To My Beloved Friends
To his most dear and precious ones, the sons and daughters of the Most High GOD, over whom the Holy Ghost has made him a watchman.
Beloved in our dearest Lord,
Christ, Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices are the four chief things that should be studied and searched first and most. If anyone casts off the study of these, that person can be neither safe here nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Christian, and much more as a watchman, to do my best to reveal the fullness of Christ, the emptiness of the creature, and the snares of the great deceiver. Even if a minister had as many eyes as Argus with which to watch, as many heads as Typhoeus with which to plan, and as many hands as Briareus with which to labor, he could find enough employment for them all. I have endeavored to do this in the following discourse, according to the measure of grace I have received from the Lord. God once accepted a handful of meal for a sacrifice and a handful of goats’ hair for an offering. I know that you have not so learned the Father as to despise the day of small things.
Beloved, Satan has fallen from light to darkness, from happiness to misery, from heaven to hell, and from an angel to a devil. He is so full of malice and envy that he will leave no means untried by which he may make all others eternally miserable with himself. Shut out of heaven and confined under chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day, he uses all his power and skill to bring all the sons of men into the same condition and condemnation as himself. Satan has cast such sinful seed into our souls that he can no sooner tempt than we are ready to consent. He can no sooner form a plot against us than he conquers us. If he merely shows people a little of the beauty and splendor of the world, how ready they are to fall down and worship him.
Whatever sin the human heart is most inclined toward, the devil will help it along. If David is proud of his people, Satan will provoke him to number them so that he may become still prouder (2 Sam 24).
If Peter is slavishly fearful, Satan will urge him to rebuke and deny Christ in order to save his own skin (Matt 16:22; Matt 26:69-75). If Ahab’s prophets are inclined to flatter, the devil will immediately become a lying spirit in the mouths of four hundred of them, and they will flatter Ahab to his ruin (1 Kgs 22). If Judas will be a traitor, Satan will quickly enter his heart and make him sell his Master for money, something some heathens would never have done (John 13:2). If Ananias will lie for advantage, Satan will fill his heart so that he may lie flagrantly to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:3).
Satan loves to sail with the wind and to suit people’s temptations to their conditions and inclinations. If they are prosperous, he will tempt them to deny GOD; if they are in adversity, he will tempt them to distrust GOD (Prov 30:9). If their knowledge is weak, he will tempt them to think too little of GOD. If their conscience is tender, he will tempt them toward scrupulosity; if lax, toward carnal security. If they are bold-spirited, he will tempt them toward presumption; if timid, toward desperation; if flexible, toward inconstancy; if stubborn, toward impenitence, etc.
From Satan’s power, malice, and skill proceed all the soul-killing plots, devices, stratagems, and schemes in the world. He has various devices for drawing souls into sin, various plots for keeping souls from all holy and heavenly service, and various stratagems for keeping souls in a mourning, staggering, doubting, and questioning condition.
He has various devices for destroying the great and honorable, the wise and learned, the blind and ignorant, the rich and poor, and both real and nominal saints, etc.
Sometimes he will refrain from tempting so that we may think ourselves secure and neglect our watch. At other times he will seem to flee so that he may make us proud of the victory. Sometimes he will fix people’s eyes more upon others’ sins than upon their own so that he may puff them up. At other times he will fix their eyes more upon others’ graces than upon their own so that he may overwhelm them, etc.
A person might as well count the stars and number the sands of the sea as reckon up all Satan’s devices. Yet the following treatise reveals those that are most significant and by which he does the most harm to the precious souls of men, and it prescribes remedies against them.
Beloved, I think it necessary to give you and the world a faithful account of the reasons that moved me to appear in print in these days, when we may say that there has never been more writing and yet never less practice. They are as follows.
First, Satan has a greater influence upon people and greater advantages over them, having the wind and the hill, as it were, than they think he has. Knowledge of his great advantages is the direct way to disappoint him and to make the soul strong in resisting and happy in conquering, etc.
