"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know
what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 27:1
Who can sum up the many possible deaths which are
still lurking in his own body; or the innumerable hosts of
external dangers which beleaguer him on every side; or
the invisible arrows which fly about his ears continually!
How soon he may have his mortal wound given him by one
or another of them—who can tell? Now, how sad would it be
for a man to have a summons to appear before God in that
eternal world, before his heart and life are savingly changed!
The life of a man is but a shadow, a runner, a span, a vapor,
a flower, etc. Though there is but one way to come into
the world—yet there are many thousand ways to be
sent out of the world!
We carry about in our bodies, the material for a thousand
deaths, and may die a thousand different ways in several
hours. As many senses, as many members, nay, as many
pores as there are in the body—so many windows there are,
for death to enter in at!
Death needs not spend all his arrows upon us. A worm,
a gnat, a fly, a hair, a seed of a raison, a skin of a
grape, the stumbling of a horse, the trip of a foot, the
prick of a pin, the cutting of a fingernail, the cutting out
of a corn; all these have been to others, and any of them
may be to us—the means of our death within the space of
a few days; nay, of a few hours; nay, of a few moments!
I am sure that the worst of deaths, shall
but translate true believers . . .
from earth—to heaven,
from a wilderness—to a paradise,
from misery—to glory, and
from mixed and mutable enjoyments—to
the pure and everlasting enjoyments of God!
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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.