"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. (John 12:32)

A promise from the Lord - He can and will lift us up. He will take our hands and draw us out of the frustrations and pains of selfish life. He will be with us and raise us up into joy and happiness beyond our belief.

That is, of course, as we let Him. For we have genuine freedom. We can forget about Him, relegating formal religion to the nooks and crannies of our life, becoming swamped with the incessant demands of this natural world. But we can also make room for Him, allowing Him to draw us towards Him.

For the Lord's love for us is an infinite constant. And His inmost desire is to have us return His love - to have us become images and likenesses of Himself, to become one with Him. Everything He does, all His providential leading, has this as its purpose - to make us eternally happy with Him. As the Writings note: "He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw all towards heaven, that is, towards Himself" (AC 1038). "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."

His love has an inherent power of attraction. He does not sit back passively, watching our silly antics, wishing us well but hesitating to intervene. His existence is intervention. Not openly seen, He is a constant force attracting us to what is good. So we are taught: "There is actually a sphere proceeding continually from the Lord and filling the entire spiritual and natural worlds which raises all towards heaven. It is like a strong current in the ocean which unseen draws a vessel. All who believe in the Lord and live according to His precepts enter that sphere or current and are elevated" (True Christian Religion 652:3).

His providence - an expression of His love - flows out to all and draws all to Himself. Silently, surely, His current moves us along. This is the underlying reality. Although ignored, His presence is never avoided. He lifts up our thoughts and affections. Raising whatever of worth we have, we are drawn to His throne. The doctrines declare that "the life which is from the Lord has a power of attracting, because it is from love, since it wills to be conjoined, so as to be a one. When therefore a person is in good, and from good in truth, he is drawn by the Lord, and is conjoined with Him" (Arcana Coelestia 8604:3).

The Lord attracts all to Himself because His love yearns for the closeness, the return, of all good, all truth. Everything of love we have comes from Him. It is His gift to us, for us to enjoy and share. All our happiness comes from this Source. And His love becomes perpetual and increasing in us when it circles back - building upon itself.

How do we feel when we do a favor for someone, and they neither thank us nor seem to appreciate what we have done? Do we help again? Probably not. (Or at least with a little bit more self compulsion!). Our helping hand is drawn back if it does not elicit a good response. Love requires love. It is drawn to it. It is when we help others and they become happy, sharing their joy with us and others, that we are encouraged to continue.

Within all good is an attractive power. For all good, all love, is one. When we receive it His current is a powerful force that lifts us up to the Source of all good, all love. It is why the Lord said He would draw all people to Him. Whatever of love we have raises us to Him, joining us to His life, His way.

A vivid example of this was provided to Emmanuel Swedenborg, revelator for the New Church, when he was allowed to experience the process of resuscitation - being raised from the dead. For perhaps at no other time will we sense the direct intervention and caring of the Lord as when we put off our natural bodies. Swedenborg noted that "especially was I permitted to see and feel that there was an attraction and as it were a drawing forth of the interiors of my mind, thus of my spirit, from the body; and I was told that this is from the Lord, and that the resurrection is thus effected" (Heaven and Hell 449e). The process of awakening in the spiritual world is the actual elevation of our spirits. We are drawn out of our bodies, raised up into eternal life. His love attracts us to Him. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."

The attractive power of good can also be seen in our selection of friends and spouse. Why do we form friendships? Certainly there must be common interests which enable friendship to grow. But why it is we can have much in common with some people we find distasteful, and appear to have little in common with others who we feel close to? In the same vein, why is it that we can feel friendly to many of the opposite sex, but love and want to marry only one special person? Why that particular person? There is no way to predict who will be a friend or who we will marry. For what creates both deep friendship and an eternal marriage is the attraction of love. Friends and spouse are selected by similar loves drawing them together like the current of the ocean. We are drawn to find friends and a spouse by spiritual qualities resonating within each other. This is why our close friends seem to be one with us, and to always have been there. It is also why there can be proposal and consent to an everlasting relationship. It is as if one's own loves have found their home, their completion. It is love attracting good together. It is the Lord lifting up all good, all love, to Himself.

