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cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth?

A. By many coming from the East and West, I am instructed in the call of the Gentiles into the Christian Church, both of those who were in a state of more enlightened good, signified by the East, and of those who were in a state of more obscure good, signified by the West; and by their sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God, I am further taught the several degrees of goodness and of blessedness to which they will be admitted, whilst some attain to a celestial degree, signified by Abraham, some to a spiritual degree, signified by Isaac, and some to a natural degree, signified by Jacob; in other words, while some become principled in love to the LORD, others in charity towards their neighbour, and lastly, others in simple obedience to the truth, because they believe it to be their duty to live uprightly and sincerely one amongst another. For according to any other idea, what can be meant by sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God? And again, by the children of the kingdom being cast out into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, I am further instructed, that they, who are principled in faith and truth alone, separate from a life of charity, or obedience to the truth, will be removed from all communion with the blessed, and plunged into a more terrible darkness than they who are ignorant of the truth, and will thus be deprived of all heavenly love and wisdom, and left a prey to every evil purpose and false prin

ciple, signified by weeping and gnashing of

teeth.

Q. But it is lastly written, that JESUS said unto the Centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self-same hourwhat is the instruction which you learn from these words?

A. By JESUS saying to the Centurion, Go thy way, is to be understood Divine Exhortation to live according to the great faith with which he was gifted, for to go, and to go in a way, according to the spiritual idea, signifies to walk or to live according to the knowledge of heavenly truth which has been received; and therefore I am instructed by these words, that every one, who has been blessed with the knowledge and belief of the ETERNAL TRUTH, ought to endeavour to form his life and love according to its heavenly dictates. By JESUS saying further, as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee, I am again instructed that the Divine Blessing, with its operation, attends every one, according to his faith; in other words, according to the ruling persuasions of his mind, as grounded in his ruling love, if that love be in agreement with the Divine Will, and that for this plain reason, because those persuasions are in conjunction with the ETERNAL TRUTH, and the ETERNAL TRUTH is ever connected with Omnipotence, agreeable to which idea it is written in another place, that all things are possible to him that believeth. Lastly, I am instructed by the concluding words,

his servant was healed in the self-same hour, that a Divine Effect always attends a Divine Intention and loving-kindness, in all cases, where obstructions to its operation are removed, as in the present instance of the faithful Centurion and his afflicted servant, and that thus the palsy is healed in all the lower principles of the human mind, whensoever the higher principles are opened, by genuine faith and love, to the reception of the Divine Mercy and its full operation.

Q. What then is the general instruction which you learn from this Miracle?

A. I learn, first, that there is a spiritual palsy as well as a natural one, and that a spiritual palsy consists in some spiritual obstruction in the mind and life, whereby the free circulation of heavenly love and wisdom is impeded, so that the mental faculties are not able to perform their proper functions, which functions consist in opposing evil and false principles, and in cherishing such as are in agreement with the SUPREME GOOD and the SUPREME TRUTH. I am instructed yet further, that no radical cure is to be found for this spiritual palsy but in the INCARNATE GOD, or in the GREAT SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST in His DIVINE HUMANITY, and not even in this God and SAVIOUR, unless he be approached in a right faith, that is to say, with a faith grounded in love and charity, producing a right arrangement in all the subordinate powers and principles of the natural mind. I learn still further from-the above Divine Miracle, that let the obstructions to heavenly life and love be ever so formidable,

and the Divine circulation of Blessing be ever so much impeded, yet if JESUS CHRIST in His DiVINE HUMANITY be believed in and approached with a sincere heart, and in the spirit of true repentance, every obstruction will then soon be removed, which prevents the free circulation of His blessed influence, until at length the whole mind and life be restored to their proper health and strength, by being enabled to comply willingly and freely with the Divine Operation. I am resolved therefore henceforth, whensoever I feel my own mind affected with a spiritual palsy, to apply immediately, like the faithful Centurion above recorded, to my Gon and SAVIOUR, for his healing virtue, and to apply to him with that living faith in His Divine Omnipotence, for which the Centurion was so eminently distinguished. I am resolved also to attend well to the operations of my own mind, that so all its powers and faculties may be brought into right arrangement, and thus rendered strong to withstand the assault of evil and false principles, and eager and earnest to cherish all heavenly and holy influences. Lastly, I am resolved to believe confidently, that if my faith in my GOD and SAVIOUR be grounded in His love and wisdom, it will then connect me perpetually with His Omnipotence, and through that Omnipotence every obstruction to the circulation of the Divine Blessing will finally be removed, and I shall feel myself restored to the free exercise of every mental faculty, and to the happy perception of its close conjunction with the mercy, favour, peace and blessedness of my HEAVENLY FATHER. ΑΜΕΝ.

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PETER'S WIFE'S MOTHER

HEALED.

Matt. viii. 14 to 16.

And when JESUS was come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever, &c.

Q. WHAT do you here understand by JESUS entering into Peter's house, and by his seeing Peter's wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever?

A. These words have both a literal and a spiritual meaning, like the words of all the other Miracles performed by the LORD, and according to the literal meaning they relate to Peter as a man, and to his wife's mother as to a person sick of a bodily disorder called a fever; but according to their spiritual meaning, they relate to Peter and to his wife's mother, as representing spiritual principles appertaining to the church, that is to say, to the members of the church at that period, and to the distemper with which the members of the church were then affected.

Q. And according to the spiritual signification, what do you understand by JESUS entering into Peter's house?

D

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