Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/260

254 world. Then he who is in evil, is no longer capable of. . being amended interiorly, but only as to his exteriors, and this through fear of punishment, which, being often repeated, compels the spirit at last to abstain from evil, which he does, not from freedom but by compulsion—the lust of doing evil still remaining. This lust is held in check by fears, which are the external and compulsive means of amendment. Such is the state of the wicked in another life." (A. C. 6917.)

There are many passages in the Bible which point to the close connection of the spiritual with the natural world; and Swedenborg often speaks of this connection,—of the intimate association of both good and evil spirits with men, and their influence upon them. As to our spirits, he says, we are actually in the spiritual world now and always, though all unconscious of the fact. Invisible companions are constantly associated with us, and powerfully operate upon our thoughts and feelings, our ends and aims, influencing us for good or for evil according to our own internal leanings, that is, according to our willingness to yield to the whispers of the Spirit and the promptings of