Heaven on earth - Brooks - II - Preface & Chapter 1

Required reading
Heaven on earth by Thomas Brooks (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read the Preface and Chapter 1.

My summary
Firstly we read the Preface in which Brooks gives a quick overview of assurance.

Then we read Chapter 1 which encourages us that we may have assurance in this life because:
(i) Hezekiah had assurance from a principle common to all believers;
(ii) it is the very scope and end of the Scripture to help us attain assurance;
(iii) other believers have in an ordinary way attained it;
(iv) God has by promise engaged himself to assure us;
(v) there is in all the saints the springs of assurance;
(vi) the Holy Ghost exhorts us to it;
(vii) the Lord hath, in much mercy and love, propounded in his word ways and means whereby believers may obtain it;
(viii) it was the principal end of Christ's institution of the sacrament of the supper that he might assure us;
(ix) God would never have made such a broad difference in the Scripture between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent if it were impossible for men to know which of these two estates they are in.
(Note: I think there is a mistake in the numbering of the points.  Number nine appears to be missing)

What grabbed me
Brooks made an important distinction about the benefit of assurance: 'Assurance is not of the essence of a Christian. It is required to the bene esse, to the well-being, to the comfortable and joyful being of a Christian ; but it is not required to the esse, to the being of a Christian. A man may be a true believer, and yet would give all the world, were it in his power, to know that he is a believer. To have grace, and to be sure that we have grace, is glory upon the throne, it is heaven on this side heaven.'

Assurance is not essential to being a Christian, but it is essential if you are to be a joyful Christian.

Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 2 by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'II There is a second special season or time wherein the Lord is pleased to give to his children a sweet assurance of his favour and love, and that is, when he intends to put them upon some high and hard, some difficult and dangerous service.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.