Is Your Eye Good or Evil — Erlo Stegen

The Sermon on the Mount and Its Demanding Standard

Now, you know that Matthew 5, 6 and 7 are the, that is known as the Sermon.

On the Mount. It is so powerful. Some words strike you like thunder. You read and pray that God would change your life, that it would be according to the standard of the Lord's preaching, Matthew 5, 6 and 7.

You must be dead if you are not moved by that heavenly thunder. Matthew 6, from verse 22.

Matthew 6 from verse 22. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6, from verse 22. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will hold to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon. We will read thus far. What does this mean? That if your eye is evil, everything becomes dark. And if your eye is good, that your whole body will be full of light. You see, if you have an evil eye, everything turns to darkness.

A Good Eye Gives Light for the Spiritual Path

So even though we have two eyes, when the Lord speaks as the eye, he of course means your eyes. One day, two men were walking along. They were walking on the same path. The one in the front walked easily and fast.

And for him, one could see it was easy, no big deal for him to walk fast. The one following had trouble. He would stumble over a rock and then almost stumble headlong. And you could see that each step was difficult.

What had made it to be so? Now what was the cause? The one in the front, he also had the same obstacles and rocks and things on the way. But for him, it just seemed to be so easy to just step over them.

But the one behind him, he kept on stumbling over each and every. What was the cause? The reason was the man in the front had good eyes and he could see everything. It was all light in front of him. And the whole path was lit up for him.

No stumbling, no hitting stones. It was no difficulty or pieces of wood not knocking into things. For he had a good eye. In other words, his eyes were good and full of light and so all that he saw was full of light.

And though he was faced with the same obstacles as the one behind him, he easily saw them and just went around them or over them. But the one behind, he bumped into everything along the way. And so the cause was that his eye was good and so everything was full of light.

Now the man behind him also had eyes. But he couldn't see properly. He was very, everything was dim in front of him. And so he couldn't see the things in front of him and as he got closer, he didn't recognize and see it properly and he just stumbled over it whereas the one in front had seen it and walked around it or over it.

You could say he had an evil eye or he had a bad eye. Like the Lord Jesus said, if your eye is evil. And thus it was that he stumbled across everything on the path. It was because it was so dim, it was all so dark, he couldn't see.

Despite him having eyes, even though he had eyes, his eyes were very short-sighted. He couldn't see much at all. I wonder whether things are full of light to you or whether things are not. If your eye is good, you will be able to see to the point of saying, well, I can see easily.

It's so obvious. But the person who has an evil eye, things are not obvious and they instead are a stumbling block to him. So some Christians have got eyes of an owl. An owl is not very astute during the day and can't see so clearly when the sun is shining.

But at night, the owl's eyes are extremely sharp. And so that owl during the day, you'd think there's something sickly with it. It is just so haggard and has no life to it. But at night, it wakes up with so full of energy, it's a completely new creature.

Now sometimes an owl will fly during the day but easily flies into things like into a branch or into a wall. Why? Because its eyes are not full of light at the right time for light. Instead, it has an eye for darkness.

Spiritual Blindness to Holiness and Repentance

Now I've said some people have eyes like an owl's. The heavens and the glory and the shining, the brightness, they do not see. Even if they preach with fiery preaching, nothing penetrates. The choir sung one of its songs being about the holiness of God before which we bow, before which we fall prostrate.

But there are those who don't know and don't feel anything for the holiness of God. They walk out the service and be angry and irritated by somebody they don't see. A person might be elderly already but despite the bright shining of the sun, they don't notice it.

If you speak about repentance and faith and the things of the Lord to them, it just doesn't enter, they don't see it.

But bring something. If you speak about repentance and faith and the things of the Lord to them, it just doesn't enter, they don't see.

But bring the things of the world to him, bring dark things to him and he will liven up, he feels completely at home, he understands. With some, when you share the faith with them, they say, I don't yet see it.

The time hasn't yet come for me to become a Christian and yet Jesus has long ago given his life, he's died, risen again and he grants salvation. But that person has an evil eye, sees only darkness, doesn't see the glory and majesty of heaven.

That person has an evil eye, sees only darkness, doesn't see the glory and majesty of heaven.

