The Letters of John Newton
By John Newton
(Copyright © Monergism Books)
I love John Newton for the hymn “Amazing Grace,”
especially a self-abashing statement like “That saved a wretch like me.” I am
no stranger to the amazing grace of God, and so, is everyone. We just need to
discover more and acknowledge it for our joy and the exaltation of God. It
seems to me Newton knew more about it (or at least promoted more through his
story and song) than anyone. So, I decided to read one of his books expecting
to see the exaltation of God’s grace in the abasing of self in the spirit of
John the Baptist – He must increase but I must decrease (John 3:30).
I chose to read the Letters of John because Letters
are personal correspondence between two people, unlike books which are written
to a wide personally unknown audience. I expected it to have a lot of letters,
each one of them to be short, simple, pastoral, polemical, specific, and
edifying; and indeed, it didn’t disappoint me.
This edition is made available by Monergism Books. It
has 1502 pages, and a word count of over 6,05,150. That is almost the size of
the Old Testament in the English version (KJV has 6,09,269 words in OT). I read
it in 12 days making over 700 annotations on my pdf copy. If I were usually a
deep reader, a patient thinker, and a good writer, I could have come up with a
series of worthwhile blogposts; that’s seldom me, I will post only one.
It has hundreds of letters – to a friend, to a pastor,
to church members, to leaders, to a daughter, to a wife, to specific
individuals, etc. Some of the letters are like a sermon; a few of them also
look like an essay, articles, or short books. This edition is, btw, not the
same as Banner of Truth’s edition, which has 416 pages. The Monergism Books
version included “Memoirs” published by Richard Cecil. I enjoyed this Memoirs
(p1246-1365) and His letters to his daughter Betsy (p673-710), and his friend
William Bull (p323-517) the most.
No doubt John Newton is a Calvinist, but I think the
nature of this writing being letters to a specific person(s), he presented God
as the sovereign Lord who we can rely on him in all circumstances. He comforted
his readers to trust God and submit to His providence. He also wrote about
affliction, indwelling sin, angels, and controversy with great insight.
I would like to republish here a few excerpts from
this book which I have put up on my WhatsApp status update while I was reading
through the book:
Desires Unrealized, 1772, (p.159)
Alas! How vain is man in his
best estate! How much weakness and inconsistency, even in those whose hearts
are right with the Lord! And what reason have we to confess that we are unworthy,
unprofitable servants! It were easy to enlarge in this way, would paper and
time permit. But, blessed be God--we are not under the law, but under grace: and
even these distressing effects of the remnants of indwelling sin are overruled
for good. By these experiences the believer is weaned from self, and taught
more highly to prize and more absolutely to rely on Him, who is appointed unto
us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The more vile we are in
our own eyes--the more precious will Jesus be to us. A deep repeated sense of the
evil of our hearts is necessary to preclude all boasting, and to make us
willing to give the whole glory of our salvation where it is due. Again, a
sense of these evils will, when hardly anything else can do it, reconcile us to
the thoughts of death, yes make us desirous to depart that we may sin no more,
since we find depravity so deep rooted in our nature, that, like the leprous
house, the whole fabric must be taken down before we can be freed from its
defilement. Then, and not until then, we shall be able to do the thing that we
would: when we see Jesus we shall be transformed into His image, and have done
with sin and sorrow forever!
Writing to his
pastor-friend William Bull (p.440)
October
1, 1784.
Mon
Cher,
I
must decline all letter writing for a good while, except what is absolutely
necessary. I have a writing project before me, purposing, if the Lord pleases,
to treat you and the public with two volumes of sermons ("on the
Messiah"], which I suppose will, in quantity, be equal to Cardiphonia.
God
still gives me liberty in the pulpit, which is the chief thing; and I believe
no minister can be more comfortable and happy with his people than I am. Mr. Whitfield used to call his
pulpit, his throne. When I am upon my throne, I can look down upon the poets,
philosophers, artists, archbishops, cardinals, popes, and kings of the earth —
with pity. If they know not my Lord and Savior — they are to be pitied indeed.
