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Matthew 10

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1 AND having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.

2 And the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,

3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus,

4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.

6 But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.

9 Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses:

10 Nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff; for the workman is worthy of his meat.

11 And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.

12 And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house.

13 And if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet.

15 Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

16 Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.

17 But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.

18 And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles:

19 But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.

20 For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.

21 The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death.

22 And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.

23 And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come.

24 The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord.

25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the goodman of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household?

26 Therefore fear them not. For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known.

27 That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light: and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops.

28 And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Fear not therefore: better are you than many sparrows.

32 Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.

33 But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

34 Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.

35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And as a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.

40 He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8159

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8159. 'And Pharaoh drew near' means an oppressive influx from there of falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those steeped in falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 8132, 8135, 8146, 8148; and from the meaning of 'drawing near' as influx. The internal sense deals with the first temptation of those who have been delivered, and all temptation comes about through influx from the hells. For spirits from there stir up and bring out all the wicked deeds a person has performed and wicked thoughts he has entertained, and they use these to incriminate him and condemn him. As a result he suffers pangs of conscience, and anxiety fills his mind. These feelings are brought about by an influx from the hells, in particular from the hell that is represented by the Sea Suph. From all this one may see that in the spiritual sense, which is dealing with temptations, 'drawing near' means influx.

[2] Since the verses which immediately follow deal with the first temptation of those belonging to the spiritual Church, it should be realized that those people could not undergo temptations until after the Lord had glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, and was present among them in this glorified Human. If they had undergone them before then they would have given way; for those belonging to the spiritual Church were saved solely by the Lord's Divine Human. The temptations of those belonging to the spiritual Church, which they were to undergo after the Lord had come into the world, when He would be able to fight from the Divine Human for them against the hells, are meant by the following words in Malachi,

Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, said Jehovah Zebaoth. Who can endure the day of His Coming, and who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them like gold, and like silver, in order that they may bring to Jehovah a minchah in righteousness. Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The sons of Levi' here are members of the spiritual Church, for 'Levi' means charity or spiritual good, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. 'A refiner's fire' is temptation, the means of purification, which 'purifying and purging them like gold and silver' is used to mean. 'The minchah' they will bring to Jehovah is faith and charity; and 'the days of eternity' and 'former years' are the Ancient Churches and states of worship of the Lord in those times.

[3] As regards the nature of temptations, it is as has been stated above in 8131, that the hells fight against a person and the Lord for a person. Any falsity that the hells introduce is met with a response from the Divine. The falsities which come from hell are thrust into and enter the external or natural man, but the response from the Divine enters the internal or spiritual man. The person is less conscious of this response which comes from the Divine than he is of those falsities. It does not touch his individual thoughts, only his general awareness, yet in such a way that he scarcely comes to be conscious of it except as hope and consequent comfort, which however hold within them countless blessings that the person has no knowledge of. These are such that they are suited to his affection or love, especially his affection for or love of truth and goodness, which form his conscience.

[4] These things have been stated to let it be known that the life of the children of Israel in the wilderness describes the temptations, in the sequence in which they occurred, that were undergone by those who belonged to the Lord's spiritual Church and were delivered. The reason why they underwent the temptations was in order that they might be prepared further for heaven. For through temptations, through them as the one and only means, forms of good and truths are corroborated and joined together. Through them charity becomes the charity that goes with faith, and faith becomes the faith that goes with charity. The fact that those who belong to the Church must undergo temptations is what one should understand by the following things the Lord said, in Matthew,

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38-39; Mark 8:31 end.

In the same gospel,

He said to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. Matthew 16:24-25; Luke 9:23-24.

In Luke,

Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27.

In Mark,

Jesus said to the rich [young ruler], Come, follow Me, taking up the cross. Mark 10:21.

And in Matthew,

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34.

[5] But it should be recognized that in temptations a person does not do the fighting; the Lord alone does it for the person, though the appearance is that it is done by the person. And when the Lord does the fighting for a person, the person is in all things victorious. At the present day few are allowed to experience temptations because they do not live as faith requires and do not therefore possess a conscience composed of truth; and anyone without a conscience composed of truth as a result of leading a good life goes under, and then his latter state is worse than his former.

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