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THE NEW JERUSALEM MAGAZINE.

NO. CCLXXVI.

OCTOBER, 1850.

SERMON FROM MATTHEW V. 13.

BY THE LATE REV. HENRY A. WORCESTER.

"Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

THE general spiritual sense contained in these words is, that the affection of truth from the Lord constitutes the Church; but not the truth without its affection, for such truth is barren and useless.

"Ye are the salt of the earth.” These words were addressed by the Lord, not to the miscellaneous multitudes, but to his disciples who had come up to him on the mount.

His disciples were chosen to represent his Church upon the earth, or all such persons as have an affection for the doctrines and truths which he taught. In an individual man, they represent those interior affections of the internal man which prompt him to desire spiritual instruction from the Lord. The earth signifies the universal Church in the natural world, or, what is the same thing, all of the inhabitants of the earth, considered in relation to the angels of heaven.

Such being the signification of the disciples to whom these words were addressed, and such the signification of the earth, we will proceed to state what is signified by the disciples being "the salt of the earth."

Salt, like other correspondences in the Word, has two significations, a good one and a bad one. When used in a good sense,

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it signifies the desire of truth for good, or the desire of good for truth. It signifies that which is the medium of their conjunction. In a bad sense, it signifies the conjunction of the false with evil. A natural image of this is seen in the union which takes place between oil and water by the medium of salt. Separately, oil and water will not unite, but by the medium of salt they unite together in one mass. Now, water signifies truth, oil signifies good, and salt represents that which is the medium of uniting them together in the life of men.

"Salt is used to render food savory, and in this may be seen another striking correspondence; for all natural food corresponds to spiritual food; and as natural salt increases the relish and desire for the one, so that spiritual affection, which it represents, is nothing more than a desire for the other." Salt is also a promoter of thirst, and water corresponds to truth. Salt, therefore, corresponds to an affection or desire of truth. To a certain degree it is good for the ground as a manure, principally from its attractive qualities, thus imbibing moisture from the atmosphere, which promotes the growth of plants. Ground, or earth, corresponds to the Church, because it receives the seeds of vegetables, as man receives the seeds of truth; and he imbibes nourishment from the spiritual atmosphere, as the ground does from the natural atmosphere, in proportion to the affection and desire which has been awakened within his mind. From this signification of salt as the emblem of the affection of truth for good, we are able to understand many interesting passages of Scripture.

It must, however, be borne in mind that this, like other correspondences in the Word, is used in both a good sense and in a bad sense. And it may be interesting to adduce some examples

of both instances.

In the representative Church of the Jews, it was commanded, "that every offering of a cake should be salted, and that upon every offering there should be the salt of the covenant of Jehovah." By cake and offering, which is sacrifice, is signified worship; and salt is called salt of the covenant of Jehovah, because, by covenant is signified conjunction. Again, it was commanded that, "Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." Since salt signifies the desire of conjunction between good and truth, the reason is obvious why every sacrifice which represented worship was required to be salted with salt.