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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 warns against the allure of honors, riches, and pleasures, describing them as deceptive idols that people worship, sacrificing their true potential and devotion to God. He emphasizes that these pursuits are ultimately empty and insubstantial, akin to shadows and dreams, leading individuals into a false sense of security. Brooks cautions that these charms of Satan can lull people into complacency, resulting in eternal consequences after death. The sermon serves as a stark reminder of the vanity of worldly desires and the importance of seeking true substance in faith.
Scriptures
The Most Powerful Charm of Satan
Honors, riches, and pleasures are the three deities, which all people adore, and to whom they continually sacrifice their best thoughts and energies. These, for their unparalleled vanity, may well be called "the vanity of vanities!" Honors, riches, and pleasures are but . . . a mere shadow, a vapor, a feather in the cap, a breath, a froth, a dream, a nothing. They are without true substance. Like in a dream, you imagine they have substance—you grasp at them and awake—and they are nothing! And yet, they are the most powerful charm of Satan, whereby he lulls men to sleep in the paradise of fools; to cast them, after they die, into the bottomless pit of eternal woe!
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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.