"One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." - John 9:25
This is a great thing to say, my soul: on what foundation dost thou
rest this knowledge? If the Lord Jesus hath opened thine eyes, then
indeed thou canst not but discover thy former blindness; for during
that state of nature thou literally couldst discern nothing. And if thy
former blindness be discovered, then thy present sight hath brought
thee acquainted with new objects. Pause over the review of both this
morning. Tile blindness of nature to spiritual things is marked in
scripture in strong characters. A poor blind sinner sees nothing of the
light of life. The Sun of Righteousness is not risen upon him. He
discerns nothing of the love of God in Christ. If he reads the
scripture, the vail is upon his heart. If he hears of Jesus, he sees no
beauty in him. Nothing is nearer to him than the Lord, and nothing
further from his thoughts. To tell him of the sweetness of the word of
God, is strange to him; for he tastes nothing of sweetness in it. To
tell him of the loveliness of ordinances and the sabbaths; these are
strange things in his esteem. My soul, if indeed thine eyes be opened,
thou wilt know that thou wast once indeed blind, in the fullest sense
of the word, to all these delightful views of sacred things, which now
are thy supreme pleasure and thy joy. Say, then, what hast thou seen to
justify this saying: "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now
I see?" Hast thou seen the king in his beauty? Hast thou seen with the
eye of faith the glories of Jesus? Yes, if so be all other objects are
obscured. The sight of Jesus, as the Christ of God, hath darkened the
glory and excellency of all beside, Jesus, as he is in himself, as he
is in his offices, characters, relations; as he is to thee and thy
happiness; is the one, the only one thing needful; and thou must count
all things but dung and dross to win Christ. These, my soul, are
blessed tokens that Jesus hath opened thine eyes, and brought thee out
of darkness into his marvelous light. By and by thou shalt see him as
he is, and dwell with him forever.
No comments :
Post a Comment