And if you received one of the leaflets,
which Mr. Cranston has been faithfully preparing for
each of the services.
He's been doing some work of his own,
although he didn't mention that tonight, but I'm
mentioning it.
He has faithfully gotten together with his computer
details about each of these men of God.
I didn't provide that material to him.
He sought all that himself and hooked it
all out, as we would say, and put
it together, and each night he's been giving
us these leaflets, of which I will show
you tonight.
And if you haven't got one, you can
get one after the service this evening.
And on there you see the heading, Favourite
Scriptures of Famous Saints.
Then he's got the Reverend John Newton, then
a quotation from Newton, and a picture of
him with a good suntan there.
And then, Thou shalt remember that thou wast
a bondman in the land of Egypt, and
the Lord thy God redeemed thee.
And that is the text that is taken
from Deuteronomy chapter 15, and we're going to
read it tonight.
But let's begin at verse 12.
Deuteronomy 15, verse 12.
And if thy brother an Hebrew man or
an Hebrew woman be sold unto thee, and
serve thee six years, then in the seventh
year thou shalt let him go free from
thee.
And when thou sendest him out free from
thee, thou shalt not let him go away
empty.
Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy
flock, and out of thy floor, and out
of thy winepress.
Of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a
bondman in the land of Egypt, and the
Lord thy God redeemed thee.
Therefore I command thee this thing today.
And it shall be, if he say unto
thee, I will not go away from thee,
because he loveth thee in thine house, because
he is well with thee, then thou shalt
take an oar, and thrust it through his
ear unto the door.
And he shall be thy servant for ever,
and also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do
likewise.
Amen.
God will bless this short reading from his
precious and infallible word.
Let's all bow for prayer.
We'll ask the help of the Lord as
we come to look at the life of
this man of God, and the scripture that
was such a blessing in his life.
Let's all pray.
Our gracious Father and our God, we thank
thee for thy presence with us here tonight.
We rejoice, Lord, that where two or three
are gathered together in the Saviour's name, there
he is in the midst.
We thank thee thou hast been here at
each of our meetings, and we praise thee
for what we have learned again from thy
precious word, and from the biographies of these
men of God.
And Lord, we pray again tonight that as
we look at the life of another, whom
thou didst save and whom thou didst greatly
use in thy service, that it will have
an impact upon our souls.
And thou wouldst cause us, Lord, to be
motivated and inspired and goaded to serve thee,
to give ourselves fully to thy work.
Lord, we're trusting thee for power tonight.
We look to thee to help us.
We pray that thou wouldst take thy word
and the things that are said and write
them upon the hearts of all.
Glorify thy name, we pray, for Jesus' sake.
Amen and amen.
Now, as we've already intimated in these meetings,
we've been concentrating on the topic of favorite
scriptures of famous saints of God.
Texts of scripture that have impacted the lives
of some of the great men from church
history.
And I want to conclude this series by
looking at the text of scripture that we've
already read, Deuteronomy 15, verse 15, and the
life of the man of God who felt
that that text had particular relevance and significance
for him.
As a reminder to him of the grace
of God which had rescued him, this English
minister of the 18th century had this tremendous
text hung over the mantelpiece of his study.
And I actually possess a copy of a
photograph of that.
It actually is a photocopy of a photograph.
And I have it right here.
The study of the Reverend John Newton.
And I know you can't see it from
where you're sitting, but believe me, above the
mantelpiece there, there is the text.
Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman
in the land of Egypt, and the Lord
thy God redeemed thee.
This was a text which had great significance
for John Newton.
Now perhaps to many of you, or most
of you, Newton is better known by the
famous hymns that he penned rather than for
anything else.
He actually wrote over 60 hymns, and put
together a hymnal with another man, a famous
hymn writer called William Cowper.
And that hymnal was called Olney Hymns, O
-L-N-E-Y.
But he was a great preacher as well
as a great hymn writer.
And Newton was one who never forgot from
whence he had come.
