Spiritual Insensibility.
By H. O. M.
BUT the church in Laodicea said: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Her worldliness was the inspiration of this boast. And this language of theirs shows how much they trusted in themselves, and how far they had departed from that living faith in Christ and burning love for souls which would have transfigured their riches in glory, and made their wealth to abound unto the riches of the saving, sanctifying grace of God. They were without Christ. By slow and imperceptible degrees they had gone away from their first love, until they had asserted their independence of the blood which bought them, and of the grace which saved them. They fell away from their hold on Jesus. They slipped their grasp upon his hand. They had not only fallen away from their spiritual love, and trust in Christ, but they were ignorant of their true condition, and altogether forgetful of the pit out of which they had been taken, and of the power which had delivered them. And herein is involved a wonderful spiritual fact: that we may wander away from God, and not be conscious of it, not realize it; be possessed of a fatal fancy that is as well with us as ever; become stupid, blind, ignorant of the real state of the case as it stands with us. Hence it is said of the prodigal, “When he came to himself.” And God says, by the prophet, “Israel doth not know; my people do not consider;” and here to the church in Laodicea, “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Thou sayest that thou hast everything, and knowest not that thou hast nothing. Satan’s spell and charm of worldliness and formality must be strong and complete when such ignorance can be imposed, and such delusion be practised, upon those who have walked in the light of God, and have been partakers of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Spiritual ignorance is a guilty responsibility. After walking in the light, they did not know that they were now groping in the darkness of blindness; after feeding upon manna from Heaven, the sweet bread which Jesus gives, they did not know that now they were eating husks and garbage; did not even know that they were hungry; they said that they were rich, and did not know that they were poor and miserable; and after being clothed upon with the beautiful garments of salvation, they did not know that they were naked. Spiritual insensibility! —H. O. M.