("Touchstone of Sincerity")
"The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this:
God, I thank You that I’m not like other people—greedy,
unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I
fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get."
Luke 18:11-12
A hypocrite . . .
may know much,
and pray much,
and hear much,
and fast much,
and give much,
and obey much
—and all to no purpose, because he never does
anything in a right manner; he never carries on
his work from inward principles of faith, fervency,
love, delight, etc.
The scribes and pharisees fasted, prayed and gave
alms—but their hearts were not changed, renewed,
nor sanctified—and this proved their eternal bane.
A hypocrite never performs religious duties from
spiritual principles, nor in a spiritual manner. A
hypocrite is never inclined, moved, and carried
to God, to Christ, to holy duties—by the power
of a new and inward principle of grace working
a suitableness between his heart and the things
of God. A hypocrite rests satisfied in the
mere external acts of religion, though he
never feels anything of the power of religion
in his own soul. A hypocrite looks to his words
in prayer, and to his voice in prayer, and to his
gestures in prayer—but he never looks to the
frame of his heart in prayer. A hypocrite's heart
is never touched with the words his tongue utters;
a hypocrite's soul is never divinely affected, delighted,
or graciously warmed with any duty he performs.
A hypocrite's spiritual performances never flow from
spiritual principles, nor from a sanctified heart. Though
his works may be new, yet his heart remains old; his
new practices always spring from old principles; and
this will prove the hypocrite's bane, as you may see
in Isaiah 1:15, "When you make many prayers, I will
not hear, for your hands are full of blood." These were
unsanctified ones; their practices were new—but their
hearts were old still.
A hypocrite has no . . .
inward,
saving,
transforming,
experimental,
affectionate,
practical
knowledge of God.
A sincere Christian is enamored with Christ above all.
He cannot be satisfied nor contented with duties or
ordinances, without enjoying Christ in them, who is the
life, soul, and substance of them. But when hypocrites
do duties—all they do is from common principles, from
natural principles, and from an unsanctified heart—and
that mars all. Hypocrites make a great profession and
are much in the outward actions of religion; they make
a very fair show, they hear, they read, they pray, they
fast, they sing psalms, and they give alms; but these
duties being not performed from a principle of divine
love, nor from a principle of spiritual life, nor from a
sanctified frame of heart—are all lost, and the authors
of them are undone forever and ever. "If anyone does
not love the Lord, that person is cursed!" 1 Cor. 16:22
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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.