They waste their time on the things of the world and they are extremely sharp eyed and they see things clearly when it's of the darkness. Those things of the dark, that's where they feel attached and their affection lies there, but the things of heaven they are blind to because they have an evil eye.

In the olden days when you had pounds and shillings, I once showed a child a nice new shilling. And in my other hand I had a pound. I said to the child, choose the one which you would like. Without any hesitation, the child went straight for the shilling.

But if that child is grown up a bit and they have more understanding, then it is that they can see the difference. They'd say, no I don't want just a shilling, I choose this pound because it has more value.

And I said to him, I don't want just a shilling, I choose this pound because it has more value.

And you'll find that that person with the evil eye also gets deceived and sees the brightness of God. The lightness of the shilling, the lusts of the flesh, the things of the world, that they have an affection for and they're drawn to.

But the things of God, that which has real worth, real value, not just a few pounds but multiple million times more, the glories and the blessings of heaven, that evil eye cannot recognize. Paul said, Demas has forsaken me, loving the things of this world, loving those things that are attractive in the world.

Money, mammon, and instead of the things that are of real worth, he had eyes. His eyes were still there, but he couldn't see through those eyes anymore, they just ended at his own nose. But he had eyes for the things of the world, but the things of true light he was blinded to.

God's Word as the Lamp That Reveals Truth

Jesus said, there is light in you. What is he referring to regarding that light in you? Is it your mind? No, the mind is just something in this world. Is it your ability to think logically? Is it your intelligence, or is it your heart?

No, it's all those... The heart in the sense of that person's emotions, no, that deceives the person too, because they will say, I don't yet feel like getting saved, that person is blinded in every sense.

So what light is this then? If Jesus said, this light, there is light. If he says, this light which lights the whole world, what is it? It's not going to church? Do you want light? Do you have a longing for light?

Prepare to deny everything else for his light, all the things of the world are as rubbish to you. Then listen to what the Lord says. Psalm 119 verse 105. It says, thy word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to all my paths.

It says, thy word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to all my paths. It says, thy word is a lamp to my feet. And a light to all my paths.

The word of the Lord is that light. And if God's word takes up residence in you, then you see things from God's point of view. Otherwise, you are blinded to the things of God, you have an evil eye. If his word is with you, then you won't walk along that path stumbling across all the things that Satan brings along your path, because you can see.

A certain young person came across a group of girls. They were dressed and flirting around and obviously attracted. They were dressed like whores. He had his Bible, but they were beckoning to him saying, come.

But he clung to his Bible.

He had his Bible, but he clung to his Bible. He had his Bible, but he clung to his Bible.

But this child of God, this girl, was dressed very modestly. And these other girls dressed in that way, they mocked her. They said, you useless. And they ridiculed the way that she was dressed. They said, you dress like a granny.

You see that in the world, they dress with anything that is provocative to provoke and to arouse lust. However, if the light that is in you, if there is that light in you, everything becomes light. As I said to you in Psalm 119, verse 105, Thy word is a lamp to my feet, which means that even if there are obstacles in front of you, that lamp will show you and you won't stumble.

If you meet with difficulty, you won't be stumbled by it. For here is this lamp right at your feet. And it lights up your path. And that person doesn't have to be constantly watched over where they are told, Now watch out, there is a little stone, there is an obstacle, there is a problem.

No, if they have light, they can see it for themselves. For the word of the Lord enlightens him and gives him light along his path. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And if you have Jesus, then you have the true light that you can walk with.

He who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. You see, if the word of God is in you, and Jesus is in you, The Holy Spirit will illuminate his truths and you will see clearly and say goodbye to the world.

A Young Man Finds Satisfaction in Jesus

Remember the story once told by Mr. Mzalose? A girl who was in love with a young man. They were visiting each other. Now where is Mr. Mzalose? What's the name again? Her name was Sophie. Was there a name with the man?

Maybe you young man, maybe his name is like yours. And so this young man went to visit his Sophie. They went the ways of the world, like you see so many going in the way of the world. So visiting his girlfriend, he didn't feel contented.

