800. And them that dwell in heaven, signifies spiritual goods and truths, from which is the heavenly marriage. This is evident from the signification of "blaspheming them that dwell in heaven," as being to falsify spiritual goods and truths. By "them that dwell in heaven" the angels are meant; and as the angels are angels from the reception of the Divine good and the Divine truth, and as the spiritual sense is abstracted from persons, "angels" here signify the goods and truths from which they are angels; and these are also signified by "angels" elsewhere in the Word (See above, n. 301, 302). "Angels" signify spiritual goods and truths because all who are in heaven are spiritual, and think and speak spiritually. But it is otherwise with men on earth, who being natural, think and speak naturally, and therefore goods and truths with them are natural. And as good and truth mutually love each other, and for that reason they must needs be conjoined, it is also said, from which is the heavenly marriage. This, too, is signified by "them that dwell in heaven," since all in heaven are in that marriage, and this is why heaven is likened in the Word to a marriage; and there is a like marriage in every least particular of the Word, as may be seen above (n. 238, 288, 484, 724); also an angel cannot be an angel of heaven unless he is in that marriage, or unless that marriage is with him; and the like is true of the man of the church (See n. 660). From this again it is evident that a man who separates faith from good works is not a man of the church. From this it can now be seen that "to blaspheme them that dwell in heaven" signifies to falsify spiritual goods and truths from which is the heavenly marriage.

[2] In the two preceding articles those who separate faith from the goods of life and thereby so falsify the Word as to close heaven to themselves, also those who join the goods of life to faith and thereby do not so falsify the Word as to close heaven to themselves, have been treated of. It now follows in order that something be said about those who, although they are in the churches where faith alone is acknowledged, still do not falsify the Word.

1. These are such as do not separate faith from the life but conjoin them by the belief that faith and life make one, like affection and thought, like will and understanding, like heat and light in the time of spring and summer, from the conjunction of which comes all germination, and like truth and good, when truth is put in place of faith, and good in place of life. On the conjunction of all these see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Such affirm within themselves that no one who lives wickedly can have faith, but only he who lives well, and that one who lives wickedly cannot receive faith unless he performs repentance of life by seeking out his evils and desisting from them; likewise that one who lives wickedly cannot, in his spirit or in himself, have any other faith than a belief in falsity, however he may profess with the mouth a belief in truth. Therefore the life of those who so conjoin life and faith in profession and in works is charity, and their faith is the thought that a thing is so in truth. The faith of such is spiritual so far as they know truths from the Word, and live according to them, for faith becomes spiritual from the life, and so far as man thence becomes spiritual heaven is opened to him.

[3] 2. Neither do those falsify the Word who do not know, and do not wish to know, that faith is anything else than believing those things that are in the Word and doing them, for they see that faith is to believe and to do, and that to believe and not to do is a faith of the mouth and not of the heart, thus is outside of man and not within him. These, when they act, believe that faith is believing that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death; and that to love God and to love the neighbor is to do the commandments in the Word; and such, so far as they desist from evils and shun and turn away from them because they are sins, so far do the commandments from God, and not from themselves. These also believe that the Lord came into the world to save those who believe in Him and who do what He taught.

[4] 3. Because such do not know, and do not wish to know, that faith is anything else than this, they do not acknowledge that justification and salvation are effected by merely believing that God the Father sent his Son, that by His blood He might effect propitiation, redemption, and salvation; for they perceive that merely to believe this and not to live any life of faith, which is charity, rather condemns than justifies; it rather condemns for the reason that it is not a belief in truth, but a belief in falsity; for it is a belief in immediate mercy, which is reformation and regeneration without means; which is imputation, propitiation, and intercession, not one of which is possible. Moreover, it is not true that a Son born from eternity was sent by the Father into the world, nor is it true that the Father was propitiated by the blood of the Son, nor is it true that the Lord transferred sins to Himself and thus effected redemption; and so with other things. So far as these are appearances of truth from the sense of the letter of the Word they may be asserted and also thought, but must not be so confirmed as to destroy the genuine truth that is in heaven, and that the doctrine of the church can teach from the Word. Those therefore who place all things of faith in that confession not only reject to the side all truths, which are innumerable, from which angels and men have life and wisdom, and make the universal theology to consist in certain expressions, uttered with confidence, in which there are no truths; but to confirm these expressions they must needs falsify the Word and thereby close heaven to themselves. But more on this subject elsewhere. So much concerning those who falsify the Word and those who do not falsify it.

288. Verse 9. And when the animals gave glory and honor and thanksgiving, signifies Divine truth and Divine good and glorification. This is evident from the signification of "glory and honor," as being, in reference to the Lord, Divine truth and Divine good; "glory" being Divine truth, and "honor" Divine good (of which presently); and from the signification of "thanksgiving," as being glorification. Let it first be told what is here meant by glorification. Glorification, when it is from the Lord, is a perpetual influx with angels and men of Divine good with Divine truth; and glorification of the Lord among angels and men is reception and acknowledgment in heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord, and thence all intelligence, wisdom, and blessedness; this in the spiritual sense is what "giving thanks" signifies. Moreover, all glorification of the Lord by the angels of heaven and by the men of the church is not from themselves, but flows in from the Lord. Glorification that is from men and not from the Lord is not from the heart, but only from the activity of the memory, and thus from the mouth; and what goes forth from the memory and the mouth only, and not through them from the heart, is not heard in heaven, thus is not received by the Lord, but goes out into the world like any other sonorous words. This glorification is not an acknowledgment in heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord. It is said an acknowledgment in heart, which means from the life of the love; for "heart," in the Word, signifies love, and love is a life according to the Lord's precepts; when man is in this life, then there is glorification of the Lord, which is acknowledgment from the heart that all good and truth is from the Lord. This is meant by "being glorified," in John:

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and that ye be My disciples (John 15:7-8).

