How are your eyes?

 

Matthew 6:22-23  22 " The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

 

Evil Eyes

 

Adulterous Eyes

 

2 Samuel 11:1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.  2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.  3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"  4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.  5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."  6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David.  7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered.  8 And David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah departed from the king's house, and a gift of food from the king followed him.  9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.  10 So when they told David, saying, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"  11 And Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing."

 

Here  we see that David had evil eyes of adultery at  this time and then he trying to finds ways to cover up his sin by trying to get Uriah to go to his wife but he would not. As the  story goes he even tries to get him drunk so that he may go to his wife but he still doesn’t so then David sends him back to hardest part of the battle there is and tells his men to draw back and  allow him to be killed and  then David take Bashsheba for his wife. Of course this sin did not go unpunished as God tells David that his new baby will die.

 

Notice what Jesus about this  topic

 

Matthew 5:27 " You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Envious eye

 

1 Samuel 18: 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands."  8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?"  9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

 

Saul became envious of David because he killed so many and people were recognizing him for it. Do you have this kind of eye do you envy people and wish that you were them. They came up several shows where people are envious of stars  and they want to look like them  so they will go and have plastic  surgery after plastic surgery trying to look more like them. Notice what the book of Proverbs teaches about envy.

 

Proverbs 14:30  30 A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.

Proverbs 23:17   17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

 

Being envious will lead to sin according to James.

 

James 3:16  16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

 

Critical eye.

 

Matthew 7:3 "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  4 "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  5 "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

 

Its easy to be critical of others. So many today like find small things they can pick out a person they don’t like and then they will ride it until the break them. You really see this in politics where they will criticize anything they can to try to make themselves look better and unfortunately Christians are guilty of this as well. Instead of loving someone and trying to encouraging them to better they will talk evil of that person and point out all of their weak points even when that person saying these things may have exact same weaknesses.

 

James 4:11-12  11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.  12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

 

We must be careful not have critical eyes as this will only cause problems and will stunt the growth of the church.

 

Covetous Eye

 

Acts 8:18-23  18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,  19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

 

Simon was pretend magician and he would of loved to have the ability to pass on the Holy Spirit to others. Perhaps he thought he could make a great deal of money doing such a thing. Whatever the reason he coveted that power. But notice  Peters response. 

 

 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!  21 "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.  22 "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.  23 "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."

 

This in another problem prominent in our society and with Christians. Oh they covet or desire what they neighbors have or what the see others have on TV. All they can think  about is how they can try lay their hands on that coveted possession.

 

Ephesians 5:3  3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;

 

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

Closed Eye

 

Matthew 13:14-"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;  15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' 

 

Many of the Pharisees during the 1st century had this problem the did not want to see the truth because they wanted to live in their own truth. A lot of people are like this today. They don’t want to see what the word of God says. Instead they want to live by the philosophy  if feels good its got to be right. Notice what Jesus goes on to say about those  who don’t close  their eyes to the truth.

16 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;  17 "for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

 

Sometimes Christians who were once faithful and had their eyes open shut them once again.

 

2 Peter 1:5-9  5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,  6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,  7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

 

Be careful not have closed to the truth or will become lost.

 

Good Eyes.

 

Compassionate Eyes

1 Peter 3:8   8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another;

 

This means that if you see someone hurting or in need you feel  for that person and will try to do what  you can to help them out. Jesus certainly had compassion on the multitudes of people that were sick and diseased and held them. Him being our master example we are to follow in his footsteps and compassion for those around us.

 

Luke 10:30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  31 "Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  32 "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.  33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.  34 "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  35 "On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'

 

Strive to have compassionate eyes

 

Faithful  Eyes.

 

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 

Hebrews 11:6   6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 

So if you want to have the kind of eyes that are pleasing God you must have faithful eyes.

 

Hebrews 11: 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;  10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

 

After all these faithful people are  mentioned  The Hebrew writer concludes by saying

 

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

Sympathetic Eyes

 

To show sympathy to another person shows that you love and care about their well being. We have an example this in John 11 where Lazerus has been dead for 4 days and his sisters Martha and Mary were grieving.

 

John 11:32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  35 Jesus wept.

 

Jesus had sympathy for them because of the great pain they were experience because of the loss of their brother even though he knew that he about to raise him from the dead. This tears of sympathy were a display of Jesus loving heart toward these women. We to should have sympathy for those around us if we truly have love for one another.

 

When Paul was describing the church as human body he says this in 1 Corinthians 12:26  26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

 

Not only should we show sympathy to those in the church we should have sympathy for those who are lost just as Jesus did in

Matthew 23:37  37 " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

 

Hopeful Eyes

 

Romans 8:18-25   18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.  20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;  21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.  24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?  25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

 

These are the kind of eyes that every Christian should have because no matter what we go through in this life we can have hope of a home in heaven.

 

Philippians 3:20-21  20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,  21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

 

Lets us  never forget the hope we have of living eternally in heaven.

 

Open Eyes

Having opens eyes means that you are will to grow as Christian. A person with open eyes is  not stuck in there ways and  willing to consider new concepts that they have never heard of. This type of person is one who does not say I know it all and nothing you can say will every change my mind. We have a biblical example of those who open eyes in the  NT.

 

Acts 17:10-12   10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.  12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

 

Be like the Bereans and keep an open mind and test everything against what Bible says.