John Trapp on Matthew 18:9

Verse 9. Pluck it out] This is the circumcision of the heart, the mortification of earthly members which is no lesse hard to be done, then for a man with one hand to cut off the other: or to pull out his own eies, and then rake in the holes where they grew. And yet, hard or not hard, it must be done: for otherwise we are utterly undone for ever. Hypocrites, as artificiall jugglers, seem to wound themselves, but do not: as stage-players, they seem to thrust themselves through their bodies, whereas the sword passeth only through their clothes. But the truly religious lets out the life-blood of his beloved lusts, laies them all dead at his feet, and burns their bones to lime, as the King of Moab d[illegible: 1 letter]d the King of Edom, Amos 2. 1. As Joshuah put down all the Canaanites, so doth grace all corruptions. As AG deposed his own mother, so doth this, the mother sinne. It destroies them not by halves, as Saul, but hews them in pieces before the Lord, as Samuel.