She brought different eats and refreshments and coke. Kwele wasn't around at the time for her to bring one to drink. Cake and different confectionary. Because he looked discontented, he was joyless. And then she said, well, why don't we go to the beach?

So they agreed that that's what they'd do. To the beach. To the sea. Now buses usually have written, the destination is written in the front. And this once happened that a bus came and it was written beach.

And the one person using the sound of it said, it's the wife of a dog. No, not that pronunciation. That's a bitch. One who is promiscuous. They went to the beach, to the ocean. And so off they went and they caught a bus towards the sea.

So sitting very closely to each other, next to his girlfriend, three young men got in at another bus stop and they sat in front. They looked happy. They looked happy and contented. And in fact, they were singing a song about Jesus, their Jesus.

And as they sang for him, it was wonderful. So this boyfriend got up from sitting next to Sophie, left her and went to where these young men were seated. And was singing. He said, this is what will satisfy me.

And that young man knew that his soul would only be satisfied by this Jesus which these young men were singing about. You see, a person can have headlight and then as time goes by, it becomes dim. It's like the cataracts over the eyes.

And even if you speak to them about Jesus, they say, no, everything is fine. It's alright. But they've lost their vision. They've lost their sight.

They've lost their vision. They've lost their sight. They've lost their vision. They've lost their sight. They've lost their vision. They've lost their sight. They've lost their vision. They've lost their sight.

Fleeing Youthful Lust and Maintaining Purity

Now, some even are so short-sighted that they'll even say, that's just a particular quirk of Kwasi Zobantu. It's their way of doing things that the girls and boys don't visit each other. No. The Bible says, flee youthful lust.

And I know and I have seen through experience that that is true. The Bible, if it warns against youthful lust, it really is like that. You can't spend time in the presence of your girlfriend or boyfriend in that love affair and not feel anything.

Now, Now, if it says flee, it means what it says. It means literally to. And it's like when Joseph was warned in a dream to take his wife and the child to Egypt, he literally fled to Egypt.

I'm so I'm I'm I'm I'm.

I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm. And the Word of God will be a lamp to your feet, and the Holy Spirit will illuminate you and show you. And that's why you will not be visiting around and flirting around because you will find that the flesh is what will come to the fall.

He's The.

The Word of God. The Word of God.

The Word of God, which is the light in you, that he teaches, and he will say, flee. He is the one who says, flee youthful lusts. And you've got to be practical about it. If there's a mamba snake in the room, you will literally flee or deal, give a death blow to it.

If there's a lion there, you will flee for safety. You don't just hang around and ignore it. And so you'll find a person, even if he's grown up with the Word of God, if they turn their backs on it, that light becomes darkness.

And then they'll say, but other churches and other young people, they allow to visit each other and be girlfriend and boyfriend, go out with each other. We don't want that because we want the most excellent way.

We want you to get married in purity. Some will go and attend the marriage of their friend who's married in, with impurity for having flirted around. They don't see. Parents will go, the mother will go, and you'll find that the reason is they have an evil eye.

And so you, you show that you agreeable to what they've done by attending their marriages, just identifying with it instead of being absolutely clear about the light and the standard of purity. I saw for myself once a girl doing like that, just getting closer and closer and just, um, playing around and then touching her boyfriend.

I saw for myself once a girl doing like that, just getting closer and closer and just, um,.

That person may have had light, but then they walk into darkness, they allowed darkness to fill them and everything becomes dark. And so they no longer see the difference and they leave that most excellent way.

And for people like that, rather go to and join any church that you want. We don't want that here. We want to keep God's standard of holiness. A certain wife of a preacher who preaches the gospel said, if they engaged, she said to me, she gave me advice and she said, look, if your child is engaged, you need to give your daughter an, a contraception pill, lest she falls pregnant before they're married.

Can you imagine the wife of a preacher of the gospel telling a mother of a daughter, see to it that your child is on the pill. Now, what kind of a life should I preach such nonsense? Never a thousand, 10 ,000 times.

No, I preach the truth and I won't lie and be a hypocrite.

What concerning those things? Why should you go? No money. Why should you in cause cause come from this? What do you go? Money? Money. Let's into SMB. What are you? As a humanist analysis into go by. No, Lela.

