TEXT--Mat. 6:22, 23: 'The light of the body is the
eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light; but 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.'
In this discussion I will show:
I. What is implied in singleness of eye.
II. What is implied in an evil eye.
III. That singleness of eye will insure a knowledge
of truth and duty.
IV. An evil eye will insure darkness and delusion,
both in regard to doctrine and duty.
I. What is implied in singleness of eye.
This language is of course figurative. By a single and
an evil eye, we are to understand the Savior as representing a state of mind.
"The light of the body," He says, "is the eye: If therefore
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." It is a
matter of common knowledge, that the eye sometimes becomes so disordered as to
discover objects double, and in a manner so obscure or fallacious, as
naturally to deceive and mislead the person who possesses it. By a single eye,
then, is meant, an eye in its perfect state, when it sees objects as they are,
with such distinctness as to give the mind correct information with respect to
the objects of vision.
When this figure is applied to the mind, it must
represent the supreme and ultimate intention of the mind. When the ultimate
end or intention of the mind is single, and just as it ought to be, the eye of
the mind may then be said to be single. For the mind has its eye upon but one
great absorbing object. This state of mind implies:
1. Supreme love to God. Of course, if the mind has but
one great absorbing object or end in view, and that end is right, the end must
be supremely to honor, please, and glorify God. This certainly implies supreme
love to God.
2. It implies disinterested love to Him. Unless this
love be disinterested; that is, unless God is loved for what He is, for his
own sake, and not for the sake of making ourselves happy; to honor Him is not
a supreme or ultimate end; but our own happiness is the end, and the love and
service of God merely a means for the promotion of that end.
3. It implies a state of entire consecration. That
Christ intended to be understood, by a single eye, to mean a state of entire
consecration to God, is evident from what follows the text. He says-- "No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and Mammon." It is very plain, that the mind's eye is not right,
unless the soul is supremely and only devoted to the love and service of God.
Nothing less than a state of entire consecration to God can be intended by a
single eye.
II. What is intended by an evil eye.
An evil eye is that which has more than one object
before it, or sees objects double. When this figure is applied to the mind it
means, that state of mind in which objects are seen through a selfish medium,
or when the mind has two objects in view, a legal intention to serve God, but
an ultimate intention to serve self. By a legal intention to serve God I mean,
not that intention which is founded in supreme, disinterested love to God,
which aims at honoring and glorifying Him, as an ultimate end; but an
intention to serve God as the means of our own happiness, the ultimate
intention being self-interest, and the intention to serve God, being a
subordinate end.
III. Singleness of eye will insure a knowledge of truth
and duty.
1. This is plainly taught in the text: "If thine
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Light means
knowledge, truth. Now when Christ says, if your eye be single your whole body
shall be full of light, what less can He mean than that the soul that has a
single eye, shall be rightly instructed in all that is essential for it to
know.
2. This will be the natural result of singleness of
eye:
(1.) Because it will beget honest inquiry.
(2.) It will beget earnest, diligent inquiry.
(3.) It will secure the right and the best use of the
necessary means of knowledge.
(4.) It will beget unfailing perseverance in the
acquisition of knowledge.
(5.) The state of the will, will not prevent the
perception of truth and evidence.
(6.) But the state of the will, will be such as to
favor the perception, and insure the reception of evidence, when it is within
its reach.
(7.) In this state of mind, the Spirit will not be
resisted and quenched; but on the contrary, his influences will be sought and
devoutly cherished.
(8.) His instructions will be obeyed, his slightest
motions heeded, and the whole soul will be delivered up to his guidance.
(9.) Being in the same state of mind in which God, and
Christ, and the inspired writers were, he will naturally understand them. If
you have the same end in view, deeply sympathize with God, and are in the same
state of mind in which He is, the language in which He expresses his own state
of mind, will be to you the most intelligible language possible. Who does not
know that persons possessing the same spirit, not only adopt the same or
similar language, to express their ideas and feelings, but naturally
understand each other's language perfectly? To each other they are perfectly
intelligible, while to those in a different state of mind, they are
unintelligible, in precise proportion to the diversity of their states of
mind. Hence, the Bible is a very unintelligible and uninteresting book to an
impenitent sinner. To a Christian of but little experience, who has but little
religion, the Bible is in a great measure unintelligible, and he takes
comparatively little interest in it; while to the Christian who lives in a
state of entire consecration to God, it is not only one of the most
intelligible, but altogether the most interesting book in the universe.
