In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.

The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.

These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.

In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.

8234. 'And the children of Israel went on dry ground into the middle of the sea' means that those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good passed through that hell in safety without suffering molestation. This is clear from the explanation above in 8185, where similar words occur. The expression 'those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good' is used to mean the spiritual Church; for members of that Church are first governed by the good of truth, then later on are guided by the truth of good. At first they do good because truth lays down that it should be done; therefore they act out of obedience to it. But subsequently they do good out of affection for it, at which time truth is seen and also practiced by them from the standpoint of good. From this it is evident that before a member of the spiritual Church receives a new will from the Lord, that is, before he has been regenerated, he practices truth out of obedience to it. But after he has been regenerated he practices it out of affection for it, at which time truth comes for him to be good since it now resides in his will. For to act out of obedience is to act from the understanding, but to act out of affection is to act from the will. This also is the reason why those who practice truth out of obedience to it are members of the external Church, whereas those who practice it out of affection for it are members of the internal Church. From all this it is evident that those who belong to the spiritual Church are meant when the expression 'those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good' is used.