Second, your urgency and the urgency of many other precious sons of Zion, after much wrestling with GOD, with my own heart, and with others, have conquered me and compelled me at last to do what was at first far from agreeable to my inclination and resolution, etc.
Third, the strange opposition I met from Satan while studying for this discourse sharpened my spirit. I knew that Satan strives mightily to keep from seeing the light those things that especially tend to shake and break his kingdom of darkness and to exalt the kingdom and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the souls and lives of the children of men, etc. Pirates make their strongest and fiercest opposition against the most richly laden vessels. In the same way, Satan, that arch-pirate, opposes those truths that have the most of God, Christ, and heaven in them.
Fourth, this discourse is exceedingly useful to all sorts, ranks, and conditions of people in the world. Here you have salve for every sore, a plaster for every wound, and a remedy against every disease, especially those diseases that most tend toward the destruction of souls and the ruin of the state, etc.
Fifth, I know of no one who has written on this subject. Everyone I have seen has only touched upon this string. This has strongly provoked me to attempt something in this direction, so that others who have better heads and hearts may be stirred up all the more to improve their talents by discovering more of Satan’s devices and making known such choice remedies as may enable human souls to triumph over all his plots and stratagems, etc.
Sixth, I have many precious friends in several countries who greatly desire that my pen may reach them now that my voice cannot. By the help of the mighty God of Jacob, I have formerly been a weak instrument of good to them. I cannot but hope and believe that the Lord will also bless these labors to them, since they are in part the fruit of their desires and prayers, etc.
Seventh and last, not knowing how soon my glass may run out or how soon the hand of death may cut me off from every opportunity for further service to Christ or to your souls in this world, I was willing to sow a small handful of spiritual seed among you. Then, when I put off this earthly tabernacle, my love for you and the dear remembrance of you that I carry in my soul may strongly engage your minds and spirits to make this book your companion and, under every external or internal change, to make use of this heavenly salve. By the Lord’s blessing, I hope it will be as effective in healing all your wounds as looking up to the bronze serpent was in healing those who had been bitten and stung by fiery serpents. I shall leave this book with you as a legacy of my dearest love, desiring the Lord to make it a far greater and sweeter legacy than all the earthly legacies left by the high and mighty ones of the earth to their nearest and dearest relations, etc.
Beloved, I would not have affection carry my pen too far beyond my intention. Therefore, only allow me to express my desires for you and my desires to you, and I shall draw to a close.
My desires for you are these: “That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16). “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love” (Eph 3:17), “may be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” (Eph 3:18). “And to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge: that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:19). “And that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increased in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:10), “strengthned with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulness” (Col 1:11). “That ye do no evil” (2 Cor 13:7). “That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all Judgment” (Phil 1:9).
“That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil 1:10). “And that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of Faith with power” (2 Thess 1:11). “That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:12).
I also desire that you may be eminent in holiness, since holiness is Zion’s glory (Ps 93:5); that your hearts may be kept upright, your judgments sound, and your lives blameless; and that, as you are now my joy, you may be my crown in the day of Christ. May I see my labors in your lives. Since the things you hear are heavenly, may your conduct not be earthly, but worthy of the gospel. As fish that live in the salt sea are nevertheless fresh, so may you remain charitable and loving though you live in an uncharitable world.
May you, like the bee, suck honey from every flower. May you shine in a sea of troubles as the pearl shines in the sky, though it grows in the sea. In all your trials, may you be like the stones in Thraica, which neither burn in the fire nor sink in the water. May you be like the heavens, excellent in substance and beautiful in appearance, so that you may meet me with joy on that day when Christ shall say to his Father, “Lo, here am I, and the children that thou hast given me.”
