"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1
O sirs! what matter of admiration is this—that the
great and glorious God, who has many millions of
glorious angels attending Him—that He should . . .
look upon all holy people as His sons, and
love them as His sons, and
delight in them as His sons, and
clothe them as His sons, and
feed them as His sons, and
protect them as His sons!
What great love is this—that those who have . . .
so highly provoked God,
walked so cross and contrary to God,
were so exceeding unlike God,
preferred every lust, and every toy and vanity before God,
fought many years under Satan's banner against God,
refused all the kind offers of mercy from God;
that those who have deserved to be . . .
reprobated by God,
damned by God, and
to be thrown to hell by God—
that these should be made the sons of God!
Oh stand and wonder! Oh stand and admire the
freeness of His grace, and the riches of His grace!
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1
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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.