What labor and pains worldlings take to obtain the vain
things of this life—to obtain the poor things of this world,
which are but shadows and dreams, and mere nothings!
Oh! how should this stir and provoke Christians to be up
and doing, to labor as for life—to make sure of spiritual
and eternal things! Is earth better than heaven? No! Oh
then be ashamed, Christians, that worldlings are more
studious and industrious to obtain pebbles, than you
are to obtain pearls! They labor to obtain those things
which at last will be their burden, their bane, their plague,
their hell. You are to labor to obtain those things which will
be your joy and crown in life, in death, and in the day of
judgment.
Pambus wept when he saw a harlot dressed with much
care and cost—partly to see one take so much pains to go to
hell; and partly because he had not been so careful to please
God, as she had been to please her sluttish lovers.
Ah, Christians! what great reason have you to sit down and
weep bitterly—that worldlings take so much pains to make
themselves miserable—and that you have taken no more
pains to get more of Christ into 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.