Oh Dash These Brats of Babylon in Pieces!
Thomas Brooks emphasizes the importance of recognizing and combating secret sins through divine help and sincere mourning.
Thomas Brooks emphasizes the struggle against secret sins and inward pollutions that only God and the individual can see. He contrasts the hypocrite, who battles obvious sins, with the sincere Christian who mourns over hidden corruptions. Brooks highlights the importance of recognizing and combating these inner sins before they lead to greater danger, urging believers to seek God's help in stifling the first motions of sin. The sermon calls for a deep introspection and reliance on divine power to cleanse the heart from these secret faults.
Text
"Cleanse me from secret faults." Psalm 19:12
The Christian's greatest and hottest conflicts,
are against those inward pollutions, and secret sins,
which are only obvious to the eye of God and their
own souls.
The hypocrite combats with those sins which are
obvious to every eye. But it must be a supernatural
power and principle, which puts men upon conflicting
with the inward motions and secret operations of sin.
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?" Romans 7:24. A sincere heart
weeps and laments bitterly over those secret and inward
corruptions, which others will scarcely acknowledge to be
sins.
The Persian kings reign powerfully, and yet are seldom seen
in public. Secret sins reign in many men's souls powerfully
and dangerously, when least apparently.
Oh! but a true Christian mourns over the inward motions and
first risings of sin in his soul, and so prevents an eternal danger.
Upon every stirring of sin in the soul, the believer cries out, "O
Lord, help! O Lord, undertake for me! Oh dash these brats of
Babylon in pieces! Oh stifle the first motions of sin, that they
may never conceive and bring forth!"
Sermon Outline
- I points: - Introduction to secret sins - The nature of inward pollutions - Contrast between hypocrites and true Christians
- II points: - The struggle against secret faults - The role of supernatural power in conflict - The lament of a sincere heart
- III points: - The danger of unacknowledged sins - The powerful reign of secret sins - The importance of mourning over sin
- IV points: - The believer's response to sin - The call for divine assistance - The urgency of addressing sin early
Key Quotes
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” — Thomas Brooks
“Oh dash these brats of Babylon in pieces!” — Thomas Brooks
“Oh stifle the first motions of sin, that they may never conceive and bring forth!” — Thomas Brooks
Application Points
- Regularly examine your heart for secret sins and bring them before God.
- Seek God's supernatural power to help you combat the first motions of sin.
- Cultivate a sincere attitude of mourning over sin to prevent its growth in your life.