Luke 11:33-36

One more time, the book of Luke, chapter 11, verses 33 through 36. No man when he have lighted a candle put if it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick. They which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when thine eye is single, thy whole body 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. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no dark part, the whole shall be full of light. of light as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. God blessed to us is sacred and holy word this morning. No doubt most of you this morning lanced at the bathroom mirror. We’re getting ready to come to church or showing up here this morning. And in that bathroom mirror you saw a true reflection of yourself. Now, your mirror didn’t distort your image. If you go one of these amusement parks, they have those funny mirrors where you look in them and you’re either short and fat or you’re thin and extremely tall because they’re distorted. But your mirror gave you a clear picture of your true self. Your hair is combed, your tie straight, your makeup is right? Your makeup is right. you’re properly dressed and so forth, and that’s what you saw. Jesus Christ in our text would have you take a good look at yourself. He’s concerned here about your spiritual reflection, not your physical one. His words provide, I think, an honest assessment of sin’s effects. upon mankind. And what he says is clearly stated. He’s not distorting anything. He’s not improperly reflecting anything. He’s giving you a true picture of the situation in this text of scripture. The trouble is you may not have the spiritual eyesight to truly see yourself. Let me begin by saying this. You should realize it is God’s purpose to have the spiritual eyesight to truly see yourself. Let me begin by saying yourself. You should begin by saying this. You should realize that is God’s it is God’s purpose to have the light of the gospel shine brightly. Verse 33, no man, when he had lighted a candle, put it in a secret place, either under a bushel, but on a candlestick. They which come in, they, they see the light. Light has come into the world. Now, Jesus Christ said nearly the same words in Luke chapter 8 in verse 16. Here is just a slight, I think, difference of purpose. In Luke chapter 8, Jesus was speaking of the conduct of his disciples in the preaching of the gospel to those in Galilee and elsewhere. Here, I think he’s speaking of his own conduct. Not that it doesn’t have secondary implications for us, but I think he’s speaking about himself. self here. The Pharisees and the other Jewish leaders wish to keep hidden the gospel. We saw this already throughout this chapter. Christ proclaimed the truth. And so they wanted to hide it from the public. In this chapter, they told people that Jesus was casting out demons by Bielzebub, the prince of the devils. listen to him. Don’t listen to the message he’s going to give you. They attempted to stop Christ, remember, by demanding, by what authority do you do this? And why don’t you produce a sign so that we know that you’re really from God? But despite the unbelief of the Pharisees and the Jewish leadership, Jesus refused to put his light under a bushel. He set his light up. He set his light up. So those who come in to hear him preach get the light fully shining upon them. No one is attempting to, no one who is attempting to illuminate his house is going to put a lamp under a bush or in some basket somewhere or some, you know, hide it in the closet. I’m going to put it where it shines the most light. So Christ persevered in his. ministry. He was like a candle which once lighted, could not be hit. As he formally exalted his disciples, he himself would take every opportunity to clearly present the gospel to the people who had gathered to hear him. In a way, the people who sat in darkness were going to hear it. I see a great light, the Bible. says. For Jesus was the light of the world. If you look at the book of John, Jesus says this in chapter 12, verse 35, and the first part of verse 36. He says this. Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, let’s darkness come upon you. For he that walk in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of the light. The light has come into the world. Jesus Christ is that light. Now, should seek to keep hidden the light of the gospel. This is what he seems to be aiming at at at this point. Like Christ, you as a believer are to illuminate a dark world. as Jesus had said into the sermon on the mouth, ye are the light of the world. We are to reflect what Christ’s light in this world. We are to proclaim the light of the gospel. You are to seek to spread the maximum amount of light possible to those around you. Your faith must be suspect if you are content to go to heaven without reaching other. for Christ. You are a lighted candle. So let your light so shine before men. They may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven, as Matthew 516 tells us. It would be sinful to put our light under a bushel. We’re