Logopraxis

Also, from the Logopraxis Workbook:

STEP 6: PREPARE A SUBMISSION

Each Submission is the Lord’s Gift to the Group

One of the real delights of Logopraxis group life is seeing how each person’s experience of the Word becomes woven together to form an integrated collective experience. This is a regular occurrence in Logopraxis that bears witness to how the intentional practice of the Word can form affections and deep connections between practitioners and create spiritual community. In Logopraxis group life, we experience how the Word leads, guides, and directs all things toward a fuller experience of the Lord in and through others, as the “living bread come down from heaven.” (John 6:51).

Step 6 involves creating a concise summary that we can offer to our Life Group of what happened as we worked with our task. This summary is known in Logopraxis as a ‘submission’, and typically, a submission includes the following:

The number of the paragraph and the chosen piece of Text we worked with.

The spiritual principle we drew from our chosen piece of Text.

The task that was formulated from the principle, to give us a work focus.

A concise summary of what our work revealed for us over the period.

For the Benefit of Others

The Logopraxis submission describes how we experienced the Word working in us, and the material that we gather individually in our practice, when shared with our group, is to support the spiritual lives of others in the group as well as the group as a whole. Each person’s submission is the Lord’s gift to the group, and in Logopraxis, we recognise the Lord's Providence in what each person settles on from the Text to work with. So, in a sense the submission isn’t really ours but has been given to us as if it were ours. In this way, the Word is acknowledged as producing what's needed for the life of the individual, for the life of others in the group, and for the life of the group taken as a whole.

Because Logopraxis is focused on the practise of truths, we try to avoid commenting on things in our submission that don’t fall within the range of our direct experience of the Text. It’s also good practise to keep any personal details, related to specific events or people to a minimum. We seek to offer only the essential aspects of our work, and a general description of the external details that framed our experience to provide context. This also provides a great opportunity to work, and notice any form of judgement, merit, self-condemnation, or ownership that can easily be running in the background.

As we share these experiences of the Word working in our lives with the members of our group, it creates a rich learning environment through which the Lord as the Word can teach us.  What has been worked into each member, through their willingness to engage with the Text, is what sustains the Logopraxis community; it is the bread which, when broken through being shared with others, opens our hearts so that we might see the Lord in our midst (See Luke 24:30-31).

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

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6838. Verses 4-6. And Jehovah saw that he went aside to see, and God called unto him out of the midst of the bramble, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Behold me! And He said, Draw not nigh hither; pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this. And He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses covered his faces, because he was afraid to look upon God. And Jehovah saw that he went aside to see, signifies reflection from the Lord; and God called unto him, signifies influx from the Divine; out of the midst of the bramble, signifies from the truths of memory-knowledge; and said, Moses, Moses; and he said, behold me! signifies internal exhortation, and hearing; and He said, Draw not nigh hither, signifies that he must not still think of the Divine from sensuous things; pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet, signifies that sensuous things, which are the externals of the natural, must be removed; for the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this, signifies that otherwise the Divine cannot enter; and He said, I am the God of thy father, signifies the Divine which was of the Ancient Church; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, signifies the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human, thus the Lord; and Moses covered his faces, signifies that the interiors were guarded; because he was afraid to look upon God, signifies lest they should be injured by the presence of the Divine Itself.

6839. And Jehovah saw that he went aside to see. That this signifies reflection from the Lord, is evident from the signification of going aside to see, as being reflection (of which above, n. 6836; as also that Jehovah denotes the Lord, n. 1343, 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6303). The nature of the sense of the letter of the Word is evident here also. It is said that Jehovah saw that he went aside to see, as if He had not known before, and as if He had not enabled him and moved him to go aside to see. Nevertheless it is so said because this is according to the appearance. But the internal sense teaches how this is to be understood, namely, that the Lord flowed into his thought, in order that he might reflect upon it. This shows how the case is with the sense of the letter of the Word relatively to the internal sense; and that the contents of the sense of the letter are of such a nature as to accommodate themselves to the apprehension of the simple, who believe only as it appears; what does not appear they do not believe, because they cannot enter into the interiors of things; and therefore unless the Word had been of this nature in the letter, it would not have been received. He who is in sensuous things, and is engrossed by worldly ones, in no wise apprehends interior things. He desires to see the things he must believe; those which he does not see are as it were foreign, and when he is thinking from himself about them, he rejects them as matters worthy of denial, or at any rate as worthy of doubt.

