Temptation (continued)
If you yield to satan in the least, he will carry you further and further, till he has left you under a stupefied or terrified conscience: stupefied, till thou hast lost all thy tenderness. A stone at the top of a hill, when it begins to roll down, ceases not till it comes to the bottom. Thou thinkest it is but yielding a little, and so by degrees are carried on, till thou hast sinned away all thy profession, and all principles of conscience, by the secret witchery of his temptations. (Thomas Manton)
We must also pray that the Lord give not out that measure of leave to the devil which we give out to sin...but that He would rather make satan a surgeon to show us our sins than a sergeant to confound us for them. (Richard Greenham)
We may have leaders into temptation, but it is our fault if we follow them. Nay, to come closer home, do not we tempt ourselves? satan is not the sole cause of evil. The fowler sets his glass, spreads his net, whistles like the bird; yet cannot all this make the fowl come into his net whether she will or no. If we had not pliable ears and flexible affections, the sirens might sing in vain. (Thomas Adams)
satan can never undo a man without himself; but a man may easily undo himself without satan. (Thomas Brooks)
There is a secret disposition in the heart of all, to all sin. Mark! "Tis satan tempts, but our own lust draws us. (William Gurnall)
Temptations and occasions put nothing into a mam, but only draw out what was in him before. (John Owen)
There is no way to kill a man's righteousness but by his own consent. (John Bunyan)
To want temptations is the greatest temptation of all. (Samuel Rutherford)
If thou hast fallen into sin through violent temptations, seek speedily for repentance for it, recovery out of it, and reformation from it. (Vavasor Powell)
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