§137 light & warmth 77
n. Divine truth emanating from the Lord is what possesses all power: 6948 , 8200. All power in
heaven belongs to the true from the good: 3091 , 3563 , 6344 , 6413 [ 6423 ], 8304 , 9643 , 10019 , 10182.
Angels are called powers, and are powers as a result of their acceptance of divine truth from the
Lord: 9639. Angels are recipients of divine truth from the Lord, and are therefore often called
“gods” in the Word: 4295 , 4402 , 8301 , 8192 , 9398 [ 8988 ].
o. Discernment is the recipient of what is true, and volition is the recipient of what is good: 3623 ,
6125 , 7503 , 9300 , 9930. Therefore, all the elements of our discernment are related to what is true,
whether these things are actually true or whether we believe them to be so; and all the elements of
our volition are similarly related to what is good: 803 , 10122.
[ 2 ] In heaven, it is divine truth that possesses all power, and apart
from it there is no power whatever.n All angels are called “powers”
because of divine truth, and are powers to the extent that they are recipi-
ents or vessels of it. Through it they prevail over the hells and over all
who oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot bear one ray of
heavenly light, which is divine truth. Since angels are angels because of
their acceptance of divine truth, it follows that all heaven is from this
source and no other, since heaven is made up of angels.
[ 3 ] People cannot believe that this kind of power is inherent in divine
truth if the only concept of truth they have has to do with thought or
speech, which have no power in them except to the extent that other
people concede it by being obedient. There is an intrinsic power within
divine truth, though, power of such nature that by means of it heaven,
the world, and everything in them was created.
We can illustrate the fact that this kind of power is inherent in divine
truth by two comparisons—by the power of what is true and good in us,
and by the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world.
By the power of what is true and good in us: Everything we do, we do
out of our discernment and intent. Out of our intent, we act by means of
what is good, and out of our discernment by means of what is true. In
fact, all the elements of our volition are related to what is good, and all
the elements of our discernment are related to what is true.o On this
basis, then, we set our whole body in motion and a thousand things there
rush to do our bidding of their own accord. We can see from this that
our whole body is formed for obedience to what is good and true and
therefore from what is good and true.
[ 4 ] By the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world: Every-
thing that grows in our world—things like trees, shrubs, fl owers, grasses,
fruits, and seeds—arises only by means of the warmth and light of the
sun. So we can see what kind of productive power is inherent in that
warmth and light. What about the divine light that is divine truth, then,