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But he should also "suck oil out of the flinty rock." Oil represents a still higher good, the good of a higher degree, the spiritual degree of life. The church was counselled to buy oil and wine of the Lord, oil corresponding to spiritual goodness, and wine to truth. The priests were annointed with oil, representing that the ministers of holy things must be holy from the crown of the head, or the highest, to the soles of the feet, or the lowest degree of their being, altogether holy. The foolish virgins took no oil in their lamps, which signifies that they were not in possession of the good of charity towards their neighbour; for “oil of unction," in the Word, signifies the good of love to the Lord, and "oil in lamps," the good of love to man. Oil, therefore, corresponds generally to the holy principle of love; and in our text it means that not only should the regenerating man enjoy natural good, but also the higher good of spiritual love. It is only a selfish pleasure after all, this natural delight. He sees beauty in nature, but only for himself. He hears the music that thrills and vibrates through external nature, but only for himself. He feels the delicate softness, smells the fragrant odours, enjoys the delicious tastes, but all only for himself. They are delights by the way, but only by the way; were he to stay here he would become selfish, sensual, devilish. The delight itself would vanish away, for it is only he in whom the higher degrees of life are opened who truly and really enjoys natural pleasures. Without these higher truths and this higher good they become mere animal gratifications, pleasing during the rush and glow of the passion they inspire, but palling on his taste, and disgusting him with surfeit.

Very different from this is the heart experience of the regenerating man here represented by Israel. Not only honey, or the delights of natural good, but oil, or spiritual good, should he suck out of truth. But he was not to rest contented with all this, for further and higher enjoyments were before him still,-" butter of kine, and milk of sheep." The Lord, by Isaiah (vii. 22.) says,—" And it shall come to pass in that day (or state of regeneration) a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep; and for the abundance of milk they shall give he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land." It is evident that something more than the literal sense is intended here. Butter of kine signifies the good of the celestial-natural principle, and milk of sheep the truth of the celestial-spiritual principle of man's nature.

We must not fail to carefully observe, that after attaining to the celestial-natural degree of good, the next stage in regeneration is the attainment of a still higher truth; that is, that a man's

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knowledge of truth is first elevated, before his will can appropriate the good connected with it; that is, he must "learn to do well" before he can 'do well." This is important to be remembered, for it affords a clue to the whole process of regeneration, and the reason of this presents us with a view of a principle, simple as all God's works are, but equally as potent.

"Fat of lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats," refer to other and still increasingly superior goods, into the possession and enjoyment of which the regenerating man is to enter. "Fat," throughout the whole Word, signifies the interior good of anything to which it is applied, the greatest good of all. "I shall be satisfied with the fatness of thy house," (Ps. xxxvi. 8.) says the psalmist, and also—" All thy paths drop fatness." (lxv. 11.) "Let your soul delight in fatness," says the Lord, by Isaiah. (lv. 2.) "I will satiate thy soul with fatness," he says, by Jeremiah, (xxxi. 14.) evidently referring to the interior or the highest good of all the many goods to be bestowed on those who diligently seek and faithfully serve Him. "The fat of lambs," signifies celestial good, the good of celestial innocence, the good that procures the happiness of the inmost or the celestial heaven. "The rams of Bashan and the goats," signify the goods of the lower degrees of the second and first heavens, the spiritual and the natural; and by the whole phrase, "the fat of lambs and of rams of Bashan, and of goats," is intended all the goods which a man or angel can possess. He shall be complete in all his possessions, and perfect in all his ways. The Lord has designed 66 a fulness of joy" for the saved and sanctified; and it shall be a fulness of joy, because it shall be complete in every particular. All the goods of the celestial, the spiritual, and of the natural degrees of life shall become his own; he shall eat of the fat things and be filled, or as the Lord, through Jeremiah, emphatically expresses it-"I will satiate thy soul with fatness."

This is no fiction of poetry, no wild rhapsody of unrestrained enthusiasm, no methodised madness, but the unfailing promise of the Eternal, who has found us susceptible of happiness, and whose omniscience has devised the plan by which to usher humanity into a fulness of joy!

The last great promise of the text is the grand capstone on this pyramid of blessings:-"And thou shalt drink the pure blood of the grape." By this is signified the full appropriation of divine truth in immediate conjunction with the Divine Humanity of the Lord. The promise of the Lord to his disciples, at his last supper with them, was— "I will no more drink of this fruit of the vine till I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Drinking new wine," "the pure blood

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of the grape," is the imbibing of divine truth immediately from the fountain of all truth, when God should be with them as their all in all. This is the grand goal and ultimatum of all the hopes of the true Christian, when he should dwell in the tabernacle of the Lord, in the highest heaven, to go out no more for ever, one of the saved and the sanctified, dwelling in the Lord Jesus, and He in them. May we all, beloved brethren, through the Lord's mercy, attain to this happy state!

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THE PRIESTHOOD.

Two papers, entitled "The Lord's Harvest," with the signature of Argus," and treating more especially on the ministry of the New Church, appear in the August and October numbers of the Repository. We beg to offer some reasons for dissenting from several things put forth in those papers.

