2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
-Revelation 2:2 Bible, King James Version (KJV)
Apocalypse Revealed, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1766], tr. by John Whitehead [1912], at sacred-texts.com
68. ...Verse 2. "I know thy works," signifies that He sees all the interiors and exteriors of man at once (n. 76)... "And that thou canst not bear the evil," signifies that they cannot bear that evil should be called goods and the reverse (n. 78). "And hast tried them that say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars," signifies that they scrutinize those things which are called goods and truths in the church, which nevertheless are evils and falsities (n. 79)...
76. Verse 2. I know thy works, signifies that He sees all the interiors and exteriors of man at once. "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... 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. But on this subject more may be seen in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom (n. 209-220, and n. 277-281;...) 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...
78. And that thou canst not bear the evil, signifies that they cannot bear that evils should be called goods, and the reverse, because this is contrary to the truths of doctrine. That this is the signification of these words, is evident from what follows, by which is signified that they scrutinize those things in the church which are called goods and truths, when yet they are evils and falsities. To know goods, whether they are goods or evils, is of doctrine, and is among its truths, but to do goods or evils is of the life; this is said, therefore, of those who primarily regard the truths of doctrine, and not the goods of life (n. 73)...
79. And has tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, signifies that they scrutinize those things which are called goods and truths in the church, which nevertheless are evils and falsities. That this is what is signified, cannot be seen except by the spiritual sense, and unless it is thence known what is meant by "apostles" and by "liars": by "apostles" are not meant apostles, but all who teach the goods and truths of the church, and, in the abstract sense, the goods and truths themselves of its doctrine... By the Lord's disciples are meant those who are instructed by the Lord in the goods and truths of doctrine; but by apostles they who, after they are instructed, teach them; for it is said: Jesus sent His twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God, and the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done (Luke 9:1-2, 10; Mark 6:7, 30). That by "liars" are meant they who are in falsities... From these considerations it may appear, that by "thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars," is signified that they scrutinize those things in the church which are called goods and truths, but which nevertheless are evils and falsities.
80. Verse 3. And hast borne and hast endurance. That it signifies the patience with them is evident without explanation.
81. And for My name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted, signifies their study and endeavor to procure for themselves and also to teach the things which are of religion and its doctrine. By the "name" of Jehovah or of the Lord, in the Word is not meant His name, but everything by which He is worshiped. And because He is worshiped in the church according to doctrine, by His "name" is meant the all of doctrine, and, in the universal sense, the all of religion. The reason why these things are meant by "the name" of Jehovah is because in heaven no other names are given but what involve the quality of anyone, and the quality of God is all that by which He is worshiped...
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