and falsities, and condemn him; whereas angels excite nothing but goods and truths, excusing what is evil and false. Hence it is evident, that such as are not in charity are under the dominion of evil spirits, by whom man has communication with hell; and that such as are in charity are governed by angels, by whom he has communication with heaven."—A. C. n. 1088.
Such is the charity in which, we are told, the angels are. And is it not the very spirit of the Lord's own Gospel? Is it not in agreement with the spirit of the texts which counsel us not to judge, nor condemn, nor think evil of others; and not to be on the watch for a mote in a brother's eye, without thinking of the beam which needs first to be cast out of our own eye?
Look also at the innocence of the angels as portrayed by Swedenborg. And this word as employed by him, has a vastly deeper and more comprehensive meaning than is commonly given to it. It means not mere sinlessness, or freedom from wrong in thought or deed; but a state of the highest wisdom, such as only those are in who have been brought to see that their natural proprium is altogether evil, and that whatever good they have is not their own but the Lord's; and whose deep desire and purpose it is to be led of the Lord in all things, and who have no desire to lead themselves. It is, in short, the very esse of all goodness, for it is the Lord's own life in the soul.
