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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 nature of God's love for His people, describing it as a first, free, everlasting, and unchangeable love. He highlights that without God's initial love, humanity would be lost, and despite our flaws and backslidings, God offers healing and acceptance through His sovereign grace. Brooks reassures believers that God's love is eternal and immutable, providing comfort in times of trouble. The sermon culminates in the recognition that the presence of a loving God is an unparalleled source of solace and strength in our lives.
The Presence of a Loving God!
"Since you were precious in My sight, and I have loved you." Isaiah 43:4 God loves His people with a first love! 1 John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us." By nature we were without God, and afar off from God; we were strangers to God, and enemies to God, yes, haters of God! Therefore if God had not loved us first— we would have been everlastingly undone! God loves His people with a free love! Hosea 14:4, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." I know they are backslidden—but I will heal their backslidings. I know there is nothing at all in them, which is excellent or eminent, which is honorable or acceptable, which is laudable or lovely—yet "I will love them freely"—of My own, free, rich, absolute, and sovereign grace! God loves His people with an everlasting love! Jer. 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn you." That is, "I love you with the love of perpetuity, or with the love of eternity. My love and My affections to you shall continue forever!" God loves His people with an unchangeable love! Mal. 3:6, "I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." Men change, and counsels change, and occurrences change, and friends change, and relations change, and kingdoms change; but God never changes! "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind," 1 Sam. 15:29. God is immutable in His nature, in His essence, in His counsels, in His attributes, in His decrees, in His promises, etc. He is Omnina immutabilis, "Altogether immutable!" God loves His people . . . with a special love, with a peculiar love, with a distinguishing love, with a superlative love! God loves His people with the greatest love, with a matchless love! John 3:16, "God so loved," etc. This signifies . . . the greatness of God's love, the vehemency of His love, and the admirableness of His love What an unspeakable comfort must this be to God's people—to have the presence of a loving God, to have the presence of such a loving God with them in all their troubles and deep distresses! If the presence of a loving friend, a loving relation in our troubles and distresses, is such a mercy—oh, what then is the presence of a loving God!
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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.