"Our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29
Chaff and stubble cannot stand before that God, who is
a consuming fire. Oh, how will the ungodly tremble and
quake when the whole frame of heaven and earth shall
break in pieces, and be set in a flame about their ears!
Oh, what trouble of mind,
what horror and terror of conscience,
what weeping and wailing,
what crying and roaring,
what wringing of hands,
what tearing of hair, and
what gnashing of teeth,
will there be among the ungodly in this day—when
they shall see their sins charged upon them on the one
side—and divine justice terrifying them on the other
side! When they shall look upward, and there see an
angry God frowning upon them; and look downward,
and there see hell gaping ready to receive them; and
look inward, and there find conscience accusing and
gnawing of them! When they shall look on their right
hand, and there behold the holy angels standing with
so many flaming swords to keep them out of heaven;
and look on their left hand, and there behold the devil
and his demons ready to drag them down to the lowest
hell! Oh, now how will they wish for the rocks to fall
upon them, and the mountains to cover them! How
will they wish that they had never been born; or that
they might now be unborn! How will they now wish
that their immortal souls were mortal; or that they
might be turned into beasts, birds, stones, trees,
or air—or anything rather than what they are!
Alas! what heart is able to conceive, or what tongue
is able to express—the fear and dread, the horror and
terror, the astonishment and amazement, which will
fall upon all ungodly people in that day!
"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 5:9
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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.