Tag Archives: John Newton

The Imminent Danger (Pt 3)


God does not speak to us by the audible voice of an inspired prophet; nor is it necessary. We know, or may know from His written Word, that it shall be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked. The appearance of an angel from heaven could add nothing to the certainty of the declarations He has already put into our hands. He has likewise raised up and perpetuated a succession of His ministers to enforce the warnings He has given us in the Scripture—and to remind us of our sins, and the sure and dreadful consequences, if we persist in them. Nor are we left at an uncertainty as to the event, if we humbly confess them, and implore forgiveness, in the way which He has prescribed (1Jo 1:9). The Gospel, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, is preached unto us. Jesus Christ as crucified is set forth among us. His blood cleanseth from all sin, and they who believe in Him are freed from condemnation, and completely justified (Rom 8:1; 5:1, 8, 9; 8:30). They have also free access to a throne of grace, and like Israel they have power, by prayer, to prevail with God and with man (Heb 4:16). And shall it be said of any of us, that the Lord gave us space to repent, and invited us to repentance, and we repented not? May His mercy forbid it!

John Newton:
The Imminent Danger and Only Sure Resource of Our Nation

from:  http://www.chapellibrary.org/

The Imminent Danger (Pt 2)

 

It appears from this, and other passages of Scripture, that the most express declarations of God’s displeasure against sinners, still afford ground and room for repentance. Thus in the prophecy of Ezekiel 33:14-15, “Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right…he shall surely live, he shall not die”; and again, in the prophecy of Jeremiah 18:7-8, “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”

The Lord God speaks to us by His Word in plain and popular language. He condescends to our feeble apprehensions. God cannot repent; He is of one mind. Who can turn Him? Yet when afflictive providences lead men to a sense of their sins and to an acknowledgement of their demerits, and excite a spirit of humiliation, repentance, and prayer, He often mercifully changes His dispensations and averts from them the impending evil. Such was the effect of Jonah’s message to the Ninevites. The people humbled themselves and repented of their wickedness; and God suspended the execution of the sentence which He had pronounced against them (3:10).

My brethren, may we not fear that the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against us and condemn us, if we do not imitate their example and humble ourselves before God? They repented at the preaching of Jonah immediately, on their first hearing him; and they sought for mercy upon a peradventure, when they could say no more than, “Who can tell, whether there may be the least room to hope for it, after what the prophet so solemnly declared?”

John Newton:
The Imminent Danger and Only Sure Resource of Our Nation
from: http://www.chapellibrary.org/

The Imminent Danger (Part 1)

             How great is the power of God over the hearts of men! Nineveh was the capital of a powerful empire. The inhabitants were heathens. The many prophets who, during a long series of years, had spoken in the name of the Lord to His professed people of Judah and Israel, had spoken almost in vain. The messengers were often mocked, and their message despised. The inhabitants of Nineveh, it is probable, had never seen a true prophet till Jonah was sent to them. If they had reasoned on his prediction, they might have thought it very improbable that a great city, the head of a great kingdom and in a time of peace, could be in danger of an overthrow within forty days. But it is said, they “believed God” (Jon 3:5). The awful denunciation made a general, universal impression. The king arose from his throne, laid aside his robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes (3:6). A sudden cessation of business and pleasure took place; he proclaimed a strict fast, the rigor of which was extended even to the cattle. His subjects readily complied and unanimously concurred in crying for mercy, though they had no encouragement but a peradventure, “Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?” (3:9).

 

John Newton:
The Imminent Danger and Only Sure Resource of Our Nation

from:  http://www.chapellibrary.org/

Prayer for Our Nation

John Newton  [1725-1807]

Lord, while Thy judgments shake the land,
Thy people’s eyes are fixed on Thee;
We own Thy just uplifted hand,
Which thousands cannot, will not, see.

How long hast Thou bestowed Thy care
On this indulged, ungrateful spot!
While other nations, far and near,
Have envied and admired our lot.

Here peace and liberty have dwelt,
The glorious Gospel brightly shone;
And oft our enemies have felt
That God has made our cause His own.

But ah! both heaven and earth have heard
Our vile requital of His love;
We, whom like children He has reared,
Rebels against His goodness prove.

His grace despised, His power defied,
And legions of the blackest crimes,
Profaneness, riot, lust, and pride,
Are signs that mark the present times.

The Lord, displeased, has raised His rod;
Ah! where are now the faithful few
Who tremble for the Ark of God,
And know what Israel ought to do?

Lord, hear Thy people everywhere,
Who meet to mourn, confess, and pray;
The nation and Thy churches spare,
And let Thy wrath be turned away.