25. The angels in the Lord's heavenly kingdom far surpass the angels of the spiritual kingdom in regard to wisdom and splendor because they accept the Lord's divine nature on a deeper level. They live in love for him, and are therefore more intimately united to him. ¹ The reason for their excellence is that they have accepted divine truths directly into their lives and continue to do so, rather than taking them into memory and thought first, the way spiritual angels do. This means they have them engraved on their hearts and grasp them, virtually see them, within themselves. They never calculate whether or not they are true. ² They are like the people described in Jeremiah,

I will put my law in their mind and engrave it on their heart: no longer will one person teach a friend or a brother, saying, "Know Jehovah;" from the smallest to the greatest, they will know me. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

In Isaiah, they are called "the people who have been taught by Jehovah" (Isaiah 54:13). In John 6:45-46, the Lord himself teaches that those who are taught by Jehovah are the ones who are taught by the Lord.

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202. The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial man, was not only forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge, that is, to learn that which comprised faith from sensory evidence and from facts; it was not even allowed 'to touch that tree', that is, even to think from sensory evidence and from facts about anything that was a matter of faith. This was to prevent them slumping from celestial to spiritual life, and in this way going down further still. The life of celestial angels is also the same. Those of them who are more interiorly celestial do not even allow faith to be mentioned or anything whatever which has a spiritual origin. If others mention it they perceive love instead of faith, with a difference known only to themselves. Thus anything that is a matter of faith they derive from love and charity. Still less do they allow themselves to listen to anything of a rational nature concerning faith, and least of all to anything of a factual nature; for they possess from the Lord by way of love a perception of what good and truth are. From perception they know instantly whether something is so or not so. Consequently when any statement about faith is made their response is either That is so, or That is not so, for they are perceiving from the Lord. This is what the Lord's words mean in Matthew,

Let your words be, YES, YES, NO, NO; anything beyond this is from evil. ¹ Matthew 5:37.

The present verse in Genesis says that they were not allowed even to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge, for if they did touch it, they would be subject to evil, that is, they would consequently die. All the same, celestial angels, like others, discuss various matters among themselves, but they do so in celestial language that is formed by, and derived from, love, a language that is more indescribable than the language of spiritual angels.

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81. THE INTERNAL SENSE

The subject in this chapter is the celestial man; in the previous chapter it was the spiritual man who progressed to being spiritual from having been a dead man. But since people nowadays do not know what the celestial man is, and scarcely know what the spiritual man is or what the dead man is, let the nature of each one be presented briefly, in order that it may be known how they differ.

First. The dead man acknowledges no other truth or good than that belonging to the body and the world. This he also worships. The spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good. But he does so not so much from love as from faith, which is also the basis of his actions. The celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, and does not acknowledge any other faith than that which stems from love, which is also the basis of his actions.

Second. The dead man has solely the life of the body and of the world as his ends in view. He does not know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is. Or if he does know, he does not believe. The spiritual man has eternal life, and therefore the Lord, as his ends in view. The celestial man has the Lord and therefore His kingdom and eternal life as his ends in view.

Third. The dead man when involved in conflict nearly always gives in. And when there is no conflict evils and falsities reign supreme within him, making him their slave. His bonds are external ones, such as fear of the law, loss of life, wealth, profits, and reputation on account of these. The spiritual man is involved in conflict, but he always conquers. The bonds which restrain him are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience. The celestial man is not involved in conflict. If evils and falsities assail him, he treats them with contempt, and is therefore called a conqueror. No visible bonds restrict him, for he is a free man. His bonds, which are not visible, are perceptions of good and truth.