The Gist of Swedenborg Part 10

Heaven is a kingdom of uses.

No one who believes in G.o.d and lives well is condemned.

Shunning evils as sins is the mark of faith.

To resist one evil is to resist many; for every evil is united with countless evils.

If you wish to be led by the Divine Providence, employ prudence as a servant and attendant who faithfully dispenses his Lord's goods.

Where men know doctrine and think according to it, there the Church _may be_; but where men act according to doctrine, there alone the Church _is_.

It is not the desire of an intelligent man to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to see truth as truth, and falsity as falsity, and to confirm his insight, is the way of an intelligent man.

To reason only whether a thing is so or not, is like reasoning about the fit of a cap or a shoe without ever putting it on.

It is the essence of G.o.d's love to love others outside Himself, to desire to be one with them, and from Himself to render them blessed.

The absence of G.o.d from man is no more possible than the absence of the sun from the earth through its heat and light.

Truths perish with those who do not desire good.

Peace has in it confidence in the Lord--that He governs all things, and provides all things, and leads to a good end.

The Lord powerfully influences the humble.

Innocence is willingness to be led by the Lord.

One's distance from heaven is in proportion to the measure of one's self-love.

Peace in the heavens is like spring in the world, gladdening all things.

No two things mutually love each other more than do truth and good.

Love consists in desiring to give our own to another and in feeling as our own his delight.

A wicked man may shun evils as _hurtful_; none but a Christian can shun them as _sins_.

If a man studies the neighbor and the Lord more than himself, he is in a state of regeneration.

The Lord acts mediately through heaven, not because he needs the aid of the angels, but that they may have functions and offices, life and happiness.

Good is like a little flame which gives light, and causes man to see, perceive and believe.

Evil itself is disunion.

To serve the Lord is to be free.