That nevertheless whatever is fo received is imputed to him, on Account of Free will, wherein his Power of Willing and Thinking confifteth, and on Account of the Knowledges of Goodness and Truth allowed him, by Virtue whereof he may freely choose whatever is conducive to the Good of his temporal and eternal Life. He who regardeth thefe Particulars with a flight or careless Attention, may thence form many wild and extrava gant Conclufions; but he who fixeth the Eye of his. Underftanding fteadily and attentively upon them, maybe led by them to many fober Convictions of Truth and Wifdom; to promote the latter Effect, and to prevent the former, it was neceffary to premife feveral Decifions and Tenets, refpecting God and the Divine Trinity, and afterwards to establifh Decifions and Tenets refpecting Faith and Charity, Free-will, Reformation and Regeneration, and Imputation; and alfo refpecting Repentance, Baptifm, and the Holy Supper, as Means.

363. But in Order to fhew and evince the Truth of this Article of Faith, in which it is infifted, that the Lord, Charity, and Faith are united, and make One, like Life, Will, and Understanding in Man, and that, in Cafe they are divided, each perifheth, like a Pearl bruifed to Powder, it is expedient to confider it under the following Heads, I. That the Lord, with all his Divine Love, with all his Divine Wisdom, and with all his Divine Life, entereth by Influx into every Man. H. Confequently he entereth with all the Effence of Faith and Charity. III. But that thofe Things are received by Man, according to his particular Form. IV. And that the Man, who divideth the Lord, Charity, and Faith, is not a Form receptive, but a Form deftructive of them.

364. I. THAT THE LORD, WITH ALL HIS DIVINE LOVE, WITH ALL HIS DIVINE WISDOM, AND WITH ALL HIS DIVINE LIFE, ENTERETH BY INFLUX EVERY MAN.

INTO

In the Book of Genefis it is written, that Man was created an Image of God, and that God breathed into his Noftrils the Breath of Lives, Gen. i 27. ii. 7; by which Account is fignified, that Man is an Organ of Life, and not Life its felf; for it was not in God's Power to create another Being like unto himself, because, in fuch Cafe, there would have

f

been as many Gods as Men; nor was it in his Power to create Life, in like Manner as Light alfo is not creatable; but he could create Man a Form receptive of Life, as he created the Eye a Form receptive of Light; neither was it in God's Power, nor can it be, to divide his own Effence, that being one and individual. Since therefore God alone is Life, it follows indifputably, that God, by Virtue of his own Life, enlighteneth or vivifieth every Man, and that Man, without fuch Enlivening, or Vivification, would be as to his Flesh a mere Sponge, and as his Bones a mere Skeleton, without any more Life in him than a Clock hath, which deriveth all it's Motions from it's Pendulum and Weight, or Spring. This then being the Cafe, it follows alfo, that God entereth by Influx into every Man, with all his Divine Life, that is, with all his Divine Love, and all his Divine Wisdom, these two conftituting his Life, as may be seen above, No. 39, 49; for the Divine cannot be divided. But the Manner of God's. Influx with all his Divine Life may in fome Measure be conceived, from what we know in Regard to the Sun of this World; for as the Sun of this World with all it's Effence, confifting of Heat and Light, entereth by Influx into every Tree, Fruit, and Flower, and into every Stone, whether vile or precious, and as every Object taketh in it's Portion of this common Influx, and yet the Sun doth not divide his Light and Heat, and diftribute a Part here and a Part there, fo it is likewife with the Sun of Heaven, from which Divine Love proceedeth as Heat, and Divine Wisdom as Light; these two enter by Influx into Human Minds, as the Heat and Light of the Sun of this World enter into Bodies, and enliven or vivify them, according to the Quality of the recipient Forms, each whereof takes as much as is needful for it from the common Influx. In this Senfe we may apply what the Lord faith, "Your Father maketh his Sun to rife on the Evil, and on the Good, and fendeth Rain on the Juft, and on the Unjust," Matt. v. 45. The Lord alfo is Omniprefent, and wherefoever he is prefent, there he is with his whole Effence, and it is impoffible for him to take any Thing from it, and confer quently impoffible to give Part to one, and Part to another, but he giveth it whole, and to Man a Capacity to take little or much; he faith alfo, that he maketh his Abode with those who keep his Commandments, and that the Faithful are in

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Him, and He in them; in fhort, all things are full of God, and every one receiveth his Portion from that Fulnefs. The Cafe is fimilar with every common or general Substance, as with the Atmospheres and Oceans; the Atmosphere hath the fame Qualities in it's least Parts, as in it's greatest, and doth not difpenfe only a Part of itfelf for the Refpiration of Man, or to affift a Bird in flying, or a Ship in failing, or the Vain of a Windmill in turning the Mill, but every recipient Object taketh from the Atmosphere it's Measure and Portion, and applieth what is neceflary to it's own Purposes. The Cafe is fimilar alfo with a Granary ftored with Corn; the Granary doth not diftribute the Corn to the Owner, but the Owner takes daily from the Barn what he hath Occafion for.

