panied with the blessing from on high: that Jordan can heal a leper and Siloam give light to the blind, when the Almighty gives the word, go, wash and be whole. wash and be whole. In short, he

would represent by expressive symbols the original depravity of our guilty and polluted nature, and the necessity of our being washed, cleansed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus and the Spirit of our God. Washing in the pool of Siloam was, therefore, merely a sacramental act, whereby 'the blessings to be communicated were typified and sealed, and the divine power more strikingly manifested in the sight of the people.

The feelings of the blind man, upon the communication of sight, are difficult to be expressed or even conceived by us who have always enjoyed the faculty of sight, and who, being never subjected to the want of it, do not sufficiently value this important blessing. From the general and obvious views of nature which present themselves to every man, let me direct your thoughts to this spiritual improvement.

1

Into what a world of wonders did the blind man find himself transported! How did he gaze with admiration on the heavens and the

earth, on the faces and shapes of all creatures, on the varieties of colours around him, on the cheerfulness of the light, on the lively beams of the sun, on the vast expanse of the air, on the limpid transparency of the water, on the glorious ornaments of the temple, and on the stately places of Jerusalem! Every thing was full of delight, and excited astonishment. With similar sensations will the servants of God enter into the joy of their Lord. Thus will they be affected when, the darkness of mortality being done away, they shall behold God's presence in righteousness, whence they shall be called to witness the felicity of the world above, the shining mansions of saints and angels, the majestick splendour of the divine throne, and the incomprehensible brightness of the Godhead.

So great was the change produced on the external appearance as well as the inward feelings of the man who had been restored to sight, that his neighbours and acquaintance did not at first recognise him to be the same person. This shewed the certainty and greatness of the miracle. They did not greedily swallow, like simple and ignorant people, the tale however improbable, but believed only

His

after a careful inquiry into the fact. The thing itself was in their opinion also so great and wonderful, that without the express testimony of their senses, they would have deemed it a mere trick and imposition. This may also be considered as a fit representation of the change produced in the habits of him whose spiritual blindness is removed by light from on high. His former companions in guilt and folly, unable to account for the change, are doubtful whether it be the same person. heart and conduct are certainly not the same. Before, the mind was dark and gloomy-now, it is full of light and cheerfulness, through the knowledge of God, and the hope of heaven. Before, the heart was devoted to earthly things -now the convert uses this world as not abusing it. Before, his thoughts and anxieties had reference only to his body, his estate, or the opinion of mankind-now, they regard the displeasure of God and the peril of his soul. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creaOld things are passed away-behold,

❝ture.

"all things are become new!"

The poor man removes the friends, by declaring I am he.

doubts of his

He would not

conceal from others the mercies he had ex

VOL. II.

B b

perienced; he would not be so unjust or ungrateful as to suppress the loving kindness of his God. We are unworthy of that light and those blessings which we enjoy, unless we seek to diffuse them among mankind. "Let "them give thanks whom the Lord hath re"deemed and delivered from the hand of the "enemy; let them praise him with their "whole heart; let them shew forth all his "marvellous works; let them declare his "name among their brethren; let them exalt "him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders."

66

They who before doubted, now became inquisitive. They ask, how were thine eyes opened? The poor man, who had been so ready to declare himself the subject of the cure, is equally zealous to proclaim the authour of it. "A man that is called Jesus made clay "and anointed mine eyes, and said to me, "go to the pool of Siloam and wash, and I "went and washed and I received sight."

Had the people, who made inquiry into this astonishing fact, heard it with unprejudiced ears, they could not but have listened with pious admiration; they could not but have declared their belief in so omnipotent an

Agent. But, adverse to the blessed Jesus, and partial to the Pharisees, they summon him that was once blind before these implacable enemies of Christ, and this cure having been performed on the Sabbath, they fix on this circumstance as the ground of their

accusation.

up

We

But as the malice of Christ's enemies was, for the most part, frustrated and repelled upon their own heads, so their present scheme not only failed of success, but served to make the miracle wrought by him on the blind man more generally known-served to shew its force in proving his divine mission and to increase the number of his disciples. now find the man who once sat and begged, witnessing a good confession before the assembled Pharisees. We find him defending the gracious authour of his cure against the cavils of malignity and injustice. We see him, a resolute confessor, suffering excommunication for the name of Christ, and maintaining the innocence, the honour, the divinity of his benefactor. We hear him teaching the doctrines of truth to them who sat in the chair of Moses, and convicting of blindness them who punished him for seeing.