PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks — Volume 6
Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680 · 323,388 words · 272 reading sections
Section 181
This work was too high for me ; and, as it is now done by so weak a hand, is too low for so many judicious eyes to look down to. Yet, according to your command, I have published these notes, which I humbly present to your Honours. They were once in your ear, they are now in your eye, and the Lord ever keep them in your…
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For the opening of the point, I shall premise these three things : — First, I shall premise something concerning upright hearts. Secondly, I shall premise something concerning the ways of God. And, Thirdly, The reasons why upright hearts will hold on in the ways of God, in the ways of well-doing, notwithstanding all…
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4. The last thing I shall premise is, Upright hearts in their constant course are even-carriaged hearts. An upright heart in his constant course is an even-carriaged heart. AH the ways of an upright soul are as commentaries one upon another; and look, * as face answereth face,' as Solomon speaketh, so the ways of an up…
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2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.' The word that is rendered laid up [dTroKecrat] signifies safely to lay up : it notes both a designation and a reservation. There is a crown designed and safely kept for me. And so such a promise as that. Rev. iii. 5, ' He that overcometh shall be a…
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Now, Right Honourable, in this labour to hold on, you have begun in the Spirit — as to that point— do not end in the flesh, but hold on in the way of well-doing. Justice is called by Aristotle, Hesperus, the glorious star : by another, the sun of the world. Oh let this glorious sun so shine forth, that the best of men …
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4. Fourthly, Right Honourable, consider this, those persons that have neglected the execution of justice upon their implacable enemies, when God has given them into their hands, those God hath left to perish basely and miserably. See it in Ahab, 1 Kings xxi. compared with xxii. 23-37. God gives Benhadad into Ahab's han…
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of mercy and sircefness ioioards you, notioitlistanding all the dis- couragements and all the lets that have been in his way ; and will not you hold on in ways of duty to Christ, who hath held on, notwith- standing all discouragements, in a way of mercy towards you ? Oh consider, consider what difficulties the Lord Jes…
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6. And then again consider, that all the afflictioiis, troubles, and dis- couragements that befall you shall never rob you of your treasure, of your jewels. They may rob you of some slight, light things ; as the sword that is by your side, the stick that is in your hand, and the flower that is in your hats ; but they c…
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the Holy Ghost. Th.at soul tliat liatli turned his l^ack upon Gotland his truth, and the ways of well-doing, because of discouragements, is now upon the borders of that sin, that if God leave him but a little, he may fall into, and then he shall never rise again; which speaks out the dangerous nature of it. [4.] And t…
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in the ways of God. Look often over that ' peace that passeth under- Btandino-.'and that heavenly joy and those blessed consolations that you have gained in the ways of God and in the ways of well-doing. When the mariner and the shopkeeper cast their eye upon their former gains, it encourageth and enableth their spirit…
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[3.] And then, thirdly, Love, it will enable the soul to hold on in the ways of well-doinfi; ag^ainst all discouraojements, by making a blessed intcrpreiation and a heavenly eonstruction of the affiictions, sorroivs^ and discouragements that an upright heart can meet icith in the ivays of God. All the afHictions and di…
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[3.] A third consideration for every day's meditation is, That it is very destructive and dangerous for the powers of this luorld to engage against the saints of God. Right Honourable, I abhor pleading for any particular interests ; I plead for all saints which Jesus Christ hath stamped his image upon, that he hath tak…
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Jacob.' The original, iolagnath, signifies a little worm that springs out of a grave ^ or kernel. ' And ye men of Israel : ' methe, ' ye dead men of Israel.' AVhat follows? 'Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the …
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before the Parliament of England. Shewing Hypocrites to be the prime ohjects of God's wrath : and the Grounds of it : with the Speciall Lessons that we are to In a Sermon Preaclied before the Parliament of ENGLAND; upon their last thanksgiving Day, being the 8th of Octo. 1650. for that late great Victory that th…
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those that called and counted him a murderer and a destroyer, though he was their saviour and deliverer. Elisha provided a table for them that had provided a grave for him. Though the Scots had provided graves for you, yet, Honoured Senators, shew bowels of mercy to them, so far as it will stand with the duty of your p…
