John Newton (1725-1807) was born in London on July 24, 1725 and died December 21, 1807. At the age eleven, he went to sea with his father, a shipmaster on the Mediterranean. Disregarding his mother’s desire that he enter the ministry, Newton engaged in the lucrative but brutal African slave trade for a number of years. After his conversion to Christianity, he served in the Church of England as pastor of Olney parish and later of the combined church of St. Mary’s in London. In addition to the words of “Amazing Grace,” Newton was a prolific songwriter whose other well-known hymns include “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” and “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.”
“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”
“Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”
“We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.”
“But that we are so totally depraved, is a truth which no one ever truly learned by being only told it.”
“I wish you may profit by my experience. Alas, how much time have I lost and wasted, which, had I been wise—I would have devoted to reading and studying the Bible! But my evil heart obstructs the dictates of my judgment, I often feel a reluctance to read this book of books, and a disposition to hew out broken cisterns which afford me no water, while the fountain of living waters are close within my reach!”
“The wisdom that is from above, is not only pure, but also peaceable and gentle; and the lack of these qualifications, like the dead fly in the jar of ointment, will spoil the fragrance and efficacy of our labors. If we act in a wrong spirit—we shall bring little glory to God; do little good to our fellow creatures; and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves! If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side—you have an easy task!”