Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, Chapter 2 (Part 1)

This post contains a 20-minute excerpt of video 2 of this 10-part video series. The initial video provided Brooks’ introduction; his rationale and motives for writing; benefits of knowing the subject matter of his book; and an editor’s introduction.

The video excerpt is almost 20 minutes in length; the entire video is 1:40:31.

Kindle text is provided for video excerpt

Kindle text for ‘device’ 1 and 2.

Only 2 of the 4 remedies of each device were inserted, to shorten the post. Also, Brooks’ long paragraphs were broken to for ease of reading.

Kindle text is from:

Brooks, Thomas. Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (p. 9). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Begin Book [I emboldened some text]:

II SATAN’S DEVICES TO DRAW THE SOUL TO SIN

12 devices and their remedies

DEVICE 1: TO PRESENT THE BAIT AND HIDE THE HOOK

Satan’s first device to draw the soul into sin is, to present the bait — and hide the hook; to present the golden cup — and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin — and to hide from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin. By this device he deceived our first parents, “And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die — for God does know, that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). Your eyes shall he opened, and you shall be as gods! Here is the bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit. Oh — but he hides the hook — the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow!

There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy — and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promises them the former — but intends the latter, and so Satan cheats them — giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise, as he deals by thousands now-a-days.

Satan with ease pawns falsehoods upon us, by his golden baits, and then he leads us and leaves us in a fool’s paradise. He promises the soul honor, pleasure, profit — but pays the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss that can be. By a golden bait he labored to catch Christ (Matt. 4:8, 9). He shows him the beauty and the finery of a bewitching world, which doubtless would have taken many a carnal heart; but here the devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder, and therefore did not ignite. These tempting objects did not at all win upon his affections, nor dazzle his eyes, though many have eternally died of the ‘wound of the eye’, and fallen forever by this vile strumpet the world, who, by laying forth her two fair breasts of PROFIT and PLEASURE, has wounded their souls, and cast them down into utter perdition. She has, by the glistening of her pomp and preferment, slain millions; as the serpent Scytale, which, when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, does, with her beautiful colors, dazzle and amaze them, so that they have no power to pass away until she has stung them to death! Adversity has slain her thousand — but prosperity her ten thousand.

Remedy (1). First, Keep at the greatest distance from sin, and from playing with the golden bait which Satan holds forth to catch you; for this you have (Romans 12:9), “Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.” When we meet with anything extremely evil and contrary to us, nature abhors it, and retires as far as it can from it. The Greek word that is there rendered “abhor,” is very significant; it signifies to hate it as hell itself, to hate it with horror. 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 choose one; he would rather be thrust into hell without sin; than to go into heaven with sin,” so great was his hatred and detestation of sin.

It is our wisest and our safest course to stand at the farthest distance from sin; not to go near the house of the harlot — but to fly from all appearance of evil (Proverbs 5:8, 1 Thess. 5:22). The best course to prevent falling into the pit is to keep at the greatest distance from it; he who will be so bold as to attempt to dance upon the brink of the pit, may find by woeful experience that it is a righteous thing with God that he should fall into the pit. Joseph keeps at a distance from sin, and from playing with Satan’s golden baits, and stands. David draws near, and plays with the bait, and falls, and swallows bait and hook! David comes near the snare, and is taken in it, to the breaking of his bones, the wounding of his conscience, and the loss of fellowship with his God….

Remedy (4). Seriously to consider that sin is of a very deceitful and bewitching nature. Sin is from the greatest deceiver, it is a child of his own begetting, it is the ground of all the deceit in the world, and it is in its own nature exceeding deceitful. “But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘today’, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Heb. 3:13. It will kiss the soul, and look enticing to the soul, and yet betray the soul forever. It will with Delilah smile upon us, that it may betray us into the hands of the devil, as she did Samson into the hands of the Philistines. Sin gives Satan a power over us, and an advantage to accuse us and to lay claim to us, as those who wear his badge; it is of a very bewitching nature; it bewitches the soul, where it is upon the throne, that the soul cannot leave it, though it 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; and a soul thus bewitched with sin will stand it out to the death, at the sword’s point with God; let God strike and wound, and cut to the very bone, yet the bewitched soul cares not, fears not — but will still hold on in a course of wickedness, as you may see in Pharaoh, Balaam, and Judas. Tell the bewitched soul that sin is a viper that will certainly kill when it is not killed, that sin often kills secretly, insensibly, eternally, yet the bewitched soul cannot, and will not, cease from sin.

When the physicians told Theotimus that except he did abstain from drunkenness and uncleanness he would lose his eyes; his heart was so bewitched to his sins, that he answered, “Then farewell, sweet light”; he had rather lose his eyes than leave his sin. So a man bewitched with sin had rather lose God, Christ, heaven, and his own soul — than part with his sin. Oh, therefore, forever take heed of playing with or nibbling at Satan’s golden baits!

DEVICE 2: BY PAINTING SIN WITH VIRTUE’S COLORS.

Satan knows that if he would present sin in its own nature and dress, the soul would rather fly from it than yield to it; and therefore he presents it unto us, not in its own proper colors — but painted and gilded over with the name and show of virtue, that we may the more easily be overcome by it, and take the more pleasure in committing of it. PRIDE, he presents to the soul under the name and notion of neatness and cleanliness; and COVETOUSNESS (which the apostle condemns for idolatry) to be but good business; and DRUNKENNESS to be good fellowship, and RIOTOUSNESS under the name and notion of liberality, and WANTONNESS as a trick of youth.

