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superior to yourselves by faith, Blesssed be thou, O Lord; this is but an anticipation of what must have happened at death. What thou takest from me, that would have spoiled me of; it is a tribute which I must have paid to death, and now I am happily quit of it. By that I should have been tied to the world; but thou hast broken my chains, and of thine infinite mercy thou hast so well ordered these things, that if I submit to thy will in these losses, death will have nothing frightful for me.

If, my dear hearers, you are in this frame of mind, give thanks to God for it; for this is to be prepared for death. And do not reply to me that such a life is a melancholy life. Let it be so; I acknowledge it; but this melancholy life will be followed with a death full of consolation, with the death of the righteous. Now a holy death is a blessing which we cannot suf ficiently prize, nor purchase too dear. I go further and assert that, taking all things into account, the death of a Christian, who is mortified to the world, and to every thing which could attach him to the world, is a thousand times more tranquil and conse quently more happy, than that of those worldlings who are so much engaged for the world, and who so much fear to leave it. This one thought, nothing detains me, and I am ready to depart as soon as it shall please God to call me, affords the sweetest repose, the most solid happiness. But perhaps you will say, to live after this manner is not to live, or it is to live as one lived not. Ah, my hearers, is not this what the Apostle required of primitive Christians, and what is required of all. My brethren, possess this world as though you possessed it not; that is to say, live as though you lived not. Live without loving life or any of the blessings of life. Live to God, live for God, live in God, to the end that you may eternally live in glory with God. Amen.

Sermon VI.

ON SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS.

BY L. BOURDALOUE.

JOHN IX. 1.

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

THAT was a very surprising miracle which

is spoken of in the tenth chapter of Exodus, when Moses, disposing, according to his wishes, or rather according to the command and will of God, of darkness and light, divided the land of Egypt in such a manner, that all that part which was inhabited by the Egyptians was enveloped in an obscure and profound night, so that the people could not distinguish each other; while the Israelites, inhabiting a part of the same country, enjoyed a pure and serene day. "And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."*

But in the chapter containing our text, something still more remarkable is recorded. The Holy Ghost here exhibits to our view some men blinded by the same miracle which opens the eyes of one born blind.

*Exodus x. 22, 23.

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The Saviour of the world, with that absolute power which he received from the Father, and which he exercised as God, cures a man who was blind from his birth; and this miracle produces, at the same time, two very opposite effects. It gives sight to one born blind, while it blinds the Pharisees. It enlightens the blind man, by enabling him to see more clearly, by the eyes of the mind than of the body, the author of his deliverance, and leading him to adore him, and render homage to him as God; and it blinds the Pharisees by furnishing them with an occasion to grow more obstinate in their unbelief, and more determinately to refuse to submit to evident truth. In these two effects consisted that adorable but terrible judgment, of which the Son of God speaks, and for which he came into the world. "For judgment I am come into this world; that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind."

That is, I came to cure the inward blindness of the humble and docile, who sincerely seek God; and, on the contrary, to increase, by withdrawing my grace, the blindness of the presumptuous and self conceited whom pride puts at a distance from God.

In the chapter before us, behold, my hearers, this judgment accomplished. The blind man here spoken of was a plain, ignorant man; and the Pharisees were the wisest and most enlightened among the Jews. The latter however remain in a criminal unbelief, while the former is filled with the purest light of truth. These enlightened and understanding men become more blind than ever; while the blind man is suddenly instructed and deeply taught in the most holy and divine truths of religion. By the righteous judgment of God, the same effects are now daily produced among us. But without speaking of the blessedness of those on whom God sheds the riches of his mercy, Ishall, in this discourse, represent to you

*John ix. 39.

what there is terrible and alarming in the situation of those, on whom God pours out the severity of his justice. Itisthen of spiritual blindness that I propose now to discourse; of that inward blindness which penetrates the soul and holds it plunged in the grossest and most destructive errors; of that blindness of which Saint Austin spoke, addressing himself to God, "Wo to "those blind persons, who do not see thee, O my "God; and whose eyes, covered with a thick cloud, "do not discover thy divine truths."-I shall endeavor to explain to you the different kinds of this blind

ness.

There is no subject on which the scriptures explain themselves in terms more different, and even in appearance more contradictory, than upon spiritual blindness. Sometimes they impute it to the wickedness of man: "Their own wickedness hath blinded them."* Sometimes to the avenging justice of God: "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes." And sometimes to Satan, whom they call the God of this world: "In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." Sometimes they deplore this inward blindness as a misfortune, and at other times detest it as criminal. Sometimes they speak of it as an excuse for sinners: "Eather forgive them, for they know not what they do." And at other times as an occasion for reproach: "Wo unto you, ye blind guides."§ Now it is the diversity or apparent contradiction of these expressions which has occasioned so much perplexity on this subject, and rendered it so difficult to be explained.-To illustrate it, as far as possible, and to reconcile all those texts

* See the Apocryphal book of Wisdom, chap. ii. 21. The Romish divines frequently refer to the Apocrypha, which they acknowledge as partly canonical, though not of the same authority as the other scriptures. Translator,

Isaiah vi. 10.
Luke xxiii. 34.

2 Corinthians iv. 4. § Matt. xxiii. 16.

of scripture, I shall distinguish three sorts of blindness-A blindness which is in itself sinful :—A blindness which is the cause of sin :-And a blindness which is the effect of sin. A sinful blindness is that which is pointed out to us in the above quoted words of Wisdom, "Their own wickedness hath blinded them." A blindness, the cause of sin is like that of St. Paul, who said of himself, “ Who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."* A blindness, the effect of sin, is that of which Isaiah speaks, when he prays to God to blind the heart of his people. I shall enlarge upon these three ideas, which appear to me of great importance; and shall accordingly divide my discourse into three parts.

First, That blindness which is of itself sinful, is of all sins the most dangerous, and the most opposed to salvation.

Secondly, That blindness which is al

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the cause of sin, ugn commonly made use of by sinners, as a pretext to justify themselves, is the most frivolous and least admissible of all their excuses.

Thirdly, That blindness which is the effect of sin, is the most terrible punishment which God can inflict upon the sinner in this life.

To these three important points give all your attention.

I. Whether we consult divine revelation, or judge by the principles of right reason, it is certain there is a blindness which of itself is sinful, because it is voluntary and even affected. That is to say, there is a blindness which many cherish within themselves, which they wish not to have removed, and which they secretly prefer to all the light of truth; a blindness which leads the sinner to fear seeing too much, and to avoid knowing either the evil that he does, or the

* 1 Timothy i, 13,

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