Hardly anybody can find out what temptations or the struggles of temptation accomplish. They are the means of loosening and shaking off bad inclinations and false ideas and of developing a dread of them. They both provide a conscience and strengthen it. So they are the means by which people are regenerated. This is the reason why people who are being regenerated are sent into combat and undergo temptations. Those who do not go through this in their bodily life do it in the next life, if by their make-up they are able to be regenerated. For this reason the church is called "militant."

 The Lord, by His own strength or power, bore up alone under the most merciless struggles of temptation, for He has surrounded by all the hells, and He consistently defeated them.

For people who are in the struggles of temptation, the fight is the Lord's, and it is He who conquers. A person can accomplish nothing against evil or infernal spirits by his own power. They are in such close touch with the hells that ¡f one were defeated, another would rush ¡n, and so on forever! They are like the sea pressing every part of a dike.  If the dike were broken by a chink or crack, the sea would certainly  never

______________________________________________________

God tempts no one

______________________________________________________

give up rushing through and flooding until nothing was left intact. This is how it would be for a person if the Lord alone did not bear the struggles of the temptations. [Arcana Coelestia 1692]

In the deepest sense, God tempts no one. He is always getting people out of temptation so far as possible, or so far as releasing them does no harm, and He always has in view the good to which He can lead people during temptations, for these are the only terms on which God agrees to temptation. Although He is said to permit it, it is not according to the idea that people have of permission, the idea that in permitting He joins the conspiracy, since people can only comprehend that whoever permits something also wills it. On the contrary, what tempts and leads into temptation is the evil  in the  person. The  cause of  the evil  is not in  God at  all, any

______________________________________________________

what tempts and leads into temptation

is the evil in the person

______________________________________________________

any more than the cause of someone's doing wrong and suffering punishment for it is in the king or the judge. Anyone who excludes himself from the laws of Divine order, all of which relate to goodness and therefore truth, places himself under laws opposing Divine order, which are the laws of evil and falsity, and this results in punishments and torments. [Arcana Coelestia 2768]

In temptations, the hells are against the person, and the Lord is for the person. For every false concept that the hells bring up, there is a response from the Divinity.   The false concepts from hell are inserted and flow into the outer or worldly plane of the person, but the response from the Divinity flows into the inner or spiritual plane. The person does not notice this response from the Divinity as he does those false ideas, and ¡t does not stir up specific thoughts but influences them all. It is hardly noticeable except as hope and therefore consolation, but within these reassurances are countless things that the person does not know about—things of the sort that agree with his responses or  loves,  especially  responses to, or loves for, goodness and the

______________________________________________________

in temptations, it is not the person

who struggles, but the Lord

struggles on the person's behalf though

the person seems to be doing it

______________________________________________________

truth, which is the source of his conscience.

These things have been said to show that the life of the descendants of Israel in the wilderness delineates the series of temptations undergone by the people of the Lord's spiritual church who were freed. The purpose of their undergoing these temptations was to further prepare them for heaven, because temptations, and only temptations, confirm good qualities and truths and unite them. Through them love for others becomes a spiritual belief in love for others, and belief becomes a belief in love.

These things that the Lord said mean that people of the church must go through temptations: "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:38-9; Mark 8:3 I -8); "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'lf anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me'" (Matt. 16:24-5; Luke 9:23-4); "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27); Jesus said to the rich man, "Come, take up the cross, and follow Me" (Mark 10:21); "Do not think that I carne to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword" (Matt. 10:34).

But note that in temptations it is not the person who struggles, but the Lord struggles on the person's behalf, though the person seems to be doing it. And when the Lord fights for someone, that someone wins in every way.

Not many people are led into temptations these days, because people do not live by their beliefs, and therefore not conscientiously by the truth, and whoever ¡s not conscientiously truthful flowing to a good life, fails. Then his situation becomes worse than before. [Arcana Coelestia 8159^3-5]

Anyone who thinks that when he is tempted he can resist by his own strength, yields. The reason ¡s that he is mistaken and therefore gives himself the credit, assuming that he saves himself, and then he closes off the influence from the Divinity. But someone who believes that it is only the Lord who resists in temptations, succeeds. He is right, and he gives the Lord the credit, and recognises that he is saved by the Lord alone. Anyone who believes in loving other people gives the Lord all the credit for salvation and himself none.  [Arcana Coelestia 8172]

