Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/124

 Christ! every word of which is full of Love, and full of Wisdom; replete with spirit and life! and contains within it knowledge of the utmost value, involving eternal consequences to the human race.

The spirit and life of the Lord's words are frequently treated of in the Scriptures, and as frequently compared with the literal sense. The spiritual sense, is called brightness, the morning without clouds, and the GLORY! but the literal sense is the covering to the glory, its cloud, and its defence: hence it is written, "upon all the glory shall be a defence." (Isa. iv. 5.) The literal sense is the light to enlighten the Gentiles; but the spiritual sense is the glory of the people Israel. The Word, in the sense of the letter, is called a light to enlighten the Gentiles, because by the Gentiles are meant those who are in states of natural goodness, but in ignorance of the Truth; who are, nevertheless, anxious to obtain heavenly knowledge. These receive their first instruction, in states of simplicity, from the literal sense of the Word; this first impression of religious knowledge, derived from the literal sense of the Word, is the light which guides them in the path of knowledge; but in process of time, they rise above this first, or Gentile state. The understanding begins to open to a more interior light! the spiritual sense, with its glories, begins to unfold to the delighted mind; and if they love the truth for its own sake, they are then ranked among the Israel of God. They then discover the excellencies of the Word of Revelation, and have a perceptive knowledge that it is indeed "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of the people Israel."