'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — January 15

One of Satan's devices 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, and the pleasure, but hide from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow. By this device he took our first parents; he hides the hook—the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow. There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy, and the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. Satan promises the former, but intends the latter, and so cheats them—giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise. Satan promises the soul honour, pleasure, and profit, but pays the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss. Keep a great distance from sin (Rom. 12:9). Joseph did and stood. David drew near, and fell. Sin is the most infectious plague in the world. How few tremble at it and keep a distance from it! The seeming sweet that is in sin will quickly vanish, and lasting shame, sorrow, and terror will come in its place. When an asp stings a man, the poison little by little gets to the heart. So does sin; it may please a little at first, but it will pain the soul at last. Men must not think to dance and dine with the devil and then to sup with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Sin will usher in the greatest and the saddest losses that can be upon our souls. It will usher in the loss of that divine favour that is better than life, and the loss of the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and the loss of the peace that passes understanding, and the loss of the divine influences by which the soul has been refreshed, quickened, raised, strengthened, and gladdened, and the loss of many outward desirable mercies, which otherwise that soul might have enjoyed.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Devotional Readings 'Voices From The Past Vol.1.'
Thomas Brooks, Works, I:12-16
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