Hence his love for this verse of scripture.
The verse itself is a reminder, is it
not?
God is saying to his people, And thou
shalt remember, do not forget, that thou wast
a bondman in the land of Egypt, and
the Lord thy God redeemed thee.
When the Lord was giving forth his word,
his law, concerning how slaves and servants were
to be treated, in the midst of that
teaching, the Lord reminds his own people that
they themselves were slaves, they were bondmen in
the land of Egypt, but that the Lord
had redeemed them.
This was the text that John Newton loved.
It was certainly a favourite of his.
John Newton was, as we've known, or as
we've remembered and been reminded in the service
tonight through the hymn that we sang, he
was the writer of Amazing Grace.
And it's probably for that one hymn that
he's better known than anything else.
But as curate of Olney in Buckinghamshire, England,
and later the rector of a place called
St. Mary Woolnoth in the city of London,
Newton always sought to remember what he had
been, but also what he had become by
sovereign grace.
And that's important for us as the Lord's
people, to remember from whence we have come,
to look to the hole of the pit
from whence we've been digged, and to the
rock from which we've been hewn, but it
is also important to think of what we
have become by the grace of God.
And therefore I think this is a good
text for every believer to keep before his
or her mind, because we are too apt
to forget.
The words that were spoken by the Lord
to Israel were words that were spoken in
order that they might not forget the goodness
of the Lord.
And this is a thought that comes through
in many references where the Lord is speaking
to his people Israel.
In Exodus chapter 13 and verse 3, for
instance, Moses said unto the people, Remember this
day in which ye came out from Egypt,
out of the house of bondage, for by
strength of hand the Lord brought you out
from this place.
Remember this day.
Don't forget it.
Don't forget the day when I redeemed you.
That's what the Lord said.
If we then consider Deuteronomy chapter 5 and
verse 15, we have a similar statement.
Deuteronomy 5 verse 15 And remember that thou
wast a servant in the land of Egypt,
and that the Lord thy God brought thee
out thence through a mighty hand and by
a stretched out arm.
Again, if we go to chapter 16 of
Deuteronomy and verse 3, at the end of
the verse he says That thou mayest remember
the day when thou camest forth out of
the land of Egypt all the days of
thy life.
The Lord didn't want them to forget that
day.
Don't forget it.
The day of your redemption.
The day of your emancipation.
The day when I set you free.
Do not forget that day.
Deuteronomy 16 then verse 12 I told you
there were many references to this.
Same thought.
Here's another one.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a
bondman in Egypt.
And finally chapter 24 of Deuteronomy.
And two references.
Deuteronomy 24 verse 18 and verse 22.
Verse 18 But thou shalt remember that thou
wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord
thy God redeemed thee thence.
Verse 22 And thou shalt remember that thou
wast a bondman in the land of Egypt.
See how many times the Lord teaches his
people not to forget what he had done
for them.
Thou shalt remember.
And yet despite all of these reminders, we're
told in the word of God that they
did forget.
Psalm 106 and verse 13 gives us a
direct reference to that.
Psalm 106 verse 13 They soon forgot his
works.
And how often we as believers have been
guilty of the very same thing.
Of not remembering as we ought what it
is that the Lord has done for us.
Where it is that the Lord found us.
Where it is that the Lord has brought
us to by his grace.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 103 Bless the
Lord O my soul And forget not all
his benefits.
If you've ever read the Pilgrim's Progress Bunyan's
great work In the second part of that
book Great Heart taught the sons of Christians
regarding forgetfulness.
And this is what Great Heart said Forgetful
green is the most dangerous place around here.
I exhort you both to watch for forgetful
green and avoid it with all your heart
and soul and mind.
John Newton was a man who took that
advice.
He realized as all Christians should realize that
memory must be employed as an aid to
devotion.
Remember.
Isn't that why we come to the Lord's
table?
When we come to the Lord's table we
do this in remembrance of him.
Because we so soon forget.
