5623. 'And take a double amount of silver in your hands' means truth received by the powers. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954; from the meaning of 'a double amount' as in succession, a second time, dealt with in 1335, that is to say, it was truth which had been given to them freely, and was to be given once again; and from the meaning of 'hands' as powers, dealt with in 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328. Truth present in the powers is truth within, thus subject to, people's abilities to accept it. But people's abilities or powers to accept truth are utterly dependent on good. They are linked by the Lord to good. For when the Lord enters with good He also enters with that kind of ability. Consequently the reception of truth by a person's powers is dependent on what forms of good are present. The fact that people's abilities to accept truth are determined by the good that is present becomes clear from much experience in the next life.
[2] Those there who are moved by good have not only the ability to perceive truth but also the ability to accept it; yet this is conditioned by the amount and the kind of good that moves them. Those on the other hand who are moved by evil do not have any ability to accept truth. That ability of the former and this inability of the latter to accept truth are the outcome of each one's pleasure and consequent desire. The pleasure of those moved by good consists in the accomplishing of what is good by means of truth; for the specific nature of their good is derived from truths, and therefore they also have a desire for those truths. But the pleasure of those moved by evil consists in evil and the justification of it by the use of falsities, which they also consequently have a desire for; and in their desire for falsities they turn away from truths. Consequently, having no ability to accept truths, those moved by evil therefore cast these aside, or smother them, or pervert them as soon as they reach their ears or enter their heads. Furthermore every individual person of sound mind has the ability to accept truths; but those who turn to evil annihilate that ability, whereas those who turn to good enhance it.
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