My desires to you are that you would make it your business to study Christ, his Word, your own hearts, Satan’s plots, and eternity more than ever; that you would endeavor more to be inwardly sincere than outwardly glorious, and to live rather than merely have a name for being alive. Labor with all your might to be thankful under mercies, faithful in your places, humble under divine manifestations, and fruitful under precious ordinances. Since your means and mercies are greater than those of others, take care that your account before God does not prove worse than theirs.
Pray for me, who am not worthy to be named among the saints, that I may be a precious instrument in the hand of Christ to bring many souls to him and to build up those who have been brought in, in their most holy faith. Pray that utterance may be given to me so that I may make known all the will of God; that I may be sincere, faithful, frequent, fervent, and constant in the work of the Lord (2 Cor 11:23-28); that my labor may not be in vain in the Lord; that my labors may be accepted by the Lord and by his saints; and that I may daily see the fruit of my soul’s labor, etc.
Above all, pray for me that I may increasingly find in my own heart the power and sweetness of those things that I give out to you and others. Pray that my soul may be so visited with strength from on high that I may live fully and constantly according to those truths that I hold forth to the world, and that in both life and doctrine I may be a burning and shining light. Then, when the Lord Jesus appears, I may receive the crown of glory that he shall give me on that day, and not to me only, but to all who love his appearing, etc.
In closing, remember this: your life is short, your duties are many, your assistance is great, and your reward is sure. Therefore, do not faint. Hold on and hold up in ways of well-doing, and heaven shall make amends for all.
I shall now take leave of you, when my heart has by my hand subscribed that I am,
Your loving pastor under Christ, according to all pastoral affections and engagements in our dearest Lord,
THOMAS BROOKS.
A Word to the Reader
Dear Friend,
Solomon bids us “buy the Truth” (Prov 23:23), but does not tell us what it must cost, because we must obtain it, however dear it may be. We must love it both shining and scorching. As the saying goes, “Many love truth when it shines, but hate it when it reproves.” Every part of truth is precious, like filings of gold. We must either live with it or die for it.
As Ruth said to Naomi, “Whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part thee and me” (Ruth 1:16-17). In the same way, gracious spirits must say: “Where truth goes, I will go, and where truth lodges, I will lodge, and nothing but death shall part me and truth.” As Jerome said, “If truth is the cause of discord, I can die, but I cannot be silent.”
A man may lawfully sell his house, land, and jewels, but truth is a jewel beyond all price and must not be sold. It is our heritage: “Thy Testimonies have I taken as an Heritage for ever” (Ps 119:111). It is a legacy our forefathers bought with their blood. This should make us willing to lay down anything and spend anything so that, with the wise merchant in the Gospel, we may purchase this precious pearl (Matt 13:45). It is worth more than heaven and earth, and it will enable a man to live happily, die comfortably, and reign eternally. “Truth at last Triumphs.”
Now, if you please, read the work and receive this counsel from me.
First, you must understand that though not every man can be excellent, he may still be useful. An iron key may unlock the door of a golden treasure. Indeed, “iron can do some things that gold cannot do, &c.”
Second, remember that it is not hasty reading but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths that makes them sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bee’s touching the flower that gathers honey, but her remaining on the flower for a time that draws out its sweetness. It is not the one who reads most, but the one who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian, etc. Among the Persians in India, it is a law to consider beforehand what they are about to do, rejecting it if it is bad and acting on it if it is good.
Third, know that it is not the knowing, talking, or reading man, but the doing man, who will finally be found the happiest. As Justin Martyr rightly said, “Our religion consists not in words, but in deeds.” “If you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you do them” (John 13:17). “Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father that is in Heaven” (Matt 7:21). Judas called Christ “Lord, Lord,” yet betrayed him and has gone to his place. Ah, how many Judases we have in these days! They kiss Christ yet betray Christ. In their words they profess him, but in their works they deny him. They bow the knee to him, yet in their hearts despise him. They call him Jesus, yet will not obey him as their Lord.
