Two things:
First, I realize there’s been a couple weeks hiatus here at the blog. I spoke at Lovesong in Maui two weeks ago, and though I had written blog posts in advance for while I would be gone, I took a full two weeks off from writing while I was there, so there was nothing in the hopper when I got back. It has been a long time since Lisa and I have gotten away like that, and we loved it as much as we felt we needed it.
Second, I’m probably more than trying your patience by taking so long to get through Brooks’ “Remedies.” There’s actually going to be a part 6. If you’re getting beyond bored, just know that we are happy to refund every penny you paid to subscribe… But seriously, it’s such rich content, even though I’m putting it in outline form, and the kind of material that contemporary books almost never address. We’ll get to more traditional kinds of blog posts soon enough.
Satan’s Devices to Destroy and Ensnare all Sorts and Ranks of People in the World
Device 1: Satan’s seeks to make “the great and honorable” focus on themselves (instead of living for God) and to seek their own advancement (instead of God’s Kingdom)
Remedies:
i. Remind yourself that self-seeking is a sin which opens the doorway to many other sins; self-love is the root of the hatred of others.
ii. Self-seeking abases a man and strips him of all his royalty and glory.
The irony is, when we live for our own earthly glory, we decrease in eternal glory. We gain what doesn’t matter and lose what really does matter.
iii. Dwell on the curses and woes from Scripture that denounce self-seeking
iv. Remember that self-seekers are self-losers and self-destroyers
v. Dwell on the famous examples of worthy saints that have denied themselves and preferred the public good before their own particular advantage
vi. Consider that self is a great hindrance to divine things.
“There is nothing that speaks a man to be more empty and void of God, Christ, and grace, than self-seeking.”
Device 2: Satan inspires people to go to war against the saints to discourage and quiet the saints
Many Christians today feel that they are being warred against, and that the battle is actually heating up. This is nothing new for God’s church, and Brooks provides a warning to those who would go to war against believers, as well as an encouragement for those who are believers.
Remedies:
i. Remember that all who have engaged against the saints have been ruined by the God of saints.
ii. Remind yourself of the Scriptures where God pledges to stand by and for his people and to make them victorious over their enemies
iii. Remember that to engage against the saints is to engage against God who is in union with them
iv. Those who are tempted to war against the saints should consider that they are in debt to the saints for many mercies they enjoy and for God holding back many judgments they would otherwise receive.
“Many a nation, many a family, is surrounded with blessings for the Josephs’ sakes who live therein, and are preserved from many calamities and miseries for the Moses’, the Daniels’, the Noahs’, and the Jobs’ sakes, who dwell among them.”
Device 3: Satan seeks to ensnare the learned and wise by making them proud in their abilities or to rest in their abilities rather than in God
Remedies:
i. Remember that you have nothing other than what you have received from God.
ii. Consider how so many learned and wise men were ruined due to their gifts.
“He who leans only upon the bosom of Christ, lives the highest, choicest, safest, and sweetest life.”
iii. Consider that you may have greater abilities but others have greater grace and holiness.
“You may be higher than others in gifts of knowledge, utterance, and learning, and those very souls may be higher than you in their communion with God, in their delighting in God, in their dependence upon God, in their affections to God, and in their humble, holy, and unblameable walking before God. Is it folly and madness in a man, to make light and slight of another, because he is not so rich in lead or iron as he, when he is a thousand times richer in silver and gold, in jewels and in pearls, than he?”
iv. The best way to lose your gifts or have them tarnished is to take pride in them
Device 4: Satan attempts to get saints to fight saints, devouring and biting one another
I grieve over the self-righteous fighting going on at a feverish pace between Christians online. These brothers and sisters think they are doing the Lord’s work, but the spirit with which they wage war against fellow believers betrays something else. Brooks called them out on it hundreds of years ago!
Remedies:
i. Dwell more upon one another’s graces than upon one another’s weaknesses and infirmities
ii. Remember that love and union enhances our own safety and security.
“We shall be invincible if we are inseparable.”
iii. Dwell upon the commands calling us to love one another
iv. Dwell more on where you agree than where you differ
v. Consider that the Spirit is a Spirit of Peace and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace (Gal. 5:22)
vi. Keep peace with God and you will keep peace with his saints
vii. Dwell much upon that near relation and union that is between you
viii. Dwell on the miseries that inevitably follow discord.
“The disagreement of Christians is the devil’s triumph”
ix. Remember that it is an honor on you to be the first to seek peace and reconcilement
x. We will walk in harmony when we “walk together in the ways of grace and holiness so far as they do agree, making the word of God their only touchstone and judge of their actions.”
xi. Be much in self-judging.
“There are no souls in the world who are so fearful to judge others as those who do most judge themselves.”
xii. Labor to be clothed with humility
Device 5: Against Poor and Ignorant Souls “There are none so easily nor so frequently captured in Satan’s snares as ignorant souls. Ignorance is the mother of mistake, the cause of trouble, error and of terror; it is the highway to hell, and it makes a man both a prisoner and a slave to the devil at once.”
Remedies:
i. Consider that an ignorant heart is an evil heart
ii. Ignorance is deformity of the soul
iii. Ignorance makes men the objects of God’s hatred and wrath
iv. Remember that ignorance is a sin that leads to all sins
We’ll conclude our look at Brooks’ work next week by covering several appendices.
If you’d like to purchase Thomas Brooks’ book for more detailed study, you can find it HERE (Gary Thomas is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Church Source Affiliates Program, advertising programs designed to provide a means for Gary to earn fees through customized links to these sites.)
Gwen says
Wow! This is what I was needing! Thanks!