610.That there shall be time no longer.- That this signifies that there would be no longer any understanding of Divine Truth, nor any state of the church from it, is evident from the signification of time, as here denoting the state of man as to the understanding of the Word, and therefore the state of the church, because these are the subjects treated of in this chapter. The reason why time signifies state, is, that times in the spiritual world are determined and distinguished only by particular and general states of life. The cause of this is, that the Sun in that world, which is the Lord, is fixed and stationary in the same part of heaven, which is the east, nor is it carried round as the sun in the natural world appears to be. Times are determined by the apparent revolution of this sun, and so exist in general and in particular; in general, the year and its four seasons, which are called spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These four seasons of the year also are the four natural states thereof corresponding to as many states in the spiritual world, which are its general spiritual states. In particular, within those general states in the natural world, there are fixed and stated times, called months and weeks, but especially days, which are distinguished into four natural states, called morning, noon, evening, and night, to which also correspond four states in the spiritual world. Since the Sun, in the spiritual world, as was said above, is not carried round but remains fixed and stationary in the east, therefore there are neither years, months, weeks, days, nor hours, consequently neither are there any determinations by times, but only determinations by states of life, general and particular. For this reason it is not known in the spiritual world what time is, but only what state is; for the determination of a thing gives the idea of it, and the thing is named according to the notion. This then is the reason why it is not known, in the spiritual world, what times are, although they succeed each other there, as in the natural world, but instead of times there are states and their changes; times, therefore, when mentioned in the Word, signify states. Concerning time, and times, in the spiritual world, more, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 162-169); and concerning the changes of state with the angels (n. 154-161). ¹

[2] Since by time are meant those things that pertain to time in the natural world, as those of the year, and of the day, those of the year being seed time and harvest, and those of the day being morning and evening, the states of the church also are described in the Word by those things which belong to time. By seed time is described and signified the establishment of the church; by harvest, its fructification; by morning, the first time of the church; and by noon to evening, its progression. These natural states also correspond to spiritual states, which are states of heaven and the church. In regard to the church, it passes through those states in general, and so does every man of the church in particular. Every man of the church is also inaugurated into those states from his earliest days, but when the church is at its end, he can then no longer be inaugurated, for he does not receive Divine Truth, but either rejects or perverts it, consequently there can be to him neither seed time nor harvest, that is, neither establishment nor fructification, nor has he morning or evening, that is, neither beginning nor progression. These are the states meant and signified by times in the Word; and because in the end of the church those states cease with the men of the church, it is therefore said here that there shall be time no longer, by which therefore is signified, that there shall be no longer any understanding of Divine Truth or the Word, consequently not any state of the church.

[3] The same is signified by time in Ezekiel:

"The evil, one evil, behold, cometh. The end is come, the end is come; it hath watched over thee. Behold the morning cometh upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land; the time is come" (7:5-7).

These things also are said concerning the state of the church. The end of the former church is first described, and afterwards the establishment of the new church. The end of the former church is described by these words, "The evil, one evil, behold, cometh, the end is come, the end is come;" the establishment of the new church by these words, "The morning cometh upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land; the time is come." The morning signifies the state of a new church, or the commencement of a church, and time, its progressive state, consequently the same as seed time and harvest, and noon and evening, mentioned above, consequently the state of the church as to the understanding of truth and the will of good.

[4] So in Daniel:

The fourth beast "shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the highest ones, because he shall think to change times and the right (jus); and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times, and part of a time" (7:25).

By the fourth beast is meant the evil which was about fully to vastate the church. The falsities destroying the truths of the church are meant by the words which he shall speak against the Most High, and by the saints of the highest ones, whom he will wear out; the saints of the highest ones, in the abstract sense, signifying Divine truths. That the truths of the Word and the goods thereof, will then be changed into falsities and evils, is signified by his changing the times and the right; times denoting states of the church as to the understanding of truth. The duration of that state in regard to the end of the church is signified by, until a time, and times, and part of a time, which means a full state of vastation.

[5] The same is signified by the following words in Daniel:

"I heard the man clothed in linen when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, that [it shall be] for a fixed time of fixed times and a half, and when they were about to make an end to disperse the people of holiness, all these things shall be consummated" (12:7).

Time here signifies state and by time, times, and a half, is signified a full state of vastation; it is therefore said, "when they were about to make an end to disperse the people of holiness," the people of holiness denoting those of the church who are in Divine truths, and, in the abstract, Divine truths. Similarly it is said in the Apocalypse that the woman should be nourished in the wilderness" for a time and times and half a time" (12:14).

[6] Because time signifies those things which pertain to time, as spring, summer, autumn, and winter, by which are signified the states of one who is being regenerated, and of one who is regenerated; also such things as pertain to those times, namely, seed time and harvest, which signify the state of the church in regard to the implantation of truth, and the fructification of good thence; therefore similar things are also signified by the times of the day, morning, noon, evening and night, as in the following passages.

