Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 6:22-23
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Matthew 6:22-23
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Matthew 6:22-23
SCRIPTURE
"The lamp 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 the darkness!" — Matthew 6:22-23 (ASV)
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!
When a man's highest motive is himself, what a dark and selfish nature he has; but when his highest motive is his God, what brightness of light will shine upon all.
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!
If your eye is clogged up with gold dust, or if you are living for self and this world, your whole life will be a dark life, and the whole of your being will dwell in darkness. "But," says someone, "may I not live for this world and the next too?" Listen:
(Commentary continued in next verse) –
The motive is the eye of the soul, and if it is clear, the whole character will be right, but if it is polluted, our whole being will become defiled. The eye of the understanding may also be what is meant here. If a man does not see things in a right light, he may live in sin and yet fancy that he is doing his duty. A man should live up to his light, but if that light is itself darkness, what a mistake his whole course will be!
If our religion leads us to sin, it is worse than irreligion. If our faith is presumption, our zeal selfishness, our prayer formality, our hope a delusion, our experience infatuation, the darkness is so great that even our Lord holds up His hands in astonishment and says—“How great is that darkness!”
Oh, for a single eye to God’s glory, a sincere consecration to the Lord. This alone can fill my soul with light.