HOLINESS FOR THE EYE INTRODUCTION The eye is the gate of the soul. In Psalm 119:37, David commanded himself and made a covenant with his eyes Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity Here, vanity refers to anything that is worthless, foolish, empty and destitute of reality. Why does David set such a great emphasis on keeping his eye from seeing vain things? It is because our eyes are the gates of our soul. Our soul comprises our will, mind and consciousness. Our eyes can easily store information from the outside world into our memories (mind, which is a part of our soul) just for a short period of time. Also, our eyes are the principal organ of our bodies which can easily stimulate our emotions (also a part of our soul). Illustration: Think of the difference between seeing a horrible accident and by just merely hearing it. Psychologists say that 90% of our thought is stimulated by what we see. Experiments also prove that 65% of the stimulus we receive through the eyes and ears are stored in our long-term memory. If our eyes will be constantly filled with evil and vain sights, we will have no doubts that our hearts (soul) will also be filled with wicked things. Indeed, what a person sees has a powerful influence on his/her thoughts. A. It Defines our Identity Proverbs 23:7 says For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he This verse plainly says that the condition of our hearts, which emanated from the condition of our eyes, is the condition of the body as a whole. Jesus Christ also emphasized this truth in Matthew 6:22-23 and Luke 11:34 where He said 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! What the eyes indulges in and enjoy is what the body will indulge in and enjoy. It is difficult, if not impossible, to claim that our inner self hates what our eyes love. B. Lust of the Eyes In James 1:14-15, the Bible says: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Sins do not just go out from nowhere. A sin is likened to a baby which is first conceived, then delivered as it brings something into the real world. Temptations trigger conception of sins (it is the first step). Our sins are usually conceived on our minds for a long or short period of time. And when this conception of sin is constantly nurtured, there will be a powerful force that will drive us to sin. I John 2:16 affirms that our eyes are one of the three major areas of worldliness and temptation. Most of the sins are caused by temptations presented through the eyes. C. Biblical Related Stories 1. Eve (Genesis 3:6) tempted to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because of her visit to the said forbidden tree 2. Achan (Joshua 7:21) tempted to covet Babylonian spoils when he saw the riches 3. David (II Samuel 11:2) from the roof, David saw Bathsheba which in turn drove him to lie with her 4. Jesus (Matthew 4:8) In the wilderness, Satan tempted Christ by letting Him see the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them D. Satan s Knowledge about Human Eyes Satan is an intelligent antagonist. He knows that the mind is most easily reached through the eye. For this reason, his main strategy is to: - Bring new suggestions to our minds through our eyes - Embed sights in our memory and tempt us when we are weak. - Constantly expose our eyes to certain sights and associated ideas, making us accustomed to them. E. Bible s Admonition Though it is inevitable to avoid seeing wickedness in our time, God wants us to discipline our eyes and minds. We should guard our eyes from temptations. F. Important Scriptures and Principles 1. Matthew 15:20 things that defile a man 2. Isaiah 33:15-16 shutteth his eyes from seeing evil 3. I Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil 4. Romans 1:32 have pleasure in them that do them G. The Church s Stand and Belief We cannot expect the Bible to directly mention prohibitions of modern day materials that violate the holiness of our eyes. It is obviously because, the Bible is
written thousands of years ago, in those times, there were no televisions, computers, magazines and theaters. Despite of this reason, we cannot argue with the principles of God written in His Word which are forever established in heaven. From these principles, the church s ministers, who are next in teaching holiness, established strong stand against some areas of worldliness today. In the field of printed materials, the church strongly discourages the saints to have and read: 1. Comic Books - Reasons: Have no informative or educational value, Some are unfit for children to read (extreme emphasis on violence are portrayed for some) 2. Books and Magazines - w/ Soap Opera type novels which go in detail about sex, love triangles, adultery - Book filled with vulgar words, witchcraft and occult - Magazines w/ pornographic details, intimate confessions and scandal 3. Televisions and Movies (at home or in theaters) - Reasons: >Many types of sin are portrayed on the screen (Psalm 101:3) >Not conducive to Christian living (because of its evil and it is a waste of time I. Psychological Researches >Romans 1:32 teaches that people who take pleasure in watching others sin are just guilty as the doers >Danger on children In here, we ve listed some of the researches based not on Biblical settings, but on psychological studies. These statistical and experimental findings will discuss about the negative effects of televisions and movies to its viewers. A. Newsweek, 1977 1. After parents, TV is the most important influence on beliefs and attitudes of children After High School, a child seen an estimated 350,000 commercials and 18,000 murders in TV what values are then inculcated on the children? 2. Viewing violence tends to produce aggressive behavior 3. A Study by ABC: Out of 100 juvenile offenders, 22 admitted that they copied criminal behavior from TV 4. TV creates an attitude of spectatorship withdrawal from direct involvement in real life situations 5. Advertising is a powerful force of deception in TV B. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television 1. TV creates false values
2. Harmful biological effects (physically from artificial lightings; and psychologically because of hypnosis and brainwashing) 3. Causes Sensory deprivation lack of education in real life experiences) C. Australian National University 1. Causes viewers to lose self-esteem and confuse identity J. History (Later and Early Church) Early Church History 1. Christians, prior to the time of Constantine, were forbidden to attend the theater where performances were lewd and the faith might be ridiculed 2. Tatian in his Address to the Greeks, told about theaters giving lessons in adultery on the stage 3. Clement of Alexandria in his Exhortation to the Heathen and The Instructor, told about eyes committing fornication through theaters 4. Tertullian in his The Shows, argued about the righteousness of seeing what is disgraceful to do. He described eyes and ears as immediate attendants of sprits. 5. Cyprian said that Adultery is learned while it is seen and therefore he condemned pantomime in his days 6. Lactantius mentioned about contaminating and corrupting influence of stage 7. Constitutions of the Holy Apostles admonished Christians to avoid theater 8. John Chrysotom preached against popular farces and pantomimes Later Church History 1. Early Calavanists prohibited theater attendance 2. Puritans in England shut down theaters because they regard them as profane and sensual 3. John Wesley (Methodist) wrote to a mayor to persuade them not to build theaters 4. 19 th Century editors of Ante-Nicene Fathers repeatedly endorsed the ancient condemnations of the theaters 5. 20 th century church leaders like: H.A. Ironside, R.A. Torrey, Early Pentecostals in Holiness Movement and many other Pentecostal denominations officially stand against the said practice CONCLUSION 1. How can we love the things on televisions, movies and other printed materials and hate sin or evil? 2. It is difficult, if not impossible, to remain spiritual in a worldly environment 3. If we let our eyes behold things that are vain, we put our spirituality in danger 4. Pleasure while seeing evil displayed is a sin 5. To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is a sin (James 4:17)
Answers to Objections Argument: But we only watch decent thing Answer: If they really mean what they say, they watch TV so little that its absence should not make much difference Argument: But we see the same things everyday on the real world Answer: There s a difference between seeing it on the outside and inviting it to the sanctity of our lives and homes. This is same also with temptation entering our minds and entertaining the temptation in our minds.