lord jehovih is upon me, jehovah has anointed me, to preach good tidings to the poor has he sent me," Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18; "This is my covenant, my Spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth from now on and for ever," Isaiah 59:21. Inasmuch as the lord is the very truth itself, all that which proceeds from him must of necessity be truth: and this is understood by the Comforter, who is also called the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit, as is evident from the following passages: "I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you," John 16:7; "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will lead you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear that he shall speak," John 16:13;" He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of Mine, and shall announce it to you. All things that the father has are mine, therefore said I that he shall take of mine, and announce it to you," John 16:14, 15; "I will ask the father, and he will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him; but you know him; for he abides with you, and shall be in you; I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you; and you shall see me," John 14:16, 17, 18, 19; "When the Comforter shall come, whom I will send to you from the father, even the Spirit of Truth, he shall testify of me," John 15:26. He is called the Holy Spirit, John 14:26. That the lord by the Comforter, or Holy Spirit, meant himself, is plain from these words of the lord, that the world would not know him, but you know him; I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you, and you shall see me; and in another place, "Lo! I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age," Matt 28:20; and also from this, "He shall not speak of himself, but he shall take of mine."

Now for as much as the divine truth, which was in the lord, and was the lord, John 14:6, is meant by the Holy Spirit; and since the Holy Spirit could therefore proceed from him only, it was for this reason said, "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because jesus was not yet glorified," John 7:39; and after his glorification, "He breathed on his disciples, and said, Receive you the Holy Spirit," John 20:22; the reason why the lord breathed on his disciples, was, because breathing was an external representative sign of divine inspiration; and inspiration is an insertion into the angelic societies. After these elucidations the understanding will be enabled to comprehend the words of the angel Gabriel concerning the conception of the lord : "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; wherefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of god," Luke 1:35; again, "The angel of the lord said to Joseph in a dream, Fear not to take to you Mary your bride, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; and Joseph knew her not till she brought forth her first-born Son," Matt 1:20, 25; the Holy Spirit mentioned in these passages is the divine truth proceeding from jehovah the father, and this proceeding is the power of the highest which then overshadowed the mother Mary, which coincides therefore with what is said in John, "The Word was with Gon, and the Word was god, and the Word was made flesh," 1:1, 14; that by the Word divine truth is there signified, may be seen above, in the faith of the new church, 3. TCR 139, 140.

We will now show that the lord operates of himself from the father, and not vice versa.

By operating is here meant the same thing as by sending the Holy Spirit, since the above-mentioned operations of reformation, regeneration, renovation, vivification, sanctification, justification from evils, and the remission of sins, which are at this day ascribed to the Holy Spirit, as a god by himself, are the operations of the lord. That these operations are of the lord from the father, and not vice versa, shall be first confirmed by the Word, and afterwards illustrated by rational considerations. First by the Word, from the following passages: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the FATHER, he shall testify of me," John 15:26; "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send Mm to you" John 16:7; "The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, shall not speak of himself, but shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you; all things that the father has are mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it to you," John 16:13, 14, 15; "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because jesus was not yet glorified," John 7:39; jesus breathed on his disciples, and said to them, Receive you the Holy Spirit," John 20:22; "Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, I will do it, that the father may be glorified in the Son; if you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it," John 14:13, 14. From these passages it plainly appears, that the lord sends the Holy Spirit, that is, that it is he who effects, those operations, which are at this day ascribed to the Holy Spirit as a god by himself; for it is declared, that he would send the Holy Spirit from the father ; that the Holy Spirit was not yet, because jesus was not yet glorified; that after his glorification he breathed on his disciples, and said, "Receive you the Holy Spirit;" and further, "whatever," says he, "you shall ask in my name, I will do it; for the Comforter shall take of mine, and shall show it to you." That the Comforter is the same with the Holy Spirit, may be seen in John 14:26. That god the father does not operate those virtues of himself by the Son, but that the Son operates them of himself from the father, is evident from the following passages: "No one has seen god at any time, the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the father, he has manifested him," John 1:18; and in another place, "You have neither heard the voice of the father at any time, nor seen his shape," John 5:37. Hence then it follows, that god the father operates in the Son, and upon the Son, but not by or through the Son, and that the lord operates of himself from the father, for he says, "All things that the father bath are mine," John 16:15; "That the father has given all things into the hand of the Son," John 3:35; also, "That as the father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself," John 5:26; and further, "The words that I speak are Spirit and Life," John 6:63. The reason why the lord says that the Spirit of Truth proceeds from the father, John 15:26, is, because it proceeds from god the father into the Son, and out of the Son from the father ; wherefore also he says, "In that day you shall know that I am in the father, and the father in me, and you in me, and I in you," John 14:11, 20. From these plain declarations of the lord, it is easy to discover the error which generally prevails throughout the Christian world, that god the father sends the Holy Spirit to mankind; and also the error of the Greek church, that god the father immediately sends the Holy Spirit. This truth concerning the lord's sending the Holy Spirit out of himself from god the father, and not vice versa, is of heavenly extraction, and the angels call it an Arcanum, because it was never before discovered to the world.

