[The sun is of use to those only who have eyes to see it. But Jesus, at the same time that he imparts light, bestows upon us also the organs of vision whereby we may behold it. He " opens the eyes of our understanding ;" and " shines into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." He not only causes " the day to dawn," but is also " the Day-star arising in our hearts d." He gives the spiritual discernment whereby alone we can discern the things of the Spirit, however clearly they were before revealed. Indeed, our reason is nothing more than a taper which He has lighted up in our minds : and much more is the faculty of compre- hending the deep things of God, derived from him : so that that inspired testimony concerning him is strictly true, " He is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world6."]
From hence we are naturally led to consider, II. The blessedness of his followers —
We regard with pity the inhabitants of the polar regions, who for half the year are statedly secluded from the cheering rays of the sun. We consider our quicker returns of light and darkness as incomparably more conducive to comfort and prosperity. But infi- nitely happier is he on whom the Sun of Righteousness has once arisen : for,
1. He shall not walk in darkness —
[Once he was guided altogether by erroneous principles. So blind was he, that he " put evil for good, and good for evil; darkness for light, and light for darkness." Nor is this the case only with the ignorant and profane : it is equally true of those whose minds are cultivated, and whose lives are moral. Even Paul before his conversion, fraught as he was with the knowledge of the Scriptures, and zealous in the pursuit of righteousness, perpetrated the most horrible acts of wickedness under the idea of doing God service : " he verily thought with himself that he ought to do the things which he did." But the follower of Christ, the true believer f, is not suffered to live under the influence of such delusions: his views are rectified: he be- holds things in the light in which they are represented in the Scriptures ; he has learned from them what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, and has his mind cast, as it were, into the very mould of the Gospel.
Once too he indulged himself in corrupt habits: whether more
d 2 Pet. i. 19. e John i. 9.
f Compare John xii. 46. with the text.