Worthy Lessons… Sixth Device and Remedies

Device (6) – By persuading the soul that the work of repentance is an easy work, and that therefore the soul need not make such a matter of sin. Why! Suppose you do sin, saith Satan, it is no such difficult thing to return, and confess, and be sorrowful, and beg pardon, and cry, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me!’ and if you do but this, God will cut the score, and pardon your sins, and save your souls.

By this device Satan draws many a soul to sin, and makes many millions of souls servants or rather slaves to sin.

Remedy (1) – The first remedy is, seriously to consider, That repentance is a mighty work, a difficult work, a work that is above our power. There is no power below that power that raised Christ from the dead, and that made the world, that can break the heart of a sinner or turn the heart of a sinner.

Repentance is a gift that comes down from above. Men are not born with repentance in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: (Acts 5:31).

Remedy (2) – Solemnly consider the nature of true repentance. Repentance hath in it three things:

  1. The formal act of repentance is changing and converting.
  2. The subject changed and converted is the whole man; it is both the sinner’s heart and life: first his heart, then his life; first his person, then his practice and conversation.
  3. The terms of this change and conversion, from which and to which both heart and life must be changed; from sin to God. The heart must be changed from the state and power of sin, the life from the acts of sin, but both unto God; the heart to be under his power in a state of grace, the life to be under his rule in all new obedience; as the apostle speaks, ‘To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God’ (Acts 26:18).

Thus much of the nature of evangelical repentance. Now, souls, tell me whether it be such an easy thing to repent, as Satan doth suggest. Beside what hath been spoken, I desire that you will take notice, that repentance doth include turning from the most darling sin… a sensibleness of sin’s sinfulness…a sensibleness of sin’s mischievousness, how it cast angels out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise…

Further, true repentance doth include sorrow for sin, contrition of heart. It breaks the heart with sighs, and sobs, and groans, for that a loving God and Father is by sin offended, a blessed Savior afresh crucified, and the sweet Comforter, the Spirit, grieved and vexed.

Again, repentance doth include, not only a loathing of sin, but also a loathing of ourselves for sin… [and] not only [to] loathe himself for his sins, but it makes him ashamed of his sin also. ‘What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?’ saith the apostle (Rom. 6:21).

When a penitent soul sees his sins pardoned, the anger of God pacified, the divine justice satisfied, then he sits down and blushes, as the Hebrew hath it, as one ashamed. Yea, true repentance doth work a man to cross his sinful self, and to walk contrary to sinful self, to take a holy revenge upon sin, as you may see in Paul, the jailor, Mary Magdalene, and Manasseh…

Now souls, sum up all these things together and tell me whether it would be such an easy thing to repent as Satan would make the soul to believe, and I am confident that your heart will answer that it is as hard a thing to repent as it is to make a world, or raise the dead.

– Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (pp. 55-60)

Those are many wonderful, sobering words, and I only typed out half of the ones I have underlined! In fact, that is only the first two of six Remedies for this Device of Satan. It is such a long post that I will continue and conclude this chapter in the next post. :)

I think something really important that I glean from this chapter is that it is normal and expected for our souls to be heavy and eyes full of tears over our sins. In this present day and culture we are deceived often into thinking that something is “wrong” with us if we are sorrowful. We have to be happy all the time, and if we aren’t, we have pills and books and all kinds of stuff to wipe away our discomfort and sadness. No, this is not what Scripture teaches, nor is it what Brooks lays out for us here. We should have times in which we groan and cry over our heart’s condition to the point of tears. This should be a regular exercise of the believer, one that drives us in humble desperation to the cross of Christ, our hope. If this is not part of our lives, then we should step back and carefully question where we are in the great battle between God and self.

July 29, 2008 | Filed Under Chuckles, Posts in a series, Sin, Worthy Lessons from the Battlefield 

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