Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 251

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251. I will come in to him. That this signifies conjunction is evident from the signification of coming in, when said of the Lord, as being to be conjoined to Him (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3914, 3918, 6782, 6783). The Lord is conjoined to those who receive Him in the heart and life, because He enters or flows into life; but this He does only with those who are in the life of spiritual love, or in the life of charity, for charity is spiritual love. When this life constitutes the life of man, then the Lord enters or flows by this means into the truths of faith, and causes man to see or to know them; hence man has the spiritual affection of truth. It is a great mistake to suppose that the Lord enters or flows into faith alone, or into faith separated from charity, with man; in this faith there is no life, for it is like the breath of the lungs without the action of the heart; this breath would produce only an inanimate motion, for the breath of the lungs is animated by the influx of the heart, as is well known. Hence it is clear that the proceeding Divine from the Lord is admitted into man by the way of the heart, that is, of the love. For whether we speak of the heart or of the love it is the same thing as the life of the spirit therefrom. That love constitutes the life of man anyone may know and see if he will only attend. For what is a man without love, but like a stock? Hence, according to the quality of his love such is the man; love consists in willing and doing, for what a man loves that he wills and does. An idea of the good of charity and the truth of faith may be formed from the light and heat of the sun. When the light which proceeds from the sun is conjoined with the heat, as is the case in the time of spring and summer, then all things of the earth bud and flourish; but when there is no heat in the light, as in the time of winter, then all things of the earth grow torpid and die. Moreover, spiritual light is the truth of faith, and spiritual heat is the good of charity. From these considerations also an idea of the quality of the man of the church may be formed; when his faith is conjoined to charity he is like a garden and a park; but when his faith is not conjoined to charity he is like a desert, and a land covered with snow.


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