Philippians 4:2-9
Margaret Charlton grew up in a wealthy family in England. She enjoyed finer things and anticipated eventually marrying a rich man to enjoy life with. But tragedy struck her family. Her mother was twice widowed. So Margaret lost her father and the father figure in her life.
Her mother, however, had a great hope in Christ. She heard about a preacher in a village a 13 miles down the road. In those days, 13 miles was a very long day’s journey there and back even with a horse and carriage. So Margaret’s mother decided they would move to Kidderminster to sit under the teaching of this young pastor named Richard Baxter.
Margaret’s mother delighted in Baxter’s teaching. But Margaret was unimpressed. She had little liking for him and even less for the people of the town. Kidderminster was a poor town. She disliked poverty and the strictness of the people. She was far more interested in having fun and going to parties and as Baxter himself wrote “glittering herself in costly apparel.”
But the Holy Spirit was at work in her life. A series of sermons Baxter preached on the doctrine of conversion was “received on her heart like a seal onto wax.” Her spiritual transformation was swift and evident...
