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HE Occafion on which our bleffed Lord and Saviour fpake thefe Words, For out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts

was this:

The Scribes and Pharifees, who were the Teachers and Expounders of the Jewish Law, and whofe Bufinefs it was to give the true Meaning of it, instead of that did grofly pervert the real Design, Senfe, and Meaning of it; put erroneous and falfe Gloffes upon it, and many times impofed. their own Traditions upon the People in the Place of it. And yet none pretended a more strict Obfervance of the Law than they. Infomuch that we find them in the Beginning of this Chapter, with an usual Arrogance, demanding of our Saviour, Why do thy Difciples tranfgrefs the Tradition of the Elders? For they wash not their Hands when they eat Bread. ver. 2. To which our Saviour gives this Anfwer; viz. That they of all Men had the least Reason to tax his Difciples with the Neglect of fuch a Ceremony as washing before Meat; as if that were fuch an Invafion upon Tradition, and a crying Sin; when they themselves were guilty of a much greater, in endeavouring. to vacate the Obligation of the fifth Commandment,

mandment,by falfly fuppofing a Cafe which would ifcharge them from honouring and relieving their Parents; and fo making void the Commandment of God by their own Tradition, with a Witness. Their Corban, Mark vii. 11, 12. was an effectual way to cover their Avarice, and they could not have invented a more colourable Pretence to varnish over their most fordid and unnatural Temper than that was.

And indeed this was their common Method, when they had any wicked Defign in Hand, then to feem most religious: And when they made long Prayers, twas but too fure a Sign of their devour ing Widows Houfes. And for this Reafon our Bleffed Lord doth so often and fo feverely rebuke them; particularly here, where after he had given them fuch an Anfwer as he did, he expofeth and layeth them open to the People, and cenfures the Vanity and Hypocrify of all their religous Pretenfions. And directing his Difcourfe to the People, He affures them that true Religion confifteth not in fuch outward Washings and Cleanfings, and ceremonious Purgations; but in the fpiritual and inward Purification of the Mind and Soul, the Fountain of all our Thoughts and Imaginations, and of our Actions, the Product of them. That if the Heart be

pure and holy, the Thoughts, and then the Actions, will be fo too: But if the Heart be foul and wicked, the affues of it will be correfpondent. When the Spirit of a Man is truely feafoned with Religion, it will fhew itself in all the beauteous and lovely Fruits of Righteousness. But when the Principle is vicious and debauch'd, the Effects muft and will be filthy and abominable. That a Man is not defiled by any material Thing that he either eats or drinks, but by his own Imaginations, Defires, and Affections; The Things which come out of him. For out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts, Murders, Adulteries, Fornications, Thefts, Falfe-witneffes, Blafphemies; these are the Things which defile a Man: But to eat with unwafbed Hands defileth not a Man.

All the ceremonious Part of the Jewish Law aim'd at, and terminated in this. Their Ceremonies were Significations and Types of Matters under the Gofpel. And their frequent Wafhings and Cleanfings, were to denote the Spiritual Purifying of

the Heart and Soul.

'Tis true, God injoined them to be obferved for a time, the Ignorance and Nonage of the Jews requiring fuch a material and grofs Way of Inftruction: But these were all abolished and done away, at the

Coming

Coming of the Meffiah; when the Son of God himself became our Divine Instructor and Telcher, and informed Mankind of the Nature of that rational and fpiritual Worship, which God did expect from us, and would be acceptable to him. That it was the Devotion of the Soul, the Purity of the Heart, the Spirituality of the Thoughts, that living Sacrifice alone, that would please God who is an Infinite Spirit, and prepare us for the refined Joys of Heaven, and the exalted Pleafures of Seraphims And confequently, that the greatest and most important Duty incumbent on Mankind, was to govern the Heart and fubdue the Thoughts. This then, in fhort, was the Occafion of our Saviour's Speaking these Words; which did effectually humble these proud Pharifees, whofe whole Religion was mere Pomp and outward Shew; and confifted merely in broad Phylacteries, an affected Garb, and demure Looks; while thefe gaudy and painted Sepulchres, were within full of all manner of Rottennefs and Uncleanness: "And at the fame time lets us fee a Defcription of true Religion, and how excellent and noble an Inftitution that is, which extends to the inmoft Receffes of the Soul, and fo tends to refine the very Thoughts of the Heart, and to fit Men for the pure State

B 4.

of

of Angels. And therefore, is far above all other Inftitutions that ever were in the World before.

were

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CHA P. II.

HE next Thing propofed to be handled is the vaft Advantage of well-governing of our Thoughts, in order to the Purposes of Religion in general. Now this Advantage is very great and obvious: Every Perfon must be convinced that the moft proper and only way for a Man to live well, is to begin at his Heart; to put his Thoughts into a true Order and Government. For otherwise, there can be no Uniformity in his Piety. The good Actions that he doth are broken and imperfect; and he is apt every now and then to make fresh Work for Repentance, by returning to his old Sins. But this Advantage of the well-governing our Thoughts will be the better feen by fome Particulars.

Firft then, a Care of our Thoughts is the greatest Prefervative against actual Sins. 'Tis a moft certain Truth, that the greatcft Sin that ever was committed was at firft but a Thought. The fouleft Wickednefs, and most monftrous Impiety, arofe

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