Heaven on Earth: A Treatise on Christian Assurance (Thomas Brooks) (#2)

Heaven on Earth

A Treatise on Christian Assurance

One of the most important books about the subject of Christian assurance ever put into print. Having a healthy and well-founded assurance of being “in Christ” is vital to strong Christian growth and experience. There is no higher privilege than to be a child of God and to *know* that you are! — for a strong assurance brings, along with it, joy and peace in believing, strength and boldness in our witness.

This abundantly clear and valuable work, first published in 1654, still reads today like a pastor conversing with his friend.

The subject of assurance is one of the most important elements in Christian experience. Heaven on Earth exposes that there is no higher privilege than to be a child of God and to know it, for assurance brings joy to worship and prayer, and provides strength and boldness to our witness. Correspondingly, failure and weakness in all these areas can often be traced back to a lack of assurance, or even false assurance. This work of Thomas Brooks, first published in 1654, deals with all of these aspects of assurance in a way that is both biblical and pastoral. Brooks ‘scatters stars with both his hands’ wrote C.H. Spurgeon. His teaching is clear, thorough and greatly needed in the present spiritual climate. Brooks both explains what true assurance is and guides the reader in how it may be fully experienced.

Endorsement:

‘All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth; some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth. That saints might enjoy two heavens is the project of this book.’ — Joseph Caryl

About Thomas Brooks

“We do not know a whole lot about Thomas Brooks’ early life. He was born in 1608 and he entered college at Cambridge in 1625. It is uncertain whether or not he ever finished his degree; nevertheless, in 1640 he was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England and became a chaplain in the English navy.

His years at sea were apparently very rich. He said of them, “through grace I can say that I would not exchange my sea experiences for England’s riches.”

After returning to London in 1648, Brooks served at St. Thomas the Apostle church and then at St. Margaret’s. But in 1662, with the passage of the Act of Uniformity (which required all Anglican ministers to conduct prayers, sacraments and other aspects of church in the same way–an agreement Brooks could not make), he lost his ministerial license and position. He was able to regain his license in 1672 with the passage of the Declaration of Indulgence, but then lost it again in 1676.

Despite the legal battles over his license, Brooks continued to preach and minister throughout London with little persecution. When the Great Plague hit London in 1665, he, unlike many other ministers, remained in the city to care for the saints.

He was married twice. His first wife, Martha, whom he dearly loved, died in 1676. He afterwards married a notably younger woman, Patience, before his own passing in 1680.” — From Tim Challies