Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith
The Bible is filled with biography – one character after another parade across the pages. God loves to teach lasting lessons through the lives of individuals. With that in mind, Stephen Davey has undertaken a special biographical series illustrating biblical truths through the lives of contemporary believers. These ordinary men and women provide a wonderful legacy. They are influenced and influential because of their faith in God. They are Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith.
Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith
From Slave Trader to Revered Pastor: The Astonishing Transformation of John Newton
Embark with us on an incredible journey as we unravel the life of John Newton - a man who went from ruthless slave trader to revered pastor. From Newton's formative years shaped by a devout mother and a non-believing seafaring father, to a youth of rebellion and transgressions, you're in for a rollercoaster ride. Follow us as we traverse Newton's love for reading, a whirlwind romance with his beloved Mary, and his capture by the Royal Navy.
Stephen will navigate you through the chilling account of Newton manning the pumps of a ship amidst a storm and his turn to prayer. Witness his struggle to reform his life, his deep affection for Mary Cartlett, and the stark contradiction of his emerging Christianity and his profession as a slave trader. Learn about his pioneering efforts to introduce Sunday worship services aboard the slave ship. A story of transformation that parallels Paul's conversion narrative awaits you in this episode. Join us for this heart-stirring tale of faith and redemption.
Welcome to Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith. with Stephen Davie, i'm your host, scott Wiley. In this series, stephen explores the lives and legacies of ordinary people whose faith had a profound impact. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International. You can learn more at wisdominternational. In today's episode, you'll meet John Newton. Newton's conversion from a hated slave trader to a beloved pastor is almost as astonishing as Paul's conversion from a persecutor to an apostle. Really, god can write a story as wondrous as this.
Speaker 2:Well, of all the biographies we have uncovered thus far, this one reads sounds comes across more like a novel, a movie dramatic. It is action-packed and it is surprising. So buckle up and here we go. His nickname was The Great Blasphemer. His birthplace was London, england, 1725. His father was an unbelieving sea captain who commanded a prosperous trading ship, but his mother was a godly woman who dedicated her life to training this their only child. His favorite source of curriculum was Isaac Watts' book entitled Preservatives from the Sins and Follies of Youth. I don't think that's in print anymore, but it sounds really good, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:Early in life, her son, john Newton, would quote and sing the hymns of Isaac Watts, written especially for children. In fact there was a book just for kids like the one that sang and he would sing it. Why should I join with those in play in whom I've no delight, who curse and swear and never pray, who call ill names and fight? Tragedy struck early on, however, when, at the age of seven, john Newton's mother died, and everything would change When his father returned from a voyage. He remarried and found that his new wife didn't like John, little John. So he was shipped off to boarding school where a brutal headmaster made life absolutely miserable. His father finally intervened and brought John on board his ship at age eleven. You can imagine, after several voyages and the surroundings of these ungodly influences surrounding his impressionable spirit, his mother's lessons and Isaac Watts hymns were soon forgotten By the time John turned sixteen.
Speaker 2:He had nothing to do with religion, as they called it. His profanity and his wicked spirit equaled veteran sailors who sailed with him. He would write of those days, and I quote I often saw the necessity of religion as a means of escaping hell, but I loved sin and was unwilling to forsake it. When he was seventeen, his father decided that he should set sail for the West Indies and become involved, independently of his father and involved, in managing a Jamaican plantation owned by one of his friends. He was a plantation run by African slaves and his father figured that over the next five years John would be able to amass a small fortune managing the plantation to be set for life.
Speaker 2:But a week before that ship set sail, john was invited by close friends of his deceased mother to visit them for a day or two. When he arrived he wrote that he found an affectionate family that he had not had, and it reminded him of his mother. They had a daughter too, which didn't hurt. Her name was Mary and she was thirteen, but he literally fell head over heels with her. He would write that she was sweet and kind and fun. She probably never knew his true feelings because he wrote I was struck dumb whenever she entered the room.
