10331. 'In wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all [manner of] work' means in respect of those things which compose the will and those which constitute the understanding within the internal man and within the external man. This is clear from the meaning of 'wisdom' as those things which compose the will within the internal man; from the meaning of 'intelligence' as those things which constitute the understanding, also within the internal man; from the meaning of 'knowledge' as those things which constitute the understanding and consequent speech within the external man; and from the meaning of 'work' as those things which compose the will and consequent practice within the external man. So the words used here mean everything - everything interior and everything exterior residing with a person in whom the good of celestial love exists - that receives the influx of Divine Truth from the Lord and is consequently seen in light. This influx and enlightenment are dealt with immediately above.

[2] But a brief statement needs to be made showing what wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work are. People who do not know what the internal man is and what the external man is, nor what understanding and will are, cannot see in what ways wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work are distinct and separate each from the others. They cannot do so because they cannot form any clear idea of one or of another. The people therefore who do not know those things call someone wise when he is merely intelligent or has only knowledge. But someone wise is a person who is moved by love to put truths into practice; someone intelligent is a person who is moved by faith to put them into practice; someone with knowledge is a person who applies his knowledge to doing so; and 'work' is that which is actually done by them. Thus 'work' means those three talents when put to use, within which they all combine.

[3] Nobody therefore can be said to have wisdom, intelligence, or knowledge in the true sense of these words if they are not put to use by him; for wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge have to do with the life a person should lead, and not with doctrine without reference to that life. Life is the end for the sake of which they exist. What the end is like therefore determines what kind of wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge they are. If real good, which is the good of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, constitutes the end, then they are wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge in the proper sense of these three words; for then these three as they exist with a person have their origin in the Lord. But if acting for the sake of some good desired by self-love and love of the world constitutes the end, they are not wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge, because then those three as they exist in a person have their origin in self. For any good which self-love and love of the world have as their end in view is evil, and when evil is the end in view nothing of wisdom and intelligence, nor even of knowledge, can be attributed in any way at all. For what use is knowledge if it does not hold an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good within it? Knowledge devoid of these leads a person to think that evil is good and falsity is truth.

[4] In the case of those in whom the good of love to the Lord is present wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work follow in order from inmost to last and lowest. Wisdom there is inmost, since it consists in a will, inspired by love, that desires what is right. Intelligence is second, since it consists in an understanding, governed by a will desiring what is right, that perceives what is right. These two belong to the internal man. Knowledge consists in knowing what is right, and work in doing what is right, each governed by the will desiring what is right. These two belong to the external man. From this it is evident that wisdom must exist within intelligence, this within knowledge, and this within work. The work accordingly contains and embraces all the inner virtues, since it is last and lowest and that in which they terminate.

[5] From all this it becomes clear what should be understood by 'works' and 'deeds', mentioned so many times in the Word, as in the following places: In Matthew,

The Son of Man will repay everyone according to his deeds. Matthew 16:27.

In Jeremiah,

I will requite them according to their work and according to the deed of their hands. Jeremiah 25:14.

In the same prophet,

... O Jehovah, whose eyes have been opened upon all the ways of man, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his works. Jeremiah 32:19.

In the same prophet,

Turn back each of you from his evil way, and cause your works to be good. Jeremiah 35:15.

In Hosea,

I will punish his ways ¹ , and requite him for his works. Hosea 4:9.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah deals with us according to our ways and according to our works. Zechariah 1:6.

In John,

I will give to you each according to his works. Revelation 2:23.

In the same book,

They were judged every one according to their works. Revelation 20:13, 15.

In the same book,

Behold, I am coming, and My reward with Me, to give to everyone according to his works. Revelation 22:12.

By 'works' in these places all that exists within a person should be understood, because all that constitutes what a person wills and understands is present in his works; for the things in his will and understanding are what causes him to do them. From what is within them the works derive their life; for without it works are like a shell without the nut or a body without the soul. What proceeds from a person does so from the things within him; therefore works are manifestations of those inner things, and they are effects through which those inner things reveal themselves.

[6] It is a general rule that as is a person's character, so is every work he performs. For this reason 'the works' according to which there will be reward or retribution must be taken to mean a person's character so far as his love and faith are concerned. For works are the product of the love and faith residing in a person. Nothing other than his love and his faith constitute the person, or what amounts to the same thing, his good and his truth, see 10076, 10177, 10264, 10284, 10298.

