Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 392Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not through thedoor into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is athief and a robber. But he that entereth in through the door is theshepherd of the sheep; to him the porter openeth. I am the door of thesheep, through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go inand go out, and find pasture (10:1–3, 7, 9).Here “to enter in through the door” is evidently to enter in throughthe Lord, for it is said, “I am the door of the sheep.” To enter inthrough the Lord is to approach Him, acknowledge Him, believein Him, and love Him, as He teaches in many passages; thus is manadmitted into heaven, and in no other way; consequently the Lordsays, “Through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved;” also “hethat climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber.”[3] Therefore he that approaches the Lord, acknowledges Him,and believes in Him, is said to open the door to the Lord, that hemay enter in. In Revelation:Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice,and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and hewith Me (3:20).What this means will be told in what follows where this part of thechapter will be explained. Here something shall merely be saidabout doors or gates, in respect to man, since it is said, “I stand atthe door and knock.” To man’s rational two ways lead, one fromheaven, the other from the world. By the way from heaven good isintroduced, by the way from the world truth is introduced. So faras the way from heaven is opened with man. So far he is affected bytruth and becomes rational, that is, sees truth from the light oftruth. But if the way from heaven is shut, man does not becomerational; for he does not see truth, and yet it is truth from the lightof truth that makes the rational; he can, indeed, reason about truth,and from reasoning or from memory can talk about it; but he is notable to see whether truth is truth. To think well about the Lord andabout the neighbor opens the way from heaven; while to think notwell about the Lord and to think evil about the neighbor shuts thatway. As there are two ways that lead into man, so there are twodoorways or gates through which entrance is effected. Through the