"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to
desecrate My sanctuary—the stronghold in which
you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of
your affection." Ezekiel 24:21
Many are much in and for church ordinances and activities,
whose hearts are very carnal, and whose lives are very vain.
It is nothing to be much in those religious duties and
performances wherein the worst of sinners may go
beyond the best of saints. The most refined hypocrites labor
only to be seen by others in their praying, fasting, talking,
hearing, giving, etc. Let them have but man's eye to see
them, and man's ear to hear them, and man's tongue to
commend them, and man's hand to reward them—and
they will sit down and bless themselves.
They say of the nightingale, that when she is solitary in
the woods, she is careless of her melody. But when she
perceives that she has any auditors, or is near houses, then
she composes herself more harmoniously and elegantly.
Truly, this is the frame and temper of the best of hypocrites.
"My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before
you to listen to your words, but they do not put them
into practice! With their mouths they express devotion,
but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them
you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with
a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they
hear your words but do not put them into practice."
Ezekiel 33:31-32.
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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.