[7] Furthermore the actual desires in a person's will are what constitute a work; for what a person desires in his will he also does, provided that nothing insurmountable stands in the way. Consequently being judged according to one's deeds means being judged according to the desires of one's will. In the Word those who do good because it is their will to do it are called 'the righteous', as is evident in Matthew 25:37, 46. Of them it is said that they will shine forth like the sun in heaven, Matthew 13:43; and in Daniel,

Those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars. Daniel 12:3.

'Those who have intelligence' are those who are moved by their intelligence to do what is true; and 'those who turn many to righteousness' are those who are stirred by the desires in their will to do what is good.

Poznámky pod čarou:

10298. 'And you shall make this an incense' means worship consisting of them. This is clear from the meaning of 'incense' as acts of thanksgiving, adoration, prayer, and like forms of worship, which are emanations from the heart passing into thought and speech, dealt with in 9475. By 'the smoke of the incense' a raising up is meant, 10177, 10198, and by 'a sweet odour' a perception and reception that are pleasing, in the places referred to in 10292.

[2] Since the worship of God, meant by 'sweet-smelling incense', is described here, and the spices from which that incense was made mean different kinds of truth in their proper order, what that worship is like must be stated briefly here. But it is impossible to reveal this arcanum without knowledge of the nature of the human being. The human being is a human being not by virtue of his face, nor indeed by virtue of his speech, but by virtue of his understanding and will. The character of understanding and will make a human being what he is. It is well known that at birth nothing constituting his understanding nor anything composing his will exists, and that from earliest childhood his understanding and his will are being formed gradually. In this way he is made a human being, and the kind of human being he becomes is determined by the character of those two powers of mind that have been formed in him. The understanding is formed by means of truths and the will by means of forms of good, so much so that his understanding is nothing other than a mass of ideas such as are related to truths, and his will nothing other than an affection for things such as are called good. From this it follows that nothing else than the truth and the good from which both his powers of mind have been formed constitute the human being.

[3] All the individual parts of his body correspond to them, as may be recognized from the consideration that the body acts instantaneously in response to what the understanding thinks and the will intends. For his mouth speaks in conformity with his thoughts, his face alters in conformity with his affections, and his body makes movements in conformity with the signals received from both. From this it is evident that the character of a person's understanding and will, thus what he is like in respect of truths and forms of good there, make him wholly and completely what he is. For as has been stated, truths constitute the understanding part of his mind and forms of good the will part, or what amounts to the same thing, his truth and his good constitute the human being.

[4] This is plainly apparent in the case of spirits. They are nothing other than their own truths and forms of good, which they took to themselves when they were people living in the world. But they are still human forms, and therefore the character of the truths and forms of good that are theirs shines from their faces; it is also revealed in their tone of voice and the feeling in what they say, in their gestures, and most of all in the words they use when they speak. For the words composing their speech are not like those used by people in the world but are in complete harmony with the truths and forms of good that reside with them, in such complete harmony that they flow naturally from them. This kind of speech is what spirits and angels use when they talk to one another. As to his spirit a person uses something similar while living in the world, though he is unaware of doing so then. For his thought consists of ideas of this type, as has also been observed by certain learned people who have termed those ideas immaterial and intellectual. Those ideas become words after death, when the person becomes a spirit. From all this it is again evident that nothing else than his truth and his good constitute the human being. Consequently after death he continues to be the kind of person that his truth and good have made him. The words 'the kind that his truth and good have made him' should be taken to mean also the kind that his falsity and evil have made him; for people who are bad call falsity truth, and evil they call good.

[5] This arcanum is what people must be fully aware of if they are to have any knowledge of what the worship of God is like. But in addition to this, another needs to be known, namely that the entire person is present within every idea emanating from the person's will. This also follows from the first, for what a person thinks springs from the truth and what he wills from the good that constitute him. This may be seen to be so from the following experience, that when angels perceive one idea a person has, or one idea a spirit has, they know instantly the character of that person or this spirit.

[6] These things have been stated in order that people may know what the worship of God, meant by the incense consisting of the spices, is like, namely that the entire person is present within every single part of his worship, because the truth and good constituting him are present within it. This is the reason why the four spices are mentioned, by which all the levels of truth in their entirety are meant. From this it also follows that it amounts to the same thing whether you say that the worship of God consists of these levels of truth and good or you say that the person consists of them; for as has been stated, the entire person is present within all the particular ideas which compose his thought and constitute his worship.