Brooks identified 8 devices of Satan to keep saints sad and doubting…. These 8 are below, with only a few ‘remedies.’ He supplied a minimum of 4 remedies with each device, but those were not pasted in to keep the post at an acceptable length.
My chief purpose is to provide another example of Brooks’ work to readers, as the kindle version of this book is available for $0.99 at Amazon, linked below.
Excerpts are from:
Brooks, Thomas. Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (p. 78). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[Bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine.]
Begin Kindle:
SATAN’S DEVICES TO KEEP SAINTS IN A SAD, DOUBTING, QUESTIONING & UNCOMFORTABLE CONDITION
8 devices and their remedies
Though Satan can never rob a believer of his crown, yet such is his malice and envy, that he will leave no stone unturned, no means unattempted, to rob them of their comfort and peace — to make their life a burden and a hell unto them, to cause them to spend their days in sorrow and mourning, in sighing and complaining, in doubting and questioning. ‘Surely,’ he says, ‘we have no interest in Christ; our graces are not true, our hopes are the hopes of hypocrites; our confidence is our presumption, our enjoyments are our delusions.’
Blessed John Bradford (the martyr) in one of his epistles, says thus, ‘O Lord, sometime methinks I feel it so with me — as if there were no difference between my heart and the wicked. I have a blind mind as they, a stout, stubborn, rebellious hard heart as they,’ and so he goes on. I shall show you this in some particulars:
DEVICE 1: The first device that Satan has to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and so making their life a hell, is, By causing them to be still poring and musing upon sin, to mind their sins more than their Savior; yes, so to mind their sins as to forget, yes, to neglect their Savior; that, as the Psalmist speaks, ‘The Lord is not in all their thoughts’ (Psalm 10:4). Their eyes are so fixed upon their disease, that they cannot see the remedy, though it be near; and they do so muse upon their debts, that they have neither mind nor heart to think of their Surety. A Christian should wear Christ in his bosom as a flower of delight, for he is a whole paradise of delight. He who minds not Christ more than his sin, can never be thankful and fruitful as he should.
Remedy (1). The first remedy is for weak believers to consider, That though Jesus Christ has not freed them from the presence of sin, yet he has freed them from the damnatory power of sin. It is most true that sin and grace were never born together, neither shall sin and grace die together; yet while a believer breathes in this world, they must live together, they must keep house together. Christ in this life will not free any believer from the presence of any one sin, though he does free every believer from the damning power of every sin. ‘There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh — but after the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:1). The law cannot condemn a believer, for Christ has fulfilled it for him; divine justice cannot condemn him, for that Christ has satisfied; his sins cannot condemn him, for they in the blood of Christ are pardoned; and his own conscience, upon righteous grounds, cannot condemn him, because Christ, that is greater than his conscience, has acquitted him….
DEVICE 2: By working them to make false definitions of their graces. Satan knows, that as false definitions of sin wrong the soul one way, so false definitions of grace wrong the soul another way. Oh how does Satan labor with might and main to work men to make false definitions of FAITH! Some he works to define faith too high, as that it is a full assurance of the love of God to a man’s soul in particular, or a full persuasion of the pardon and remission of a man’s own sins in particular.
Says Satan, What do you talk of faith? Faith is an assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of sin; and this you have not; you know you are far off from this; therefore you have no faith. And by drawing men to make such a false definition of faith, he keeps them in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and makes them spend their days in sorrow and sighing, so that tears are their drink, and sorrow is their food, and sighing is their work all the day long.
The philosophers say there are eight degrees of. Now, if a man should define heat only by the highest degree, then all other degrees will be ruled out from being heat. So if men shall define faith only by the highest degrees, by assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of his sins in particular, what will become of lesser degrees of faith?
If a man should define a man to be a living man, only by the highest and strongest demonstrations of life, as laughing, leaping, running, working, and walking; would not many thousands who groan under internal and external weaknesses, and who cannot laugh, nor leap, nor run, nor work, nor walk — be found dead men by such a definition, that yet we know to be alive? It is so here, and you know how to apply it.
DEVICE 3: By working the soul to make false inferences from the cross actings of Providence. Says Satan — Do you not see how Providence crosses your prayers, and crosses your desires, your tears, your hopes, your endeavors? Surely if his love were towards you, if his soul did delight and take pleasure in you — he would not deal thus with you. (Psalm 77:7, et seq.; 31:1; 73:2, 23).
DEVICE 4: By suggesting to them that their graces are not true — but counterfeit. Says Satan — All is not gold which glitters, all is not free grace which you count grace, which you call grace. That which you call faith is but imagination; and that which you call zeal is but a natural heat and passion; and that light you have, it is but common, it is short, to what many have attained to — who are now in hell.
Satan does not labor more mightily to persuade hypocrites that their graces are true when they are counterfeit; than he does to persuade precious souls that their graces are counterfeit, when indeed they are true, and such as will abide the touchstone of Christ. Yet it must be granted that many a fair flower may grow out of a stinking root — and many sweet dispositions and fair actions may be where there is only the corrupt root of nature.