[2] "The four animals," which were cherubim, "gave glory and honor and thanksgiving," because Divine truth and Divine good and glorification, which are signified by glory, honor, and thanksgiving, proceed and flow in from the Lord; for these cherubim signify the Lord in respect to providence and guard (See above, n. 277); and they were "in the midst of the throne, and around the throne" (as is manifest from verse 6), and the Lord was "upon the throne" (verse 2); from which it is clear that these things were from the Lord; but reception and acknowledgment in heart are meant by the words of the verse following, where it is said, that when these things had been heard, "the four and twenty elders fell down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and worshipped Him that liveth unto ages of ages, and cast their crowns before the throne."

[3] In the Word, "glory and honor" is a frequent expression, and "glory" everywhere signifies truth, and "honor" good. The two are mentioned together because in the particulars of the Word there is a heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of truth and good. There is this marriage in the particulars of the Word, because the Divine that proceeds from the Lord is Divine truth united to Divine good; and because these together make heaven and also make the church, therefore this marriage is in the particulars of the Word; so also in the particulars of the Word is the Divine from the Lord, and the Lord Himself; this is why the Word is most holy. (That there is such a marriage in the particulars of the Word, see above, n. 238; and Arcana Coelestia, n. 2516, Arcana Coelestia 2712, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314)

[4] That "glory" signifies Divine truth from the Lord, see above (n. 33); that "honor" signifies Divine good follows from what has been said concerning the heavenly marriage in the particulars of the Word; as can also be seen from the following passages. In David:

Jehovah made the heavens; glory and honor are before Him; strength and splendor are in His sanctuary (Psalms 96:5-6).

By "the heavens" the Divine that proceeds from the Lord is meant, since the heavens are from His Divine; and as the Divine that proceeds and makes the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good, it is said, "glory and honor are before Him;" "sanctuary" means the church; Divine good and Divine truth therein are meant by "strength and splendor." (That the Divine of the Lord makes the heavens, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 7-12; and that the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good, n. 7, 13, 133, 137, 139-140.)

[5] In the same:

O Jehovah God, Thou art very great; Thou hast put on glory and honor (Psalms 104:1).

"To put on glory and honor" signifies, in reference to Jehovah, His girding Himself with Divine truth and Divine good, for these proceed from Him, and thus gird Him, and make the heavens; therefore in the Word they are called "His vesture" and "His covering" (See above, n. 65, 271).

[6] In the same:

The works of Jehovah are great. Glory and honor are His work (Psalms 111:2-3

"The works of Jehovah" mean all things that proceed from Him and are done by Him; and as these are referable to Divine truth and Divine good, it is said, "His work is glory and honor."

[7] In the same:

Generation to generation shall praise Thy works, and shall declare Thy mighty acts. Upon the honor of the magnificence of Thy glory and the words of Thy wonders will I meditate. And I will make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glory of the honor of His kingdom (Psalms 145:4-5, 12).

"The honor of the magnificence of glory" means Divine good united to Divine truth; and "the glory of the honor" means Divine truth united to Divine good. This is so said because the unition is reciprocal; for Divine good proceeds from the Lord united to Divine truth; but by the angels in heaven and by the men of the church Divine truth is received and is united to Divine good; it is therefore said, "the glory of the honor of His kingdom," for "His kingdom" means heaven and the church.

[8] In the same:

Glory and honor wilt thou lay upon Him; for thou settest Him blessings forever (Psalms 21:5, 6).

These things were said of the Lord, and "glory and honor upon Him" means all Divine truth and Divine good.

[9] In the same:

Gird Thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty One in Thy glory and honor. And in Thy honor mount, ride upon the word of truth (Psalms 45:3, 4).

This also is said of the Lord; "to gird the sword upon the thigh" signifies Divine truth combating from Divine good (that this is signified by "sword upon the thigh," see Arcana Coelestia 10488); and because the Lord from Divine truth subjugated the hells, and brought the heavens into order, He is said to be "mighty in glory and honor," and also "in honor mount and ride upon the word of truth;" this signifies to act from Divine good through Divine truth.

[10] In the same:

Thou hast made Him to be a little less than the angels, but thou hast crowned Him with glory and honor (Psalms 8:5). This also is said of the Lord; His state of humiliation is described by "thou hast made Him to be a little less than the angels," and His state of glorification by "thou hast crowned Him with glory and honor." "Glorifying" means uniting the Divine Itself to His Human, and also making His Human Divine.

[11] In Isaiah:

Rejoice, ye wilderness and dry place, and let the plain of the desert exult and blossom as the rose, in blossoming let it blossom and exalt; the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the honor of our God (Isaiah 35:1, 2).

This treats of the enlightenment of the Gentiles; that ignorance of truth and good is signified by "the wilderness and the dry place;" their joy in consequence of instruction in truths and enlightenment is signified by "rejoicing, exulting, and blossoming;" "the glory of Lebanon given to them" signifies Divine truth; and "the honor of Carmel and Sharon" signifies Divine good which they receive; this is why it is also said "they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the honor of our God."

[12] In Revelation:

The nations that have been saved shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor to it. And the glory and honor of the nations shall be brought into it (Revelation 21:24, 26).

This is said of the New Jerusalem, by which a new church in the heavens and on earth is signified; "nations" there signify all who are in good; and the "kings of the earth" all who are in truths from good; it is said of both that "they shall bring their glory and honor into it," which means worship from the good of love to the Lord and from the truths of faith which are from the good of charity towards the neighbor.