the offspring of the received activity of the internal man, (that is, of the Lord through the internal man,) whose affections, being thus brought down, are rendered consciously delightful to their possessor, and by means of that delight the external man yields him food for the sustenance and maintenance of his spiritual life and energy. But when the earth is spoken of as being desolate or unfruitful, in the purely spiritual sense is denoted the state of the external man as felt and perceived by the regenerating member of the church, during the period that his perceptions of truth are obscured, and the perceptible activity of his good affections, together with his usual sense of heavenly joy, is suspended, by the violence of temptation.

All things of the earth which are noxious and unpleasing, represent falses or evils in the visible church, or things or principles in the external man, not as yet subdued or regenerated. When the sun is mentioned as the cause of pain,-as scorching or smiting,—it then represents evil love entering from hell, and prevailing in the church; or entering the mind of the regenerating Christian under temptation, by influx from evil spirits who assault him. When fire and water are mentioned as yielding uses, they signify love and truth; but when mentioned as the agents of desolation and destruction, they signify evil love and falsehood. This may shew what is meant by the good sense of terms, and their opposite sense, frequently alluded to in the expositions of the spiritual sense.

The parts of the human body, according to their function and use, correspond to and signify the several mental functions or faculties of the soul or spiritual body. All the natural actions of man also, such as eating and drinking, seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling, sleeping and waking, working and resting, lying down, sitting, standing, walking, and running, are significative of corresponding operations of the spirit of man, or states of his mind and life. But space cannot bere be afforded for a specific explanation of their meaning.

In regard to the doctrinal and practical precepts contained in the Word, they will be understood by every one according to the state of his knowledge and life. The natural or external Christian will look at the precepts of faith in and through the cloud of appearances; and at the precepts of life chiefly as they refer to the outward conduct; but the spiritual and internal Christian will see the truths of faith in the light of heaven; and will contemplate the precepts of life as they apply to the springs of outward conduct, the voluntary and intellectual principles of the mind. Thus the more interior perception

of the latter character will attach a spiritual sense to a doctrinal or practical precept, which will be a distinct existence from, and as so much additional to, the natural and external perception of the former.

He that would grow in the knowledge of divine and heavenly truth; and by the true use of such knowledge attain to heavenly purity and peace, must steadfastly bear in mind, and vigorously act upon, that consolatory and encouraging declaration of the Lord, where he says, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but SHALL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE."

320

AN IMPORTANT THOUGHT

SHEWING

THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

FROM the knowledge of the spiritual sense of the terms neighbour, and enemy, when mentioned in the Word, the following instructive conclusions are deduced, illustrative of the comprehensiveness of Christian love.

The objects of Christian love are persons, and also principles. In its personal application, Christian love embraces all mankind, who, as the objects of that love, are divisible into two general classes, the good and the bad, or, in other words, neighbours and enemies; for by these terms the good and the bad are signified in the spiritual sense of the Word.

But Christian love may be applied exclusively to principles, altogether abstractedly from persons, and according to this application, the term neighbour, in the spiritual sense, signifies all good, and the term enemy, signifies all evil. Viewed absractedly, these two, good and evil, are the two great objects of Christian love.

This seeming paradox, that "evil" is an object of Christian love is first to be explained. It is to be observed, that by "evil" is not here meant evil in practice, which is called sin, but evil in its abstract principles; for the practice of evil is to be hated without qualification, and without reserve. How the principle is to be loved, while the practice is to be hated, thus appears. To every principle necessarily belongs its proper state of consciousness, which is such as its quality is. Agreeably to this law, a good principle is a happy principle, and an evil principle is an unhappy principle. There is no such thing as a created, or original evil principle; but every evil

principle is an origanilly good principle of the external man in a state of perversion. In this perverted or sinful state, it may be loved with an idolatrous love, which is shewn in a desire to perpetuate its perverted state; or it may be loved with a Christian love, which is shewn in a desire to change it from an evil and unhappy principle to a good and happy one; and this desire is the spiritual sense of the precept, "Love your enemies." Thus it is seen, that the love of a principle, which is capable of being converted from evil and wretchedness to good and happiness, is exactly analogous to the love of a person, who is capable of being converted from a state of sin to one of holiness: it is, therefore, no greater incongruity to love the one than to love the other; for how, it may be asked, is the person to become converted except by the conversion of his principles? To hate evil in its practice, or to hate sin, is the same as to hate the abuse of a faculty, but this is perfectly consistent with loving the faculty, even in its state of abuse, for the sake of the possible use which the faculty is capable of, when corrected, and which possible use is goodness. To hate the sin, or the continuance of abuse, is the same act of the mind as to love the goodness which would come by the discontinuance of the abuse or sin. Hence, also, it appears, that to love evil in one sense, or to love an enemy, is perfectly compatible with hating evil in another sense, or that sense which is signified by David's hatred of his enemies. And not only are these two senses perfectly compatible, but both the love and the hatred spring from the same principle, namely, Christian love. This principle hates the practice of sin, which is opposed to it; while it loves and desires the conversion of that which sins, because such conversion is most agreeable to it; it would destroy the practice, but preserve, by rectifying, the principle; the practice is to be regarded with unmixed hatred, but the principle with mercy and pity.

The term charity, in its confined, or strict application, denotes love to the neighbour only; consequently love is a more comprehensive term than charity, inasmuch as it includes love to an enemy, as well as to a neighbour.

A good man is to be loved as a neighbour; but if he should fall away and become a decidedly bad man, Christian love is not then to forsake him; but it is to change its form from charity to mercy; and because charity can no longer love him as a neighbour, mercy is to love him as an enemy: and he is to be loved as an enemy, because all evil involves more or less of enmity towards God and man, ac

cordingly as it is of a more or less confirmed, or of a temporary character.

Thus it appears that when the object of Christian love changes from a good to a bad man, the Christian, who is ruled by that love, is so far to change in his love, as to pass from the obligation to love him as a neighbour, to the obligation to love him as an enemy. The Lord's precept "love thy neighbour" having become inapplicable, the precept "love thine enemy" is to take its place. Under the guidance of the latter precept, the Christian prays for the evil-doer, even although he despitefully uses him, and persecutes him.

The subject is next to be viewed more abstractedly. Suppose a good man temporarily to pass from the dominion of good, and, through infirmity, to come temporarily under the influence of some evil of the self hood, such change, however, not at all indicating a radical or total change from good to evil, the case would then come under the general law of Christian love in the following manner. All that is good in a good man is from the Lord, and is to be loved as a neighbour, because the Lord, as to the Divine Good of his Love, is preeminently our neighbour; and all that is of the proprium or selfhood even in a good man, is evil, for it consists of principles as yet in a state of perversion, and this evil, viewed abstractedly, is our enemy, whose perverted activity is to be hated, while itself is to be loved, that is, as an enemy; and it is loved as an enemy when it is desired to be corrected in order to its unhappiness being removed, that, becoming a good principle, it may have such a consciousness as is called happiness.

While any evil is in temporary activity, that is, while any principle is in a state of perverted activity in an erring brother, it is to be condemned and resisted by us; but not by and from hatred and resentment, because this is not a desire to correct, but a desire to destroy; but it is to be resisted by and from Christian love; that is, for the good of our erring brother, and not for our own self-gratification.

But let us bring the principles of charity and mercy, and their application in practice, to bear upon a still more specific case. Suppose a good man to be engaged in conversation with us; so long as, out of the abundance of his heart he bringeth forth good things, those good things are to be loved with charity or love to the neighbour, because they are good principles in action. But suppose he should pass out of this state, owing to the occurrence of some cause