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nor thought of any but Jesus. He saw Him' at the right hand of God,'—that is, in Scriptural language, invested with the Majesty of Omnipotence. And with the fullest confidence in His Almighty power, he committed his soul to Him alone, exclaiming with his parting breath, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (See Acts, vii. 55, to end.)

CHAPTER XII.

Spiritual Correspondences of the Members of the body-The doctrine of the Atonement or At-ONE-ment—The ordinance of the Holy Supper-Spiritual meaning of the Lord's prayer.

The following extracts are from Tract No. II., on Atone.

ment:

"No one who is rational in spiritual things can believe that the Lord ascended into heaven, is the life of heaven, is omnipresent in earth and in heaven, is with us always in a material body.

"We are taught in the writings of Swedenborg that all natural things correspond to spiritual things. Thus the body and each member of it, when spoken of in the Word, have a spiritual meaning. The heart is known to mean man's will or love. The hands signify man's power to do, because his principal works are done by his hands. The feet are the organs by which man walks; and means living. The natural eyes see natural objects; the understanding or spiritual eyes see spiritual things. The natural ears hear natural sounds; the spiritual ears hear, perceive, hearken to, and obey, what is spoken or imparted spiritu ally. These hints may serve to show what principle of interpretation is adopted in the following pages.

"The Lord teaches in the sixth chapter of John that he who eateth His flesh and drinketh His blood hath everlasting life; and that, except we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us.

"Can we eat the material flesh, and drink the material

blood, which the Lord had while in this world? If we cannot, we should not think that they give us life.

"But some will say, that having faith that His body was broken and His blood shed, for our sins, is signified by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

"It is however to be observed, that faith is a spiritual operation, and that we can by faith eat and drink only spiritual things. By this spiritual eating and drinking we cannot possibly receive and appropriate the Lord's material body and blood; and therefore these cannot be meant by the flesh and blood which we are required to eat and drink.

"It will probably be said, by some persons, that the flesh and blood mentioned in this and similar passages, mean the Lord's sufferings. But they must mean something which we can eat and drink naturally or spiritually, and something that actually nourishes and gives us life. Does it appear that we can eat and drink His sufferings or His passion on the cross, and that they can be meat and drink and life to our souls? But more will be said presently on this subject.

"If it can be seen that spiritual life consists of Love and Wisdom, or Good and Truth, received from the Lord, the conclusion will be inevitable that these alone will be meant by the body and blood of the Lord, which men must spiritually eat and drink that they may have life.

"The Lord says that He is the living bread and the bread of life; that he who eateth this bread shall live forever; and that the bread which He will give, is His flesh, which He gives for the life of the world.

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Now, does not every rational man know that the very substance and body of all spiritual life is Love of the Lord and the neighbor? On the commandments which require this Love, hang all the law and the prophets. 'Love,' says Paul, is the fulfilling of the law.' And is not this Love the true bread of life? Does not he who eats it, or spiritually appropriates it so that it becomes his own life, live forever? Does it not nourish and give life to the spirit of man, as bread or food nourishes and gives life to the body?

"The Lord also teaches that, if we thirst, we should go

to Him and drink, and that He will give us living water. "To thirst spiritually, is to desire truth or falsity; in the present case it is to desire truth. Thus we speak of thirsting for knowledge. And what is the living water which the Lord gives, but the Divine Truth of His Holy Word? The Word is frequently compared to a Fountain, and its truths to the streams of water flowing from a Fountain.

"It is witten that the bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world; and also that this bread is His body, and His flesh.

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Now, the Lord's Material Body did not come down from heaven; and, therefore, it is not this which giveth life. It was His Divine Love and Wisdom-it was the Word, that came down from heaven, and was made Flesh, --not material flesh, but Divine Flesh; and this Bread from heaven, or Divine Body, gives life to the world.

By His Body is meant SAVING LOVE or GOODNESS. By His Blood is meant SAVING TRUTH OF WISDOM.

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"When the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, he took the Cup, or Wine, and said-Drink ye all of it; for this my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. This is the New Testament in my blood. A testament or covenant consists of truths conjoining two or more parties. If two men make a covenant, they state certain truths or propositions, which both agree to; and while both keep these, or do according to them, they remain in covenant; and when they act contrary to them, they break the covenant.

"In like manner the Lord has given his Covenants or Testaments, the Old Testament and the New. These Covenants consist of truths which the Lord always keeps, and which, if man keeps them, conjoin him to the Lord, so that he lives in the Lord's life. Separate from the Lord, man is wholly evil; but when he is conjoined with the Lord, by keeping the Lord's words, he has heavenly life. from the Lord.

"When the Lord gave the New Covenant or Testament for us to keep, he said this is the New Covenant in my Blood. And who does not know that the New Covenant or Testament consists of the truth which we must do that

we may be saved. The wine which the Lord took, and which signified the same as his Blood, He said was the NEW COVENANT; and does not this prove conclusively, that the Blood of the Lord spiritually means THE DIVINE TRUTHS OF THE WORD? Will any say that this Blood of the New Covenant means the Lord's material Blood which was shed on the cross? He said that His Blood was shed for many for the remission of sins. This also is to be understood spiritually. His material Blood, which was shed on the cross, surely does not apply itself to our sins; but his Divine Blood-His Divine Truth-is imparted to us, and comes into our mind, and shines within and around us, and condemns our sins, and gives us power to shun them; and when we obey it, it washes them away, and we are forgiv

en.

"This opens to us the meaning of that numerous class of texts, which speak of our being washed, cleansed, or purified by His BLOOD.

"Does this material blood wash you from sin? It is not here. It is not retained anywhere. And, besides this, it was a natural substance, and sin is spiritual, and could not be washed away by it. And, if you say that it is the act of shedding His Blood that is meant, still, that was a natural act, and has ceased, and your believing in it does not take away your sins.

"The Lord's Blood that washes us, must be something that now is, and lives, and operates in our minds, where our sins are. And what is it but the TRUTH,-the TRUTHS of the NEW COVENANT? What tells us of our sins, but Truth? What teaches us good life, but Truth? What gives us power to shun evil and do good, but Truth? And, do we ever have any evil affection or habit removed, but by learning and doing the Truth? When we are cleansed from any sin, can we not say that it was the Truth that washed and sanctified us? When liberated from the dominion of any sin, can we not say that the Truth redeemed and made us free? Why is truth taught concerning any moral or natural evil, except that it may wash, purify, redeem, or save men from it?

That truth does these things, appears from the following texts, and many others which will occur to every reader.

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