Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01
Christian Endeavor Hour
Conducted by Grace Livingston Hill-Lutz.
For Sunday. September 2, 1906

Topic: Spiritual Blindness" fConsecration Meet
inS) John TX s54I; Acts XVI 1919.
s.. Jesus heard that they had cast him
out: and when He had found him. He said
unto him. Dost thou believe on the Son of
God?
SO. He answered and said, Who is He,
Lord, that 1 might believe on Him?
81. And Jesus said unto him. Thou hast
both seen Him, and it Is He that talketh
80. And he said. Lord, believe. And he
worshiped Him.
80. And Jesus said. For Judgment I am
come into this world, that they which see
not might see; and that they which see
might be made blind.
20. And some of the Pharisees which
were with Him heard these words and said
unto Him, Are we blind also?
Al. And Jesus said unto them. If ye were
blind. We should have no sin: but now we
say, We see; therefore your sin remafneth.
Acts XVIII Whereupon as went to
Damascus with authority and commission
from the chief priests.
Is. AT midday, o King, 1~saw In the
way, light from heaven above the bright
ness of the sun, shining round about me
and them which iourneyed With me.
Il. And when we were all fallen to the
and saying in the Hebrew tongue. Saul,
Saul. why perseeutest thou me? 1t is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Is. And said, Who are thou. Lord? And,
l
cutest
49, But rise. and stand upon thy feet;
for have appeared unto thee for this pur-
pose. to make thee a minister and wit
ness both Of these things which thou hast
seen and Of those things In which / will
Il: Delivering thee from the people, and
from the Gentiles. unto whom now send
thee.
IS. To open their eyes. and to turn them
from darkness to light. and from the
power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness Of sins, and Inheritance
among them that are sanctif1ed by faith
that Is in me.
10. whereupon. King Agrippa. was
not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.
The Lesson.
There are two kinds Of blindness de-
scribed in these two scripture selections,
the man who was born blind and knew he
was blind. and wanted to see; and the man
who was blind because he wanted to be
blind. and HAD to be made physically
blind-had to be shut away from the things
he could see-in order to be made to see
the things he wouldn't see. Those two
kinds Of spiritual blindness are still COM
mon. There are in our churches the spirit
ually blind who go about breathing out
threatenings and slaughter upon those who
would have them do. They brand such fol-
lowers Of His fanatics and kill them
socially. and in every way possible shut
them out from the blessings to which they
think they have the only right. Such are
| like SAUL There are many outside the
church, and some in. who are blind because
| they have had no opportunity for knowing
| about Christ and His kingdom. who yet are
sitting by the wayside ready to cry out for
the Savior, and who when their Lord ap-
pears say eagerly: Who Is He. Lord, that
/ might believe on Him.
And as it was in those days, SO now 1t is
= Tn NJ
who are eager to have them opened, than
to open the eyes Of those who do not be-
Meve they are blind.
Marcus Dods says:
1T is impossible adequately to imagine
the sensations Of a man who for the first
time sees the world in which he has for
years been living blind. To a man
who by the opening of one sealed sense was
thus ushered into so new a world, nothing
can have seemed too grand and good for
him to expect. He was prepared to believe in
the glory and perfectness Of Gods world,
and in Christ's power to bring him into
contact with that glory. If the opening Of
his bodily organs Of vision had given him
such exquisite pleasure. and given him en-
trance to 80 new a life. what might not
the opening of his inward eye accomplish?
He had no patience with the difficulties
raised by those who had not his experience
How can a man that Ia a sinner do such
| miracles?' Give God the praise; We know
| that this man Is a sinner To these slow
Drained. bewildered pedants he had but
the answer: whether He be sinner or
no, I know not. One thing I know
that, whereas 1 was blind, now I see.' No
arguments, happily, can rob me Of the i'm
mense boon this Man has conferred upon
me. If 1t gives you any satisfaction to ap-
ply your paltry tests to Him, and prove
I that He cannot have done this miracle. you
are welcome to your conclusions; but you
cannot alter the facts that / was blind, and
that now / see. He who has given me so
divine a gift seems to me to carry with
| Him in some true form the divine pres
ence. I believe Him when He says. am
the light of the world! And SO
straightforward was the mans testimony,
and we'll known was he In Jerusalem,
that instead Of denying the miracle they
adopted the easier course OF excommun1-
eating him for acknowledging Jesus as the
Christ. Ready witted, bold and independ-
| ent as this man was. he cannot but have
felt keenly this punishment. His hope OF
/ employment was gone, and even his new
10Y In seeing would scarcely compensate
for his being Stunned by all as tainted
person. -" But Jesus had heard OF his
| punishment, and sought him out. and de-
clared to him more fully who He Himself
| was He thus gave to the man assurance
| of q friendship outweighing In value what
| he had lost. And such 10 ever the
| reward Of those who make sacrifices for
Christ, who lose employment or friends by
! too boldly confessing their Indebtedness to
| Him. They will themselves tell you that
| Christ makes up to them for their losses
! nv fInpartInR clearer kHOWlcCSc VI I1iIuSSLis
| by making them conscious that they are
| remembered by Him. The blind
man now saw, because he knew he was
blind. and trusted that Christ would give
| him sight The Pharisees were stone-biind
| to the world Christ opened to them and
| carried In His person, because they thought
| that already they had all the knowledge
\ they required. And wherever Christ comes
| men thus form themselves around Him in
| two groups, bind and seeing. For judy
| ment,' for testing and dividing men. He is
| come Nothing goes moro searchingly into
| a mans character than Christ's offer to be
| to him the Light of ffe-to be his leader to
| = perfect life.
| Applied Truth.
| When Moody wanted to Join the church
| he was asked a great many doctrinal ques-
| lions which he could not answer. He only
| said. whereas I was blind. now / see.'
He applied to the church three times before
| he was taken In.
In the story Of the Scottish revival In
| 1856 Mr. Gordon Forlong tells Of a girl who
| was converted and went about urging al
her friends to become Christians She said
| SO much to her mother and sister and te
the neighbors and the people in the street
that they all began to agree that Mary
/ Ann must be crazy. They took her to two
| physicians, who both gave 1t as their opin
| ion that she should be placed In an asylum