This power of attraction that good has is seen in innumerable areas. The Arcana Coelestia states: "what is good and true, just and fair, and also what is honest, have a strong hidden power of attracting minds" (Arcana Coelestia 6655e). Are we not drawn to those who seem to be honest and fair? Are we not repelled by those who appear to be dishonest? The issue of fairness is active from a very early age. Children know what fairness is, and are most upset when they sense injustice or inequality. Even while the varied population of this country disagree about many things, all want the government to be fair and honest. Without fairness, honesty, there can be no trust, no confidence. We are attracted to these things because they are expressions of spiritual good. It is that good which draws us near, encouraging us to come into the sphere of natural justice, fairness, and honesty.

And, perversely, were it not for this power of attraction of good, evil would never be able to succeed (see Arcana Coelestia 5464:2). This sounds strange, contradictory, but it is not. For who would willingly choose evil if he could see the hell of it? Who would become selfish if he could see the result of a devil cut off from others, fearing the plots of fellow devils yet confident that he is more sly than they? Or who would be overly concerned with money if he could see the hells where their only delight is in touching coins, counting bills? If the end result of any evil were openly seen, no one would ever sin, or let hell grow up within.

So why are we drawn to evil? Because it cloaks itself in the appearance of good, and we are drawn to that good. We know the Lord wants us to feel good, so what feels good must be good, right? Revenge is sweet - hellish, but sweet. The Lord wants our natural surroundings to reflect our inner states (as actually occurs in the other world), so we can justify acquiring unlimited amounts of luxuries without thought for others or the Lord. Selfishness can seem good because we are meant to care for ourselves. The positive value of caring for ourselves can be used to justify all manner of self-centeredness.

Evil in itself is horrible and disgusting. We are not drawn to it. But when it puts on the appearance of good, and excuses itself with some half truths, our desire for delight can carry us along, if we allow it.

But that is not the purpose of good, and evil cannot long hide behind it. We will be forced to see some of the hell in evil and make conscious choices. For the attraction of good uplifts us. Hell drags us down. When we sense a conflict we have an opportunity to discover if the attraction is for genuine good or not.

For we do not always find the best choices or allow ourselves to be elevated. While the current is strong, we can grab on to overhanging branches, or paddle furiously against it. The Lord recognizes that we can only take so much at a time. His love is infinite, "but as angels and people on earth are finite they can follow the current of the attraction only according to their measure, although the force of the attraction persists to eternity" (True Christian Religion 350). We alternate between the highs and lows (see Arcana Coelestia 6315, 2119e). When we must concentrate on earthly life, we do not feel especially uplifted. When we are selfish, we are being dragged down. But the Lord never stops reaching out to us so that there might be times when we are raised above selfishness and worldliness.

Whenever we are on the path of regeneration, we are periodically gifted with glorious moments when we feel the Lord's presence and the attraction of His love. Perhaps it's in saying and reflecting upon the Lord's prayer, or holding a tender infant, or singing a favorite tune. Wherever it may be, we sense the Divine and know we are drawn to it.

But it may also be the case that we do not often feel His attraction in this life. We can lead a fundamentally good life, shunning evils as they appear, trying not to get into any trouble, and still not see and feel any special elevation to heaven. The Heavenly Doctrines note that "so long as a person lives in the world he does not know that he is raised up above his proprium, because he does not feel it. And yet there is an elevation or as it were an attraction of the person's interior understanding and interior will towards the Lord, and thus a turning of the person's face as to his spirit towards the Lord. After death this is made clear to a good person, for then there is a constant turning of his face to the Lord, and as it were an attraction to Him as to a common center" (Apocalypse Explained 646:3).

This is what the attraction of good means - placing the Lord in the center of our lives. Perhaps not openly speaking of Him in every sentence, but being certain of His inner presence, and willing Him to grasp our hands and ever lead us to a higher place. For as we acquire a love of what is good we are attracted to Him, and drawn up to His heaven. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."