Reader, if you are not firmly resolved to practice what you read, why do you read except to increase your own condemnation? If your light and knowledge are not turned into practice, the more knowledgeable you are, the more miserable you will be on the day of recompense. Your light and knowledge will torment you more than all the devils in hell. Your knowledge will be the rod that eternally lashes you, the scorpion that forever bites you, and the worm that everlastingly gnaws you. Therefore, read and labor to know so that you may act, or else you are undone forever.
The heathen philosopher Seneca disliked those who are “always about to live,” but never begin. Luther said that God loves “the Runner, not the Questioner.” Pacuvius has an elegant saying: “I hate the men that are idle in deed, and philosophical in word, &c.”
When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of an orator, what the second, and what the third, he answered, “Action.” If anyone should ask me what is the first, second, and third part of a Christian, I must give the same answer: “Action.” The man who reads so that he may know, and labors to know so that he may act, will have two heavens: a heaven of joy, peace, and comfort on earth, and a heaven of glory and happiness after death.
Fourth and last, as you read, give serious attention to the observations integrated throughout this work. You will find many sweet and precious notes that will often illuminate what you read and repay your effort with much comfort and profit, etc.
Desiring that you may find as much sweetness and benefit in reading this treatise as I found, through the overshadowings of heaven, in studying and writing it, “I recommend thee to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build thee up, and to give thee an inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). And so I remain,
Reader,
Your soul’s servant in every office of the Gospel,
THOMAS BROOKS
Know the Enemy
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his Devices” (2 Cor 2:11).
In 2 Corinthians 2:5, the apostle shows that the incestuous person had, by his incest, saddened those precious souls whom God would not have saddened. Souls that walk sinfully are Hazaels to the godly and draw many sighs and tears from them. Jeremiah weeps in secret for Judah’s sins, and Paul cannot speak of those belly-gods with dry eyes (Phil 3:18). Lot’s righteous soul was burdened, vexed, and racked by the filthy Sodomites (2 Pet 2:7-8). Every sinful Sodomite was a Hazael to his eyes and a Hadadrimmon to his heart. Gracious souls commonly mourn for other people’s sins as well as their own, and for the souls and sins of those who make a mock of sin and a jest of damning their own souls (Ps 119:136, 158). Guilt or grief is all that gracious souls gain through communion with vain souls.
In 2 Corinthians 2:6, he shows that the punishment inflicted on the incestuous person was sufficient. Therefore, they should not refuse to receive the man who had repented and sorrowed over his former faults and follies. It is not for Christ’s honor, the Gospel’s credit, or the good of souls that professing Christians should be like those bloody wretches who burned some who recanted at the stake, saying, “That they would send them out of the world whiles they were in a good mind.”
In 2 Corinthians 2:7-10, the apostle urges the church to forgive him, comfort him, and confirm their love toward him, lest he be swallowed up with excessive sorrow. Satan seeks to mix the detestable darnel of desperation with the godly sorrow of a truly penitent heart. Jerome expressed it sweetly: “Let a man grieve for his sin, and then joy for his grief.” Sorrow for sin is sinful when it keeps the soul from looking toward the mercy seat, keeps Christ and the soul apart, or makes the soul unfit for the communion of saints.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, he gives another reason to move them to show pity and mercy to the penitent sinner who was mourning and groaning under his sin and misery: “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his Devices.” I will say a little to explain these words.
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us” means lest Satan overreach us. The Greek word signifies taking more than belongs to oneself. The comparison is taken from the greedy merchant who seeks and seizes every opportunity to beguile and deceive others. Satan is that wily merchant who devours, not widows’ houses, but most men’s souls.
“We are not ignorant of Satans Devices” means we are not ignorant of his plots, machinations, or stratagems. He is only a nominal Christian who has no personal experience of Satan’s stratagems: his deliberate and carefully constructed machinations, his artfully fashioned methods, and his plots, darts, and depths. By these he outwitted our first parents, and he still cheats us whenever he sees fit.
[Doctrine:] Satan has various devices by which he deceives, entangles, and destroys the souls of men.
