The Book Readers Guild: Orthodox Convictions of Ethereal Thinkers

Recognizing God’s Ordination of Men: “It is the Holy Ghost that hath made us overseers of his Church, and, therefore, it behoveth us to take heed to it. The Holy Ghost makes men bishops or overseers of the Church in three several respects: By qualifying them for the office; by directing the ordainers to discern their qualifications, and know the fittest men; and by directing them, the people and themselves, for the affixing them to a particular charge. All these things were then done in an extraordinary way, by inspiration, or at least very often. The same are done now by the ordinary way of the Spirit’s assistance. But it is the same Spirit still; and men are made overseers of the Church (when they are rightly called) by the Holy Ghost, now as well as then. It is a strange conceit, therefore, of the Papists, that ordination by the hands of man is of more absolute necessity in the ministerial office, than the calling of the Holy Ghost. God hath determined in his Word, that th...

This chapter is divided into three sub-headings; the nature, the manner and the motive of oversight. It transitions from a wary self-inspection emphasized in chapter one, to that of a detailed accounting of ministerial obligations and objectives. Within these we discover Baxter’s overall appraisal of ministerial work and his two chief passions; evangelism of the unconverted and discipleship of the believing community. To these Baxter purports, the lives of God’s servants should be spent. What follows is a very detailed and precise delineation of pastoral duties and their structure; from visitation to church discipline. Instead of trying to capture by the way of analysis, every nuance this chapter offers, I have opted to post various quotes found throughout the sections. Hopefully these will reveal the chapters’ essence and stir interest, perhaps even some noteworthy remarks. The Nature, Manner and Motive of This Oversight Concerning the Unconverted: “We mus...

The emphasis of this chapter relates one’s personal discipleship with their witness as a child of God. Baxter’s target audience here is primarily Church leadership, though anyone could benefit from his admonition to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ. It was through Baxter’s repeated stresses to “take heed to yourself” , that I was further challenged to the urgency and gravity of ministry. His honest approach makes it hardly possible to avoid the weightiness of these lofty responsibilities, whereby his passionate arguments become quite compelling, specifically in reference to Christ’s honor and our witness. “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will always bring honour to Christ, whether I live or die.” - Philippians 1:20. During Baxter’s years of ministry, (indeed maybe in our time as well), an unf...