What is here asserted may also be illustrated and explained by many suggestions of reason; as for instance: It is well known that, the apostles, after they had received from the lord the gift of the Holy Spirit, preached the Gospel through a great part of the world, and that they published it both by their discourses and writings; and this they did of themselves from the lord ; for Peter taught and wrote in one manner, James in another, John in another, and Paul in another, each according to his own particular intelligence; the lord filled them all with his Spirit, but each took a portion according to the quality of his peculiar perception, and exercised it according to the quality of his strength or power. All the angels in the heavens are filled with the lord, for they are in the lord, and the lord in them; but nevertheless every one of them speaks and acts according to the state of his own mind, some in simplicity, some in wisdom, with an infinite variety; and yet every one speaks and acts of himself from the lord. The case is the same with every minister in the church, whether he be under the influence of the truth, or of the false; each has his own peculiar expression and intelligence, and each speaks from his own mind, that is, from the spirit which he possesses as his own. So in the case of Protestants, whether they be called Evangelical or Reformed: after they are instructed in the tenets of their particular leaders, as Luther, Melancthon, or Calvin, it cannot with propriety be said, that those leaders or their tenets speak of themselves by their disciples, but that those disciples speak of themselves from their leaders and their tenets; for every particular tenet may be explained a thousand different ways, being like a cornucopia, from which each person draws forth what favours, and is suited to, his own peculiar genius, and then explains it according to his peculiar talent. This may be illustrated also by the action of the heart in and upon the lungs, and by the re-action of the lungs of themselves from the heart: these are two distinct actions, which, nevertheless, are reciprocally united; for the lungs respire of themselves from the heart, but the heart does not respire through the lungs; if this were the case the action of both would stop. The case is similar with respect to the action of the heart in and upon the viscera of the whole body: the heart propels the blood in every direction, and the viscera imbibe it by virtue of that propulsion, each its share according to the kind of use which it performs in the body, according to which each also acts, consequently the action of each is different.