6840. And God called unto him. That this signifies influx from the Divine, is evident from the signification of calling, as being influx; for in the internal sense there is not meant a calling by means of speech, as in the external historic sense, but a calling by influx into the will; and this calling is internal, for Jehovah, or the Lord, flows into the will and moves it to do what pleases Him. When this internal thing falls into what is historic, in which there are nothing but external things, it falls either into a command, or a call, or an address, or into other like terms.

6841. Out of the midst of the bramble. That this signifies from the truths of memory-knowledge, is evident from the signification of a bramble, as being the truth of memory-knowledge (see n. 6832, 6833).

6842. And said, Moses, Moses; and he said, Behold me! That this signifies internal exhortation and hearing is evident from the signification of being called by God, in the historicals of the Word, as being influx from the Divine (see n. 6840). The call itself is in these words: and Jehovah said, Moses, Moses; and because these words involve all things that follow, and first that he should not draw nigh hither, but that he should pull off his shoes from upon his feet, they signify exhortation; and the reply of Moses, behold me, signifies hearing.

6843. And He said, Draw not nigh hither. That this signifies that he must not still think of the Divine from sensuous things, is evident from the signification of drawing nigh to Jehovah, as being to think of the Divine. That to draw nigh, when said of a man's approach to the Lord, denotes thought about the Divine, is because man cannot approach the Divine with the body, as a man approaches a man, but with the mind, thus with the thought and the will. There is no other access to the Divine, because the Divine is above the things of place and time, being in those things with man which are called states, namely, states of love and states of faith, thus states of both faculties of the mind, that is, of the will and of the thought; by these man can approach the Divine. Hence it is that here, by Draw not nigh hither, is signified that he must not think of the Divine, that is, from the external sensuous things which are signified by the shoes that he was first to pull off. It is said still, because the external sensuous things of the natural are the last to be regenerated, and thus last receive influx from the Divine; and the state here treated of was not yet such that sensuous things could receive the influx. As regards sensuous things, see what now follows.

6844. Pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet. That this signifies that sensuous things, which are the externals of the natural, must be removed, is evident from the signification of shoes, as being the sensuous things which are the externals of the natural (see n. 1748); and from the signification of feet, as being the natural (n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952). That to pull off denotes to remove is evident, because it is said of sensuous things; for terms must be applied to their subject that is being treated of; thus to pull off, to the shoes; and to be removed, to sensuous things. How the case herein is, must be told. Everyone can see that shoes here represent something that was not in agreement with the holy Divine, and thus that to pull off the shoes was representative of the removal of such things; otherwise what would it matter to the Divine whether man approached in shoes or with the soles of his feet bare, provided that he was interiorly of such a character as to be able to approach the Divine in faith and love? Therefore by shoes are signified sensuous things, and these being the externals of the natural are of such a nature that they cannot be present when the Divine is the object of holy thought; therefore, as at that time representatives were to be observed, Moses was not allowed to approach with shoes on his feet.

[2] That sensuous things, which are the externals of the natural, are of such a nature that they cannot receive the Divine, is because they are in things worldly, bodily, and even earthly, for they proximately receive these things; hence the things that are in the memory from sensuous things derive from the light and heat of the world all that belongs to them, and but little from the light and heat of heaven, and therefore they are the last things that can be regenerated, that is, receive anything of the light of heaven. Hence it is that when a man is in these sensuous things, and is thinking from them, he thinks no otherwise of the Divine than as he thinks about earthly things, and if he is in evil he thinks from these sensuous things quite against the Divine. Therefore if when a man is thinking about such things as are of faith and love to God he is in good, he is elevated from the sensuous things which are the externals of the natural, toward interior things, consequently from earthly and worldly things nearer to heavenly and spiritual things.

[3] This a man knows not, because he does not know that the interiors in him are distinct from the exteriors, and that thought is more and more interior and also more and more exterior; and as he does not know these things, he cannot reflect upon them. But see what has been before said about thought from sensuous things, namely, that they who think from them, have very little wisdom (n. 5089, 5094, 6201, 6310, 6312, 6314, 6316, 6318, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624); that man is elevated from sensuous things, and that when thus elevated he comes into a milder light; and that this is especially the case with those who are being regenerated (n. 6183, 6313, 6315). From all this is now plain what is meant by putting off the shoes from upon the feet. That the natural with man is external, middle, and internal, see n. 4570, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649. The internal natural is signified by the feet, the middle natural by the soles of the feet, and the external by the shoes.

