The tenth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin 1s,
Device (10). By working them to be frequent in comparing themselves and their ways with those that ave reputed or reported to be worse than themselves. By this device the devil drew the proud pharisee to bless himself in a cursed condition, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, &e., Luke xviii. 11. Why, saith Satan, you swear but pretty oaths, as by your faith and troth,” &c., but such and such swear by wounds and blood; you are now and then a little wanton, but such and such do daily defile and pollute themselves by actual uncleanness and filthiness; you deceive and overreach your neighbours in things that are but as toys and trifles, but such and such deceive and overreach others in things of greatest concernment, even to their ruin and undoing; you do but sit, and chat, and sip with the drunkard, but such and such sit and drink and are drunk with the drunkard; you are only a little proud in heart and habit, in looks and words, &eNow the remedies against this device of the devil are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider this, That there is not a greater nor a clearer argument to prove a man a hypocrite, than to be quick-sighted abroad and blind at home, than to see a mote in another man’s eye,! Isa. lvii. 20, and xlviii. 22. Sin brings in sorrow and sickness, &c. The Rabbins say, that when Adam tasted the forbidden fruit, his head ached. Sirens are said to sing curiously while they live, but to roar horribly when they die. So do the wicked. 3 Allusion is to Damocles.—G.
and not a beam in his own eye, Mat. vii. 3, 4; than to use spectacles to behold other men’s sins rather than looking-glasses to behold his own; rather to be always holding his finger upon other men’s sores, and to be amplifying and aggravating other men’s sins than mitigating of his own, &c.!
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To spend more time in comparing of your internal and external actions with the Rule, with the Word, by which you must be judged at last, than in comparing of yourselves with those that are worse than yourselves That man that, comparing his self with others that are worse than himself, may seem, to himself and others, to be an angel; yet, comparing himself with the word, may see himself to be like the devil, yea, a very devil. Have not I chosen twelve, and one of you is a devil? John vi. 70. Such men are like him, as if they were spit out of his mouth.
Satan is called the god of this world,” 2 Cor. iv. 4, because, as God at first did but speak the word, and it was done, so, if the devil doth but hold up his finger, give the least hint, they will do his will, though they undo their souls for ever. Ah, what monsters would these men appear to be, did they but compare themselves with a righteous rule, and not with the most unrighteous men; they would appear to be as black as hell itself.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That though thy sins be not as great as others, yet without sound repentance on thy side and pardoning mercy on God’s, thou wilt be as certainly damned as others, though not equally tormented with others What though hell shall not be so hot to thee as others, yet thou must as certainly to hell as others, unless the glorious grace of God shines forth upon thee in the face of Christ. God will suit men’s punishments to their sins; the greatest sins shall be attended with the greatest punishments, and lesser sins with lesser punishments. Alas, what a poor comfort will this be to thee when thou comest to die, to consider that thou shalt not be equally tormented with others, yet must be for ever shut out from the glorious presence of God, Christ, angels, and saints, and from those good things of eternal life, that are so many that they exceed number, so great that they exceed measure, so precious that they exceed estimation! Sure it is, that the tears of heaven are not sufficient to bewail the loss of heaven; the worm of grief gnaws as painful as the fire burns. If those souls, Acts xx. 37, wept because they should see Paul’s face no more, how deplorable is the eternal deprivation of the beatifical vision!?
But this is not all: thou shalt not be only shut out of heaven, but shut up in hell for ever; not only shut out from the presence of God and angels, &e., but shut up with devils and damned spirits for ever; not only shut out from those sweet, surpassing, unexpressible, and everlasting pleasures that be at God’s right hand, but shut up for ever under those torments that are ceaseless, remediless, and endless.! Ah, souls, were 1t not ten thousand times better for you to break off your sins by repentance, than to go on in your sins till you feel the truth of what now you hear?
The God of Israel is very merciful. Ah, that you would repent and return, that your souls might live for ever! Remember this, grievous is the torment of the damned, for the bitterness of the punishments, but most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. For to be = tormented without end, this is that which goes beyond the bounds of all desperation. Ah, how do the thoughts of this make the damned to roar and cry out for unquietness of heart, and tear their hair, and gnash their teeth, and rage for madness, that they must dwell in everlasting burnings’ for ever!?