A77614:373
Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices
Precious remedies against Satan's devices or, salve for believers and unbelievers sores. Being a companion for those that are in Christ, or out of Christ; that are high, or low, learned, or illiterate, staggering, or wandering; that slight, or neglect ordinances, under a pretence of living above them; that are growing (in spirituals) or decaying; that are tempted, or deserted, afflicted, or opposed; that have assurance, or that want assurance; that are self-seekers, or the common-wealths caterpillars; that are in love sweetly united, or that yet have their spirits too much embittered, &c. By Thomas Brooks, a willing servant unto God, and the faith of his people, in the glorious gospel of Christ, at Margarets fish-street hill.Precious remedies against Satans devices or, salve for believers and unbelievers sores. Being a companion for those that are in Christ, or out of Christ; that are high, or low, learned, or illiterate, staggering, or wandering; that slight, or neglect ordinances, under a pretence of living above them; that are growing (in spiritualls) or decaying; that are tempted, or deserted, afflicted, or opposed; that have assurance, or that want assurance; that are self-seekers, or the common-wealths caterpillars; that are in love sweetly united, or that yet have their spirits too much imbittered, &c. By Thomas Brookes, a willing servant unto God, and the faith of his people, in the glorious gospel of Christ, at Margarets fish-street hill.
London: printed by M. Simmons for John Hancock, 1653
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
By these Scriptures, you see, that self-seekers labour like a woman in ⟨p. 270⟩travel, but their birth proves their death, their pleasure their pain; their comfort, their torment; their glory, their shame; their exaltation, their desolation. Loss, disgrace, trouble, and shame, vexation and confusion will be the certain portion of self-seekers. When the Tartarians had taken in battle the Duke of Muscovia, they made a cup of his skull, with this inscription, All covet, all loose.
By these Scriptures, you see, that selfe-seekers labour like a woman in ⟨p. 270⟩travell, but their birth proves their death, their pleasure their paine; their comfort, their torment; their glory, their shame; their exaltation, their desolation. Losse, disgrace, trouble, and shame, vexation and confusion will be the certaine portion of selfeseekers. When the Tartarians had taken in battell the Duke of Muscovia, they made a cup of his skull, with this inscription, All covet, all loose.
The fourth Remedy against this device1 of Satan, is, solemnly to consider, that self-seekers are self-losers, and2 self-destroyers. Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks himself, and kills himself; Ahab seeks himself, and looses himself, his Crown and Kingdom. Pharaoh seeks himself, and overthrows himself and his mighty Army in the red sea. Cain sought himself, and slew two at once, his brother, and his own soul. Gehazi sought change of raiment, but God changed his raiment into a leprous skin. Haman sought himself, and lost himself. The Princes and the Presidents sought themselves (in the ruin of Daniel) but ruined themselves, their wives and children. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to support them, becomes (by the hand of