Thus in Genesis:

"During all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (8:22).

These words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia 930-937).

So in David:

"The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter" (Psalm 74:16, 17).

And in Jeremiah:

"Jehovah, giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, If those ordinances depart from before me, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me all the days" (31:35, 36).

And again, in the same prophet:

"Jehovah said, if I have not appointed my covenant of day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth, I will also refuse the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant" (33:25, 26).

Here the ordinances of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars, also the covenant of the day and of the night, and the ordinances of heaven and of the earth, have a signification similar to times, since times have their existence from those ordinances. That seed time and harvest, summer and winter, also day and night, have a similar signification to times, was shown above.

[7] It follows therefore that the same things are signified by times in these words in Genesis:

"God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and they shall be for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years" (Genesis 1:14).

The two luminaries, the sun and the moon, signify love and faith; for in the spiritual sense of that chapter the new creation or regeneration of the man of the church is treated of, and those things that chiefly regenerate man, and make the church are signified by what is said of the sun and moon. The above and following words therefore describe the process by which regeneration is accomplished and afterwards the states of regeneration are described. The signification of there being time no longer is therefore now evident from these things.

Footnotes:

785. (Verse 3) And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded unto death. That this signifies the discordance of their doctrinals with the Word, in which love, life, and works are so often mentioned, which do not at all agree with that religious persuasion, is evident from the signification of the heads of that beast, as denoting the knowledge of the holy things of the Word, which are falsified and adulterated (concerning which see above, n. 775). By head, in the Word, where the church is treated of, and those who belong to the church, is signified intelligence and wisdom; and, in the universal sense, the understanding of truth and the willing of good. But because those treated of here are unwilling that the understanding should enter into the mysteries of faith, but desire it to be held captive in subservience to their mysteries; and as these are they who are described by the dragon and by this his beast, it follows, that by the head of this beast is signified knowledge; for where the understanding does not see, there intelligence does not exist, but in the place of it knowledge. And, moreover, of those who are in falsities we cannot use the term intelligence, but knowledge (concerning which see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 33); and from the signification of being wounded unto death, as denoting to disagree with the Word. For the doctrine which disagrees with the Word is dead; and this is what is signified by being wounded unto death.

[2] The discordance here meant is, that they separate the life of love, which is good works, from faith, and make the latter alone justifying and saving, and consequently take away every thing of righteousness and salvation from the life of love or from good works. Now because to love and to do are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and as man is to be judged according to his deeds and works, and these do not accord with the above religious persuasion, therefore these things are signified by the death stroke of the head of this beast. From these things it is now evident that by these words, "I saw one of the heads of the beast as it were wounded unto death," is signified discordance with the Word, in which love, life, and works are so often mentioned, which do not at all accord with that religious persuasion.

That they do not accord is manifestly evident from this fact, that it is the dogma of this religious persuasion that faith alone justifies and saves without the works of the law; indeed, that if anything of salvation be placed in works, it is injurious, because man's merit and proprium are in them. Consequently, many abstain from doing them, saying in their heart, "good works do not save me, and evil works do not condemn me, because I have faith." On this ground also they declare that those are saved, who, at the hour of death, can pronounce with a sort of confidence that they have faith, whatever their life may have been.

But because deeds and works, also doing and loving, are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and these things are not in accord with their religious persuasion, therefore those who maintain that persuasion have found means of conjoining these statements with faith. These statements therefore are signified by seeing one of the heads of the beast as it were wounded unto death, and by his death stroke being healed, and by the whole earth wondering after the beast. But how that wound was healed, namely, by assumed modes of conjunction, shall be explained in the following article.

[3] First, however, some passages shall here be adduced from the Word, where deeds, works, doing, and working are mentioned, in order that every one may see the discordance which is here signified by one of the heads wounded unto death; also that this wound is incurable unless man lives according to and does the precepts of the Word.

In Matthew:

"He who heareth my words and doeth them," is like "a prudent man; but he who heareth my words and doeth them not, is like a foolish man" (7:24, 26).

In Luke:

"Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Every one who cometh to me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, is like a man who built his house upon a rock; but he who heareth and doeth not, is like a man who built his house upon the ground without a foundation" (6:46-49).

In Matthew

"He that was sown in good earth is he who heareth the Word and attendeth to it, and who thence beareth fruit and bringeth forth, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, and some thirty-fold" (13:23).

Again:

"Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens" (5:19).

In John:

"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (15:14).

Again:

"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (13:17).

Again:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments; he who hath my precepts and doeth them, he it is that loveth me, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him, and I will come unto him, and make my abode with him; but he who loveth me not, keepeth not my words" (14:15, 21-24).

In Luke:

Jesus said, "My mother and my brethren are they who hear the Word of God and do it" (8:21).

