"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content
with what you have, because God has said—Never will I leave
you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
There are five negatives in the Greek, "I will not, not, not,
not, not leave you nor forsake you;" to fully assure and fully
satisfy the people of God that He will never forsake them,
and that He will everlastingly stick close to them. What does
this unparalleled repetition—"I will never, never, never, never,
never," mean but this, "I will ever, ever, ever, yes and forever
and ever take care of you, and look after you, and be mindful
of you." Though they had changed . . .
their glory for contempt;
their fine raiment for sheepskins and goatskins;
their silver for brass,
their plenty for scarcity,
their fullness for emptiness,
their stately houses for holes and caves, and dens of the earth,
yet they are to be contented and satisfied with present things,
upon this very ground—that God will always cleave to them, and
that He will never turn his back upon them.
The Hebrew Christians had been stripped and plundered of all
their goods that were good for anything; and yet they must be
contented, they must sit down satisfied, with their hands upon
their mouths, though all were gone, Hebrews 10:34.
Though men cannot bring their means to their minds, yet
they must bring their minds to their means, and then they
will sit down in silence, though they have but . . .
a rag on their backs,
a penny in their purse, and
a crust in their cupboards.
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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.