John Newton on Politics, Government and War – More Thoughts

More helpful thoughts from John Newton. Please keep in mind as you read this that Newton was NOT disengaged from the welfare of people - for example, he was an encouraging and guiding hand in the anti-slavery movement...as well he should have been, having once been the captain of a slave ship. When Newton wrote "Amazing Grace" he knew what he was talking about. 

On March 15, 1794, Newton wrote to John Ryland, Jr.:

“You are welcome to tell everybody you please that I do not justify all the measures of those in power. Indeed I do not justify any of them because they do not live in my way, and I think myself not competent to judge. I only wish to preach the Gospel and to be one of the quiet in the land…

“But I compose my mind by considering all hearts and all things as instruments of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will, and makes all subservient to the fulfilling [of] it. I think the crucifixion of our Lord, was, taken in one view the worst action that the worst men ever committed. But instead of scolding Caiaphas, Judas and Pilate (whose part I should have acted had I been in their places and left to myself) I rather choose to admire the wisdom and love of God in this transaction, which considered his appointment, was the brightest display of His glory ever afforded to his creatures.

“Farther, if the measures of government were totally wrong and pernicious, it would excite in me, more of grief than wonder. Neither our great men nor I fear the bulk of the nation acknowledge God. Neither his direction nor his blessing are sought. And therefore I should rather pity than blame them, if they blundered most egregiously. I should say the thing is of the Lord who takes wisdom from the wise and then of course they must stumble like men in the dark. So while our fleets and armies set the Lord of hosts at defiance, if he gives success to their enterprises so as to preserve us from such desolation as prevails in many parts of the continent, I shall ascribe it not to their prowess, for he can soon make the boldest captains tremble…

“I am neither Whig nor Tory, but a well wisher to both. I would pass on as a stranger in a strange land, without intermeddling in the disputes of people whose language I do not understand…

“I grieve for the war and its mischiefs. But I believe our sins plunged us into it, and that by a providential train of circumstance, it was, humanly speaking inevitable. I pray for peace, but I know the Lord alone can give it. I know not how I can serve my country, but by prayer, and by using my influence so far as it will go, to sooth angry spirits on both sides, and to try to lead their thoughts to the cross and to eternity.”

From:

Wise Counsel, John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland, Jr., Ed. Grant Gordon, Banner of Truth, 2009.

John Newton's Politics

In Newton’s December 13, 1793 letter to John Ryland, Jr., commenting on the French Revolution and Christian speculation as to why it was occurring, he writes:

“…Great things are upon the wheel. But though the Lord’s path is in the great waters, my path of duty seems plain enough. I am to preach the gospel, mourn over my own sins, and the sins of professors [Christians] and of the nation, and to stir up as many as I can to stand in the breach by prayer. I hope many are thus employed. For the rest, I know the Lord reigns, that the wrath of man, so far as permitted to act, shall praise him, shall be overruled to the accomplishment of his wise purposes, and that the remainder thereof he will restrain. All the designs of men, which do not coincide with his, shall be frustrated. In the meantime, he will be a sanctuary to them that fear him.

“He bids his people not [to] be terrified. They are warranted to trust in him, though the earth should tremble, and the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea. Public measures, whether right or wrong, are under his direction. If sword, famine, pestilence, or discord, go through the land, he sends them. If he take wisdom from the wise, or courage from the bold, I cannot wonder that they do not prosper, when the Lord has forsaken them. Sennacherib and Cyrus were God’s servants; no less so, though in a different way, than Moses or Joshua. They performed his commission, and they could do no more.

“If I were lawfully called to a civil office, I would endeavor to acquire proper knowledge, and to use every means in my power to serve my country. At present, I wish to serve it by prayer, and by employing my influence to soothe angry spirits, and to cultivate peace on all sides. Let the dead bury the dead, and the potsherds of the earth strive with each other, I am a stranger and a pilgrim among them. My conversation/citizenship is in a different kingdom, a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Such are the outlines of my politics.”

(Note, the words in italics are supplied by me, in the original letter Newton uses a Greek word, found in Philippians 3:20, that can be translated – citizenship, commonwealth, conversation [way of life] ).

Wise Counsel, John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland, Jr., Ed. Grant Gordon, Banner of Truth, 2009.

Pondering Proverbs 10:4 & 5

Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully. (Proverbs 10:4 – 5).

I can think of no greater call to diligence than the call to commune with our heavenly Father and Lord Jesus in the Holy Spirit, by His grace, in the depths of His Word and prayer. And I can think of no greater result of this communion than laboring in the fields of humanity, bringing in a harvest to the glory of God.

To walk (live) in the Way of the Righteous (Psalm 1) is to mediate on the Law of the LORD both day and night. His Word is to be our sustenance, our breath, our Water, our milk if we are young and our meat if we are adults.

Jesus tells us that the fields are already “white for the harvest” (John 4:31 – 38), and He tells us that “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:36 – 37) and that we should beseech the Lord of the harvest for workers. Should we not also offer ourselves as an answer to our prayers? Should we not cry, “Here I am Lord, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)?

Are we sons and daughters who are acting wisely? Or are we sons and daughters who are acting shamefully?

Are we gathering or are we sleeping?

Is our Father rejoicing in us in the fields of harvest? Or are we bringing shame on Him as we sleep away our lives as others are perishing without Jesus Christ?

What about me? What about you? What about our churches?

No Distinction

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 

And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 22:23 – 31, ESV).

