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.

100. And hast tried them that say that 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. This is evident from the signification of "to try," as being to inquire into and search out; and from the signification of "apostles," as being those who teach the truths of the church, and in a sense abstracted from persons, the truths themselves that are taught (of which in what follows); also from the signification of "and are not, and are found liars," as being not truths but falsities; for a "lie" and a "liar" signify falsity (Arcana Coelestia 8908, 9248). From this and what precedes it is evident that "I know that thou canst not bear the evil, and hast tried them that say they are apostles and they are not, and hast found them liars," signifies that they reject evils, and falsities also, so far as they are able to search them out. For in the things written to this church those who are in the knowledges of truth and good, thus in the knowledges of such things as are of heaven and of the church, are treated of (See above, n. 93); here, therefore, it is first said of them that they put away evils, and falsities also, so far as they are able to search them out; for those who are in the knowledges of the holy things of the church need first to know in general what good and truth are, also what evil and falsity are, for upon this knowledge all other knowledges are founded. (For this reason also The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem first of all treats of Good and Truth, n 11-27, and from these it can also be seen what evil and falsity are.)

[2] By "apostles" those who teach the truths of the church are signified, because the apostles [those sent] were so called from their having been sent to teach and to preach the Gospel concerning the Lord and the drawing nigh of the kingdom of God through Him; thus to teach the truths of the church, by which the Lord is known and the kingdom of God is brought nigh. The kingdom of God on the earth is the church. From this it is evident what is meant by "apostles" in the spiritual sense of the Word, namely, not the twelve apostles who were sent by the Lord to teach concerning Him and His kingdom, but all who are in the truths of the church, and in a sense abstracted from persons, the truths themselves. For in the Word it is customary to speak of persons; but those who are in its spiritual sense, as angels are, do not think of persons at all, but their thought is abstracted from persons, and has respect therefore solely to things. The reason is, that it is material to think of persons, but spiritual to think apart from the idea of persons; for instance, where the "disciples" are mentioned in the Word, or "prophets," "priests," "kings," "Jews," "Israel," "the inhabitants of Zion," and of "Jerusalem," and so on. (Moreover, the very names of persons and places are changed with angels into things, see Arcana Coelestia 768, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888, 4310, 4442, 5095, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282, 10329, 10432; and that the thought of angels is abstracted from persons, n. 8343, 8985, 9007)

[3] That the disciples of the Lord were called apostles from their having been sent to teach concerning Him and His kingdom is clear in Luke:

Jesus sent His twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God. And the apostles, when they were returned, declared unto Him what things they had done. And Jesus spake to them of the kingdom of God (Luke 9:1-2, 9:10-11).

In the same:

When it was day, Jesus called His disciples; and He chose from the twelve, whom also He named apostles (Luke 6:13).

In the same:

I will send unto them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute (Luke 11:49).

They are called "prophets and apostles," because by "prophets," as well as by "apostles," are meant those who were sent to teach truths; but by "prophets" those of the Old Testament, and by "apostles" those of the New. (That "prophets" in the Word signify those who teach truths and in a sense abstracted from persons the truths themselves, see Arcana Coelestia 2534.) As the "twelve apostles" signify the truths themselves of the church, it is said in Revelation:

The wall of the New Jerusalem had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14).

(That by the "New Jerusalem" is meant the church in respect to doctrine, see in the small work on The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine 6 ; that by its "wall" are signified the truths of doctrine for defense, see Arcana Coelestia 6419; by the "foundations of the wall" are signified the knowledges of the truth, on which doctrine is founded, n. 9643; by "twelve" are signified all truths in the complex, n. 577, 2089, 2129-2130, 3272, 3858, 3913. From this it is clear why it is said that in the foundations of the wall were the "names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.")