Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-06
THE PULPIT
AN ELOQUENT. SUNDAY SERMON o.
DR.. G. F. j. WRIGLEY.
Theme: Spiritual Blindness.

brooklyn, N. Y.-Dr. c. r. I wr,o
Icy: rector of Grace Church IN +ho
preached Sunday mornsne
On spiritual Blindness" The tnr]
was from Luke 4:1S: "He hath go
me TO recovering Of sight r. tha
olina.| Dr.. Wrigley said:
q text Is part of a Quotation fror
lne prophesy Of Isaiah. viz ..Tha
splrlt OF the Lord is uponr-me ha7
cause he anointed me to preach ~.
Gospel to the poor. He hath sent
me TO proclaim release to the ca !.
Ives and recovering of sight "a +he
onnd. To set at liberty them that
are bruised. When one studies That
passage. says a modern writer ~
aseailss the famous tent OF the Arab
cnle1; when folded it could be- car.
! IN the hand; when onened -
sneitered his tribe. The passage con-
Ialhs the Keynote of the teaching IF
Jesus, and It shows how ~unerringIy
ne selected the very heart of the lew.
lsh system upon which to found His
owl: IL shows us the profound truth
OF HIS statement. that He came not
10 uestroy, but to fulfil the Law.
MANY years ago a modern infidel
philosopher OF a shallow kind pointed
out the fact that Moses had made
some mistakes in figures, and also
tnat ne had not been very we'll in
sttuCteo IN science. Or he would have
constructed a different cosmogony
from the n found in Genesis. This
sanAe philosopher failed to point out
sne pregnant fact that the Law of
Moses was built upon the great ele-
Ilen12I nrtnn1n1n of 49, -
STOOD Tor liberty and order: that it
a taken (as Munger says) a nation
OF raves ignorant, barbaric, besotted
In mind and degenerate in body. and
by a shrewdfy adapted system Of
laws lifted it steadily and persistentlv
upward and bore it on to ever better
ing conditions and always toward
He forgot to mention that
from first to last, and from centre to
circumference. 1t was a system of de-
llverance from bondage, disease. fg-
norance. anarchy, superstition and
despotism. Jesus Christ, with His
Keen spiritual vision. sees what the
other fails to see. When He rises in
the little synagogue at Nazareth, He
quotes the elemental truth of the Mo-
sale system. and says this is your
charter of liberty. and I propose to
make it the charter of the worlds
freedom: freedom from ignorance.
superstition, sensuality, sorrow and
pain. 1t is remarkable again that the
passage quoted from Isaiah has a
double meaning in every paragraph.
The poor may be those poor in pocket
or poor In soul. The slaves may be
slaves OF a worldly master or slaves
of their W passions. The blind may
be blind of body or blind of spirit.
Which does Christ mean? Undoubt-
eddy He means both, for the Saviour
emphasized suffering without
calling attention to the fact that suf-
fer1ng came from sin. He cared for
bodily wounds, but His great SYM
pathies went out to the sin-sick soul.
Now, blindness. like leprosy, was
a type Of sin. The blind were not
only disbarred from the priesthood,
but were not allowed to take part in
the Temple service. Blindness. like
leproSy. was supposed to be incur
able. except by the direct act of God.
Blindness was therefore a type of sin,
because sin could only be cured by
the direct act of God. Sin was spirit
ual blindness, because sinners had
always been marked by dull spiritual
apprehension. Abraham in his day
had been able to see Christ, and to
see the city having foundations. The
spiritually enlightened under the Mo-
sale di~spensation had been able to see
Christ in the ancient ordinances. and
the prophets had cried out against
their countrymen, who were more stu
p1d than the OK n the ass, because
these creatures knew their masters
and the owners crib, but the children
of God did not know their Father and
could not find their Fathers house.
St. Paul, when he had found it i'm
possible to make his people receive
Jesus az the Messiah, declared them
to be spiritually blind, and then made
some remarks about spiritual blind.
ness h a apply very we'll to the men
and women of our w day.
Now, it is to this large class of
spiritually blind people that Jesus ap
peals, in all His miraculous works
upon the blind. He heals the blind
in body to show that He can heal the
blind in spirit. He heals the type,
that man may believe that He can heal
the really blind, viz, the blind in soul.
Moreover, it is extremely interesting
to note that in every separate instance
where He uses His supernatural
P0"SA " 4SoA Tx 11Lu L LCdCAC0
us some important lesson concerning
the relation that exists between God
and His children, and how all men,
IT they will, may be healed of spirit
ual blindness. Notice the first in
stance: Two blind men meet Him at
C~apernaum. They knew their need,
and cried aloud for help, and the
Saviour did not appear to notice
them. and when He did. not notice.
they followed Him pe%rsistently, fol-
lowed Him into the house and de-
manded help. 1t is a case like that
Of Jacob at Peniel. The antagonist
of the patriarch would not bless, and,
therefore, he would not let him CO..
It was a certain faith, a faith that
grew stronger as the apparent .indif-
ference OF God became more dread
full. 1t was a case of the Kingdom of
Heaven being taken by violence.
These men give us a picture Of those
who have known what it is to see, |
and who can appreciate what 1t
means, If anybody can give them the