At the age of twenty two, John, a wretched sinner, was converted from a daring blasphemer of God into a devout believer in Christ. He wrote:
“But let me not fail to praise that grace which could pardon, that blood which could expiate, such sins as mine. Yea, the Ethiopian may change his skin and the leopard his spots. I, who was the willing slave of every evil, possessed with a legion of unclean spirits, have been spared and saved, and changed, to stand as a monument of His almighty power for ever.”
(Out of the Depths P.47)
The three-fold lifeline God used to reach his dark heart and rescue his dear soul was:
1. The memory of his godly mother and her early input of Scripture;
2. The meaningful love for Mary Catlett, his sweetheart, whom he married two years later;
3. The messages of the Prodigal Son, Bishop Beveridge’s sermons, and Stanhope’s Thomas à Kempis’ ‘Of the Imitation of Christ’.
His ‘great deliverance’ took place one stormy night on March 21, 1748, whilst returning to England, on a cargo ship as a passenger, having being rescued from Africa. He, the captain and a crew of ten were caught in a fierce storm which lasted on and off for eleven days. The ship, carrying ‘a great quantity of bees wax, wood’ and ‘live stock of pigs, sheep and poultry’, was battered by monstrous winds and beaten by mountainous waves. The tired sailors, like their torn sails, were helpless as they battled against the raging storm and the roaring seas. Those, who were not washed overboard tried in vain to save their badly leaking boat and rapidly sinking vessel.
In describing the chaos and the confusion, the frenzy and the fear on the waterlogged and weakened ‘Greyhound’, John wrote:
”..the day before our catastrophe ……I went to bed that night in my usual security and indifference but was awakened from a sound sleep by the force of a violent sea, which broke on us. Much of it came down below and filled the cabin where I lay with water. This alarm was followed by a cry from the deck that the ship was going down or sinking … while I returned for the knife, another person went up in my place, who was instantly washed overboard. We had no leisure to lament him, nor did we expect to survive him long, for we soon found the ship was filling very fast. The sea had torn away the upper timbers on one side, and made the ship a mere wreck in a few minutes … taken in all circumstances, it was astonishing and almost miraculous that any of us survived … almost every passing wave broke over my head, but we made ourselves fast with ropes, that we might not be washed away. Indeed I expected that every time the vessel descended into the sea, she would rise no more.” (Out of the Depths P.69-71)
For the young seaman, however, the day of salvation was here, the hour of decision had arrived, and the moment of truth was at hand. John wrote:
“The straits of hunger, cold weariness, and the sinking (He couldn’t swim) and starving, I shared with others. But besides these I felt a heart-bitterness which was properly my own. No one else on board was impressed with any sense of the hand of God in our danger and deliverance.” (Out of the Depths P.81)
With no help in sight and all hope gone, Mate Newton called on the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, counting on the riches of His grace that saves from the gutter-most to the uttermost.
With darkness all around him, and death staring him in the face, he cried out in genuine repentance for the Redeemer’s tender mercies. AND GOD SAVED HIM!
Years later he wrote in one of his hymns:
"Begone, unbelief, my Saviour is near,
And for my relief will surely appear:
By prayer let me wrestle, and He will perform;
With Christ in the vessel , I smile at the storm."
With the love of Christ
Peter Rahme
Pastor - Inner West Baptist Church
(Taken from Pastor Rahme’s book - ‘The Man & The Story Behind Amazing Grace’. To order call (02) 9742 5716; or visit www.amazinggrace.org.au)
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The Man & The Story Behind Amazing Grace (pt 4): Mercy in the Storm
At the age of twenty two, John, a wretched sinner, was converted from a daring blasphemer of God into a devout believer in Christ. He wrote: “But let me not fail to praise that grace which could pardon, that blood which could expiate, such sins as mine. Yea, the Ethiopian may change his skin and the leopard his spots. I, who was the willing slave of every evil, possessed with a legion of unclean spirits, have been spared and saved, and changed, to stand as a monument of His almighty power for ever.” (Out of the Depths P.47)
By: Peter Rahme
Christian Today Australia Columnist
Christian Today Australia Columnist
Wednesday, 26 September 2007, 17:57 (EST)
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