for a man to live according to the flesh, and yet to be saved, if so be he only knows what is true, although he does not at all practice what is good? Every lust which a man favors, forms the life of his will, and every principle, or every persuasion, of the false, forms the life of his understanding; these lives make one, when the truth or doctrinals of faith are immersed in lusts: every man thus forms for himself, as it were, a soul, the life of which becomes such after death. Wherefore nothing is of more concern to man than to know what is true; when he knows what is true, and in such a manner that it cannot be perverted, then it is not capable of being so immersed in lusts, and producing such deadly effects. What ought to be more dear to man than his life to eternity? If he destroys his soul in the life of the body, does he not destroy it to eternity?

"That by all the high mountains which were under heaven being covered, is signified, that all the good things of charity were extinguished, appears from the signification of mountains amongst the most ancient people. Mountains with them signified the Lord, because they enjoyed and exercised his worship on mountains, because mountains are the highest parts of the earth; hence they signified things celestial, which they also called highest, consequently they signified love and charity, and thus the goods of love and charity, which are celestial. In an opposite sense, they also are called mountains in the Word who are high-minded, and thus a mountain denotes self-love itself. The Most

Ancient Church is also signified in the Word by mountains, by reason that mountains are elevated above the earth, and are nearer as it were to heaven. That mountains signify the Lord, and all celestial things thence derived, or the goods of love and charity, appears from the following passages in the Word; from which it is plain what they signify in particular, for all things in the Word, both in general and in particular, have a sense according to the subject to which they are applied. In David: The mountains shall bring peace, and the hills in righteousness,' Psalm 1xxii. 3; where mountains signify love towards the Lord, hills neigh

borly love, such as prevailed in the Most Ancient Church, which therefore is also signified in the Word by mountains and hills, as being principled in such love and charity. In Ezekiel: In the mountain of my holiness, in the mountain of the height of Israel, said the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me,' xx. 40; where the mountain of holiness signifies love towards the Lord, and the mountain of the height of Israel signifies charity towards the neighbor. In Isaiah: 'It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountains of the house of Jehovah shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills,' ii. 2; signifying the Lord, and hence every thing celestial. In the same prophet: 'Jehovah of hosts will make for all people in this mountain a feast of fat things, and he will swallow up in this mountain the faces of the covering,' xxv. 6, 7; where the mountain again signifies the Lord, and hence every thing celestial. Again, in the same prophet: There shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every lifted up hill, rivers and channels of waters,' xxx. 25; where mountains signify the goods of love, hills the goods of charity, whence come the truths of faith, which are rivers and channels of waters. Again, in the same prophet: Ye shall have a song as in the night, to keep a holy festival, and joy of heart as when one goeth with a pipe, to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the rock of Israel,' xxx. 29; where mountain of Jehovah signifies the Lord with respect to the goods of love, and the rock of Israel signifies the Lord with respect to the goods of charity. Again, in the same prophet: 'Jehovah of hosts shall come down to fight upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof,' xxxi. 4: in this passage as in many others in the Word, mount Zion signifies the Lord, and hence every celestial thing, which is of love; and hills signify the inferior celestial, which is charity. Again, in the same prophet: "O Zion, that preachest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem that preachest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength,' xl. 9; to ascend into a high mountain, and preach good

