CLOUDS THEY ARE WITHOUT WATER (Jude 12)

Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)

Always look upon wicked men, under those names and notions which the Scripture describes them, such as:

lions for their fierceness,
bears for their cruelty,
dragons for their hideousness,
dogs for their filthiness,
wolves for their subtleness,
scorpions, vipers, thorns, briars,
thistles, brambles, stubble, dirt,
chaff, dust, dross, smoke, scum.

You may know well enough what is within them, by the apt names which the Holy Spirit has given them. By looking upon them under those names and notions that the Scripture sets them out by, may preserve the soul from frequenting their company and delighting in their society. Such monsters are wicked men—which should render their company to all who have tasted of the sweetness of divine love, a burden and not a delight.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.." Psalm 1:1