life, are such as are in accord with the higher laws of the soul, or with the truths of the spiritual and celestial senses of the Word.
And every man, when he passes into the spiritual world, takes his own character with him. He goes there precisely the same individual that he was internally while living in the flesh. His inner and spiritual life as to all its predominant characteristics, remains. And the process of forming this inner life, is a process of clarifying or obscuring the spiritual vision—of improving or impairing the soul's eyesight. It is a process by which we become qualified to enjoy the blessed light and warmth of the Sun of heaven, or incapacitated for beholding his face and rejoicing in his kindling beams.
Note what this process is, or the manner of its procedure. As to our spirits we are always in the spiritual world, though at present unconscious of the fact. And every law of the spirit's life—every ray of spiritual truth that we receive—is a beam from the spiritual Sun. And as we obey the truth we have learned, we come to experience a positive delight in it. The vital element in truth is the Lord's love, and it is this which causes the delight. By religious obedience to the truth, our hearts become warmed and expanded and more and more receptive of this vital element; the range of our spiritual vision is extended, and we become receptive of more and still higher truth. With every act of self-denial prompted by religious principle, there comes as a rich reward an increased desire for more and higher truth, and an increased capacity for receiving it. And so by
