PRASD, Part 1--Device 8

Device 8--Satan will show your soul all the outward mercies that wicked men enjoy, the outward miseries that they avoid, while they walk in the pathways of sin.

This is a very common strategy to take us off of our devotion to God and pursuit of holiness. Who wants to walk a path that is in vain?

Remedy 1

Remember that we do not know from outward mercies, how God regards the heart of a man.

For example, the mercies shown to Saul, Omri, and sundry other wicked men, did not reveal the opposition God eventually expressed towards them.

Remedy 2

Remember that there is nothing so foolish and likely to provoke God to anger, than to use the mercy of God as an excuse to sin.

Remedy 3

Remember that there is no greater misery in this life than to be content in sin.

God disciplines those he loves. To allow a man to sin in peace is a great sign that he has finally abandonned him.

Remedy 4

Remind yourself that beneath all the worldy pleasures and freedoms enjoyed by wicked men, lies a want and a desire that those pleasures can never fulfill.

Their greatest needs are unmet, for no worldly thing can meet them.

Remedy 5

Remind yourself that the joy of outward things, such as riches, position, etc. is not always as they appear. Such things come with their own worries, their own anxieties, which are often hidden.

Remedy 6

Remind yourself why God allows these wicked men to sin in peace, and even to allow them to prosper in it.

Rom. ix--For the Scripture says to Pharoah, 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might fulfill my purposes in you, and my name might be proclaimed over all the earth.'

Not for Pharaoh was he raised up, but that the world may see the judgments of God.

Remedy 7

Remember that God disciplines those that he loves. You would be an illegitimate child if you did not experience the discipline of the Lord.

Remedy 8

More than their outward joy, dwell instead on the strict account that the vain men of the world will have to give for all the good the enjoy now.

This should make us despise the things of the world, and also have eyes of pity and compassion for the men who here sin in peace.