John Newton Discovered Amazing Grace

Diane Severance, Ph.D.

John Newton Discovered Amazing Grace

Newton Lost at Sea

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 mechanically 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.

Newton on the Stormy Seas

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.

Recalling Scripture

John Newton was known as "The Great Blasphemer." He sank so low at one point that
he was even a servant to slaves in Africa for a brief period. His mother had prayed he
would become a minister and had early taught him the Scriptures and Isaac Watts'
Divine Songs for Children. Some of those early childhood teachings came to mind now.
He remembered Proverbs 1:24-31, and in the midst of that storm, those verses seemed
to confirm Newton in his despair:

"Because I have called, and ye refused . . . ye have set at naught all my counsel, and
would none of my reproof: I also laughed at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh: when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer."

John Newton had rejected his mother's teachings and had led other sailors into
unbelief. Certainly, he was beyond hope and beyond saving, even if the Scriptures were
true. Yet, Newton's thoughts began to turn to Christ. He found a New Testament and
began to read. Luke 11:13 seemed to assure him that God might still hear him: "If ye
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."

Deliverance - Salvation of John Newton

That day at the helm, March 21, 1748, was a day Newton remembered ever after, for
"On that day the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of deep waters." Many
years later, as an old man, Newton wrote in his diary of March 21, 1805: "Not well able
to write; but I endeavor to observe the return of this day with humiliation, prayer, and
praise." Only God's amazing grace could and would take a rude, profane, slave-trading
sailor and transform him into a child of God. Newton never ceased to stand in awe of
God's work in his life.

New Directions - John Newton's Conversion

Though Newton continued in his profession of sailing and slave-trading for a time, his
life was transformed. He began a disciplined schedule of Bible study, prayer, and
Christian reading and tried to be a Christian example to the sailors under his command.
Philip Doddridge's The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul provided much spiritual
comfort, and a fellow-Christian captain he met off the coast of Africa guided Newton
further in his Christian faith.

Newton left slave-trading and took the job of tide surveyor at Liverpool, but he began
to think he had been called to the ministry. His mother's prayers for her son were
answered, and in 1764, at the age of thirty-nine, John Newton began forty-three years
of preaching the Gospel of Christ.

John and his beloved wife Mary (At the end of his life John would write that their love
"equaled all that the writers of romance have imagined") moved to the little market
town of Olney. He spent his mornings in Bible study and his afternoons in visiting his
parishioners. There were regular Sunday morning and afternoon services as well as
meetings for children and young people. There was also a Tuesday evening prayer
meeting which was always well attended.

For the Sunday evening services, Newton often composed a hymn which developed the
lessons and Scripture for the evening. In 1779, two hundred and eighty of these were
collected and combined with sixty-eight hymns by Newton's friend and parishioner,
William Cowper, and published as the Olney Hymns. The most famous of all the Olney
Hymns, "Faith's Review and Expectation," grew out of David's exclamation in 1
Chronicles 17:16-17. We know it today as "Amazing Grace." Several other of the Olney
hymns by Newton continues in use today, including "How Sweet the Name of Jesus
Sounds," and "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken."

John Newton Ditemukan Amazing Grace

Diane Severance, Ph.D.

John Newton Ditemukan Amazing Grace

Newton Lost at Sea

Greyhound telah meronta-ronta di badai Atlantik utara selama lebih dari

seminggu. Layar kanvasnya robek, dan kayu di satu sisi kapal telah terkoyak
dan pecah. Para pelaut tidak memiliki banyak harapan untuk selamat, tetapi
mereka secara mekanis mengerjakan pompa, mencoba menjaga agar kapal
tetap mengapung. Pada hari kesebelas badai, pelaut John Newton terlalu
lelah untuk memompa, jadi ia diikat ke kemudi dan mencoba memegang
kapal ke jalurnya. Dari jam satu sampai tengah malam dia di pucuk
pimpinan.

