"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we
are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Corinthians 2:11
Satan has his several devices to deceive, entangle,
and undo the souls of men. Satan has . . .
snares for the wise, and snares for the simple;
snares for hypocrites, and snares for the upright;
snares for brave, and snares for the timorous;
snares for the rich, and snares for the poor;
snares for the aged, and snares for youth.
Happy are those souls which are not captured
and held in the snares that he has laid!
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 knows, that in the day you eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened; and you shall be as gods."
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! So Satan
cheats them—giving them an apple in exchange for
a paradise!
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!
Alas! Many have fallen forever by this vile strumpet,
the world, who, by showing 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!
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.