"Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says—
See, I will refine and test them, for what else can
I do because of the sin of My people?" Jeremiah 9:7
By severe providences and fiery trials—God designs
the mortifying and purging away of His people's sins.
"This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them
like silver and test them like gold." Zechariah 13:9
The best of men are but men at the best; they have
much corruption and dross in them, and they need
refining; and therefore God by fiery trials will refine
them—as silver and gold which are purified in the fire.
He will so refine them, as that they shall leave their
dregs and dross behind them. Look!
What the fire is to the gold,
what the file is to the iron,
what the winnowing fan is to the wheat,
what the soap is to the clothes—
that shall fiery trials be to the saints.
All the fiery trials which befall the saints, shall be as a
medicinal potion to purge away our soul diseases! May
our trials be so sanctified, as to issue in the burning
up of our lusts, and in the purging away of our filth!
O sirs! If God, by fiery trials, shall make you more
victorious over your strong lusts, and help you to live
more virtuous lives—you will have cause to bless Him all
your days, though He has turned you out of house and
home, and burnt up all your comforts round about you!
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will
purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver."
Malachi 3:3
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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.