6845. For the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this. That this signifies that otherwise the Divine cannot enter, is evident from the signification of place, as being state (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605), whence the place whereon thou standest denotes the state in which he as yet is; and from the signification of ground of holiness, as being the holy which proceeds from the Lord. Thus it is a state of the holy proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human which is meant by these words. That it signifies that otherwise the Divine cannot enter, follows from what goes before, namely, that if man were not removed from sensuous things, which are the externals of the natural, that is, if he were not elevated from these to things interior,...

And there went a man from the house of Levi, and took a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son; and she saw him, that he was good, and she hid him three months. And she could no longer hide him; and she took for him an ark of rush, and daubed it with bitumen and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid him in the sedge at the bank of the river. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. And Pharaoh’s daughter came down to wash at the river; and her girls were going at the side of the river; and she saw the ark in the midst of the sedge, and sent her handmaid, and took it. And she opened it, and saw him, the child; and behold the boy wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. And his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call thee a woman, a nurse, from the Hebrew women, that she may suckle the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went, and called the mother of the child.  And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take this child to thee, and suckle him for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child and suckled him.

And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he was to her as a son. And she called his name Moses, and said, Because I drew him out of the waters. And it came to pass in those days, and Moses grew, and he went out unto his brethren, and saw their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew man, one of his brethren. And he looked forth hither and thither, and saw that there was no man, and he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And he went out the second day, and held two Hebrew men quarreling; and he said to the wicked one, Wherefore smitest thou thy companion? And he said, Who set thee for a man, a prince, and a judge over us? Sayest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely the word is known.  And Pharaoh heard this word, and he sought to kill Moses.

And Moses fled from before Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he dwelt by a well. And the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came, and drew, and filled the troughs, to give drink to their father’s flock. And the shepherds came, and drove them away; and Moses arose, and helped them; and he gave drink to their flock. And they came unto Reuel their father, and he said, Wherefore hasted ye to come today? And they said, An Egyptian man delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds; and also drawing he drew for us, and gave drink to the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? Why is this that ye have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was willing to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a strange land.

And it came to pass in these many days that the king of Egypt died; and the sons of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took knowledge.  

Exodus 2

Arcana Coelestia 6713 The Contents. In this chapter in the internal sense the subject treated of is truth Divine, its beginnings and successive states with the man of the church.

AC 6809... I wondered at this character of the spirits of Mercury, and I therefore asked why they passed by the magnificent features of the places, and only searched out the facts and doings there? They said they have no delight in looking at material, bodily, and earthly things, but only at real ones. From this it at once appeared that the spirits of that earth relate in the Grand Man to the memory of real things when abstracted from things material and earthly.

Divine Providence 218-220 (Click to download PDF)

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

And it came to pass in these many days that the king of Egypt died, and the sons of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took knowledge. (Exodus 2: Verses 23-25)

Arcana Coelestia 6797. “And it came to pass in these many days,” signifies after many changes of state; “that the king of Egypt died,” signifies the end of the former falsity; “and the sons of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage,” signified sorrow on account of the attempt to subjugate the truth of the church; “and they cried,” signifies entreaty; “and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage,” signifies that they were heard; “and God heard their groaning,” signifies aid; “and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,” signifies by reason of conjunction with the church through the Lord’s Divine Human; “and God saw the sons of Israel,” signifies that He endowed the church with faith; “and God took knowledge,” signifies that He endowed with charity.

Angelic consciousness does not focus its thought on person

AC 6804...where mention is made of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” in the Word, in the spiritual sense these men are not meant, can be seen from the fact that names never penetrate into heaven, but only what is signified by those who are named, thus the things themselves, their quality and their states, which are of the church and of the Lord’s kingdom, and which are of the Lord Himself. [2] And moreover the angels in heaven never determine their thoughts to the individual persons, for this would be to limit the thoughts, and to withdraw them from the universal perception of the things, from which is angelic speech. Hence what the angels speak in heaven is unutterable to man, and far above his thought, which is not extended to universals, but confined to particulars. When therefore we read this:Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11). The angels perceive the Lord’s presence and the appropriation of the truth and good which proceed from His Divine Human.

