938. Saying, Great and wonderful are Thy works, signifies that all the goods of heaven and the church are from Him. This is evident from the signification of "the Lord's works," as being all the goods of heaven and the church. This is the signification of "His works," because it is added, "just and true are Thy ways," and the Lord's "ways" signify all the truths of heaven and the church. For where good is spoken of in the Word truth is also spoken of, because of the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of good and truth in all the particulars thereof; from which it is clear that "works" here signify goods, and "ways" truths. The goods of heaven and the church are the works of the Lord because heaven is heaven, and the church is a church from the good of love to the Lord and from the good of love towards the neighbor (see the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 13-19).
(Continuation)
[2] A previous article (n. 936) treated of refraining from evils from spiritual freedom, in which every man is held by the Lord. But as all the evils into which man is born derive their roots from the love of ruling over others and from the love of possessing the goods of others, and all the delights of man's own life flow forth from these two loves, and all evils are from them, so the loves and delights of these evils belong to man's own life. And since evils belong to the life of man, it follows that man from himself can by no means refrain from them, for this would be from his own life to refrain from his own life. The ability to refrain from them of the Lord is therefore provided, and that he may have this ability the freedom to think that which he wills and to pray to the Lord for help is granted him. He has this freedom because he is in the middle between heaven and hell, consequently between good and evil. And being in the middle he is in equilibrium; and he who is in equilibrium is able easily and as of his own accord to turn himself the one way or the other; and the more so because the Lord continually resists evils and repels them, and raises man up and draws him to Himself. And yet there is combat, because the evils which belong to man's life are stirred up by the evils that unceasingly rise up from hell; and then man must fight against them, and, indeed, as if of himself; if he does not fight as if of himself the evils are not separated.
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