Has Jesus Christ suffered such great and grievous things
for you? Oh then, in all your fears, doubts, and conflicts
with enemies, within or without—fly to the sufferings of
Christ as your city of refuge!
In every temptation let us look up to a crucified Christ,
who is fitted and qualified to support tempted souls. Oh
my soul, whenever you are assaulted, let the wounds of
Christ be your city of refuge where you may fly and live!
Let us learn, in every trouble which presses us—whether
it be sin, temptation, or any other evil—to translate it
from ourselves to Christ! And all the good in Christ—let
us learn to translate it from Christ to ourselves!
Do your sins terrify you? Oh then, look up to a crucified
Savior, who bore your sins in His own body on the tree!
When sin stares you in the face, oh then turn your face
to a dying Jesus, and behold Him . . .
with a spear in His side,
with thorns in His head,
with nails in His feet, and
a pardon in His hands!
Oh, remember that there is nothing in heaven or earth
more efficacious to cure the wounds of conscience, than a
frequent and serious meditation on the wounds of Christ!
Ah, Christians, under all your temptations, afflictions,
fears, doubts, conflicts, and trials—be persuaded to
keep a fixed eye upon a crucified Jesus! And remember
that all He did—He did for you; and that all He suffered
—He suffered for you! This will be a strong cordial to
keep you from fainting under all your distresses. Oh,
that Christians would labor, under all their soul-troubles,
to keep a fixed eye upon a bleeding Christ; for there
is nothing which will ease them, quiet them, settle them,
and satisfy them like this!
Many, may I not say most, Christians are more apt to
eye their sins, their sorrows, their prayers, their tears,
their resolves, their complaints—than they are to eye
a suffering Christ. And from hence springs their greatest
woes, wounds, miseries, and dejection of spirit. Oh, that
a crucified Christ might be forever in your eye—and
always upon your hearts!
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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.