155.And ministry and faith. That this signifies good and truth pertaining to them is evident from the signification of ministry, as denoting good, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of faith, as denoting truth. The reason why faith signifies truth is, that truth is of faith, and faith is of truth. The reason why ministry signifies good is, that, in the Word, it is used in reference to good; hence the office of Aaron, of his sons, and of the Levites, was called ministry, and in general the offices of priests. By ministering to Jehovah, or the Lord, is meant to worship Him from the good of love; hence it is evident that ministry has reference to works, and faith to charity, concerning which see above, where it is said, "I know thy works and charity"; for faith and charity make one, because where there is no charity there is no faith (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 108-122; and in the small work, The Last Judgment 33-40).

[2] That ministry, and to minister, in the Word, are said of the good of love, is evident from the following passages; as in David:

Jehovah "maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire" (Psalms 104:4).

By Jehovah making His angels spirits is signified that they are recipients of His Divine truth (see above, n. 130). By making His ministers a flaming fire, is signified that they are recipients of His Divine good, for flaming fire signifies the good of love (as may be seen above, n. 68). Hence it is clear, that by ministers are meant those who are in the good of love.

[3] In the same:

"Bless Jehovah, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his that do his will" (Psalms 103:21).

Those are called the hosts of Jehovah who are in truths (see n. 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019), and ministers those who are in goods; therefore it is said that they do His will. To do the will of the Lord is to act from the good of love; for all good has reference to the will, as all truth has to the understanding.

[4] In Isaiah:

"Ye shall be called the priests of Jehovah; the ministers of our God" (61:6).

Priests are called ministers because they represented the Lord as to the good of love, and hence, those who are in the good of love are, in the Word, called priests (see Arcana Coelestia 2015, 6148, 9809, 10017). It is also from this circumstance that they are called the ministers of God. This is why the office of Aaron and his sons is called the ministry, as likewise that of the Levites is called the priesthood, and why to enter into the tent of assembly and officiate in the ministry, as also to approach to the altar and there officiate in the ministry, is called ministering (as may be seen in Exodus 28:35, 30:20; Numbers 8:15, 19, 24-26). And in Jeremiah:

"My covenant shall be broken with the Levites the priests, my ministers" (33:21).

(That Aaron represented the Lord as to the good of love, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9806, 9946, 10017; that the priests in general signified the same, n. 2015, 6148; that hence by the priesthood in the Word is signified the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love, n. 9806, 9809.)

[5] The whole heaven is divided into two kingdoms: in one kingdom are the angels who are in the good of celestial love, in the other the angels who are in the good of spiritual love, or charity. The celestial kingdom of the Lord is called His priesthood, and the spiritual kingdom His royalty (see the work, Heaven and Hell 24, 226). To minister is predicated of those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, but to serve of those who are in His spiritual kingdom. Hence it is clear what is meant in the following passages by to minister and minister, and to serve and servant. Jesus said, to the disciples:

"Whosoever will be great among you, must be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, must be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Matthew 20:26-28; 23:11; Mark 9:35; Luke 22:24-27).

Jesus said,,

"If any man will minister to me, let him follow me; then where I am, there shall also my minister be; if any man hath ministered to me, him will my Father honour" (John 12:26).

Jesus said,

"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching; I say unto you, that he will gird himself and make them to sit down, and rising up will minister to them" (Luke 12:37).

In Isaiah:

"The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to Jehovah to minister to him, and to love the name of Jehovah" (56:6).

Hence, because ministering is said of the good of love, the sons of the stranger are said to minister to Jehovah, and to love Him; and of the Lord Himself it is said, that He will minister. From these considerations it is evident that by ministry is signified all that is done from the good of love, thus the good of love.

130. (Verse 12) And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write. That this signifies for remembrance to those within the church who are in temptations, is evident from the signification of writing, as being for remembrance (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia 8620); from the signification of angel, as being a recipient of Divine truth, and, in the highest sense, the Divine truth itself proceeding from the Lord (concerning which more will be said in what follows); and from the signification of the church in Pergamos, as being those within the church who are in temptations. That such are meant by the church in Pergamos, is evident from the things written to that church, which follow; for from no other source can it be known what is signified by each of the seven churches. For, as was before shown, by the churches here mentioned are not meant churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, but all those who belong to the Lord's church, and by each church something which constitutes the church with man. And because the primary things of the church are the knowledges of truth and good and the affection of spiritual truth, therefore the subject first treated of are those things, written to the angel of the church of Ephesus and Smyrna; concerning the knowledges of truth and good to the angel of the church of Ephesus, and concerning the spiritual affection of truth to the angel of the church of Smyrna. And because no one can be infilled with the knowledges of truth and good as to life, and persevere in the spiritual affection of truth, unless he undergoes temptations, therefore the subject now treated of in what is written to the angel of the church in Pergamos is those temptations.

[2] It is therefore clear in what order the things taught under the names of the seven churches follow. The reason why it is said, "To the angel of the church, write," and not to the church is, that by angel is signified the Divine truth which constitutes the church; for Divine truth teaches how man is to live that he may become a church. That by angel in the Word, in the spiritual sense, is not meant any angel, but, in the highest sense, the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and, in a relative sense, he who receives it, is evident from this consideration, that all the angels are recipients of Divine truth from the Lord, and that no angel is of himself an angel; also, that in proportion as he receives Divine truth, in the same proportion he is an angel. For angels know and perceive better than men, that all the good of love and truth of faith are not from themselves, but from the Lord; and, because the good of love and truth of faith constitute their wisdom and intelligence, and these the whole angel, therefore they know and acknowledge that they are only recipients of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and thus that they are angels in that degree in which they receive it. This is why they are desirous that the term angels should be understood spiritually, that is, impersonally, and be interpreted as meaning Divine truths.

