Page:Heaven Revealed.djvu/364

 guished into three degrees, viz., celestial, spiritual and natural; in like manner each of these into its three degrees; for the man who is in the good of faith and love to the Lord, is a heaven in the least form corresponding to the greatest; so in all things of nature. . . Hence it is that three in the Word signifies what is complete from beginning to end,"—A. C. n. 9825. Also A. R. 876.

"All in heaven are collected into societies, and the societies exist in vast numbers, and each society in its own place forms three heavens."—L. J. n. 27.

And this, again, may be seen beautifully illustrated in the human body, the visible image of the order of heaven. For every muscle in the body is a bundle of fibres, and each of these fibres is a collection of smaller threads or fibrilla. Every nerve is a collection of filaments, each of which is a collection of still smaller fibres. Every gland is a congregation of smaller glands, and each of these a conglobation of others still more minute. And the same three-foldness exists throughout all the kingdoms of nature. First, we have matter existing under three distinct forms, viz., solids, liquids, and gases—earth, water, and air—separated from each other by a discrete degree. Then there are the three natural kingdoms, mineral, vegetable, and animal. And each of these, again, is tri-partite. The animal kingdom is distinguished into beasts, birds, and fishes, corresponding to the three forms under which matter is known to exist, and respectively inhabiting the three elements, earth, air, and water. And in the vegetable kingdom we have grasses, shrubs, and trees, separated also by discrete deerees. And if we descend from generals to particulars, we shall everywhere find the same three-fold order; for