33. 4. THE LORD MADE His HUMAN DIVINE BY TEMPTATIONS ADMITTED INTO HIMSELF, AND THEN BY CONTINUAL VICTORIES. This has been treated of above in Numbers 12-14; and only the following observations will now be added. Temptations are nothing else but combats against evils and falsities; and since evils and falsities are from hell, they are also combats against hell. Moreover, with men who are undergoing spiritual temptations, there are evil spirits from hell who induce temptations. Man does not know that evil spirits induce them; yet that such is the fact has been given me to know by much experience. [2] Therefore it happens that, when a man conquers from the Lord in temptations, he is drawn out of hell and raised up into heaven. Hence it is that by means of temptations, or combats against evils, a man is made spiritual and thus an angel. The Lord, however, fought from His own power against all the hells and completely conquered and subjugated them; and so, having at the same time glorified His Human, He keeps them conquered and subjugated to eternity.
[3] For, before the Lord's Coming, the hells had grown to such a degree that they began to infest the very angels of heaven; and in like manner to infest every man that came into the world, and every man that went out of it. The hells grew to such a degree because the Church was utterly devastated, and men in the world, from idolatrous practices, were in sheer falsities and evils: and the hells are from men. Hence it was, that unless the Lord had come into the world, no man could have been saved. Much is said of these combats of the Lord in the Psalms of David and in the Prophets, but little in the Evangelists. These combats are what are meant by the temptations which the Lord endured, the last of which was the passion of the cross; and it is from them that He is called the Saviour and Redeemer.
[4] This is so far known in the Church that men say that the Lord conquered death, or the devil, that is, hell, and that He rose victorious; and also, that without the Lord there is no salvation. Moreover, it will be seen in what follows that He glorified His Human, and that He thereby became the Saviour, Redeemer, Reformer and Regenerator to eternity. That the Lord became the Saviour through His combats, or temptations, is evident from the numerous passages quoted above, in Numbers 12, 13, 14; and from the following in Isaiah:
The day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. I have trodden them down in mine anger ... I have brought down their victory (A.V. strength) to the earth ... So He became their Saviour. Isa. lxiii 4, 6, 8.
In this chapter the Lord's combats are treated of. And in the Psalms:
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye doors of the world (A.V. everlasting); and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah Mighty in battle. Ps. xxiv 7, 8.
These words are also spoken in reference to the Lord.