Introducing Spiritual Directions

This lesson on Spiritual Directions is taken from Chapter 1 Part 1 of Richard Baxter's The Practical Works Volume 2, which is about self-government or Christian ethics. This lesson contains spiritual directions for natural man in order to obtain saving grace (pages 1-61). The assumptions concerning the condition of the recipient of spiritual directions were mentioned in the early part of the chapter. 

As for the present writer, the biblical education of my children is my personal reason in rewriting these directions. However, I am confronted with a difficulty in accomplishing this task. How can I make the lesson comprehensible to average readers without sacrificing the original intention? My goal is to simplify the material and at the same remaining faithful to the text the best I can. To achieve this, I intentionally dropped words and phrases and replaced difficult words with simple ones. I even dropped sentences and paragraphs that I consider no longer appropriate.

This project is just a beginning. As the Lord allows, I intend to add more lessons to meet the spiritual needs of my children, and I am grateful to Richard Baxter the way he arranged his material, which I consider logically arranged in relation to two states of man: under sin and under saving grace. 

In dealing with the two states of man, the whole book is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 has two parts, 20 spiritual directions and the temptations common to those under the state of sin. Chapter 2 contains another 20 spiritual directions for the strengthening and growth of those who are weak in faith. Chapter 3 talks about 17 spiritual directions related to the essentials of Christian life. And finally Chapter 4 is separated into four parts, each part deals with one of the four great sins most hostile to Christian life. These are unbelief, hardness of heart, hypocrisy, and man-pleasing. 

Before proceeding to the spiritual directions proper, let us first read two important quotations that speak about natural man's excuses and the kind of attitude required for those who want to benefit from these directions: 

"But so great is the blindness and obstinacy of men, that the greatest part refuse consent: being deceived by the pleasures, and profits, and honors of this present world; and make their pretended necessities or business the matter of their excuses, and the unreasonable reasons of their refusal, negligence and delays, till death surprise them, and the door is shut ; and they knock, and cry for mercy and admittance, when it is too late" (p. 2).

"A student is not offended that he hath many books in his library; nor a tradesman that he hath store of tools; nor the rich at the number of his farms or flocks. Believe it, reader, if thou bring not a malignant quarrelsome mind, thou wilt find that God hath not burdened, but blessed thee with his holy precepts, and that he hath not appointed thee one unnecessary or unprofitable duty; but only such as tend to thy content, and joy, and happiness" (p. 4).

Source: Baxter, R. (1830). The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter Volume 2: Christian Directory Part 1 - Christian Ethics. London: Printed by Mills, Jowett, and Mills.