Continuation.- Experience can further testify to the same purpose. All who come from the earth into the spiritual world are known as to their quality, from their ability or inability to resist evils as if from themselves. Those who can do so are saved, but not so those who cannot. The reason is, that man cannot resist evils of himself, but from the Lord; for it is the Lord who resists evils with man, causing him to feel and perceive as if he did this from himself. Those, therefore, who in the world acknowledged the Lord, confessing that all good and truth are from Him, and nothing from man, and thus that they have power against evils from the Lord, and not from themselves, resist evils as if from themselves. But those who made no such acknowledgment in the world cannot resist evils as from themselves, for they are in evils, and in the delight of them from their love; and to resist the delight of their love is to resist themselves, their own nature and their own life. The experiment was tried whether they could resist evils, while the punishments of hell were being recounted to them, indeed while they were seen and felt, but it was all in vain. They hardened their hearts, saying, "Come what will, provided we are only in the delights and joys of our hearts as long as we are here. We know what the present is; as to the future we give no thought to that. We shall not suffer more evil than many, many others." But after a certain time they are cast into hell, where by means of punishments they are compelled not to do evil. Punishments, however, do not take away the will, the intention, and consequent thought of evil; they merely prevent the act. From these considerations it is evident that resistance to evils does not originate with man, but with the Lord in the case of those who acknowledge Him; and that He causes it to appear as if it proceeded from themselves.