From a sermon, I came across Thomas Brooks, and his book, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, and I thought I would share a couple of the devices mentioned. There are a lot more than the ones I am about to list. I have yet to read the whole book, but here they are.
Satan's Devices to draw the soul to sin
By presenting the bait and hiding the hook:
- The Devil hides the long term consequences of sin and only shows the short term pleasures.
By painting sin with virtue's colors
- The Devil tricks sin as if they were virtues, such as thriftiness rather greed, concerned rather nosy, relaxed rather lazy.
By showing to the soul the best men's sins and by hiding from the soul their virtues, their sorrows, and their repentance
- The Devil shows only the sin acted by the leaders of faith, rather than how they have struggled and overcome by the grace of God.
By presenting God to the soul as One made up all of mercy
- The Devil has Christian believe that God is all-forgiving, allowing multiple chances at redemption, hence no need to worry lusting after sin.
By making the soul bold to venture upon the occasions of sin
- The Devil presents sin as adventure, only reserved for the brave and the bold, as if it was something to be proud of, like a conquest.
By representing to the soul the outward mercies enjoyed by men walking in sin, and their freedom from outward miseries
- The Devil wraps the lives of sinners as enjoyable, as the best kind of life to be lived by men.
By presenting to the soul the crosses, losses, sorrows and sufferings that daily attend those who walk in the ways of holiness
- The Devil shows how difficult it is to live holy, making Christians bitter of how suffering seems to tag along every aspect of their lives, prying open their hearts to sin as something they deserve after having fought so much.
By causing saints to compare themselves and their ways with those reputed worse than themselves
- The Devil has Christians see the lives of those deemed bad men, and have them take comfort in their comparatively "smaller" sin.
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