A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian EthicsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian Ethics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
4. Hence he proceedeth to infect the will, (upon the simple
apprehension of the understanding,) to make it inordinately cleave to
the temporal good, and to neglect its duty in commanding the
understanding to meditate on preserving objects, and to call off the
thoughts from the forbidden thing: it neglecteth to rule the thoughts
and passions according to its office and natural power.
5. And so he corrupteth the understanding itself, first to omit its
duty, and then to entertain deceit, and to approve of evil: and so the
servant is put into the government, and the commanding powers do but
serve it. Reason is blinded by sensuality and passion, and becomes
their servant, and pleads their cause.
By all this it appeareth, 1. That Satan's first bait is ordinarily
some sensible or imaginary good, set up against true spiritual good.
2. That his first assault of the reason and will is to tempt them into
a sluggish neglect and neutrality, to omit that restraint of sense,
thought, and passion, which was their duty. 3. And that, lastly, he
tempteth them into actual compliance and committing of the sin: and
herein, 1. The bait which he useth with the understanding is still
"some seeming truth." And, therefore, his art and work is to colour
falsehood, and make it seem truth; for this is the deceiving of the
mind: and therefore for a sinner to plead his mistake for his excuse,
and say, I thought it had been so or so; I thought it had been no sin,
or no duty; this is but to confess, and not to excuse: it is but as
much as to say, My understanding sinned with my will, and was deceived
by the tempter and overcome. 2. And the bait which he useth with the
will is always some appearing good: and self-love and love of good is
the principle which he abuseth, and maketh his ground to work upon; as
God also useth it in drawing us to good.
III. The succours and auxiliaries of the devil, and his principal
means, are these: 1. He doth what he can to get an ill tempered body
on his side; for as sin did let in bodily distempers, so do they much
befriend the sin that caused them. A choleric temper will much help
him to draw men to passion, malice, murder, cruelty, and revenge. A
sanguine and bilious temper mixed, will help him to draw men to lust,
and filthiness, and levity, and wantonness, and time-wasting
pleasures: a sanguine temper mixed with a pituitous, much helpeth him
to make men blockish, and regardless, and insensible of the great
concernments of the soul. A phlegmatic temper helpeth him to draw
people to drowsy sluggishness, and to an idle, slothful life, and so
to ill means to maintain it, and to a backwardness to every work that
is good. A healthful temper much helpeth him to draw people to
gluttony, drunkenness, lust, ambition, covetousness, and neglect of
life eternal: a sickly temper helpeth him to tempt us to peevishness
and impatience: and a melancholy temper helpeth him in all the
temptations mentioned but even now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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