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30, ' That the liypocrites reign not, lest the people be ensnared,' — jiiim- loch, from malach, [~\bf2,] ' that the hypocrite king it not.' There are no sorts of men on earth that delight to king it as hypocrites do. ' That the hypocrite king it not, lest the pco|)le be ensnared.' There are no men in tlie world so skil…
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two hands, the one to embrace, and the other to stab with, as Joab ; he hath two tongues, with Judas, the one to salute Christ, and another to betray Christ ; lie hath two faces, with Janus, one looks backward, and the other forward. A hypocrite hatli two hearts, with the Israelites, he can cry, 'Hail king Solomon, hai…
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very licentious, they greedily griped the possessions of the churcli, and ^vould not lack their part of Christ's coat. And Mr Blair, a great cuunsL'llor of Scotland, being under great horrors of conscience, pro- fessed that he pretended to religion only to get wealth. I have read of a prince that was of no religion but…
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other, as Herod, Pilate, and Judas were. And (3) that they are un- even-carried hearts ; they do not carry themselves evenly in all places, nor in all companies, nor at all times. Witness the scribes and pharisees. A sincere heart is like a die, which is every way even, and, like itself, turn it or throw it how you w\[…
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his mercy. It was a good saying ^ of Augustine, ' If God give pro- sperity, praise him, and it shall be increased ; if adversity, praise him, and it shall be removed, or at least sanctified.' It is sad to think that among so many that pretend to the 8[)irit, there should be so many that have such a spiritual palsy on t…
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the kindness of thy youth, the love of tliine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.' It is nothing to follow God in a paradise ; but it is a glorious, God-taking thing to follow him in a wilderness. [5.] Fifthly, The glorious appearances of God for you do bespeak you to …
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prey. God calls with open mouth upon you, and upon all the saints in England, to live to him who hath with his glorious arm saved you, when your proud enemies had passed the sentence of death upon you. God has therefore given yoii your lives for a prey, that you may no longer live to yourselves, nor to the lusts of the…
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in n <::;ol(len f^amc, or in a golden race, sliall run after flics or feathers, or faint before he comes to the goal, will lose not only his pains, hut also the crown for which he runs. My desires to the Lord shall be, that we may all so run as that we may obtain the crown. [13.] Lastly, The glorious appearances of Go…
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1. First, Dwell much upon the sweet hehaviour of others under the loss of their near and dear relations. When God had passed the sen- tence of death upon David's child, 2 Sam. xii. 20, he ' arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipp…
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[3.] God jmsses the sentence of death upon men's nearest and dearest mercies, that he may ivin them to a more complete and full dependence upon his hlessed self Man is a creature apt to hang and rest upon creature props : ' I looked on my right hand, and beheld,' saitli the psalmist, ' but there was no man that would k…
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The Greeks say, ' that the beginning of a man's nativity is the begetting of his misery.' In Job xiv. 1, 'Man that is born of a woman is born to trouble' and sorrow. The Hebrew word that is there rendered 'born,' l'w'',jeludh, signifieth also generated or con- ceived ; to note to us that man is miserable as soon as he …
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(1.) It is a change of our more clarTc and obscure enjoyment of God, for a more clear and sweet enjoyment of God. I say, the best believer that breathes in this world, that doth see and enjoy most of God, and the visions of his glory, yet he enjoys not God so clearly, but that he is much in the dark. The apostle Paul w…
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set, and what can make np the want of this sun ? As all candle-lij^ht, star-light, and torch-light, cannot make up the want of the light of the sun ; so when the Sun of righteousness hides his face, it is not all creature-comforts that can make up the want of his countenance. i David sometimes could say tliat ' God was…
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* Laurence Saunders kissing the stake, said, Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life. Funius, the Italian martyr, kissed him that brought him word of his execution. [Query, 'Faninus'?—G.] 400 A HELIEVEli's LAST DAY [ECCLES. VII. 1. believer is an entrance into Abraham's bosom, into paradise, into the ' …
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' The fear of death is worse than the pains of death, Timor mo7-tis ipsa morte i^ejor, because fear of death kills us often, whereas death itself can do it but once. Ejus est timere mortem qui ad Christuvi nolit ire, Let him fear death that is loath to go to Christ — Cyprian. Mori non metuo, sed damiiari metuo, I fear …