Remedy (1). Consider that sin is never a whit the less filthy, vile, and abominable — by its being colored and painted with virtue’s colors. A poisonous pill is never a whit the less poisonous because it is gilded over with gold; nor a wolf is never a whit the less a wolf because he has put on a sheep’s skin; nor the devil is never a whit the less a devil because he appears sometimes like an angel of light. So neither is sin any whit the less filthy and abominable by its being painted over with virtue’s colors.

Remedy (4). Seriously to consider, That even those very sins that Satan paints, and puts new names and colors upon, cost the best blood, the noblest blood, the life-blood, the heart-blood of the Lord Jesus. That Christ should come from the eternal bosom of his Father to a region of sorrow and death; that God should be manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature; that he who was clothed with glory should be wrapped with rags of flesh; he who filled heaven and earth with his glory should be cradled in a manger; that the almighty God should flee from weak man —

the God of Israel into Egypt; that the God of the law should be subject to the law, the God of the circumcision circumcised, the God who made the heavens working at Joseph’s homely trade; that he who binds the devils in chains should be tempted; that he, whose is the world, and the fullness thereof, should hunger and thirst; that the God of strength should be weary, the Judge of all flesh condemned, the God of life put to death; that he who is one with his Father should cry out of misery, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

(Matt. 27:46); that he who had the keys of hell and death at his belt should lie imprisoned in the sepulcher of another, having in his lifetime nowhere to lay his head, nor after death to lay his body; that that HEAD, before which the angels do cast down their crowns, should be crowned with thorns, and those EYES, purer than the sun, put out by the darkness of death; those EARS, which hear nothing but hallelujahs of saints and angels, to hear the blasphemies of the multitude; that FACE, which was fairer than the sons of men, to be spit on by those beastly wretched Jews; that MOUTH and TONGUE, which spoke as never man spoke, accused for blasphemy; those HANDS, which freely swayed the scepter of heaven, nailed to the cross; those FEET, “like unto fine brass,” nailed to the cross for man’s sins; each sense pained with a spear and nails;

his SMELL, with stinking odor, being crucified on Golgotha, the place of skulls; his TASTE, with vinegar and gall; his HEARING, with reproaches, and SIGHT of his mother and disciples bemoaning him; his SOUL, comfortless and forsaken; and all this for those very sins that Satan paints and puts fine colors upon! Oh! how should the consideration of this stir up the soul against sin, and work the soul to fly from it, and to use all holy means whereby sin may be subdued and destroyed!

After Julius Caesar was murdered, Antonius brought forth his coat, all bloody and cut, and laid it before the people, saying, “Look, here you have the emperor’s coat thus bloody and torn” — whereupon the people were presently in an uproar, and cried out to slay those murderers; and they took their tables and stools which were in the place, and set them on fire, and ran to the houses of those who had slain Caesar, and burnt them.

So that when we consider that sin has slain our Lord Jesus, ah, how should it provoke our hearts to be revenged on sin — which has murdered the Lord of glory, and has done that mischief that all the devils in hell could never have done? It was good counsel one gave, “Never let go out of your minds the thoughts of a crucified Christ.” Let these be food and drink unto you; let them be your sweetness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and your meditation, your life, death, and resurrection. [End Kindle text excerpts]

STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRODUCT LINKS:

If you believe that you would benefit from hearing and studying the series; after you listen to the important 27-minute intro, you could do one video each of the next 9 Sundays and have a week to meditate upon the important points of that chapter.

LINKS TO VIDEO SERIES ON YOUTUBE; AND TO KINDLE AND BOOK AT AMAZON:

The following link is to the 10-part video series on Precious Remedies…:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucS89UlZSDI&list=PLuwkfUrtHHR-B_3tZokrsHAKznzAj-8IT&index=2

The following Amazon link is to Kindle version of Precious Remedies; one may choose book version at this same link: Kindle cost, $0.99; book cost, $5.99 paperback [Below, highlighted in purple, is a link for free book text at Grace Gems]:

https://www.amazon.com/Precious-Remedies-Against-Satans-Devices-ebook/dp/B005IB35QM/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2M9KP1H56XPQ9&keywords=thomas+brooks+precious+remedies+against+satan%27s+devices&qid=1678650079&s=digital-text&sprefix=THOMAS+BROOKS+PRECIO%2Cdigital-text%2C173&sr=1-3

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Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices

By Thomas Brooks, (1608 – 1680)

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2 Corinthians 2:11

Chapter 2, Part 1.

SATAN’S DEVICES TO DRAW THE SOUL TO SIN

[12 devices and their remedies]

DEVICE 1. TO PRESENT THE BAIT AND HIDE THE HOOK

Satan’s first device to draw the soul into sin is, to present the bait—and hide the hook; to present the golden cup—and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin—and to hide from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin. By this device he deceived our first parents, “And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die—for God does know, that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). Your eyes shall he opened, and you shall be as gods! Here is the bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit. Oh—but he hides the hook—the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow!

There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy—and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promises them the former—but intends the latter, and so Satan cheats them—giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise, as he deals by thousands now-a-days.

Satan with ease pawns falsehoods upon us…

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