No Wonder If Satan Gets Into
The Saddle By William Secker Avoid Every Kind Of Evil 1 Thessalonians
5.22 He who now gives way to the least sin may yet be given
up to the greatest sins. We are never far enough from
lust while we are on earth, or near enough to Christ while we
are out of heaven. O stand far off from the Devil's
mark, unless you would be hit by his arrows. The drawing near
to the appearance of evil is the first step to the accomplishment
of the most enormous evil. A spark will easily catch a box
of tinder on fire. Little streams will find a passage
to the great sea. Christian reader, why should
you venture on slippery places when you can scarcely stand upon
the firmest ground? who will pity that man whose
house is blown up with gunpowder, if he stores it in the chimney-corner?
Such is the monstrous wickedness of men, that though the streams
and currents of their own lusts carry them too swiftly already,
yet they hoist up sails to catch the devil's winds. The fowler
spreads his net, but the wings of the bird carry her into it.
If you would not step into the harlot's house, you should not
go by the harlot's door. If you would not gather the forbidden
fruit, then beware how you look on the luscious tree. To pray
against temptations, And yet to rush into occasions to sin
is to thrust your fingers into the fire and then pray that they
might not be burnt. If you hold the stirrup for him,
no wonder if Satan gets into the saddle. Watch and pray, so
that you will not fall into temptation. Matthew 26 41 That man who is
the most watchful is the least sinful. A soul without its watch
is like a city without its wall, exposed to the attack of all
its enemies. Those who would not fall into
the river should beware how they approach too near to its banks.
He who crushes the egg need not fear the biting of the serpent.
He who would not drink of the wine of divine wrath, let him
not touch the cup of sinful pleasure. A person who carries gunpowder
with him can never stand too far from the fire. If we accompany
sin one mile, it will compel us to go two. Sin swells like
Elijah's cloud from the size of a man's hand to such an expansion
as to cover the whole sky. Let him who thinks he stands
take heed, lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10.12 you will
quickly lose your standing if you are fearless of falling.