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.

1866. 'From the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Phrath' means the extension of spiritual and celestial things, 'to the river of Egypt' being the extension of spiritual things, 'to the river Phrath' the extension of celestial things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the river of Egypt' and from the meaning of 'the great river' or the Euphrates. That these rivers mean the extension of spiritual and celestial things becomes clear from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, in which kingdom there is nothing else than the spiritual things of faith and the celestial things of mutual love. Consequently nothing else can be meant by the borders of the land of Canaan than the extension of those things. For what the land of Canaan is, what the river of Egypt is, and what the great river, the Euphrates, is, the inhabitants of heaven do not know at all. Indeed they do not know what the borders of any land are; but they do know what the extension of spiritual and celestial things is, and the range and limits of the states belonging to them. These are the things which those in heaven have in mind when such things in the letter are read by man, so that the letter and its historical sense which has served as a basis for heavenly ideas disappears.

[2] The reason why 'the river of Egypt' means the extension of spiritual things is that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge which, together with the rational concepts and the intellectual concepts which a person has, constitute spiritual things, as stated already in 1443 and elsewhere in this volume. And as to why in the internal sense 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. That 'the river Euphrates' means the extension of celestial things becomes clear from the lands which that river bounded and marked off from the land of Canaan, and by which in many other places facts and the cognitions of celestial things are meant. Here however because it is called 'the river', and 'the great river', they are nothing other than celestial things and the cognitions of them, for 'the great river' and greatness are used in reference to these.