950. Clothed in linen clean and bright, signifies by means of the Divine truth or the Word from the spiritual sense. This is evident from the signification of "linen," as being truth, and in reference to the Lord or the Word, as being the Divine truth. This is called "clean" because it is genuine, and is called "bright" from the light in heaven, which light is brightness, since from it all things there are bright. The Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord is what appears to the eyes of angels as light, for the reason that the Divine truth enlightens their understanding; and what enlightens the understanding of angels is light to their eyes. Such is the Divine truth in heaven, and such is the Word in its spiritual sense; while Divine truth on the earth is such as the Word is in the sense of the letter, in which there are few genuine truths like those in heaven, but there are appearances of truth; and these only can the natural man receive. Nevertheless in these appearances of truth genuine truths like those in heaven lie stored up; for these are what are contained in the spiritual sense of the Word. All this makes clear that the words "there came out of the temple angels clothed in linen clean and bright" signify that the evils and falsities that have devastated the church were made manifest by the Divine truth, or the Word from its spiritual sense.

[2] There are many reasons why the spiritual sense of the Word has now been disclosed. First, because the churches in the Christian world have falsified all the sense of the letter of the Word, and this even to the destruction of the Divine truth in heaven, by which heaven has been closed up. In order, therefore, that heaven may be opened it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, in which sense is the Divine truth such as it is in heaven. For through the Word there is the conjunction of man with the Lord, and thus with heaven. When the Word is falsified even to the destruction of its genuine truth the conjunction perishes, and man is separated from heaven. In order, therefore, that he may again be conjoined with heaven, Divine truth such as it is in heaven has been revealed; and this has been confirmed by the spiritual sense of the Word, in which is that Divine truth. The second reason is that the falsities that have inundated and devastated the church can be dissipated only by means of the genuine truth laid open in the Word. Falsities and the evils therefrom and evils and the falsities therefrom can be seen in no other way than from truths themselves. For so long as genuine truths are not present, falsities and evils appear as in a kind of light. This light they have from confirmations by reasonings from the natural man, and by the sense of the letter explained and applied according to the appearances before that man. But when genuine truths are present, then first falsities and evils appear; for the light of heaven, which is in genuine truths, dissipates the delusive light of falsities and turns it into darkness. The third reason is, that, by means of the Divine truths of the Word that are in its spiritual sense, the New Church, which is meant by "the Holy Jerusalem" in Revelation, may be conjoined with heaven. For the Word is conjunction; but conjunction is effected only when man perceives the Word in a similar way as the angels perceive it. That "linen" signifies truth will be seen in the following article.

(Continuation: The First Commandment)

[3] "Thou shalt not make to thee other gods" includes not loving self and the world above all things; for that which one loves above all things is his god. There are two directly opposite loves, love of self and love to God, also love of the world and love of heaven. He who loves himself loves his own [proprium]; and as a man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil he also loves evil in its whole complex; and he who loves evil hates good, and thus hates God. He who loves himself above all things sinks his affections and thoughts in the body, and thus in his own [proprium], and from this he cannot be raised up by the Lord; and when one is sunk in the body and in his own [proprium] he is in corporeal ideas and in pleasures that pertain solely to the body, and thus in thick darkness as to higher things; while he who is raised up by the Lord is in light. He who is not in the light of heaven but in thick darkness, since he sees nothing of God, denies God and acknowledges as god either nature or some man, or some idol, and even aspires to be himself worshiped as a god. From this it follows that he who loves himself above all things worships other gods. The same is true, but in a less degree, of one who loves the world; for there cannot be so great a love of the world as of one's own [proprium]; therefore the world is loved because of one's own, and for the sake of one's own, because it is serviceable to it. The love of self means especially the love of domineering over others from the mere delight in ruling and for the sake of eminence, and not from the delight in uses and for the sake of the public good; while the love of the world means especially the love of possessing goods in the world from the mere delight in possession and for the sake of riches, and not from the delight in uses from these and for the sake of the good therefrom. These loves are both of them without limit, and rush on to infinity so far as opportunity is given.