In Matthew:

"I was hungry and ye gave me to eat, I was thirsty and ye gave me to drink, I was a sojourner and ye took me in, I was naked and ye clothed me, I was sick and ye visited me, I was in prison and ye came unto me"; to whom the Lord said, "Come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"; to those who have not done these things, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (25:35 to the end).

In John:

"My Father is the vinedresser; every branch which beareth not fruit, he taketh away" (15:1, 2).

In Luke:

"Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance: every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be hewn down and cast into the fire; by their fruits ye shall know them" (3:8, 9).

In John:

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (15:7, 8).

In Matthew:

"The kingdom of God shall be taken away from them, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:40-43).

In John:

"He who doeth the truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God" (3:21).

Again:

"We know that God heareth not sinners, but if any one worship God, and do his will, him he heareth" (9:31).

In Matthew:

"The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he render to every one according to his deeds" (16:27).

In John:

"Then shall they come forth, those who have done good unto the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment" (5:29).

In the Apocalypse:

"I will give unto you every one according to his works; he who overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end" (2:23, 26).

Again:

"Their works shall follow them" (14:13).

"The dead were judged according to the things which were written in the books, according to their works" (20:12, 13).

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give unto every one according to his works" (22:12).

Again:

"Blessed are they who do his commandments" (22:14).

He said to the angel of the church of Ephesus, "I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love; remember whence thou art fallen, and do the first works, or else, etc." (2:4, 5).

It was said to the angel of the church of Smyrneans, "I know thy works"; to the angel of the church in Pergamos, "I know thy works"; to the angel of the church in Thyatira, "I know thy works"; to the angel of the church in Sardis, "I know thy works"; and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, "I know thy works" (Apoc. 2:9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8).

The quality of the seven churches, as they are and as they will be, is examined and judged from their works, and according to their works, throughout those two chapters.

[4] The Lord also teaches good works, and their quality and the heavenly blessedness therefrom, in Matthew, chapters 5; 6; 7, from beginning to end; also in the parables of the labourers in the vineyard; the husbandman and his servants; and the traders, to whom were given pounds, and to whom were given talents; the fig-tree in the vineyard, which should be cut down, if it did not bear fruit; the man wounded by robbers, to whom the Samaritan showed mercy (concerning whom the Lord asked the lawyer, which of the three was neighbour to him that fell among thieves, and when he answered, "He that shewed mercy on him," Jesus said, "Go and do thou likewise"); the ten virgins, of whom five had oil in their lamps and five had none; where oil in the lamps signifies charity in faith; besides various other passages.

[5] The twelve disciples of the Lord also represented the church as to all things of faith and charity in the aggregate; and in particular, Peter, James, and John, represented faith, charity, and good works in their order - Peter faith, James charity, and John good works. This is why the Lord said to Peter, when Peter saw John following the Lord, "What is that to thee, Peter? Thou, John, follow me," for Peter said of John, "What shall this man do?" (John 21:21, 22); and the Lord's answer signified that they who do good works should follow the Lord. Because John represented the church as to good works, therefore he leaned upon the breast of the Lord. That the church is in those who do good works, is also signified by the Lord's words from the cross, in John:

Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved, standing by, and he said to his mother, "Woman, behold thy son"; and he said to that disciple, "Behold thy mother"; and from that hour that disciple took her unto himself (John 19:26, 27).

This signified that where good works are, there the church will be. For woman, and also mother, signify the church.

The passages quoted are all from the New Testament. The number in the Old Testament to the same purpose is still greater. As where it is said:

"Blessed are all those who keep and do the statutes, the judgments, and the precepts; and cursed are those who do them not" (as in Leviticus 18:5; 19:37; 20:8; 22:31, 32, 33; 26:4, 14, 15; Numbers 15:39, 40; Deuteronomy 5:9, 10; 6:25; 15:5; 17:19; 27:26); and in a thousand other passages.

Besides the passages in the Word where deeds and doing are mentioned, there is also a great number where love and loving are mentioned; and by loving is meant the same as by doing. For he who loves also does. For to love is to will, because every one wills what he inwardly loves; and to will is to do, since every one does, that which he wills, when he is able. A deed, moreover, is nothing else but the will in act.

Love is taught by the Lord in many passages.

As in Matthew 5:43-48; 7:12; Luke 6:27-39; 43 to the end; 7:36 to the end; John 13:34, 35; 14:14-23; 15:9-19 17:22-26; 21:15-23; and in brief in these words: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:35-38; Luke 10:27, 28; Deuteronomy 6:5).

To love God above all things, and the neighbour as oneself, is to keep the commandments, or do His precepts. (See John 14:21-24.) Moreover, the law and the prophets signify the whole Word as to all and every part thereof.

From all these quotations it is now quite clear that it is not faith separate from good works that saves, but faith from them and with them. For he who does good works has faith; but he who does not, has not faith.