"And they will go away into eternal punishment, but
the righteous will go into eternal life." Matthew 25:46
Oh! what trouble of mind,
what horror of conscience,
what distraction and vexation,
what terror and torment,
what weeping and wailing,
what crying and roaring,
what wringing of hands,
what tearing of hair,
what dashing of knees,
what gnashing of teeth
will there be among the wicked—when they shall
see the saints in all their splendor, dignity, and
glory—and themselves forever shut out of heaven!
Then shall the wicked lamentingly say, "Lo! these
are the men whom we counted fools, madmen, and
miserable! Oh but now we see that we were deceived
and deluded! Oh that we had never despised them!
Oh that we had never reproached them!
Oh that we had never trampled upon them!
Oh that we had been one with them!
Oh that we had imitated them!
Oh that we had walked as they, and done as they
—that so we might now have been as happy as they!
Oh but this cannot be!
Oh this may not be!
Oh this shall never be!
Oh that we had never been born!
Oh that now we might be unborn!
Oh that we might be turned into a bird, a beast, a toad, a stone!
Oh that we were anything but what we are!
Oh that we were nothing!
Oh that now our immortal souls were mortal!
Oh that we might die—so that we may not eternally exist!
But it is now too late!
Oh we see that there is a reward for the righteous!
And we see, that by all the contempt which we have
cast upon these glorious shining saints, whose splendor
and glory does now darken the very glory of the sun,
that we have but treasured up wrath against the day
of wrath! We have but added fuel to those burning
coals, to those everlasting flames—in which we must
now lie forever! "And they cried to the mountains and
the rocks—Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One
who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!"
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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.