The same truth is capable of receiving further illustration from this circumstance relating to the nature and state of man: evil derived from parents, which is therefore called hereditary, acts in and upon every man; so, also, does good from the lord ; the latter acting from above or from within, the former from beneath or from without: if now evil acted by or through man, he would not be capable of reformation, nor yet a subject of blame, and in like manner, if the lord thus acted by or through him, he would not be capable of reformation; but since each depends on the free choice of man, he becomes guilty when he acts of himself from evil, and guiltless when he acts of himself from good; and whereas evil is the devil, and good is the lord, he becomes guilty if he acts from the devil, and guiltless if he acts from the lord : thus the capacity of reformation is owing to this freedom of choice, with which every man is endowed. The case is the same with the internal and external of man, these are perfectly distinct from each other, and yet reciprocally united; the internal acts in and upon the external, but not by or through it; for in the internal innumerable particulars are involved, from which the external takes only what is suited to its purposes: for in the internal of man, by which is understood his mind, consisting of the will and perceptive faculty, there are such volumes of accumulated ideas, that were they to flow out through the organs of speech, they might be compared with the violent rushing of wind from a pair of bellows. The internal, by reason of the universals included in it, resembles an ocean, or a flower bed, or a garden, from whose stores the external selects as much as is sufficient for its use. The Word of the lord resembles this ocean, flower-bed, or garden, and when it dwells in some degree of fullness in the internal of man, he then speaks and acts of himself from the Word, and not the Word by or through him. It is so likewise with the lord, who is himself the Word, that is, the divine truth and the divine good therein: he acts from himself, or from the Word, in and upon man, but not by or through him, inasmuch as man acts and speaks freely of himself from the lord, whilst he acts and speaks from the Word. But this will admit of still more familiar illustration from the mutual exchange which subsists between the soul and the body, which are two substances distinct from each other, but yet reciprocally united: the soul acts in and upon the body, but not by or through it; for the body acts of itself from the soul: it is plain that the soul does not act by or through the body, inasmuch as they do not consult and deliberate with each other; nor does the soul command or request the body to do, or to say, this thing or that; nor does the body, on the other hand, require or request the soul to give and supply it with its power and assistance; for all that the one has belongs to the other, and this mutually and reciprocally. Just so is it in respect to the lord's divinity and humanity; for the divinity of the father is the soul of his humanity, and the humanity is his body; and the humanity does not inquire of its divinity what it shall speak or what it shall do; wherefore the lord says, "At that day you shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will pray the father for you, for the father himself loves you because you have loved me," John 16:26, 27; at that day, means after his glorification, that is, after his perfect and complete union with the father. This is an arcanum revealed from the lord himself, intended for the use of those who shall become members of his New Church. TCR 153, 154.

translator's notes and observations.

Verse 8. In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and become my disciples. In the common version of the New Testament, what is here rendered, And become my disciples, is rendered, So shall you be my disciples; but in the original Greek it is literally, And become my disciples, thus inculcating the edifying lesson, that the Father is glorified, or the divine good manifested, in proportion as mankind abound in love and charity, signified by bearing much fruit, and are receptive also of heavenly truth, signified by becoming my disciples, thus in proportion as mankind attain the heavenly marriage of good and truth, so continually pointed at in the Word throughout, as constituting the sum and substance of man's regeneration and salvation.

Verse 11. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be filled, from which words it is evident that it is not the divine intention to annihilate human joys, but rather to preserve them, by filling them with divine joy.

Verse 15. Henceforth I call you not servants, but I have called you friends. It is remarkable that in the original Greek, what is here rendered I call, is expressed by the verb lego, whereas what is rendered I have called, is expressed by the verb eireka, from the root eiro, whence it is evident that the term eiro is expressive of a more interior idea than the term lego.

Verse 16. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that you may go, and bear fruit, and your fruit remain. These words, in their connected sense, are expressive of the whole of man's regeneration, as being a divine work, yet requiring man's co-operation. For when the lord says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you, he manifestly meant to teach, that all the love signified by choosing, and all the truth signified by appointing, are from himself alone, and not at all from man. Again, when he says, That you may go, and bear fruit, and your fruit remain, he as manifestly teaches the necessity of co-operation on the part of man, since to go signifies to live according to the love of truth communicated from above, whilst to bear fruit, has reference to the love and wisdom thereby acquired in the internal man, and your fruit remain, has reference to the same love and wisdom manifested and fixed by good works in the external man.

Verse 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send, &c. In respect to the extracts adduced to illustrate this verse, we cannot but observe, that the doctrine here asserted is most new and most instructive, and has therefore a particular claim on our attention. The unity of action and operation in the Godhead is here insisted on and preserved; at the same time the true object of Christian worship is clearly pointed out, and proved to be the lord's Divine Humanity, that being, from the father, the operator of all holy graces and virtues; so that the soul which approaches thereto in sincere obedience, has thereby the highest and fullest conjunction at the same time with the invisible father, through the Holy Spirit, or the divine proceeding, which is here plainly shown to mean nothing more, nor less, than the operation of the lord's Divine Humanity. We shall only further observe, that the rational illustration of this doctrine, given by the author, tends to open to the serious mind many edifying truths, respecting the self-activity of the human soul, as reconcileable with the all-activity of the lord, and the true nature of human liberty, as highly consistent with the all-ruling sovereignty of the divine power and operation.