God's love-letter

Thomas Brooks

The Scripture is God's love-letter to men. Here the 
lamb may wade—and here the elephant may swim!

The blessed Scriptures are of infinite worth 
and value! Here you may find . . .
  a remedy for every disease,
  balm for every wound,
  a plaster for every sore,
  milk for babes,
  meat for strong men,
  comfort for the afflicted,
  support for the tempted,
  solace for the distressed,
  ease for the wearied,
  a staff to support the feeble,
  a sword to defend the weak.

The holy Scriptures are . . .
  the map of God's mercy—and man's misery,
  the touchstone of truth,
  the shop of remedies against all maladies,
  the hammer of vices,
  the treasury of virtues,
  the exposer of all sensual and worldly vanities,
  the balance of equity,
  the most perfect rule of all justice and honesty.

Ah, friends, no book befits your hands like the Bible!

The Bible is the best preacher. This book,
this preacher will preach to you . . .
  in your shops,
  in your chambers,
  in your closets,
  yes, in your own bosoms!
This book will preach to you at home and abroad;
it will preach to you in all companies; and it will
preach to you in all conditions.

By this book you shall be saved—or
by this book you shall be damned!
By this book you must live.
By this book you must die.
By this book you shall be judged in the great day!

Oh, therefore . . .
  love this book above all other books,
  prize this book above all other books,
  read this book before all other books,
  study this book more than all other books!
For he who reads much—and understands nothing,
is like him who hunts much—and catches nothing.

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all
 day long!" Psalm 119:97

All Saints Are Not Alike Holy

Thomas Brooks, 1662 

All saints are not alike holy. Some are more holy, and others are less holy; in some saints the springs of holiness runs low, in others the springs of holiness rise very high. Holiness thrives not alike in all saints. In the parable some brought forth thirty, some sixty, and others a hundredfold—and yet all was good ground, Mat. 13:8, 23. And in that other parable, everyone had not ten talents—some had but five, others two, others but one, Mat. 25:14-15; Luke 19:12-21. God never distributes holiness alike to all. To some he gives more, to others less, according to the good pleasure of his grace. God never intended that all should thrive alike in holiness. 

Though there were many who feared God in Nehemiah's time—yet he tells you that his brother Hanani feared God above many, Neh. 7:2. And though Job's three friends came to visit him in the days of his sorrows, namely, Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, were doubtless all holy men, Job 1:8—yet they fell very much short of Job in grace and holiness, as is evident not only by that high testimony that God himself gives concerning Job, "That there was none like him upon the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who feared God, and eschewed evil;" but also throughout that whole book of Job.

It is true, all saints are equally justified, and equally pardoned, and equally reconciled, and equally accepted—but all saints are not equally sanctified. All saints are not of equal standing in the house of God. All saints have not been partakers of equal means, all saints have not had equal gales of the Spirit, all saints have not alike acted that holiness they have; and, therefore, no wonder if all saints are not alike holy. David's worthies were not all of equal strength, nor all the stones in the building are not of equal proportion, nor all the members in the natural body are not of equal magnitude; and so it is also in the mystical body of Christ. In God's house there are vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, 1 Cor. 3:12 Tim. 2:20, that is, there are some who are more eminently sanctified and purified than others are.

You read in Scripture of babes—as well as of strong men; of lambs—as well as of sheep; of plants—as well as of trees. Besides, you read of a little faith, and of smoking flax, and of a bruised reed, and of a grain of mustard-seed. And what does all this evidence—but that God gives different measures and degrees of grace and holiness to his people? Christ has not work alike for all saints to do, nor burdens alike for all saints to bear, nor mercies alike for all saints to improve, nor temptations alike for all saints to resist, nor difficulties alike for saints to grapple with, nor dangers alike for all saints to encounter with, etc., and therefore he gives not a like measure of holiness to all—but to some more, to others less, according as their condition requires; some saints stand in need of a great deal more grace and holiness than others do. Their place, calling, condition, and employments in the world, calls for a greater stock than others need.

