EXHORTATION TO RE- THE soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful, and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions, that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him, in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall be live? All his righteousness, that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in bis trespass that be bath trespassed, and in bis sin that he hath sinned, in them shall be die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal, are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall be die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful, and right, be shall save his soul alive. Because be considereth and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O bouse of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye bave transgressed; and make you a new heart, and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves and live ye. Ezekiel xviii:20-32. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. II Peter iii:9. And Jesus answering said unto them. They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. For the Son of man is come to seek, and to save that which was lost. "Every man has an internal, and an external; but they differ with the good, and the evil. With the good, the internal is in heaven, and in its light, and the external is in the world, and in its light, which light with them is illumined by the light of heaven, so that the internal, and the external act as one, like the efficient cause, and the effect, or like what is prior, and what is posterior. But with the evil, the internal is in the world, and its light; as is also the external; for which reason they see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, which they call the light of nature. Hence it is that to them the things of heaven are thick darkness, whilst the things of the world are in light. From this it is manifest that the good have both an internal and an external man, but that the evil have not an internal, but only an external." "The internal man is called the spiritual man, because it is in the light of the heavens, which light is spiritual; and the external man is called the natural man, because it is in the light of the world, which light is natural, or material. The man whose internal is in the light of heaven, and whose external is in the light of the world, is a spiritual man as to both; but the man whose internal is not in the light of heaven, but only in the light of the world, in which is his external also, is a natural man as to both. The spiritual man is called in the Word living, but the natural, or material man is called dead." "The internal spiritual man, regarded in himself, is an angel of heaven, and also, during his life in the body, is in society with angels, although he does not then know it; and after his separation from the body, he comes among the angels. But the merely natural internal man, regarded in himself is a spirit, and not an angel; and also, during his life in the body, is in society with spirits, but with those who are in hell, among whom he also comes after his separation from the body. " "Before evil spirits, who are recently from the world, cast themselves into hell, they, above all others, suppose that they will be received into heaven, believing that only reception is needed and that everyone, of whatever quality, may of grace be admitted into heaven. But they are sometimes told that heaven is denied by the Lord to no one, and that they may be admitted if they are able to stay there. Some of them are even taken up into the first societies at the entrance to heaven; but when they come thither they begin to be tormented and almost suffocated, so distressed is the life of their thought and will-the life of their thought from principles of falsity, and the life of their will from a life of evil in the world. And when they look at themselves in the light there they appear to themselves as devils, some as corpses, and others as monsters, and they therefore cast themselves headlong down from that society, and from its light into some dark infernal mist, where they recover their former respiration, and where from phantasy they appear to themselves as spirits not evil. Thus they learn their quality." THE HOLY SUPPER "TH HE bread, and wine in the Holy Supper signifies the Lord's love toward the universal race, and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord. The Holy Supper is introduction into heaven, and heaven constitutes the body of the Lord. He is present both universally, and individually; for the Lord is in them, and they are in Him, and where He is, there is heaven. These two sacraments, baptism and the Holy Supper, are the two gates to eternal life, and every man who allows himself to be prepared, and led by the Lord, is admitted into, and introduced into heaven. There are no other universal gates. "That man is regenerated by these three, the Lord, charity, and faith acting as one, and that no one can enter heaven unless he is becoming regenerate. So the Lord can open heaven to none but the regenerate, and after death introduction into heaven is given to none else. “Eternal life, and salvation are impossible without conjunction with the Lord. That He is eternal life is clearly evident from certain passages in the Word, as from the following." Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal life. I John v:20. "He is also salvation, because this, and eternal life are one. His name Jesus signifies salvation, and therefore He is called the Saviour throughout the Christian world. And yet only those come to the Holy Supper worthily, who are interiorly conjoined with the Lord, and those are interiorly conjoined with Him who are regenerated. The Lord then implants charity, and faith in the midst of him, and makes both of these spiritual. Thus the Lord conjoins Himself to man, and man conjoins himself to the Lord, for no conjunction is possible unless it is effected reciprocally. Those who receive the Lord, that is have faith in Him, and do not lead an evil life are called Sons of God." Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I John iii:1, 2. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, bath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. St. John vi:53-56. "The Holy Supper is like a signature, a seal, a badge, or a proof of appointment even to the angels, that those who come to it worthily are Sons of God and it is also like a key to the house in heaven where they are to dwell forever, and ever.' "Every religion declines, and is consummated by the inversion of God's image in man. It is known that man was created into God's image after God's likeness (Genesis i:26). The image and likeness of God is this. God alone is love, and wisdom. Man was created to be a receptacle of both, that his will might be a receptacle of the Divine love, and his understanding a receptacle of the Divine wisdom. Therefore man's being an image of God means that he is a recipient of the Divine wisdom, and his being a likeness of God means that he is a recipient of the Divine love. In every man of sound mind there is an ability to receive wisdom from the Lord, that is, to multiply to eternity, the truths, from which wisdom exists; also an ability to receive love, that is, to bring forth to eternity the goods from which love exists. This perpetual bringing forth of good, and of love therefrom and perpetual multiplication of truth, and of wisdom therefrom, is granted to the angels, and also to men who are becoming angels; and as the Lord is love itself, and wisdom itself, it follows that man has the ability to conjoin himself to the |