Week 2    Day 5

    Listen:

Various Experiences Regarding the Word in the Spiritual World

LJ 57. I have spoken with some from [those represented by Babylon in the Book of Revelation], concerning the keys given to Peter. I asked whether they believe that the power of the Lord over heaven and earth was transferred to him, and because this was the fundamental of their religion, they vehemently insisted on it, saying that there was no doubt about it, because it was said manifestly. But when I asked them whether they knew that in each expression of the Word there is a spiritual sense, which is the sense of the Word in heaven, they said at first that they did not know it, but afterwards they said they would inquire. And on inquiring, they were instructed that there is a spiritual sense within each expression of the Word, which differs from the sense of the letter, as the spiritual differs from the natural. And they were also instructed that no person named in the Word is named in heaven, but that some spiritual thing is there understood in place of him.

Finally, they were informed, that instead of “Peter” in the Word is meant the truth of the faith of the church, from the good of charity, and that the same is meant by “a rock,” which is there named with Peter, for it is said:

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My church (Matt. 16:18, seq.).

By this is not meant that any power was given to Peter, but that it is given to truth from good, for in the heavens all power belongs to truth from good, or to good through truth. And since all good and all truth are from the Lord and nothing from man, all power is the Lord’s.

When they heard this, they replied indignantly that they wished to know whether there is a spiritual sense in those words. Therefore, the Word which is in heaven was given to them. In this Word there is not the natural sense but the spiritual, because it is for the angels, who are spiritual. (That there is such a Word in heaven may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell n. 259-261). And when they read it, they saw manifestly that Peter is not named there, but truth from good, which is from the Lord, instead of him. Seeing this they rejected it with anger and would almost have torn it to pieces with their teeth, had it not at that moment been taken away. Hence they were convinced, although unwilling to be convinced, that the Lord alone has that power, and by no means can it belong to any man, because it is the Divine power.

AR 224. I saw an assembly of spirits, all on their knees, praying to God to send angels to them, that they might converse with them face to face, and open to them the thoughts of their hearts. And when they arose, there appeared three angels in fine linen, standing before them, and they said, “The Lord Jesus Christ has heard your prayers, and has therefore sent us to you. Open to us the thoughts of your hearts.”

[2] And they answered, “We have been told by our priests that in matters of a theological nature, the understanding avails nothing, but only faith, and that in such things intellectual faith is of no service to anyone because it is derived from man. We are Englishmen, and have heard many things from our sacred ministry, which we believed. But when we have conversed with others, who also called themselves the Reformed, and with others who called themselves Roman Catholics, and likewise with members of various sects, they all appeared to us learned, and yet in many things, one did not agree with another, and still they all said, ‘Believe us;’ and some of them, ‘We are God’s ministers, and we know.’ But as we know that the Divine truths, which are called truths of faith, and which appertain to the church, are not derived to anyone from his native soil, nor by inheritance, but out of heaven from God; and as these show the way to heaven, and enter into the life together with the good of charity, and so lead to eternal life, we became anxious, and prayed to God on our knees.”

[3] Then the angels answered, “Read the Word, and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths which should constitute your faith and life; for all in the Christian world draw their doctrinals from the Word as from the only fountain.” But two of the company said, “We have read, but did not understand.”

[4] And the angels replied, “You did not approach the Lord, and you have also confirmed yourselves in falsities.” And the angels said further, “What is faith without light, and what is thinking without understanding? This is not human; even magpies and ravens can learn to speak without understanding. We can affirm to you that every man whose soul desires it is capable of seeing the truths of the Word in light. There does not exist an animal that does not know the food proper to its life when it sees it, and man is a rational and spiritual animal, who sees the food of his life—not that of his body, but of his soul, which is the truth of faith— provided indeed he hungers for it and seeks it from the Lord.”

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