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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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Heaven and Hell # 64

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64. The reason so many varied elements act as one in an individual is that there is nothing whatever there that does not contribute something to the common good and do something useful. The inclusive body serves its parts and the parts serve the inclusive body because the inclusive body is made up of parts and the parts make up the inclusive body. So they provide for each other respectively, they focus on each other mutually, and they are united in the kind of form that gives every single component a relationship to the inclusive entity and its well-being. This is what enables them to act as a unit.

[2] It is the same with assemblies in the heavens. People there unite in this kind of form in pursuit of any worthwhile activity. As a result any individuals who do not serve some use for the larger body are cast out of heaven because they are misfits. To "serve some use" is to intend well to others for the sake of the common good, while "not to serve some use" is to intend well to others not for the sake of the common good but for the sake of oneself. People who act in this latter fashion are people who love themselves above all, while people who act in the former fashion are the ones who love the Lord above all. This is why people in heaven act in unison not from themselves but from the Lord. They in fact focus on him as the unique source of all, and on his kingdom as the commonwealth that is to be cared for. This is the meaning of the Lord's words, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything will be given you in addition" (Matthew 6:33). To "seek his righteousness" is to seek his good. 1

[3] There are people who in this world love the good of their country more than their own and the good of their neighbor as their own. They are the ones who love and seek the kingdom of the Lord in the other life, since there the kingdom of the Lord takes the place of one's country. Further, people who love to do good to others not for self-centered reasons but for the sake of the good itself are people who love their neighbor, since in the other life the good is one's neighbor. 2 All individuals who are of this quality are in the universal human - that is, in heaven.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the Word, "righteousness" refers to the good and "judgment" to the true, so "to do justice and judgment" is to do what is good and true: 2235, 9857.

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the highest sense, the Lord is our neighbor, and so loving the Lord is loving what comes from him, since he is present in everything that comes from him, and therefore what is good and true is also our neighbor: 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711, 6819, 6823, 8123. Therefore, everything good that comes from the Lord is our neighbor, and intending and doing that good is loving our neighbor: 5028, 10336.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 10336

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10336. 'And I have put wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart' means all those who will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake. This is clear from the meaning of 'heart' as the inmost part of a person, which is called his will, and since that which composes a person's love constitutes his will, 'heart' also means love (for the meaning of 'heart' as love, see 3635, 3883-3896, 9050, and for the meaning of it as the will, 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495); from the meaning of 'the wise in heart' as one who wills and loves what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, for it is the mark of someone 'wise', and it is wisdom, to be moved by love to put truths into practice, 10331, and the mark of someone 'wise in heart' and wisdom of heart to be moved by love to put good into practice; and from the meaning of 'putting wisdom in the heart' as being moved by the Lord, and so by the good of love, to do those things, for the good of love originates in the Lord. All such people will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, because good and the truth that goes with good are the Lord as He exists with them; for those things which originate in Him, and so which are His, are also He Himself.

[2] This is the reason for saying that the Lord is Goodness itself and Truth itself. It is clear from the Lord's own words that He is Goodness itself,

Why do you call Me Good? Nobody is Good except the one God. Matthew 19:16-17; Luke 18:18-19.

And where the good deeds of love and charity are listed,

Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40.

The word 'brothers' describes those who are governed by good, and so describes varieties of good, see 2360, 3803, 3815, 4121, 5409; thus 'the Lord's brothers' are those who are governed by good that originates in Him, 4191, 5686, 5692, 6756. It is likewise clear from the Lord's words that He is Truth itself,

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6.

And elsewhere,

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; He will not speak from Himself. He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-15.

From all this it is evident what 'putting wisdom in the heart' means.

[3] 'Writing the law on the heart' in Jeremiah is also used to mean much the same thing,

I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. No more will every man teach his companion, or every man his brother 1 , saying, Know Jehovah. For they all will know Me. Jeremiah 31:33-34.

'Writing the law on the heart' means entering Divine Truth into the will, thus in a person's love. When this is done the person no longer has to draw Divine Truth out of store in his memory; instead the good itself belonging to love causes him to perceive intuitively. This is why it says, 'No more will every man teach his companion, or every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah. For they all will know Me'. This is what celestial angels inhabiting the inmost heaven are like, see in the places referred to in 9277.

[4] What it is to will and do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, meant here by 'putting wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart', must be stated briefly. All who love the Lord above all things and their neighbour as themselves do what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake. For as has been stated above, goodness and truth are the Lord Himself; therefore since they love what is good and true, that is, since they are moved by love to will and do it, they love the Lord. Those too who love their neighbour as themselves will and love what is good and true for goodness and truth's sake, for in the universal sense that which is good and true constitutes the neighbour. The neighbour is one's fellow citizen, the [local] community, one's country, the Church, and the Lord's kingdom; and loving the neighbour consists in goodwill towards these, that is, in desiring their good, and therefore their good is what must be loved. And when this is loved the Lord is loved, since He is the source of this good.

[5] From all this it is evident that love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, holds love to the Lord within itself. If this love is not held within it, fellow citizens, community, country, Church, and the Lord's kingdom are loved for selfish reasons, and so not from a desire that is good but from one that is bad; for whatever a person does for the sake of self as the end in view springs from a desire that is bad. Loving the neighbour for the sake of self consists in loving him for the sake of gain and important positions as the ends in view. The end in view is what determines whether something springs from a desire that is good or one that is bad. The end in view is identical with the love; for what the person loves, that he has as his end. The end in view is also identical with the will; for what a person wills, that he loves. Consequently the end for the sake of which someone acts, or his intentions, constitutes the real person; for a person's character is determined by the character of his will and of his love.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, Nor will they teach any longer a man (vir) his companion, or a man (vir) his brother

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