Page:Sermons on the Ten Commandments.djvu/119

 Divine Humanity: so will it be his true Bride, and be united to him.

Thus we see that marriage, in its highest representation, typifies the union or conjunction of the Lord and the Church. In a secondary sense, it represents the conjunction of goodness and truth in the mind; and this conjunction, as before said, is heaven. But these two representations of marriage are, in fact, one and the same; for in proportion as the man of the church worships the Lord in his Divine Humanity, and at the same time does his commandments, there is effected in his mind the conjunction of goodness and truth, which is heaven within him. And it is effected in this manner:—The man of the church learns truth from the Divine Word, and strives to put it into practice; and in proportion as he does so, the Lord sends down good into that truth, and gives it life and makes it spiritual and celestial. Thus is effected the conjunction of goodness and truth with man, and in the degree this conjunction is effected, he comes into a heavenly state of mind; he enjoys something of the peace of heaven even here, and is preparing to enjoy it fully hereafter.

In like manner, in the parable of the ten virgins, we find the Lord again called a bridegroom, and heaven compared to a marriage. We read in that parable, that five of those virgins had oil in their lamps and five had none. By the ten virgins are represented all the professed members of the church: by those that had oil in their lamps, are signified such members of the church as have good as well as truth; while by those who had