Newton di Lautan Badai

Dengan badai yang mengamuk dengan ganas, Newton punya waktu untuk
berpikir. Hidupnya tampak hancur dan hancur seperti halnya kapal yang
sudah rusak yang ia coba untuk kendalikan dari badai. Sejak usia sebelas
tahun, ia telah menjalani kehidupan di laut. Pelaut tidak terkenal karena
penyempurnaan perilaku mereka, tetapi Newton memiliki reputasi untuk
kata-kata kotor, kekasaran, dan pesta pora yang bahkan mengejutkan
banyak pelaut.

Mengingat Kitab Suci

John Newton dikenal sebagai "The Great Blasphemer." Dia tenggelam

begitu rendah pada satu titik bahwa dia bahkan seorang pelayan budak di
Afrika untuk periode singkat. Ibunya telah berdoa dia akan menjadi seorang
pendeta dan sejak awal mengajarinya Kitab Suci dan Lagu-Lagu Ilahi untuk
Anak-anak. Beberapa dari ajaran masa kecil itu muncul di benak saya
sekarang. Dia ingat Amsal 1: 24-31, dan di tengah-tengah badai itu, ayat-
ayat itu sepertinya menguatkan Newton dalam keputusasaannya:

"Karena aku telah menelepon, dan kamu menolak ... kamu telah
menetapkan semua nasihatku, dan tidak akan ada teguranku: Aku juga
menertawakan musibahmu; Aku akan mengejek ketika rasa takutmu
datang: ketika rasa takutmu datang sebagai kehancuran dan kehancuranmu
datang seperti angin puyuh; ketika kesusahan dan kesedihan menimpamu,
maka mereka akan memanggilku, tetapi aku tidak akan menjawab. "

John Newton telah menolak ajaran ibunya dan telah menyebabkan para
pelaut lainnya menjadi tidak percaya. Tentu saja, ia berada di luar harapan
dan di luar penyelamatan, bahkan jika Alkitab benar. Namun, pikiran
Newton mulai beralih kepada Kristus. Dia menemukan Perjanjian Baru dan
mulai membaca. Lukas 11:13 tampaknya meyakinkan dia bahwa Allah
mungkin masih mendengar dia: "Jika kamu, ketika menjadi jahat, tahu
bagaimana memberikan hadiah yang baik kepada anak-anakmu: berapa
banyak lagi Bapamu yang di sorga akan memberikan Roh Kudus kepada
mereka yang bertanya kepadanya. "

Pembebasan - Keselamatan John Newton

Hari itu di pucuk pimpinan, 21 Maret 1748, adalah hari yang diingat
Newton selamanya, karena "Pada hari itu Tuhan mengirim dari tempat
tinggi dan membebaskan saya dari perairan yang dalam." Bertahun-tahun
kemudian, sebagai orang tua, Newton menulis dalam buku hariannya
tanggal 21 Maret 1805: "Tidak bisa menulis; tetapi saya berusaha
mengamati kembalinya hari ini dengan penghinaan, doa, dan pujian."
Hanya anugerah Allah yang luar biasa yang dapat dan akan mengambil
pelaut yang kasar, tidak senonoh, berdagang budak, dan mengubahnya
menjadi anak Allah. Newton tidak pernah berhenti mengagumi pekerjaan
Tuhan dalam hidupnya.

Arah Baru - Konversi John Newton

Meskipun Newton melanjutkan profesinya dalam berlayar dan berdagang

budak untuk sementara waktu, hidupnya berubah. Ia memulai jadwal
pelajaran Alkitab, doa, dan bacaan Kristen yang disiplin dan berusaha
menjadi teladan Kristen bagi para pelaut di bawah komandonya.
Kebangkitan dan Kemajuan Agama dalam Jiwa Philip Doddridge
memberikan banyak kenyamanan rohani, dan seorang kapten Kristen yang
ia temui di lepas pantai Afrika membimbing Newton lebih jauh dalam iman
Kristennya.

Newton meninggalkan perdagangan budak dan mengambil pekerjaan

surveyor pasang di Liverpool, tetapi dia mulai berpikir dia telah dipanggil
ke kementerian. Doa ibunya untuk putranya dijawab, dan pada 1764, pada
usia tiga puluh sembilan, John Newton mulai empat puluh tiga tahun
memberitakan Injil Kristus.

