Swedenborg Arcana Caelestia Vol. I (1750)

This state rarely exists today without temptation, misfortune, or sadness, which cause the things of the body and the world—that is, the things of one's own self—to grow quiet and, as it were, to die. Thus, the things of the external man are separated from those which are of the internal; in the internal are the remains, stored up by the Lord for this time and for this purpose.

9. The third state is that of repentance, in which the person speaks piously and devotedly from the internal man and produces good works, such as the works of charity. However, these are still inanimate, because the person thinks they come from himself; these are called the tender herb, then the herb seeding seed, and later the fruit-bearing tree.

10. The fourth state is when one is moved by love and illuminated by faith. Previously, the person spoke piously and produced good things, but from a state of temptation and distress, not from faith and charity. Therefore, these things are now kindled in the internal man and are called the two luminaries.

11. The fifth state is that the person speaks from faith and thereby confirms himself in truth and good. What he produces at this time are animate, and are called the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens.

12. The sixth state is when the person speaks truths and does good from faith and, consequently, from love. What he produces then are called the living soul and the beast. Because he now begins to act not only from faith but also from love, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called the image. His spiritual life is delighted and sustained by the things of the knowledges of faith and the works of charity, which are called his food. His natural life is delighted and sustained by the things of the body and the senses, from which conflict arises, until love reigns and he becomes a celestial man.

13. Not all who are being regenerated come to this state; some—the majority today—come only to the first; some only to the second; some to the third, fourth, or fifth; rarely to the sixth; and scarcely any to the seventh.

THE INTERNAL SENSE.

14. IN what follows, by the LORD is solely understood the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, and He is called the Lord without other names. He is acknowledged and adored as the Lord in the whole Heaven because all power in the heavens and on earth belongs to Him. He also commanded this, saying, "You call Me