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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 perspective of viewing death as a blessing rather than a fear, asserting that a believer's dying day is the best day, marking the transition to eternal glory. He illustrates that death serves as a remedy, curing both physical ailments and spiritual sins, thus liberating the believer from all forms of suffering. Brooks encourages Christians to embrace death as a rest from the trials of life, highlighting that it leads to a state of eternal peace and joy in the presence of Christ. He reminds the faithful that death is not an end, but a beginning of a glorious existence free from sin and suffering.
Look Upon Death
Look upon death as that which is best. "Better is the day of death, than the day of one's birth." Ecclesiastes 7:1 "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far." Philippians 1:23 The Greek is very significant—"far, far the better!" A saint's dying day is the daybreak of eternal glory! In respect of pleasure, peace, safety, company and glory—a believer's dying day is his best day. Look upon death as a remedy, as a cure. Death will perfectly cure you of all bodily and spiritual diseases at once: the infirm body and the defiled soul, the aching head and the unbelieving heart. Death will cure you of all your ailments, aches, diseases, and distempers. In Queen Mary's days, there was a lame Christian, and a blind Christian—both burned at one stake. The lame man, after he was chained, casting away his crutch, bade the blind man to be of good cheer; "For death," says he, "will cure us both; you of your blindness, and me of my lameness!" As death will cure all your bodily diseases, so it will cure all your soul distempers also. Death is not the death of the man—but the death of his sin! Death will at once free you fully, perfectly, and perpetually from all sin; yes, from all possibility of ever sinning! Sin was the midwife which brought death into the world—and death shall be the grave to bury sin. Why, then, should a Christian be afraid to die, unwilling to die—seeing death gives him an eternal separation . . . from infirmities and weaknesses, from all aches and pains, from griefs and gripings, from distempers and diseases, both of body and soul? When Samson died, the Philistines died together with him. Just so, when a saint dies, his sins die with him. Death came in by sin, and sin goes out by death! Death kills sin which bred it. Look upon death as a rest, a full rest. A believer's dying day is his resting day . . . from sin, from sorrow, from afflictions, from temptations, from desertions, from dissensions, from vexations, from oppositions, from persecutions. This world was never made to be the saints' rest. Arise and depart, for this is not your resting place, because it is polluted! (Micah 2:10) Death brings the saints . . . to a full rest, to a pleasant rest, to a matchless rest, to an eternal rest!
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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.