You found a good thing. He landed in in Della. Can he still footing? Gizoli. Shumai, Likoni. So Oh, One person. I'm wrong. Oh, I'm wrong. One lady said to me, you know, everything is fine about what you preach, except when it comes to young people.

You're depriving them of the joys of their youth when they can flirt around, and it's so nice, and you should allow that. I said to her, well, it's probably because you don't have any children. She said, no, I've got two daughters, and I think it's a wonderful thing for them.

It was shortly after that that we found that that lady, that mother of those children, had fallen into adultery.

That's the best time of our lives.

One person was saying, you know, our engagement time, which was two years, was so wonderful. We could visit each other. It was even better then than during marriage. And so it wasn't long after that that their marriage went on the rocks.

It was broken up. They were divorced. It astonishes me that some parents don't see. And regarding their children, they think, no, it's all right if it's like that. Well, they're blinded to it. It's because they don't walk on God's highway, the most excellent way.

And so they allow their children to flirt around, to go out, to have these relationships, and it's because they have darkness. They have an evil eye. Jesus said... Jesus said... Jesus said... You cannot have two masters.

You can't follow both of them, for you'll either love the one and hate the other, or vice versa.

You can try as much as you like. You can't combine and bring the devil and Satan together with God. That's an impossibility. God and the devil don't go together. You hear? God and the devil, they don't go together.

And you'd like to make friends.

Or worse, you cannot. You'll love God and hate darkness. Or you'll love darkness and hate God. Much more. There's much more that we could say about young people. But just that verse alone, flea youthful lusts, by visiting each other, being together, you are arousing something.

Otherwise, you cannot see. You are blinded to the truth of it.

You cannot do this. You cannot do this. You cannot do this.

There is an absolute difference between God and Satan. You cannot blend the two together. Evil and good cannot walk together. Can I say it any more clearly, or are you totally blinded? Remember, I'm not promoting a Sisa Bantu teaching or a Sisa Bantu way, it's the Word of God.

We're promoting His Word, His most excellent way. He has said this. And so, you should do accordingly. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

So, everything becomes light to the person who has light. It's clear. So, you need to live in a way that there's such clarity with your testimony that everybody can see the obvious with you. And that is why we say we won't go down to lower the standard of God, what He has said in His Word.

We will rather say, you can go your way, you'll suffer your own consequences, but we're going to stick with the Word of God.

Walking in the Light and Keeping God's Standard

I pray that you'll have a clear...

And Octavia say, walk in this light, let everything be absolutely clear and bright. If I hear that you've been, during your engagement time, you've been in contact together, phoning each other and this and that, I won't have anything to do with your marriage.

Live in the light. This light which is in God's church, the Lord Jesus, His people, they are full of light. Otherwise, you're excluding yourself. If you choose to have an evil eye, you'll go the way of darkness.

I said, well, look, we've got our marriage date all arranged, why don't we just go already to town and start choosing our furniture? And choose bedroom furniture. But he so regretted doing it. He said, that contact then, which they had, he said, he suffered so much from it, from terrible, lustful and wicked thoughts, he said he was just defeated by it.

He said, well, we engage, we're going to get married, there's nothing wrong with that. We go and we buy some furniture, bedroom suite and what, and he says, after that, vasty hell was let loose. After that, he said, I had no control over my thought life, he said it spoiled everything.

We need people with clear eyes, not those that close their eyes or dim their eyes, but those who will be the light to all people. There was a, if we are to keep what the Lord is teaching here in his word, this most excellent way, you wouldn't have the AIDS problem, both physically and spiritually, where people suffer spiritually because of not keeping his word.

Some have AIDS physically, but there are some who have spiritual AIDS because sin has just weakened them and defeated them. Let's pray. Lord we've heard you say how the eye is the lamp of the body and that if it's light, everything in the body becomes completely light.

But that if the eye is dark, everything becomes dark and how great that darkness becomes. And Lord I pray that you would be gracious and give us sight, use Lord your heavenly eye medicine to touch our eyes, those who don't see so that they would walk in light and walk straight and not as people who are intoxicated and made drunk by the things of the world.

Amen.