Selections from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
To Ephesus; I know thy works; I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first charity. Repent, and do the former works; or else I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent (Rev. 2:2, 4-5)."Works" are often mentioned in Revelation, but few know what is meant by works.
This is known, that ten men can do works which externally appear alike, but which yet are dissimilar with them all; and this because they proceed from different ends and different causes, the end and the cause rendering the works either good or evil; for every work is a work of the mind, therefore, such as is the quality of the mind, such is the work. If the mind is charity, the work becomes charity; but if the mind is not charity, the work does not become charity; still, however, they may both appear alike in externals.
Works appear to men in external form, but to angels in internal form, and to the Lord their quality is apparent from inmost to outmosts. Works in their external form appear like the outside of fruits, but works in their internal form appear like the inside of fruits, where there are innumerable edible parts, and in the midst seeds, in which there are also things innumerable, which are too minute for the keenest eye to discern, yea, which are above the intellectual sphere of man. Such are all works, the internal quality of which the Lord alone sees, and which the angels also perceive from the Lord, when man is doing them. From these things it may appear, that by "I know thy works," is signified that the Lord sees all the interiors and exteriors of man at once.
. . . I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Revelation 2:23signifies that He gives unto everyone according to the charity and its faith which are in his works. That "works" are the containers of charity and faith, and that charity and faith without works are only like airy images, which vanish as soon as they have appeared.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Revelation 14:13By "the works which follow with them" are signified all things which remain with man after death.
It is known, that the externals, which appear before men, derive their essence, soul, and life from the internals, which do not appear before men, but which appear before the Lord and the angels; the latter and the former, or the externals and the internals taken together, are works — good works, if the internals are in love and faith, and the externals act and speak from them; but evil works, if the internals are not in love and faith, and the externals act and speak from them. If the externals act and speak as if from love and faith, those works are either hypocritical or meritorious. Ten persons may do works which are similar in externals, but still they are dissimilar, because the internals from which the externals proceed are dissimilar.
The spirit of man thinks and wills, and to think and will in itself is spiritual ~ the external of man, which is called the external man, which is in itself natural. The body speaks and acts what its spirit thinks and wills, and to speak and to act is naturalWho does not see that there is an internal and an external, and that these two make one? For who does not see that the understanding and will are the internal of man, and speech and action his external? For who can speak and act without the understanding and the will? And since everyone sees this, he may also see that works are external and internal at the same time; and because the external derives its essence, soul, and life from its internal, as was said above, it follows that the external is such as is its internal; consequently, that "the works which follow with them" are according as they have loved and believed, and thence have done and spoken. That good works are charity and faith, and that the internal of man or the internal man does not consist in understanding without willing, but in willing and thence understanding, consequently that it does not consist in believing without loving, but in loving and thence believing; and that the doing these things is the external of man, or the external man, (seen above).
Every man who is reformed, is first reformed as to the internal man, and afterwards as to the external. The internal man is not reformed by merely knowing and understanding the truths and goods by which man is saved, but by willing and loving them; but the external man, by speaking and doing the things which the internal man wills and loves, and, in proportion as this takes place, in the same proportion man is regenerated. The reason why he is not regenerated before, is, because his internal is not before in the effect, but only in the cause, and, unless the cause be in the effect, it is dissipated. It is like a house built upon ice, which sinks to the bottom when the ice is melted by the sun; in a word, it is like a man without feet to stand and walk upon. It is the same with the internal or spiritual man, if it is not founded on the external or natural man.
From these things it is evident, that by "the works that follow with them" is signified according as they have loved and believed, and thence have done and spoken. The same is signified by "works" in the following passages:
In the day of judgment God will render to every man according to his works (Rom. 2:6).
We must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may give account of the things which he hath done by the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10).
The Son of man will come in the glory of His Father, and then shall He render to everyone according to his works (Matt. 16:27).
They that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).
They were judged according to those things which were written in the books, all according to their works (Rev. 20:12-13).
Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his works (Rev. 22:12).
I will give to everyone of you according to his works (Rev. 2:23).
I know thy works (Rev. 2:1-2, 4, 9, 13, 19, 26; 3:1-3, 7-8, 14-15, 19).
I will recompense them according to their work, and according to the deed of their hands (Jer. 25:14).
Jehovah doeth with us according to our ways and according to our works (Zech. 1:6; and in many other places).
(excerpts from Apocalypse Revealed 76; 141; 510; 641)