The worst men are commonly best conceited of themselves.
"There is a generation which is pure in their own eyes—and
yet is not washed from their filthiness." Proverbs 30:12
They were very bad—and yet they had a great opinion of their
own goodness. They were very filthy, and yet they stood very
much upon their own purity. Their hands were black, their hearts
were black, their works were black, and their ways were as black
as hell—and yet they were pure in their own eye. They were
filthy within, and filthy without; filthy in body, and filthy in
soul, and filthy in spirit. Filthiness had quite overspread them,
and yet they thought to cover their filthiness with a mask of
holiness. There has always been such a generation of men, who
have wallowed in sin like swine in the mire—and yet have
kept up in themselves a strong opinion of their own goodness
and holiness.
There are many who are shining Christians, who are pure golden
Christians in their own eyes—who are vile in God's eyes!
Those who pretend their hearts are as good as the best, when
their lives are as bad as the worst—shall experience this truth
at last to their shame and cost—that without visible holiness
here, there can be no fruition of God hereafter.
Be the first to react on this!
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.