7.15.2014 SATAN DOING A NUMBER ON YOU?

taken from Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by thomas brooks a puritan born in england in the early 1600s.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY

to his most dear and precious ones, the sons and daughters of the Most High God,
over whom the Holy Ghost hath made him a watchman.

beloved in our dearest Lord,
Christ, the scripture, your own hearts and satan's devices
are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched.
if any cast off the study of these,
they cannot be safe here,
nor happy hereafter.
it is my work as a christian, but much more as i am a watchman,
to do my best to discovered the fullness of Christ,
the emptiness of the creature and the snares of the great deceiver;
which i have endeavoured to do in the following discourse,
according to that measure of grace which i have received from the Lord.
God once accepted a handful of meal for a sacrifice, (leviticus 2.2; 5.12)
and a gripe (foot: or handful exodus 25.4; 3526) of goat's hair for an oblation
and i know that you have not so 'learned the Father', as to despise 'the day of small things'
(zechariah 4.10).

beloved, satan being fallen from light to darkness, from felicity to misery,
from heaven to hell, from an angel to a devil,
is so full of malice and envy that he will leave no means unattempted,
whereby he may make all others eternally miserable with himself;
he being shut out of heaven and shut up
'under the chains of darkness till the judgment of the great day (jude 6),
makes use of all his power and skill to bring all the sons of men
into the same condition and condemnation with himself.
satan hath cast such sinful seed into our souls, that now he can no sooner tempt,
but we are ready to assent;
he can no sooner have a plot upon us, but he makes a conquest of us.
if he do5th but show men a little of the beauty and bravery (foot: finery) of the world,
how ready are they to fall down and worship him!

whatever sin the heart of man is most prone to that the devil will help forward.
if david by proud of his people, satan will provoke him to number them, that he may be yet prouder (II sam. 24)
if peter be slavishly fearful, satan will put him upon rebuking and denying of Christ,
to save his own skin (matt. 16.22; 26.69-75).

if ahab's prophets be given to flatter,
the devil will straightway become a lying spirit in the mouths of 400 of them
and they shall flatter ahab to his ruin (I kings 22).

if judas will be a traitor, satan will quickly enter into his heart,
and make him sell his master for money, which some heathens would never have done (john 13.2).

if ananias will lie for advantage, satan will fill his heart
that he may lie, with a witness, to the Holy Ghost. (acts 5.3).
satan loves to sail with the wind,
and to suit men's temptations to their conditions and inclinations.
if they be in p-prosperity, he will tempt them to deny God (prov. 30.9);
if they be in adversity, he will tempt them to distrust God;
if their knowledge be weak, he will tempt them to have low thoughts of God;
if their conscience be tender, he will tempt to scrupulosity;
if large, to carnal security;
if bold spirited, he will tempt to presumption;
if timorous, to desperation;
if flexible, to inconstancy; if stiff, to impenitency.

from the power, malice and skill of satan, doth proceed all
the soul killing plots, devices, stratagems and machinations that be in the world.
several devices he hath to draw souls to sin and several plots he hath to keep souls from all holy and heavenly services
and several stratagems he hath to keep souls from all holy and heavenly services
and several strategems he hath to keep souls in a
mourning, staggering, doubting and questioning condition.

...one while he will restrain from tempting,
that we may think ourselves secure and neglect our watch;
another while he will seem to fly,
that he may make us proud of the victory;
one while he will fix men's eyes on others' sins than their own,
that he may puff them up;
another while he may fix their eyes more on others' graces than their own,
that he may overwhelm them.

a man may as well tell the stars and number the sands of the sea,
as reckon up all the devices of satan;
yet those which are most considerable and by which he doth most mischief
to the precious souls of men,
are in the following treatise discovered and the remedies against them prescribed.

beloved, i think it necessary to give you and the world
a faithful account of the reasons moving me to appear in print...
1. because satan hath a greater influence upon men and higher advantages over them
(having the wind and the hill, as it were), than they think..
and the knowledge of his high advantage is the highway to disappoint him
and to render the soul strong in resisting and happy in conquering....
3. the strange opposition that i met with from satan, in the study of this following discourse,
hath put an edge upon my spirit,
knowing that satan strives mightily to keep those things from seeing the light,
that tend eminently to shake and break his kingdom of darkness
and to lift up the kingdom and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ....

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 ye would endeavour more to be
inwardly sincere than outwardly glorious
to live, than to have a name to live
that ye would labour with all your might to be thankful under mercies
and faithful in your places
and humble under divine appearances
and fruitful under precious ordinances....


