Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1889-12-16
Is EVIL or ANY USE.


La the seventy sixth Psalm we read
surely the wrath OF man shall praise
thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thor
restrain" The Lord causes oil things
both good and evil. to be of use. W.
are kept in liberty - to our thoughti
and affections at Gil times. and 80 ar
! able to be good or bad. Just - vi
choose; and yet whether we are goot
.or evil, selfish or unselish. the Lore
causes rs TO perform some use. ane
brings good out Of our actions whether
we intend it or not
We can see how essential it il that ",
should act in freedom if we are to b.
men. The hearty. affectionate feeling
between two good friends arises Target!
from the fact that their affection
towards each other 10 mutually spon
tsneous. Ii this spontaneity were takeE
away and their affection towards eacf
other became . matter OF compulsIon. Il
would by that very act cease to be. The
Lord desires us to love Him freely o.
ourselves, and therefore de so carefully
keeps Us In equilibrium, that our affec
tons and thoughts may be our own. AND
this purpose that the incarnation took
shelned in their internal lite by evil
spirits. and thus their affections pre-
vented from going out freely to the
Heavenly Father and to all that 10 good
For Q similar reason we may be sure
that the Lord will not oyerwhelm III
with the lite of heaven. but will always
keep US in that freedom in which We
shall have the power OF freely turning te
heavenly things If We will, or to opposite
things il we choose.
But how il it that the Lord causes
the wrath OF man to praise himY Egi
IDENTIFY through the wisdom OF His over
ruling providence, Just as HI causes Sll
things to work together tor good towards
those who love God The world 10 full
OF evil and full of evil men
and it is the very tendency Of
ell things evil to attack and
endeayor to destroy whatever il good
Not only that. but we believe that the
influence of hell surges into contact
with the hearts OF men-into contact
with our affections and thoughts-and
we know that the spirit o! hell is il
fierce antagonism to oil that is good in
as. Yet we are told that the power oil
evil shall not harm W. II We look to the
Lord. Yes, we are taught more than
this, We are taught that the wrath oil
man shall praise G ID; that il. that I'm.
der the Lords over-ruling providence
evil 10 com pelled to be of use.
Let US see il we can understand this
and how it 10 brought about. la the
doctrines of the New Church we are
taught that the Lord makes use OF evil
in three ways: tor ca ,iiibriun, tor con
trast and for purif ,asion. Before con
sidering these in detail. we wish to say
that while the Lord compels evil to be
OF use, he did not originate evil for the
sake of making it OF use, nor was il his
desire that evil should come into exist
ence. Man originated evil. not God.
But our ancestors having done this, the
Lord in his divine wisdom over ruled
this evil for good.
Men were kept is states of equilibriu n
before the bells came into existence.
but it was state OF heavenly eq1ili-
brium, that in which the angels are.
But now that there is such .
thing .s evil. it is by means of
this that men are now kept in
That is, We are kept by the
Lord in an equi distance between
Acbtou ouu Hull, Auu lueEc no IQOr6
oompulsion from, tho one aide than from
the other. that tho dcecrmininx
whether We will turn to what is good or
to what 10 evil is strictly and entirely
with US. We can thus see how the bells
are compelled to perform . very import
ant use. they being placed in such op-
position TO heaven as to cause the hu
man race. which is midway between. to
be in perfect equilibrium, and thus in
freedom.
Ii the human race were not IN ca Till
brium, we should cease to be tree moral
agents, and thus oil our acts would
cease to have any moral character. II
the Lord were to permit hell to SO surge
up ~ to engulf the human race, we
should be swallowed up in evil. As
showing that this is never permitted by
the Lord. the latter portion OF this verse
in the P.nlms reads: The remainder
OF wrath shalt thou restrain" This
the Lord always does. being careful to
keep each one OF US in perfect balance
entire responsibility OF our actions is
with Us.
1t. on the other hand, hell were SO
suppressed BY the Lord that it ceased to
have any influence upon the human
race, unless He took some other means
of preserving mans co lilibrium. we
should then be compelled to be auto
matically good. and our good affections,
thoughts and acts would cease to have
any moral character to them. We can
thus see how essential it is that we be
kept in eq lilibrium. and what . great
use the powers OF evil are compelled to
subserve in aiding to accomplish this.
1t is true that when We come to years
OF nationality We may make evil our own
and confirm ourselves in it, and thus
identity ourselves with what is evil, but
even then the divine wisdom of the
Lord keeps Us in . kind OF equilibrium,
or 1T least In such . state that we may
be regenerated if 1T any time before we
die we SO desire, Our uuderstandine
and thoughts are kept free even after
our affections and will are deeply i'm
nersei in evil.
The second way in which evil is COM
pelled to be OF use is by contrast. How
do We know when thing 10 good. or
hat it is good? Simply by contrasting
t with something opposite. A thing is
white In Standardization With some
hing which Is black. Another thing il
sweet in contrast with something else
that il bitter or sour. We contrast be-
ing happy with being miserable. and so
DO We contrast good with evil. In
heaven there Is no evil, and yet it Is
that there should be . con.
.rast even there. and 80 we are taught
hat there the contrast 10 between
! higher and . lower good. But with
Is the contrast 10 directly between what