Satan's Devices

This might be one of the most powerful paragraphs I've ever read by a man:


"Satan's first device to draw the soul into sin is, to present the bait—and hide the hook; 
to present the golden cup—and hide the poison; to present the sweet, the pleasure, and 
the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin—and to hide from the soul 
the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of sin. By this device he 
deceived our first parents, "And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely 
die—for God does know, that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened; and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4-5). Your eyes shall 
he opened, and you shall be as gods! Here is the bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the
profit. Oh—but he hides the hook—the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would
certainly follow!" (Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies for Satan's Devices)