- Home
- Speakers
- Thomas Brooks
- Death Is A Change Of Company
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.
Download
Topics
Sermon Summary
Thomas Brooks emphasizes that for a believer, death signifies a transition to a better existence, where they leave behind the company of the wicked and enter into the presence of angels and the righteous. He reflects on the struggles of living among the ungodly, as expressed by David and Lot, highlighting the distress it brings to the righteous. Brooks reassures that death is not an end, but a glorious change of company, where believers will be united with just men made perfect and free from the impurities of this world.
Death Is a Change of Company
("A Believer's Last Day, His Best Day") A believer's last day is his best day! Death is a change of company. In this world, the godliest man must live with the wicked, and converse with the wicked, etc.; and this is a part of their misery; it is their hell on this side heaven. This stuck upon the heart of David: "Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!" Psalm 120:5 I have read of a godly woman, who, being near death, cried out, "O Lord, let me not go to hell where the wicked are, for You know that I never loved their company while in this life!" "Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people!" Jeremiah 9:2 And this was that which did vex and tear Lot's righteous soul—"Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard." 2 Peter 2:7-8 Oh, but death is a change of company. A godly man does but change the company of profane people, of vile people, etc.—for the company of angels; and the company of weak Christians—for the company of just men made perfect. "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:27 "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Revelation 22:15
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download
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.