By Divine truth is meant also Divine good, because they proceed unitedly from the Lord (as may be seen in the work,Heaven and Hell 13, 140).

[3] Now because Divine truth proceeding from the Lord constitutes an angel, therefore, in the highest sense, in the Word, by angel is meant the Lord Himself, as in Isaiah:

"The angel of the faces of Jehovah liberated them; on account of his love, and his indulgence, he redeemed them; and he bore, and carried them all the days of eternity" (Isaiah 63:9).

And in Moses:

"The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless them (Genesis 48:16).

In the same:

"Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way; beware of his faces, and obey his voice, for my name is in the midst of him" (Exodus 23:20-23).

[4] Because the Lord as to Divine truth is called an angel, therefore also Divine truths are meant, in the spiritual sense, by angels, as in the following passages:

"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. In the consummation of the age the angels shall go forth, and sever the wicked from among the just" (Matthew 13:41, 49).

"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather together the elect from the four winds" (Matthew 24:31).

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Matthew 25:31).

Jesus said, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51).

In these passages, in the spiritual sense, by angels are meant Divine truths, and not angels; as in the foregoing passages, where it is said that, in the consummation of the age, the angels shall gather out all things that offend, shall sever the wicked from the just, that they shall gather together the elect with a great sound of a trumpet from the four winds, and that the Son of man with His angels shall sit upon a throne of glory. It is not meant that the angels will do these things, together with the Lord, but the Lord alone by His Divine truths; for an angel has no power of himself, but all power is from the Lord by means of His Divine truth (see the work, Heaven and Hell 230-233). Similarly by the angels of God seen ascending and descending upon the Son of man is meant, that Divine truths were in Him and from Him.

[5] By angels also in other places are meant Divine truths proceeding from the Lord, consequently the Lord as to Divine truths, as where it is said, that

to the seven angels were given seven trumpets, and that the angels sounded the trumpets (Apoc. 8:2, 6-8, 10, 12, 13; 9:1, 13, 14).

It is said, that to the angels were given trumpets, and that they sounded them, because trumpets and the sound of them signify Divine truth to be revealed (see above, n. 55). Similar things are also meant

by the angels fighting against the dragon (Apoc. 12:7, 9);

by the angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel (Apoc. 14:6);

by the seven angels pouring out the seven vials (Apoc. 16:1-4, 8, 10, 12);

by the twelve angels at the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem (Apoc. 21:12).

[6] That this is the case will also be seen in what follows. That by angels are meant Divine truths from the Lord, is quite clear in David:

Jehovah "maketh his angels winds, and his ministers a flaming fire" (Psalms 104:4).

By these words are signified Divine truth and Divine good; for the wind of Jehovah in the Word signifies Divine truth, and His fire Divine good. (As is evident from what is shown in Arcana Coelestia, as, that the wind of the nostrils of Jehovah denotes Divine truth, n. 8286; that the four winds denote all things of truth and good, n. 3708, 9642, 9668; that hence to breathe in the Word signifies the state of the life of faith, n. 9280; from which it is evident what is signified by Jehovah breathing into the nostrils of Adam (Genesis 2:7); by the Lord breathing upon His disciples (John 20:22): and by these words of the Lord, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, and knowest not whence it cometh" (John 3:8); concerning which see n. 96, 97, 9229, 9281; and, moreover, n. 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 3893. That flaming fire denotes Divine love, and thence Divine good see in the work, Heaven and Hell 133-140, 566, 567, 568; and above, n. 68.)

[7] That an angel signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is quite clear from these words in the Apocalypse:

"He measured the wall" of the New Jerusalem "an hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel" (21:17).

That the wall of the New Jerusalem is not the measure of an angel anyone may see; but that the term signifies all truths for defence, which are there meant by angel, is evident from the signification of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the signification of the number one hundred and forty-four. (That a wall signifies all truths for defence, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 6419; that the number one hundred and forty-four signifies all things of truth in the aggregate, n. 7973; that measure signifies the quality of a thing as to truth and good, n. 3104, 9603, 10262. These things may also be seen explained as to the internal sense in the small work, The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine, n. 1.)

[8] Because by angels in the Word are meant Divine truths, therefore men through whom Divine truths are made known are sometimes called angels, as in Malachi:

"The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth, because he is the angel of Jehovah" (2:7).

He is said to be the angel of Jehovah, because he teaches Divine truth; not that he is the angel of Jehovah, but the Divine truth which he teaches is. It is also known in the church that no one has Divine truth from himself. Lips, in the above passage, also signify the doctrine of truth, and law the Divine truth itself. (That lips signify the doctrine of truth may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1286, 1288, and that the law is the Divine truth itself, n. 3382, 7463.) This also is why John the Baptist is called an angel:

Jesus said, "This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee" (Luke 7:27).

[9] The reason why John is called an angel is, because by him, in the spiritual sense, is signified the Word, which is Divine truth, just as by Elias. (See Arcana Coelestia 7643, 9372; and that what is signified, the same is meant, by a person in the Word, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3670, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806, 9229.)

[10] It is said, that by angels in the Word, in the spiritual sense, are meant Divine truths proceeding from the Lord, because these constitute angels, and when angels utter them, they do not speak from themselves but from the Lord. That this is the case, the angels not only know but also perceive. A man who believes that nothing of faith is from himself, but from God, also knows this, but he does not perceive it. That nothing of faith is from man, but all from God, is the same thing as if it were said, that nothing of truth which has life is from man, but from God; for truth has relation to faith, and faith to truth.