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beast are signified ratiocinations and attestations that faith alone is the sole medium of salvation, may be seen above, n. 598, 599, 704; by receiving the mark of the beast and worshiping his image, is signified to acknowledge and receive that faith, n. 634, 637, 679.

835. "These two were-cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone," signifies, that all these, as they were, were cast into hell, where are the loves of falsity, and at the same time the lusts of evil. Alive, signifies, as they were; by these two, namely the beast and the false prophet, are signified all those who have made profession of faith alone, and are interiorly evil, both laity and clergy, as above, n. 834; by a lake of fire burning with brimstone, is signified hell, where they are who are in the loves of falsity, and, at the same time, in the lusts of evil; by a lake are signified falses in abundance, as will be seen presently; by fire is signified love, in this case the love of their falsity; that fire signifies love in both senses, good and evil, may be seen, n. 468, 494, 599, here the love of what is falsity, because it is called a lake of fire; by brimstone is signified the lust of evil, and thence of falsity, n. 452. The like is said of the dragon, and of these two, in the following words of the next chapter: "The devil," that is, the dragon, "who deceived them, was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, for ever and ever," xx. 10. It must be observed, that the hell, where such as these are, appears at a distance as a fiery lake with a green flame like that of brimstone; but they who are therein do not see this, for they are there shut up in their houses of correction, where they have vehement altercations with one another; sometimes there appear knives in their hands, which they use in a threatening manner rather than appear to yield or give way; it is their love of falsity, together with their Justs of evil, which causes the appearance of such a lake; this appearance is from correspondence. That by a lake is signified where there is truth in abundance, and, in an opposite sense, where falsity abounds, may appear from the Word; that it signifies where there is truth in abundance, may be seen in the following passages : "For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, and the parched ground shall become a lake," Isaiah xxxv. 6, 7. "I will make the wilderness a lake of water, and the dry land springs of waters," Isaiah xli. 18, Psalm cvii. 33, 35. "I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the lakes," Isaiah xlii. 15. The God of Jacob, who "turned the rock into a lake of water, the flint into a fountain of waters," Psalm cxiv. 7, 8. "All that make a trade of lakes for the fishes," Isaiah xix. 10. In an opposite sense, from these passages: "I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant; I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and lakes of water," Isaiah xiv. 22, 23. Death and hell were "cast into the lake of fire," Арос. хх. 15. Their part is "in the lake of fire, which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death," Apoc. xxi. 8.

836. "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which proceeds out of his mouth," signifies, that all they of various heresies among the Reformed, who have not lived according to the commandments of the Lord in the Word, which they knew, being judged according to the Word, perish. By the remnant are meant all belonging to various heresies among the Reformed, who have not lived according to the commandments of the Lord in the Word, which they knew, which are the commandments of the decalogue, consequently all who do not shun evils as sins; for they who do not so shun them are in all kinds of evil, for they are beset with them from their birth, and thence from their infancy to their lives' end, and they increase daily, if they be not removed by actual repentance; of these it is said, that they were slain with the sword of him who sat upon the horse; by being slain is here signified, as frequently before, to be spiritually slain, which is to perish as to the soul; by the sword of him who sat upon the horse, which proceeded out of his mouth, are signified the truths of the Word fighting against the falses of evil; for by a sword as expressed by the several terms, gladius, machæra, and romphæa, is signified truth fighting against falsity, and falsity fighting against truth, n. 52, but a sword (as expressed by gladius) is on the thigh, whence it means combat from love; machæra is a sword in the hand, whence it means combat from power; and romphæa has relation to the mouth, whence it means combat from doctrine; wherefore a sword (romphæa) proceeding out of the mouth of the Lord means combat from the Word against falses, n. 108, 117, 827, for the Word proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord. The reason why combat with the Reformed, and not with the Babylonians, is here treated of, is, because the Reformed read the Word, and acknowledge the truths therein to be divine truths; not so the Babylonians; these do, indeed, acknowledge the Word, but yet they do not read it, and every one regards the dictates of the pope in the first place, and as far above it, wherefore combat cannot be waged with them from the Word; they also place themselves above it, and not under it; but still they are judged from the Word, and from the dictates of the popes, so far as these accord with the Word.

