Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter was born on November 12, 1615, in Rowton, Shropshire, England. His father was a small landowner, who was a man of moderate means. The family was of the gentry. He grew up in a village and had little formal education. His early education was poor. As a young man, he studied the Bible and the works of the Puritans. He was converted at the age of fifteen after reading a book, Bunny's Resolution. He was a boy of serious mind. He did not go to university. He was educated mostly on his own and by a local clergyman. He was sickly from a young age and suffered from a number of illnesses throughout his life.

He was ordained in 1638 and began his ministry as a schoolteacher. In 1641, he was called to serve as the lecturer at Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, a town of weavers. It was a rough town, with a population that was uneducated and given to drinking and carousing. He was a young man of twenty-six and the people were not welcoming. He went to work. He preached in the church twice on Sunday and also held a weekly lecture. He visited every family in his parish. He set up a system of catechizing, in which he spent time in every home each week, talking with families and teaching the children. He worked fourteen hours a day.

His labors bore fruit. He saw a great change in the town. In a few years, the town was transformed. The drinking houses were closed, and the church was filled to overflowing. On Sunday, the sound of the Psalms could be heard in the streets, as the families sang in their homes. He said that when he came, there was about one family in a street that worshiped God, and when he left, there was about one family in a street that did not. It was a remarkable change. He was a man of unusual zeal, who spent himself in the work.

During the Civil War, he served as a chaplain in the parliamentary army, but he disliked the sectarianism of the soldiers. He was a man of moderation and sought to bring peace between the parties. In 1647, he was struck down by a severe illness and almost died. During his illness, he wrote The Saints' Everlasting Rest, which was published in 1650. It was a meditation on the joy of heaven. It became a best seller and has been read by many generations. He wrote it as a man who thought he was about to die. It has been a source of comfort for many.

His best-known work on the ministry is The Reformed Pastor, published in 1656. It was a call to pastors to take the work of the ministry seriously. In it, he urged ministers to give attention to the care of the souls in their charge, and in particular to visit them in their homes and to teach them individually. He wrote that the pastor must first take heed to himself. It is a classic on pastoral work, and it has been read by generations of ministers. His other major works include A Call to the Unconverted, which was a plain evangelistic appeal, and A Christian Directory, a large guide to the Christian life. He wrote more than a hundred and forty books.

After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, he sought to be reconciled with the Church of England. He was offered a bishopric, which he declined. In 1662, he was among the ministers who were ejected from the church, as he could not accept the Act of Uniformity. He lived the rest of his life as a nonconformist. He was persecuted. He was imprisoned several times. In 1685, he was tried before the notorious Judge Jeffreys on a charge of sedition, for a comment on the Bible in one of his books. He was fined and sentenced to eighteen months in jail. He spent two years in prison.

He was married to Margaret Charlton, a woman who was twenty years younger, in 1662. They had a happy marriage, and she died in 1681. He wrote a loving account of her, A Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter. He had a number of failings. He could be sharp in debate, and he was prone to hold to his own views. He was a man of strong opinions, who was often in dispute. He was also a man who was inclined to scruples.

He died on December 8, 1691, in London, at the age of seventy-six. His life shows how a sickly man can do much for the Lord. The town of Kidderminster remembers him with a statue. He was an exemplar of the pastoral ministry.