roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." His wiles and devices are innumerable : and, if once he can find us off our guard, he will assuredly avail himself of the occasion to deceive and, if possible, to destroy us. We therefore must be always " on our watch-tower," according to that direction of our blessed Lord, " Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation : and, what I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch."]
3. Persevering —
[There is no state at which we can arrive in this world that supersedes the necessity of continued vigilance and care. Were we as eminent as Paul himself, we must still, like him, " keep our body under and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, after having preached to others, we ourselves become cast- aways." Let our circumstances be ever so favourable, we know not but that we shall fall the very next moment. Heze- kiah was but just recovered from a dangerous illness, and that by miracle; yet when the Babylonish ambassadors came to offer him their master's congratulations, he fell, and oflended God by "the pride of his heart"." Peter also was but just descended from Mount Tabor, where he had beheld his Lord transfigured, and shining forth in all his glory, when he acted Satan's part in dissuading his Lord from completing the work assigned him : so that he drew forth from his Divine Master that just reprimand, " Get thee behind me, Satan °." We may add too, that there is no wickedness so great, but we may be drawn to the commission of it. Who can reflect on Da\id's adultery and murder, or on Peter's denial of his Lord with oaths and curses, and not see reason to cry continually to God, " Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe ! "
Thus then we see, it is not enough to keep our hearts, but we must " keep them with all diligence," engaging in the work with earnestness, and maintaining it with constancy and per- severance to the latest hour of our lives.]
Let us now attend to,
in. The reason with which both the one and the other are enforced —
The heart may in some respects be considered as the seat of vitality in the human body, because from thence issues the blood that circulates through the whole frame. But still more may it be said of the heart in a spiritual view, that out of it are the issues of life. For,
1. It is the proper source of all evil —
n 2 Chrou. xxxii. 24 — 26. o j^jatt, xvi. 23, 24.