278. The Influx of Life with Man in particular. There is one only life, from which all both in heaven and in the world live, Arcana Coelestia 1954, 2021, 2536, 2658, 2886-2889, 3001, 3484, 3742, 5847, 6467. This life is from the Lord alone; illustrated by various things, Arcana Coelestia 2886-2889, 3344, 3484, 4319, 4320, 4524, 4882, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 9276, 10196. The Lord is Life itself; see John 1:1, 4; 5:26; 14:6. Life from the Lord flows in with angels, spirits, and men, in a wonderful manner, Arcana Coelestia 2886-2889, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742. The Lord flows in from His Divine Love, which is of such a character, that it wills that what is its own shall be another's, Arcana Coelestia 3742, 4320. All love is such a quality; the Divine Love, consequently, is infinitely more, so, Arcana Coelestia 1820, 1865, 2253, 6872. Life thus appears as though it were within man, and not as if it were flowing in, Arcana Coelestia 3742, 4320. Life appears as if it were within man also, for this reason, that the principal cause which is life from the Lord, and the instrumental cause which is the recipient form, act as one cause, which is felt in the instrumental cause, Arcana Coelestia 6325. The chief thing of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels consists in perceiving and knowing that the all of life is from the Lord, Arcana Coelestia 4318. Concerning the joy of the angels arising from their not living from themselves, but from the Lord, which was perceived and confirmed by their speech to me, Arcana Coelestia 6469. The evil are not willing to be convinced that life enters by influx, Arcana Coelestia 3743. Doubts concerning the influx of life from the Lord cannot be removed, so long as fallacies, ignorance, and a negative principle prevail, Arcana Coelestia 6479. All who are of the Church know, that all good and truth are from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and that all evil and falsity are from hell; when yet the all of life has relation to good and truth, and to evil and falsity, so much so indeed, that apart from them there is nothing of life, Arcana Coelestia 2893, 4151. This also is declared by a doctrinal of the Church, which is derived from the Word, Arcana Coelestia 4249. Nevertheless a man does not believe that life enters by influx, Arcana Coelestia 4249. If communication and conjunction with spirits and angels were taken away, a man would instantly die, Arcana Coelestia 2887. From this it is also evident, that the all of life flows in from the First Esse of life, because nothing has existed from itself, but from things prior to itself, and thus each and all things from a First; and because, even as a thing has existed, so also it is bound to subsist, subsistence being perpetual existence, Arcana Coelestia 4523, 4524. Angels, spirits, and men, have been created in order to receive life, wherefore they are only forms recipient of life, Arcana Coelestia 2021, 3001, 3318, 3344, 3484, 3742, 4151, 5114, 5986. They are such forms as is their quality of reception, Arcana Coelestia 2888, 3001, 3484, 5847, 5986, 6467, 6472. Wherefore men, spirits, and angels are of such a character, as they are forms recipient of life from the Lord, Arcana Coelestia 2888, 5847, 5986, 6467, 6472. Man has been so created that in his inmost parts, and from thence in those which follow in order, he is able to receive the Divine and to be raised to the Divine, and to be conjoined with the Divine through the good of love and the truths of faith; on which account, differently from animals, he lives to eternity, Arcana Coelestia 5114

Life from the Lord flows in likewise with the wicked, and hence also with those who are in hell, Arcana Coelestia 2706, 3743, 4417, 10196. But the latter turn good into evil, and truth into falsity, and thus life into spiritual death; for such as the man is, such is his reception of life, Arcana Coelestia 4319, 4320, 4417. Goods and truths from the Lord also flow in constantly with them; but they either reject, suffocate, or pervert them, Arcana Coelestia 3743. Those who are in evils and the falsities thence, have no real life; the quality of their life, Arcana Coelestia 726, 4623, 10284, 10286.

904. That 'God spoke to Noah' means the Lord's presence with the member of the Church becomes clear from the internal sense of the Word. The Lord speaks to everybody, for whatever good and truth a person wills and thinks comes from the Lord. With everyone there are at least two evil spirits and two angels. The former activate his evils whereas the latter instill goods and truths. Every good or truth that angels instill is the Lord's; in this way the Lord is constantly speaking to man, though quite differently from one person to the next. To people who allow themselves to be carried away by evil spirits the Lord speaks as though He were not present, or so far away that He can hardly be said to be speaking. But to those who are being led by the Lord, the Lord speaks as one who is quite present. This becomes clear enough from the fact that nobody can possibly think of anything good and true except from the Lord.

[2] The Lord's presence is relative to the state of love towards the neighbour and of faith present in a person. It is in love towards the neighbour that the Lord is present, for He is present in all good, and not so much in so-called faith that is devoid of love. Faith devoid of love and charity is something severed or disjoined. Wherever conjunction exists there has to be a conjoining agency, which is exclusively love and charity. This may become clear to anyone from the fact that the Lord has compassion on everybody, loves everyone, and wishes to make everyone eternally happy. A person therefore who is devoid of the kind of love that leads him to have compassion on others, to love them, and to wish to make them happy, cannot be joined to the Lord because he is not at all like Him, and is in no sense the image of Him. Looking to the Lord by means of that which goes by the name of faith while hating the neighbour amounts not only to standing a long way off, but also to having between himself and the Lord a hell-like chasm into which the person would fall if he wished to go any nearer. For it is hatred towards the neighbour that constitutes that intervening hell-like chasm.

[3] The Lord is present with a person the moment he starts to love the neighbour. It is in love that the Lord is present, and to the extent that a person has love the Lord is present. And to the extent that the Lord is present He speaks to man. No one knows anything other than that he thinks from himself. Yet he possesses not one single idea of thought, not even the shred of an idea, from himself. Rather that which is evil and false he possesses through evil spirits from hell, and that which is good and true through angels from the Lord. Such is influx, the channel by which a person's life comes and by which consequently his soul interacts with the body. All these considerations make clear what 'God spoke to Noah' means. 'Saying to someone' means one thing, as in Genesis 1:29; 3:13-14, 17; 4:6, 9, 15; 6:13; 7:1, while 'speaking to someone' means another. Here speaking to Noah' means His being present, for the subject now is the regenerate person, who has had charity conferred on him.

5862. The spirits present with a person do not know that they are present with him. Only an angel from the Lord knows that he is present, for angels are linked to a person's soul or spirit, but not to his body. When thoughts are realized in the body as speech, and wishes as actions, general influx serves as the orderly means by which they are channeled into speech or action; and this influx is governed by correspondences with the Grand Man. The spirits present with a person therefore have no part in any of this; so they do not use the person's tongue to speak, for that would amount to possession. Nor do they use his eyes to see things in the world, or his ears to hear things there. With me it is different, for the Lord has opened my interiors to enable me to see things in the next life. From this spirits have known that I was a person still in his body, and they have been given the ability to use my eyes to see things in the world and [my ears] to hear those talking to me in whose company I was present.