"Why should any living man complain when punished
for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord." Lamentations 3:39-40
"I will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I
have sinned against Him." Micah 7:9
Sins is the meritorious cause of all our sorrows
and sufferings. In all our sorrows we should read
our sins! When God's hand is upon our backs, our
hands should be upon our sins.
When a Christian is under the afflicting hand
of God, he may well say, 'I may thank . . .
this proud heart of mine,
this worldly heart of mine,
this froward heart of mine,
this formal heart of mine,
this dull heart of mine,
this backsliding heart of mine,
this self-seeking heart of mine—for . . .
this cup so bitter,
this pain so grievous,
this loss so great,
this disease so desperate,
this wound so incurable!
It is my own self, my own sin—which has caused
these floods of sorrows to break in upon me!
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.