(참조: True Christian Religion 652)

275. (Verse 6) And before the throne there was a glassy sea like unto crystal. That this signifies the appearance of truth in ultimates, in which are the general things thereof, translucent from the influx of Divine truth united to Divine good in primaries, is evident from the signification of before the throne, as being appearance; and from the signification of the sea as being the general things of truth, which will be explained in what follows; also from the signification of a sea of glass, as being translucence. It is said like unto crystal, in order to express translucence from the influx of Divine truth united to Divine good in primaries, which is signified by the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, as shown just above (n. 274). In the preceding passages, and in this passage, the state of the whole heaven arranged in order for judgment, and its ultimate, is described by a glassy sea like unto crystal. The reason why the truth of the ultimate heaven is signified by a glassy sea is that sea signifies the general things of truth, such as truth is in the ultimates of heaven and pertaining to man in his natural state, which is called scientific truth (verum scientificum.)

[2] The reason why sea has such a signification is that in the sea there is a gathering together of waters; and waters signify truths, as may be seen above (n. 71).

That the sea has such a signification is evident from many passages in the Word, of which some shall be here adduced. In Isaiah:

"I will shut up the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them; then the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up" (19:4, 5).

By the Egyptians are signified the knowledges (scientiae) belonging to the natural man; by the cruel lord into whose hands they should be shut up is signified the evil of the love of self; by a fierce king is signified the falsity therefrom; by the waters of the sea failing is signified that notwithstanding the abundance of knowledges, there were no truths therefrom; and by the river being wasted and dried up, is signified that there was no doctrine of truth and consequently no intelligence.

[3] Again:

"Jehovah will visit with his sword, hard, great and strong, upon leviathan, the stretched out serpent, and upon leviathan the crooked serpent, and will slay the whales which are in the sea" (27:1).

These things also are said concerning Egypt, by which are signified the knowledges (scientiae) of the natural man; by leviathan the stretched out serpent are signified those who reject every thing which they do not see with their natural eyes; thus the merely sensual, who are without faith, because they do not comprehend. By leviathan the crooked serpent are signified those who, for the same reason, do not believe, and yet say that they do believe. By a sword, hard, great and strong, with which they shall be visited, is signified the extinction of all truth; for sword signifies falsity destroying truth. By the whales in the sea which shall be slain, are signified scientifics (scientifica) in general. (That a whale has such a signification may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 7293.)

[4] In the same:

"The inhabitants of the isles are silent; the merchant of Zidon passing over the sea, they have filled thee. Blush O Zidon, because the sea hath said, The fortification of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, and I have not brought forth; I have not brought up young men, nor made the virgins to grow up; as with the report of Egypt, they shall be seized with pains at the report of Tyre" (23:2-5).

By Zidon and Tyre are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth, therefore reference is made to the merchant of Zidon passing over the sea, a merchant denoting one who procures to himself those knowledges, and imparts them. That they procured to themselves nothing of good and truth thereby, is signified by the sea, saying, "I have not travailed and brought forth, I have not brought up young men, nor made the virgins to grow up." To travail, and to bring forth, is to produce something from knowledges; young men signify truths, and virgins goods. That consequently the use of knowledges and of sciences (scientiae) would perish, is signified by, as with the report of Egypt, they shall be seized with pains at the report of Tyre.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"All the princes of the sea shall descend from upon their thrones, and shall cast away their robes, and put off their vestments of embroidery; they shall be clothed with terrors. They shall take up a lamentation over thee, and shall say, How hast thou perished, thou that wast inhabited by seas, the renowned city which was strong in the sea; wherefore the islands in the sea shall be troubled at thy destruction" (Ezekiel 26:16-18).

These things are said of Tyre, by which are signified the knowledges of truth, the neglect and loss of which are thus described. By the princes of the sea who shall come down from their thrones, are meant primary knowledges (cognitiones); that they shall be left together with scientifics is signified by their casting away their robes, and putting off their vestments of embroidery; the embroidery is the Scientific (Scientificum); the renowned city strong in the sea signifies the full power of knowing; the seas signify collections of scientifics (scientifica); the islands in the sea signify the nations more remote from truths which desire knowledges, concerning which it is said, "the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy destruction."

