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Healing for Spiritual Blindness, September 2
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in
truth.
Psalm 145:18
.
In the scribes, Pharisees, and rulers, Jesus found not the bottles for His new
wine. He was obliged to turn from them to humble men, whose hearts were not
filled with envy, covetousness, and self-righteousness. The lowly fishermen obeyed
the call of the divine Teacher, while the scribes and Pharisees refused to become
converted.
The disciples that Jesus called were uneducated, and were far from being perfect
in character when Jesus united them with Himself; but they were willing to learn
from the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. They were truly converted men,
and became the new bottles into which Jesus could pour the new wine of His
kingdom. But though they were converted to Christ, yet, because of their limited
earthly comprehension—the result of the teaching they had had from the Jews—they
were unable fully to understand the spiritual nature of the truth He could impart.
The burden of His instruction was the necessity of His followers having pure and
holy hearts, for holiness alone would fit them to become subjects of His heavenly
kingdom.
The divine Sower scattered grains of precious seed, which we cannot see until a
skillful laborer, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, gathers them together and
presents them to us as a complete system of truth, unfolding the depths of divine
love. For all ages Jesus, the author of truth, through prophets and people, had
presented truth upon truth to the Jews, from the pillar of cloud and fire. But the
truth He had given had become mingled with error, and it was necessary to separate
from the companionship of heresy and evil. It was necessary to readjust it in the
framework of the gospel, in order that it might shine forth in its original luster and
illuminate the moral darkness of the world. Wherever He found a gem of truth
that had been lost from its setting, or had been marred with error, He reset it, and
stamped upon it the signature of Jehovah. He proved Himself to be the word and
the wisdom of God.
The commonplace matters of time and earth had engrossed the minds of the
people at the time of Christ, just as Satan had designed that they should. Sin had
expelled from the heart the love of God, and instead of the love of God there was
found in the heart the love of the world, the love of sinful indulgence of evil passions.
Christ alone could adjust the claims between heaven and earth. Man’s vision had
become blinded, because he did not keep in view the spiritual and eternal world....
In the person and work of Christ the holiness of God is revealed; for Christ came to
reveal the Father (
The Signs of the Times, December 11, 1893
).
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