I shall, first, prove the point; second, show you his various devices; third, present the remedies against his devices; fourth, explain how it comes about that he has so many different devices for deceiving, entangling, and destroying the souls of men; and fifth, set down some propositions concerning Satan’s devices.
For proof of the point, consider these few Scriptures. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil” (Eph 6:11). The Greek word here rendered “wiles” is a notably emphatic word.
1. It signifies snares laid behind a person, treacheries that come upon one’s back unawares. It describes the methods or waylayings of that old subtle serpent. Like Dan’s adder in the path, he bites the heels of travelers and thereby carries his venom into the head and heart. The word signifies an ambush or stratagem of war by which the enemy attacks a man from concealment and takes him unawares.
2. It signifies snares set to catch someone on his road. A man walks along his road without thinking of danger, and suddenly he is caught by thieves or falls into a pit, etc.
3. It signifies snares purposely, artfully, and craftily set to take the prey with the greatest possible advantage. The Greek term, derived from words meaning “after” and “way,” properly signifies waylaying, circumvention, or going about as those who seek their prey do. Julian drew more people away from the faith by his craft than all his persecuting predecessors could do by their cruelty. In the same way, Satan does more harm in his sheep’s skin than by roaring like a lion.
Take one more Scripture as proof of the point: “And that they might recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim 2:26). The Greek word here rendered “recover themselves” signifies awakening themselves. The apostle alludes to someone asleep or drunk, who must be awakened and restored to his senses. The Greek word here rendered “taken captive” signifies being taken alive. It is properly a military word and signifies being taken alive, as soldiers are taken alive in wars, or as birds are taken alive and ensnared in the fowler’s net.
Satan has snares for the wise and snares for the simple; snares for hypocrites and snares for the upright; snares for generous souls and snares for fearful souls; snares for the rich and snares for the poor; snares for the aged and snares for the young, etc. Happy are those souls that are not taken and held in the snares he has laid.
Take one more proof, and then I will proceed to explain the point: “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatyra, as many as have not this Doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you no other burthen, but to hold fast till I come” (Rev 2:24). Those poor souls called their opinions the depths of God, when they were really the depths of Satan. You call your opinions depths, and so they are, but they are depths that Satan has brought out of hell. They are the whisperings and hissings of that serpent, not the inspirations of God (Pareus, on this passage; 1 Tim 4:1).
The second thing I am to show you is Satan’s various devices. First, I shall show you the several devices he uses to draw the soul into sin. I shall describe twelve devices, which deserve our most serious consideration.
The Bait and the Hidden Hook
Satan’s first device for drawing the soul into sin is this:
He presents the bait and hides the hook. He presents the golden cup and hides the poison. He displays the sweetness, pleasure, and profit that may flow into the soul by yielding to sin, while hiding the wrath and misery that will certainly follow its commission.
By this device he captured our first parents. “And the Serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods. Here is the bait: the sweetness, the pleasure, and the profit. Oh, but he hides the hook: the shame, wrath, and loss that would certainly follow. As Augustine says, “Sin is present when you take delight in it; it reigns if you consent.”
There is an opening of the mind’s eyes to contemplation and joy, and there is an opening of the body’s eyes to shame and confusion. Satan promises the former but intends the latter, and so he cheats them, giving them an apple in exchange for Paradise. He deals the same way with thousands today. Satan easily deceives us with his golden baits, then leads us into a fool’s paradise and abandons us there. He promises the soul honor, pleasure, profit, etc., but repays it with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss imaginable.
In the same way, when people sought to induce D. Taylor the martyr to recant, they promised him not only a pardon but also a bishopric.
Satan labored to catch Christ with a golden bait (Matt 4:8-9). He showed him the beauty and splendor of a bewitching world, which undoubtedly would have captured many a carnal heart. But here the Devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder and did not take hold. These tempting objects did not win Christ’s affections or dazzle his eyes.
