103. And hast not failed, signifies so far as they could. This is evident from the signification of "not failing," in reference to those who are eager for the knowledges of truth and good, as being so far as they could; for in what now follows, a life according to these knowledges is treated of. Those who are in a life according to these go forward and do not fail; but those who are as yet in knowledges alone, go forward as far as they can, but do not yet have the light of life, from which is vigor.

94. EXPOSITION.

Verses 1-7. To the angel of the Ephesian church write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand; He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands; I know thy works and thy toil, and thy endurance, and that thou canst not bear the evil, and hast tried them that say, that they are apostles and they are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne and hast endurance, and for My name's sake hast toiled, and hast not failed. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore of whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works; but if not I will come unto thee quickly, and will move thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

1. "To the angel of the Ephesian church write," signifies for remembrance to those within the church who are in the knowledges of truth and good from the Word (n. 95); "these things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand," signifies from whom are all the knowledges of good and truth (n. 96); "He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands," signifies from whom is life to all in the new heaven and the new church (n. 97 [1-2]).

2. "I know thy works, and thy toil, and thy endurance," signifies all things that they think, will, and do, thus all things of love and faith in the spiritual and in the natural man n. 98; ["and that thou canst not bear the evil," signifies that they reject evils (n. 99)] and hast tried them that say they are apostles and they are not, and hast found them liars," signifies also falsities, so far as they are able to search them out n. 100.

3. "And hast borne, and hast endurance," signifies resistance against those who assail the truths of faith, and diligence in instructing (n. 101); "and for My name's sake hast toiled," signifies acknowledgment of the Lord and of the knowledges of truth that have respect to Him n. 102; "and hast not failed," signifies so far as they could (n. 103).

4. "But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity," signifies that they do not make such a life as those lived who were in the church at its beginning the essential of knowledges (n. 104).

5. "Be mindful therefore of whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works," signifies the remembrance of former things, and thus the remembrance of having deviated from the truth, and this in order that the good of life of the church at its beginning may come into mind n. 105; "but if not I will come unto thee quickly, and will move thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent," signifies that if not, it is certain that heaven cannot be given (n. 106).

6. "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate," signifies an aversion, derived from the Divine, towards those who separate good from truth, or charity from faith, from which separation there is no life n. 107.

7. "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," signifies that he who understands should hearken to what Divine truth proceeding from the Lord teaches and says to those who are of His church n. 108; "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life," signifies that he who receives in the heart shall be filled with the good of love, and with heavenly joy therefrom n. 109; "which is in the midst of the paradise of God," signifies that all knowledges of good and truth in heaven and in the church look thereto and proceed therefrom n. 110.

107. Verse 6. (Revelation 2:6) But [this] thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate, signifies an aversion, derived from the Divine, towards those who separate good from truth or charity from faith, from which separation there is no life. This is evident from the signification of "thou hast that thou hatest," as being aversion (it is aversion derived from the Divine, because it is said, "which I also hate"); also from the signification of "works," as being the things of the mind, that works spring from (See above, n. 98); from the signification of the "Nicolaitans," as being those who separate good from truth, or charity from faith, such as do this being without life. These have no life, because all spiritual life is from charity, and from faith separate from charity there is no life. For to know and think are of faith, but to will and to do are of charity. Those that separate charity from faith can know nothing whatever of what makes heaven and the church with man, thus of what makes spiritual life; for they do not think within themselves, but outside of themselves. To think outside of oneself is to think from memory only; for the memory is outside of the man, being as it were a court, through which is an entrance into the house and its chambers; and into the thought that is outside of man heaven cannot flow in, for heaven flows into the things that are within man, and through these into the things that are outside of him. Such, therefore, cannot be taught what makes heaven and the church, or life eternal; for everyone is taught from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, about the things that pertain to life eternal; thus he is taught by way of his life, which is by way of his soul and heart. He is greatly deceived who supposes that those who separate charity from faith can be in the knowledges of truth. For such apprehend all things from themselves, and nothing from heaven; and the things that man apprehends from self, and not from heaven, are falsities, because he then thinks in darkness, and not in light. All light in such things as pertain to the church must come from heaven.

[2] It is true that there are many in the church who say that charity is the essential of the church, and not faith separate; but to say this and believe it, and not to live a life of charity, is not to make it the essential, but only to say that it is. Such, therefore, are in the same position as those who say that faith is the essential, for to them charity is a matter of faith alone, and not of life; consequently they cannot be illustrated. About such in the spiritual world something snow-like, as if of light, appears; but the light from which the snow-like appearance is derived is natural; and this light is such that when light from heaven, which is spiritual light, flows in, it is changed into darkness. Such dwell there towards the left, almost in the angle of the north and west. These are intelligent only so far as they have applied the knowledges of truth and good to life.

[3] All who are in the knowledges of truth and good, but not, conformably to these, in the good of life, may live a moral life equally with those who are in knowledges and through these in the good of life; yet their moral life is not spiritual but natural, because in their life they do not live sincerely, justly, and well from religion; and those who do not live well from religion cannot be conjoined with heaven; for it is religion that makes a man spiritual and conjoins him with the angels, who are purely spiritual. To live well from religion is to think, to will, and to do because it has been so enjoined in the Word, and because the Lord has commanded it; but to live not from religion is to think, to will, and to do from a regard solely to civil and moral laws. Such as these, since they have regard only to these laws, conjoin themselves to this world alone, for which these laws are; but the former have regard to the Lord, and thereby conjoin themselves to Him. Gentiles are saved solely by this, that in their life they have regard to religion, thinking and saying that they ought to do thus and not otherwise, because to do otherwise would be contrary to the laws of their religion, thus contrary to the Divine; and when they thus think, and act accordingly, they are endowed with spiritual life, which with them is of such quality that afterwards, in the spiritual world, they receive truths more readily than those Christians who, in what they do, give no thought to the Word, or to the doctrine of the church, which is from the Word.

[4] Those who do not think from religion do not have conscience, because they are not spiritual; consequently, if their external bonds, which are fears respecting the law and reputation, should be loosened with them, they would rush into every wickedness; while on the other hand, if external bonds, which are fears respecting the law and reputation, should be taken away from those who think from religion, they would still act sincerely, justly, and well; for they fear God, and are kept in a life of obedience and charity out of heaven from the Lord, to whom they are conjoined. Those who separate charity from faith are called "Nicolaitans" chiefly from the sound of that word in heaven, for its sound is from truth or faith, and not from good or charity. (That from the expressions in the Word it may be known whether they involve good or truth, thus also whether they involve the one separate from the other, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 241.)