(1.) For the avoiding of Evil: There is in us all a sinful proneness to evil, which we must seek to cure and prevent. Prov. 4.23. Keep thy Heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. The Heart is terminus actionum ad intra, & fons actionum ad extra; 'tis the Heart that God aimeth at in all that he doth upon us, and 'tis the Heart that is the Ground of all our Actions. The Fountain must be kept pure from pollutions, that the streams may be the more limpid and clear. Every man hath a little Garrison to keep, and he himself is the Watchman of it; his Conscience is to sit Porter at the Door, and to examine whatever cometh out and entereth in, as a Watchman doth at the Gates of a City: All the thoughts, affections, words, actions, are to be examined, what they are, whither they go, whence they come, whither they tend, lest a Temptation be let in, or a Corruption be let out; otherwise the Heart cannot be kept pure and loyal to God. Solomon telleth us, Prov. 25.28. He that hath no Rule over his own Spirit, is like a City that is without walls. A Town without walls lieth open to every comer: Sin and danger, and all kind of evil motions go to and fro, without any kind of check and control: Things will past out which should be suppressed and kept in; and Temptations will enter which should be kept out. Now this Caution is no more than needeth, if we consider the Enemies of our Salvation, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh.
(1.) For the avoiding of Evil: There is in us all a sinfull proneness to evil, which we must seek to cure and prevent. Prov. 4.23. Keep thy Heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. The Heart is terminus actionum ad intra, & fons actionum ad extra; 'tis the Heart that God aimeth at in all that he doth upon us, and 'tis the Heart that is the Ground of all our Actions. The Fountain must be kept pure from pollutions, that the streams may be the more limpid and clear. Every man hath a little Garrison to keep, and he himself is the Watchman of it; his Conscience is to sit Porter at the Door, and to examine whatever cometh out and entreth in, as a Watchman doth at the Gates of a City: All the thoughts, affections, words, actions, are to be examined, what they are, whither they go, whence they come, whither they tend, lest a Temptation be let in, or a Corruption be let out; otherwise the Heart cannot be kept pure and loyal to God. Solomon telleth us, Prov. 25.28. He that hath no Rule over his own Spirit, is like a City that is without walls. A Town without walls lieth open to every comer: Sin and danger, and all kind of evil motions go to and fro, without any kind of check and controul: Things will past out which should be suppressed and kept in; and Temptations will enter which should be kept out. Now this Caution is no more than needeth, if we consider the Enemies of our Salvation, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh.
