But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
— 2 Corinthians 11:3
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
— 1 Chronicles 21:1-2
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
— Luke 22:31
Helps against Satan’s Devices, by Thomas Brooks. The following contains an excerpt from his work, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices.”
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. — 2 Corinthians 2:11
If Satan hath such a world of devices and stratagems to ensnare and undo the souls of men, then, instead of wondering that so few are saved, sit down and wonder that any are saved, that any escape the snares of this cunning fowler, who spreads his nets and casts forth his baits in all places, in all cases and companies…(So) my main business shall be to set before you some special rules and helps against all his devices.
The first help: If you would not be taken by any of Satan’s devices, then walk by rule. He that walks by rule walks most safely; he that walks by rule walks most honorably; he that walks by rule walks most sweetly. When men throw off the Word, then God throws them off, and then Satan takes them by the hand and leads them into snares at his pleasure. He that thinks himself too good to be ruled by the Word will be found too bad to be owned by God; and if God does not or will not own him, Satan will by his stratagems overthrow him. Those that keep to the rule, they shall be kept in the hour of temptation. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev 3:10).
The second help: As you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, take heed of vexing and grieving the Holy Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that is best able to discover Satan’s snares against us; it is only He that can point out all his plots, discover all his methods, and enable men to escape those pits that he hath digged for their precious souls. Ah! If you set that sweet and blessed Spirit a-mourning, Who alone can secure you from Satan’s depths, by whom will you be secured? Man is a weak creature and no way able to discover Satan’s snares nor to avoid them, unless the Spirit of the Lord gives skill and power; therefore, whoever be grieved, be sure the Spirit be not grieved by your enormities, nor by your refusing the cordials and comforts that He sets before you, nor by slighting and despising His gracious actings in others, nor by calling sincerity hypocrisy, faith fancy, etc., nor by fathering those things upon the Spirit that are the brats and fruits of your own hearts. The Spirit of the Lord is your counsellor, your comforter, your upholder, your strengthener. It is only the Spirit that makes a man too great for Satan to conquer. “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1Jo 4:4).
The third help: If you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, then labor for more heavenly wisdom. Ah, souls! You are much in the dark, you have but a little to that others have, and to that you might have had, had you not been wanting to yourselves. There are many knowing souls, but there are but a few wise souls. There is oftentimes a great deal of knowledge, where there is but a little wisdom to improve that knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is like mettle in a blind horse, which is often an occasion of the rider’s fall and of his bones being jostled against the walls. It is not the most knowing Christian, but the most wise Christian that sees, avoids, and escapes Satan’s snares. “The way of life is above to the wise,” saith Solomon, “that he may depart from hell beneath” (Pro 15:24). Heavenly wisdom makes a man delight to fly high; and the higher any man flies, the more he is out of the reach of Satan’s snares. Ah, souls! You had need of a great deal of heavenly wisdom to see where and how Satan lays his baits and snares—wisdom to find out proper remedies against his devices, and wisdom to apply those remedies seasonably, inwardly, and effectually to your own hearts, so that you may avoid the snares that the evil one hath laid for your precious souls.
The fourth help: If you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, then make present resistance against Satan’s first motions. It is safe to resist; it is dangerous to dispute. Eve disputes and falls in Paradise (Gen 3:1-24). Job resists and conquers upon the dunghill. He that will play with Satan’s bait will quickly be taken with Satan’s hook. The promise of conquest is made over to resisting, not to disputing: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jam 4:7). Ah, souls! Were you better at resisting than at disputing, though happily you were not very expert at either, your temptations would be fewer, and your strength to stand would be greater than it is now.
