April 16. Richard Baxter. On this date in 1641, Baxter began his 17-year-long pastorate at Kidderminster.
He was a man full of contrasts. In church matters, he was a non-conformist (not an Anglican), but he always urged the church to be united. In theological matters, he adopted positions that suited neither the Calvinists nor the Armenians. In political matters, he supported the monarchy, but he served as chaplain to the Parliamentary Army.
Baxter was a simple parish pastor, yet he was the most prominent English churchman of the 1600s. Although he was largely self-taught, he wrote more than 200 works.
More than 400 years after his death, pastors urge other pastors to read and reflect on this model shepherd whose motto was, “In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.”
Affliction can prepare ordinary men for extraordinary tasks.
His whole life, Richard Baxter suffered from chronic illness that left him weak and uncertain if he’d breathe a next breath.
But when he was 23, he so badly wanted to help people know Jesus that he decided to go into the ministry. He said, “Expecting to be so quickly in another world, the great concernments of miserable souls, did prevail with me against all these impediments …” Baxter believed that if God used him to win one or two souls to Christ, it would be worth all his suffering.
He wanted to minister to an area where people hadn’t already heard the gospel, and this led him to the people of Kidderminster—a town of 800 families made up of crude-handloom workers. The place was infamous for its ignorance and depravity.
After Baxter preached his first sermon with scarcely one family from each street in attendance, he was unanimously elected minister. He spoke on the importance of church discipline and taking the Lord’s Supper. Though he had little education, he was a compelling speaker. His immense knowledge was evident. He could readily quote from any of the hundreds of books that lined his shelves.
Baxter went from house to house. The families he visited seriously thought about the things Baxter shared, and many of them cried.
Baxter said, “Some ignorant persons, who have been so long unprofitable hearers, have got more knowledge and remorse of conscience in half an hour’s close disclosure, than they did from ten year’s public preaching.” He’d leave a chosen book or two from his library for each family to read.
Soon, great crowds flocked to hear Baxter, even though his sermons were an hour long, and he read straight from a manuscript. The building held 1,000, and it was soon full. The crowds grew so much that five galleries had to be built to accommodate all of the people. On any given day, hundreds of families were singing psalms or repeating Sunday sermons in their homes.
Concerning the rapid growth Baxter said, “When I first entered on my labors, I took special notice of every one that was humbled, reformed, or converted; when I had labored long it pleased God that the converts were so many … families and considerable numbers at once came in and grew up I scarce knew how.”
“[Jacob] named the second Ephraim, ‘For,’ he said, ‘God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction,’” (Genesis 41: 52, ASV).
Baxter continued to have pain, but instead of growing bitter, he saw his pains as blessings God used to mold him for greater ministry. He said, “I humbly bless his gracious providence, who gave me his treasure in an earthen vessel and trained me up in the school of affliction.…” This he said allowed him to preach with compassion “as a dying man, to dying men.”
How are you allowing God to use the tool of affliction in your life to prepare you for the extraordinary tasks that lie ahead? Affliction can prepare ordinary men for extraordinary tasks.
Beeke, Joel, and Randall J. Pederson. “Richard Baxter.” Meet the Puritans. Reformation Heritage Books. Monergism.com. Accessed August 1, 2020.
Belli, Andrew. “Richard Baxter: 400 Years Later, Still a Model Pastor.” The Gospel Coalition. November 12, 2015.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/richard-baxter-400-years-later-still-model-pastor/
“Richard Baxter: Moderate in an Age of Extremes.” Christianity Today. Accessed August 1, 2020.
C. Syndney Carter, Great Churchmen: Richard Baxter, (London: Church Book Room Press, Ltd. , n.d. ), p.6
Brister, Tim. Who Is Richard Baxter? 4 November 2008. 1 January 2019.
http://timmybrister.com/2008/11/who-is-richard-baxter
Hulse, Erroll. Banner of Truth. 18 January 2005. 29 December 2018.
https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2005/the-zeal-of-richard-baxter
Hulse, Erroll. 2005. Banner of Truth. January 18. Accessed December 29, 2018 https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2005/the-zeal-of-richard-baxter/
Bacon, L. (1931). Select Practical Writings of Richard Baxter with a Life of The Author. New Haven: Durrie & Peck. Accessed 9 Dec. 2018.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ldkOAAAAIAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA
Story read by Daniel Carpenter