Richard Baxter A Reformed Pastor

Many know the names of Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale as some of the most influential reformers of the Protestant Reformation. But perhaps not as acclaimed is Richard Baxter, an Englishman born in 1615, at the latter end of the Reformation.

Given to idleness and thievery and addicted to gambling, Baxter became a changed young man at the age of 15, when he read Edmund Bunny’s version of Robert Parson’s A Book of Christian Exercise. For the first time, he understood what it truly meant to be a sinner in need of a Savior. He purposed to renounce his old self and start devoting himself to God and His Word.

In 1638, he was ordained in the Church of England. Then began a lifelong career of faith, controversy, and persecution. Baxter soon became a Nonconformist, touting the Word of God over that of man.

In 1641, he began a nearly 20-year residence as minister of the church at Kidderminster. A powerful preacher, he put his sermons on reform into daily practice, cultivating personal, door-to-door ministry and diligently encouraging his fellow clergyman not to neglect their own souls.

An avid writer, he penned not only hymns and poems but also hundreds of theological resources, including his most famous works, The Reformed Pastor and the devotional The Saints’ Everlasting Rest.

A bold advocator for religious freedom, in his later years he was persecuted for his beliefs and even imprisoned at nearly 70 years old. But he continued to soldier on, a more prolific writer near the end of his life than in his younger years.

In 1691, he went quietly to his grave, though his literary contributions to this day remain loud and clear. He was a man who fervently knew the Bible to be true and acted upon that knowledge. What he preached, he believed to the very depths of his soul. His conversion was uneventful, to say the least—simply from reading a book—but his heart was pricked and bowed to true repentance. From those quiet moments emerged a life full of ardent and unceasing devotion to God.

Reflect: Are you awaiting some dramatic miracle from God to transform your life? The miracle of God is a daily transforming of a heart surrendered to Him!

Key Bible Texts

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (1 John 2:6 KJV)