"They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced—and
shall mourn." Zechariah 12:10
All godly sorrow is the fruit and effect of evangelical faith.
Godly sorrow flows from faith—as the stream from the fountain,
the branch from the root, and the effect from the cause. All
gracious mourning flows from looking, from believing. Nothing
breaks the heart of a sinner like a look of faith. All tears of
godly sorrow drop from the eye of faith. Godly sorrow
rises and falls—as faith rises and falls. The more a man is
able by faith to look upon a pierced Christ—the more his
heart will mourn over all the dishonors which he has done
to Christ. The more deep and wide the wounds are, which
faith shows me in the heart and sides of Christ—the more
my heart will be wounded for sinning against Christ.
The free love and favor of God, and His unspeakable goodness
and mercy manifested in Jesus Christ to poor sinners—is the
very spring and fountain of all evangelical sorrow. Nothing
breaks the heart of a poor sinner like the sight of God's free
love in Christ, the Redeemer. A man cannot seriously look upon
the firstness, the freeness, the greatness, the unchangeableness,
the everlastingness, and the matchlessness of God's free favor
and love in Christ—with a hard heart, or with dry eyes! It is
only such a love as this, which sets the soul a-mourning and
a-lamenting over a crucified Christ.
The fears of wrath, of hell, and of condemnation—works unsound
hearts to mourn. But it is the sight of a bleeding, dying Savior—
which sets sincere, gracious souls a-mourning.
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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.