With respect to the latter, he will leave them to the opera- tion of their own minds, and give them up to their own delu- sions. He will not actively mislead them; nor is there any need that he should in order to produce the increase of blind- ness in them : for if left to themselves, they will bewilder themselves in their own reasonings, and confirm themselves more and more in their own errors. Their prejudices, their passions, and their interests, will concur to lead them astray, and their great adversary the devil, will obstruct the entrance of light into their minds1; and thus they will eventually be " taken in their own craftiness11," and " utterly perish in their own corruptions x."
The improvement then which our Lord himself teaches us to make of this miracle is, to cultivate a sense of our own blindness, and to " become fools in order that we may be wisey." If we be " wise in our own conceits, there is more hope of a fool2," or of any other character in the universe, than of us. On the contrary, if we be deeply humbled before God as destitute of all spiritual discernment, the " scales shall soon be made to fall from our eyes," and the " Spirit of the living God will guide us into all truth."]
Address —
[All of us must of necessity resemble the man while his blindness continued, or after it had been removed. Let us then inquire whether we can say with him, " This I know, that whereas I was blind, now I seea?" If we cannot, let us remember, that the Saviour is nigh at hand, and that the means used for our illumination, weak as they are, are quite sufficient, if accompanied with his power. Let us take encou- ragement to ask the influences of his good Spirit, and to pray with David, " Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy lawb." On the other hand, if our eyes have been opened, let us boldly confess our benefactor, and willingly bear whatever infidel rulers or persecuting bigots may inflict upon us for his sake. Let us, like Christ himself, endure the cross, and despise the shame. Let us " be faithful unto death, and he will give us a crown of life."]
1 2 Cor. iv. 4. « 1 Cor. iii. 19. * 2 Pet. ii. 12.
y 1 Cor. iii. 18. z Prov. xxvi. 12. a ver. 25.
b Ps. cxix. 18.