Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

238 ST. MATTHEW.
righteous or wicked, that we belong either to God
or the world, either to Christ or the devil; and it is
according to the state and condition of our will, that
we shall be judged. The regulation of this heart,
and the reformation of this will, demand our chiefest
care : the rest follows their disposition. Lord, from
thee I expect to receive this vigilance and application.
Thou alone art the light, the strength, and the life of
mv heart.
*' 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies :"
Man has in his heart the principle and seed of all
kinds of sin ; and he finds only in the heart of Jesus
Christ the principle of the contrary virtues. Of
himself, he is nothing but a sinner; by' grace and
mercy he becomes righteous. Yes, O my God,
whatever good I do, and whatever evil I avoid, it is
entirely owing to thee alone.
" 20. These are the things which defile a man :
but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.'*
Christian liberty in external things has no bounds
or limits, but the law of God, the ordinances of the
church, and the edification of our neighbour; but we
must take care not to abuse this liberty, and make
it an occasion of licentiousness. Abundance of persons
would make a scruple of going to the communion
without having washed their hands, who make
none at all of doing it without having washed their
conscience from habits of vanity, evil-speaking, lux-
ury, wantonness, &c. If a man do not chiefly mind
the spirit of religion, he disorders and confounds
every thing in it : he makes religious actions of such