The Iron Pen #81

God & Country

Brief Biographies of Great American Christians: Thomas Hooker
Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.

There are very few of my readers, if any, who would recognize the name Thomas Hooker. Yet, in 1636 he led a large group of his followers to the Connecticut Valley and settled Hartford. For all practical purposes, he was the founder of Connecticut. Hooker was born in 1586, at Marfield, County of Leicester, England. He was educated at Emmanuel College in Cambridge, England, which at the time was the intellectual center of Puritanism. He believed he was called to the ministry and began his preaching 1620, in a small church in Surrey. In about 1626 he became lecturer to the church of Saint Mary at Chelmsford, Essex, delivering sermons on market days and Sunday afternoon’s evangelical addresses, which were notable for their moral fervor. At first, his sermons did not attract much notice, though they powerfully advocated reformed doctrine. All that changed in 1629. Archbishop Laud took measures to suppress his ministry. Hooker appeared before Laud, the Archbishop of London, who threatened serious reprisals if he continued to advocate his puritanical teachings. Hooker posted bond, was released, yet, despite being threatened, he continued to preach. He was cited to appear before the Court of High Commission in 1630. He refused to appear, knowing he would be imprisoned and perhaps be put to death. He forfeited his bond and fled to Holland, which had a history of toleration to religious dissenters. In 1632 a group of Puritans calling themselves "Mr. Hooker’s Company" immigrated to Massachusetts in expectation of Hooker joining them. In 1633 he arrived in Massachusetts and became pastor at Newtowne (now Cambridge), Massachusetts. It appears that Hooker was a leader in the formation of a group of dissenters who were discontent with the suppression of religious freedom in the Massachusetts’ government. As a direct result of disagreements between his congregation and John Cotton’s congregation, in 1636 Thomas Hooker lead a large group of his followers to the Connecticut Valley and settled at Hartford.

Thomas Hooker was the inspirer if not the author of the Fundamental Laws or Orders of Connecticut published in 1639. He had wide political and religious influence in organizing "The United Colonies of New England" in 1643. This was the first effort to form any kind of federal government on this continent. Thomas Hooker was a prolific writer and an active preacher. He pastored the Hartford Church until his death on July 7, 1647.

"Jesus Christ is exclusively the Alpha and Omega of the Gospel, its proper object, its beginning and its end. It is He who founded it in His blood…!" Robert Haldane

Six Footsteps of The Faith of Abraham That Believers Should Follow
Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) – Edited David L. Brown

(Full message can be seen at -- http://logosresourcepages.org/activity_faith.htm)

• Yield To The Call of God – Genesis 12:1-4

God said to Abraham: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee; and Abraham departed," saith the text, "as the Lord had spoken unto him." So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man. Let the Lord call for him, require any service of him, his soul presently yields, and is content to be framed and fashioned to God’s call, and returns an obedient answer thereto.

• Prize Christ, Salvation & His Promises Above All Else – Genesis 15:1

Abraham showed that whenever faith cometh powerfully into the heart, the soul is not content barely to yield to the command of God, but it breathes after His mercy, longs for His grace, prizes Christ and salvation above all things in the world, is satisfied and contented with nothing but with the Lord Christ. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man.

• Depend Upon The All-Sufficient Power & Mercy of God In Gaining Your Desires – Romans 4:18

Abraham cast himself upon the all-sufficient power and mercy of God for the attainment of what he desired; he rolled and tumbled himself, as it were, upon the all-sufficiency of God. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man.

• Resolve To Rest Upon The Lord & Wait For His Mercy – Romans 4:19-20

Abraham was resolved to rest upon the Lord, and to stay himself on the God of his salvation, and to wait for His mercy till he find Him gracious to his poor soul. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man.

• Whatever God Demands Of You, Give It To Him – Genesis 22:1-3

Abraham’s faith appeared in this: he counted nothing too dear for the Lord; he was content to break through all impediments, to pass through all difficulties, whatsoever God would have, He had of him. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man.

• A Readiness To Obey God & Do His Pleasure – Genesis 22:11

The last step of all is this: when the soul thus resolved not to dodge with God, but part with anything for Him, then in the last place there follows a readiness of heart to perform whatsoever duty God requireth at his hands; I say this is the last step, when, without consulting with flesh and blood, without hammering upon it, as it were, without awkwardness of heart, there follows a readiness to obey God; the soul is at hand. So it is, my brethren, with every faithful man. The case, you see, is clear, and the point evident, that every faithful man may and must, imitate faithful Abraham.