“Argus” is dissatisfied with some recent changes tending to promote equality among brethren in the Conference. He considers, for reasons which he adduces, that such equality ought not to exist in ecclesiastical matters. The writer of the present paper thinks, on the contrary, for reasons he will adduce, that Conference, in beginning these changes, has acted wisely, and gone in the direction of true order. He thinks that the changes already made have had a salutary effect; and that if this course is persisted in until equality exists in every respect, it will do much credit to the Conference, increase the influence of ministers, and strengthen the union which exists in the church.

Argus" conceives that ministers have claims superior to others in the church; that they are not duly honoured; and that, according to Swedenborg, there should "external dignity and honour be accorded to the priesthood, somewhat similar to that accorded to rank and royalty." He does not seek to make this honour and dignity harmonize with that greatness which consists in men becoming as little children, and being the least of all and the servants of all; nor does he shew how the men of such a priesthood would imitate that great High-priest who was meek and lowly of heart, who did not receive honour from men, and was among his followers " as he that serveth."

Argus" adduces in favour of priestly government the following passage from Swedenborg :-" Governors over those things amongst men which relate to heaven, or over ecclesiastical matters, are called priests, and their office the priesthood." (H. D. 3.14.) This may

indeed seem to teach that the New Church is to have a priesthood, and to be governed by it; but what must we say to the following passage, which "Argus," "for the sake of brevity," has omitted to quote?—

"It is not to be understood that the priesthood is to be loved in a superior degree, and from it the church, but that the good and truth of the church should be loved, and the priesthood on their account; this only serves, and as it serves is to be honoured." (T. C. R. 415.)

Here is a passage apparently opposed to the former one, for while he there says that the priesthood is to rule, he says in the latter passage that it is only to serve. Does the author here contradict himself? Did he write loosely, without knowing or considering what he said? Certainly not. He is here consistent with himself, and can easily be shewn to be so. He never meant, he never could mean, that the New Church, in its normal state, should be subjected to priestly government. On proceeding to shew his consistency, we will quote, along with the paragraph which speaks of priestly government, a paragragh preceding it. Swedenborg says, in H. D. 312—

"Order cannot be maintained in the world without governors, who are to observe all things which are done according to order, and which are done contrary to order; and are to reward those who live according to order, and to punish those who live contrary to order. If this be not done, the human race must perish; for the will to command others, and to possess the goods of others, is hereditarily connate with every one, whence proceed enmities, envyings, hatreds, revenges, deceits, cruelties, and many other evils: wherefore, unless men were kept under restraint by the laws, and by rewards suited to their loves, which are honours and gains for those who do good things; and by punishments contrary to those loves, which are the loss of honour, of possessions, and of life, for those who do evil things, the human race would perish."

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314. Governors over those things among men which relate to heaven, or over ecclesiastical matters, are called priests, and their office the priesthood. But governors over those things among men which relate to the world, or over civil concerns, are called magistrates, and their chief, where such a form of government prevails, is called the king."

Here he plainly gives the reasons why there must be priests and kings to govern in society. It is because men are so depraved, so vicious and disorderly, that without such governors, to restrain men's evils, society would perish. But it is equally evident that if those reasons did not exist, such governors might be dispensed with. They are a necessity, and nothing more. This is seen from a note to H. and H. 220, where the author says" When the loves of self and the world began to prevail, men were compelled for security to subject themselves to governments." This is plain enough; it is plain that if evils did not exist, or

if men could be kept in order without the government of kings and priests, it would be orderly for those officials to be dispensed with. They would not be necessary, because their occupation would be gone.

This

There is, however, one difficulty, which needs to be considered. Our author requires priests as well as magistrates in the work of keeping order and restraining evils. But priests have to do with the church, and the church is composed of men who are orderly, or if not so, they are expelled from membership. We see no need of governors to punish evil-doers in our societies. Did Swedenborg mean his remarks on ecclesiastical government to apply to the New Church? It certainly seems so, for they are in a chapter connected with others which describe the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. Some persons have held that this chapter is for the Old Church, because the author's remarks are opposed to the genius of the New Dispensation, as well as to his teachings elsewhere to the effect that all men are to be equal, and be brethren, and servants to one another; also from one particular passage, where he says that priests are to teach "according to the doctrine of their church." (H. D. 315.) Here is the difficulty just mentioned, which we think can be satisfactorily solved in one, and only in one way. way of solution is by considering that Swedenborg did not contemplate the New Church as a separate sectarian party or denomination, but that he had especially in view its principles, and thought of the most probable and practicable mode in which they would be gradually adopted among the mass of men. We do not mean that he would forbid receivers becoming a separate class of worshippers, but only that he expected they would remain, at all events for a while, with their previous religious connections. We verily believe that he thought in this way, for it is certain that it was not given him to know the future of the New Church, and that he was in principle opposed to sectarianism. He thought that his principles would silently, and by little and little, permeate other systems. Hence he spoke of what would be in future the general state of things. He said that the world would outwardly continue the same in its ecclesiastical and civil affairs. He was not, as a rash man, going to turn the world upside down; not going to disturb governments. He was a man of conservative, prudent, practical principles. He was for peace and order, and sought to save and not destroy. He would only insinuate into men's minds ideas which should really benefit them, and which should, in a quiet way, work and work until men would outgrow their institutions both in church and state, and then such institutions might be changed at pleasure, as men change their dress.