Luke 11:36
If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
These words belong to denunciations and woes spoken in deepest sorrow and tears even over those deserving rebuke. They were spoken as the end of the mission approached when Jerusalem's day of probation would end, after three years of seeking fruit and finding none, of giving solemn warnings and gracious invitations. There had been labor to awaken understanding that He was the promised Messiah and only hope, carrying a thankless disobedient people on the heart and doing all possible to save them. Yet at the close came their refusal to come for life, with the cloud of divine wrath gathering and the city seen beleaguered and lost.
The verse warns to take heed that the light within not be darkness, teaching that when the eye is single the whole body is full of light. When heaven's light is wholly received with no part dark and no darkness allowed to remain, the whole being and life is full of light as a bright shining candle gives light. Keeping Christ continually in view with the eye single to God's glory is what fills the whole being with light having no part dark, for He is light and life and peace and assurance forever. By beholding Him character is changed from glory to glory because in Him is no darkness at all.
When Christ is kept in view the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness flood the chambers of the mind, and the light received from the Light of the World is reflected to others. The soul stayed on God commits all perplexities and anxieties to Jesus and His light in the soul temple brings peace. Continuing to behold Him engraves His image on the heart, revealed in daily life by practical obedience to His will. This light guides each person, so that discerning and obeying truth brings the whole course of life into line with truth, which sanctifies the receiver. Refusing to seek truth and accepting error instead leaves the soul in darkness and corrupts conduct and character, because error does not sanctify or do good.
Spiritual darkness follows when cherished idols and iniquity separate people from God. Those who stand in the light have the discernment and spirituality to see and remove the obstacles that keep them from it, though few do so. The verse means followers are to search their hearts as with a lighted candle to see what manner of spirit they are of, criticizing their own actions for present and eternal good to see how they stand in the light of the law of God. This law is the standard, and every soul is to search the heart in preparation for the trying time to come and the day when everyone shall receive according as works have been, with clear remembrance of every word and deed.