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Matthew 6

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1 TAKE heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

3 But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.

4 That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.

5 And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

6 But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.

7 And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard.

8 Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him.

9 Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our supersubstantial bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

14 For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences.

15 But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.

16 And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee.

19 Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal.

20 But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.

21 For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.

22 The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome.

23 But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be!

24 No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

26 Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?

27 And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?

28 And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin.

29 But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.

30 And if the grass of the field, which is to day, and to morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?

31 Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?

32 For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 847

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847. And his number is six hundred sixty-six, signifies that its quality nevertheless is from all falsities and all evils therefrom in the complex. This is evident from the signification of "number," as being the quality of faith separated from the life; also from the signification of "six hundred sixty-six" as being all falsities and all evils therefrom in the complex. This is the signification of that number, because "six" signifies all things, and is predicated of truths and of goods therefrom, and in the contrary sense of falsities and of evils therefrom; for that number is composed of the numbers two and three multiplied together, and the number two is predicated of goods, and in the contrary sense of evils; and the number three of truths, and in the contrary sense of falsities; and a composite number has a similar signification as the simple numbers of which it is composed. This, then, is why "six" signifies all truths and all goods therefrom in the complex, and in the contrary sense all falsities and all evils therefrom in the complex. That all these may be signified to the full, that number is tripled; and by triplication the number 666 arises. For a thing triplicated signifies completeness and fullness from beginning to end; so here it signifies that nothing whatever of truth and good remains.

[2] That every number in the Word signifies something pertaining to a thing or state, and that its quality is determined by the numbers added, may be seen above (n. 203, 429, 574, 841). That larger numbers composed of the smaller have a similar signification as the smaller and simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication may be seen above n. 430; thus the number six hundred sixty-six has a similar signification as six, and six the like as three and two, from which it arises by multiplication. That three signifies fullness, completeness, altogether, and all things from beginning to end, and is predicated of truths and falsities, may be seen above (n. 532); and that two is likewise predicated of goods and evils (n. 532, at the end). Again, six has a similar signification as twelve, because twelve arises from the multiplication of three by four; and four, like two, is predicated of goods and also of evils. From this it is clear that the number "six hundred sixty-six," which is said to be "the number of a man," and "to count" which is said to be a matter of intelligence, signifies the quality of faith separated from good works, that it is composed of all falsities and of all evils therefrom in the complex. Its being said to be a matter of intelligence to count that number does not signify that it is a matter of intelligence to know or find out the signification of that number, but that it is a matter of intelligence to inquire into and see the falsities and evils that make up the quality of faith separated from life.

[3] That the quality of that faith is such in respect to falsities will be seen in what presently follows. It is also such in respect to evils because when good works are set aside (and they are set aside when it is believed that they contribute nothing at all to justification or salvation), it follows that evil works take their place; for a man must be either in goods or in evils. That he cannot be in both together is meant by these words of the Lord:

No one can serve two masters; he will either hate the one and love the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).

Therefore all evils in the complex follow from a faith that sets aside good works, which are the goods of life. Moreover, every religion has life as its end; for it teaches the evils that must be shunned, and the goods that are to be done. A religion that does not have life as its end, consequently a religion in which it is taught that the works of life are of no account, but faith alone, cannot be called a religion; and where this is taught, are not all evils of life permitted so far as they are not forbidden and restrained by the civil laws, since faith alone covers, remits, and takes them away? That this is so can be seen from this, that faith alone is said to justify the life; and yet it is taught that man is not saved by any good of life, also that he may be saved by this faith even in the last hour of death, also that he is justified at the same moment that he receives this faith, with other like things, which altogether persuade that life is not the end of that religion. And if religion does not have life as its end it follows that it must give loose reins to evils of every kind.

[4] That those who are in that faith both in doctrine and in life have all falsities in the complex is clear from the claim that this faith is the only justifying or saving faith, namely, that the Father sent the Son that He might reconcile to Him the human race by the passion of the cross and by thus taking away damnation. But it has been shown above what the quality of this faith is, and what there is in it of truth and untruth; and anyone can see that in this faith there is nothing except thought, and nothing of life; for it is said that if we believe this with trust and confidence, that is, if we acknowledge it in thought, we are saved. If in this faith alone there is salvation what need is there of knowing what love to the Lord is, what charity towards the neighbor is, what the life of man is, what the goods and evils of life are, what remission of sins is, what reformation and regeneration are? Are not all these this faith alone? If it be asked what remission of sins is, is it not this faith alone? If it be asked what charity towards the neighbor is, is it not this faith alone? If it be asked what the church is, is it not this faith alone? So in the rest. It is clear, therefore, that this faith alone has absorbed, and has swallowed up like a dragon, all the goods and truths of the Word, and thus of the church, although these are innumerable, and through these the angels have all their intelligence and wisdom, and men have all their salvation.

[5] As all the truths and goods of the church have been banished by means of this faith alone, it follows that falsities and evils therefrom have taken their place, and as a consequence the church is devastated. Yea, by means of this truth that man of himself can do no good that is good, all the truths and goods of the church are cast aside, as if this made it permissible for man to refrain from doing them, because if they are not good they are rather damnable than saving. And it is wonderful that through a single truth wrongly understood all the truths and goods of the church in the whole complex should have been cast aside. This is what is signified in the spiritual sense by "the number of the beast, six hundred sixty-six."

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.