in a secret place to hide it. So we make an open declaration of what we believe. We diffuse the the genuine doctrines of the gospel to those around us. So don’t be like Peter, who out of fear, denied Christ. I know not the man. We tell others we do know the man. We know the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is our Savior. If you deny, therefore, Christ before men, he’s going to take this up a little bit later. He’s going to deny you on the day of judgment. before the heavenly angels and his heavenly father on the last day. And that would be a tragic situation. So be careful to live according to the precepts of the gospel so that even in works you do not deny Jesus Christ. You should be living in such a manner, a man to the other see that you’re serving Christ in this life, that you are sincere. about your beliefs. You’re not a dubious professor, that you just, and we’ve known people that professed to know Christ, but it works, well, it seems like they are far from Christ and certainly more like the world and everything to do. We keep our passions, our affections, under control so that we do not love the world, but we are consistent Christians because our citizenship isn’t here on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. And if that be the case, then our affections must be above and not on the things of this earth. And this is what Colossians 3 tells us. So we have to live in a manner which convinces others that God is our portion, that Christ is our Savior, and that the Holy Spirit is our God in this life. Let others know that you would not exchange your hope as a Christian for all the pleasures and all the wealth that this world has to offer. Friends, God is glorified. The gospel of Christ is adorned by someone who is a true believer. You truly are a life. in this world. Someone who is obedient to the Word of God, you walk according to God’s will. Someone who puts their faith in the actions. In other words, you have works that back up the faith, what you believe, you live. And finally, you have a purposeful life. They see that you desire to honor Christ in your life. That’s your chief aim. Do you act as light in this dark world? Do you proclaim the gospel message to others? Do you live in such a manner that others realize? You’re different than the world around them. So none should seek to keep hidden the gospel of Christ. Now let me say this. This extra observation here. It’s hard to imagine a more striking example of putting the gospel of putting the gospel light under a bushel. That’s what we see in the Roman Catholic Church. They are flagrantly violating the principle of this text. The Roman Catholic Church, in its possession of the scriptures, has access through the Word of God, to the gospel. It contains the gospel of Christ. And yet they have place the Bible, believe this or not, on the prohibited book list, and it’s still there, by the way. They’ve never removed it. They don’t want their members reading the Word of God. They purposely put the light of the gospel as it is found into scriptures under the bushel in a secret place to hide it from their people. They keep people ignorant of the truth. The Council of Trent declared that the common people, what they call the regulars, and I quote, shall neither read nor purchase such Bibles without a special license from their superiors. That is in their rules for prohibited books. And thus, if you look at history, they put to death the very people who would translate the Bibles into the language, the Bible, into the language of the common people. So, if you know, if you were in France, you’d put it in French. If you were in Germany, you put it in German. If you’re in English, you put it in English. And they would print the Bibles, and so they would be put to death for printing the Bibles. They would confiscate the Bibles. They would burn the Bibles. Because they didn’t want their members reading the Scriptures. They wanted to keep them in the door. That’s why they hated Luther. Why they wanted to silence Luther. Because Luther would open the scriptures, plainly read them, and preach the gospel to the people. Well, they couldn’t have that. The Roman Catholic Church mussels the gospel, let someone read the scriptures become wise unto salvation. They condemn anyone who says that you’re saved by faith alone through trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. and not by works too. You’re anathema, according to them. It’s inevitable. Once enlightened by the gospel, the people leave the Roman Catholic Church. Because they see it’s wrong. If you wish to combat the Roman Catholic Church, get people to read the Bible. Get them to read the scriptures. That’s a starting point. So you should realize it is God’s purpose to have the light of the gospel to shine brightly and woe to those, they would hide it. Secondly, it is necessary for you to have sight as well as light. Notice verse is 34 and 35. The 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 evil, my body also is. full of darkness take heed therefore that the