All saints are not alike holy. Some are more holy, and
others are less holy; in some saints the springs of holiness
runs low, in others the springs of holiness rise very high.
Holiness thrives not alike in all saints. God never distributes
holiness alike to all. To some He gives more, to others less,
according to the good pleasure of His grace.
All saints are equally justified, and equally pardoned,
and equally reconciled, and equally accepted—but all
saints are not equally sanctified.
Christ has not
work alike for all saints to do, nor
burdens alike for all saints to bear, nor
mercies alike for all saints to improve, nor
temptations alike for all saints to resist, nor
difficulties alike for saints to grapple with, nor
dangers alike for all saints to encounter with,
therefore He gives not a like measure of holiness
to all—but to some more, to others less, according
as their condition requires. Some saints stand in
need of a great deal more grace and holiness
than others do.
God gives different measures and degrees of
holiness among His people as their needs require.
All that holiness which any man has, whether it is
little, or whether it is much—is all of grace, it is all
of free-grace. Therefore let every Christian . . .
improve it,
be thankful for it, and
walk humbly under it.
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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.