Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 3.pdf/99

 in a church, than a devoted affection to the Lord. Dew is, however, especially adapted to the. The moisture necessary for the fructification of the spiritual mind is rain, and this corresponds to spiritual truth. The spiritual mind takes delight in the doctrines of the Word of God. The celestial man feels and hears tacitly the speech of the Lord: "his speech distils as the dew." The spiritual man perceives the heavenly doctrine of truth from the Lord, "dropping as the rain, and as the showers upon the grass." The dew of Hermon descends upon the mountains of Zion. It is thus that the true ever seeks a union with the good, and these are the two whom God joins together. The celestial truth, or dew, descends upon the mountains of Zion, or celestial good, and these conjoined give life for evermore. Zion is a figure of the church, and the church is both general and particular; and man, in whom the church is formed, whether it be Zion or Jerusalem, the celestial state, or the spiritual state, has certain principles which, in Scripture, are compared to mountains, hills, and valleys. The mountain is representative of his most exalted love—love to the Lord; hill, ot a love subordinate to this—love to his neighbour; and valley, of a still lower love—that of self; for it is perfectly allowable for a man to love himself, provided it is kept in subordination to the other two. The unity of the brethren is as the dew descending upon the mountains of Zion, commanding the blessing, life tor evermore. Life for evermore! who shall describe it, so as to do justice to it! The life enjoyed by the angels of heaven must, in the strictest sense of the word, be termed a blessing. First, the Lord alone is life. The Lord