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Matthew 7

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1 Judge not, that ye may not be judged;

2 for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.

3 But why lookest thou on the mote that is in the eye of thy brother, but observest not the beam that is in thine eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Allow [me], I will cast out the mote from thine eye; and behold, the beam is in thine eye?

5 Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the mote out of the eye of thy brother.

6 Give not that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them with their feet, and turning round rend you.

7 Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

8 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you who, if his son shall ask of him a loaf of bread, will give him a stone;

10 and if he ask a fish, will give him a serpent?

11 If therefore *ye*, being wicked, know [how] to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask of him?

12 Therefore all things whatever ye desire that men should do to you, thus do *ye* also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter in through the narrow gate, for wide the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction, and many are they who Enter in through it.

14 For narrow the gate and straitened the way that leads to life, and they are few who find it.

15 But beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but within are ravening wolves.

16 By their fruits ye shall know them. Do [men] gather a bunch of grapes from thorns, or from thistles figs?

17 So every good tree produces good fruits, but the worthless tree produces bad fruits.

18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruits, nor a worthless tree produce good fruits.

19 Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.

20 By their fruits then surely ye shall know them.

21 Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that does the will of my Father who is in the heavens.

22 Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied through *thy* name, and through *thy* name cast out demons, and through *thy* name done many works of power?

23 and then will I avow unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, workers of lawlessness.

24 Whoever therefore hears these my words and does them, I will liken him to a prudent man, who built his house upon the rock;

25 and the rain came down, and the streams came, and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

26 And every one who hears these my words and does not do them, he shall be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand;

27 and the rain came down, and the streams came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his doctrine,

29 for he taught them as having authority, and not as their scribes.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3463

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3463. 'That Isaac's servants came' means rational concepts. This is clear from the meaning of 'servants' as rational concepts, and also as facts, dealt with in 2567, and from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210. From what has gone before it is clear what aspect of the Lord is represented here by Isaac, namely the Word as regards its internal sense. For by 'Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol' are meant matters of doctrine concerning faith which are drawn from the literal sense of the Word, like those matters of doctrine possessed by people who are called 'Philistines' in the good sense. That is, they are people who have no other matters of doctrine than those concerning faith, and yet so far as life is concerned they do what is good, though it is the good of truth. And these matters of doctrine do have a certain link with the internal sense, and so with the Lord.

[2] For people who have no other matters of doctrine than those concerning faith and yet who live according to them are linked in some way to Him, though in a remote way. It is remote for the reason that they do not know from any affection what charity towards the neighbour is, let alone love to the Lord, but only from some concept that belongs to faith. Thus they do not possess any perception of good, only a type of persuasion that that is true and accordingly good which their matters of doctrine tell them to be so. And when they are confirmed in those matters of doctrine they are just as likely to be subject to falsity as to truth, for nothing else than good can confirm a person as to what the truth is.

[3] Truth does indeed teach what good is, but it does so without perception, whereas good teaches what truth is from perception. Anyone may recognize this difference, and also the nature of it, simply from the following general command concerning charity,

All things whatever you would wish people to do to you, do so to them. Matthew 7:12.

The person who acts from this commandment does indeed do what is good to others; but he does it because it is so commanded rather than from any affection in the heart. And as often as he does that good deed he begins from a selfish motive, and also in doing such good his thoughts are of merit. But when he does not act from the commandment but from charity, that is, from affection, his actions begin in the heart, and so in freedom. And as often as he performs that act he begins from the desire itself for what is good, and so that which is a delight to him; and because in this delight he finds reward he has no thought of merit.

[4] From this one may now see what the difference is between doing good from faith and doing it from charity, and that people who do it from faith are more remote from good itself, which is the Lord, than those who do it from charity. The former cannot be easily brought to the good that flows from charity so that they may perceive it because truths are not present in them to any great extent. For no one can be brought to that good unless untruths have been rooted out first, which cannot be effected as long as untruths are so deeply rooted that a person is persuaded that they are truths.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.