"Jehovah will fight for you" (Exodus. 14:14) means that only the Lord bears the struggles of temptations. Only the Lord bears the struggles of temptations and wins because only the Divinity can conquer the hells. If the Divinity did not act against them, they would flood in like a great, big ocean, one after another, which it is absolutely no use for anyone to resist, least of all since a person, as far as his selfhood goes, is nothing but badness and thus from hell.  The Lord extracts him from hell and then keeps him out of it.  [Arcana Coelestia 8175]

"And you shall be silent" (Exodus 14:14) means that they will accomplish nothing at all by their own strength. This is because "be silent" means to be at rest, and since the subject is tempta­tions, it means not to think or believe that any of their own strength will help. Still, they should not drop their hands and wait for direct invigoration but struggle as if it were up to them, yet acknowledge and believe that it is from the Lord.

As to its not being any of your business to get involved, people in temptation tend to drop their hands and turn to prayers, which they pour out ardently, not knowing that prayers do not work and that they should fight against the false notions and evils being hurled up from the hells. This battle is waged by means of true beliefs. These help, because they confirm good ways and truths against false ideas and evils. In the struggles of temptation people should strive as if on their own, but still acknowledge and believe that it is from the Lord. [Arcana Coelestia 8176]

If someone does not fight as if on his own, the goodness and the truth that flow in through heaven from the Lord do not become a part of him. But they do become a part of him when he fights as if on his own and yet believes that it is from the Lord. From this he gets a new self known as a heavenly self, which is a new will.

Besides, people who are under temptation and in no vital activity but prayer do not realise that they would not be prepared for heaven if the temptations were interrupted before running their full course, so they could not be saved. And for this reason the prayers of people under temptation are little heeded. For the Lord wants the result—the person's salvation—which He knows about but the person does not. The Lord does not act on prayers counterproductive to the goal of salvation.

And when someone in temptation succeeds, he does recognise the truth of the above. Someone who does not succeed, however, has doubts about Divine help and power, since he has not been heard. And sometimes he partly succumbs because he drops his hands.

These observations should show what is meant by not getting involved: namely, not to rely on prayer. For in prayer, one always thinks and believes that only the Lord knows if something is practical or not, so one presents the remarks to the Lord and prays that the Lord's will, not his own, be done, according to the Lord's words during His most grievous temptation in Gethsemane (See Matt. 26:39,42,44). [Arcana Coelestia 8179^2-3]

People who think that they earn points by their exploits cannot battle the evils that are from the hells, for no one can do this by himself. However, the Lord fights on behalf of people who do not think that they earn points by their exploits, and He wins. [Arcana Coelestia 9978]

An inner dimension, known as the inner person, is opened and is imparted to people by temptations. This is why everyone who is regenerated undergoes temptations. The inner person is opened and imparted to people by temptations because when someone is in temptations, which are struggles against evils and misconceptions, the Lord flows in from deep within and fights on the person's behalf. And a person can tell this from the fact that when he is in temptations he resists inwardly, for if he did not resist inwardly, he would not succeed but would give in.

This inner resistance does not come to the person's attention at the time, for when he is in temptations the evil and its falsities, which are attacking him, keep him in the dark. But the inner resistance comes to light after temptations, for those who are sensitive to the truth. For during worldly life people do not know about what the Lord brings into their inner life, since they are thinking on an outer or worldly level, and not with inward perception until they enter the next life. Still, when they win in temptations, they ought to recognise and acknowledge that they themselves did not fight, but the Lord fought for them. [Arcana Coelestia 10685]

For Comments please E-mail: information@swedenborg.ca
Read the next [11th] chapter "It all applies in our daily lives"

Or go to the previous [9th] chapter "Transformation"

[Top]

Introduction   

[1] Where temptations come from    
[2] The Lord's temptations    
[3] All kinds of temptations
[4] The struggles of temptation   
[5] Inward, rational and worldly    
[6] Evil from Hell and Good from Heaven
[7] The mechanics of temptation    
[8] The use or purpose of temptation    
[9] Transformation
[10] The Lord's help in temptation    
[11] It all applies in our daily lives
[12] The necessity of self-examination and repentance    

Appendix
An investigation into the implications of Spiritual Temptations