tidings, is to worship the Lord from love and charity, which are inmost things, and therefore called highest, for whatever is inmost is called highest. In the same prophet: The inhabitants of the rock shall sing, and they shall shout from the top of the mountains,' xlii. 11: the inhabitants of the rock signify such as are in charity; to shout from the top of the mountain, signifies to worship the Lord from love. In the same : "How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of him that preacheth good tidings, that published peace, that preacheth good tidings of good, and publisheth salvation," lii. 7: to preach good tidings on the mountains, signifies in like manner to preach the Lord, from the doctrine of love and charity, and to worship Him from these. In the same: The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands,' lv. 12: signifying to worship the Lord from love and charity, which are mountains and hills, and from faith thence derived, which are the trees of the field. In the same: 'I will make all my mountains a way, and my pathways shall be exalted,' xlix. 11; where mountains signify love and charity; way and pathway signify the truths of faith therein originating, which are said to be exalted, when they come from love and charity, which are inmost. the same: 'He that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land for inheritance, and shall inherit the mountain of my holiness,' lvii. 13; signifying the kingdom of the Lord, where there is nothing but love and charity. In the same: 'I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect shall possess it,' lxv. 9: mountains signify the kingdom of the Lord and celestial goods; Judah signifies the celestial church. Again, in the same: Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I the high and holy One dwell,' lvii. 15; where high signifies what is holy. Hence mountains, from their height above the earth, signify the Lord and his holy celestial things; on which account also the Lord published the law from mount Sinai. The Lord also by mountains means love and

In

charity, where speaking of the consummation of the age he says, "That they who were in Judea should then flee to the mountains,' Matt. xxiv. 24, 16; Luke xxi. 21; Mark xiii. 14; where Judea signifies the church vastated.

"From hence then it plainly appears, what is signified by the waters covering the mountains, viz. that the persuasions of what was false extinguished all the good of charity."-Arcana Cœlestia, n. 790, 794, 795, 797.

Again in Exodus, Chap. xx., we are commanded to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy; and the reason there given is this, "For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." But in Deuteronomy (chap. v.) where the decalogue is repeated, the reason for keeping holy the Sabbath day is stated thus: "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.”

Here we observe, that, according to the literal sense, the two reasons assigned for keeping the Sabbath are very different. And if the first be the true reason, it may be fairly asked, why should a different one have been given in Deuteronomy? But if that given in Deuteronomy be the true ground and reason of the command to hallow the seventh day, then it would seem that this precept is by no means binding upon us; for we have never been servants in the land of Egypt, in the literal sense; and therefore we could not remember that Jehovah brought us out thence.

Now although the two reasons here given for keeping the Sabbath day holy, appear different, and are different in their literal sense, yet in their spiritual and true sense they are essentially the same.

According to the doctrines of the New Church, all words in Scripture, which, in their natural sense denote some portion of time, agreeably to the law of correspondence, denote in their spiritual sense certain states of

the Church, or of the human mind. Thus the six days' work of creation mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis, corresponds to and thence denotes the various states in man's regeneration, as was stated in our last lecture. The same, as has been said, is also true of those words in Scripture which, in their natural sense, refer to space; for time, be it remarked, is estimated by motion through natural space. The Sabbath day therefore, agreeably to what is said of the correspondence of time in general, denotes that blessed state of internal peace and rest, which a man enjoys after his regeneration is full and complete; or when truth in his understanding has become perfectly united with love in his will. And this also is the reason why the Sabbath is the seventh day; for seven is a number, which, according to the language of correspondence, denotes what is full and complete, carrying with it also the idea of what is holy. The fully regenerate state of man is a holy state, because of the presence and indwelling in his mind of the wisdom, love and power of the Lord, who alone is holy.

When man has passed through his several states of temptation and combat against evils and falses which are states of spiritual labor and are what is signified by the six days' work of creation-he then comes into that state of internal rest which is denoted by the Sabbath day. And this state, it will be observed, is the same as that described in our last lecture, when man is spiritually created into the image and likeness of God, and made A LIVING SOUL. Whence the sum of the precept in Exodus, to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day, when understood in its spiritual sense, is this: that we ought perpetually to bear in mind that holy union of divine good and divine truth in the Lord's Divine Human, which is the essential Sabbath or state of perfect rest, and remember that we can approach that state only in the degree that we have the principles of good and truth, or of charity and faith from the Lord, united in our minds. We are required to remember that we cannot attain to the state of spiritual rest denoted by the Sabbath, until we have worked, or have suffered the