("A Heavenly Cordial" 1665)
None of God's afflictions upon His people ever make
any change or alteration of God's affections towards
His people.
However harsh His hand may be against them—
yet His love, His heart, His favor, His affections—are
still one and the same to them.
When Munster lay sick, and his friends asked him how
he felt? He pointed to his sores and ulcers, whereof he
was full, and said, "These are God's gems and jewels
with which he decks His best friends; and to me they
are more precious than all the gold and silver in the
world!"
God's dear love to His people is not founded upon
anything good in His people, nor upon anything good
which is done by His people—but only upon His own
free grace and goodness!
What could move the holy God to love us, who are poor,
worthless, fruitless sinners? This question is best resolved
in these words, "He loves us because He loves us!" The root
of His love to us lies in Himself! God's love to His people is
a lasting love, yes, an everlasting love! It is a love which
never decays nor waxes cold. "I have loved you with an
everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."
Jeremiah 31:3
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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.