The Bible

 

Matthew 6

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1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #683

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683. Saying, The kingdoms of the world, are become our Lord's and His Christ's.- That this signifies all things in the heavens and on earth subject to the Lord, when the evil have been separated from the good, and that then the Divine Good and the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord are clearly received, is evident from the signification of the kingdoms of the world when they have become the Lord's, as denoting that the proceeding Divine from the Lord is received in love and faith, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the Lord and His Christ, as denoting the Lord as to the Divine Good of Divine Love, and as to the Divine Truth proceeding from that love. That the Lord is called Lord from Divine Good, and Christ from Divine Truth, will be seen below.

[2] That the kingdom of the Lord means the reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth, that is, with those who receive, is evident from this fact, that the Lord reigns with the angels of heaven, and with the men of the church by means of that which proceeds from Him, which is commonly called Divine Good and Divine Truth, also justice and judgment, as well as love and faith. It is by means of these that the Lord reigns; they are therefore strictly the kingdom of the Lord with those who receive them. For when these reign with angels and men then the Lord Himself reigns, because those things which proceed from Him are Himself. The Lord in heaven is nothing else than the proceeding Divine.

[3] The Lord, indeed, not only rules those who receive celestial and spiritual Divine things from Him, but also those who do not receive, as all those who are in hell; yet it cannot be said that the kingdom of the Lord is there, since they are utterly unwilling to be governed by the proceeding Divine, and according to the laws of its order; in fact, they deny the Lord, and turn themselves away from Him; but still the Lord does rule them, not as the subjects and citizens of His kingdom, but as those who are refractory and rebellious, holding them under restraints in order that they may not do evil to one another, and especially to those who belong to His kingdom.

[4] That the Lord's kingdom is that which proceeds from Him, and is received, is evident from passages in the Word where the kingdom of God is mentioned, as in the Lord's Prayer:

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth" (Matthew 6:10).

That kingdom there means the reception of the Divine Good and Divine Truth which proceed from the Lord, and in which the Lord is with the angels of heaven and with men of the church, is evident, for it is said, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth," and the will of God is done when those things are received in the heart and soul, that is, in love and faith.

[5] And elsewhere:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens and the justice thereof, then all things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

The kingdom of the heavens, in the spiritual sense, means the Divine Truth, and justice the Divine Good, therefore it is said, Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens and the justice thereof. And, in the highest sense, the kingdom of the heavens means the Lord, since He is the all of His kingdom, and justice, in the same sense, signifies the Lord's merit; and because man, who is ruled by the Lord, desires and loves only those things that are of the Lord, he is, unknown to himself, for ever led to felicities; for this reason it is said, "all things shall be added to him," which means, that all things tending to salvation shall come to pass according to his desire.

[6] Since heaven is heaven from the reception of Divine Truth from the Lord, and similarly the church, so heaven and the church are meant in a general sense by the kingdom of God, and by the kingdom of the heavens; therefore those who receive Divine Truth, are called by the Lord "sons of the kingdom," in Matthew:

"The field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, the tares are the sons of the evil (mali)" (13:38).

That they who receive Divine Truth are meant by the sons of the kingdom is evident, for it is said, "the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil (mali)," and by seed is meant Divine Truth, and by tares infernal falsity; and they are called sons, because sons, in the spiritual sense of the Word, signify truths, and, in the opposite sense, falsities (as may be seen above, n. 166).

[7] Moreover, that the kingdom of God signifies the church as to truths from good, and also heaven, may also be seen above (n. 48); and that the kingdom of God with man signifies to be in truths from good from the Lord, consequently to be in wisdom, and thence in the power of resisting falsities and evils, and thus that to reign is of the Lord alone, may also be seen above (n. 333).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.