Most professing Christians have not the right art of
mortifying sin. All their attempts are to hide a lust,
not to quench it.
A great motive to provoke you to the mortifying of
your darling sins, is solemnly to consider, that the
conquest and effectual mortifying of one bosom sin,
will yield a Christian more glorious joy, comfort, and
peace—than ever he has found in the gratifying and
committing of all other sins.
The pleasure and sweetness which follows victory over
sin, is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetness
which is in the gratifying of sin. The joy which attends
the subduing of sin—is a noble joy, a pure joy, a special
joy, an increasing joy, and a lasting joy. But that joy
which attends the committing of sin—is an ignoble joy,
a corrupt joy, a decreasing joy, a dying joy.
The truth is—if there were the least real joy in sin, there
could be no hell-torments, where men shall most totally
sin, and be most totally tormented with their sin.
Ah! Christians, be restless, until, in the spirit and power
of Jesus, you have brought under control, that sin which
sticks so close unto you!
Remember this, nothing below the conquest of bosom
sins can make a jubilee in the heart. It is not a man's
whining and complaining over sin—but his mortifying
of sin, which will make his life a paradise of pleasure!
If, notwithstanding all that has been said, you are still
resolved to dally with sin, then you must resolve to live
as a stranger to God; you must expect sad trials without,
and sore troubles within; this shall be your just wages
for playing with sin! If you like the wages, then dally
with sin still; if otherwise, then sacrifice your Isaac!
Ah! souls, of all unpardoned sins, your bosom sins will
be presented by God, conscience, and Satan at last
—as the most filthy and ugly, as the most terrible and
dreadful. Your bosom sins at last will appear to be those
monsters, those fiends of hell—which have most provoked
God against you, which have shut up Christ's affections of
love and compassion from you, which have armed conscience
against you, which have barred the gates of glory against you,
which have prepared the hottest place in hell for you, and
which have given Satan the greatest advantage eternally
to triumph over you!
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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.