“The
light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light. (Matthew 6:22).”
I.
Introduction
a. Christ
continues discussing priorities
b.Christ moves from the
placement of your treasure to focusing on your desires
II.
The Light of the Body is the Eye
a. This
is an interesting phrase
b.First, the mind is
the location of the soul
i.
The human souls is composed of
will, intellect, and emotions
ii.
The soul is the decision maker in
all things
iii.
It is incased by the skull,
therefore, the only source for light to enter through are the eyes
c. Second,
whatever our eyes fix on can become a desire of the heart
i.
This will affect our decisions and
lifestyle
ii.
It will also affect our
spirituality and our relationship with God
iii.
Because of the effect on our heart,
our eye’s focus initiates a battle over the heart
iv.
We are commanded to surrender all
of heart to God (Pr. 23:26; 4:23; Mk. 12:30; Ps. 9:1; 119:2; 119:10; 2 Cor.
8:5)
v.
We must give God our entire focus
(Col. 3:22; Eph. 6:5; Acts 2:46)
vi.
The word for “single” is the Greek
word “haplous”
1.It means “clear,
sincere, opne and abovvboard, honest, with no hidden agendsas, without folds.”
2.The single eye is
a generous eye (Rom 12:8; James 1:5; Pr. 11:25)
3.The single eye can
discern between good and evil
4.The single eye is
a heart that is intune with God’s heart (Col. 2:2; Acts 4:32; Ps. 57:7)
a. David’s
heart was “fixed” just as the single eye is focused
vii.
God does not have our heart is our genuine
focus and desire are not on him (Matt. 15:8)
1.Satan wants to
destroy the believer (1 Peter 5:8)
III. Seeing
Double
a. The
word “double” throughout scripture at times speaks of defect or corruption
(James 1:8; 4:8; 1 Tim. 3:8; Ps. 12:2)
b.When one is seeing
double, they are not seeing correctly
c. They
are unstable
IV.
Pressing towards the mark
a. The
believer must press towards the mark of eternity just like Paul
b.The believer must
not forget that they must stand before God in judgment one day (Phil. 3:14;
Acts 20:24)
c. The
only way to finish this life is to keep our eyes focused on God
d.
The believer must be determined to
finish this race well (2 Tim. 4:7 &8; Heb. 12:1; Pr. 14:16)
i.
If he falls, he must pick himself
up by his bootstraps and continue (Pr. 24:16)
V.
The sinful eye
a. The
Greek word for “evil” is “poneros”
i.
It means “evil vicious, malicious,
deceitful, worthless, or degenerate”
ii.
In the NT it often means “stingy or
grudging”
1.We are warned to
avoid this type of behavior (Pr. 23:6; 28:22)
2.Lu. 16:19-31
records this type of man
iii.
This type of behavior shuts out
Christ due to a concentration on material things (2 Tim. 4:10)
b.This eye reminds
the believer to make their life count for Christ (Rom. 12:1-2_
c. Many
people today have poor spiritual vision because they do not know Christ (Eph.
4:18; 2 Cor. 4:4)
VI.
How can we make sure our eye is
full of light?
a. Seek
God above all things (Matt. 6:33)
b.Read the Bible
c. Study
the Bible
d.
Pray
e. Fast
f.
Abstain from worldly attractions
i.
Music
ii.
Movies
iii.
TV
iv.
Magazines
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