"I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me."
I can be high or low, poor or rich, honorable or base,
something or nothing, etc., only through Christ who
strengthens me.
Canticles 4:16, "Blow upon my garden, that the spices
thereof may send forth a fragrant smell." We may puff
and blow our hearts out, and yet no fragrance will
flow forth—if Christ does not blow. Our graces thrive
and are upheld in life and power, in beauty and glory
—only by the internal operation of Christ in our souls.
Psalm 138:3, "In the day when I cried, You answered me,
and strengthened me with strength in my soul." Your graces,
Christians, are heavenly plants of God's own planting and
watering; and certainly the heavenly Farmer will never allow
such plants of renown to wither, for lack of heavenly sap.
He will strengthen, support, and nourish the work of His
own hand. He will cause the desires of His people to bud,
and their graces to blossom, and their souls to be like a
watered garden—green and flourishing. God is eminently
and fully engaged to carry on the work of grace in His
children's souls.
Therefore do not sit down and say—My light is but dim,
and my love but weak, and my joy but a spark which will
quickly go out, etc. But always remember, that those weak
measures of grace which you have, are a sure evidence of
greater measures which God will confer upon you in His
own time and in His own ways.
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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.