("The Glorious Day of the Saints Appearance")
"I hate every wrong path." Psalm 119:104
The original word signifies to hate with a deadly and
irreconcilable hatred; to hate so as that nothing will
satisfy but the destruction of the thing hated.
The true Christian hates all sin. All sin strikes at God,
at His holiness, as well as at an upright man's happiness.
All sin strikes at God's glory, as well as at the soul's comfort;
therefore the soul strikes at all sin. All sins, in the eye of an
upright heart, are traitors to the crown and dignity of the
Lord Jesus; therefore the soul rises in arms against all. An
upright heart looks upon sin to be a universal evil. An upright
heart looks upon sin as that which has thrown down:
the most righteous man in the world, as Noah;
the best believer in the world, as Abraham;
the best king in the world, as David;
the best apostle in the world, as Paul;
the strongest man in the world, as Samson;
the wisest man in the world, as Solomon;
the meekest man in the world, as Moses;
the patientest man in the world, as Job;
and so his soul rises against it.
An upright heart hates all sins, even those he cannot
conquer. An unsound heart, a rotten heart, strikes at
some sins—and yet loves and retains other sins.
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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.