Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/184

 to yield too much to the demands of the body, and again in the night instructed him as to the labors for which the Lord was preparing him—first seeming as a man, giving human admonition, and then as the Lord, uttering His commands. According to Robsahm, Swedenborg continued—"I went home, and during the night the same man revealed himself to me again, but I was not frightened now. He then said that he was the Lord God, the Creator of the world, and the Redeemer, and that He had chosen me to unfold to men the spiritual sense of the Scripture, and that He Himself would show to me what I should write on this subject. That same night also were opened to me, so that I became thoroughly convinced of their reality, the world of spirits, heaven, and hell; and I recognized there many acquaintances of every condition in life. From that day I gave up the study of all worldly science and labored in spiritual things, according as the Lord had commanded me to write. Afterward the Lord opened my eyes, very often daily, so that in midday I could see into the other world, and in a state of perfect wakefulness converse with angels and spirits."