MATT. 6:22, 2322The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22‑23); LUKE 11:33-3633No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. (Luke 11:33‑36).
Luke 11:33-3633No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. (Luke 11:33‑36). "No man, when he hath lighted a candle [lamp], putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick [the lampstand], that they which come in may see the light. The light [lamp] of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single [clear, unmixed], thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. It thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light [the lamp by its bright shining doth give thee light].”
WHEN a clear, bright lamp is brought into an apartment and set upon the lamp-stand, the whole room will be filled with its light; but if the lamp be covered with a bushel, or the ordinary corn measure, the light will be obscured and the room left in darkness, however brightly the lamp itself may shine.
What the lamp is to the apartment, the mental eye is to the whole inner man. If the mental eye be simple, clear, and unprejudiced, the whole understanding will be enlightened, and the truth under consideration will be rightly and fully understood. But if there be error, prejudice, or misconception in the mind, the mental eye not being clear, there will be more or less obscurity in the understanding, or a totally wrong view taken of the subject considered.
When our Lord here speaks of the "single eye" and the "evil eye," He is referring to the condition of the eye itself-whether the humors of the eye be clear and unmixed as in its natural condition, or whether the eye be diseased and the humors mixed as in cataract, &c.; it is not a question whether the eye be looking at one object or many, as is frequently understood. A person with a healthy eye, looking from a hill-top, may see a thousand objects distinctly; whereas another with a diseased eye may have a difficulty in clearly discerning one single object.
When the Scriptures are read with some favorite prejudice fostered in the mind, some opinion adopted and pertinaciously adhered to, some perverted truth or erroneous doctrine continually present, the full, clear light of revealed truth is prevented from shining in its full brilliancy and clear conviction into the mind; and however frequently the Scriptures are thus read the veil remains un-removed, and it may be the very light itself becomes darkness because the truth itself is thus perverted. Our wisdom, therefore, would be continually and prayerfully to be on our guard lest on Scriptural subjects we either form opinions of our own, or accept the opinion of anyone else. But with a simple, childlike mind let us ever come to the Word of God, prepared to receive its full, undimmed light, under the immediate teaching, revealing, and application of the Spirit of God, earnestly sought and followed.