John the Baptist said, "God is able from these stones to raise up sons unto Abraham." A. E. 724.

Verse 9. Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.-By tree is signified man; and whereas man is man by virtue of affection, which is of the will, and perception, which is of the understanding, these also are signified by tree. A. R. 400. See also D. F. 16. Every man, who from natural becomes spiritual, must pass through two states, and through the first enter into the second, and thus pass from the world to heaven. The first state is called a state of reformation, in which man is in the full liberty of acting according to the rationality of his understanding; and the second state is that of regeneration, in which likewise he is in a similar liberty, but in this state he wills and acts, speaks and thinks, from new love and new intelligence, which are from the Lord; for in the first state the understanding is principally active, and the will secondarily, nevertheless the understanding acts from the will, but not the will by the understanding. The man who stops in the first state, and does not enter into the other, is like a tree which bears leaves only, and not fruits, of which it is said in the Word, that it must be hewn down and cast into the fire. Luke iii. 9. T. C. R. 105, 106.

By fire is here meant infernal fire, which is nothing else. than hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or, what is the same thing, the love of self; by good fruit is meant charity, of which whosoever deprives himself cuts himself down, and casts himself into such a fire. A. C. 1861. In this passage, by fire is signified all cupidity originating in the love of evil, and the punishment thereof, which is torment. A. E. 504.

Verse 11. He that hath meat.-See Exposition, chap. iv. 4; ix. 12, 17.

Verse 16. John answered, saying unto all, I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh one mightier than I; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.-That the Lord regenerates man by faith and charity, is meant by these words of John the Baptist; "to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire," is to regenerate by Divine Truth, which is of faith, and by Divine Good, which is of charity. The like is signified by these words of the Lord, "Unless a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God," John iii. 5; by water in this passage, as in other parts of the Word, is signified truth in the natural or external man, and by spirit, truth derived from good in the spiritual or internal man. T. C. R. 144. See also Exposition, verse 7.

By the Holy Spirit is meant the Divine Truth of faith, and by fire the Divine Good of love or charity, both proceeding from the Lord. T. C. R. 684. See also A. R. 378.

By the above words is meant, that John only inaugurated them into knowledges from the Word, concerning the Lord, and thus prepared them to receive Him, but that the Lord Himself regenerates them by Divine Truth and Divine Good proceeding from Himself; for John represented the same as Elias, viz.the Word; the waters with which John baptized, introductory truths, which are knowledges concerning the Lord from the Word; the Holy Spirit signifies Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, and fire signifies Divine Good proceeding from Him; and baptism signifies regeneration by Divine Truths from the Word by the Lord. A. E. 475.

Elias.-See Exposition, chap. i. 17.

The latchet, &c.-Inasmuch as shoes' latchet signified the ultimate natural and corporeal principle, it hence became a form of speaking, by which was signified the least and vilest of all things, for the ultimate natural and corporeal principle is the vilest of all things appertaining to man, and this was meant by John the Baptist, when he said, "One mightier than I cometh, whose shoes' latchet I am not worthy to unloose." A. C. 1748.

Verse 17. Whose fan is in His hand, &c.-By the wheat which He shall gather into His barn, and by the chaff which He will burn with unextinguishable fire, are signified good of every kind, which is of heavenly origin, and that it shall be preserved to eternity, and consequently those who are principled in such good; and falsity of every kind, which is of infernal origin, that it shall be destroyed, consequently those who are principled therein; and because wheat, a garner, and chaff, are made use of to denote such things, therefore mention is also made of a fan and a floor, and by the fan is signified a separation, and the floor denotes where the separation takes place. A. E. 374.

Verse 21. Jesus praying.-See Exposition, chap. i. 10, 13; ix. 29; xi. 2, 3.

Verse 22. And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him.-That by a dove are signified the truths and goods of faith appertaining to one who is about to be regenerated, is manifest from the signification of a dove in the Word, especially from the dove which came over Jesus when He was baptized, concerning which it is written in Matthew, "Jesus being baptized went up immediately out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God

descending like a dove, and coming upon Him,” iii. 16, 17, and in John, i. 32; Luke iii. 22; Mark i. 10, 11; where dove signifies nothing else than the holy principle of faith; baptism itself denotes regeneration; hence, with the new church which was about to arise, it denoted the truth and good of faith, which were to be received by regeneration from the Lord. Similar things were represented and involved in the young doves or turtles, which were offered for sacrifice and burnt-offerings in the Jewish Church. A. C. 870.

A dove is a representative of regeneration and purification by Divine Truth. D. Lord, 51. See also Exposition, chap. ii. 24. It is written, that when Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and John saw the Holy Spirit descending as a dove; this was done, because baptism signifies regeneration and purification, so, likewise, does a dove: who cannot perceive that the dove was not the Holy Spirit, nor that the Holy Spirit was in the dove? In heaven there often appear doves, and as often as they appear, the angels know that they are correspondences of the affections, and thence of the thoughts, concerning regeneration and purification, in the minds of some who are in the neighbourhood, wherefore as soon as they come to them and discourse with them on any other subject, than that which was in their thoughts when the appearance was presented, the doves instantly vanish: this case is similar to many things which were seen by the prophets, as by John, when he saw a lamb upon Mount Sion, Rev. xiv. 1, and elsewhere: who does not know that the Lord was not that lamb, nor in the lamb, but that the lamb was a representation of His innocence? Hence is discoverable the error of those, who deduce the doctrine of three persons in the Trinity from the dove seen above the Lord when He was baptized, and from the voice then heard from heaven, "this is My beloved Son." T. C. R. 144.

Holy Spirit.-See Exposition, chap. i. 15, 35, 80; ii. 25—27. And a voice was uttered from heaven, saying, Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased. That the Law and the Prophets, or the whole Word of the old Testament, treats of the Lord, may be seen in the first section [of D. Lord], wherefore no other can be meant by the Son of God, whose future advent was predicted, than the Humanity which the Lord assumed in the world. Hence it follows, that this Humanity was meant by the Son, so named by Jehovah out of heaven when He was baptized, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," for it was His Humanity that was baptized. D. Lord, 19.

Verse 23. And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years, &c.-By thirty years is signified a full state of remains, and whereas man cannot be regenerated, that is, admitted into spiritual combats, by which regeneration is effected, until he has received remains to the full, therefore it was ordained that the Levite should not do work in the tent of the assembly until he had fulfilled thirty years. From these considerations it is now evident, why the Lord did not manifest Himself, until He was thirty years old, for He was then in the fulness of remains, but the remains which the Lord had, He had procured to Himself, and they were divine, by which He united the Human essence to the Divine, and made it Divine. A. C. 5335.