74. I have had various conversations with angels about the future state of the church. They said that they do not know what is to come, because knowing the future belongs to the Lord alone. They do know, though, that the inner slavery and captivity that the people in the church have suffered until now has been taken away; and that now, because freedom has been restored, people can have a better perception of inner truths if they choose to and in this way can become people of greater depth if they wish. However, the angels said they have only slight hope for people of the Christian church along these lines, but more hope for a particular group of people distant from the Christian world and beyond the reach of its proselytizers. The nature of these people is that they are capable of receiving spiritual light and becoming heavenly, spiritual individuals. The angels added that inner divine truths are being revealed to these people at the present day and are being accepted with a spiritual faith-that is, in their lives and in their hearts-and that these people lovingly worship the Lord. 1
THE END
Footnotes:
1. Though the people Swedenborg describes here cannot be positively identified, elsewhere Swedenborg indicates that they live in central parts of Africa. See Supplements 75; Draft of “Supplements” §§115-118, 124 [Rogers’s numbering] = §§116-119, 124 [Potts’s numbering] (= Swedenborg 1997a, 101-103); Spiritual Experiences (= Swedenborg 1998-2013) §§4774:2, 4777, 5946. [LSW]