Speaker 2:John so enjoyed the time of the family and Mary that he never mentioned to them that they had to leave to board a ship. In fact, he purposefully missed the deadline so that this ship sailed away without him. His father was furious, of course, and determined that he would set sail on another ship, this one bound for Italy. During that voyage, now without his father, with no one he knew, surrounded by an incredibly pagan environment, he only deepened his hatred for God. He felt abandoned and alone And at the same time, he would often write in his journal all he could think of was getting back to Mary. Now, even though John hated religion and wanted nothing to do with God, the Lord obviously protected John from so many sins of the flesh. In fact, one biographer wrote that, as the ship would pull into various ports and prostitutes were smuggled on board for the crew, john would climb the mast and hide out in the crow's nest high above. His only thoughts were of Mary.
Speaker 2:About a year later, he returns to London after that voyage and his father had quickly planned another job on yet another trading vessel. But John had just a few days to get back to this family and visit Mary's house again and her and enjoy their hospitality, which he did. And once again he purposefully missed the deadline to get back to port and the ship sailed without him And again his father was furious. But who cares, he saw Mary right. Only this time things didn't turn out so well. When he returned to London, while his father tried to figure out where to place him, he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Speaker 2:The shipping industry, if I can stop for a moment during these days, from what I've learned, was primitive, dirty, the treatment even of the crew inhumane. But nothing evidently, was more inhumane than the Royal Navy. In fact it was so bad they could never supply warships with volunteers, and so the authorities turned a blind eye while gangs went out and literally captured young men to serve below deck. They just so happened to capture John Newton. He found himself working with condemned criminals from England's jails who had been given the choice of either hanging or serving in the Navy, And they chose the Navy. But the stench of these British warships, the common quarters, the ill-cooked food, the violence of these desperate companions, the tyranny of the officers was unbearable. Fortunately, his father found out eventually what happened and wrote the ship's captain, and the captain agreed to promote John as an officer, which brought him on deck. His conditions improved dramatically, of course, and he actually writes in his journal that he begins to enjoy sea life. But he was as foul-mouthed and as atheistic as all of the unbelieving criminals and officers that sailed with him. But still he had this one goal in mind He wanted to get back to London and win the hand of Mary, and that occupied all of his thoughts.
Speaker 2:After a short voyage, john learned that his ship was next slated to sail to India and the West Indies and that he would be gone for the next five long years. He had just one day's leave to rent a horse from Enterprise probably, and right off to sea or before the ship took sail. He planned this time to display his feelings, to ask Mary's father for her hand in marriage, to tell her of his love. By now she was fifteen, and every father in here is thinking well, that's old enough for sure, right, yeah, right. But John was nineteen. The visit was a disaster. Mary's father denied his request. They wanted their daughter, marying a man with better prospects. They actually forbade John from ever visiting their home again or contacting Mary Cartlett.
Speaker 2:But Mary was somewhat undecided, and so John was in turmoil. How could he sail away without knowing her answer? And so, in desperation, he jumped ship and deserted, determined to stay behind and find out how she felt for him. Two days later he was captured, returned to his ship in shackles, and two days after that all three hundred and fifty of the crew were assembled on deck to witness John Newton's court-martial and flogging. He was given ninety-six lashes with a cat of nine tails, a beating so brutal that even one of the experienced members of the crew fainted. He would bear those scars for the rest of his life. He was stripped of his rank. He was humiliated. He knew now that Mary's parents would never reconsider. He was shackled below deck and there, in rage, he began to plan a way to murder the captain and then throw himself overboard, even if it meant suicide. John would later write, and I quote it was the secret hand of God that restrained me.
