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.

5161. 'That he made a feast for all his servants' means the introduction and joining to the exterior natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'a feast' as the introduction to a joining together, dealt with in 3832, and also as a joining together through love and a making one's own, 3596; and from the meaning of 'servants' as the things which belong to the exterior natural. For when a person is being regenerated lower things are made subordinate and subject to higher ones, that is, exterior things are made so to interior ones. When this happens the exterior things become servants, and the interior become masters. This is the meaning 'servants' has in the Word, see 2541, 3019, 3020. But the kinds of people who become 'servants' are those who are loved by the Lord, for it is mutual love which joins them together and leads them to see their service to Him not as bondage but as whole-hearted allegiance, since good enters from within to produce that kind of delight there. In former times feasts were held for various reasons; and they meant an introduction into mutual love and so meant a joining together. Feasts were also held on birthdays; these represented the new birth or regeneration, which is a joining, through love, of a person's interiors to his exteriors, consequently a joining together in him of heaven and the world. For what is worldly or natural in a person is joined to what is spiritual and celestial.