And the Lord wants us to remember.
John Newton above all other things was one
who wanted to remind himself constantly of the
grace of God that had been shown to
him.
Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman
in the land of Egypt and the Lord
thy God redeemed thee.
This is his text.
And in this text and in his life
indeed John Newton recalled as we must his
experience of the bondage of sin.
You will see that the text mentions a
bondman.
A slave.
One who is in bonds.
And the Bible teaches us that before our
conversion, before we are brought to Christ we
are in bondage to our sin.
For example in Ephesians chapter 2 it says
you have be quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins.
Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world according to the
prince of the power of the air the
spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience among whom also we all had our
conversation or manner of life in times past
in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind
and were by nature the children of wrath
even as others.
And it goes on to say that we
should remember Ephesians 2 verse 11 Wherefore remember
that ye being in time past Gentiles in
the flesh who are called on circumcision by
that which is called the circumcision in the
flesh made by hands that at that time
here is what we are to remember that
at that time you were without Christ You
see you weren't always a Christian I have
a great problem with those who say to
me when I ask the question when were
you saved?
Oh I was always a Christian Well anyone
who says that you know fine well that
that's a person who is not truly a
believer because there is no such thing as
a person who was always a Christian There
must come a time in your life's experience
when you are brought out of the position
where you are without Christ to a position
where you are in Christ That's what Paul
was reminding the Ephesians Wherefore remember Remember what?
That you were without Christ being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel strangers from the covenants
of promise having no hope and without God
in the world But now You see there
has been a change Something has happened But
now in Christ Jesus Ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ Oh we need to cast our
minds back and remember And maybe you can't
remember the exact day or the exact hour
when you were saved and the devil might
use that to torment you and to give
you spiritual rickets But even though you may
not be able to clearly remember the day
and they are, although many can Yet I
say to you there has to have been
such a day and there has to have
been such an hour otherwise you are not
a child of God We are to remember
We are to cast our minds back And
that's what John Newton did After many wild
and sinful years in sin and in debauchery
John Newton became a minister of the gospel
But he never ever forgot from whence he
had come And in bold letters therefore he
printed this text Fastened it on his study
wall above the mantelpiece And so in view
of that text sitting at his little table
he prepared every sermon and he kneeled in
prayer It was in the light of this
verse actually, that John Newton lived his Christian
life He remembered being a bondman His description
of himself in his autobiography is striking He
said I was a wretch bent upon a
wild career Now there is much that I
can say about John Newton and really time
is going to forbid us doing more than
just picking out little snippets from his life
But I will try to crystallize a lot
of material into a very short time John
Newton was born in London in 1725 His
father was a seafaring man who was for
many years master of a ship in the
Mediterranean trade He had a very severe father
but his father had married a very gentle,
godly woman of dissenting convictions and John being
her only child she was able to devote
all her attention to him He could read
when he was only four and his mind
was stored with scripture and with Dr. Isaac
Watts' Shorter Catechism His mother hoped that he
might enter the ministry but she died when
he was only seven years old and therefore
she did not live to see that the
seed she sowed in his young heart and
mind bore fruit after many days Thankfully as
well she did not live to see the
debauchery and the wickedness that he fell into
But John went to school for only two
years and then when he was only eleven
his father took him to the Mediterranean in
his own ship Before he was even fifteen
years old John Newton had made several voyages
and after some restless years he agreed to
his father's proposal that he should go to
the West Indies Before he went something happened
which was to influence his whole future career
Some distant relatives of his mother's invited him
to visit them in the county of Kent
before he went abroad and he did so
and he fell in love with their elder
daughter, a girl called Mary Catlett, who was
then only fourteen years old and long afterwards
he said I was impressed with an affection
for her which never abated or lost its
influence over me None of the scenes of
misery and wretchedness I afterwards experienced ever banished
her for an hour together from my waking
thoughts for the seven following years John displeased
his father greatly when he stayed three weeks
in Kent instead of three days and hence
missed his ship to the West Indies But
his life of profligacy had begun He deserved
the ship on which he finally did sail
He was publicly flogged and degraded from the
rank of midshipman and only the thought of
Mary Catlett saved him from drowning himself in
despair But at length he arrived in Africa,
not the West Indies and he determined to
stay there As he wandered about utterly destitute
he was glad to enter into the service
of a slave trader on Plantain Island which
lies just off the coast of Sierra Leone
and it was here that he passed through
a time of terrible hardship wretchedness and degradation
The slave trader was absent for a time
and his African mistress actually became his mistress
and he was the slave and Newton was
treated with the utmost cruelty even when almost
dying of fever When he did begin to
recover he said he was nearly starved to
death and in his own narrative he tells
how hunger compels him to go out at
night to prowl about for food pulling up
roots from the ground and eating them raw
and sometimes even the poor slaves in their
chains had pity on him and they secretly
gave him some of their scanty food When
his master returned, Newton said his life became
even more wretched I haven't time to go
into all the things that took place but
John Newton literally became a bondman.
