RELIG

WHAT IS RELIGION?

ELIGION is true worship, love, faith, belief, and acceptance of one true God who is our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lord Jehovah,the only God of Heaven, and earth. Who from eternity is the Creator, in time the Redeemer, and to eternity the Regenerator, thus who is at once Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To whom omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, mercy itself, and also justice belong."

First "That man is His creature, and the church His sheepfold. That all things of the church, and of its doctrine relate to these two, that the Lord is to be approached immediately, and that man must live a life according to the commandments of the Decalogue, by shunning evils as sins. Wherefore, where this is doctrine, and not life, there is no church. It is the understanding of the Word, that establishes the church, and a faith, and life in accordance with doctrine, that establishes, and constitutes the special church in the individual man. The man who is in truths from good, comes into angelic intelligence, and wisdom, and they lie hid in his interiors so long as he lives in the world, but they are opened in the other life. The man who is in truths from good becomes an angel after death, and he also becomes an angel through heavenly love."

Second-That we take Him, the Lord Jehovah, Jesus Christ our Saviour, for our pattern or example, for our daily living, and abide in Him. For He Himself hath said, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. St. John xv:4.

"To abide in the Lord is to be in love to Him since spiritual love conjoins and not faith without love, for the Lord has His abode with those who are in love, and in faith therefrom. This is the signification of the parable of the ten virgins. The five prudent virgins signify those of the church who are in faith from love, and

the five foolish virgins those who are in faith apart from love. The number ten means all in the church. Midnight when the cry arose, signifies the last judgment and in general the end of man's life, when he will be adjudged either to heaven, or to hell, for such as man's life is, such he remains, because every man's life remains after death, from the saying, 'As the tree falls so it lies;' such as from the whole course of his life, he is when he dies. The foolish are those the Lord was not conjoined in the world in mutual love, hence His reply to them, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Blessed are they that have been called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb, signifies those who are conjoined to the Lord by means of truths from the Word, and become a church will enter into heaven."

Third-We are united in Him when we commit to memory His Words, and love them, and live according to His teachings, particularly those in the New Testament. For He Himself hath said, If a man love me he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

St. John xiv:23.

Again, Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, be bath both the Father, and the Son. II John 1:9.

"The One should be recognized, as the Divine Itself which is called the Father, the Divine Good, or Esse, Divine Soul, Life Itself; and the Other, the Divine Human which is called the Son of God, or Divine Truth. The Holy Spirit, the Divine Energy, and Operation proceeding from the One-God. This going forth is the power of the Most High which then overshadowed the Virgin mother Mary." (St. Luke 1:35.)

To study about Christ is to know all about God since He Himself is God. "His Soul, Body and Spirit each singly Divine, is what is called the Divine Trinity in One-God-Man. God is meant His Divine, which is the Divine from which all things are, and at the same time His Divine Human, for both together are One-God, because they are One Person." That He Himself is the Father,

who sent Himself into the world as the Son of God. "On a right idea of God, the whole body of theology hangs like a chain on its first link, and everybody is allotted his place in the heavens, (that is, heaven or hell) in accordance with his idea of God. For that idea is like a touchstone, by which the gold, and silver are tested, that is, the quality of good, and truth in man.

Fourth-"That the Lord regenerates man, by means of faith, and charity."

"The things which are of the spiritual life are truths which are to be believed, and goods which are to be done, the former are of faith, the latter of charity. The man who is regenerated, is as to his spiritual man in heaven, and is an angel there with the angels, among whom he also comes after death, he is then able to live the life of heaven, to love the Lord, to love the neighbor, to understand truth, to relish good, and to perceive the happiness thence derived. The celestial things of love, are love to Jehovah, and love to the neighbor, and innocence itself in these. In celestial things there is the very light of the soul, because the Divine Itself, that is, Jehovah Himself is in them. It must be understood, that the spirit of man after its release from the body, thinks, and wills, and speaks, and acts, just as before, for externals are taken away from him, (that is his earthly body,) and when these are taken away from him, his quality in the world whether that of a devil, or that of an angel is manifest. Moreover, the spirit of man appears after death such as it has been in the body while it lived in the world."

Fifth "The love of self, and the love of the world are altogether opposite to love to the Lord, and love to the neighbor, wherefore the love of self, and the love of the world are infernal loves, for they also reign in hell, and also constitute hell with man, but love to the Lord, and love to the neighbor are heavenly loves. They also reign in heaven, and also constitute heaven with man, for heaven is mutual love. He who loves himself above all things is mindful of himself in everything, thinks of himself, speaks of himself, acts for the sake of himself; for his life is a life of self. A man is wholly such as is the

ruling principle of his life; by this he is distinguished from others; according to this is formed his heaven if he is good, and his hell if he is evil; for it is his veriest will, and thus the very being of his life, which cannot be changed after death."

Sixth-Since heaven is a place for a prepared people, man should be getting himself ready all the time. "He should be getting himself ready for heaven by his whole life in the world. No one has heaven merely by being received, or admitted, but by his life in the world a man may become of such a character that he can be with those who are in heaven. Let it be known, therefore, that every man is born for heaven, and that he is received, that receives heaven in himself in the world, and he that does not receive it is shut out. Sins are not remitted by repentance of the mouth, but by repentance of the life. Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognize, and acknowledge one's sins, to hold oneself guilty, to confess sins before the Lord, (not to any priest) and to pray for help and power to resist them, and thus refrain from them, and begin a new life. That he who does not examine, and see his sins remains in them. That all evil, unless removed, remains in man, and that man cannot be saved, if he remains in his evils. Man's regeneration is not effected in a moment, but gradually, from the beginning to the end of his life in the world, and is afterwards continued, and perfected. A tree cannot reach its full growth in a day, also a house is not built in a day, nor does a man acquire his full stature in a day, still less wisdom. From all this, it is clear that regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in the womb, born, and educated. The man who does not permit himself to be led, and assigned to heaven, is prepared for his own place in hell. For of himself man continually tends to the lowest part of hell, but is continually withdrawn by the Lord; and he who cannot be withdrawn is prepared for a certain place there, to which also he is assigned immediately after he leaves this world; and this place there is opposite to a certain place in heaven. Therefore as the angelman, according to his affection for good, and truth, is allotted his own place in heaven, so the devil-man, according to his affection for

evil, and falsity, is allotted his own place in hell. After death he is not in any state to be reformed, but remains in the state in which he is, in accordance with his life. When, therefore a man dies, he is assigned to his own place."

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. Daniel xii:2,3.

Seventh-And the consummation, or end of it all is that man should be innocent, (that is pure in heart, and mind, with a disposition to hate with all his soul and strength, anything that is evil) holy, blameless, unspotted from the world, living the spiritual life, wise, and intelligent in all things that are celestial, and spiritual, and living the life which is called charity, even in the midst of the world. "For the life of charity remains with a man to eternity. They who have lived a life of charity are all in heaven. A man if he lives in good, is, as to his interiors, a heaven in the least form, and hence it is, that if a man has lived a life of charity and love, he can be carried after death even into the third heaven. For the life that leads to heaven is not a life withdrawn from the world, but a life in the world, and a life of charity consists in acting honestly, and justly in every employment, in every business and in every work from an interior, that is, from a heavenly motive, because doing so is in accordance with the Divine laws. Mere thinking admits no one into heaven, it must be accompanied by willing and doing good."

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy boly bill?

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. Psalm xv:1,2.

"The essence, or nature which anyone makes his own in the world cannot be changed after death. That to everyone after death is imputed the evil in which he is, and in like manner the good. That everyone has his own life. No one's life can be changed after death, because it is organized according to his love and faith,