[6] In Isaiah:

"They shall not do evil, nor corrupt themselves, in all the mountain of my holiness; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (11:9).

Here the subject treated of is a new heaven and a new church, which are meant by the mountain of holiness in which they shall not do evil nor corrupt themselves; their understanding of truth from the Lord is described by the earth being full of the knowledge (scientia) of Jehovah; and because waters signify truths, and the sea fulness of them, it is therefore said, "as the waters cover the sea."

[7] In the same:

"At my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish shall be putrid, because there is no water, and shall die of thirst" (50:2).

To dry up the sea signifies an entire lack of the general knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; to make the rivers a wilderness signifies the deprivation of all truth, and consequently of intelligence; the fish becoming putrid signifies that the scientifics of the natural man shall be without any spiritual life, which takes place when they are applied to confirm falsities against the truths of the church; because there is no water signifies because there is not any truth; to die of thirst signifies the extinction of truth. (That rivers signify those things that pertain to intelligence may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 108, 2702, 3051: that desert signifies where there is no good because no truth, n. 2708, 4736, 7055; that fish signifies the Scientific of the natural man, n. 40, 991; that water signifies truth, n. 2702, 3424, 5668, 8568, and that to die of thirst signifies the deprivation of spiritual life from defect of truth, n. 8568, end.)

[8] In David:

"Jehovah, thou rulest the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof arise" (Psalms 89:9).

By sea is here signified the natural man, because in the natural man are the general things of truth; by the rising of its waves is signified its exalting itself against the Divine, denying the things of the church.

[9] Again:

"Jehovah hath founded" the world upon the seas, "and established it upon the rivers" (Psalms 24:2).

By the world is signified the church; by the seas the knowledges (cognitiones) in general which are in the natural man; and by rivers the truths of faith: upon both these the church is founded.

[10] In Amos:

Jehovah "who buildeth his steps in the heavens, and calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the faces of the earth" (9:6).

By the steps which Jehovah buildeth in the heavens are signified interior truths, which are called spiritual; by the waters of the sea are signified exterior truths, which are natural because they are in the natural man; by pouring them out upon the faces of the earth, is signified upon the men of the church, for earth denotes the church.

[11] In David:

"By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap; he giveth the depths for treasures" (Psalms 33:6, 7).

The Word of Jehovah by which the heavens were made, and the breath of His mouth by which all the host of them is made, signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; the host of the heavens denoting all things of love and faith. The waters of the sea which He gathered together as an heap signify the knowledges of truth, and truths in general, which are together in the natural man; the depths which He gives for treasures signify sensual scientifics (scientifica sensualia), which are the most general, and the ultimate of the natural man, and in which at the same time are interior or higher truths, whence they are called treasures.

[12] Again:

Jehovah "hath founded the earth upon its foundations that it be not removed to eternity and for ever. Thou hast covered it with the deep as with a garment" (Psalms 104:5, 6).

By earth is here signified the church; the foundations on which Jehovah founded it for ever, are the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good. The deep which covered it as with a garment signifies the sensual Scientific, which is the ultimate of the natural man, and because it is such, Jehovah is said to have covered it as with a garment.

[13] Again:

Jehovah "thy way is in the sea, and thy path in many waters, yet thy footsteps are not known" (Psalms 77:19).

In Isaiah:

"Thus saith Jehovah, I have made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (43:16).

That by sea in this passage is not meant the sea, nor by waters are meant waters is evident, because it is said that therein are the way and the path of Jehovah. Therefore, by the sea and by waters are meant those things in which Jehovah or the Lord is, these being the knowledges of truth in general from the Word, and truths therein. The sea denotes those knowledges, and the waters truths. Knowledges (cognitiones) and truths differ in this, that the former are of the natural man, and the latter of the spiritual man.

[14] In Jeremiah:

"I will plead thy cause, and will avenge thy avenging: and I will dry up the sea" of Babel, "and will make dry the springs thereof; the sea shall come up upon Babel, she shall be covered with the multitude of its waves" (51:36, 42).

