156. And endurance. That this signifies conjunction with the external, and in such case combat is evident from the signification of endurance when said of those who are in the internal and external of the church, who are here treated of, as denoting the conjunction of the internal with the external, and then combat. The reason why this is signified by endurance is, that the conjunction of the internal with the external, or of the spiritual man with the natural, is effected by means of temptations, otherwise they are not conjoined; therefore the combat by which that conjunction is effected, because a man then suffers and sustains it, is signified by endurance. (That the internal man is conjoined with the external by means of temptations, which are spiritual combats, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 10685; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 190, 194, 199.)