The spirits of Mercury have a love for real things

AC 6809. When therefore the spirits of Mercury searched out various things, and among others the cities and places where I had been, I observed that they did not wish to know about the churches, palaces, houses, and streets; but only what I knew to have been done in these places, and also matters relating to the government there, and to the genius and manners of the inhabitants, with other things like these; for such things cling to the places that are in man’s memory, and therefore when the places are excited, these other things also come up. I wondered at this character of the spirits of Mercury, and I therefore asked why they passed by the magnificent features of the places, and only searched out the facts and doings there? They said they have no delight in looking at material, bodily, and earthly things, but only at real ones. From this it at once appeared that the spirits of that earth relate in the Grand Man to the memory of real things when abstracted from things material and earthly.

Real things

AC 5075. And because nothing that exists in the universe is anything, that is, is a real thing, unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth, therefore “words” in the Hebrew language mean things also. That nothing in the universe is anything, that is, a real thing, unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth, that is, by the “Word,” is plain in John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1, 3).

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Truth condemns and judges, love saves and heals

Arcana Coelestia 2447(2) All order is from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, and according to this order are all things directed by Him both in general and in particular, but in many different ways, to wit, from Will, from Good-pleasure, from Leave, and from Permission. The things that are from His will and good-pleasure are from the laws of order as to good, and so also are many of those which are from leave, and some of those which are from permission. But when a man separates himself from good he casts himself into the rule of the laws of order that are of truth separated from good, which are such that they condemn; for all truth condemns man and casts him down into hell; whereas the Lord from good, that is, from mercy, saves him, and uplifts him into heaven. From this we see that it is man himself who condemns himself.

True Christian Religion 652. That the Lord imputes good to every man and evil to none, consequently that He does not condemn anyone to hell, but so far as man follows raises all to heaven, is evident from His words:

Jesus said, When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Myself (John 12:32).

God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not judged but he that believeth not hath been judged already (John 3:17, 18).

If any man hear My words and yet hath not believed, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47, 48).

Jesus said, I judge no man (John 8:15).

Judgment here and elsewhere in the Word means judgment to hell, which is condemnation; but of salvation judgment is not predicated, but resurrection to life (John 5:24, 29; 3:18).

[2] The Word which is to judge means the truth; and the truth is that all evil is from hell, and thus that they are one. So when a wicked man is raised up by the Lord toward heaven, his evil draws him down; and because he loves evil, he himself freely follows it. It is also a truth in the Word that good is heaven; so when a good man is raised by the Lord toward heaven, he ascends as it were freely, and is introduced. Such are said,

To be written in the book of life (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 13:8; 20:12, 15; 17:8; 21:26).

[3] There is actually a sphere proceeding continually from the Lord and filling the entire spiritual and natural worlds which raises all towards heaven. It is like a strong current in the ocean which unobservedly draws a vessel. All who believe in the Lord and live according to His precepts enter that sphere or current and are elevated; while those who do not believe, are unwilling to enter, but withdraw themselves to the sides, and are there carried away by a current that sets toward hell.

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Charity 0. THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY

The sections in their order:-

I. The first of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils as sins.

II. The second of charity is to do uses to the neighbour.

III. The neighbour to whom uses are to be done, in the natural sense, is the fellow-citizen, society less and greater, one's own country, and the human race. There are spiritual uses and there are civil uses.

IV. Uses to the neighbour ought to be done according to his spiritual good, and thence his moral, civil, and natural good; consequently, the neighbour that is to be loved, in the spiritual sense, is good.

V. Every one loves the neighbour from the good of charity in himself; consequently, the quality of one's charity is like that of the charity which he himself is.

VI. Man is born that he may become charity; but he cannot become this unless he perpetually wills and does the good of charity from affection and its delight.

VII. Every man who looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, if he sincerely, justly, and faithfully performs the work that belongs to his office and employment, becomes charity in form.

VIII. The signs of charity are all things that pertain to worship.

IX. The benefactions of charity are all the goods that a man who is charity does, freely, outside of his calling.

X. The obligations of charity are all things that a man ought to do besides those above mentioned.

XI. There are diversions of charity, which are the various delights and pleasures of the bodily senses, useful for mental recreation.

XII. Charity and faith make one. There is no church where there is no truth of faith; and no religion where there is no good of charity.

[The following notes are on the margin of the M.S.]:-

Appendix:- Concerning the lot after death of those who are in faith separated from charity.

