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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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Thomas Brooks emphasizes the profound comfort found in recognizing our personal relationship with God, declaring that the word 'mine' is the sweetest and most comforting. He illustrates how knowing God as our own brings joy and delight, transforming every experience into a source of pleasure, even amidst trials. Brooks encourages believers to reflect on their ownership of God, which enriches their lives and provides strength, guidance, and support. This understanding turns bitterness into sweetness and burdens into lightness, making God the ultimate source of comfort and joy. Ultimately, he portrays the relationship with God as invaluable, likening it to treasures and comforts that sustain us through life's challenges.
The Sweetest and the Most Comforting Word
The knowledge of a man's property in God is the comfort of comforts. Property makes every comfort, a pleasurable comfort, a delightful comfort. When a man walks . . . in a fair meadow, and can write mine upon it, into a pleasant garden, and can write mine upon it, into a fruitful field, and can write mine upon it, into a stately habitation, and can write mine upon it, into a rich treasury, and can write mine upon it— Oh, how does it please him! How does it delight him! How does it joy and rejoice him! Of all words, the word mine is the sweetest and the most comforting word. Ah! when a man can look upon God, and write 'Mine!' when he can look upon God, and say, 'This God is my God forever and ever!' when he can look upon God, and say, 'This God is my portion!' when he can look upon God, and say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"—how will all the springs of joy rise in his soul! Oh, who can but rejoice to be owner of that God who fills heaven and earth with His fullness? Who can but rejoice to have Him for his portion—in having of whom, he has all things—in having of whom he can lack nothing? The serious thoughts of our property in God will add much sweet to all our sweets! Yes, it will make every bitter, sweet. When a man seriously thinks . . . it is my God who cheers me with His presence, it is my God who supports me with His power, it is my God who guides me by His counsel, it is my God who supplies me with His goodness, it is my God who blesses all my blessings to me; it is my God who afflicts me in love, it is my God who has broken me in my estate, it is my God who has sorely visited His child, it is my God who has passed this sentence of death upon a friend, it is my God who has thus cast me down— how do these thoughts cheer up the spirit of a man, and make every bitter, sweet; and every burden, light unto him. O Christians! A clear sight of your property in God is . . . a pearl of great price, your paradise, manna in a wilderness, water out of a rock, a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, Jacob's ladder, a salve for every sore, a cure for every disease, a remedy against every malady, an anchor at sea, and a shield on shore, a star to guide you, a staff to support you, a sword to defend you, a pavilion to hide you, a fire to warm you, a banquet to refresh you, a city of refuge to secure you, a cordial to cheer you! What more could you desire?
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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.