837. "And all the fowls were filled with their flesh," signifies, that the infernal genii seed, as it were, upon their concupiscences of evil, which constitute their selfhood. By fowls are signified the falses which are from hell, and inasmuch as the infernal genii are principled in these falses, being one with man in the falses which pertain to his love, therefore these are here signified by fowls: the man also who is in such falses, becomes such a genius after death; that by the useless and mischievous fowls, especially the unclean and rapacious, which feed upon dead carcasses, are signified falsities which are of the love, may be seen above, n. 757; by flesh are here signified the evils of concupiscences, which constitutes man's selfhood, n. 748; by being filled with their flesh, signifies, to be nourished with them as it were, and to draw them in with delight, for the infernal genii, who are in similar concupiscences of evil, greedily inhale and snuff up into their nostrils, and thence live from, the concupiscences which exhale from such men's thoughts and respiration, for which reason also they live and cohabit together.

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838. Let every one, therefore, beware of this heresy, that MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WITHOUT THE WORKS OF THE LAW, for he who is in it, and does not fully recede from it before his life's end, after death consociates with infernal genii; for they are the goats, concerning whom the Lord says, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. xxv. 42; for of the goats the Lord does not say, that they did evil, but that they did not do good; the reason why they did not do good, is, because they said to themselves, I cannot do good from myself, the law does not condemn me, the blood of Christ cleanses and delivers me, the passion of the cross takes away the sentence of sin, the merit of Christ is imputed to me through faith, I am reconciled to the Father, under grace, I am regarded as a son, and our sins he reputes as infirmities, which he instantly forgives for the sake of his Son, thus he justifies by faith alone, and unless this were the sole medium of salvation, no mortal could be saved; for what other end did the Son of God suffer on the cross and fulfill the law, but to remove the sentence of condemnation for our transgressions? Thus do they reason with themselves, and the good which is good they do not do; for from this faith alone, which is nothing but a faith of knowledges, in itself an historical faith, thus only a science, no good proceeds; it being a dead faith, into which no life or soul enters, unless the man approaches the Lord immediately, and shuns evils as sins as of himself, in which case, the good which he does as of himself, is from the Lord, thus in itself good; on which subject it is thus written in Isaiah: "Ah! sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters: And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear: Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well;" then "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," i. 4, 15-18. And in Jeremiah: "Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this

word, trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah are these" (the church of God, the church of God, the church of God is where our faith is); "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house become a den of robbers? Behold, even I have seen it, saith Jehovah," vii. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11.

839. I was looking into the world of spirits, and saw an army mounted on red and black horses; they who sat upon them appeared like apes, with their faces and breasts turned towards the loins and tails of the horses, and the hinder parts of their heads and their backs towards their necks and heads, and the bridles hung about the necks of the riders; and they cried out, "Let us fight against them who ride upon white horses;" but they held the bridles with both hands, so as to keep back the horses from the combat; and this they did continually. At this time two angels descended from heaven, and came near to me, and said, "What do you see?" and I told them that I saw this ludicrous company of horsemen, and asked what and who they were; and the angels answered, "They come from the place which is called Armageddon, Apoc. xvi. 16, where they were assembled to the number of some thousands, to fight against those who are of the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalern; in that place they talked of the church and of religion, and yet there was not any thing of the church among them, because there was not any spiritual truth among them; nor any religion, because there was not any spiritual good among them; they talked about both, indeed, with their mouths and lips, but only for the sake of the dominion they might obtain by their means. They learned in their youth to confirm the doctrine of faith alone, the trinity of God, and the quality of Christ; but when they arrived at eminent stations in the church, they retained these things only for a short time; for as they then began to think no longer about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, thus not concerning eternal beatitude

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