DEVICE 5: By suggesting to them, That that conflict which is in them, is not a conflict which is only in saints — but such a conflict that is to be found in hypocrites and profane souls; when the truth is, there is as much difference between the conflict which is in them, and that which is in wicked men, as there is between light and darkness, between heaven and hell. The devil is a liar, and the father of lies. The devil’s breasts (says Luther) are very fruitful with lies. And the truth of this I shall evidence to you in the following particulars:
DEVICE 6: By suggesting to the soul, that surely his estate is not good, because he cannot joy and rejoice in Christ as once he could; because he has lost that comfort and joy that once was in his spirit.
Says Satan, You know the time was when your heart was much carried out to joying and rejoicing in Christ; you do not forget the time when your heart used to be full of joy and comfort; but now, how are you fallen in your joys and comforts! Therefore, your estate is not good; you do but deceive yourself to think that ever it was good, for surely if it was, your joy and comfort would have continued. And hereupon the soul is apt to take part with Satan, and say — It is even so; I see all is nothing, and I have but deceived my own soul.
DEVICE 7: By suggesting to the soul his often relapses into the same sin which formerly he has pursued with particular sorrow, grief, shame, and tears, and prayed, complained, and resolved against.
Says Satan — Your heart is not right with God; surely your estate is not good. You only flatter yourself to think that ever God will eternally own and embrace such a one as you are — who complains against sin, and yet relapses into the same sin; who with tears and groans confesses your sin, and yet always falls into the same sin. I confess this is a very sad condition for a soul after he has obtained mercy and pity from the Lord, after God has spoken peace and pardon to him, and wiped the tears from his eyes, and set him upon his legs, to return to folly.
Ah! how do relapses lay men open to the greatest afflictions and worst temptations! How do they make the wound to bleed afresh! How do they darken and cloud former assurances and evidences for heaven! How do they put a sword into the hand of conscience to cut and slash the soul!
They raise such fears, terrors, horrors, and doubts in the soul — that the soul cannot be so frequent in duty as formerly; nor so fervent in duty as formerly; nor so confident in duty as formerly; nor so bold, familiar, and delightful with God in duty as formerly; nor so constant in duty as formerly. They give Satan an advantage; they make the work of repentance more difficult; they make a man’s life a burden, and they render death to be very terrible unto the soul.
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there are many scriptures which clearly evidence a possibility of the saints falling into the same sins whereof they have formerly repented.
‘I will heal their backslidings, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from them,’ says the Lord by the prophet Hosea (chap. 14:4). So the prophet Jeremiah speaks: ‘Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, O backsliding Israel, says the Lord, and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep my anger forever. Turn, O backsliding Israel, says the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion’ (Chap. 3:12, 14). So the psalmist: ‘They turned back, and dealt unfaithfully with their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.’ And no wonder, for though their repentance is ever so sincere and sound, yet their graces are but weak, and their mortification of sin is imperfect in this life.
Though by grace they are freed from the dominion of sin, and from the damnatory power of every sin, and from the love of all sin, yet grace does not free them from the indwelling of any one sin; and therefore it is possible for a soul to fall again and again into the same sin. If the fire is not wholly put out, who would think it impossible that it should catch and burn again and again?
DEVICE 8: By persuading them that their estate is not good, their hearts are not upright, their graces are not sound, because they are so followed, vexed, and tormented with temptations.
It is Satan’s method, first to weary and vex your soul with temptations, and then to persuade the soul, that surely it is not loved by God, because it is so much tempted. And by this stratagem he keeps many precious souls in a sad, doubting, and mourning temper many years, as many of the precious sons of Zion have found by woeful experience. He may so tempt as to make a saint weary of his life (Job. 10:1): ‘My soul is weary of my life.’
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That those who have been best and most beloved, have been most tempted by Satan. Though Satan can never rob a Christian of his crown, yet such is his malice, that he will therefore tempt, that he may spoil them of their comforts. Such is his enmity to the Father, that the nearer and dearer any child is to him, the more will Satan trouble him, and vex him with temptations.
Christ himself was most near and most dear, most innocent and most excellent, and yet none so much tempted as Christ! David was dearly loved by God, and yet by Satan tempted him greatly. Job was highly praised by God himself, and yet much tempted and tried. Peter was much prized by Christ; witness that choice testimony wh ich Christ gave of his faith and happiness, and his showing him his glory in the mount, and that eye of pity that he cast upon him after his fearful fall — and yet tempted by Satan. ‘And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail you not’ (Luke 22:31, 32)….
Brooks, Thomas. Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (p. 99). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition.
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRODUCT LINKS:
[The first post, two days ago, on Brooks’ book, also contained a video which was part of a 10-part series at YouTube, it is linked below]. 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]: