20. To the seven churches, signifies to all who are in truths from good or in faith from charity. This is evident from the signification of "seven," as being all [persons]. For "seven," in the Word, signifies the beginning and end, thus an entire period and a full state, in like manner as a "week" (Arcana Coelestia 728, 6508, 9228); and because "seven" signifies what is full, it also signifies all, since all constitutes what is full, for fullness, as regards those that constitute a society (here, the church), means all; therefore when magnitude is treated of in the Word, "seven" signifies what is full; but when multitude is treated of, "seven" signifies all. "Three" also in the Word signifies what is full and all (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2788[1-13], 4495, 7715); but "seven" is used in the Word where anything holy is treated of, and "three" in all other cases (Arcana Coelestia 10127); therefore "seven" is here used, because truths from good, which are the holy things of the church, are treated of. It is also evident from the signification of "churches" as being those who are in truths from good, or in faith from charity.

These are meant by "churches," because such truths constitute the church with everyone; for those who are not in truths from good, though born within the church, yet are not of the church, because there is no church in them. From this it is that the Lord's church consists of all those, wheresoever they are, who are a church, that is, who are in truths from good. (That the church, like heaven, is in man, and not outside of him, consequently that man who is in truths from good is a church, see Arcana Coelestia 3884; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 53, 54, 57.)

It is also said, who are in faith from charity, since this is similar; for truth is of faith, and good is of charity; for in fact, everything that man believes is called truth, and everything that man loves is called good.

(That every truth is from good, and that everything of faith is from charity, see in the small work, The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 84-107, 108-122; and Last Judgement (n. 33-39; also Heaven and Hell 364, 424, 482, 526.)

He who knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, when he reads these things believes no otherwise than that by "seven churches" are meant the seven churches afterwards named (verse 1:11); whereas churches are not meant, but all who are of the church; because this is the spiritual sense of the Word.

57. What has been said of heaven can be said of the Church, for the Church is the Lord's heaven on earth. There are also many Churches, and yet any one of them is called the Church and indeed is a Church, so far as the good of love and of faith rules there. There again, the Lord out of diversity makes a unity, thus, one Church out of many Churches. ¹ The same, too, can be said of the man of the Church in particular as is said of the Church in general, namely, that the Church is within a man and not outside him, and that every man in whom the Lord is present in the good of love and of faith is a Church. ² Again, the same can be said of a man in whom is the Church as of an angel in whom is heaven, namely, that he is a Church in least form as an angel is heaven in least form, and furthermore, that a man in whom is the Church, equally with an angel, is a heaven. For man has been created that he may come into heaven and become an angel. Consequently, he who has good from the Lord is an angel-man. ³ It may be mentioned what a man has in common with an angel and what he has in addition to what angels have. A man has this in common with an angel, that his interiors are equally conformed to the image of heaven and that he, too, in so far as he is in the good of love and faith, may become an image of heaven. In addition to what angels have, a man has these things, that his exteriors have been formed according to the image of the world, that so far as he is in good, the world with him is subordinated to heaven and serves heaven, ⁴ and that then the Lord is present with him in both worlds, just as if he were in his heaven. For the Lord is in His Divine order in both worlds, since God is order. ⁵

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