(10.) In this state of mind your experiences will be
such as to make the teachings of the Bible, and especially the most spiritual
portions of the Bible, plain to you. Whenever you are addressed upon a subject
upon which you have experience, and in a manner and language that accords with
your experience, you understand the speaker or writer with great ease and
perfection; but in just as far as he departs from your experience, he is
unintelligible to you, in the same manner and for the same reason, as if he
spake to you in an unknown tongue. Because, you do not understand language,
any farther than it accords with your experience. Words are only signs of
ideas; and suppose words are used which are signs of ideas that are not in
your mind, you do not get, and cannot possibly get any information from such
teaching as this. For to you it is no teaching at all.
(11.) This state of mind will insure great communion
and great power with God. The soul that lives in a state of entire
consecration to God, can come to Him with as much confidence, and with
indescribably more assurance than ever a child came to an earthly parent.
This, if you have ever been in this state, you know from your own experience.
When you live all the time in a state of such deep communion with God, you
feel the strong confidence and assurance, that you know how He feels, by your
own experience. Thus you know how Christ feels, from what motives and feelings
He gave his life for sinners; and are conscious, that you are willing
yourselves to make up in your bodies the sufferings that remain, and to lay
down your lives for the world, and for the Church of God. In this state of
mind, I say, you will naturally and certainly have great power with God, and
will prevail.
IV. An evil eye will insure darkness and delusion, both
in regard to doctrine and duty.
1. This is expressly taught in the text: "If thine
eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." Mark--the whole
body shall be full of darkness. Darkness means error and delusion. Now by such
language as this the Savior must have intended to teach, that a selfish mind
would be, and should be, full of error and delusion, on great questions of
doctrine and duty. And by a selfish mind, in this connection, is intended, one
that is not in a state of entire consecration to God; but is influenced by
selfish considerations.
2. Darkness and delusion will be the natural and
inevitable results of this state of mind:
(1.) Because selfishness will prevent inquiry;
especially honest, diligent, and persevering inquiry.
(2.) Because the state of the will, will prevent the
perception and reception of evidence. Few persons seem to be aware of the
extent of the influence of the will, over the decisions of the understanding.
I have, for many years, been so circumstanced as to have an opportunity,
almost continually, to observe the developments of mind, in this respect; and
have often been astonished to see, to what an extent the will influences human
opinion. Almost every one has observed, that under circumstances of strong
excitement, it is of little or no use to reason with a man, against his
prejudices. I have had repeated opportunities to observe, with pain, that
prejudice, a committed state of mind, and many other considerations, and
things, will so influence the will, as wholly to exclude the light of truth
from the understanding. On many subjects, it seems next to impossible to
convince a man, against his will; while, on the other hand, a man will believe
almost any thing which he is disposed to believe. And the credulity of
mankind, on subjects that accord with the state of their will, and in regard
to doctrines and things which they are strongly disposed to believe, is as
surprising as their incredulity upon subjects opposed to their will. It is
amazing to hear infidels and sceptics contend, that human belief is
involuntary, and that men necessarily believe what they do, when the real
palpable voluntariness of human opinion and belief, on almost every subject,
is as striking and apparent to a considerate observer, as almost any fact of
human history.
3. A man under the influence of an evil eye, or in
other words, a selfish heart, will not practice the truth, and therefore he
cannot teach it. There are multitudes of truths, which can be seen and
understood no farther than other truths are first seen and understood. And
multitudes of truths are never understood, any further than they are
experienced. Take, for example, the subject of temperance. Suppose you preach
strictly temperance principles to a man who has always been in the habit of
drinking ardent spirits freely. Now there are certain things which you can
make him understand. If he has been a habitual drunkard, by describing to him
the feelings of a drunkard, he can understand you; because upon this subject
he has experience. Words are signs of ideas; and to him they will mean nothing
more, than the idea represented by the word in his mind. You can therefore
make him understand something of the evil of drunkenness; and yet, if he has
always been in habits of intoxication, from his earliest recollection, you
cannot, in any language whatever, so contrast the experience, follies, and
health of a drunkard, with those of a strictly temperate man, as to make him
understand you. He knows not what temperance is. He knows not what health is.