He was a slave.
He was in the slave trade but he
himself became a slave and he talks about
this.
He says I went to Africa that I
might be free to sin to my heart's
content During the few years my soul was
seared by the most revolting and barbarous of
all human experiences I endured the extreme barbarities
of a life before the mast I fell
into the pitiless clutches of the press gang
As a deserter I was flogged until the
blood streamed down my back I became involved
in the unspeakable atrocities of the African slave
trade and then going from bad to worse
I actually became a slave myself The slave
of a slave He was a bondman in
the land of Egypt which is this old
world Now the text says thou shalt remember
But it's interesting when you read John Newton's
autobiography that there's a phrase that reoccurs all
the time and that phrase is I soon
forgot He says that many many times.
I soon forgot He tells how that as
a boy he was thrown from a horse
and almost met his death that day That
sad day as he looked death in the
face in a most abrupt and untimely manner
there was a very deep impression made upon
him But he says of that occasion I
soon forgot I soon forgot He forgot the
mercy of God to him.
Some years later he made an appointment with
some companions to visit one of the navy
ships They were to meet at the water
side at a certain time and row out
to the battleship but the unexpected happened Newton
was detained held back.
His companions gave up waiting for him and
they rowed out in the boat but the
boat was upset and they all drowned and
there was a Lord's preservation of John Newton
even then He says I went to their
funerals I was exceedingly affected by it but
I soon forgot Oh how men soon forget
How sinners often times go through terrible experiences
and even during those experiences they make some
kind of promises or vows that they're going
to be better or they're going to seek
the Lord but they soon forget and they
go on with their sin and they go
on with their wickedness Newton says even in
those circumstances I soon forgot Maybe I'm talking
to somebody tonight and you've been spoken to
by events in your life or maybe events
even recently in this world the terrible tragedy
in America has been a subject on everybody's
lips of late but yet there are many
who can talk about those things and many
who have even survived from the World Trade
Center bombing and all that accompanied that and
yet they're still not saved and you wonder
sometimes what will it take to get people's
attention what will it take to cause them
to seek the Lord maybe there are those
who are not in those circumstances but they've
been in other circumstances that God has brought
into their lives and they've promised to change
their ways when they've been in trouble but
when the trouble was passed they soon forgot
Well John Newton was one who admitted that
he soon forgot interestingly I read that he
once had a remarkable dream lying in his
hammock in the boat, homeward bound from Italy
in his dream he fancied that he was
back in Venice it was midnight he thought
the ship was riding at anchor and it
was his watch on the deck he said
he dreamt that a mysterious visitor had come
to the ship and gave him a beautiful
ring and he said to Newton as long
as you keep it you will be happy
and successful but if you lose it you
will know nothing but trouble and misery then
the stranger vanished into thin air shortly afterwards
a second stranger appeared on the deck and
he pointed to the ring and said to
Newton throw it away throw it away Newton
was horrified at that proposal but he said
at length he listened to the arguments of
the stranger and going to the side of
the ship he threw the beautiful ring into
the sea and all of a sudden the
land seemed ablaze with a range of volcanoes
and fierce eruption and he understood that all
those terrible flames had been lit for his
destruction the second stranger then vanished but shortly
after the first stranger who gave him the
ring returned Newton fell at his feet confessed
everything and the stranger then entered the water
retrieved the ring and Newton said give it
to me no replied the stranger you have
shown that you are unable to keep it,
I will preserve it for you and whenever
you need it I will produce it on
your behalf John Newton said that dream made
a very great impression on him but again
he said the impression soon wore off and
