“These things I have spoken to you in parables, but the hour is coming when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will announce to you plainly concerning the Father.” - John 16:25
Kempton New Church

December
11

Serve the Lord Without Fear

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has visited and made redemption for His people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant,
as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from the ages,
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us;
to do mercy with our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant;
the oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
that He would give to us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
in sacredness and justice in His sight, all the days of our life. (Luke 1:67-75)

For everyone who has any religion thinks about heaven and wishes to go there. Heaven, however, is granted to none but those who know the way to it and who walk therein. This way can in some measure be known from a knowledge of the character of those who constitute heaven, and also by knowing that no one becomes an angel, that is, comes into heaven, unless he carries with him from the world something of the angelic character; and in this there is present a knowledge of the way from walking in it, and a walking in the way through a knowledge of it. (Divine Providence 60)

Those who by repentance have removed some evils that are sins, come into a settled purpose to believe in the Lord and love the neighbor. Such are kept by the Lord in the purpose to refrain from other evils. (True Christian Religion 523)

There is indeed a fear within all worship, but under another appearance and another condition, and this is holy fear. But holy fear is not so much the fear of hell and of damnation, as it is of doing or thinking anything against the Lord and against the neighbor, and thus anything against the good of love and the truth of faith. It is an aversion, which is the boundary of the holy of love and the holy of faith on the one side; and as it is not a fear of hell and damnation, as before said, those have it who are in the good of faith; but those have less of it who are in the good of love, that is, who are in the Lord. (Arcana Coelestia 2826.13)

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