Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 10336

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10336. And in the heart of everyone that is wise in heart I have put wisdom. That this signifies all who will and do what is good and true for the sake of what is good and true, is evident from the signification of "heart," as being the inmost of man which is called his will; and as that is of the will of man which is of his love, therefore by the "heart" is also signified the love. (That the "heart" denotes the love, see n. 3635, 3883-3896, 9050; and that it denotes the will, n. 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495.) And from the signification of "one that is wise in heart," as being one who wills and loves what is good and true for the sake of what is good and true; for it is the part of one who is wise, and it is wisdom, to do truths from love (n. 10331); and it is the part of one who is wise in heart, and it is wisdom of heart, to do what is good from love; and from the signification of "putting wisdom in the heart," as being to do these things from the Lord, thus from the good of love, because the good of love is from the Lord; for all such will and do what is good and true for the sake of what is good and true, because good and the truth of good are the Lord with them, inasmuch as the things which are from Him, thus which are His, are also Himself. [2] For this reason it is said that the Lord is good itself and truth itself. That the Lord is good itself is evident from His own words: "Why callest thou Me good? None is good save one, God" (Matt. 19:16, 17; Luke 18:18, 19); also where the goods of love and of charity are recounted: "Insofar as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matt. 25:40). (That those are called "brethren" who are in good, thus that goods are so called, see n. 2360, 3803, 3815, 4121, 5409. Thus those are the Lord's "brethren" who are in good from Him, n. 4191, 5686, 5692, 6756.) And that the Lord is truth itself, is evident from these words: "Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6); and in another place: "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall lead you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself. He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you" (John 16:13-15). From this it is evident what is meant by "putting wisdom in the heart." [3] The like is also meant by "writing the law upon the heart," in Jeremiah:

I will put My law in the midst of them, and I will write it on their hearts. Neither shall they teach any longer a man his companion, or a man his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah; for they shall all know Me (Jer. 31:33, 34). To "write the law upon the heart" denotes to impart Divine truth to the will, thus to the love. When this is done, Divine truth is no longer drawn out from the memory, but is perceived from the good of love itself; and therefore it is said, "they shall teach no longer a man his companion, or a man his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah, for they shall all know Me." (That such are the celestial angels, who are in the inmost heaven, see at the places cited in n. 9277.) [4] What it is to will and do what is good and true for the sake of what is good and true, which is signified by "putting wisdom in the heart of everyone that is wise in heart," shall be briefly told. All who love the Lord above all things, and the neighbor as themselves, do what is good and true for the sake of what is good and true; for good and truth are the Lord Himself, as before said, and therefore when they love good and truth, that is, when they will and do them from love, they love the Lord; and so also do those who love the neighbor as themselves, because in the universal sense the neighbor is good and truth; for the neighbor is one's fellow citizen, it is society, it is our country, it is the church, and it is the Lord's kingdom; and to love the neighbor is to will well to these, that is, to will their good; and therefore it is their good which is to be loved; and when this is loved, the Lord is loved, because this good is from Him. [5] From this it is evident that love toward the neighbor, which is called charity, has in itself love to the Lord. If this love is not in it, then one's fellow citizen, society, our country, the church, and the Lord's kingdom, are loved for the sake of self, and thus are not loved from good, but from evil; for whatever is from man for the sake of self as the end is from evil. To love the neighbor for the sake of self is to love him for the sake of profit and honor as ends. The end is what determines whether it is from good or from evil, for the end is the love, because that which a man loves he has for his end. The end is also the will, for that which a man wills he loves. Consequently the end regarded, or the purpose, is the man himself; for a man is such as is his will, and such as is his love.


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