"And anyone whose name was not found recorded
in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire!"
Revelation 20:15
"Rejoice that your names are written in heaven!"
Luke 10:20
It is matter of the greatest joy in the world, for a man
to have his name enrolled in heaven. Look! as it is the
sinner's hell that his name is engraved in the book of
damnation; just so, it is the believer's heaven that his
name is engraved in the book of election.
There are many who are exceedingly inquisitive to know
whether their names are written in heaven or not. I
would say to such—there is no such way to know this
—as by your holiness. Have you broken off your sins
by sound repentance? Has the gospel changed your
inside and your outside? Has it made you a new creature,
and turned you from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to Jesus Christ? etc. Then, without all question,
your name is written in heaven, and you are the person
who has the greatest cause in the world to rejoice!
"Rejoice that your names are written in heaven!"
Luke 10:20
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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.