995. (v. 12) And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates. That this signifies the state of the church manifested as to things rational, and thence as to intelligence, is evident from the signification of the angel pouring out the vial, as denoting the state of the church manifested, as has been shown frequently above. And from the signification of Euphrates, as denoting the Rational (concerning which see above, n. 569). It is called a great river, from the intelligence which man has from the Rational, for a river signifies intelligence (see n. 518). For all the intelligence of the natural man is from his Rational, this being the medium between the Spiritual and the Natural, and, therefore, it first receives influx from the spiritual world and transmits it into the Natural. Hence it is, that before the spiritual mind, which is called the spiritual man, can be opened, and afterwards influx pass into the natural mind, the Rational must be cultivated; and this is done by means of scientifics, which are natural and moral truths, and by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. The rational mind is opened from below by these; but as soon as the spiritual mind is opened, and influx thence takes place, the rational mind is opened from above, and thus the Rational, as a medium, affording a passage, the natural mind, in which are scientifics and knowledges, is thereby subordinated to the spiritual mind, thus to heaven and the Lord.
Continuation concerning the Sixth Precept:-
[2] Love truly conjugial is from the Lord alone. The reason of this is, that it descends from the love of the Lord towards heaven and the church, and, consequently, from the love of good and truth. For it is the Lord from whom good is, and it is heaven and the church in which truth is. It follows, therefore, that love truly conjugial in its primary essence is love to the Lord. This is why no one can be in love truly conjugial, and in its pleasantness, delights, blessings, and joys, except the man who acknowledges the Lord alone, that is, the Trinity in Him. He who approaches the Father as a person by Himself, or the Holy Spirit as a person by Himself, and these not in the Lord, does not possess conjugial love. The genuine Conjugial especially exists in the third heaven, because the angels there are in love to the Lord, acknowledge Him alone as God, and do His commandments. To do the commandments, with them, is to love Him. The commandments of the Lord are, to them, the truths in which they receive Him. There is conjunction of the Lord with them, and of them with the Lord; for they are in the Lord because in good, and the Lord is in them, because in truths. This is the heavenly marriage, from which love truly conjugial descends.
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