"Christ is all that matters!" Colossians 3:11
So says the saved soul: "Why do you tell me of this and
that outward comfort, when I cannot see the face of Him
whom my soul loves? Why, honor is not my Christ; riches
are not my Christ; the favor of the creature is not my Christ!
Let me have Jesus—and let the men of this world take
the world, and divide it among themselves! I prize my
Christ above all, I would enjoy my Christ above all other
things in the world."
His presence will make up the absence of all other comforts.
His absence will darken and embitter all other comforts.
Christ is all and in all, to truly gracious souls.
We have all things in Christ.
Christ is all things to a Christian.
If we are sick, Jesus is a physician.
If we thirst, Jesus is a fountain.
If our sins trouble us, Jesus is our righteousness.
If we stand in need of help, Jesus is mighty to save.
If we fear death, Jesus is life.
If we are in darkness, Jesus is light.
If we are weak, Jesus is strength.
If we are in poverty, Jesus is plenty.
If we desire heaven, Jesus is the way.
The soul cannot say, 'this I would have, and
that I would have.' But having Jesus, he has
all he needs—eminently, perfectly, eternally.
Luther said he had rather be in hell with Christ,
than in heaven without Him.
'None but Christ! none but Christ!' said Lambert the
martyr, lifting up his hands and his flaming fingers!
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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.