- Home
- Speakers
- Thomas Brooks
- They Run On Another's Legs
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
Sermon Summary
Thomas Brooks emphasizes that Christians persevere in their faith not through external pressures but through the inward power and principles given by God. He highlights that true perseverance comes from a new heart and spirit, as promised in Ezekiel, which enables believers to follow God's decrees. Brooks illustrates that believers run on the strength of Christ, drawing from His power to sustain them through challenges, as seen in Isaiah. This reliance on Christ's strength ensures that they do not grow weary or faint in their spiritual journey.
Scriptures
They Run on Another's Legs
("The Glorious Day of the Saints Appearance") "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws." Ezekiel 36:25-27 The principal reason why Christians persevere in the ways of God against all discouragements, is because they are preserved in the ways of God—from spiritual principles, from a principle of inward life and spiritual power. It is true, if Christians only persevered from fleshly, carnal, and external causes—they would soon wheel about, and turn apostates, and be base, and what not. But they persevere in the ways of God, from inward principles, as in Jeremiah 32:40, "I will put My fear in their hearts —and they shall never depart from Me." Christians persevere by an inward principle of fear, faith, and love. Isaiah 40:31, "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength like the eagle; they shall run and not be weary," because they run on another's legs—namely, the Lord Christ's; "and they shall walk and not faint," because they walk in the strength of Christ.
- 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.