The sins should be enumerated of which a man is not conscious if he does not examine himself, but either confirms them in himself, or does not regard them as sins, and so continually does them, from hereditary [inclination], on account of their delights,-from the Decalogue, and from reason; which [sins] might be enumerated to the number of fifty or a hundred, civil as well as spiritual, etc.

On the benefactions of charity

Charity 185. (IV.) No one is saved through these benefactions, but through the Charity from which they are done, and which is therefore in those benefactions. These benefactions are outside of a man, but charity is within him; and everyone is saved according to the quality of good or charity in him.After death, very many, who in the world thought about their salvation, when they see that they are alive, and hear that there is a heaven and a hell, protest that they have done goods, have given to the poor, assisted the needy, made some offerings to pious uses. But it is said to them, From what source have you done these things? Have you shunned evils as sins? Have you thought about them? Some answer that they have had faith. But it is replied, If you have not thought within you of evils as sins, how can you have faith? Faith and evil do not conjoin themselves together. Inquiry is therefore made respecting a man's life in his calling; whether he has performed the uses of his calling for the sake of reputation, honor, and gain, as his chief goods, and thus for himself; or whether he has done them for the sake of the neighbour. Many say they have not thus distinguished them. It is answered, If you have looked to God and shunned evils as sins, then these two have of themselves become distinct, for the Lord distinguishes them. And as far as they have not done this, they have acted from evil and not from good. In the spiritual world the very affection of each one is communicated, and its quality is shown; and such as he is as to affection, such are all the things that proceed from him. In this way he is led to the society where his affection is.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

And it came to pass in those days, and Moses grew, and he went out unto his brethren, and saw their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew man, one of his brethren. And he looked forth hither and thither, and saw that there was no man, and he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

And he went out the second day, and behold two Hebrew men quarreling; and he said to the wicked one, Wherefore smitest thou thy companion? And he said, Who set thee for a man, a prince, and a judge over us? Sayest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely the word is known.

Exodus 3:11-14

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

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6818. Exodus 3

THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY

With respect to the Neighbor, more must be said, because without knowing who the neighbor is, no one can know in what way charity must be practiced.

In the preface to the preceding chapter it was said that every man is the neighbor, but not one in like manner as another; and that he who is in good is more the neighbor than others, thus that it is the good in a man which is to be loved; for when good is loved, the Lord is loved, because it is the Lord from whom is good, who is in good, and who is good itself.

6819. But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord's kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbor who is to be benefited from charity. These also are ascending degrees of the neighbor; for a society of many is the neighbor in a higher degree than is an individual man; our country in a higher degree than a society; in a still higher degree the church; and in a still higher degree the Lord's kingdom; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbor. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

6820. A society is more a neighbor than an individual man, because it consists of many. Charity is to be practiced toward it in like manner as toward an individual man, namely, according to the quality of good in it; thus quite differently toward a society of the upright, from the way in which it is to be practiced toward a society of those who are not upright.

6821. Our country is more the neighbor than a society, because it is like a parent; for there the man has been born; it nourishes him, and protects him from harm. Our country is to be benefited from love, according to its necessities, which chiefly regard its sustenance, its civil life, and its spiritual life. He who loves his country, and from good will benefits it, in the other life loves the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom is his country. And he who loves the Lord's kingdom, loves the Lord, because the Lord is the all in all of His kingdom; for what is properly called the Lord's kingdom is the good and truth from the Lord in those who are in it.

6822. The church is more the neighbor than our country, because he who has regard for the church, has regard also for the souls and eternal life of the men who are in the country. And the church is cared for when man is led to good, and he who does this from charity, loves the neighbor, for he desires and wills for another, heaven and happiness of life to eternity. Good can be instilled into another by anyone in his country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers; if others do this, heresies arise, and the church is disturbed and rent asunder. Charity is practiced, if through the truth which is of the church, the neighbor is led to good. If in the church anything is called truth which leads away from good, this is not worthy of mention, for it is not truth. Everyone must first obtain for himself truth from the doctrine of the church, and afterward from the Word of the Lord; this must be the truth of his faith.

6823. The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor in a higher degree than the church in which one is born; for the Lord's kingdom consists of all who are in good, both on earth and in the heavens; thus the Lord's kingdom is good with every quality of it in the complex; and when this good is loved, everyone who is in good is loved. Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbor in the first degree, and is that Grand Man which has been treated of at the end of many chapters, which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord's kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that man from the Lord, thus with whom is the Lord's kingdom.

