[2] There were with me African spirits, from Abyssinia. Their ears were once opened so that they heard singing in a certain temple in the world, from the Psalms of David, and they were affected with such delight that they sang together with the singers. But soon their ears were closed, and they did not hear from there the singing of anyone; and then they were affected with still greater delight, because spiritual; and at the same time they were filled with intelligence, because the Psalm in the spiritual sense treated of the Lord, and of redemption by Him. The delight of their hearts' joy was for a little time communicated with a certain heavenly society from the Christian world, and that society came thereby into similar delight. Hence it was plain, that communication with the whole heaven is given by means of the Word.

[3] I pass over a thousand other experiences by which I have been convinced that the sense of the letter of our Word produces that effect, yea, that the spiritual sense without its companion, the natural sense, does not communicate with heaven. The reason of this is, that the Lord flows in from firsts through ultimates, therefore from Himself into the natural sense of the Word, and from that calls forth, or evolves its spiritual and celestial senses, and thus enlightening, teaches and leads the angels; wherefore the Lord is called in the Word "the First and the Last."

[4] From this it is plain that the doctrine of the church, unless it be gathered and confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word, has no power, because it does not communicate; but doctrine from the sense of the letter and together with it does have power.