Then minds are blinded as was Balaam's of old, and the Pharisees, to whom Christ said, "If ye were blind"--that is, if they had not heard His words, and seen His works (see John xv. 22, 24)--"ye had not had sin"--you would have been _comparatively_ free from blame--"but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." They hated the light they had, and closed their eyes against it. As the proverb says, "None are so blind as those who will not see." But "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness [at the world's creation], hath shined in our hearts," wrote the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. iv. 6), "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The once blinded Pharisee could see now, and how different were all his feelings! His own righteousness was cast away. Jesus was precious to his heart, and Christians were his "own company," his beloved friends. No darkness is too dense, no barrier too strong, for almighty grace to remove. Has the Sun of Righteousness arisen in our hearts? How may we know? Jesus tells us (John iii. 21)--"He that doeth truth cometh to the light." God is Light, and His Word is a light that makes all things manifest. It shows sin, how black it is. It reveals the hollowness of the world, the glory of Christ. It points out our dangers, our disease, our wants, and our foes; while it sets forth the remedy of all our ills, the great Refuge and Deliverer who can save unto the uttermost all who confide in Him. Do we try ourselves by the Scriptures? Abraham compared himself to "dust and ashes"--worthless. Job said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job xlii. 5, 6). David, king of Israel, said, "I am poor, and needy." Are we anything like these saints of God? God says, He "will give strength to those who have no might," will "fill the hungry with good things," and for His own name's sake will bless those who feel themselves unworthy of His favour. Do these promises suit us? Are we glad that God's mercy is so free? And do we, like the Psalmist, "esteem _all_ His precepts concerning all things to be right, and hate every false way"? (Psa. cxix. 128.) If so, we are children of the light, and, while we examine ourselves, we shall pray God to search and try us, and lead us in His everlasting way.