170. From Secrets of Heaven

Sin and evil. There are countless kinds of evil and falsity: 1188, 1212, 4818, 4822, 7574. There is evil that results from falsity and there is falsity that results from evil, and these lead to still more falsity and still more evil: 1679, 2243, 4818. The nature and characteristics of evil that results from falsity: 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279. The nature and characteristics of falsity that results from evil: 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302. Evils that are our own fault and evils that are not our fault: 4171, 4172. Evils that come from our understanding and evils that come from our will: 9009. The distinctions among transgression, wickedness, and sin: 6563, 9156.

[2] All our evils cling to us: 2116. Evils cannot be removed from us; we can only be held back from them and be kept focused on doing what is good: 865, 868, 887, 894, 1581, 4564, 8206, 8393, 9014, 9333, 9446, 9447, 9448, 9451, 10057, 10109. Our being held back from doing evil and kept focused on doing good is something accomplished by the Lord alone: 929, 2406, 8206, 10109. Evils and sins are only put aside, and this happens gradually: 9334, 9335, 9336. It happens through our being regenerated by the Lord: 9445, 9452, 9453, 9454, 9938. Our evils cut us off from the Lord: 5696. We need to abstain from evils in order to accept goodness from the Lord: 10109. Goodness and truth flow in to the extent that we abstain from evils: 2388, 2411, 10675. Being held back from doing evil and being kept focused on doing good is what is meant by forgiveness of sins: 8391, 8393, 9014, 9444-9450. Some signs indicating whether our sins have been forgiven or not: 9449, 9450. The forgiveness of our sins means that we are seen from the perspective of our goodness, not of our evil: 7697.

[3] Evil and sin are a separation and a turning away from the Lord; this is what evil and sin mean in the Word: 4997, 5229, 5474, 5746, 5841, 9346. Evil and sin also are, and mean, a separation and a turning away from goodness and truth: 7589. Evil and sin are, and mean, what is contrary to the divine design: 4839, 5076. Evil is hell and damnation: 3513, 6279, 7155. No one knows what hell is who does not know what evil is: 7181. Evils are heavy, so to speak, and naturally fall into hell, and the same holds true for falsities that result from evil: 8279, 8298. No one knows what evil is who does not know what love for ourselves and love for the world are: 4997, 7178, 8318. All evils come from these loves: 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7489, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742.

[4] All the people who exist are born with evils of all kinds, even to the point that their intrinsic characteristics are nothing but evil: 210, 215, 731, 874, 875, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10731. That is why we need to be reborn and regenerated in order to accept a life of goodness: 3701.

[5] We cast ourselves into hell when we do evil willingly, then deliberately, and finally with delight: 6203. When we are consumed with leading an evil life, we are also consumed, whether we realize it or not, with the false beliefs that go with that evil: 7577, 8094. If we believe what is actually the case, namely, that everything evil comes from hell and that everything good comes from the Lord, evil does not become part of us: 6206, 4151, 6324, 6325. In the other life, evil characteristics are put aside in good people and good characteristics are put aside in evil people: 2256. In the other life, all are brought into their inner nature, so evil people are brought into their evil nature: 8870.

In the other life, there is inherent in every evil its own punishment, and in every good its own reward: 696, 967, 1857, 6559, 8214, 8223, 8226, 9049. In the other life we are not punished for evils we inherited, because they are not our fault; but we are punished for evils that we ourselves have put into practice: 966, 2308. What lies within evil is filthy and foul, no matter how unlike that it may look in outward form: 7046.

In the Word, evil is attributed to the Lord, when in fact nothing but good comes from him: 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8632, 9306. The same holds true for the anger that is attributed to him there: 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 9306, 10431. Why it says things like this in the Word: 6071, 6991, 6997, 7643, 7632, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010. What "carrying iniquity" means when it is said of the Lord: 9937, 9965. ¹ When good people are being assailed and tested, the Lord turns that evil into a good thing for them: 8631. God's allowing us the freedom to do evil is called "permission": 10778. Evil and falsity are governed by the Lord according to the laws of permission; they are tolerated for the sake of the divine design as a whole: 7877, 8700, 10778. The Lord tolerates evil, but not because he wants it to happen; he does not want it to happen, but it cannot be remedied completely, because his overall goal takes precedence: 7877.

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