6824. These are the degrees of the neighbor, and according to these degrees charity ascends; but these are degrees in successive order, in which a prior or higher degree is always preferred to a posterior or lower one; and as the Lord is in the highest, and He is to be regarded in every degree as the end to which each tends, therefore He is above all, and is to be loved above all things.

EXODUS 3

1. And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came unto the mountain of God, to Horeb.

2. And the angel of Jehovah was seen by him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bramble; and he saw, and behold the bramble burned with fire, and the bramble was in no wise consumed.

3. And Moses said, I will therefore go aside, and see this great vision, why the bramble is not burnt.

4. And Jehovah saw that he went aside to see, and God called unto him out of the midst of the bramble, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Behold me!

5. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest a ground of holiness is this.

6. And He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses covered his faces, because he was afraid to look upon God.

7. And Jehovah said, Seeing I have seen the affliction of My people, which is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from before their taskmasters; for I have known their sorrows;

8. And I am come down to liberate them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to make them come up out of that land unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

9. And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

10. And now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt.

11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel out of Egypt?

12. And He said, Because I will be with thee; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall worship God near this mountain.

13. And Moses said unto God, Behold I come unto the sons of Israel, and say to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them?

14. And God said unto Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

15. And God said further unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto generation and generation.

16. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah the God of your fathers hath been seen of me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, saying, Visiting I have visited you, and that which is done to you in Egypt.

17. And I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

18. And they shall hear thy voice, and thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt; and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met us; and now let us go we pray a way of three days into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

19. And I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, and not by a strong hand.

20. And I will put forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof, and afterward he will send you away.

21. And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when ye go, ye shall not go empty.

22. And every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters, and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

6825. The Contents.

In the first chapter, in the internal sense, the subject treated of was the infestation by falsities and evils of those who are of the church; in the second chapter it was the beginnings and successive states of truth Divine with them; in this chapter in the internal sense the subject treated of is their liberation; and then for the first time they are instructed who the God is who has liberated them, that it is the Lord; and that He introduces them into heaven after they have been endowed with manifold truth and good.

6826. The Internal Sense.

Verses 1-3. And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came into the mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of Jehovah was seen by him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bramble; and he saw, and behold the bramble burned with fire, and the bramble was in no wise consumed. And Moses said, I will therefore go aside, and see this great vision, why the bramble is not burnt. And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, signifies that the law from the Divine was instructing those who were in the truth of simple good; priest, is the good of the church where such are; and he led the flock behind the wilderness, signifies after they had undergone temptations; and came unto the mountain of God, signifies that the good of love Divine appeared to him; to Horeb, signifies its quality; and the angel of Jehovah was seen by him,...

And Pharaoh heard this word, and he sought to kill Moses. And Moses fled from before Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he dwelt by a well. And the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came, and drew, and filled the troughs, to give drink to their father’s flock. And the shepherds came, and drove them away; and Moses arose, and helped them; and he gave drink to their flock. And they came unto Reuel their father, and he said, Wherefore hasted ye to come today? And they said, An Egyptian man delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds; and also drawing he drew for us, and gave drink to the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? Why is this that ye have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was willing to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a strange land.

Exodus 2:15-19

Arcana Colestia 6770. Verses 15-19. “And Pharaoh heard this word, and he sought to kill Moses,” signifies that false memory-knowledge, noticing this, willed to destroy the truth which is of the law from the Divine; “and Moses fled from before Pharaoh,” signifies that it was being separated from falsities; “and dwelt in the land of Midian,” signifies life in the church with those who are in simple good; “and he dwelt by a well,” signifies study there in the Word; “and the priest of Midian had seven daughters,” signifies the holy things of that church; “and they came, and drew,” signifies that they were instructed in truths from the Word; “and filled the troughs,” signifies that from this they enriched the doctrine of charity; “to give drink to their father’s flock,” signifies that thereby they who were in good were instructed; “and the shepherds came, and drove them away,” signifies that the teachers who were in evils set themselves in opposition; “and Moses arose and helped them,” signifies aid from the truths which are of the law from the Divine; “and he gave drink to their flock,” signifies that from this they who are in good were instructed; “and they came unto Reuel their father,” signifies conjunction with the good itself of that church; “and he said, Wherefore hasted ye to come today?” signifies perception that now conjunction was sure; “and they said, An Egyptian man delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds,” signifies because true memory-knowledge, which is of the church, prevailed over the power of the doctrine of falsity from evil; “and also drawing he drew for us,” signifies that he instructed from the Word; “and gave drink to the flock,” signifies those who were of the church there.

