Richard Baxter (1615–91) was born in Rowton, England. In April of 1641, at the age of 26, he became pastor in the village of Kidderminster, and remained there for 19 years. Baxter spent over 18 years of his life imprisoned for preaching against the established church. Dr. J. I. Packer, who did his doctoral work on Richard Baxter, calls his Christian Directory the most important Christian book ever written besides the Bible itself. Dr. Timothy Keller called that book
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“ Wonderful! ” This teaching should be a part of every "sex education" class. Women and men both have been so degraded and cheated of God's very best in this area. Our society of "free love" has so devalued women into objects and the feminist movement has robbed women blind. I don't agree with flogging women in the streets for fornication, but if we could get a revelation of the freedom that comes with honoring God wth purity until marriage, women would no longer settle. Men would have to prove marriageable, children would have 2 parents, women would once again be placed in a position of being cherished. Satan continues to lie to our youth through movies, tv shows and music, bombarding them with immorality. We need to pray for our youth and for a revival. Thank you for this tremendous teaching, so timeless today.
TMS (12/10/2003)
from Grand Rapids
“ Baxter on Mortification ” Richard Baxter's counsel to avoid fornication and to "buffet the body" will sound ascetic to the modern ear. Maybe even it will be mistaken for the false means of mortification practiced by the monastics and others that had for its foundation superstition as much as anything. What must be kept in mind is that in the puritan mindset and doctrine, mortifying the deeds of the body is the means to the end of final salvation, not the cause and the effect of it. See John Owen's treatise on the same subject. One uses these means (mortification) unto that (final salvation) end. Not that it is meritorious, for at the same time you will be exhorted to trust Christ as if you made use of no means whatsoever. At the same time, Baxter hardly had his equal as an exhorter to earnestness. He is certainly more salt as a puritan whereas Goodwin and Howe are more light. But is there any other subject that needs more of the martial trumpet blast to warn us?
Still it is strong counsel for a flesh pampering age.
