Sunday
Devotional
From
the banks of
Burcham
Creek…
“For by grace you have been
saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God,
not of works,
lest anyone should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
***
John
Newton…
Was
a British Sailor, Slave Trader,
Anglican
Clergyman, Abolitionist,
Author
and Hymn Writer.
He
was born on 8/4/1725 in England
and
died there on 12/21/1807.
John
was forced to serve as a sailor
in
the Royal
Navy for a time.
In
1745 he became a slave of Princess
Peye,
a black princess of the
Sherbro
people.
She
abused and mistreated John just as
much
as she did her other slaves.
He
later recounted this period as the
time
he was "once an infidel and
libertine,
a servant of slaves in
West
Africa."
Early
in 1748 he was rescued by a sea
captain
who had been asked by Newton's
father
to search for him,
And
returned to England on the merchant
ship
Greyhound, which was carrying
beeswax and cam wood.
The Greyhound had been thrashing
about
in
the north Atlantic storm for over a
week.
Its
canvas sails were ripped, and the
wood
on one side of the ship had been
torn
away and splintered.
The
sailors had little hope of survival,
but
they manually worked the pumps,
trying
to keep the vessel afloat.
On
the eleventh day of the storm,
sailor
John Newton was too exhausted to
pump,
So,
he was tied to the helm and tried to
hold
the ship to its course.
From
one o’clock until midnight he was
at
the helm.
With
the storm raging fiercely,
Newton
had time to think.
His
life seemed as ruined and wrecked as
the
battered ship he was trying to steer
through
the storm.
Since
the age of eleven, he had lived a
life
at sea.
Sailors
were not noted for the refinement
of
their manners,
But
Newton had a reputation for profanity,
coarseness, and debauchery which even
shocked
many a sailor.
John
Newton survived that day at the helm.
That
day, March 21, 1748, was a turning
point
in his life.
It
was a day that he would never forget,
for
he believed that “on that day the Lord
sent
from on high and delivered me out of
deep
waters.”
On
that day he began to turn to the Christ
that
he had ignored since childhood when
his
mother had tried to teach him the
Scriptures.
She
had wanted him to become a Minister.
He
chose to become a slave-trader.
Newton
went on to write the words of the
following
beloved hymn …
Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace
that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many
dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has
promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this
flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth
shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve
been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
- John Newton
Newton
lived to be eighty-two years
old.
Even
then, Newton never ceased to be
amazed
by God’s grace and told his
friends,
“My memory is nearly gone;
but I remember two things …
That I am a great sinner,
and that Christ is a
Great Savior.”
The
Apostle Paul wrote…
“This is a faithful saying
and
worthy of all acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.”
1
Timothy 1:15
No
list of songs about grace is
complete
without this classic.
Published
in 1779
It
was sung extensively during the
Second
Great Awakening in the
United
States and by slaves in the
American
South.
We
are still singing it today because
of
its poignancy, truth, and strong
melody.
It
was the favorite hymn of the late
Charles
Coil who was President of
International
Bible College when I
attended
there.
Friend,
maybe today is the day you
might
need to consider where you
stand
with Jesus?
Have
you like John Newton ignored
the
teaching of a mother or a
grandmother?
Have
you taken advantage of
God’s
Amazing Grace?
Titus
2:11-14 states …
“For the grace of God that
brings
salvation has appeared to
all men,
teaching us that, denying
ungodliness
and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly,
righteously,
and godly in the present
age,
looking for the blessed hope
and
glorious appearing of our
great God
and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us,
that He
might redeem us from every
lawless
deed and purify for Himself
His
own special people,
Zealous for good works. “
***
Friend,
Are
you ready to meet Jesus in
judgment?
Have
you obeyed the gospel of
Jesus
Christ?
God’s
Plan of Salvation
1.
Hearing the word of God
(Romans 10:17).
“So
then faith comes by hearing,
And
hearing by the word of God.”
2.
Believing what is taught
(Mark 16:16).
“He
who believes and is baptized
will
be saved;
But
he who does not believe will
be
condemned.”
3.
Repentance
(Acts 17:30).
“Truly,
these times of ignorance
God
overlooked,
But
now commands all men everywhere
to
repent.”
4.
Confession
(Romans 10:9, 10).
“That
if you confess with your mouth
the
Lord Jesus And believe in your
heart
that God has raised Him from
the
dead,
You
will be saved.
“For
with the heart one believes
unto
righteousness, and with the
mouth
confession is made unto
salvation.”
5.
Baptism
(Acts 2:38).
Then
Peter said to them,
“Repent,
and let everyone of you be
baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ
for
the remission of sins;
And
you shall receive the gift of the
Holy
Spirit.”
6.
Faithful Christian living
(Matthew 10:22).
“And
you will be hated by all for
My
name’s sake.
But
he who endures to the end
will
be saved.”
***
Edited
by H.C.
***
Amazing
Grace – Ray Walker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNLWPmvIe5w
