256. It was said above, that by the seven churches here written to, are not meant seven churches, but all those who belong to the church, and, in the abstract, all things of the church; that this is the case is evident from the consideration, that by seven are signified all, and all things, and that by the names are signified things. That all who belong to the church, or all things of the church, are meant by what is written to those seven churches is also evident from the explanation of those things. For all things of the church have reference to the following four general principles, doctrine, life according to it, faith according to life. These are treated of in what is written to six of the churches - doctrine, to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna; life according to doctrine, to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis; and faith according to life, to the churches in Philadelphia and Laodicea. And because doctrine cannot be implanted in man's life and become a matter of faith unless he fights against the evils and falsities which he possesses from heredity, therefore that combat is also treated of in what is written to the church in Pergamos; for the subject there treated of is temptations; and temptations are combats against evils and falsities.

(That temptations are treated of in what is written to the church in Pergamos may be seen above, n. 130; that doctrine is the subject treated of in what is written to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna may be seen above also, n. 93, 95, 112; that a life according to doctrine is treated of in what is written to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis, (n. 150, 182, and that faith according to life is treated of in what is written to the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea, n. 203 and 227.) Because in what is written to this last church, namely, that in Laodicea, those who are in the doctrine of faith alone are treated of, and also, at the end, the nature of faith originating in charity, to what has already been said, it is here to be added, that love constitutes heaven; and because it does so, it also forms the church. For all the societies of heaven, which are innumerable, are arranged according to the affections of love, and also all within each society; so that it is affection, or love, according to which all things are arranged in the heavens, and not in any case faith alone. Spiritual affection, or love, is charity. It is therefore clear that no one can ever enter heaven unless he is in charity.

95. (Verse 1) Unto the angel of the Ephesian church write. That this signifies for remembrance to those within the church who are in the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good from the Word, is evident from the signification of writing, as being for remembrance (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia 8620). The reason why it is for those within the church who are in the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good from the Word, is that these are they who are meant by the angel of the Ephesian Church. That these are meant is evident from those things that are written to the angel of that Church. What is meant by the angel of each church, can be known only from the internal sense of the subsequent things that are written. It is said from the internal sense, because all things in the Apocalypse are prophetic, and things prophetic cannot be explained except by means of the internal sense. Who is there, when he reads the prophets, that does not see that there are arcana therein, more deeply hidden than in the plain sense of the letter? And because those arcana cannot be seen by the natural man alone, therefore, those who regard the Word as holy, pass by those things they do not understand, acknowledging that there is an arcanum therein which they do not understand, and which some call mystical. That this is the spiritual of the Word, is known to some, because they think that the Word in its bosom is spiritual, since it is Divine. Still, however, it has been hitherto unknown that this is its spiritual sense, and that the Word is understood in this sense by the angels, and that by this sense there is conjunction of heaven with the man of the church (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 303-310). The reason why those who are in the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth from the Word, are meant by the angel of the Ephesian church is, because by the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good are meant the doctrinals, of the church, and these can be obtained from no other source than from the Word. The reason why it is said, Write to the angel of the church, and not to the church, may be seen above (n. 92).