Speaker 2:Nineteen days after that flogging they encountered a ship the ship of a slave trader heading for the West Indies, who needed one more crew member. The captain gladly handed over John Newton. On board this ship, john gave full vent to his depravity, his foul mouth, his insubordinate spirit, his hatred for God, and he began to love to torment anyone who showed any sympathy for religion. On board that ship was a wealthy trader from West Africa who convinced John that the best way for him to win Mary's hand would be to amass a fortune by following in his footsteps. John agreed, so they disembarked at this man's plantation on an island just off the coast of West Africa. This man's mistress was an African woman who immediately decided that she didn't like John Newton at all. It wasn't long before John succumbed to fever and was unable to set sail with the merchant on his next voyage, and John was left in the care of this mistress who had already decided to let him die.
Speaker 2:So here he is on an island off the coast of West Africa, and he writes in his journal, and I quote I had not a little difficulty to procure a cup of water when burning with fever. My bed was a mat spread upon a board and a piece of wood was my pillow. Sometimes, when the mistress was in a good humor, she would send a slave to hand me her plate with whatever food was left on it after she had died. For a year he languishes on this island. He was. He called himself a slave to the slaves and he hated God all the more. He'd been abandoned. He had no reason to live, and you can just imagine this young man's heart hating everything that represented God. It was interesting, though I discovered that on this island he would write that if he did not been for the kindness of some of the chained slaves on that plantation, who took pity on him and secretly gave him food of their own, he would have starved to death.
Speaker 2:But then, shock of all shocks, a ship put anchor near his island. After seeing some smoke from the island and some men came ashore asking the locals have you heard of a white man named John Newton? We're on an island off the coast of West Africa. His father had sent out a party looking for him. John was in 1747 when he was rescued. John was not quite 21 and God, one biographer wrote, was about to close in on the great blasphemer. It would take a year of business before this ship called the Greyhound sailed back to England.
Speaker 2:And again, you know, the drama just continues. I need to let you know that in route it encountered a storm so violent that it began to sink. John was assigned to the pumps and he worked them from three in the morning until noon, and then he slept for an hour and then took the helm and steered the ship till midnight. Men and provisions were being swept into the sea. The rigging was torn, the hold was filling with water. Everyone assumed they would die. In fact, some of the men thought that John was Jonah And they all agreed that they'd throw him overboard because God evidently wanted him dead. Literally, the captain didn't agree and they didn't throw him overboard, but there at that helm, he's literally tied to it.
Speaker 2:For the first time since he was a little boy, john Newton began to pray. He began to evaluate his life, his hatred for God, his blasphemy. He thought of his mother, those early hymns of Isaac Watts He would write in his journal, and I quote I decided then and there to attempt to reform my life, to quit swearing for one and to think of the Lord's mercy often and to resolve to do better. That's not salvation, that's self-reformation. But at least he was turning a little corner and he also had found a Bible and other Christian literature which he began to read. But he would write that he would have no Christian to talk to, no Bible-believing pastor to talk to about the true gospel and saving faith in Christ alone.
Speaker 2:But God was at work. The ship, the Greyhound, survived the journey and landed just off Ireland. Now John's father would assume that that ship had gone down and no one had survived and that John was dead. But as soon as John reached Ireland he wrote his father a long letter which his father received. In it John thanked his father for sending people to look for him. He informed him of all that had happened over the past couple of years and he even included in this long letter his love for Mary Cartlett and his resolution to stop swearing, to be a better man.
Speaker 2:His father, of course, was thrilled. You can imagine now he's been around the Mulberry Bush a few times with this young man. In fact, when John arrived back in London he discovered that his father had actually gone to the Cartlets on his behalf to speak to Mary's father. In the meantime little sidebar here John has given another assignment on a slave trading ship. He's 23 years of age.
Speaker 2:During that voyage another life-threatening fever John would come to terms with sin. He would write this my sin, it was my sin that put Jesus on the cross and I would trust in Christ alone for my forgiveness. That's salvation. We've viewed that, by the way, as his moment of genuine conversion. In fact, of the more than 300 hymns that John Newton will go on to write, eventually, the one that he thought we'd be singing, the one that he claimed to be his testimony hymn. I've read some of the lyrics in past days, but maybe you'll recognize some of it. But we don't sing it. The lyrics read this In evil.
