gelic heavens He appears as a Sun; since His coming into the world, in a stronger radiation and in greater splendour, than before His coming. D. L. W. 221.

And we beheld His glory, &c.-That glory is predicated of the Divine Truth which is from the Divine Human [principle] of the Lord, and that it is attributed to the Lord as a king, is manifest from these words in John, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth;" in which passage the Word denotes Divine Truth, which, since it proceeds from the Lord, is the Lord Himself; hence glory is predicated of Divine Truth. A. C. 5922.

That glory and glorification, when predicated of the Lord, denotes the unition of His Human with the Divine Itself which was in Him, thus with Jehovah His Father, by which unition He made His Human also Divine Good, appears from the passages in the Word, where glory and glorification are named, in relation to Jehovah or the Lord; as in Isaiah, "The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken," xl. 5; again, "I Jehovah have called thee in justice, to open the blind eyes, to bring out of prison him that is bound, I am Jehovah, this is My name, and My glory I will not give to another," xlii. 6, 7, 8; and again, "Upon thee shall Jehovah arise, His glory shall be seen upon thee; the nations shall walk to thy light," lx. 2, 3; in these passages the Lord is treated of, and by the "glory of Jehovah" is meant the Lord as to Divine Truth, for Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is the glory of Jehovah. That the "glory of Jehovah" is the Lord as to Divine Truth proceeding from His Divine Good, which is Jehovah or the Father, the Lord Himself teaches in John, "The Word was made flesh, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father." A. C. 10,053. See also A. R. 897.

Full of grace and truth.-Grace here denotes the delight of truth; the reason is, because there are two things which proceed from the Lord, both in their origin united; but with those who receive, a distinction is made, for there are some who receive Divine Truth more than Divine Good, and there are some who receive Divine Good more than Divine Truth; they who receive Divine Truth more than Divine Good, are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and are hence called spiritual, but they who receive Divine Good more than Divine Truth, are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and are hence called celestial. To those who are in the spiritual kingdom,

it is given by the Lord, to be in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, and this Divine [principle] is what is called grace; hence it is, that so far as any one is in that affection, so far he is in the divine grace of the Lord; nor is there any other divine grace given with man, spirit and angel, than to be affected with truth because it is truth, inasmuch as in that affection they have heaven and blessedness. Whether we speak of the affection of truth, or the delight of truth, it is the same thing; for affection without delight is not given. This is what is specifically meant in the Word by grace, as in John, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth: of His fulness have we all received, grace for grace, because the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," i. 14, 16, 17; inasmuch as grace denotes the affection and delight of truth, therefore it is said, "grace and truth;" and in Luke, "After that the Lord explained the prophecy of Esaias in the synagogue concerning Himself, thus the Divine Truth, all wondered at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth," iv. 22; the Divine Truths, which the Lord spake, are called "words of grace going forth from His mouth," because accepted, grateful, and delightful. In general, divine grace is all that which is given by the Lord, and whereas all that has reference to faith and love, and faith is the affection of truth from good, therefore it is specifically meant by divine grace, for to be gifted with faith and love, or with the affection of truth from good, is to be gifted with heaven, thus with eternal blessedness. A. E. 22.

Mercy and grace are distinguished in the Word, and indeed according to the difference of those who receive: mercy is applied to those who are celestial, but grace to those who are spiritual; for the celestial acknowledge nothing else but mercy, and the spiritual scarcely any thing else than grace; the celestial do not know what grace is, the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is, which they make one and the same with grace; this is a consequence of the humiliation of each, which so differs; they who are in humiliation of heart implore the Lord's mercy, but they who are in humiliation of thought ask for grace, and if they implore mercy, it is in a state of temptation, or they do it with the mouth only, not with the heart. A. C. 598.

Inasmuch as there are two principles to which all things of the church have reference, viz. love and faith; and whereas mercy is of love, and grace and also truth is of faith, there

fore in the Word mention is made of mercy and grace when the Lord is implored, and of mercy and truth when the Lord is described, as in the following passages, "Thy mercy is before mine eyes, and I walk in thy truth," Psalm xxvi. 3; again, "Thy mercy, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, and thy truth even to the skies," Psalm xxxvi. 6; again, "God shall send from the heavens His mercy and His truth: thy mercy is great even to the heavens, and thy truth even to the skies," Psalm lvii. 11; again, "Mercy and truth shall meet together, justice and peace shall kiss each other," Psalm lxxxv. 11; and again, "The mercy of Jehovah I will sing for ever, to generation and generation, thy truth with my mouth; since I have said, mercy shall be built for ever, in the heavens themselves thou shalt confirm thy truth: justice and judgment are the support of thy throne, mercy and truth shall stand before thy face," Psalm lxxxix. 2, 3, 5; in which passages mercy denotes love, and truth denotes faith. A. C. 10,577.

