Device 5
By suggesting to them, That that conflict which is
in them, it is not a conflict which is only in saints - but such a conflict
that is to be found in hypocrites and profane souls; when the truth is, there
is as much difference between the conflict which is in them, and that which is
in wicked men, as there is between light and darkness, between heaven and hell.
The devil is a liar, and the father of lies. The devil´s breasts (says Luther)
are very fruitful with lies.
And the truth of this I shall evidence to you in
the following particulars:
[1.] The whole frame of a believer soul´s is
against sin. The understanding, the will, and the affections - all the powers
and faculties of the soul - are in arms against sin. A covetous man may condemn
covetousness, and yet the frame and bent of his heart may be to it. A proud
person may condemn pride, and yet frame and bent of his spirit may be to it. A
man may condemn drunkenness, and yet frame of his heart may be to it. ‘You who
preach a man should not steal - do you steal? You who say a man should not
commit adultery - do you commit it? you who abhor idols - do you commit
sacrilege? You who make your boast of the law - through breaking the law you
dishonor God.’ (Rom 2:21-23).
But a saint´s will is against sin. ‘The evil that I
would not do, that I do.’ (Rom 7:19,20). It was a good saying of Augustine,
‘Lord, deliver me from an evil man, myself’ He complains that men do not tame
their beasts in their own bosoms.
[2.] A Christian conflicts against sin universally,
the least as well as the greatest; the most profitable and the most pleasing
sin, as well as against those which are less pleasing and profitable. “I hate
every false way”. Psalm 119:114. The Hebrew signifies to hate with a deadly and
irreconcilable hatred. He will combat with all sin, though he cannot conquer
one as he should, and he desires. He knows that all sin strikes a God´s
holiness, as well as his own happiness; at God´s glory, as well as at his
soul's comfort and peace.
The Christian knows that all sin is hateful to God,
and that all sinners are traitors to the crown and dignity of the Lord Jesus.
He looks upon one sin, and sees that which threw down Noah, the most righteous
man in the world; and he looks upon another sin, and sees that which cast down
Abraham, the greatest believer in the world; and he looks upon another sin, and
sees that which threw down David, the best king in the world. He sees that one
sin threw down Samson, the strongest men in the world; another cast down
Solomon, the wisest man in the world; and another Moses, the meekest man in the
world; and another sin cast down Job, the most patient man in the world. This
raises a holy indignation against all sin, so that nothing can satisfy and
content his soul, but a destruction of all those lusts and vermin which vex and
rack his righteous soul.
It will not suffice a gracious soul to see justice
done upon one sin - but he cries out for justice upon all. He would not have
some crucified and others spares; but cries out, “Lord, crucify them all,
crucify them all!”
Oh! but now the conflict that is in wicked men is
partial; they frown upon one sin and smile upon another; they strike at some
sins yet stroke others; they thrust some out of doors but keep others close in
their bosoms; as you may see in Jehu, Herod, Judas, Simon Magus, and Demas.
Wicked men strike at gross sins, such as are not only against the law of God -
but against the laws of nature and society - but make nothing of less sin; as
vain thoughts, idle words, sinful motions, and petty oaths. They fight against
those sins that fight against their honor, profits, and pleasures - but make
truce with those which are as dear as right hands and as right eyes of them.
[3.] The conflict that is in a saint, against sin,
is maintained by several arguments: by arguments drawn from the love of God,
the honor of God, the sweetness and communion with God, and from the spiritual
and heavenly blessing and privileges which are conferred upon them by God, and
from arguments drawn from the blood of Christ, the glory of Christ, the eye of
Christ, the kisses of Christ, and the intercession of Christ, and from
arguments drawn from the indwelling of the Spirit, the seal of the Spirit, the
witness of the Spirit, the comforts of the Spirit. Though to be kept from sin
brings comfort to us; yet we oppose sin from spiritual and heavenly arguments,
which brings most glory to God.
Oh! but the conflict that is in wicked men is from
low, carnal, and legal arguments, drawn from the eye, ear or hand of the creature,
or drawn from shame, hell, and curses of the law (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
[4.] The conflict that is in saints is a constant
conflict. Though sin and grace were not born in the heart of saint together,
and though they shall not die together; yet, while a believer lives, they must
conflict together. Paul had been fourteen years converted, when he cried out,
‘I have a law in my members rebelling against the law of my mind, and leading
me captive to the law of sin’ (Rom. 7:2, 3).
