AE 185 - "works"

AE 185
I know thy works, (Revelation 3:1)
"Works" signify the things that are of life
because they are the effects of life,
for they proceed from the life of everyone.
If the life is good the works are good,
but if the life is evil the works are evil.
The life that is in works is the intention,
which is of the will,
and of the thought therefrom;
and this life is the life of a person's spirit;
for it is the spirit in a person that intends and thinks.
Without this life in works
they would be only motions like those of automatons.
For this reason the wise do not look at the works,
but at the life that is in the works, namely, at the intention.
This is especially true of the angels who are with a person;
they do not see his works, but only the intentions of his mind,
and conclude therefrom what the person's state is.
From this it can be seen that "works" in the spiritual sense mean the life;
and as the life of a person is diverse,
depending mainly upon his love,
it is his love that is especially signified by "works" .
This is why it is said to the angel of each church in the beginning,
"I know thy works;" which therefore means
that the Lord knows the whole life of a person,
and its quality in respect to love.