("Touchstone of Sincerity")
To hate sin is not merely to refrain from sin, for
so Balaam did. To hate sin is not merely to confess
sin, for so Pharaoh and Judas did. To hate sin is not
merely to be afraid to sin, for this may be where
there is no hatred of sin. To hate sin is not merely
to mourn because of the dreadful effects and fruits
that sin may produce, for so Ahab did, and the
Ninevites did, etc. He who fears sin for hell, fears
not to sin—but to burn. He hates sin indeed—who
hates sin as hell itself. It was a saying of one of the
ancients, that if hell and sin were before him, he
would rather fall into hell than fall into sin. Here
was a true hatred of sin indeed.
A hypocrite may be troubled for sin, as it blots his
reputation, and wounds his conscience, and brings
a scourge, and destroys his soul, and shuts him out
of heaven, and throws him to hell! But he is never
troubled for sin, he never mourns for sin, he never
hates sin because it is contrary to the nature of
God, the being of God, the law of God, the glory
of God, the design of God; or because of the evil
which is in the nature of sin, or because of the
defiling and polluting power of sin.
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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.