And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things
laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and
be merry!" But God said to him, "You fool! This very
night your life will be demanded from you. Then who
will get what you have prepared for yourself?" This is
how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God. Luke 12:19-21
Every man in the world is a fool—who heaps up treasure
to himself—and is not rich towards God. This age is full
of such golden fools, who pamper their bodies—but
starve their souls: who primp and trim up their bodies
with gold, silver, and silks—while their souls are naked,
and ragged, and destitute of all grace and goodness.
Such fools only mind and care for the things of this life
—as what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and
what they shall put on. They are all for their bodies, their
bellies, their backs. They take no care, they make no
provision for their immortal souls. So fools look only to
their bodies; and have no concern for their souls. Only
let them have but food for their bodies—and they care
not what becomes of their souls! Surely no fools like
these fools!
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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.