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Now the soul cannot look out at the eyes but it will be infected, nor hear by the ears but it will be distracted, nor smell at the nostrils and not be tainted, taste by the tongue and not be allured, and touch by the hand and not be defiled. Every sense and member is too ready upon every occasion and temptation to betr…
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(1.) He that prepares not for his dying-day, runs the hazard of losing his immortal soid. Though true repentance be never too late, yet late repentance is seldom true, aut pcenitendum aut 'pereundum. The heathen man could say, ' He that is not ready to repent to-day, will be less ready to-morrow ; his understanding wil…
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The last use then is this. If a believer's last day be his best day, then hy the rule of contraries, a luicked man's last day must he his loorst day, for he must there lie down with the sins of his youth.3 Death shall put an end to all the benefits and comforts that now thou enjoyest. Now thou must say. Honours, friend…
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cannot look above second causes to the First Cause, that cannot look to the ' wheel within the wheel/ Ezek. i. The plague is a hidden thing, a secret thing ; it is a sickness, a disease, that more immedi- ately comes from God than any other sickness or disease doth. Exod. ix. 3, ' Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon t…
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have fallen by llie sword, and by the liand of tlie destroying angel, when many thousands of Balaks and Balaams, I mean the worst of men, have escaped the sword, the plague, &c. ! And is there anything more obvious and notorious this day than this ? Surely not. V. The fifth divine maxim or conclusion is this — viz., T…
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prayer, wliicli no other men may.^ The i)romises of God are a Christian's Mofjna Charta, his cliief evidences that he hath to shew for his preservation, for his protection, for his salvation. Divine pro- mises are God's deed of gift; they are tlie only assurance which the saints have to shew for their right and title t…
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is in heaven :' Hob. i. 14, * Are tliey not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?' The world may deprive us of many outward comforts, but they can never deprive us of the ministry of the angels. i When the servants of God are hated by all men, persecuted by men, and f…
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420 A HEAVENLY CORDIAL. the waste howling wilderness ; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, bearetli them on her wings :' ver. 12, ' So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was n…
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people. God sent his people into Babylon, and their enemies added to all their sorrows and sufferings ; but will God put this up at their hands? No: Zech. i. 15, 'And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease ; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.' ' I am very sor…
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other saints that have been pitied and spared in this day of the Lord's (4.) Fourthly, No godly man dies in any common calam.ify till his glass he run, and his icork done, and he prepared and fitted for another world : Job xiv. 5, ' Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee ; thou hast app…
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Holland, lying at the point of death, said, * Wliat brightness do I see?' and being told it was the sunshine; ' No,' saith he' my Saviour shines. Now farewell world, welcome heaven ; the day-star from on high hath visited me. Preach at my funeral. God dealeth comfortably and familiarly with man : I feel his mercy ! I s…
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godly minister's death. Whilst Calvin lives, Beza's life is sweet ; but when Calvin dies, death is the more acceptable unto Beza. It is dark night when the lights are put out, and when the curtains are drawn, and the windows close shut. Ah, England, England ! if this is not thy present case, I know nothing ! The clouds…
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rejoice and glory in the sufferings of tlie poor people of God, and because some of them have fallen by the hand of the destroying angel, considering that the design of God herein is to stop the mouth of iniquity, and that none may say that he is either partial or fond ! Such men that have been eye-witnesses of God's i…
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Though the pestilence comes as a judgment upon wicked men, yet it comes only as a chastisement upon the people of God. When the plague comes upon wicked men, it comes upon them by virtue of the first covenant, and as a fruit of the curse ; but when it comes upon the godly, it comes upon them by virtue of the second cov…
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the pestilence Lath put a period to a Christian's days, then lie shall never be proud more, nor passionate more, nor unbelieving more, nor ■svorldly more, nor neglective of duty more, nor "grieve the Spirit of God more, nor wound conscience more, nor break the peace with God more, nor sad the hearts of the righteous mo…