in a little time I soon forgot in
a little time I totally forgot it and
is it not the same men and women
with men as a sinner that they soon
forget however two things Newton never forgot he
said I was born in a home of
godliness dedicated to god in my infancy I
was my mothers only child and I was
almost her only employment through my childhood her
whole employment was the care of my education
though she died when I was young yet
her memory lingered it was the one sheet
anchor that did hold him in the darkest
day of his sinning and his debauchery and
degradation and I pause here to say what
a blessing it is to have a godly
mother or father or both the faithful prayers
of many as a mother have kept her
son from hell you should read the life
of Augustine the great theologian his mother Monica
prayed much for him until he came to
know Christ well when she was only young
as we've said Mary Catlett had become Newton's
first and only real love and he was
romantically attracted to her and below his people
frowned on any engagement yet eventually when he
returned to sanity after a life of wickedness
and was saved by the grace of god
Mary Catlett became his esteemed and beloved wife
when he was 25 years old he couldn't
forget his mothers love he couldn't forget also
a maidens love for Mary Catlett was a
child of god but then he went on
in his mad career a blasphemer an infidel
a mocker of the scriptures a bond man
remember believer tonight the bondage of sin that
you were once in remember it think about
it it's good to remember where the grace
of god found you there was another great
Puritan preacher many of you will have heard
of him Thomas Goodwin was his name he
said when I was threatening to become cold
in my ministry when I felt sabbath morning
coming and my heart was not filled with
amazement at the grace of god and when
I was making ready to dispense the lord's
supper do you know what I used to
do I used to take a turn up
and down among the sins of my past
life and I always came down again with
a broken and contrite heart ready to preach
as I preached in the beginning the subject
of the forgiveness of sins John Newton recalled
as all believers should not only his experience
of the bondage of sin but his experience
of the blessing of salvation because if you
look again with me at the text it
says this thou shalt remember that thou wast
past hence a bond man in the land
of Egypt and the lord thy god redeemed
thee that's where the lord found you but
especially rejoice in the fact that the lord
didn't leave you there but that Christ redeemed
you by his blood that he pardoned and
forgave all your sins that the burden of
guilt is totally gone and because of the
blood of the lamb you're saved you're no
longer a sinner unsaved you're a sinner saved
by grace now how was it that John
Newton was delivered well the story is remarkable
it's thrilling on the 10th of March 1748
the ship upon which Newton was sailing was
threatening to find her in the grip of
a terrible storm but the lord came and
delivered the ship from the storm but he
also delivered the soul of John Newton the
African blasphemer delivered him out of the deep
waters it was a terrific storm he speaks
of how the ship went plunging down into
the trough of the seas with few on
board expecting the ship to come up again
the hold of the ship was rapidly filling
with water and as John Newton hurried to
his place at the pumps he said to
the captain if this will not do the
lord have mercy upon us and then he
became startled by his own words the lord
have mercy upon us mercy mercy was there
mercy for him yes he says in his
writings in the gospel I saw at least
a peradventure of hope on every other side
I was surrounded with black unfathomable despair but
on the 10th of March 1748 I sought
and found mercy at the age of 23
once an infidel a libertine a profligate a
prodigal son a slave of slaves in Africa
he was by the mercy of our lord
and saviour Jesus Christ preserved and restored and
pardoned and appointed to preach that faith that
he had laboured to destroy Newton was indeed
a trophy of God's grace I love the
hymns of Newton and one of the great
hymns that he later penned was in fact
his own testimony this is what he wrote
in evil long I took delight unawed by
shame or fear until a new object struck
my sight and stopped my wild career I
saw one hanging on a tree in agonies
and blood who fixed his languid eyes on