The fifth help: If you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, then labor to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is a Spirit of light and power; and what can a soul do without light and power “against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12)? It is not enough that you have the Spirit, but you must be filled with the Spirit, or else Satan, that evil spirit, will be too hard for you, and his plots will prosper against you. That is a sweet word of the apostle: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18), i.e., labor for abundance of the Spirit. He that thinks he hath enough of the Holy Spirit will quickly find himself vanquished by the evil spirit. Satan hath his snares to take you in prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness, in strength and weakness, when you are alone and when you are in company, when you come on to spiritual duties and when you come off from spiritual duties. If you are not filled with the Spirit, Satan will be too hard and too crafty for you. (He) will easily and frequently take you in his snares and make a prey of you despite your souls. Therefore, labor more to have your hearts filled with the Spirit than to have your heads filled with notions, your shops with wares, your chests with silver, or your bags with gold. (Then) shall you escape the snares of this fowler and triumph over all his plots.
The sixth help: If you would not be taken in any of Satan’s snares, then keep humble. A humble heart will lie in the dust rather than rise by wickedness, and sooner part with all than the peace of a good conscience. Humility keeps the soul free from many darts of Satan’s casting and snares of his spreading, as the low shrubs are free from many violent gusts and blasts of wind, which shake and rend the taller trees. The devil hath least power to fasten a temptation on him that is most humble. He that hath a gracious measure of humility is neither affected with Satan’s proffers nor terrified with his threatenings…God hath said that He will teach the humble, that He will dwell with the humble, and that He will fill and satisfy the humble (Psa 25:9; Isa 57:15; Psa 22:26). And if the teachings of God, the indwellings of God, if the pourings in of God, will not keep the soul from falling into Satan’s snares, I do not know what will. And therefore, as you would be happy in resisting Satan and blessed in triumphing over Satan and all his snares, keep humble; I say again, keep humble.
The seventh help: If you would not be taken in any of Satan’s snares, then keep a strong, close, and constant watch (1Th 5:6). A secure soul is already an ensnared soul. That soul that will not watch against temptations will certainly fall before the power of temptations. Satan works most strongly on the fancy when the soul is drowsy. The soul’s security is Satan’s opportunity to fall upon the soul and to spoil the soul, as Joshua did the men of Ai. The best way to be safe and secure from all Satan’s assaults is, with Nehemiah and the Jews, to watch and pray, and pray and watch. By this means, they became too hard for their enemies, and the work of the Lord prospered sweetly in their hands. Remember how Christ chid His sluggish disciples: “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” (Mat 26:40). What, cannot you watch with me? How will you then die with me? If you cannot endure words, how will you endure wounds? Satan always keeps a crafty and malicious watch, “seeking whom he may devour” or whom he may drink or sip up, as the apostle speaks in 1 Peter 5:8. Satan is very envious at our condition, that we should enjoy that Paradise out of which he is cast and out of which he shall be forever kept.
Shall Satan keep a crafty watch, and shall not Christians keep a holy spiritual watch? Our whole life is beset with temptations. Satan watches all opportunities to break our peace, to wound our consciences, to lessen our comforts, to impair our graces, to slur our evidences, and to damp our assurances. Oh! What need then have we to be always upon our watchtower, lest we be surprised by this subtle serpent. Watchfulness includes a waking, a rousing up of the soul. It is a continual, careful observing of our hearts and ways in all the turnings of our lives, that we keep close to God and His Word.
Watchfulness is nothing else but the soul running up and down, back and forth, busy everywhere; it is the heart busied and employed with diligent observation of what comes from within us, and of what comes from without us and into us. Ah, souls! You are no longer safe and secure than when you are upon your watch…A watchful soul is a soul upon the wing, a soul out of gunshot, a soul upon a rock, a soul in a castle, a soul above the clouds, a soul held fast in everlasting arms…Therefore, it doth very much concern us to stand always upon our guard.
