Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 1.djvu/262

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SALVATION OF THE SHEEP.

IV. After the last judgment was accomplished, there was joy in heaven and also light in the world of spirits such as was not before. The kind of joy there was in heaven after the dragon was cast down, is described in the Apocalypse xii. 10, 11, 12; and there was light in the world of spirits, because the infernal societies which were removed, had been interposed like clouds which darken the earth. A similar light also then arose in men in the world, giving them new enlightenment.

I then saw angelic spirits in great numbers rising from below, and elevated into heaven. They were the sheep reserved there and guarded by the Lord for ages back, lest they should come into the malignant sphere of the influence of the dragonists, and their charity be suffocated. These are they who are meant in the Word by those who went forth from the sepulchres; also by the souls of those slain for the testimony of Jesus, who were watching; and by those who are of the first resurrection. (Con. L. J. n. 8-31.)