'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — April 11

Be alert that you might discover temptation early. Most men do not perceive their enemy until they have been wounded. Yes, and others are engaged in temptation unaware. They are asleep without a sense of danger until others awaken them because their house is on fire. Few take notice of temptation until it is too late, and find themselves entangled. Be careful, then, to watch for and seek to understand early the snares that are laid for you, and to understand the advantage your enemy might have against you, before he gains strength and casts concentrated poison into your soul. Two things actively unite in temptation: Satan and lust. Our lust rises with purpose to express itself in the extreme. Every expression of it would be a settled enmity against God. Look at it in its first attempts as your mortal enemy. Hate it; it is the greatest enemy you have. O that it were killed and destroyed! O that I were delivered out of its power! Satan does not have a friendly intention towards you any more than your lust. Is he not a participant in every one of your temptations? Is he a friend when he seeks to beguile you as a serpent, and to devour you as a lion? When Satan tempts you to break the law he also seeks to divert you away from the gospel itself. He uses sin as a bridge to worse ground, to assault your interest in Christ. He will say today, 'You may venture on sin, because you have an interest in Christ', but tomorrow he will tell you that you have no interest in Christ because of your sin. Meet your temptation in its entrance with the thoughts of faith concerning Christ on the cross; this will make it sink before you. Entertain no parley with sin. Say, 'It is Christ that died—that died for sins such as these!'

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Devotional Readings 'Voices From The Past Vol.1.'
John Owen, Works, VI:134-135
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