Verse 15. John bare witness of Him, and cried, &c.-Inasmuch as crying or shouting is an act, which corresponds to living confession or acknowledgement from a principle of faith, therefore also amongst the ancients the ritual of crying or shouting was in use, when such a thing was signified; and on this account, in the Word throughout, mention is made of crying or shouting, when the subject treated of is concerning confession and acknowledgement from a principle of faith, as it is said of John the Baptist, "That he witnessed concerning Jesus, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, who coming after me, was before me, because He was prior to me: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord," John i. 15, 23. A. C. 5323.

That the Lord was from eternity, is manifestly taught in these words, "This was He, who coming after me, was before me, because He was prior to me," John i. 15. A. C. 3704.

Verse 16. And of His fulness have all we received.-The Lord is Omnipresent, and wheresoever He is present, there He is with His whole essence; and it is impossible for Him to take any thing from it, and consequently impossible to give part to one, and part to another; but He gives it whole, and affords man a capacity of taking either little or much. He says also that He makes His abode with those who keep His commandments, and that the faithful are in Him, and He in them. In short, all things are full of God, and every one takes his portion from that fulness. Consequently the Lord enters by influx into every man, with the whole es

sence of faith and charity. Hence then it is evident, that in consequence of the Lord's Omnipresence, man has power and opportunity of taking from the Lord, for his own use, every good of charity and every truth of faith. T. C. R. 364, 365.

Where the mind is framed in conformity to the Divine Will, the Holy Scriptures are as a mirror, wherein man sees God, every one after a manner and measure peculiar to himself; this mirror is composed of those truths that a man learns from the Word, and imbibes into his soul by a suitable life and conversation; from whence it is evident that the Holy Scriptures are the fulness of God. T. C. R. 6. See also Exposition, chap. xv. 26.

Verse 18. No one hath seen God at any time; the Onlybegotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought Him forth to view.—It is impossible for any thing of doctrine to proceed from the Divine Itself, except by the Divine Human, that is, by the Word, which in the supreme sense is Divine Truth from the Divine Human of the Lord; what proceeds immediately from the Divine Itself cannot be apprehended even by the angels of the inmost heaven; the reason is, because it is infinite, and thus transcends all comprehension, ever such as is angelic; but what proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, this they are capable of comprehending, since it treats of God as of a Divine Man, concerning whom some idea may be formed from the human; and the idea which is formed respecting the Human is accepted, whatsoever it may be, provided that it flows from the good of innocence, and is in the good of charity; this is what is meant by the Lord's words in John, "No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought Him forth to view," i. 18; again, "Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape," v. 37; and in Matthew, "No one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall be willing to reveal," xi. 27. A. C. 5321.

The Infinite Itself, which is above all the heavens, and above the inmost principles appertaining to man, cannot be manifested except by the Divine Human which appertains to the Lord alone; the communication of the Infinite with finite beings cannot be given from any other source; which also is the reason why, when Jehovah appeared to the men of the most ancient church, and afterwards to the ancient church, also to Abraham and the prophets, He was manifested to them as a Man, and that this Man was the Lord, He Him

self openly teaches in John, "Your father Abraham exulted to see my day, and he saw and rejoiced: verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM," viii. 56, 58. Hence it may be evident, that the Infinite Esse, which is Jehovah, cannot in any wise be manifested to man, except by the Human Essence, thus by the Lord; and thus that He has been manifested to no one but to the Lord alone: to the intent also that He might be present with and conjoined to man, after that man had removed himself altogether from the Divine [Being,] and had immersed himself in filthy lusts, and thereby in mere corporeal and terrestrial things, He actually assumed by nativity the human essence, that thus he might still adjoin the Infinite Divine to man so far removed from it, who must otherwise have perished in the death of the damned to eternity. A. C. 1990.

The Divine Good cannot be received by man, not even by an angel, but only by the Divine Human of the Lord, which is meant by these words in John, "No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath brought him forth to view." But Divine Truth can be received, in which Truth Divine Good can dwell, with a difference according to reception. A. C. 4180.

The conjunction of man with the Lord is not with His supreme Divine [principle] Itself, but with His Divine Human for man can have no idea at all concerning the supreme Divine [principle] of the Lord, inasmuch as it so transcends his idea, that it altogether perishes and becomes no idea; but concerning his Divine Human he can have an idea; for every one is conjoined by thought and affection, in cases where he can have an idea, but not in cases where he can have no idea; when the Human of the Lord is thought of, if there be sanctity in the idea, the holy principle is also at the same time thought of, which from the Lord fills heaven, thus heaven is likewise thought of, for heaven in its complex resembles one man, and this from the Lord; hence it is that conjunction cannot be given with the supreme Divine [principle] of the Lord, but with His Divine Human, and by the Divine Human with His Supreme Divine; this is the reason why it is said in John, "That no one hath seen God at any time, except the Only-begotten Son," and that no approach is given to the Father, but by Him; also that He is the Mediator. This may be manifestly known from this consideration, that all they within the church, who say that they believe in a Supreme Being, and yet despise the Lord, are they who believe nothing at all, not even that there is a heaven, nor