John dan istrinya yang tercinta, Mary (Di akhir hidupnya, John akan menulis
bahwa cinta mereka "menyamai semua yang dibayangkan para penulis
romansa") pindah ke kota pasar kecil Olney. Ia menghabiskan pagi hari
dalam pelajaran Alkitab dan sore harinya mengunjungi umatnya. Ada
kebaktian Minggu pagi dan sore secara teratur serta pertemuan untuk
anak-anak dan remaja. Ada juga pertemuan doa Selasa malam yang selalu
dihadiri.

Untuk kebaktian Minggu malam, Newton sering mengarang nyanyian

pujian yang mengembangkan pelajaran dan Kitab Suci untuk malam itu.
Pada 1779, dua ratus delapan puluh dari ini dikumpulkan dan digabungkan
dengan enam puluh delapan nyanyian oleh teman dan umat paroki
Newton, William Cowper, dan diterbitkan sebagai Nyanyian Olney. Yang
paling terkenal dari semua Nyanyian Rohani Olney, "Tinjauan dan Harapan
Iman," muncul dari seruan Daud dalam 1 Tawarikh 17: 16-17. Kita tahu hari
ini sebagai "Rahmat Luar Biasa." Beberapa hymne Olney lain oleh Newton
terus digunakan sampai sekarang, termasuk "Betapa Manisnya Nama
Yesus," dan "Hal-Hal yang Mulia Engkau Diucapkan."

Rector John Newton - Abolition of Slavery

In 1779 Newton left Olney to become rector of St. Mary Woolnoth in London. His
ministry included not only the London poor and the merchant class but also the wealthy
and influential. William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament and a prime mover in the
abolition of slavery, was strongly influenced by John Newton's life and preaching.
Newton's Thoughts on the African Slave Trade, based on his own experiences as a slave
trader, was very important in securing British abolition of slavery. Missionaries William
Carey and Henry Martyn also gained strength from Newton's counsel.

Newton lived to be eighty-two years old and continued to preach and have an active
ministry until beset by fading health in the last two or three years of his life. 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."

Rektor John Newton - Penghapusan Perbudakan

Pada 1779 Newton meninggalkan Olney untuk menjadi rektor St. Mary
Woolnoth di London. Pelayanannya tidak hanya mencakup kaum miskin di
London dan kelas pedagang, tetapi juga kaum kaya dan berpengaruh.
William Wilberforce, seorang anggota Parlemen dan penggerak utama
dalam penghapusan perbudakan, sangat dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan dan
pemberitaan John Newton. Pikiran Newton tentang Perdagangan Budak
Afrika, berdasarkan pengalamannya sendiri sebagai pedagang budak,
sangat penting dalam mengamankan penghapusan perbudakan di Inggris.
Misionaris William Carey dan Henry Martyn juga memperoleh kekuatan dari
nasihat Newton.

Newton hidup sampai usia delapan puluh dua tahun dan terus berkhotbah
dan memiliki pelayanan aktif sampai dilanda memudarnya kesehatan dalam
dua atau tiga tahun terakhir hidupnya. Bahkan pada saat itu, Newton tidak
pernah berhenti kagum oleh rahmat Tuhan dan mengatakan kepada
teman-temannya, "Ingatan saya hampir hilang; tetapi saya ingat dua hal:
Bahwa saya adalah orang berdosa yang hebat, dan bahwa Kristus adalah
Juruselamat yang hebat."

Berkat yang mengagumkan! (betapa manis suaranya)

Itu sangat buruk seperti saya!

Saya pernah tersesat, tetapi sekarang ditemukan,

Tadinya buta, tapi sekarang aku mengerti.

"Sungguh rahmat yang mengajarkan hatiku untuk takut,

Dan rahmatlah ketakutan saya kembali;

Betapa berharga rahmat itu muncul,

Jam pertama saya percaya!

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)

That sav’d 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 reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believ’d!