"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Mt. 15:19
Man has an evil root within him. Were there no devil to
tempt him, nor any wicked men to entice him, yet that
cursed sinful nature which is in him, would draw him to
sin, though he knows beforehand that 'the wages of sin
is eternal death.'
The whole frame of man is out of frame.
The understanding is dark,
the will cross,
the memory slippery,
the affections crooked,
the conscience corrupted,
the tongue poisoned,
the heart wholly evil, only evil, and continually evil.
Should God chain up Satan, and give him no liberty to
tempt or entice people to vanity or folly, yet they could
not but sin against Him, by reason of that cursed nature
that is in them.
Satan can only present the golden cup—but he has no
power to force us to drink the poison that is in the cup.
He can only present to us the glory of the world, he
cannot force us to fall down and worship him, to enjoy
the world. He can only spread his snares, he has no
power to force us to walk in the midst of his snares.
From the cradle to the cross, His whole life was
a life of sufferings. Jesus waded through . . .
a sea of trouble,
a sea of sin,
a sea of blood
a sea of wrath,
that sinners might be pardoned, justified, reconciled,
and saved!
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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.