I would not exchange the honor of proclaiming his glory and grace, and
preaching his gospel to sinners a single day — for a whole life of what they
account the best and the greatest.
We
join in love to you, to Mrs. Bull, and Tommy. Write if you please, and when you
can; but whether you write or no, remember to pray for your truly affectionate
friend and brother,
John
Newton
4th
letter to a fellow pastor (p.547.)
January
26, 1775.
Dear
Sir,
Were
a stranger to judge of me by what I sometimes say in the pulpit, he might think
that, like the angels, I had but two things in view—to do the will of God, and to behold his face. But,
alas! would he not be almost as much mistaken, as if, seeing Mr. G. in the
character of a tragedy hero, he should suppose him to be the very person whom
he only represents! I hope Satan will never be able to persuade me that I am
a mere hypocrite and stage-player; but sure I am, that there is so much
hypocrisy in me, so many littlenesses and self-seekings insinuating into my
plan of conduct, that I have humbling cause to account myself unworthy and unprofitable, and to say,
"Enter not into judgment with your servant, O Lord."
John Newton
wrote this in a letter to his young daughter, who wasn’t coming home, on August
10, 1783, (p.690)
If
I could teach you a lesson, which, as yet, I have but poorly learned myself—I
would teach you a way to be never be disappointed. This would be the case—if
you could always form a right judgment of this world, and all things in it.
If
you go to a bramble-bush to look for grapes—you must be disappointed; but then
you are old enough to know that grapes never grow upon brambles. So, if you
expect much pleasure here in this world— you will not find it. But you ought
not to say you are disappointed, because the Scripture plainly warned you beforehand, to look for
crosses, trials and hindrances, every day. If you expect such things—you will
not
be
disappointed when they happen!
There’s another
interesting one, a letter to a single pastor about marriage, dated February
03, 1775, on p880-882. It’s over a 700-word letter, so I would not post it
here.
A letter to a
pastor dated January 21, 1776 (p896)
This is not
always sufficiently considered. We are ready to expect that others should
receive upon our testimony, in
half an hour's time, those views of things which have cost us years to attain!
But none can be brought forward faster than the Lord is pleased to communicate
inward light. Upon this ground controversies have been multiplied among Christians
to little purpose; for plants of different standings will be in different
degrees of growth.
Other quoteworthy
excerpts:
“The
holiness of a sinner seems principally to consist in self-abasement, and in
admiring views of Jesus as a complete Savior—these are the main principles from
whence every gracious fruit is derived” (p925).
“Evidences,
as you call them, are of use in their place; but the best evidence of faith—is
the shutting our eyes equally upon both our defects and our graces, and
looking directly to Jesus as clothed with authority and power to save to the
very utmost.” (a letter
to a pastor p.925)
But I tell
you, my friend, God
will sooner make windows in heaven, turn stones into bread,
yes, stop the sun in its course, than he will allow those who
conscientiously serve him, and depend
upon him, to be destitute.” (p.1045)
And not afflictions only, prosperity likewise
is a state of temptation; and many who have endured sharp sufferings, and came
off honorably, have been afterwards greatly hurt and ensnared by prosperity! To this purpose the histories of David and
Hezekiah are in point.: (p.1210)
"Ministers
over-rate their labors, if they did not think it worthwhile to be born, and
spend ten thousand years in labor and contempt, to recover one soul."
(p.1345)
The rod had
a voice; and it was the voice of the Lord. I understood the meaning no less
plainly than if He had spoken audibly from heaven, and said, "Now contemplate your idol! Now see
what she is, whom you once presumed to prefer to
Me!" Even this bitter cup
was sweetened by the patience and resignation which He gave her. When I have
said, "You suffer greatly;" her answer usually was, "I suffer,
indeed— but not greatly." And she often expressed her thankfulness, that,
though her body was immovable, she was still permitted the use of her hands.
(On his dying wife p.1482)
I would not pretend to believe that through this
blog post I will succeed in encouraging anyone to read through this 1502-long
book, nor do I think it is a compulsory read for everyone. It’s just too long.
However, reading a selective portion like a letter to his wife, to his
daughter, to his friend, to a pastor(s), memoirs, etc., I think, will edify
every reader.