Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v5

44 Chap.r5. flnExpofttior upon the BOoll,of } EDrS. Veda z. thee, or let her not carry thee away upon her eye lids, let not her wanton eye flatter thee to the fin of wantonnefs and uncleannefs.. As the eye of a whorifh Woman, fo the who- rifh heart ofaman, often takes and carrieth him away. Hence obferve The heart hash power over, and is tao hard for the whole man Pallions hurry our hearts, and our hearts hurry us ; and who can tell whither his heart will carry him, or where it will let him down, whezaonce it hath taken him up. This is cer- tain, it will carry every man beyond the bounds of his duty, both to God and man Take it morediftiné'tly in thefe three particulars. The heart quickly carrieth us beyond thebounds of grace. Secondly, The heart often carrieth us beyond the bounds of reafon', Wbenpalion works much, reafon works not at all. Thirdly, it may carry us beyond the bounds of honefty, yea of modefly : 'Tis very dangerous to commit our felves to the condu l of paflion ; that (unlefs kept under good corn. rnand) will loon run us beyond the line both of Modefly and. ofHonefty, of Reafon and of ,.Grace. He that is carried away thus far, mull make a long journey of repentance, be- fore he can return and comeback, either to God or to him- felf. Some have been carried vifibly away by the Devil, by anevil fpirit without them (if God give commiflìonor per - million, the Devil can eafily do it) very many are carried away by the evil fpirit within them. An evil heart is as . bad as the Devil , the evil fpirit without, and the evil fpi- rit within, carryus both the fame way, and that is quite out of the way. Confider further how the heart carrieth us away, even from fpiritual duties and holy fervices, and this is not onely the cafe of carnal men (who are ,given up to their hearts lulls) but of the Saints s their hearts are continually lifting at them, and fometimes they arecarried quite away from Prayer, and from hearing the word : The heart lifts the man up , and Peals him out of the Congregation, while his body remains there, the body fits dill, but the mind, which is the man, is gone, either about worldly bufinefs anddefigns, or about worldly pleafures and delights: He flits not a foot, not moves a finger r and yet he is carried all theWorldover fit

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