But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Ver. 18. Come forth from the heart] That forth of sin and fountain of folly; for "as a fountain casteth forth her waters, so doth the heart of man cast out its wickedness," Jeremiah 6:7; and if the tongue be "a world of wickedness," James 3:6, what is the heart, that seminary of sin, wherein is a πανσπερμια, as Empedocles saith in Aristotle. a In this sea are not only that leviathan the devil (who there sets up his forts and strongholds,2 Corinthians 10:4, and doth intrench and incage himself), but creeping things innumerable, Psalms 104:26, making that which should be the temple of God a den of thieves, a palace of pride, a slaughter house of malice, a brothel house of uncleanness, a raging sea of sin,Isaiah 57:20, a little hell of black and blasphemous imaginations. The natural man lies rotting in the grave of corruption, wrapped up in the winding sheet of hardness of heart and blindness of mind, and (as a carcase crawleth with worms) swarming with those noisome lusts, that were able to poison up an honest heart.
a As in that chaos, Genesis 1:2, were the seeds of all creatures; so in the heart, of all sins.