One man may better keep house with a hundred a year, than another who has a great family and great resort to his house, can do with a thousand a year; and so it is here. A little may serve a little farm—but it must be a great stock that must serve a great farm. A little stock of holiness will serve some Christians—but it must be a great stock of holiness that must serve to supply the necessities and the lacks of other Christians; and therefore God gives different measures and degrees of holiness among his people as their needs require.

Look! as one sinner excels another in wickedness—just so, one saint excels another in holiness; and therefore let not those who have much holiness despise those who have but little; nor let not those who have but a little holiness censure or judge those who have more holiness than themselves. All that holiness which any man has, whether it is little, or whether it is much—is all of grace, it is all of free-grace. Therefore let every man improve it, be thankful for it, and walk humbly under it. 

(Read the 77th and the 88th Psalms. And indeed most of the psalms of David are a full proof of this position, as all may see that will but read them with a spiritual eye, and with an understanding heart.)

Eternal Punishment - Part 1

Excerpt from the book "Fire & Brimstone in Hell"

We take up our pen to write on one of the most solemn truths taught in the Word of God. And before we began, we turned to the Lord and earnestly sought that wisdom and grace which we are conscious we sorely need; making request that we might be preserved from all error in what we shall write, and that nothing may find a place in these pages which shall be displeasing to that Holy One, "whose we are-and whom we serve." O that we may write in the spirit of One who said, "Who can comprehend the power of Your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear You deserve!" (Psalm 90:11).

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The subject before us is one that needs stressing in these days. The great majority of our pulpits are silent upon it, and the fact that it has so little place in modern preaching is one of the signs of the times, one of the many evidences that the Apostasy must be near at hand. It is true that there are not a few who are praying for a world-wide Revival-but it appears to the writer, that it would be more timely, and more scriptural, for prayer to be made to the Lord of the harvest-that He would raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring about a revival.

While it is true that all genuine revivals come from God-yet He is not capricious in the sending of them. We are sure that God never relinquishes His sovereign rights to own and to bless-where and as He pleases. But we also believe that here, as everywhere, there is a direct connection between cause and effect-and a revival is the effect of a previous cause. A revival, like a genuine conversion, is wrought by God by means of the Word-the Word applied by the Holy Spirit, of course. Therefore, there is something more needed (on our part) than prayer-the Word of God must have a place, a prominent place, the prominent place. Without the Word and prayer-there will be no Revival, whatever excitement and activities of the emotions there may be.

It is the deepening conviction ofthe writer, that what is most needed today, is a wide proclamation of those truths which are the least acceptable to the flesh.

What is needed today, is a scriptural setting forth of the character of God-

His absolute sovereignty,

His ineffable holiness,

His inflexible justice,

His unchanging veracity.

What is needed today, is a scriptural setting forth of the condition of the natural man-

his total depravity,

his spiritual insensibility,

his inveterate hostility to God,

the fact that he is "condemned already"

and that the wrath of a sin-hating God

is even now abiding upon him!

What is needed today, is a scriptural setting forth of the alarming danger which sinners are in-the indescribably awful doom which awaits them, the fact that if they follow only a little further their present course, they shall most certainly suffer the due penalty of their iniquities!

What is needed today, is a scriptural setting forth of the nature of that dreadful punishment which awaits the lost-

the awfulness of it,

the hopelessness of it,

the unendurableness of it,

the endlessness of it!

A cooler Hell

This is an excerpt from the book " 

"Fire & Brimstone in Hell! - Don't Kid Yourself, Hell Is Real "

(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,
 or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)

"God, I thank You that I'm not like other people-greedy, 
 unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 
 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get." 
 Luke 18:11-12

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Many please and satisfy themselves with mere civility and common morality. They bless themselves that they are not swearers, nor drunkards, nor extortioners, nor adulterers, 
etc. Their behavior is civil, sincere, harmless, and blameless.

But civility is not sanctity. Civility rested in-is but a beautiful abomination-a smooth way to hell and destruction.
Civility is very often . . .
  the nurse of impiety,
  the mother of flattery, and
  an enemy to real sanctity. 
There are those who are so blinded with the fair shows of civility-that they can neither see the necessity nor beauty of sanctity. There are those who now bless themselves in their common morality, whom at last God will scorn and cast off for lack of real holiness and purity.


