8. The second state is when a distinction is made between the things that are the Lord's and those that are man's own. Those which are the Lord's are called in the Word 'remnants', and here they are chiefly the cognitions of faith which a person has learned since he was a small child. These are stored away and do not come out into the open until he reaches this state. Nowadays this state rarely occurs without temptation, misfortune, and sorrow, which lead to the inactivity and so to speak the death of bodily and worldly concerns - the things which are man's own. In this way what belongs to the external man is segregated from what belongs to the internal. Within the internal are the remnants, stored away by the Lord until this time and for this purpose.

The Bible often speaks of signs and miracles as things that convinced people of the Lord's leading. "Signs" convince people to believe intellectually, and "miracles" convince people to believe emotionally. For instance, it was a "sign" for the shepherds that they would find the newborn Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. This was not something that defied explanation; there is nothing impossible about a baby being laid in a manger. On the other hand miracles such as the Nile turning into blood, the Red Sea parting or water being made wine were apparently impossible, striking awe and fear in the hearts of observers and thus compelling the emotions. Both signs and miracles, however, are external events that could only force people into compliance out of fear and awe, which is an external form of worship that has little to do with eternal life. The Lord used them in Biblical times because the people of that time were external in nature, and the Lord had to force them into forms of worship to preserve spiritual ideas and to allow for the Bible to be written. Through His advent and His teachings He opened the possibility that we could understand His spiritual meanings, which would allow us to believe and live internally, not just externally.