"Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste
your time? For riches can disappear as though they
had the wings of a bird!" Proverbs 23:4-5
All earthly portions are very uncertain; now they are—and
shortly they are not! Though the foolish world calls riches
substance—yet they have no solid subsistence. All earthly
portions are as transitory as a shadow, a ship, a bubble,
a bird, a dream, an arrow, a runner who passes swiftly
away. Riches were never true to any who have trusted in
them. All earthly things are vain and transitory, they are
rather phantoms and shadows—than real things themselves.
All the glory of this world is rather a matter of shadow, than
of substance; it is a body without a soul; it is a golden shell
without a kernel; it is a shadow without a substance. There
is no firmness, there is no solidness, there is no consistency,
there is no constancy in any of the creatures. All the pomp,
and state, and glory of the world is but a mere painted
pageantry, a mask, a comedy, a fantasy!
Look! As the rainbow shows itself in all its dainty colors,
and then vanishes away—so do all worldly honors, riches,
and preferments show themselves—and then vanish away!
A storm at sea, a spark of fire, an unfaithful employee,
a false oath, or a treacherous friend—may quickly bring
a man to sit with Job upon an ash-heap!
Look! As the bird flies from tree to tree—so all the riches,
honors, and glory of this world—fly from man to man!
There is nothing but vanity and uncertainty in all earthly portions.
Be the first to react on this!
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.