818. Verse 12. And all the authority of the first beast he exerciseth before him; and he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose stroke of death was healed.

12. "And all the authority of the first beast he exerciseth before him," signifies the connection of the reasonings from the natural man with the sense of the letter of the Word, by which the religion of faith separate is strengthened n. 819; "and he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast," signifies in consequence of which those in the church who are in falsities and in evils therefrom in heart acknowledge the agreement n. 821; "whose stroke of death was healed," signifies and thus the discordance was removed by devised conjunctions of works with faith n. 822.

822. Whose stroke of death was healed, signifies and thus the discordance was cleared away by devised conjunctions of works with faith. This is evident from the signification of "the stroke of death was healed" with the first beast, as being the discordance apparently cleared away by devised conjunctions of works with faith (See above, n. 786), where the same words occur). It is said, the discordance cleared away by devised conjunctions of works with faith, but what the nature of the conjunctions devised by them is, namely, that they are rather separations, may be seen in the place cited above.

[2] As it has been shown that in the Word of the Evangelists the apostle John signifies good works, which are also called the goods of charity and the goods of life, and that it was on account of this signification that John reclined on the Lord's breast, I will now show what good works are; but here only that they include in themselves all things of charity and faith that are with man. No one has known heretofore that all things of man's life are in his works, since works seem to be mere movements, which are called actions because they are alive with man, and are called speech because they are effected by movements of the mouth, tongue, and larynx. And yet these are what make manifest the charity and faith in man, and also complete and perfect them; and this for the reason that neither faith nor charity is with man until they actually exist; and they actually exist in works.

[3] All the things of charity and faith that are with man are in works, because works are the activities arising from his will and thought; and all things of the will and thought are brought forth and poured out into works, precisely as all things of cause into effects, and all things of a seed and tree into fruits; for works are their complements. That this is so is not apparent before man's eyes, but is apparent perceptibly before the angels. When man is in the exercise of charity the sphere of all his affections and of the consequent thoughts is seen about him like clear water, and sometimes like a cloud, either bright white or obscure; and this sphere contains all things of his mind in their complex; and from it what is the quality of the man in respect to all things belonging to him is known to the angels. The reason is that everyone is his own love; and the works therefrom are what cause that love to be active, and when it is active it pours itself out round about him. This spiritual sphere manifests itself not only before the sight as an undulation, but also before the sight in various representative forms, and this to the extent that by those representatives the man, spirit, or angel, is seen precisely as he is.

[4] Another reason why works contain in themselves all things of the mind is that all successive things, which advance in their order from highest to lowest, or from first things to last, form in things lowest or ultimate what is simultaneous, in which all things higher or prior coexist. But what successive order is and what simultaneous order is may be seen above (n. 595, 666), also in the Arcana Coelestia 634, 3691, 4145, 5114, 5897, 6239, 6326, 6465, 9215, 9216, 9828, 9836, 10044, 10099, 10329, 10335. Moreover, works are the ultimate things of man springing from his interiors, which are in successive order. From all this it is clear that in these works all things of man's will and thought, consequently all things of his love and faith coexist. This, then, is why works are so often commanded in the Word by the Lord, and why man must be judged according to his works.

[5] From this it is clear what kind of man he is who separates faith from works, namely, that he has no faith, and that his works are evil, springing from the love of self and of the world, covered over and encompassed by such things as pertain to faith, but contaminated and profaned by the evils that are within. When, therefore, such a man is let into his interiors, as takes place after death when he becomes a spirit, all things belonging to his faith, which constituted the circumferences, are cast off and scattered. From this it can be seen why John, who represented the goods of charity or good works, reclined at the Lord's breast, and that he and not Peter followed the Lord; also why he abode with the Lord's mother after the Lord's resurrection.