He knows not what that state of mind is, which is the natural result of
temperance and good health. Peradventure, you can fasten conviction upon him,
of the great evils of intemperance, from the fact, that he has experience upon
that part of the subject; and in this way you can get so much light in upon
his mind, as to break him off from his cups. Now in proportion as he becomes a
sober man, temperate, and healthy, his experience will enable you so to
contrast temperance with intemperance, as fully to impress his mind with both
sides of the question; and thus lodge in his mind the full weight of the
momentous considerations in favor of temperance. But in all this process, it
is easy to see that he must necessarily begin with the A, B, C of both the
doctrines and the experience of temperance. Break him off from ardent spirits,
and after a time he is better prepared to see and feel the indispensable
necessity of universal temperance. Break him off from every thing that
intoxicates, and his experience will soon enable him to understand the
importance and necessity of breaking off from all innutritious stimulants in
diet. When he has abandoned all these, his experience will, in a little while,
enable him to understand the importance of selecting the most bland
unstimulating kinds of food. This experience will naturally prepare his mind
to understand the importance of universal cleanliness and chastity, the
strictest subjection of the appetites and propensities, to the great and
universal law of temperance. And in short, as he goes from step to step in
reform, and no farther than he does so, is he in circumstance, to see, feel,
understand, and appreciate arguments in favor of farther reformation.
Now what is true on the subject of temperance, holds
true on nearly every practical question; and especially is this true on
subjects that pertain to personal holiness. If a man will not practice he
cannot learn. Talk to an impenitent sinner of entire sanctification. Holiness
is so entirely opposite to his experience, that he does not at all understand
you. Talk with him about his sins, and his convictions, his fears, misgivings,
and on every subject that is with him a matter of experience, and so far he
will understand you; but talk to him of entire sanctification, and he gets no
idea of what you mean. Therefore, the only possible way to deal with him is,
to begin upon those subjects upon which he has experience, and bring him to
see and to feel, that it is an evil and bitter thing to sin against God. This
will lead him to see, admit, and experience the doctrine of repentance. Now
proceed, from step to step, lead him forward, and as his experience enlarges,
his capacity of understanding about sanctification, its desirableness, its
indispensable necessity, will be perceived and felt by him. But no farther
than he practices can he properly learn. When he stops and refuses to follow
truth any farther in practice, right there the clouds of darkness will shut
down, round about him. And it is only as he goes forward, from step to step,
practicing or experiencing one truth after another, as it is presented, that
he can, by any possibility, come to an understanding and knowledge of the
truth. Let it be ever remembered, therefore, that he who will not practice
will not learn. In other words, unless his eye be single, his whole body will
be full of darkness.
4. Selfishness must render the Bible unintelligible to
him who has an evil eye. To him it is a sealed book. It is uninteresting,
enigmatical, self-contradictory, and any thing and every thing, but
interesting and intelligible. The fact is, its Author and the inspired
writers, were in states of mind the direct opposite of selfishness. To a
selfish mind they must, therefore, of necessity, speak in an unknown tongue.
5. A selfish mind will not only find the Bible
unintelligible, but in a great many instances, will naturally understand it as
meaning the direct opposite of what it does mean. Nor is the fault at all in
the Bible, or in its Author, but arises necessarily out of a selfish state of
mind. For example--when God speaks of being angry with his enemies, as the
sinner has never experienced any thing but a selfish anger, he naturally
understands God's anger to be like his own. And whenever God speaks of having
any state of mind, or doing any thing, sinners naturally interpret this
language by their own experience. And thus it comes to pass, as God says,
"Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself."
Interpreting, as they naturally will, the language of the Bible by their own
experience, they ascribe the same motives, affections, and passions to God,
which they, themselves have experienced--not understanding at all, that all
these states of mind in God are truly and infinitely benevolent.
It is a familiar and a true saying, that men judge
others by themselves. To a truly holy mind, the Bible is not only the most
interesting, but the most intelligible book in the world; while infidels
exclaim, that it is blasphemy to ascribe such feelings and conduct to God; and
therefore, that the Bible must be a libel upon his character. Now for this
there can be no remedy, only as they become benevolent. If they will but begin
to do the truth, so far as they can understand it, and practice one truth
after another, until they come into the state of mind, in which the inspired
writers were, they will then understand the Bible, and not till then.
6. A man who has an evil eye, will not have the Spirit
of God to enlighten his mind in regard to truth, and will, therefore, never
understand it.
REMARKS.
1. A selfish minister is a blind leader of the blind.
This is the mildest language that truth or inspiration can use, in regard to
an ambitious, a temporizing, a man-fearing, and, in short, a selfish minister.
His eye is evil. His whole body, as Christ is true, or in other words, his
whole mind, is full of darkness on spiritual subjects.
2. Such a minister will certainly, in many things,
mislead his flock. He sees no truth spiritually, and therefore cannot safely
be trusted as a spiritual guide. Nay, to trust him is ruin and death.
3. Selfish minds are very willing to be led, by selfish
ministers, as they naturally see eye to eye. Having similar experiences, they
will naturally understand each other. And a carnal church will naturally be
pleased with a carnal minister. And a carnal minister will not see the defects
of a carnal church. And thus they will be able to walk together, because they
are agreed.