Yet many have died eternally from the wound of the eye and have fallen forever through that vile prostitute, the world. By exposing her two fair breasts of profit and pleasure, she has wounded their souls and cast them down into utter perdition. By the glitter of her pomp and advancement, she has slain millions. One person has said, “This World at last shall be burnt for a witch.” Augustine observes, “Many are miserable by loving hurtful things, but they are more miserable by having them.” Therefore, people need to pray with Bernard, “Grant us Lord that we may so partake of temporal felicity, that we may not lose eternal.”
The world resembles the serpent Scytale. When she cannot overtake fleeing travelers, she astonishes and amazes them with her beautiful colors so that they have no power to escape before she stings them to death. Adversity has slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand.
Here are the remedies against this device of the devil.
Remedy 1: Keep Your Distance from Sin
The first remedy against this device of the Devil is to keep as far as possible from sin and from playing with the golden bait Satan holds out to catch you. Scripture commands, “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Rom 12:9). When we encounter anything extremely evil and contrary to us, nature abhors it and withdraws as far as possible.
The Greek word rendered abhor means to hate something as hell itself and to hate it with horror. As Chrysostom explains, the simple verb conveys extreme detestation, and the compound form intensifies it.
Anselm used to say, That if he should see the shame of sin on the one hand, and the pains of hell on the other, and must of necessity chuse one, he would rather be thrust into hell without sin, than go into heaven with sin. So great was his hatred and detestation of sin.
Our wisest and safest course is to stand at the greatest distance from sin. We must not go near the harlot’s house (Prov 5:8), but flee from “all appearance of evil” (1 Thess 5:22). The best way to avoid falling into a pit is to keep as far from it as possible. Anyone bold enough to dance upon the brink of the pit may learn by woeful experience that in God’s sight, it is just that he should fall into it.
A pagan expressed a divine thought when he said, “That if there were no God to punish him, no Devil to torment him, no hell to burn him, no man to see him, yet would he not sin for the ugliness and filthiness of sin, and the grief of his own Conscience.” So says Seneca.
Joseph keeps his distance from sin and from playing with Satan’s golden baits, and he stands. David draws near, plays with the bait, falls, and swallows both bait and hook with a vengeance. David comes near the snare and is caught in it, resulting in broken bones, a wounded conscience, and the loss of his God.
Sin is a plague, indeed, the greatest and most infectious plague in the world. Yet, alas, how few people tremble at it or keep their distance from it! “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Cor 5:6). As soon as one sin seized Adam’s heart, every sin entered his soul and overspread it. How Adam’s one sin has spread throughout all mankind! “Wherefore as by one man sin entred into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12).
How the father’s sin infects the child, the husband’s infects the wife, and the master’s infects the servant! The sin in one person’s heart is able to infect a whole world, so spreading and infectious is its nature. Sin is like the diseases physicians call a “corruption of the whole substance.”
The story of the Italian who first made his enemy deny God and then stabbed him, murdering both body and soul at once, demonstrates sin’s complete malignity. Oh, may what has been said on this subject persuade you to stand at a distance from sin.
Remedy 2: Consider Sin’s Bitter End
The second remedy is to consider that sin is only a bitter-sweet. The apparent sweetness in sin will quickly vanish, and lasting shame, sorrow, horror, and terror will take its place. “Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth, yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of Asps within him” (Job 20:12-14).
Forbidden profits and pleasures are most pleasing to vain people, who count madness as mirth, etc. Many long to meddle with sin’s murderous morsels. These morsels do not nourish but tear and consume the belly, that is, the soul that receives them. Many eat on earth what they digest in hell. Sin’s murderous morsels will deceive those who devour them.
When the golden bait is displayed to catch us, we must respond as the orator Demosthenes did concerning the beautiful Lais. When he was asked an excessive sum of money merely to behold her, he replied, “I will not buy repentance so dear; I am not so ill a Merchant as to sell eternals for temporals.”