A Christian lives fighting and dies fighting, he
stands fighting and falls fighting, with his spiritual weapons in his hand. It
was an excellent saying of Eusebius, ‘Our fathers overcame the torrents of the
flame, let us overcome the fiery darts of vices.’ Consider that the pleasure
and sweetness which follows victory over sin, is a thousand times beyond that
seeming sweetness that is in sin!
But the conflict that is in wicked men is
inconstant; now they fall out with sin, and later they fall in with sin. Now
sin is bitter, later it is sweet. Now the sinner turns from his sin, and later
he turns to the wallowing in sin, as the swine does to the wallowing in the
mire (2 Pet. 2:19,20). One hour you shall have praying against sin, as if he
feared it more that hell; and the next hour you shall have him pursuing after
the sin, as if there were no God to punish him, no justice to damn him, no hell
to torment him.
[5.] The conflict that is in the saints, is in the
same faculties. There is the judgement against the judgement, the mind against
the mind, the will against the will, the affections against the affections.
That is, the regenerate part against the unregenerate part, in all the parts of
the soul.
But now, in wicked men, the conflict is not in the
same faculties - but between the conscience and the will. The will of a sinner
is bent strongly to such and such sins - but conscience puts in and tells the
sinner, God has made me his deputy, he has given me a power to hang, to
examine, scourge, judge, and condemn, and if you do such and such wickedness, I
shall be your jailor and tormenter. I do not bear the rod nor the sword in
vain, says conscience; if you sin, I shall do my office, and then your life will
be a hell; and this raises a tumult in the soul.
[6.] The conflict that is in the saints, is a more
blessed, successful, and prevailing conflict. A saint, by his conflict with
sin, gains ground upon his sin; ‘Those who are Christ´s,’ says the apostle, ‘have
crucified the world with its affections and lusts’ (Gal. 5:24). Christ helps
them to lead captivity captive, and to set their feet upon the necks of those
lusts which have formerly trampled upon their souls and their comforts. As the
house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, and the house of David stronger and
stronger, so the Lord, by the discoveries of his love, and by the influences of
his Spirit - causes grace, the nobler part of a Saint, to grow stronger and
stronger, and corruption, like the house of Saul, to grow weaker and weaker.
But sin in a wicked heart gets ground, and grows
stronger and stronger, notwithstanding all his conflicts. His heart is more
encouraged, emboldened, and hardened in a way of sin, as you may see in the
Israelites, Pharaoh, Jehu, and Judas, who doubtless found many strange
conflicts, tumults, and mutinies in their souls, when God spoke such bitter
things against them, and did such justice upon them (2 Tim. 3:13).
These two, grace and sin, are like two buckets of a
well, when one is up, the other is down. When one flourishes the other withers.
The more grace thrives in the soul, the more sin dies in the soul.
But remember this by way of caution: Though Christ
has given sin is death-wound, yet it will die but a lingering death. As a man
that is mortally wounded dies by little by little, so does sin in the heart of
a saint. The death of Christ on the cross was a lingering death, so the death
of sin in the soul is a lingering death; now it dies a little, and anon it dies
a little, as the psalmist speaks, ‘Slay them out, lest my people forget:
scatter them by your power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield’ (Psalm
59:11). He would not have them utterly destroyed - but some relics preserved as
a memorial. So God deals in respect of sin; it is wounded and brought down -
but not wholly slain. Something is still left to keep us humble, wakeful, and
watchful, and that our armor may be still kept on, and our weapons always in
our hands.
Mortification of sin is a continued act, it is a
daily dying to sin, ‘I die daily’. A crucified man will strive and struggle,
yet, in the eyes of the law, and in the account of all that see him, he is
dead. It is just so with sin.
The best men´s souls in this life hang between the
flesh and the spirit, as it were, between two loadstones; like the tribe of
Manasseh, half on this side of Jordan, in the land of Amorites, and half on
that side, in the Holy Land. Yet, in the final outcome, they shall overcome the
flesh, and trample upon the necks of their spiritual enemies. The romans lost
many battle, and yet in the final outcome, were conquerors in all their ways;
it is just so with the saints. There is no such pleasure, as to have overcome a
sinful pleasure. Neither is there any greater conquest, as to overcome a man´s
corruption.
Source: Precious Remedies Against Satan Device, Thomas Brooks.
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