By Babel are meant those who profane goods; the sea of Babel signifies their traditions, which are adulterations of good from the Word; the waves are the falsities thereof; their destruction at the Last Judgment is described by these things.

[15] In the same:

"A people coming from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth. Their voice maketh a tumult like the sea, and they ride upon horses" (50:41, 42).

The people coming from the north denote those who are falsities from evil; the great nation denotes evils, and many kings denote falsities; the sides of the earth denote the things of the church, and also those not of the church, for the earth denotes the church; their voice making a tumult like the sea, denotes falsity from the natural man exalting itself against the truth of the church; the horses upon which they ride, are reasonings from the fallacies of the senses.

[16] Again:

"Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light of the day, the statutes of the moon and of the stars for a light of the night, stirring up the sea so that the waves thereof are tumultuous" (31:35).

By the sun from which is the light of the day, is signified the good of celestial love, from which comes the perception of truth; by the ordinances of the moon and the stars, from which comes the light of the night, are signified truths from spiritual good and from knowledges, from which comes intelligence; by the sea which is stirred up, and by the waves which are tumultuous, are signified the generals of truth in the natural man, and scientifics.

[17] In Isaiah.

"The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" (57:20).

By the troubled sea, which is said of the wicked, are signified reasonings from falsities; by the waters which cast up mire and dirt are signified the falsities themselves, from which come evils of life and falsities of doctrine.

[18] In Ezekiel:

"I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coasts" (25:16).

By the Philistines are signified those who are in the doctrine of faith alone; and by the remnant of the sea coasts, which shall be destroyed, are signified all things pertaining to truth.

[19] In Hosea:

"I will not return to destroy Ephraim. They shall go after Jehovah; and with honour the sons shall draw near from the sea, with honour shall they come as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria" (Hosea 11:9-11).

By Ephraim is here signified the church as to the understanding of truth; by the sons from the sea who shall draw near are signified truths from their common fount, which is the Word; by a bird out of Egypt is signified the Scientific in agreement therewith; and by a dove out of the land of Assyria is signified the Rational.

[20] In Zechariah:

"In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the hinder sea" (14:8).

By living waters going out from Jerusalem are signified truths from a spiritual origin in the church, which are the truths received by man when he is enlightened from the Lord while reading the Word; Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine. By the sea is signified the natural man into which those things descend that are in the spiritual man; by the eastern sea is signified the natural man as to good, and by the hinder sea the same as to truth; and because the natural man is in the general things of truth, therefore by sea are also signified things of truth.

[21] Those who are ignorant of what is meant by the spiritual man, and by the truths and goods therein, may suppose that the truths that are in the natural man, and are called knowledges and scientifics, are not merely the generals of truth, but that they are all things of truth pertaining to man. But be it known that the truths that are in the spiritual man, and from which those that are in the natural are derived, exceed them enormously. Those, however, that are in the spiritual man do not come within the perception of the natural man until he enters the spiritual world, which is after death; for then man puts off the natural, and puts on the spiritual. That this is the case is evident from this fact only, that the angels are in intelligence and wisdom ineffable in comparison with man, and yet the angels are all from the human race. (That the angels are from the human race may be seen in the small work, The Last Judgment 14-22, and 23-27.) Because the sea signifies the generals of truth, therefore the great vessel, which was for washing in common, was called the brazen sea (1 Kings 7:23-26). For washing represented purifications from falsities and evils, and waters signify truths, by which purifications are effected. And because all truths are from good, therefore the whole vessel was made of brass; therefore it was called the brazen sea, for brass signifies good. Spiritual purification, which is purification from falsities and evils, is there fully described by the measurements of that vessel, and by the bases thereof, understood in the spiritual sense. From the considerations now adduced, it is evident that by sea are signified the generals of truth, or the knowledges of truth together and collectively. But what is further signified by the sea will be shown in the explanation of the following part of this book. For the sea is mentioned in various senses; as in chap. 5:13; 7:1-3; 8:8, 9; 10:2, 8; 12:12; 13:1; 14:7; 15:2; 16:3; 18:17, 19, 21; 20:13; 21:1.