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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 grave condition of wicked men who willingly indulge in sin, illustrating how their hearts are hardened and their consciences seared. He warns that such individuals, who choose to live in wickedness despite the consequences, are not only blind to their peril but are also fully ripe for destruction. Brooks asserts that to allow these sin-lovers into heaven would be to fill it with hellishness, as their lives are characterized by rebellion against God. He concludes with a stark reminder that without true conversion, one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
To Fill Heaven With Hells
"Man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!" Job 15:16 A wicked man is a sin-lover; he is a sin-maker, he lives in sin upon choice. All profane people . . . give up themselves to wickedness, wallow in all ungodliness, delight themselves in all manner of filthiness, commit wickedness with greediness, draw iniquity and sin with cords of vanity, weary themselves to commit iniquity, are so desperately set upon wickedness, that neither the rod of God, the lashes and checks of their own consciences, nor the flashes of hell upon their souls—can stop them. They are resolved that they will gratify their lusts—though they damn their souls; and that will live wickedly—though they perish eternally! By custom in sin, they have destroyed all conscience of sin, and contracted such desperate hardness upon their own hearts, as neither . . . God's smiles nor frowns, God's promises nor threatenings, life nor death, heaven nor hell, can possibly hinder them. The hearts and ways of wicked men are full of hells; and therefore to fill heaven with such, would be to fill heaven with hells. Certainly God will shut the gates of glory upon such workers of iniquity. These souls are . . . sadly abandoned by God, and woefully blinded by Satan, and fully ripened for ruin. "All will be damned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:12 "Unless you are converted . . . you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3
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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.