Page:Sermons on the Ten Commandments.djvu/94

 Commandment, let us now turn to the spiritual sense. By honoring father and mother, in the spiritual sense, is signified to love Goodness and Truth: for father, in the spiritual sense, signifies Divine good, and mother, Divine truth. The reason of this signification of father is, because the Lord, in his character of Goodness or Love, is the Father and Creator of all. From his Divine love, he was impelled to create the vast universe, in order that he might fill it with intelligent beings, whom he might love and make happy, and by whom he might be loved in return. But Divine Love could produce nothing but by means of Divine Truth; just as a man can effect nothing from his will alone, without the exercise of his understanding. However strongly a person may desire to accomplish an object, wishing alone will not effect it; he must think how to do it; and in thinking, he uses his understanding; and in proportion to the degree of truth or knowledge he may have in his mind in regard to the object he desires to accomplish, will be the degree of his success. It may thus be seen what is meant by its being said that Divine Love produces nothing but in conjunction with Divine Truth. This is the meaning of the passage in John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him (or by it as it should rather be translated, that is, by the Word,) and without it was not anything made that was made." Here, the two Divine Principles of Love and Truth are signified by God and the Word, "God"