The Penn's Grove record., 1909-05-07
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. c. r. ] WRlGLEY.
Theme: Spiritual Blindness.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-Dr. C. F. J. Wrig-
ley, rector Of Grace Church on the
Heights, preached Sunday morning
On Spiritual Blindness" The text
was from Luke ALB: "He hath sent
me to recovering of sight to the
blind" DR.. Wrigley said:
The text is part of a quotation from
the prophesy of Isaiah, viz, THE
spirit of the Lord is upon me, be-
cause He anointed me to preach the
Gospel to the poor. He hath sent
me to proclaim release to the cap
lives, and recovering of sight to the
blind. To set at liberty them that
are bruised" When one studies that
passage, says a modern writer, it
recalls the famous tent of the Arab
chief; when folded it could be car
ried in the hand; when opened it
sheltered his tribe. The passage con-
.ains the keynote of the teaching of
Jesus, and it shows how unerringly
He selected the very heart of the Jew
lsh system upon which to found His
OWN. 1t shows US the profound truth
Of His statement, that He came not
to destroy, but to fulfil the Law.
Many years ago a modern infdel
philosopher of a shallow kind pointed
out the fact that Moses had made
some mistakes in figures, and also
that he had not been very we'll in
structed in science, or he would have
constructed a different cosmogony
from the one found in Genesis. This
same philosopher failed to point out
the pregnant fact that the Law of
Moses was built upon the great ele-
mental principle of mercy; that it
stood for liberty and order; that it
had taken las Munger says) a nation
If slaves, ignorant, barbaric, besotted
ln~mind and degenerate in body, and
by a shrewdly adapted system of
laws lifted it steadily and p~ersistently
upward and bore it on to ever better
ing conditions and always toward
freedom. He forgot to mention that
from first to last, and from centre to
circumference, it was a system of de-
~fiverance from bondage, disease, ig-
n%oranee, anarchy, superstition and
iespotism. 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-
odlC oJoLCM, anu says Ills 10 yOuI
charter of liberty, and / 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 own passions. The blind may
be blind of body or blind of spirit.
Which does Christ mean? Undoubt-
eddy He means both, for the Saviour
never emphasized suffering without
calling attention to the fact that suf-
fering 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
ua1 blindness, because sinners had
always been marked by dull spiritual
apprehension. Abraham in his day
had been able to see Christ, and to
ZEE the city having foundations. The
spiritually enlightened under the Mo-
sale dispensation had been able to see
Christ in the ancient ordinances, and
the prophets had cried out against
- n{r n,pfruro0 ON r,ho CIR,
pid than the OK and 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 as the Messiah, declared them
to be spiritually blind, and then made
some remarks about spiritual blind
ness that apply very we'll to the men
and women of our own 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 Hecan 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
power to heal the blind, He teaches
us some important lesson concerning
the relation that exists between God
and His children, and how all men,
If they will, may be healed of spirit
ual blindness. Notice the first in
stance: Two blind men meet Him at
Capernaum. 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 persistently, fol-
lowed Him into the house and de-
manded help. 1t is a case like that
OF Jacob at Pencil. The antagonist
of the patriarch would not bless, and,
therefore, he would not let him go.
1t 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 al appreciate what il
means, II anybody al give them the
power to see again. They have known
the meaning of goodness, and of spir-
itual vision, and they have known the
unhappiness of evil and spiritual
darkness. and they want to be lifted
out of darkness into light again, il
there is anyone able to accomplish
that miracle. They feel themselves
helpless, and so this faith, as they
hear of the power of Jesus grows
and when He apparently neglects
them, it becomes a compelling faith
which gains whatever they wish
This miracle is nothing less than an
eternal provision to the soul that is
separated from God, and knows that
1t is so separated. 1t is the divine
promise that such a man may have
whatsoever he will. AS yet We have
asked nothing in My name; ask and
ye shall receive. that your joy may
be full"
The next instance is that of the
man born blind 1t is an entirely
different case and yet a typical one
The man is hopeless. He has never
been able to see. He has v heard
Of a ase where a man born blind ha:
been made to see. and so he does noi