me as near his cross I stood sure
never till my latest breath can I forget
that look it seemed to charge me with
his death though not a word he spoke
my conscience felt and owned the guilt and
plunged me in despair I saw my sins
his blood had spilt and helped to nail
him there alas I knew not what I
did but now my tears are vain where
shall my trembling soul be hid for I
the Lord have slain a second look he
gave which said I freely all forgive this
blood is for thy ransom paid I die
that thou mayest live thus while his death
my sin displays in all its blackest hue
such as the mystery of grace it seals
my pardon too with pleasing grief and mournful
joy my spirit now is filled that I
should such a life destroy yet live by
him I killed oh wondrous love to bleed
and die to bear the cross and shame
that guilty sinners such as I might plead
his precious name that was the testimony of
John Newton another of his famous hymns ascribes
all the glory for his deliverance to God's
amazing grace and we've already sung it in
this service tonight amazing grace how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me I
once was lost but now I'm found was
blind but now I see can you say
that tonight is this your testimony you know
I think there are some in this world
even in the church who seem more keen
to dwell on the awfulness of their sins
without ever getting to the greatness of salvation
from sin and yes we are great sinners
but oh we have a great saviour we
have a wonderful saviour one who can cleanse
the foulest and the rottenest of sins I
read in Micah chapter 7 and verses 18
and 19 these great words who is a
God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of
his heritage he retaineth not his anger forever
because he delighteth in mercy he will turn
again he will have compassion upon us he
will subdue our iniquities and I will cast
all their sins into the depths of the
sea the apostle wrote once in the end
of the world half he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself oh
Jesus saves and I listen to John Newton
in the twilight of his life and he
says this I remember two things although my
memory is nearly gone one that I am
a great sinner and two that Christ is
a great saviour and he penned these words
oh let thy memory wake I told thee
so I told thee thus would end thy
heaviest woe I told thee that thy God
would bring thee here and God's own hand
would wipe away thy tear while I should
claim a mansion by thy side I told
thee so for our Emmanuel died.
Newton became a powerful preacher of the gospel
of God's grace and after his conversion God
led him to be a mighty preacher a
hymn writer and a helper of other believers
until 1754 we find John Newton actively engaged
in what he did not then regard as
an unlawful occupation the slave trade although later
he did his utmost to expose the cruelties
of that trade at the end of 1754
this was after he was converted as he
was about to set out on a voyage
he was seized with an apoplectic fit and
that was the Lord's means of delivering him
from slave trading for eight years he was
the tide surveyor at Liverpool during which time
his Christian life was making progress he began
to read a great deal and at that
time providentially he met a man who proved
to be a great counselor and guide to
him.
Newton talks about that he said he not
only improved my understanding but inflamed my heart
he encouraged me to open my mouth in
prayer and to venture to speak for God
I was delivered from a fear which had
long troubled me the fear of relapsing into
my former apostasy but now I began to
understand the security of the covenant of grace
and I expect to be preserved not by
my own power and holiness but by the
mighty power and promise of God through faith
in an unchangeable savior.
I could keep you for a very long
time that I don't intend to do talking
about Newton studying the scriptures in Hebrew and
Greek and then having his first thoughts of
entering the ministry he gave some informal addresses
at first at private meetings and they had
been well received then he was urged by
his friends to seek to become a clergyman
of the Anglican church and so with Mrs.
Newton he visited Yorkshire where he had heard
of remarkable revivals he spoke with several evangelical
ministers and he returned from there greatly refreshed
in spirit and with a desire to enter
the ministry confirmed in his heart.
