The Prophetical Books:

1. Internal Meaning of Isaiah, Chapter 1 (1)

1-8 The church has been vastated by evil of life, (3)

9 so that there is little of a residue. (3)

10-15 Therefore their external worship is of no avail. (3)

16-19 Exhortation that they should repent of the evil of life, and thus they will receive good. (3)

20-23They falsify the Word. (3)

24-27 The Lord when He comes will destroy them, and will establish the church with others; (1, 11)

28-31 This when nothing of the church remains with them. (3)

“Grace” means the affection for truth, the delight in ideas that enriches people in a spiritual state. Those in the celestial state feel an affection for what is good and a delight in love, which is described in the word “mercy” in the Bible. This is why “grace” and “mercy” are so often paired in Scripture, even though using both words seems redundant in natural language. A state of humility is ascribed to people in the Bible when they ask for “grace” from one another, humility being essential if we are to receive divine truth from the Lord and feel its delights.