J.SIdlow Baxter passed into the Lord’s presence late in 1999. His ministry had extended over a period of seventy years for he was still preaching in his nineties. This book is the authorized biography of this remarkable expository preacher whose ministry began in churches in England and in Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh Scotland and continued in many churches and conventions throughout the world. His writings were many, not many of them in print nowadays but available second hand. His well-known work ‘Explore the Book’ should be on the bookshelves of all those who seek to read the Bible with understanding and have a heart for God and is still available new. This biography presents its material winsomely and there is something of the breath of God about it as the light is shone on the path this man took and the way the Lord directed him, his prayerfulness, his open heartedness, his two marriages, his musical and poetic abilities and his sufferings too. His first wife passed away, a devastating event for him; he himself experienced God’s healing on at least two occasions. His life was one growing in God all the while and this is evident in the picture presented in these pages. There are a number of photos, recollections of friends and testimonies of those touched by the life and ministry of this man. One prominent author comments ‘ to hear J. Sidlow Baxter expound God’s word was an Emmaus experience. You saw your Lord in glory, and your heart burned within you. The Bible became a new book as he related one scripture portion to another. He greatly influenced my own ministry and I gratefully acknowledge it.” For those interested in seeing the links in the chain of the history of the evangelical church in the twentieth century this book will provide help. It will also prompt some to make a diligent search to obtain some of the Baxter’s books and hopefully exercise themselves to emulate him in his ministry. This man was soaked in the scriptures, was consumed with a deepening love for the Lord throughout his life and found his youth renewed like the eagles so that even into old age he ministered on to great effect in North America.
