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“Can we stand a single moment unless Jesus upholds us?” by John Newton

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“You must not expect habits and tempers will be eradicated instantaneously; but by perseverance in prayer, and observation upon the experiences of every day, much may be done in time.

Now and then you will (as is usual in the course of war) lose a battle; but be not discouraged, but rally your forces, and return to the fight.

There is a comfortable word, a leaf of the tree of life, for healing the wounds we receive, in 1 John 2:1.

If the enemy surprises you, and your heart smites you, do not stand astonished as if there was no help, nor give way to sorrow as if there was no hope, nor attempt to heal yourself.

But away immediately to the Throne of Grace, to the great Physician, to the compassionate High Priest, and tell Him all.

Satan knows, that if he can keep us from confession, our wounds will rankle; but do you profit by David’s experience, (Psalm 32:3–5).

When we are simple and open-hearted in abasing ourselves before the Lord, though we have acted foolishly and ungratefully, He will seldom let us remain long without affording us a sense of His compassion.

For He is gracious. He knows our frame. And He knows how to bear with us, even though we can hardly bear with ourselves, or with one another.

The main thing is to have the heart right with God: this will bring us in the end safely through many mistakes and blunders.

But a double mind, a selfish spirit, that would halve things between God and the world, the Lord abhors.

If the Lord is pleased to bless you, He will undoubtedly make you humble; for you cannot be either happy or safe, or have any probable hope of abiding usefulness, without it.

I do not know that I have had anything so much at heart in my connections with you, as to impress you with a sense of the necessity and advantages of an humble frame of spirit: I hope it has not been in vain.

O! to be little in our own eyes! This is the ground-work of every grace.

This leads to a continual dependence upon the Lord Jesus.

This is the spirit which He has promised to bless.

This conciliates us good-will and acceptance amongst men.

For he that abaseth himself is sure to be honoured.

And that this temper is so hard to attain and preserve, is a striking proof of our depravity.

For are we not sinners? Were we not rebels and enemies before we knew the Gospel?

And have we not been unfaithful, backsliding, and unprofitable ever since?

Are we not redeemed by the blood of Jesus?

And can we stand a single moment unless He upholds us?

Have we any thing which we have not received: or have we received any thing which we have not abused?

Why then are dust and ashes proud?

I am glad you have found some spiritual acquaintance in your barren land. I hope you will be helpful to them, and they to you.

You do well to guard against every appearance of evil.

If you are heartily for Jesus, Satan owes you a grudge.

One way or other he will try to cut you out work, and the Lord may suffer him to go to the length of his chain.

But though you are to keep your eye upon him, and expect to hear from him at every step, you need not be slavishly afraid of him.

For Jesus is stronger and wiser than he.

And there is a complete suit of armour provided for all who are engaged on the Lord’s side.

John Newton
June 7, 1767″

–John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 2 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1988), 2: 48-50.

“Be content with being a learner in the school of Christ” by John Newton

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“Be content with being a learner in the school of Christ for some years. The delay will not be lost time.

You will be so much the more acquainted with the Gospel, with your own heart, and with human nature.

The last is a necessary branch of a minister’s knowledge, and can only be acquired by comparing what passes within us, and around us, with what we read in the Word of God.

I am glad to find you have a distaste both for Arminian and Antinomian doctrines. But let not the mistakes of others sit too heavy upon you.

Be thankful for the grace that has made you to differ.

Be ready to give a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

But beware of engaging in disputes, without evident necessity, and some probable hope of usefulness.

They tend to eat out the life and savor of religion, and to make the soul lean and dry.

Where God has begun a real work of grace, incidental mistakes will be lessened by time and experience.

Where He has not, it is of little signification what sentiments people hold, or whether they call themselves Arminians or Calvinists.

Yours,

John Newton
March 7, 1765”

–John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 2 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1988), 2: 47.

“A neighborhood of strangers and a world of fragments” by Neil Postman

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“A book is an attempt to make thought permanent and to contribute to the great conversation conducted by authors of the past. Therefore, civilized people everywhere consider the burning of a book a vile form of anti-intellectualism.

But the telegraph demands that we burn its contents. The value of telegraphy is undermined by applying the tests of permanence, continuity or coherence.

The telegraph is suited only to the flashing of messages, each to be quickly replaced by a more up-to-date message. Facts push other facts into and then out of consciousness at speeds that neither permit nor require evaluation.

The telegraph introduced a kind of public conversation whose form had startling characteristics: Its language was the language of headlines–sensational, fragmented, impersonal. News took the form of slogans, to be noted with excitement, to be forgotten with dispatch.

Its language was also entirely discontinuous. One message had no connection to that which preceded or followed it. Each “headline” stood alone as its own context.

The receiver of the news had to provide a meaning if he could. the sender was under no obligation to do so. And because of all this, the world as depicted by the telegraph began to appear unmanageable, even undecipherable.

The line-by-line, sequential, continuous form of the printed page slowly began to lose its resonance as a metaphor of how knowledge was to be acquired and how the world was to be understood.

“Knowing” the facts took on a new meaning, for it did not imply that one understood implications, background, or connections. Telegraphic discourse permitted no time for historical perspectives and gave no priority to the qualitative.

To the telegraph, intelligence meant knowing of lots of things, not knowing about them.

Thus, to the reverent question posed by Morse–What hath God wrought?–a disturbing answer came back: a neighborhood of strangers and pointless quantity; a world of fragments and discontinuities.

God, of course, had nothing to do with it.”

–Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York: Penguin, 1985), 70.

“Whatever our tongue utters should savor of His excellence” by John Calvin

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“Whatever our mind conceives of God, whatever our tongue utters, should savor of His excellence, match the loftiness of His sacred name, and lastly, serve to glorify His greatness.”

–John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (ed. John T. McNeill; trans. Ford Lewis Battles; vol. 1; The Library of Christian Classics; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 388. (2.8.22)