"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we
are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Corinthians 2:11
Sin is but a bitter sweet. That seeming sweet which
is in sin will quickly vanish; and lasting shame, sorrow,
horror, and terror will come in the room thereof.
Forbidden profits and pleasures are most pleasing to
vain men, who count madness mirth. Many long to be
meddling with the murdering morsels of sin, which
nourish not—but rend and consume the soul which
receives them. Many eat that on earth which they
digest in hell. Sin's murdering morsels will deceive
those who devour them.
Adam's apple was a bitter sweet;
Esau's bowl of stew was a bitter sweet;
the Israelites' quails a bitter sweet;
Jonathan's honey a bitter sweet;
Adonijah's dainties a bitter sweet.
After the meal is ended, then comes the reckoning.
Men must not think to dance and dine with the
devil, and then to sup with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; to feed upon the
poison of asps, and yet that the viper's tongue
should not slay them!
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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.