Adam’s apple was a bitter-sweet, Esau’s meal was a bitter-sweet, the Israelites’ quails were a bitter-sweet, Jonathan’s honey was a bitter-sweet, and Adonijah’s delicacies were a bitter-sweet. After the meal ends, the reckoning comes. People must not expect to dance and dine with the Devil and then sup with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. They must not expect to feed upon the poison of asps and yet escape being slain by the viper’s tongue.
As Plutarch says, if intemperance could provide more pleasure than temperance, Heliogabalus would have been happier than Adam in Paradise.
When an asp stings someone, it first tickles him and makes him laugh. Then the poison gradually reaches his heart and pains him far more than it ever delighted him. Sin acts the same way. It may please a little at first, but in the end it will pain the soul with a vengeance. Indeed, if there were even the least real delight in sin, there could be no perfect hell, where people will be most perfectly tormented by their sin.
Remedy 3: Consider What Sin Costs
The third remedy against this device of Satan is solemnly to consider that sin will usher the greatest and saddest losses imaginable into our souls. It will bring the loss of divine favor, which is better than life; the loss of joy that is unspeakable and full of glory; the loss of peace that passes understanding; the loss of those divine influences by which the soul has been refreshed, quickened, raised, strengthened, and made glad; and the loss of many desirable outward mercies that the soul might otherwise have enjoyed (Isa 59:2; Ps 51:12; Isa 59:8; 2 Chr 15:3-4; Jer 17:18; Jer 5:2).
An English captain gave a sound and savory reply after the loss of Calais. A proud Frenchman scornfully demanded, “When will you fetch Callice again?” The captain replied, “When your sins shall weigh down ours.”
Ah, England! My constant prayer for you is that you may not sin away your mercies into the hands of those who cannot call mercy mercy, who would rejoice in nothing more than to see your sorrow and misery, and who would delight to see the hand that has clothed you with so much mercy and glory make you naked.
Remedy 4: Recognize Sin’s Deceit
The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is seriously to consider that sin has a profoundly deceitful and bewitching nature. Sin comes from the greatest deceiver and is a child of his own begetting. It is the foundation of all deceit in the world and is exceedingly deceitful in its own nature. “But exhort one another daily, while it is called to day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13).
Sin will kiss the soul and make fair promises to it, yet betray the soul forever. Like Delilah, it smiles upon us so that it may betray us into the Devil’s hands, just as she betrayed Samson into the hands of the Philistines. Sin gives Satan power over us and an advantage to accuse us and claim us as those who wear his badge.
Sin has a profoundly bewitching nature. In Sardis there grew an herb called Apium Sardis that would make a person lie laughing while mortally ill. Such is the operation of sin. When sin sits upon the throne, it so bewitches the soul that the soul cannot leave it, even though it will perish eternally by it.
Sin so bewitches the soul that it makes the soul call evil good and good evil, bitter sweet and sweet bitter, light darkness and darkness light. A soul bewitched by sin will resist God to the death, at sword’s point. Let God strike, wound, and cut to the very bone, yet the bewitched soul neither cares nor fears. It will persist in wickedness, as you may see in Pharaoh, Balaam, and Judas (Prov 5:12-13).
This occasioned Chrysostom, when Empress Eudoxia threatened him, to say, “Go tell her: I fear nothing but sin.”
Tell the bewitched soul that sin is a viper that will certainly kill unless it is killed. Tell it that sin often kills secretly, insensibly, and eternally. Yet the bewitched soul cannot and will not cease from sin.
Ambrose records that when physicians told Theotimus that unless he abstained from drunkenness, uncleanness, etc., he would lose his eyes, his heart was so bewitched by his sins that he answered, “Then farewel sweet light.” He would rather lose his eyes than leave his sin. In the same way, a person bewitched by sin would rather lose God, Christ, heaven, and his own soul than part with his sin.
Oh, therefore, forever take heed against playing or nibbling at Satan’s golden baits.