Speaker 2:Long I took delight, unawed by shame or fear, till a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree in agonies and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me, as near his cross. I stood Sure, never till my dying breath. Could I forget that look? It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me into despair. I saw my sins. His blood had spilled and helped to nail him there. Alas, i knew not what I did. But now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul be hid, for I, the Lord, have slain? A second look he gave, which said I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom paid. I died that thou mayest live.
Speaker 2:Less than two years later he was able to propose and Mary Cartlett accepted, and everybody said Amen. By now he was 25 and she was 19. Still not old enough, but that's beside the point. And then you're right Almost immediately John is given the command of a slave ship And soon after marrying his bride he makes two voyages. Now, as a new Christian it's interesting he struggles with the slave trade and he would begin keeping a detailed journal. That journal would become the earliest known document recording the details of the slave trade. It would contain minute information about the conditions on board, the insurrections and the suicides of the slaves, the journal. That journal would later be used as evidence by his good friend a good friend that Newton had yet to meet, a man by the name of William Wilberforce, right with whom John would later encourage. In fact, historical accounts seem to indicate, or imply, that John Newton actually leads William Wilberforce to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I'll read from his journal in a moment You can only imagine the irony of John Newton's profession, of his newfound Christianity and slave trading.
Speaker 2:Keep in mind his profession was endorsed by the church, it was supported by the state. It literally paid. It was paid for by virtually every public industry. But yet he's torn. Can you imagine the irony and the effort of John Newton? He attempts on that slave ship to hold Sunday worship services for the slaves and the crew. The crew didn't care and neither did the slaves. He began battling ever more this growing sense that this occupation was wrong, no matter what the clergy and what parliament and what the public said.
Speaker 2:A year later he's given command of another slave trading ship called the African. That voyage is a disaster. There are numerous insurrections among the slaves. Many of them died or committed suicide in this horrific conditions. A number of his own crew deserted. Several others had to be shackled below deck. At one point he thought he would die from yet another illness with high fever. And he writes in his journal at this moment I just want to live, and since my former wretched apostasy has been known to hundreds, i want to live to show at least as many of them how I have been changed. For the glory of God, he would survive that voyage still a year later and make another one at the interest of the slave trade. By now he is praying for God to give him another calling.
Speaker 2:When Newton was about to embark yet again on another voyage from Liverpool, england, he suddenly, unexpectedly, inexplicably, suffered an epileptic seizure. He'd never had one before. He will not have another one again. His doctor advised him never to sail again And that was all he needed. He considered it an act of God's hand and he immediately resigned. His commission, john Newton, was finished. He would never set sail again or trade for slaves. But now what? He's only 29 years of age. In fact I'm going to spend more time on these few early years than his 40 years in the ministry.
Speaker 2:He takes a job as a field or in the field of surveying. Following year he's invited to go hear a man preach by the name of George Whitfield. George Whitfield was preaching nearby outdoors of course, because he wasn't allowed to preach indoors No pastor would have him And he was preaching that morning at get this 5 am. 5 am, 4,000 people showed up, just like our 8 o'clock service here. Newton was profoundly affected and returned to hear Whitfield preach. That afternoon. In fact he was able to get a private conversation with Whitfield And they talked for hours and in fact began a friendship that would last our lifetimes.
Speaker 2:John began studying, simply put on his own, the doctrines of grace which Whitfield so clearly preached. He began studying the Scriptures. He began teaching himself Greek and Hebrew, thank you all by himself. For the next 10 years he works as a surveyor and he studies the Bible. Finally and there's a series of events we don't have time to get into but he's ordained and he begins 40 years of ministry. His first pastorate was in a village named Olney. In three years into that ministry, a poet by the name of William Cooper, who struggled on and off with depression, moved to Olney and joined his church and together they began a Thursday evening prayer meeting where they decided that they would. They would exchange weeks and write a hymn for that Thursday night prayer meeting. William Cooper's most famous hymn would be there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. During this ministry the church would become so crowded, there would be 2000 people attending and they had to build a balcony. Newton and Cooper eventually published a hymnal of their original hymns.
