Page:Sermons on the Ten Commandments.djvu/23

 We here learn the great spiritual law, on account of which the Commandments are expressed for the most part in the negative form, namely, that the first thing of religion is for man to shun evils as sins. Till he does this, all the good he may do, is inwardly not good, for he does it only for the sake of himself and the world. No man can do good which is truly spiritual and heavenly, except from the Lord; and such good cannot flow in from the Lord, so long as the interior mind is full of evils, as every man's is by nature. The first thing, then, to be done is to have those evils removed; and this is effected in proportion as man refrains from doing them; that is, in proportion as he resists and struggles against those evils, when they strive to come forth into act. "So far," says the New Church Doctrine, "as evils are removed as sins, so far good affections flow in, and man afterwards does good not for himself, but for the Lord. As,

"First: So far as he does not worship other gods, that is, so far as he does not love himself and the world above all things, so far the acknowledgment of God flows in.

"Secondly: So far as he does not profane the name of God, that is, so far as he shuns the cupidities arising from the love of self and the world, so far he loves the holy things of the Word and the Church, for these are the name of God.

"Thirdly: So far as he avoids thefts, thus also frauds and unlawful gains, so far sincerity and justice enter, and he acts sincerely and justly, not for himself, but for the Lord.