Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

angels. Then they said, "Let us take it by stratagem; let us send one who is skilled in mussitation,* who can make black white, and white black, and can give to any object whatever colour he pleases." And there was found one who was expert in metaphysics, who could change the ideas of things into the ideas of terms, and conceal the things themselves under technical formularies, and thus fly away, like a hawk, with his prey under his wings. This metaphysician had instructions how to treat with the people of the city, by pretending that they were of the same religion, and wished to be let within the walls. So coming to the gate, he knocked, and when it was opened, he said that he wished to speak with the wisest person in the city; then he entered, and was conducted to one, whom he thus addressed, saying, "There are some of my brethren, without the gates of the city, who request to be let in; they profess the same religious sentiments with yourselves: we all, both you and we, make faith and charity the two essentials of religion; the only difference between us is, that you call charity the primitive and faith the derivative, whereas we say that faith is the primitive and charity is the derivative. But what matters it which is called the primitive, or which the derivative, provided they are both believed in?" The wise man of the city replied, "We will not talk this matter over alone, but in the presence of several witnesses, who may act as judges and arbiters between us, or else we shall never come to any determination." Accordingly witnesses were summoned, to whom the draconic spirit spake the same words as before; upon which the wise man of the city replied, "Thou hast asserted, that it is the same thing whether charity or faith be considered as the primary essential of the church, be it only agreed that each constitutes the church and its religion; and yet the difference between them is the same as between prior and posterior, between cause and effect, between the principal and the instrumental, and between the essential and the formal. I speak in this manner, because I have observed that thou art expert in the art of metaphysics, which art we call mussitation, and some call it enchantinent; but to speak in plain terms, the difference is the same as between what is above and what is below; nay! if thou art disposed to believe it, there is as much difference as between heaven and hell; for that which is primary constitutes the head and the breast, and that which is thence derived, the feet and the soles of the feet. But let us, in the first place, determine the meaning of charity and faith. Charity is the affection of the love of doing good to our neighbour, for the sake of God,

* It may be proper to inform the unlearned reader, that mussitation means the same as muttering, or whispering, and is therefore a term suited to denote an art which consists in speaking obscurely and perplexedly on all subjects, and thereby larkening the clearness and plainness of genuine truth.

of salvation, and of eternal life; and faith is thought grounded in confidence concerning God, salvation, and eternal life." But the emissary said, "I grant that this is faith, and I grant also that charity is the affection of love for the sake of God, because he commanded it, but not for the sake of salvation and eternal life." And the wise man of the city said, "We will suppose that to be the case, provided you admit it is for the sake of God." When they liad come to this explanation, the wise man of the city said, "Is not affection primary, and thought derived from it?" But the dragon's emissary said, "No! I deny it." To this reply was made, "You cannot deny it; does not man think from affection? take away affection, and can you think at all? it is just the same as if you were to take away sound from speech, in which case you cannot speak, for sound has relation to affection, and speech has relation to thought, seeing that affection produces sound, and thought frames it into speech; their connexion is like that which subsists between flame and ight, for if you take away flame do you not extinguish the ight? It is the same with charity, because charity is affection, and with faith, because faith is thought. Cannot you thus comprehend that what is primary is all in that which is secondary, just as sound is in speech? from which consideration you may see, that if you do not allow that to be primary which is so, you cannot have any thing to do with that which is secondary; therefore, if you assign to faith the first place, when in reality it is in the second, you must needs appear in heaven like a man inverted, with his feet uppermost and his head undermost, or like a mountebank walking on his hands with his feet in the air; and if such be your appearance in heaven, of what sort must your good works be, which constitute charity, but like those which the mountebank would perform with his feet, his hands being otherwise employed? Your charity, therefore, as you may see, is natural and not spiritual, because it is inverted." All this the emissary understood, for every devil can understand truth when he hears it, but cannot retain it, because the affection of evil, when it returns, casts out the thought of truth. After this, the wise man of the city explained at large the nature of faith when it is regarded as the primary essential of religion, showing that in such a case it is merely natural, and that it is mere science devoid of any spiritual life, consequently that it is not faith; "For your charity is nothing but natural affection, and from natural affection proceeds no other than natural thought, which is your faith; and I can venture to affirm, that in faith merely natural there is no more spirituality than in the mind's reflection on the Mogul's dominions, on the diamond mines there, or on the wealth and grandeur of that potentate." On hearing this the draconic spirit walked off in a rage, and related all that had passed to his com

