Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/195

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OPENING OF SPIRITUAL SIGHT

mate, and are called the fishes of the sea and the birds of the heavens.

"The sixth state is when from faith and thence from love he speaks true things and does good things; the things which he then brings forth are called the living soul and creature. And because he then begins to act from love also, as well as from faith, he becomes a spiritual man, which is called an image of God. His spiritual life is delighted and sustained by the things that are of the knowledges of faith and of the works of charity, which are called his food; and his natural life is delighted and sustained by the things that are of the body and the senses; from which there is a combat until love reigns and he becomes a celestial man.

"They who are regenerated do not all arrive at this state, but some, and the greatest part at this day, only to the first; some only to the second; some to the third, the fourth, and the fifth; few to the sixth, and scarce any to the seventh."

The seventh state, here but alluded to, is described in the next chapter, in the explanation of the seventh day. After this summary of the contents of the first chapter, he begins with the

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