Speaker 2:Now one of the hymns that Newton included is taken from 1st Chronicles 17. Now in 1st Chronicles 17, that chapter has three divisions, and the first division is where King David is desiring to build a permanent temple for God And and he's excited about it He has planned for it, he's he's drawn up plans, he has stored materials. This is, he believes, god's plan for him. The second movement of the chapter is where Nathan comes and informs David that he cannot build it He is a man of blood, of war, but that God promised that David's son would be able to build this grand and glorious temple. The third movement of the chapter is David is just thrilled and he begins to praise God for, for grace. He begins to praise God for the grace of God in his own life, the grace of God in his family's life, the grace of God in his nation's life. The Bible reads at 1st Chronicles 17, verse 16.
Speaker 2:This is, this is actually the foundation and the backdrop to the famous hymn Amazing Grace, which is a rather different kind of text than you would imagine. Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said Who am I? Oh Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? This was a small thing in your eyes, oh God, but you have spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree, oh Lord God. But what? what more can David still say to you concerning the honor bestowed on your servant? for you know your servant, in other words Lord. You know what kind of man I am and you know what kind of nation we are. You know what kind of house I have. Yet you and your grace have done amazing things for us all. It's the backdrop. It's actually a national hymn and testimony, certainly his own biography Interwoven.
Speaker 2:When the hymn was published, this particular hymn was located right underneath the heading Faith's Review and Expectation. There were six stanzas. The first three stanzas were Faith's Review and the next and last three stanzas were the Expectation of Faith. The original lyrics read this way Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come Tis. Grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail and mortal life shall cease, i shall possess within the veil a life of joy and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow. The sun forbear to shine, but God who called me here below will be forever Mine.
Speaker 2:John was eventually called to another church in London where he would serve for 20 years, in fact one December. It's obvious why God brought him to London, because one December Newton receives a note from a 26 year old member of parliament and a personal friend of the prime minister, asking for an opportunity to have quote some serious conversation. But it must be in secret. The 26 year old member of parliament was William Wilberforce, and he wasn't wanting to talk to John Newton about slavery. He was wanting to talk to John Newton about his own sense of sin, and he met with him. He had only recently begun reading the Bible for himself. In fact, john was a very good man Reading the Bible for himself. In fact, a Newton would witness to Wilberforce and give him the gospel of grace that only looking to Christ would bring salvation. Wilberforce left the meeting and wrote in his journal I called upon old Newton and I was much affected in conversing with him, and I have come away looking up to God. Well, that friendship began between this old, former slave trader and the young reformer who would eventually bring the slave trade to an end.
Speaker 2:The wonderful mystery of the work of God in lives. Close to his death, at 82 years of age, he was completely blind, unable to read his text. A friend suggested to him well, it's time to give up preaching. He responded what I cannot stop, shall the old blasphemer stop while he can still speak. In one of his last sermons he summed up his life by saying two things are clear to me I am a great sinner and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. After he died, the words he had dictated for his tombstone were carved just as he ordered, and they read John Newton clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy. Period. What a wonderful illustration of grace. We've talked about it all day. There's no heart so heartened, there is no case yet closed which the grace of God cannot reach and save and turn a blasphemer into a believer and a worshiper of the glory of God.
Speaker 1:That was Stephen Davie, the president of Wisdom International. You're listening to his series called Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith. If you enjoyed hearing the story of John Newton, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast or wherever you're listening. That helps more people find us. Stephen has a website filled with resources to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means and apply it to your life. Learn more at wisdominternational. That's wisdominternational. I'm Scott Wiley. Thanks for listening. Join us again next time on Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith.
