It is the greatest judgment in the world to be left to sin.
O unhappy man—when God leaves you to yourself, and
does not resist you in your sins! Woe, woe to him at
whose sins God winks at. When God lets the way to hell
be a smooth and pleasant way—that is hell on this side
hell, and a dreadful sign of God's indignation against
a man; a token of his rejection, and that God does not
intend good unto him.
That is a sad word, "Ephraim is joined to idols—let him
alone!" (Hosea 4:17) Ephraim will be unteachable and
incorrigible; he has made a match with sin—and he shall
have his bellyful of it!
And that is a terrible saying, "So I gave them up unto
their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own
counsels." (Psalm 81:12). A soul given up to sin is
a soul ripe for hell—a soul hastening to destruction!
Ah Lord! this mercy I humbly beg—that whatever You
give me up to, You will not give me up to the ways of
my own heart! If You will give me up to be afflicted,
or tempted, or reproached—I will patiently sit down,
and say, It is the Lord, let Him do with me what seems
good in His own eyes. Do anything with me, lay what
burden You will upon me—but do not give me up to
the ways of my own heart!
Augustine says, "Deliver me, O Lord, from that evil
man—myself!"
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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.