same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again." (Luke vi. 38.) But if an angel "wills to communicate what he has, to the intent that he may obtain that influx of satisfaction and blessedness in himself, the influx is dissipated." And so, in respect to the purely disinterestedness of their love, and their desire to have others share their blessedness, the angels resemble the Lord Himself, whose delight it is to impart of his own life and blessedness to his creatures.
No one in heaven aspires to be great above others. No one desires to have others honor or serve him personally. All are more desirous of serving than of being served. In heaven he is the greatest of all, who is the least of all," says Swedenborg; "for whosoever wills to be least, has the greatest happiness, and consequently is the greatest." Yet "heaven does not consist in desiring to be least with a view to being the greatest, for in such desire there lurks the lust of preeminence; but it consists in this, that every one should from the heart wish better to others than to himself, and should serve others with a view to their happiness, that is, from a principle of love that has no regard to selfish ends." (A. C, n. 452.) And the Lord says: "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matt, xx. 26, '7, '8.)
Here, again, we trace the resemblance of the angels to the Lord—precisely as it should be, if they are filled and animated by his Spirit.