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own eyes, much in deLasing lierself upon all occasions, looking upon herself as below ' the least of mercies,' with Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 10 ; and as ' dust and ashes,' with Abraham, Gen. xviii. 27 ; and as ' a poor Avorm,' with David, Ps. xxii. G ; and ' less than the least of all saints,' with Paul, Eph. iii. 8. And com…
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iJur. is. 20; 2 Chron. xi. 15 ; Amos v. '25, 26 ; 1 Cor. x. 20 ; 1 Tim.iv. 1 ; Ezek. viii. 3. 440 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. God. ' The devil,' saith Synesius, * is as glad to be worshipped in an idol, as he was by Israel in a calf,' Exod. xxxii. 4 : there being nothing tliat provokes God to destroy poor sinners more th…
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442 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. as well as he has cause to bless Grod for his graces and mercies. Look, as every particular stain doth not blemish the universal fineness of the cloth, so neither doth this or that particular fact disprove and deny the general bent of a person's heart or life. Particulars may not decide the…
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8. Eighthly, Imitate lier in her constancy in the loays of God, icith or notioithstanding all the hazards, storms, dangers, and troubles that has attended those ivays, especially in those latter days of ajjostasy, ivherein God had cast her lot. She was not a reed shaken with every wind ; she was unchangeable in changea…
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martyr, ' and in my hands to dispose of, I would give it to live all my days with my wife and children in a prison ; but Christ and his truth is dearer to me than all.' You have thousands of such instances upon record. They value him (5.) Above their goods : Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods.' S…
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from her. Slie commonly Ccarried a mantle of love about her to cast over other men's sins ; she seemed to live under the power of that word: Prov. X. 12, ' Love covereth all sins : ' and that 1 Pet. ix. 8, ' Charity shall cover the mtdtitude of sins.' By covering must be meant (1.) A favourable construction of all thin…
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* See my treatise on this text, [' Crown and Glory of Christ,'] Vol. IV. — G. 448 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. wished that both Agrippa and all that heard him were altogether such as he was, except his bonds,' Acts xxvi. 29. As soon as Matthew had tasted that the Lord was good, Luke v. 29, he called together a huge multit…
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1 In all my visits to her, my hardest task was still to work Iser into a willingness to stay inthis world till all her doing and her suffering work was over. 450 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. It was well said of [by] one, ' So far as we tremble at death, so far we want love.' It is sad, when the contract is made between Ch…
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their canonical epistles, have spent some good part of their holy lives in the ample commendations of those eminent saints to whom they wrote ; as Paul in his to Philemon, and John in that of his to an honourable lady, and that other to a meaner person — viz., Gains ; and that they went not behind the door, as we say, …
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given in to me that it was because I would not go to New England, Upon this the Lord took away all fears from my spirit, and then I told my husband I was willing to go with him ; for the Lord had made my way clear to me against any that should oppose. And then my husband went presently upon the work to fit to go. "And …
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EXPERIENCES OF MRS SUSANNA BELL. 455 was in, I was bemoaning myself before the Lord, and the Lord was pleased to bring that scripture to my remembrance in John xvi., ' I will give you that joy that no man taketh from you.' And then I thought with myself that it was Christ that I did want, and not joy. But the Lord bro…
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And since, in tlie midst of my many bodily infirmities, God liatli made that word sweet to my soul, Ps. cxvi. 7, ' Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee ; ' and that word, Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art …
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iv. 55; vi. 51. Banded, iii. 160. Bartholomew-babies, vi. 51. Bavin, iv. 388. Bedlams, i. 317. Bod-rool, iv. 157. Bogged, iv. 30, Being, ii. 141. Bib, iii. 355 ; iv. 141. Blades, iv. 186. Blue-bottle, iv. 23. Bonitv, iii. 225, Boulter, i. 288. . Bounce, i. 390. Carriage, i. 213, 257, Charms, iii. 178. Chineses, ii. 44…
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Aristippus, i. 133, 229, 268, 303. Aristomachus, Li. 227. Aristophanes, iv. 156. Aristotle, i. 53, 106, 137. 1.38, 195, 202, 291, 295, 314; ii. 28, 203, 390, 462, 492, 49!) ; iii. 210, 247, 321, 370, 424, 447, 471 ; iv. 07, 255, 317, 330, 430 ; v. 28, 65, 86, 271, 275; \'i.5, 96. Arrian, i. 31; ii. 470; vi. 413. A…
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xxxiii; 'farewell' sermon, I. xxxii, and Appendix B, lix-lxviii ; Epistles, L xxxiii, and Appendix C, Ixviii-lxxvi ; mistakes of Calamy, I. xxxiii; mar- riage, L xxxiii, xxxiv ; 'chapel' after the 'Eject- ment,' I. xxxiv ; account of, ib. ; popularitj', I. xxxiv, XXXV ; influence, ib.; the ' Plague ' and ' Fix'e,' ib. …
1,356 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.