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Matthew 16

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1 The Pharisees also and the Sadducees came, and, tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said to them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign; and there shall no sign been to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed.

5 And when his disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then they understood that he did not caution them against the leaven of bread, but against the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

13 When Jesus came into the borders of Cesarea Phillippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith to them, But who say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon-Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

18 And I say also to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

20 Then he charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

21 From that time forth Jesus began to show to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be to thee.

23 But he turned, and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense to me: for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men.

24 Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he will reward every man according to his works.

28 Verily I say to you, There are some standing here, who shall not taste death, till they shall see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

True Christian Religion # 482

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482. Man would have no free will in political, moral and natural matters, did he not have free will in spiritual ones. This is evident from the fact that spiritual matters, what is called theology, occupy the highest region in the human mind, like the soul in the body. The reason they occupy that place is that it contains the gateway through which the Lord enters a person. At a lower level are the political, moral and natural matters, which in a person take all their life from the spiritual ones which have their seat above them. And because life from the Lord flows in from the highest levels, and man's life consists in the ability freely to think, will and thus to speak and act, it follows that this and no other is the source of free will in political and natural matters. That spiritual freedom allows a person to perceive good and truth, justice and fairness in social matters; and that ability is what the understanding itself is in essence.

[2] A person's free will in spiritual matters is, to use a comparison, like the air in the lungs; it is drawn in, held and released as his thoughts constantly change. Without it he would be worse off than if he suffered from a nightmare, angina or asthma. Again it is like the blood in the heart; any failure of the blood would make the heart first palpitate, then after convulsions become totally still. Or it might be like a body in motion, which travels so long as it has any energy, and comes to rest when its energy is exhausted. So too it is with the freedom man's will enjoys; both of these, freedom of choice and will, can in man be called active energy, for if the will ceases to operate, so does the power to act, and if freedom of choice ceases to operate, so does the will.

[3] If man's spiritual freedom were taken away from him, it would be, to use a comparison, like taking the wheels away from a machine, the arms that catch the wind from a mill, or the sails from a ship. In fact, it would be like a man parting with his spirit when he dies; for the life of man's spirit consists in his free will in spiritual matters. The angels groan at the mere mention of the fact that this free will is denied by many ministers of the church at the present time; they call this denial madness on top of madness.

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

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John 15:14

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14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.