The eighth help: If you would not be taken with any of Satan’s snares and devices, then keep up your communion with God. Your strength to stand and withstand Satan’s fiery darts is from your communion with God. A soul high in communion with God may be tempted but will not easily be conquered. Such a soul will fight it out to the death. Communion with God furnisheth the soul with the greatest and the choicest arguments to withstand Satan’s temptations. Communion is the result of union. Communion is a reciprocal exchange between Christ and a gracious soul. Communion is Jacob’s ladder, where you have Christ sweetly coming down into the soul, and the soul, by divine influences, sweetly ascending to Christ. Communion with Christ is very inflaming, raising, and strengthening…So long as your communion with God is kept up, you will be too hard for “spiritual wickedness in high places”; but if you fall from your communion with God, you will fall, as others, before the face of every temptation. David stands so long as he kept up his communion with God and triumphs over all his enemies; but when he was fallen in his communion with God, then he falls before the enemies that were in his own bosom, and flies before those that pursued after his life. It will be so with your souls if you do not keep up your communion with God…Adam loses his communion with God and is conquered by Satan in Paradise. Communion with God is a shield upon land, as well as an anchor at sea; it is a sword to defend you, as well as a staff to support you; therefore, keep up your communion.
The ninth help: If you would not be taken in any of Satan’s snares, then engage not against Satan in your own strength, but be every day drawing new virtue and strength from the Lord Jesus. Certainly, that soul that engages against any old or new temptation without new strength, new influences from on high, will fall before the power of the temptation. You may see this in Peter: he rested upon some old received strength—“Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never” (Mat 26:33)—and therefore he falls sadly before a new temptation. He curses, swears, and denies (Jesus) thrice that had thrice appeared gloriously to him. Ah, souls! When the snare is spread, look up to Jesus Christ, Who is lifted up in the gospel as the brazen serpent was in the wilderness, and say to Him, “Dear Lord! Here is a new snare laid to catch my soul, and grace formerly received without fresh supplies from Thy blessed bosom will not deliver me from this snare. Oh! Give me new strength, new power, new influences, new measures of grace, so that I may escape the snares.” Ah, souls! Remember this, that your strength to stand and overcome must not be expected from graces received but from the fresh and renewed influences of heaven. You must lean more upon Christ than upon your duties; you must lean more upon Christ than upon spiritual tastes and discoveries; you must lean more upon Christ than upon your graces, or else Satan will lead you into captivity.
The tenth help: If you would not be taken in any of Satan’s snares, then be much in prayer. Prayer is a shelter to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to the devil. David’s heart was oft more out of tune than his harp. He prays, and then, despite the devil, cries, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.” Prayer is the gate of heaven, a key to let us into Paradise. There is nothing that renders plots fruitless like prayer; therefore, saith Christ, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Mat 26:41). You must watch and pray, and pray and watch, if you would not enter temptation. When Sennacherib and Haman had laid plots and snares to have destroyed the Jews, they prayed, and their souls were delivered, and Sennacherib and Haman destroyed. David had many snares laid for him, and this puts him upon prayer. “Keep me,” saith he, “from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I…escape” (Psa 141:9-10). “The proud,” saith he, “have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah. I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD” (Psa 140:5-6). Saul and many others had laid snares for David, and this puts him upon prayer, and so the snares are broken, and he is delivered! Ah, souls! Take words to yourselves and tell God that Satan hath spread his snares in all places and in all companies; tell God that he digs deep and that he hath plot upon plot, and device upon device, and all to undo you. Tell God that you have neither skill nor power to escape his snares; tell God that it is a work too high and too hard for any created creature to work…Tell God how His honor is engaged to stand by you and to bring you off that you be not ruined by his plots…Tell God how the wicked would triumph if you should fall into Satan’s snares. Tell God of the love of Christ, of the blood of Christ, and of the intercession of Christ for you that a way may be found for your escape. Tell God if He will make it His honor to save you from falling into Satan’s snares, you will make it your glory to speak of His goodness and to live out His kindness. Christians must do as Daedalus—when he could not escape by a way upon earth, (he) went by a way of heaven, and that is, the way of prayer, which is the only way left to escape Satan’s snares.
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