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138 against truth and good. This is its meaning here. The flame of a sword turning itself, is self-love blazing forth with its false persuasions, and turning every way for strength and confirmation. For when self-love with its attending satellites, evils of every kind, once finds permanent lodging within the heart, it soon persuades that heart that all is right. It turns in every direction or to every method of reasoning, to confirm the man in his chosen position. No falsity is too false for its purpose; no turning from truth can turn too far to accomplish its end; and no rankling lust of self-love can flame too high or burn too brightly to gratify its passion.

Now self-love flaming with false persuasions, is used by Providence as one of the most efficient guards to keep the way of the tree of life. The object sought is, that wicked minds shall not interiorly comprehend the life and love of God. This is for two reasons: One, as we have shown, is, that to interiorly comprehend and yet to live in willful disobedience, is profanation—the one unpardonable sin. The sin is unpardonable, however, not through lack of mercy in the Lord, but through its so searing the soul as to leave it in spiritual ruin. The other is, that a confirmed love of evil, with a knowledge of the full measure of happiness lost, would, to the spirit who has sunk beyond recovery, be everlasting misery.