The Kingdom of Heaven

by Emanuel Swedenborg

Loving the neighbor means performing uses to the church, one’s country, society, and the fellow-citizen, because these are the neighbor in the broad and in the limited sense; neither can these be loved otherwise than by the uses that belong to each one’s office. A priest loves the church, the country, society, the citizen, and thus the neighbor, if he teaches and leads his hearers from zeal for their salvation. Magistrates and officers love the church, the country, society, the citizen, and thus the neighbor if they discharge their respective functions from zeal for the common good; judges, if from zeal for justice, merchants, if from zeal for sincerity; workmen, if from rectitude; servants, if from faithfulness; and so forth. When with all these there is faithfulness, rectitude, sincerity, justice and zeal, there is the love of use from the Lord; and from Him they have love to the neighbor in the broad and in the limited sense; for who that in heart is faithful, upright, sincere and just, does not love the church, the country, and his fellow citizen? (Divine Love XIII)

To love the Lord and the neighbor means in general to perform uses. (Heaven and Hell 111) Each angel has his particular employment or charge, for every general use is composed of innumerable uses…each coordinated and subordinated in accordance with Divine order, and taken together constituting and perfecting the general use which is the common good. (Heaven and Hell 392)

"Those who in the world love their country’s good more than their own, and their neighbor’s good as their own, are they who in the other life love and seek the Lord’s kingdom; for there the Lord’s kingdom takes the place of the country; and those who love doing good to others, not with self as an end but with good as an end, love the neighbor; for in heaven good is the neighbor." (Heaven and Hell 64)

Heavenly love consists in loving uses for the sake of uses, or goods for the sake of goods, which are done by man in behalf of the church, his country, human society, and a fellow citizen; for this is loving God and loving the neighbor, since all uses and all goods are from God, and are the neighbor to be loved. (Heaven and Hell 557)

In uses all the delights of heaven are brought together and are present, because uses are the goods of love and charity in which angels are. Therefore every one has delights that are in accord with his uses, and in the degree of his affection for use." (Heaven and Hell 402)

He who is for the common good in the life of the body, is for the common good in the other life; the common good in the other life is the kingdom of the Lord; and he is thus for the kingdom of the Lord, consequently for the Lord Himself, who is the all in all things of His kingdom. How much zeal any one has in the world for the common good, so much he has for the kingdom of the Lord. (Spiritual Experiences 4433)

They who are in the love of doing uses to the community and to society, enjoy happiness above all others in heaven." (The Apocalypse Revealed 353)