4. The doctrine of the text applies to the preparation
and delivery of sermons. If a minister's eye is single he will naturally
select those subjects of discourse that are suited to the state of his people.
He will naturally discuss them in a way, and deliver them in a manner, that
will be edifying to the people; simply because that is the object at which he
aims. Having his eye single to the holiness of the Church, and the glory of
God, it will be perfectly natural for him, in the preparation and delivery of
sermons, to do every thing in a manner that will tend to edify and sanctify
the people. But if, on the contrary, his object be to secure his salary, play
the orator, or promote any selfish interest whatever, he will naturally, and
of course, select subjects, prepare, and deliver them, in a manner suited to
the end he has in view. If his eye be single, his whole mind will be full of
light, in regard to the manner of doing his work. If his eye be evil, his
whole mind will be full of darkness, and he will do any thing else, rather
than edify and sanctify his people.
5. This doctrine applies to the decision of every
question of duty. In selecting fields of labor, courses of life, a companion
for life, or any other question of interest and duty, if the eye is single,
the whole mind will be full of light. Those considerations only will be taken
into the account, and suffered to have weight, that ought to influence the
decision of the question. On the other hand, if the eye be evil, the whole
body will be full of darkness; and the decision of the question will certainly
turn upon considerations that ought to have no influence in deciding the
question.
6. If you are not conscious of a single eye, you cannot
safely go forward in any thing. If you have already made up your mind upon a
question of doctrine or duty, and have not made it up under the influence of a
single eye, you may be, and probably are, in some important respects, entirely
wrong. If in selecting a course of life, a field of labor, a kind of business,
a location; if you have made a bargain, or done any thing else, with a selfish
intention, or under the influence of an evil eye; as certain as Christ is
true, your whole body was full of darkness. The whole must be reviewed.
Perhaps it may be objected to this, that many
individuals are very much enlightened, and hold true opinions, and are very
orthodox, who are yet under the influence of selfishness. To this I answer
both from my own experience and the word of God--that they hold the truth only
in words. They know not what they say, nor whereof they affirm. They are
deceived, and you who make the objection are deceived in respect to them, if
you think they know the truth.
7. From this subject, it is easy to see why the Church
and the ministry are so divided in their opinions. It is because they are so
sectarian and selfish in their spirit. It is selfishness, and nothing but
selfishness, that divides the Church. When the Church shall come to have a
single eye, her watchmen and her members will then see eye to eye; because her
body will then be full of light.
8. From this subject you can see the only true way of
promoting real Christian Union. It is in vain to talk of destroying
sectarianism by destroying creeds. Creeds may perpetuate, but they are not the
cause of sectarianism. Selfishness, and nothing but selfishness is its cause.
Let universal love and a single eye prevail, and sectarianism is no more.
Destroy a sectarian spirit, let it be supplanted by love, and Christians would
then be in a state of mind to examine their differences of opinion with
candor--to come to such mutual explanations, and so honestly and thoroughly to
weigh each others opinions and arguments, as to almost entirely coincide in
opinion. But should there still be discrepancy of views, in relation to any
points, it would be as far as possible from their thoughts, to withdraw from
communion with each other, and to divide into sects and separate departments.
9. From this subject it is easy to see, why ministers
feel as if they could not preach--feel as if they had nothing to say--are at a
loss to know what to preach--no subject has any such interest as to enable
them to preach upon it. When they have fallen into a selfish state of mind
their whole body is full of darkness.
10. How infinitely important it is, that this truth
should be continually remembered, that an evil eye, or selfish intention,
invariably and necessarily brings the mind into great darkness. How many there
are, even in the Christian Church, to whom the Bible is a sealed book, who are
in great darkness in respect to truth, doctrine, and duty; whose minds
resemble an ocean of darkness.
11. How many there are, who have great confidence in
their own opinions, who are ready to hazard their souls upon the truth of
them, who have made up their minds on the most important and solemn subjects,
while under the influence of selfishness--have entered the Christian
Church--are hugging their delusions--are following the guidance and
instruction of those who are perhaps as much under the dominion of an evil
eye, as they are themselves, and whose mind is as full of darkness as their
own. And thus they go on, unsuspectingly, while Christ assures them in the
most solemn manner, that if their eye is evil, their whole body is full of
darkness. Still they believe it not. They have the highest confidence in their
own opinions, and in the safety of their state; and thus rush on, with a kind
of mad assurance, to the depths of hell!
Return
to 1840 Index Page