A WORD TO THE READER

dear friend!

solomon bids us buy the truth (prov. 23.23) but doth not dell us what it must cost,
because we must get it though it be never so dear.
we must love it...every parcel of truth is precious as the filings of gold;
we must either live with it or die for it....
a man may lawfully sell his house, land and jewels,
but truth is a jewel that exceeds all price and must not be sold.
it is our heritage: (something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth)
'Thy testimonies have i taken as an heritage for ever. psalm 119.111

...and now..read the work and receive this counsel from me.
first, thou must know that every man cannot be excellent, that yet may be useful.
an iron key may unlock the door of a golden treasure,
yea, iron can do some things that gold cannot.

secondly, remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths,
that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.
it is not the bee's touching of the flower that gathers honey,
but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet.
it is not he that most but he that meditates most,
that will prove the ..wisest and strongest christian.

thirdly, know that it is not the knowing nor the talking nor the reading man,
but the DOING man, that at last will be found the happiest man.
'if you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you do them.'...

reader if it be not strong upon thy heart to practise what thou readeest
TO WHAT END DOST THOU READ?
to increase thy own condemnation?
(foot. seneca liked not such as are..always about to live, but never begin.
if thy light and knowledge be not turned into practice,
the more knowing man thou art, the more miserable man thou wilt be in the day of recompense;
thy light and knowledge will more torment thee..in hell.
thy knowledge will be that rod that will eternally lash thee
and that scorpion that will for ever bite thee
and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw thee;
therefore read and LABOUR  to know THAT THOU MAYEST DO.
or else thou art undone forever.
(foot: God loves, saith luther, the runner, not the questioner)
when demosthenes was asked what was the first part of an orator, what the second, what the third?
he answered, Action.....


INTRODUCTION

lest satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices... II corinthians 2.11

paul encourages the corinthian believers to forgive and comfort the one who had repented
lest 'such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow v.7
satan going about to mix the detestable darnel (matt. 13.25) of desperation
with the godly sorrow of a pure, penitent heart.
it was a sweet saying of jerome,
'let a man grieve for his sin and then joy for his grief'.
that sorrow for sin that keeps the soul from looking towards the mercy seat
and that keeps Christ and the soul asunder
or that shall render the soul unfit for the communion of saints,
is sinful sorrow

in the 11th verse, he lays down another reason to work them
to show pity and mercy to the penitent sinner,
that was mourning and groaning under his sin and misery:
ie. lest satan should get an advantage of us:
for we are not ignorant of his devices....
lest satan should get an ADVANTAGE of us;
lest satan overreach us.
the word in the greek signifieth to have more than belongs to one.
the comparison is taken from the greedy merchant,
that seeketh and taketh all opportunities to beguile and deceive others.
satan is that wily merchant, that devoureth, not widows' houses, but most men's souls.

'we are not ignorant of satan's DEVICES' or plots or machinations or stratagems.
he is but a titular christian that hath not personal experience of satan's statagems,
his set and composed machinations, his artificially moulded methods
his plots, darts, depths...

THE PROOF OF THE POINT

for the proof of the point, take these few scriptures:
ephesians 6.11 - put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the WILES of the devil...

1. it signifies such snares as are laid behind one,
such treacheries as come upon one's back at unawares.
it notes the methods or waylayings of that old subtle serpent,
who, like dan's adder 'in the path',
biteth the heels of passengers and thereby transfuseth his venom to the head and heart. genesis 49.17
the word signifies an ambushment or stratagem of war, whereby the enemy sets upon a man at unawares.

2. it signifies such snares as are set to catch one in one's road.
a man walks in his road and thinks not of it;
on a sudden he is catched by thieves or falls into a pit, etc.

3. it signifies such as are purposely, artificially, (here used with the sense of 'by the use of an artifice or trick'
and craftily set for the taking the prey at the greatest advantage that can be.
the greek signifies properly a waylaying (to await and accost unexpectedly), circumvention, or going about,
as they do which seek after their prey.
..so doth satan more hurt in his sheep's skin than by roaring like a lion.

take one scripture more for the proof of the point and that is in II timothy 2.26,
'and that they might recover themselves out of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him at his will.
the greek word that is here rendered recover themselves,
signifies to AWAKEN themselves.
the apostle alludeth to one that is asleep or drunk,
who is to be awakened and restored to his senses
and the greek word that is here rendered 'taken captive', signifies to be taken alive.
the word is properly a warlike word and signifies to be taken alive,
as soldiers are taken alive in the wars or as birds are taken alive and ensnared in the fowler's net.
satan hath snares for the wise and snares for the simple;
snares for hypocrites and snares for the upright;
snares for generous souls and snares for timorous souls;
snares for the rich and snares for the poor;
snares for the aged and snares for youth.
happy are those souls that are not taken and held in the snares that he hath laid!

take one proof more and then i will proceed to the opening of the point and that is in rev. 2.24,
'but unto you i say and unto the rest in thyatira,
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 burden but to hold fast till i come'.
these poor souls called their opinions the depths of God,
when indeed they were the depths of satan.
you call your opinions depths and so they are,
but they are such depths as satan hath brought out of hell.
they are the whisperings and hissings of that serpent,
not the inspirations of God.