'!':Weet, bellntifol light of day. Agony enters us when we gaze on men devoid of th4f light of reason. The wisest grope as in perpetual fear when the pillar of fire and Divine silence show not the way to take. Worst of all when the Church has no guidance suited to its need. There have been periods when the written word htla been almost ·lost to the mass of Christians. There arc souls dark. sad, hopele~, beoause no " viHion " points to the Refuge from sin and the rest to come. If orw could speak out the secret miseries of some who, dazed by exclusive gaze on the ligl,t of reason, feel that life is hopeless, the world would scarcely credit the story. IV. The LACK OF RECEPTIVITY BY WHICH this calamity is experienced is often TI::. RESULT OF A DEGENERATE, CORRUPT STATE OF MIND SELl'-INDUCED AND LOVED. TJ,, spiritual unfitness of people and leaders in Eli's day to receive more and freque1,r "visions" was the creation of their own wicked wills. The calamity of being lefr for a while was the fruit of their doings. Sin is a blinding power, as also a creator of positive aversion. The natural effect of religious declension is to render men indifferent to the value of God's truth for its own sake and for its elevating influence; incapable of appreciatiny and even discerning it in its purity; prone to set a un·onr1 interpretation upon it when in any degree it is given ; and even, in many instances. disposed to refe:r that which professes to be from God to any other than the tntP, source. It is a fair question how much of the professed rejection of Christianity on reasonable grounds is really traceable to the pure exercise of the reason under the guidance of an undefiled love of truth. ls not zeal to be free from such holy re- straints as Christ imposes often an important element in the case? The finer and most convincing evidences of the truth of Christianity lie in the spiritual beauty and glory of the Christ, and this is a factor which mere intellectual processes cannot assess. How is it that the unholy always welcome objections to Christianity? It is ever true, "sin lieth at the door." " Ye will not come unto me." " Out of the heart are the issues of life." V. The CAUSE OF THE DEGENERACY which issues in o. calamitous loss of spiritual light LIES IN A NEGLECT OF SUCH LIGHT AS IS ALREADY GIVEN. The inaptitude of Eli to receive "visions," and of the people to profit by them, was the fruit of a religious decay brought on by inattention to the instructions given by Moses, and a heedless performance of acts of worship. Thus calamity came of abuse or neglect of existing privileges. The principle holds good over a wide sphere. Unfaithfulness in some Churches of Asia led to the dire calamity of a removal of the" candlestick." Apostles sometimes turned from cities that £ailed to use the opportunities they afforded them. Those who, seeing· the "Eternal Power and Godhead" in the" things that are made," glorified not God, had their "foolish heart darkened." An exclusive fondness for one side of intellectual nature, to the habitual neglect of the secret and subtle moral ,elements in conscience, often results in the folly and wickedness of finding not even a trace of God in the universe. Of many it may still be trne, "Hadst thou known, .even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace I but now they are hid from thine eyes." VI. The CORRUPTION OF AN AGE and consequent WITBHOLDMENT OF DIVINE LIGHT is NO PERMANENT DAR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRUTH. Israel's degeneracy brought its chastisement; yet God had a holy servant in reserve both to remove the impeding corruption and to continue the declarations of God's will. Waters held back by a barrier retain and multiply their force, and in course of time will first sweep away the opposition and then flow peacefully on. God's purposes are an eternal forL e pressing on into the future. In ancient times a measure of truth was given to the world to make ready a fit time and condition for the Christ to come; and this was done, if not by one unwilling instrument, yet by another when that was swept away. Likewise the Church is to get more truth from the Bible for the "perfecting of the saintR;" and in Rpite of dark seasons it will rise to a clearer vision of the truth in Christ by the providential removal of obstructions and the introduction of a more hoiy and teachable order of men. Man lives and toils, and opposes and dies. God ever lives in full resistless energy. Practical considerations :-1. It is a question how far errors am\ theological con- flicts are to be nssociated with a defective spirituality arising from either over- absorption in purely philosophical pursuits, external Jlrnrch order, or political nnd 'iO THE FIRST DOOK OF SAi\lUEL. [cH. Ill. 1--21.
p~rt_y arrang~ments. 2. To w_hat extent is it possible to remedy the absence of' ~)1Ymc truth 111 _nn~cl~ of the hteratnre of modern times. 3. By what means the lhnrC'h and the_11:1d1ndual may secure m_ore of that holy, teachable spirit by which ,ilon? a fnller v1s10n of truth shall be enJoyed. 4. How far the conduct of contro• nrs1es of the ?~Y respect\nt Divine truth is defective_b[ not sufficiently tnking into account the spmtual condition of men opposed to rehg10n 1 and whether there is a prvper depen_dcnce on the power of the Holy Spirit to give eyes to the blind. ti. To ~vhat extent, m pe~onal seasons of darkness, the cause lies in our personal indulgence m secret or open sm.