"We know that God causes everything to work together
for the good of those who love God and are called
according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.
When a man's heart is once sanctified, then all things
are sanctified to him. O sirs! this is so great and so
glorious a privilege, that it is more worth than a world,
yes, than many worlds. It is a great mercy—that all
things may be sanctified to him—that is, that all things
may so work, as to make him more and more holy:
that every cross may make him more holy, and
that every comfort may make him more holy;
that every mercy may make him more holy, and
that every misery may make him more holy;
that every ordinance may make him more holy, and
that every providence may make him more holy;
that every affliction at home may make him more holy, and
that every judgment abroad may make him more holy.
Every condition is sweet when it is sanctified to us:
sickness is as sweet as health when it is sanctified to us:
weakness is as sweet as strength when it is sanctified to us;
poverty is as sweet as riches when it is sanctified to us;
disgrace is as sweet as honor when it is sanctified to us;
bonds are as sweet as liberty when they are sanctified to us;
death is as sweet as life when it is sanctified to us.
Look! as no condition can be a happy condition which is
not a sanctified condition—just so, no condition can be a
miserable condition, which is a sanctified condition. Now
this is only the holy man's privilege, the holy man's mercy
—to have every estate and every condition sanctified unto
him; and this indeed is the cream and crown of all our
mercies—to have them sanctified unto us, ay, and every
bitter will be sweet, yes very sweet, when it is sanctified
unto us.
What though your mercies, O Christian, are fewer than
others', and lesser than others', and leaner than others',
and shorter than others'—yet you have no reason to
complain, as long as your mercies are sanctified mercies.
What though . . .
your trials are greater than others', and
your burden is heavier than others', and
your sorrows are deeper than others', and
your crosses comes thicker than others'
—yet you have no cause to complain,
as long as they are sanctified.
Are you a holy person? Oh then remember for
your comfort, that . . .
every bit of bread you eat is sanctified, and
every draught you drink is sanctified, and
every suit of clothes you wear is sanctified;
the beds you lie on are sanctified, and
the stools you sit on are sanctified;
the very air you breathe in is sanctified, and
the very ground you tread on is sanctified;
every penny in your purse is sanctified, and
every dollar in your shop is sanctified;
whatever you have at home is sanctified, and
whatever you have abroad is sanctified.
Oh! how should the sense of these things . . .
sweeten all your bitters, and
turn your hell into heaven, and
wipe all tears from your eyes, and
turn your sighing into singing, and
your mourning into rejoicing, etc.
Be the first to react on this!
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.