The Bible

 

Revelation 22

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1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #376

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376. Charity and faith are of no use to a person, so long as they remain merely in the bodily hemisphere, that is, in his head, and are not given a firm base in deeds; this is evident from a thousand passages in the Word, of which I shall quote only the following.

Every tree which does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire, Matthew 7:19-21.

He who sows on good soil is the person who hears the Word and pays attention to it, and bears and produces fruit. When Jesus said this, he cried out saying, He who has ears to hear with, let him hear, Matthew 13:9, 23.

Jesus said, My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and act upon it, Luke 8:21.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone worships God, and does His will, He listens to him, John 9:31.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you act upon them, John 13:17.

He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and I shall love him, and show myself to him; and I shall come to him and make my dwelling with him, John 14:15-21, 23.

In this my Father is glorified, in that you bear much fruit, John 15:8, 16.

It is not those who hear the law, but those who keep it, who are made righteous by God, Romans 2:13; James 1:22.

On the day of wrath and righteous judgment, God will render to each in accordance with his deeds, Romans 2:5-6.

We must all be put on show before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be rewarded for our bodily acts, whether good or ill. 2 Corinthians 5:10.

The Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each man in accordance with his deeds, Matthew 16:27.

I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. So says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labours; their deeds accompany them, Revelation 14:13.

The book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged according to what was written in the book, everyone according to his deeds, Revelation 20:12-13.

Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, so that I may give to each according to what he has done, Revelation 22:12.

Jehovah, whose eyes are open upon all the behaviour of men, to give to each in accordance with his behaviour, and in accordance with the fruit of his deeds, Jeremiah 32:19.

I will punish his behaviour, and his deeds I will repay him, Hosea 4:9.

Jehovah deals with us according to our behaviour and according to our deeds, Zechariah 1:6.

There are a thousand other such passages.

[2] These prove that charity and faith are not charity and faith until they are realised in deeds, and if they merely exist above the level of deeds in space, or in the mind, they are as it were images of a tent or a temple in the air, which are nothing but atmospheric phenomena which vanish of their own accord; or they resemble paintings on paper which are eaten by bookworms; or they are like dwellings on a roof, lacking a bedroom, and not in the house. These comparisons will enable one to see that charity and faith are unstable, so long as they remain mental concepts, unless, when possible, they are realised in deeds and come into existence jointly in deeds.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Revelation 10

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1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.