6787. Verses 20-22. “And he said unto his daughters,” signifies thought concerning the holy things of the church; “and where is he? Why is this that ye have left the man?” signifies how without that truth could they be conjoined with the good of the church; “call him,” signifies that it must be conjoined; “that he may eat bread,” signifies confirmation in good; “and Moses was willing to dwell with the man,” signifies that they were in agreement; “and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter,” signifies that he adjoined to it the good of his church; “and she bare a son,” signifies truths thence; “and he called his name Gershom,” signifies their quality; “for he said, I have been a sojourner in a strange land,” signifies that he was instructed in truths in a church not his own.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

The Three Essentials of a church

Divine Providence 259. There are three essentials of the church, an acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. According to the life which is charity is every one's faith; from the Word comes the knowledge of what the life must be, and from the Lord are reformation and salvation. If the church had held these three as essentials it would not have been divided, but only varied, by intellectual dissensions, as light varies the colour in beautiful objects, and as various circlets give beauty in the crown of a king.

True Christian Religion 712. It is also known that there are three essentials of the church, God, charity, and faith, and that all things in the church have relation to these three as their universals. These are identical with the three named above, since in the holy supper God is the Lord, charity is the Divine good, and faith the Divine truth. What is charity but the good that man does from the Lord? And what is faith but the truth that man believes from the Lord? And this is why there are three things in man in respect to his internal, namely, soul, or mind, will, and understanding. These three are the receptacles of the three universals; the soul itself, or the mind, is the receptacle of the Lord, for it lives therefrom; the will is the receptacle of love or good; and the understanding is the receptacle of wisdom or truth. Thus each thing and all things in the soul or mind, not only have relation to the three universals of heaven and the church, but they go forth from them. Mention anything that goes forth from man that does not contain mind, will, and understanding. If anyone of these were taken away, would man be anything more than any inanimate thing? Likewise there are in man's external three things, to which each thing and all things have relation, and upon which they depend, namely, the body, the heart, and the lungs. And these three things of the body correspond to the three of the mind, the heart corresponding to the will, and the lungs or respiration to the understanding. That there is such a correspondence has been fully shown in former treatises. Thus then have each and all things in man been so formed, both universally and particularly, as to be receptacles of the three universals of heaven and the church. This is because man was created an image and likeness of God, and he was so created in order that he might be in the Lord and the Lord in him.

Man supposes that life is his own

Apocalypse Explained 349 [2] Since it is at this day believed in the world that the life that each one has was given and implanted, and is thus one's own, and does not flow in continuously, I desire to say something respecting it. The opinion that life is in man in such a way as to be his own is merely an appearance that springs from the perpetual presence of the Lord, and from His Divine love, in that He wills to be conjoined to man, to be in him, and to impart to him His life, for such is the Divine love; and because this is perpetual and continuous man supposes that life is in him as his own; yet it is known that there is not a good or a truth in man, but that they come from above, thus that they flow in. It is the same with love and faith; for everything of man's love is from good, and everything of his faith is from truth; for what a man loves is good to him, and what he believes is truth to him. This makes clear in the first place that no good and no truth, so neither love nor faith, is in man, but that they flow in from the Lord. Life itself is in good and truth, and nowhere else. The receptacle of the good of love with man is the will, and the receptacle of the truth of faith with him is the understanding; and to will good does not belong to man, nor to believe truth. These are the two faculties in which is the whole life of man; outside of these there is no life. This also makes clear that the life of these faculties, and accordingly the life of the whole man, is not in man but flows in. It is also by influx that evil and falsity, or the will and love of evil and the understanding and faith of falsity, are with man; but this influx is from hell. For man is kept in the freedom of choosing, that is, of receiving good and truth from the Lord or of receiving evil and falsity from hell, and man is kept in this for the sake of reformation, for he is kept between heaven and hell, and thence in spiritual equilibrium, which is freedom. Neither is this freedom itself in the man, but it is together with the life that flows in. (On Man's Freedom and its origin, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 293, 537, 540-541, 546, 589-596, 597-603; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 141-147.)

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.