A moral man may be an utter stranger . . .

•   to God,
•   to Christ,
•   to Scripture,
•   to the filthiness of sin,
•   to the depths and devices of Satan,
•   to their own hearts,
•   to the new birth,
•   to the great concerns of eternity, 
•   to communion with Christ, 
•   to the secret and inward ways and workings of the Spirit.

Well, sirs, remember this-though the moral man is good for 
many things-yet he is not good enough to go to heaven! He 
who rises to no higher pitch than civility and morality-shall 
never have communion with God in glory. The most moral 
man in the world, may be both Christless and graceless.

Morality is not sufficient to keep a man out of eternal misery. 
All morality can do, is to help a man to one of the best rooms 
and easiest beds which hell affords! For, as the moral man's 
sins are not so great as others-so his punishments shall not 
be so great as others. This is all the comfort that can be given 
to a moral man-that he shall have a cooler hell than 
others have. But this is but cold comfort.

Morality without piety is as a body without a soul. Will
God ever accept of such a stinking sacrifice? Surely not!

Thomas Brooks (Puritan)

Thomas Brooks on the title page of his book The Riches of Christ.

Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Brooks_(Puritan)

This post  by Thomas Brooks below merged well with my post on April 12 :  Complete & Effective Dominion

 

I mentioned how important it is to test the spirits. A minister who is not breaking your heart with the word of God almost every time he takes the pulpit, there is a strong chance that he has not been hand picked by Him. A real minister of God will cause you to go home somewhat, if not fully offended every time you hear him. Why? Because it is the nature of the true Gospel it offends unbelievers as much as it offends believers that are not right with Him.

 

Sadly, Satan has worked it so nicely for us to make us comfortable with a half truth, that in the Church, we scream “apostasy” when we are offended by the truth of  the Gospel and in our state of spiritual we have no idea that we are led by Satan to react this way. Satan has done such a great job that we love our mediocre preachers, they make us feel good, we agree with them, we say AMEN, HALLELLUJAH! We get all emotional and drunk on “god”   yet, we go back home with the same compartmentalized lives, wrong attitude toward Him, stubborn hearts,  lack of obedience and our rituals that make us feel good because we found “religion”

 

Even on my death bed, I will keep saying over and over again. The reason we are offended by the preaching, the posts or the books that call for examination of our hearts, or to a deeper life and make us feel inadequate is because we are not where we should be. Deep inside of us, we know something is wrong, but we shut if off and slap our mask on again. For a lot of us, often the subtlety of Satan acts like a snooze alarm we keep pressing the button just so we can get a few more minutes of sleep. Before we know it, time passes us by, we get so deep with Satan, and in our slumber it would take a bulldozer to get us out of our lethargy and laziness. By then, it is easier to say Oh! Well God is good!

 

May God have mercy on us!

Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) was an English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author

Consider carefully what you hear." Mark 4:24"

It is sad to see how many preachers in our days, make 

it their business to enrich men's heads with high, empty, 

airy notions; instead of enriching their souls with saving 

truths. 

Fix yourself under that man's ministry, who makes it his 

business, his work to enrich the soul, to win the soul, and 

to build up the soul; not to tickle the ear, or please the 

fancy. This age is full of such light, delirious souls—who 

dislike everything—but what is empty and airy.

Do not judge a minister . . .

  by his voice, nor

  by the multitude who follow him, nor

  by his affected tone, nor

  by his rhetoric and flashes of wit;

but by the holiness, heavenliness, and spiritualness 

of his teaching. Many ministers are like empty orators, 

who have a flood of words—but a drop of matter.

Some preachers affect rhetorical strains; they seek abstrusities, 

and love to hover and soar aloft in dark and cloudy expressions, 

and so shoot their arrows over their hearers' heads—instead of 

bettering their hearers' hearts. Mirthful things in a sermon 

are only for men to gaze upon and admire. He is the best 

preacher, not who tickles the ear—but who breaks the heart.

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and

 persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's

 power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom,

 but on God's power." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5