After five more years in secular duties the
curacy of Olney in the county of Buckinghamshire
was offered to him and accepted by him.
He went there in 1764 when he was
only 39 and remained there nearly 16 years
succeeding a famous minister called the Reverend Moses
Brown a faithful man and I could refer
to a lot more things that he taught
and did but I just want to mention
very briefly that Newton's friendship with William Cuyper
was one of the most remarkable features of
his life in Olney.
William Cuyper was a great man he wrote
that hymn concerning the blood of the Lamb
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn
from Emmanuel's veins.
Sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their
guilty stains.
He wrote that beautiful hymn concerning the providence
of God.
The one where he talks about when you
fear those clouds he says those clouds that
you so much fear are big with blessing
and shall break with blessing on your head.
He speaks there of the providence of God
and yet he was a man who suffered
great mental trouble and the story of Newton
seeking to bring comfort and help and strength
to William Cuyper is a wonderful story indeed.
But it's an interesting fact and I take
great encouragement from this in my own ministry
that John Newton was such a powerful and
faithful evangelist so doctrinally sound and yet on
fire for God that sometimes he was accused
by some Calvinist of being an Arminian and
was accused by the Arminians of being a
Calvinist so I think he had it about
right he was a man who believed in
the Calvinistic doctrines and preached them with fire
and with power and with life.
He knew that God had forgiven him he
could never really forgive himself.
He always was a man of great humility
always self-abasing humble on account of his
former wickedness of life and his presumptuous rejection
of the gospel in his early days but
yet he was a man who knew the
gospel and loved the gospel and preached the
gospel.
As I bring this to a close let
me just mention that before he died John
Newton commanded his friends that when he did
pass away he didn't want any fuss he
didn't want all kinds of eulogies written on
his gravestone he said he just wanted a
simple grave marker with these words upon it
John Newton Clerk and that was it and
I had the privilege of visiting his grave
there in London, England and that's what it
says John Newton Clerk on a marble tablet
in his London church to this day are
these words John Newton Clerk once an infidel
and libertine a servant of slaves in Africa
was by the rich mercy of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ preserved, restored pardoned and
appointed to preach the faith he had long
laboured to destroy what a testimony Newton had
been a bondman he had been a servant
of the devil a servant of sin but
the Lord redeemed him and he never forgot
it never forgot where the Lord brought him
from for this text was burned into his
soul Deuteronomy 15 15 and thou shalt remember
that thou wast a bondman in the land
of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed
thee if you're a believer tonight I trust
again the Lord will help you to remember
that you were a bondman remember where it
was that grace found you and rejoice in
it and thank God for it and live
for him but tonight if you're not saved
then you're still a bondman in the land
of Egypt the world has you in its
grip the devil has you in his grip
sin has you controlled you may think that
you're free you may think that you do
what you want but really the Bible talks
about those who think themselves to be in
liberty but they are themselves in the bondage
of sin and there's only one that can
cut the chains and there's only one that
can redeem you and there's only one that
can set you free and his name is
Jesus for his blood can make ten thousands
clean his blood avails for me his blood
can break the power of cancelled sin and
set the prisoner free and tonight I urge
you to seek the Lord while he may
be found to call upon him while he
is near the other night we were talking
about a great man of God Richard Baxter
and it was his aim always to preach
as one who might never preach again and
as a dying man to dying men and
so if I was never going to preach
again and that's possible then I want to
be able to say that my last message
was one in which I called sinners to
Christ in which I set before you Christ
alone as the hope of glory as the
only Saviour no works of merit now I
plead the hymn writer said but Jesus take
for all my need no righteousness in me
is found except upon redemption ground thou shalt
remember that thou was a bondman in the
land of Egypt and the Lord thy God
redeemed thee were not redeemed with corruptible things
such as silver or gold but with the
precious blood of Christ may the Lord redeem
sinners even to me for his name's sake
amen