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Thus may I humbly hope, that in all such spiritual death, the BLESSED JESUS will come and touch the bier, and say, as He said of old, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise; and thus, too, may I further hope that His blessed word will be accomplished, and that the intelligence of truth will be raised out of every principle of death and defilement, to an eternal conjunction with Him, His life and purity. AMEN.

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THE WOMAN WHO HAD A SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY.

LUKE xiii. 11 to 17.

And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself, &c. &c.

Q. WHAT do you here understand by a woman which had a spirit of infirmity ?

A. According to the literal sense of the history, by the woman here recorded is meant a woman, possessed with an evil spirit, by reason of which possession her body was bowed down, and unable to raise itself; but according to the spiritual sense of the history, the miracle performed on this woman involves in it a meaning, which respects the LORD's church and kingdom, like all the other miracles which have been already explained. Agreeable then to such spiritual interpretation, by the woman here spoken of is represented the church as to the affection of truth, for it is the affection of truth which is a principal constituent of the church, and affection

is always figured in the sacred Scriptures by a woman, as intelligence is by a man. When, therefore, it is said of this woman, that she had a spirit of infirmity, it denotes, according to the spiritual idea, that the affection of truth in the church was in disorder, in consequence of being under the influence of infernal disorderly spirits; and when it is added, eighteen years, it is to denote the full state of trial and suffering which had been endured on this occasion; for by years are signified, not the periods of temporal duration only, but states of spiritual life, whether troublous or peaceable; and by the number eighteen is denoted a fulness of trial and suffering, because it results from the multiplication of the two numbers three and six into each other, and by the number three is spiritually denoted what is full and complete; and by the number six a state of trial and temptation, agreeable to what was observed concerning that number, in the explanation of the miracle of the transfigu ration.

Q. But it is added concerning the above wo man, that she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself how do you understand these words?

A. According to their literal sense, the words relate to the bowing or bending of the woman's body, in consequence of her infirmity and inabi lity to lift up herself; but according to the spi ritual sense, in which the words have reference to the church, by the woman being bowed toge ther, is to be understood that the affection of

truth declined downwards, by being disposed to favour earthly loves, in consequence of which declination, the principles of spiritual and natural life were confounded together and commixed, so that they could not be distinguished from each other; and by her not being able to lift up herself, is further to be understood, that by reason of such declination the affection of truth was incapable of elevating itself to an eternal end, that is to say, to GOD, His HOLY WORD and kingdom. The history, therefore, here recorded, in its internal sense, has relation to that state, both of the church and of the individuals who compose it, in which the affection of truth, through the influence of disorderly spirits, is warped from its proper tendency upwards, by which it was designed to exalt GOD, His WORD and kingdom, and at the same time is bent downwards towards selfish and worldly love, by such an impulse, as to be incapable of elevating itself to conjunction with that DIVINE BEING, whose child it is, and for whose glory it is communicated.

Q. And how do you understand the words which follow, where it is written, And when JESUS saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thy infirm y?

A. According to the sense of the letter, these words relate to the miraculous cure of a bodily infirmity, through the word of the GREAT RE DEEMER; but agreeable to the spiritual idea above suggested, they relate to the cure of a spi

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ritual disorder by the same DIVINE WORD. Ac cording, therefore, to this spiritual idea, by JESus seeing her (the woman,) is to be understood His divine inspection into the state of the church immersed in earthly and unclean loves, and therefore figuratively described by the above woman, who was bowed down, and not able to lift up herself; and by His calling and saying unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity, is further to be understood the energy and application of His DIVINE love and wisdom for the removal of the spiritual disorders which He discovered, calling having relation to the exercise of His love, and saying, to the exercise of His wisdom. It is added in the English translation of this passage, that He called her unto Him, but these three last expressions do not occur in the original, in which it is only written that He called and said, agreeable to a mode of expression common in the sacred writings, where two terms are frequently applied, which appear to signify the same thing, when yet one has reference more to the principle of love in the will, and the other more to the principle of truth in the understanding, it being of the utmost importance to point out the interesting and edifying conjunction of those two principles.

Q. But it is added, that He laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified GoD-what instruction do you learn from these words?

A. By Jesus laying His hands on her, accord

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