panions without the gates; who, when they heard what had been asserted, that charity is the affection of the love of doing good to one's neighbour for the sake of God, of salvation, and of eternal life, exclaimed with one consent, "It is a lie;" and the dragon himself cried out, "Alas! what enormous wickedness! Are not all good works, which are charity, when performed for the sake of salvation, meritorious?" Then they said one to another, "Let us call together more of our companions, and lay siege to this city; let us make scaling ladders, ascend the walls, rush upon them in the night, and cast out these charities." But when they made the attempt, lo, there appeared, as it were, fire from heaven, which consumed them; but the fire from heaven was but an appearance of their wrath and hatred against the inhabitants of the city, because they would not allow faith to be primary, and maintained that it was secondary; but the reason why they appeared to be consumed by fire was, because hell opened under their feet and swallowed them up. Incidents similar to this occurred to many in the day of judg ment; and this is what is meant by these words in the Apocalypse: "The dragon shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; and they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them," chao. xx. 8, 9.

1

CHAPTER XV.

1. AND I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous; seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is consummated the wrath of God.

2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

3. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

5. And after that I saw, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.

6. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the

seven plagues, clothed in linen, clean and shining, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

7. And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels şeven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated.

THE SPIRITUAL SENSE.

THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER. A preparation for disclosing the last state of the church, and laying open the evils and falses in which those who are of the church are principled, verses 1, 5-8; from whom they are separated who have acknowledged the Lord, and lived according to his commandments, verses 2-4.

THE CONTENTS OF EACH VERSE. V. 1, "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous," signifies a revelation from the Lord concerning the state of the church upon earth, and its quality as to love and faith: "Seven angels having the seven last plagues," signifies the evils and falses in the church, such as exist in its last state, universally disclosed and laid open by the Lord: "For in them is consummated the wrath of God," signifies the devastation of the church and its consequent end: v. 2, "And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire," signifies the ultimate boundary of the spiritual world, where are collected those who had some religion and consequent worship, but no good of life: "And them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name," signifies those who have rejected faith alone and its doctrine, and thus have not acknowledged and imbibed its falses, nor falsified the Word: "Standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God," signifies the Christian heaven in its boundaries, and the faith of charity among those who are there: v. 3, "And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb," signifies a confession grounded in charity, thus in a life according to the commandments of the law, which is the decalogue, and in a belief in the divinity of the Lord's Humanity: "Saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty," signifies that all things in the world, in heaven, and in the church, were created and made by the Lord from divine love by divine wisdom: "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints," sig nifies that all things which proceed from him are just and true,

[ocr errors]

because he is divine good and divine truth itself in heaven and in the church: v. 4, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?" signifies that he alone is to be loved and worshipped: "For thou only art holy," signifies that he is the Word, the truth, and illumination: "For all nations shall come and worship before thee," signifies that all who are in the good of love and charity, will acknowledge the Lord to be the only God: "For thy judgments are made manifest," signifies that the truths of the Word plainly testify it: v. 5, " And after that I saw, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened," signifies that the inmost of heaven was seen, where the Lord is in his holiness in the Word, and in the law, which is in the decalogue:, v. 6, " And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues," signifies a preparation from the Lord to operate by influx from the inmost heaven into the church, that its evils and falses may be disclosed, and that thus the wicked may be separated from the good: "Clothed in linen, clean and shining, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles," signifies this from the pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word: v. 7, "And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials," signifies those truths and goods by which the evils and falses of the church are detected, taken from the literal sense of the Word: "Full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever," signifies the evils and falses which will appear, and be detected and laid open by pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word: v. 8, "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power," signifies the inmost of heaven full of the Lord's divine spiritual and celestial truth: “And no one was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated," signifies in such degree there, that it could not further be supported, and this until, after devastation, the end of that church was seen.

THE EXPLANATION.

656. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvell ·6 signifies a revelation from the Lord concerning the state or the church upon earth, and its quality as to love and fa ch. This is the subject of this and the following chapter; therefore it is signified by a sign in heaven, great and marvellous. That a sign in heaven signifies a revelation from the lord concerning heaven and the church and of their state, see above, n. 532, 536; it is concerning love and faith, because it is called great

« AnteriorContinuar »