light which is in the be not darkness. Now your body’s eye illustrates here the eye of the soul. Verse 34. The eye is the light of the bottom. It is through your eyes that you can see objects. Now if your eye is single, and he means here if it is clear, undeased, if you would, healthy, you can see well. However, if the eye is dimmed, maybe by cataracts, maybe it’s diseased in some other fashion, then the whole body is affected because your eyesight is poor. Or you can’t see it all. If you take off your glasses, or take out your contacts perhaps, I know one thing, if I were driving home and I had my glasses off, we wouldn’t make it. I can tell you that. Raina might make it, but I wouldn’t make it. My eyesight is poor. So when your eye is evil or bad here, it means you can’t make out the various objects around you. You are walking in the dark, so to speak, or at least you can’t see well enough. It’s dimmed. So you don’t see it. see the things in front of you, you know, the door, the steps, the furniture, people, so forth. When Eli, the high priest reached old age, the scripture says his eyes began to dim that he couldn’t see. I read about Isaac that when he was old, his eyes were dim so that he couldn’t see. And that’s how Jacob was able to steal the birthright blessing, because Isaac couldn’t see. No other part of the body can compensate. for the light of the eyes. Sometimes other parts of the body will compensate for one that’s injured or damage or something. But if you lose your eyesight, there’s no real way to compensate for that. You just grow up around and try to feel your way forward. You remember the men of Sodom? They came to the Lott’s house, and the angels of God struck them with blindness. And the Bible says, so that they wearied themselves. to find the door. They were blind as a bat. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t find the door. All of this is easily grasped in the physical realm. We know exactly what Jesus is talking about. Because we grasp it. It’s simple when we’re talking about the physical. The figurative sense here of Christ’s words will be clear if you put the word understanding in place of I, and soul in place of the body. So that the light of your soul is your understanding. And what light is your body, knowledge then becomes to your soul. Your understanding is the faculty by which knowledge is received to the guidance of the soul. If your understanding is darkened, if it’s defective, In some way. The Bible talks about your understanding being dark in the book of Ephesians. Then you can’t correctly apprehend gospel truth. You’re blind spiritually. That’s the problem. No matter how clearly the gospel is explained, if your understanding is darkened, you will not believe the message. You’re groping around in the dark. You can’t see the marvelous light of the truth right there in front of you. But the God of this world has blinded the minds. Those who believe not. As we saw in 2nd Corinthians Chapter 4. So you have the light of the gospel. You can hear the preaching of the word of God. But if you lack spiritual eyesight, how can you comprehend its beauty and its value? So your body’s eyes, illustrates the eye of the soul. Now, it behooes you to take heed that the light your soul possesses be not darkness. He says in verse 35. Take heed that the principles you adopt for living your life are not erroneous. There are many people who think themselves enlightened, who think that they are wise who are complete fools. You know, the Pharisees did not think that they were spiritually blind. They thought they had spiritual is and Jesus told them to reply. Their so-called light left them in the complete darkness, really. Friends, you can go far astray in a state of fancied illumination. I know something. I know this or I know that. You’re much better off if you’re brought to a state of conscious ignorance. I don’t know the truth. Otherwise, your so-called enlightenment leads you further away from the gospel, as we see with the Pharisees, and into a maze of delusion and wickedness. Take heed to shutting your eyes altogether to the gospel-like as you know better. There are none so blind as those who will not see. How is it that you could be this blind? Well, This person perceives he has light already. His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, were all brought up in a certain religion, and therefore it must be right. It’s the light this family had down through the years. So he wants nothing else. He will not inquire into the gospel because he’s sure he’s right. When the light of the gospel comes, he automatically rejects it. He opposes it because it opposes his religion. He will not be disturbed so he will not even consider the gospel might be true and his religion might be false. I was born a Catholic and I’m going to die a Catholic for people will say that. prejudice, laziness. Many people don’t care what the gospel is or is not. They’re indifferent to gospel light. Like Pilot, you may ask what is truth, but you’re not ready to receive any answer with regard to