📚 Jewels of John Newton 

📌 WHO is John Newton? BORN in London in 1725, deprived of the godly influence of his mother before he was seven years old, John Newton was but two years at school before he went, at the age of eleven, on his first voyage with his father, a sea captain. From that time till the age of thirty, when his health was broken by a stroke, Newton endured the wild rigours of a life before the mast, including being press-ganged aboard a naval vessel and flogged when captured after desertion. Only his love for the youthful Mary Catlett preserved him from suicide. He was released from the navy only to join in the slave traffic across the Atlantic, and was reduced almost to death on the Guinea coast before being delivered by a friend of his father’s. 

Throughout these sad events there ran a Divine purpose; and while Newton forgot the Saviour whom his mother had so often com mended to him in childhood, and while he became, like one of old, a ‘blasphemer and injurious,’ it was all leading to a day—in the midst of a tremendous storm at sea—when he was brought to say: ‘I stood in need of an Almighty Saviour, and such a one I found described in the New Testament. The Lord had wrought a marvellous thing.’ 

After his seafaring days he became tide-surveyor in Liverpool, a thriving slave port with a population of 22,000. It was here that Newton became acquainted with the great evangelist, George Whitefield, and soon he also came to know other leaders of the Evangelical Revival such as William Grimshaw and Henry Venn. His own thoughts were now turned to the ministry, and after several disappointments he was at length settled in 1764 in the Buckinghamshire parish of Olney – a name immortalized by the hymns which he and the poet William Cowper wrote for the mid-week meetings of the church. 

In his sixteen years at Olney, Newton found a good field for exercising his gift as ‘the letter writer par excellence of the Evangelical Revival.’ The dreadful condition from which he had been saved, the long struggle he went through before he came to a clear understanding of the gospel, and the years of patient waiting for an opening in the Church, all served to prepare Newton for this work. He was given a thorough knowledge of the workings of the human heart and of the Lord’s dealings with his people. 

Newton became minister of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, in 1779, where he continued to preach until almost the end of his life in 1807. Being advised by Richard Cecil in 1806 to discontinue preaching, he gave the memorable reply. ‘I cannot stop. What! shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak?’  

Fun fact: In Olney, Buckinghamshire, England today stands a Cowper and Newton Museum to uphold the memory of these two hymnwriters and their testimonies of salvation. 

His tombstone inscription reads, “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: This Daily Devotional consisting of readings from the works of John Newton. They are largely drawn from Newton’s prolific correspondence and covers a wide variety of topics. Although written more than two hundred years ago, it remains as relevant and edifying as ever. References to the respective original work of Newton is provided at the end of each devotion. 

📌 WHEN & WHERE: Printed in the USA, 2016. 

📌 WHY read John Newton: John Newton is remarkably honest and transparent in readily admitting his struggles, sinfulness, and failures. This aspect of his writings will be an encouragement to you; it will bolster the assurance that your own daily battles and humiliations are not unique, but a “[temptation that] is common unto men”. 

In addition, he repeatedly reminds his readers of God’s trustworthiness, no matter what circumstances they might be facing. 

Enter the thought and heart-life of this grand old hymnwriter and come to know the theological mind and experiential reflections which sustained, informed and enabled the hymnwriter to be a blessing to the world, even till today. Become acquainted with John Newton, not merely through his hymns, but also through his writings, and be equally, if not more significantly, encouraged by his letters, as by his songs. 

📌 HOW this devotional came to be: This selection by Miller Ferrie was made from Banner of Truth’s revised four-volume edition of Newton’s Works, published in 2015. Thus, herewith contains material that will not be found in the old six-volume set, making this devotional selection unique and fresh. 

📚 Ratings for the Indian reading community: 

 ⭐️ Language Accessibility & Readability: 7.5/10 

 ⭐️ Binding: Clothbound 

 ⭐️ Print Quality: 9/10 

 ⭐️ Price: Half price! 

 📌 Any other formats? Available as ePub or Kindle from the publisher’s website 

 Quote: 

'WE NEED A SAVIOUR, AND HE MUST BE A MIGHTY ONE; BUT THOUGH OUR WANTS AND SINS ARE GREAT AND NUMEROUS, WE ARE CONVINCED THAT THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT.'  

 ENDORSEMENTS 

‘Some men are known for the hymns they write. John Newton is one— “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound” being his most famous. And some are known as preachers. John Newton was also one. But a very small number of men are known for the profound wisdom to be found in their personal letters. And John Newton stands almost unmatched in this class. The Scriptures urge us to “get wisdom,” and outside of the pages of Scripture itself there can be few better places to find it than in Jewels from John Newton.’ — SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON 

 ‘In few writers are Christian doctrine, experience and practice more happily balanced than in the author of these letters, and few write with more simplicity, piety and force.’ — C. H. SPURGEON 

 ‘For myself, I keep John Newton on my selectest shelf of spiritual books: by far the best kind of books in the whole world of books.’ — ALEXANDER WHYTE