365. II. CONSEQUENTLY THE LORD ENTERETH BY INFLUX INTO EVERY MAN, WITH ALL THE ESSENCE OF FAITH AND CHARITY.

This is a Confequence of the former Theorem, inasmuch as the Life of Divine Wisdom is the Effence of Faith, and the Life of Divine Love is the Effence of Charity, wherefore fince the Lord is prefent with what is peculiarly his, viz. Divine Wisdom and Divine Love, he is alfo prefent with all the Truths that are of Faith, and all the Goods that are of Charity; for by Faith is meant all the Truth which Man perceiveth, thinketh, and fpeaketh, by Influence from the Lord, and by Charity is meant all the Good with which he is affected by Virtue of the fame Influence, and which, in Confequence thereof, he willeth and practifeth. It was obferved above, that the Divine Love, which proceedeth from the Lord as the Sun, is perceived by the Angels as Heat, and that the Divine Wisdom, proceeding from the fame Source, is perceived as Light; now where the Conception cannot penetrate beyond Appearances, it may be imagined, that that Heat is bare naked Heat, and that that Light is bare naked Light, fuch as are the Heat and Light proceeding from the Sun of this World; whereas the Heat and Light, proceeding from the Lord as the Sun, contain in their Ground all the Infinities that are in the Lord, the Heat all the Infinities of his Love, and the Light all the Infinities of his Wifdom, and thus alfo in Infinity every Good that is of Charity, and every Truth that is of Faith; the Reafon is, 'becaufe that very Sun VOL. II U

itself is prefent every where in it's own Heat, and in it's own Light, and that Sun is the Sphere which proximately encompafleth the Lord, being an Emanation from his Divine Love and his Divine Wisdom together, for, as was obferved above, the Lord is in the Midft of that Sun. Hence then it is evident, that, in Confequence of the Lord's Omniprefence, Man hath all Power and Opportunity of taking from the Lord, for his own Ufe, every Good which is of Chrrity, and every Truth which is of Faith. That this is the Cafe, is plain from the Love and Wifdom of the Angels of Heaven, which they derive from the Lord, in that they are ineffable and incomprehenfible to the natural Man, and likewife capable of being multiplied to all Eternity. That the Heat and Light, which proceed from the Lord, contain Infinities in them, although they are perceived fimply as Heat and Light, may be illuftrated by various Cafes in the natural World; as for Inftance, the Sound of Man's Voice and Speech is heard only as a fimple Sound, and yet the Angels, when they hear it, perceive in it all the Affections of his Love, and likewife difcover of what Kind and Quality they are; that fuch are the hidden Contents of Sound, is fometimes even perceivable by Man from the Sound of the Perfon's Voice who converfeth with him; as for Example, he can difcover whether it containeth Contempt, or Raillery, or Hatred, and also whether it containeth Charity, Benevolence, or Joy, or other Affections; fimilar hidden Contents are in the Rays iffuing from the Eye, when one Perfon looks at another. This Cafe is capable alfo of Illuftration by the Fragrances arifing from a large extenfive Garden, or from flowery Fields; the fragrant Perfume, which they exhale, confifts of Thoufands and Millions of various Compounds, which still are perceived as a fingle Perfume. It is the fame too with many other Things, which, although outwardly they appear under one fingle Form, are yet inwardly. compounded of infinite Varieties. Sympathies and Antipathies are Nothing elfe but Exhalations of Affections from Minds, which ereate Delight in another according to their Similitudes, and excite Averfion according to their Diffimilitudes, or Differences; thefe, notwithstanding they are innumerable, and are imperceptible to any bodily Senfe, are yet perceivable by the mental Senfes as one fingle Affection, and according thereto all Conjunctions and Confociations in the

fpiritual World are regulated. These Inftances are adduced, in Order to illuftrate what was faid above concerning Spiritual Light, which proceedeth from the Lord, that it containeth in it all Things that relate to Wifdom, and confequently all Things that relate to Faith, and that it is this Light, whereby the Understanding feeth and perceiveth rational Things analytically, as the bodily Eye feeth and perceiveth natural Things fymmetrically, or according to their Meafures and Proportions.

366: III. THAT THE THINGS, WHICH ENTER BY INFLUX FROM THE LORD, ARE RECEIVED BY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS FORM.

By Form is here meant the State of Man with Respect to his Love and Wisdom together, confequently alfo, with Refpect to the Affections of the good Things of Charity, and at the fame Time the Perceptions of the Truths of his Faith. That God is One, Individual, and the Same, from Eternity to Eternity, not the Same Simple, but the Same Infinite, and that all Variablenefs and Changing are from the Subjects in which he abideth, was fhewn above. That the Form or recipient State is the Occafion of Variations, is evident from the Life of Infants, of Children, of young Men, of Adults, and of old People, in each of whom there is the fame Life, from Infancy to old Age, inafmuch as it is the fame Soul which animateth them in those several Stages; but as their State is changed according to their various Ages and Accommodations, fo alfo the Perception of Life is changed. The Life of God is prefent, in all it's Fulnefs, not only with good and pious Men, but also with the wicked and impious, and in like Manner with the Angels of Heaven, and the Spirits of Hell; the Difference is, that the Wicked obftruct the Way, and fhut the Gate, fo that God is prevented from entering into the inferior Parts of their Minds, whereas the Good prepare the Way, and open the Gate, and alfo invite God to enter into the inferior Parts of their Minds, as he dwelleth in the higher Regions, and thus they from the State of the Will to receive the Influx of Love and Charity, and the State of the Understanding to receive the Influx of Wifdom and Faith, confequently to receive God; but the Wicked obftruct that Influx by various Concupifcencies of the Flesh, and spiri