that. Perhaps you find it too much trouble to search the scriptures, too much trouble to pray. You have too many other interest in this life. you shut out the light of the gospel to abide in the black darkness that you’re in. It’s too much trouble for you to pay attention to the light you have received. So you pull down the shades over the eye of your soul, so to speak. So what a sad case it is. And then, of course, only laziness, but love of sin. Sin is like a cataract. which darkens your mental eye. You can’t see the truth because you’re so infatuated with evil. Remember what Jesus said in John 320? For everyone that doeth evil, hateeth the light. Neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should be reproved. They don’t want the light. When sin blinds the eye of your soul, isn’t any wonder that a person becomes an agnostic, a doubter of the truth, one who ridicules the gospel. You do not want the gospel to be true. Because then you’d have to abandon your sinful ways and pleasures. So it’s necessary for you to have sight as well as light. Thirdly, the blessing of you having a single heart is almost beyond calculation. Verse 36. If thy whole body be full of light, having no dark part, the whole shall be full of light as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. A single heart is a spiritually renewed heart. So that one considers powerfully completely the truth of the gospel. They’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You are full of spiritual light if you’ve been regenerated. You’ve been given spiritual sight. Therefore, you will find that every aspect of your life is effective. There’s no darkness there. You know God’s truth. You know what he wants you to do. You are dedicated to serving of the Lord and you shun all compromise. Real dedication to the Savior. You’re not lukewarm in your love. While no Christian is sinless. there are those who are commended for the singleness of heart in scripture. We think of Abraham, the friend of God. Remember what it was said about him. For I know him, God says. That he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord. I know Abraham. He’s got a singleness of heart about him. And then there’s David who was called a man after God’s own heart. Why? Because his life was dedicated to serve me of the Lord. Oh, he had his stumbles. But he was a man that, for the most part, we see him following the Lord. There was Job, who was commended as a perfect and upright one. One who feared God and issued evil. His singleness of heart. Paul had such devotion to serve the Lord that he actually outshined all the other apostles. The Bible says, and he tells us, and he tells I labored more abundantly than all the other apostles in 1st, Corinthians 15th, 10. Simvelness of heart. If you have singleness of heart, you’re going to do much good in this life and you’re going to advance the kingdom of God. You reflect spiritual light wherever you go. Among your friends, among your relatives, among your coworkers, among your neighbors, wherever you are, the light emanates from you. you. The light of the gospel, you should pray and labor that you might be full of life. Your heart would be dedicated to serving Christ. Inward peace and joy, and outward usefulness are associated with a healthy eye that’s governing your soul. So the blessing of having a singleness of heart is almost impossible to help you. Let me close. When you look in the mirror, you see the unvarnished truth. Jesus Christ, in our text, want you to take an honest look at yourself. How is your eyes? How is your understanding? Do you have spiritual understanding? Or not? Have your eyes been illuminated? Are you still have darkness of understanding? It’s God’s purpose to have the light of the gospel shine brightly in the world. Christ’s proclaim the gospel light. And none should seek to keep hidden his message. Whether it be the Roman Catholic Church, whether it be the Jewish leadership, or anyone else. The eye of the soul is your understanding, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and you are enlightened, therefore there is no darkness there. If you have a healthy spiritual eye, it makes you full of light. And that will spill over to all those around you. Let us close with a word of prayer this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we’ve had to ponder the truth of your word this morning. Bless us as your people. May we have proper eyesight, Father, spiritually speaking, that we might see and that then we might be able to help others. That we be not the blind leading the blind. And both fall into the ditch. Bless you. your people, Father, give us a witness before this dark world in which we live. Encourage us, knowing, Father, you’ve placed us here to let our light shine. That’s why you haven’t taken us home at this point. And why you keep some of your people here. We ask for your blessing upon your word this morning. In Jesus’ name, and with Thanksgiving. Amen. Let’s stand for the benediction this morning The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. Amen.