111. III. THE INTERNAL CANNOT BE PURIFIED FROM THE LUSTS OF EVIL AS LONG AS THE EVILS IN THE EXTERNAL MAN ARE NOT REMOVED, BECAUSE THEY FORM AN OBSTRUCTION. This follows from what has been said above, that the external of man's thought in itself is of the same character as the internal of his thought; and that they cohere like two things, one not only being within the other but also existing from the other, so that it is not possible to remove one without at the same time removing the other. So it is with everything external which exists from an internal, and with everything posterior which exists from a prior, and with every effect which exists from a cause. Now because lusts together with their subtleties constitute the internal of thought with the wicked, and the delights of lusts together with their devices constitute their external of thought, and because lusts and their delights are joined together as one, it follows that the internal cannot be purified from lusts as long as evils in the external man have not been removed. [2] It should be understood that it is man's internal will that is in lusts and his internal understanding that is in subtleties, and that it is his external will that is in the delights of lusts and his external understanding that is in devices from the subtleties. Everyone may see that lusts and their delights make one, and also that subtleties and devices make one; and that these four are in one series and together form as it were one group. From this again it is clear that the internal which consists of lusts can be cast out only by the removal of the external which consists of evils. Lusts through their own delights produce evils; but when evils are believed to be allowable, which comes from consent of the will and the understanding, then the delights and the evils make one. It is well known that consent is deed; and this is what the Lord says:
Whosoever looketh on the wife of another (A.V. a woman) to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matt. v. 28. It is the same with all other evils.