chapter 1 in 'precious remedies against satan's devices' by thomas brooks
...DEVICE 1
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 by hiding from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin.
by this device he took 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 shall your eyes shall be opened
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. genesis 3.4-5....
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 promiseth them the former,
but intends the latter
and so cheats them
-giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise,
as he deals by thousands now a days.
foot: so to reduce dr. rowland taylor, martyr, they promised him not only his pardon, but a bishopric
(note: i am thinking...to get him to renounce Christ...and then kill him anyway...but i'm not sure.)
...he promises the soul honour, pleasure, profit,
but pays the soul with tyhe greatest contempt, shame and loss that can be.
(note: the smile of their creator and redeemer, the only true Lover of their soul.)
by a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ (matt. 4.8-9)
he shows Him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world,
which doubtless would have taken many a carnal (note: self seeking) heart;
but here the devil's fire fell upon wet tinder and..took not.
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 for ever by this vile strumpet the world,
who, by laying forth her two fair breasts of profit and pleasure,
hath wounded their souls and cast them down into utter perdition.
she hath, by the glistening of her pomp and preferment, slain millions;
as the serpent Scytale30
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