ofthe Jeceitful#~/flaf!dgt~J/4 ofM4n.t htirt~ B (o the Scripture makes the heart t,he chiefplace of all. Thus you fee it· is not the -Eye or the Tongue, but the Heart, the beft,the moft inward part ofman. As the Pfalmift to exprelfe the high impiety of fome men,faid,their inwardparts ~ere verJ Wick._ednej{e, Pfal. 5' •9· or .as in the Hebrew wick§dne.JTes, the ab· \ flraa: for the concrete, and the'plurall number for the fingu .. br, to exprelfe the exceeding finfulnelfe thereof. . - 2· You have th'c Predicate,its deceitfu/1: The Hebre~woid comes ofa root to fupplant, and therefore 'jaco/; had his name from it, bccaufe he fupplantcd E[au about his birthright, 'Thus the heart of a man'is fuH efdeceit and guile, whereby hi' cofins himfelfof his own everlafting happinelfe. 3. There is the aggravatioe, above All things: There is no~ thing in the world bath fo much deceit. 4· There is the confequent effect, dejperate!y ~ick!d: ·The deceitfulndfe of it makes it incurable : As thofe parts of the body;vi~. the Lungs, whiclt are fo placed that no remedy can eafily come at them, are more incurably difeafcd ; thus the heart ofa man, having fo many fecrec and falfe windin~s, it is :very har4ly heale~. 5, 'this deceitfulndfe is aggravated by the infcrutability of it by any but.God alone; Whocan k...mw it:· I the Lord fearch theheart,&c. fo that the Lord only woo made·the lreart, he , knoweth all the depths of it. Obferve; ' That the heart ofevery ~an natura!l) isfull ofdeceit andguile, O~[erv~ , and therefore defpera_tely ~ickJd. · · . Solomon fpake_of four things hard ,to be found out,The go~ ing ofa Ship on the'fea,a Snake upon the rock,&c.Prov.3o.I9· becaufe thefe leave no fieps to trace them by; but you fee an harder thing then all the~e to finde out, vjjrtf"the heart of a "' , , man, and that not only m refpeel: of others, others cannot: know what is in a mans heart ;'but ofour own felves, we are not able to di.vf; int6 thofe depths : there.is an abyffe, .a deep within every n1ans heart, whereby he~poweth not the, bot- •tom of his wayes: Who thinks not b~ that he repenteth, he bel~eveth~ he loveth God, when (alas) his heart deceiveth him all tbe while: So that as this is a large fubjeCl: to preach upon, fQ.j)ts a very profitable and necelfary point. Indeed this • B~ · is • •
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=