The Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles

The Lord left his apostles with instructions and with great gifts. The instructions are listed in several distinct places, but the the gifts are more scattered, both in the four gospels and in the book of Acts later, being given as the apostles needed them.

First, about the apostles... just to clarify, here I'm referring to "the disciples" as including anyone who has followed along to hear the Lord, and "the apostles" to mean the twelve men that the Lord recruited specifically, as listed in Matthew 10, Mark 3, and Luke 6.

Who were the apostles? From the lists in Matthew and Mark, which are the same, we have: Simon (Peter), James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew (Peter’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew (the publican), Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, (as is Matthew, so they are brothers, too), Thaddeus, (also known as Libbeus), Simon the Canaanite (also called Simon the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot. Bartholomew is almost undoubtedly another name for Nathaniel, see John 1. The list in Luke includes another Judas, "Judas the brother of James" and doesn’t have Thaddeus.

The stories of how they were individually chosen differ, especially in the gospel of John, but that these twelve were appointed by the Lord is clear. A point of interest is that - other than Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot they are all from towns around the sea of Galilee - and perhaps those two are as well. These twelve have their names inscribed on the twelve foundations of the walls of the holy city New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21:14 in which there are also the twelve gates. These men were chosen to represent all the different states of the natural human being that can be receptive of the Lord. They are from Galilee because Galilee represents that natural state of the human mind. The number twelve in the Word represents all possible states of mankind.

What is indicated here is that all people, everywhere, can be saved or regenerated if they repent and turn to the Lord in their lives. No one is "outside" of His reach. We are born natural, everyone is, but we are so formed that our minds can be raised to what is higher, called spiritual for our conceptions of Divine truth, or Celestial for our perceptions of Divine good. But we all start in a natural state and can only move upward by listening to the Lord’s teachings in His Word, and following Him as those Apostles did.

Not all of our natural states are states of good; they can be selfish, domineering, and cruel. But the Lord said that He came "not to save the just but to call sinners to repentance". Perhaps this is why Simon the Canaanite and Judas were two that He called. Simon is little known, but in some places in the Word, "Canaan signifies an external worship without a true internal worship". (See Arcana Coelestia 1060). Can the Lord work with that - with external worship that's internally barren? Yes, as a starting point. And, even Judas, who betrayed the Lord so terribly, we are told, repented of his betrayal of the Lord. (Matthew 27:3-5)

The Lord's Instructions to the Apostles

The two most comprehensive sets of instructions are in Luke 10:1-17 where seventy Disciples are sent out two by two, apparently to a specified list of cities that Jesus intends to visit, and then in Matthew 20:1-19 where the chosen twelve Apostles are sent out to all Israel. Later, as recorded in different epistles, the Apostles go out further, through a wide region.

The basic instructions were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near, that all should be led to repent of their sins, and that all who wish should be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles should not take any money or extra clothing along, and they were to depend entirely on the Lord’s providence with no doubt that they shall be welcomed, fed, and sheltered. If they were welcomed, they should stay and preach the good news about the risen Lord and His teachings, and if they were not, they should shake from their feet the dust of that place and go on to a place where they were welcome. See Matthew 10, 28, Mark 13, 16, Luke 9, 10:24.

There are several assurances for the twelve. The Lord has told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit is sent to strengthen them, and in John 20 where the ten are gathered it is said that He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit". Also, in his long talk with them in John 14, 15, 16) He assures them that his crucifixion and death are necessary to his mission and they should even rejoice that it is coming. He shows them from scripture that it has all been prophesied from long ago, (see Mark 4:34) and that what seems to them a tragedy, is truly His glorification and the end of the work He came to do. They, His twelve, are in the same steam of providence and will be protected. "Don’t be anxious," He tells them, "I will put into your mouths what you are to say, I will bring into your memories the incidents to tell to the people".

Here is a listing of the chapters and verses in John where such things are said: John 14:1-3, 10, 16-18, 26-28, 15:11, 16, 26-27, 16:7, 13-15, 22, 26-27, 33. Or simply read the three chapters and pick out your favorites.

A marvelous gift is mentioned in Matthew 10:13, "But blessed are your eyes for they see and blessed are your ears, for they hear…".

In the book of Acts, the Lord vividly shows the apostles that when they speak in their Galileen dialect every listener will hear their words as his own language in his ears; not gibberish, but Arabic to the Arabs, Greek to the Greeks, and Latin to the Romans.

When Peter starts to preach to a gathering of sympathetic Jews he speaks clearly and unafraid, saying that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God and that people should worship Him openly and repent of how they might have felt earlier. Peter’s talk in Acts 3 and 4 is a bold and powerful one. No more hiding behind locked doors.

The early history of the Christian church shows just how well all this worked out. You know what? The Apostles preached to the peoples in the Near East 2000 years ago, and their preaching is just as relevant today as it was then: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Being at hand has nothing to do with the date or the state of political history in the world, it has to do with the inside of your mind. The Lord is just as close to you now as He was then, and He never turns away, though we might turn away from him. Remember that He said "behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears and opens the door He will come right in." This hasn’t changed nor will it ever change, but He leaves us in freedom to ignore His knocking, if that is what we want. We have to make the choice, but He is always ready if we choose to open the door.

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.