- Home
- Speakers
- Thomas Brooks
- The Outward Dress And Garb Of Religion
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 the danger of focusing on trivial aspects of religion, as illustrated by the Pharisees who meticulously tithed their spices while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. He warns that such distractions are a tactic of Satan to keep believers from engaging in the weightier matters of faith. Brooks calls for a deeper examination of one's spiritual life, urging Christians to prioritize the essence and power of their faith over mere outward appearances and ceremonies. He highlights that true hypocrisy lies in being preoccupied with minor details while ignoring the core principles of Christianity.
The Outward Dress and Garb of Religion
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness." Matthew 23:23 Take heed of spending too much of your precious time about circumstantials, about the minor things of religion, as "mint, dill, and cummin," or in searching into the circumstances of worship, or in standing stoutly for this or that ceremony, or about inquiring what fruit it was which Adam ate in paradise, or in inquiring after things which God in His infinite wisdom has concealed. It is one of Satan's great designs to hinder men in the great and weighty duties of religion, by busying them most about the lowest and least matters of religion. Satan is never better pleased, than when he sees Christians puzzled and perplexed about those things in religion, which are of no great consequence or importance. Such as are more busied about ceremonies than substances, about the form of godliness than the power. Such are more taken up with the outward dress and garb of religion, than they are with the spirit, power, and life of religion. There cannot be a surer nor a greater character of a hypocrite, than to make a great deal of stir about little things in religion, and in the meantime neglect the great and main things in religion.
- 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.