"The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore
I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:24
God is every believer's portion.
Riches are not every believer's portion—but
God is every believer's portion.
Liberty and freedom are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Honor and applause are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
Prosperity and success are not every believer's
portion—but God is every believer's portion.
God is a universal portion. God is a portion that includes
all other portions. God has Himself the good, the sweet,
the profit, the pleasure, the delight, the comfort—of all
portions. There is no good in wife, child, father, friend,
husband, health, wealth, wit, wisdom, learning, honor—
but is all found in God.
There is in God an immense fullness, an ocean of goodness,
and an overplus of all that graciousness, sweetness, and
kindness, that is to be found in all other things or creatures.
All the goodlinesses and all the glories of all the creatures
are eminently and perfectly to be enjoyed in God. The
cream, the good, the sweet, the beauty, and the glory
of every creature, and of every thing—centers in God.
God is a universal excellency. All the particular excellencies
that are scattered up and down among angels, men, and all
other creatures—are virtually and transcendently in Him. He
has them all in His own being. All creatures in heaven and
earth have only their own particular excellencies; but God
has in Himself the very quintessence of all excellencies!
The creatures have but drops of that sea, that ocean, which
is in God. They have but their parts of that power, wisdom,
goodness, righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, loveliness,
desirableness, sweetness, graciousness, beauty, and glory
—which is in God. One has this part, and another has that;
one has this particular excellency, and another has that.
But the whole of all these parts and excellencies are to
be found in God alone!
There is none but that God, who is the universal good,
who can truly say, "All power, all wisdom, all strength,
all knowledge, all goodness, all sweetness, all beauty,
all glory, all excellency, etc., dwells in Me!" He who
can truly say this, is a God; and he who cannot,
is no God.
All the excellencies that are scattered up and down in the
creatures, are united into one excellency in God; but there
is not one excellency in God that is fully scattered up and
down among all the creatures. There is a glorious union of
all excellencies in God—and only in God.
Now this God, who is such a universal good, and who has
all excellencies dwelling in Himself, says to the believer,
"I am yours, and all that I have is yours!"
Every believer has the whole God wholly; he has all
of God for his portion. God is not a believer's portion
in a limited sense, nor in a comparative sense—but
in an absolute sense.
God Himself is theirs.
He is wholly theirs.
He is only theirs.
He is always theirs.
Our property reaches to all that God is, and to
all that God has. He has all—who has the
Possessor of all.
To be able to say, "God is mine!" is more than
if I were able to say that ten thousand worlds,
yes, and as many heavens, are mine!
Oh what a spring of joy and comfort should
this be to all the saints!
"This God is our God forever and ever!" Ps. 48:14
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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.