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Thomas Brooks
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.
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Sermon Summary
Thomas Brooks emphasizes the critical necessity of holiness for anyone seeking to encounter God, asserting that without it, no one—regardless of status—can attain a true relationship with the Lord in this life or the next. He warns of the dire consequences for the unholy, who face eternal separation from God and the torment of hell, highlighting that the loss of holiness equates to the loss of one's soul, Christ, and heaven itself. Brooks passionately urges his listeners to pursue holiness, cautioning that failure to do so may indicate a hardened heart and spiritual blindness.
Without Holiness
"Without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb. 12:14 To 'see' implies both vision and fruition. Without holiness, no man—be he high or low, noble or ignoble, rich or poor, etc., shall ever come to a blessed acquaintance with God here, or to a glorious fruition and enjoyment of God hereafter. Oh, how great a misery, how great a punishment, how great an affliction, how great a trouble and torment, how great a tribulation, how great a hell —will it be for all unholy people to be forever and ever banished the court of heaven, and to be shut out from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power—and to be everlastingly confined to the prison of hell, and to the society and company of that damned crew who will be still a-cursing and a-blaspheming God, and adding to one another's torments! Ah, friends! without holiness all is lost . . . your soul is lost, Christ is lost, God is lost, heaven is lost, glory is lost! What are all other losses, compared to these losses? Well, sirs, if none of these arguments can prevail with you to labor after holiness, I must conclude . . . that divine justice has hardened you, that Satan has blinded you, that your lusts have besotted you, that this world has bewitched you, and that it would have been ten thousand thousand times better for you, to have never been born, than to live without holiness, and to die without holiness, and to be everlastingly damned for lack of holiness. "Without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb. 12:14
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.