As I was reading this passage a few mornings ago, I was particularly struck by the following:

“Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things.  They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”

What does it mean that Yahweh is “profaned among them”? We know, from earlier in Ezekiel, that demonic idol worship was taking place in the Temple in Jerusalem. We know that, as a result of this profanity, the Presence of Yahweh departed from the Temple.

Did anyone notice when the Presence of Yahweh left the Temple? Does anyone notice today when the Presence of Christ is no longer with us? Do we know what Ichabod means and looks like (1 Samuel 4:21)? When the Testimony of Christ, the Gospel, has been used as a plaything, treated as religious and spiritual merchandise, chanted as an incantation – can anyone discern it? Does it matter? Or, are our senses dulled to the point that we no longer make a distinction between the clean and unclean, between the profane and holy?

To be sure, many congregations want to be affirmed in their uncleanness. To be certain, many of us are willing to trade the holy for the profane if that will bring more people to the pews – we believe the lie that if we attract people by importing idols into the Temple that we can later recover the ground we have lost and gradually introduce the holy back into our teaching and preaching. This is delusional. The unholy will eat our very souls, corrupting our hearts and minds and destroying godly judgement and discernment.

When we cease to obey God’s Word, and instead make excuses for our sin, for it is indeed sin when we do not receive the grace of God and obey His Word; when we justify our disobedience, when we invite others to participate in our disobedience and tell them that God understands and approves of their sin – certainly this is profaning God.

Concerning Yahweh’s Sabbaths; the Sabbaths portray our One True Sabbath, Jesus Christ; for when we come into Christ we rest in Christ (Hebrews Chapter 4) as God’s Word does it work deep within us. Therefore, we profane the Sabbaths when we look to anyone and anything other than Jesus Christ for our salvation and way of life; as we see in Hebrews 12:2, we are to always be “looking unto Jesus.”

Why is Jesus no longer enough for the church?

Will we be intercessors who “stand in the breach”?

Will we teach the difference between the holy and the profane?

Will Jesus Christ be our all-in-all?

Will we go outside the camp, bearing His reproach (Hebrews 13:12 – 14)?

Church Life and Mission

Church life should not be considered apart from mission, for Jesus says to us, “Go into all the world.” When a church exists without mission it becomes introverted and obsessed with its own existence – the irony is that this obsession ensures its own death – whether numerically or spiritually or both. It is little wonder that such congregations cannot “go” to others, for their legs have atrophied and they can no longer walk.

Zechariah (7)

Below is what our small group worked with this morning. How can we read the Prophets and not see ourselves? How can we not see that in Christ alone is there hope? What is the Word of the LORD in our lives today? In the lives of our churches? Are we hearing Christ in and through His Book? Are we obeying Him? Or...are we playing with religion as the people of Zechariah's time? And consider - these are the very people who God released from captivity in Babylon.

Our passage is Zechariah Chapter 7. As we’ll see, the prophet is switching gears here in the sense that chapters 1 – 6 contain a series of visions; beginning in Chapter 7 we move into the type of material that we’ve seen in most of the Minor Prophets -  not so heavy on visions and their interpretation but rather heavy on the contemporary situation and how God views it.

My sense is that chapters 7 & 8 form a unit; compare 7:1, 8; 8:1, 9, and 18. Just as we had a series of visions in chapters 1 – 6, we have a series of “the word of Yahweh” coming to Zechariah in chapters 7 and 8. (Remember that when the word LORD is capitalized in English that it means the word in Hebrew – the primary language of the OT – is either Yahweh, or the shortened form of Yahweh, “Yah”. This is the covenant name of God.)

In Chapter 7 we have two movements, or two instances of the Word of Yahweh coming to Zechariah, or two units of thought…however we may choose to term it. The first is 7:1 – 7 and the second is 7:8 – 14.

Considering 7:2 – 3, while we may not know the exact background of the Jews who lived in Bethel, we know that they were people who were weeping and fasting in the fifth month for many years – presumably over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Then when we look at 7:5 it appears that there was a practice of fasting and mourning among many other Jews in the fifth and seventh months during the seventy-years captivity.

In 7:3 the people of Bethel have a question for Yahweh; then in 7:4 – 7 Yahweh takes their question and turns it into a question for all the people of the land and the priests.

What is Yahweh asking the people and the priests and why might He be asking these questions?

While there are many passages we can link 7:4 – 7 to, including passages we’ve already read in the Minor Prophets, I’m going to suggest we look at a classic passage – Isaiah Chapter 1.

We can also link Isaiah Chapter 1 to Zechariah 7:8 – 11.

What do we see when we compare Isaiah Chapter 1 with Zechariah Chapter 7? When we gather on Sunday morning why do we gather? Is there any difference between one Sunday and the next Sunday and the next Sunday? What is the level of commitment to Christ in our churches?

What happens when a people do not care for the disenfranchised? The poor? The widow?

See Matthew 25:31 – 46. Note that those who were judged unrighteous were judged not on the basis of what they did, but rather on the basis of what they didn’t do.

Looking at 7:10 we see the idea of “devising evil in your hearts toward one another”. What examples do we have of this today?

Well boys, how are we measuring up in all this? Our families? Our churches? The church in the USA?

Enculturation or Sin?

At the request of a friend, I’ve been pondering and writing on the subject of temptation on my blog, Kaleidoscope. I’m seeing a lot as I meditate on what the Scriptures have to say on the subject and I’ve been struck that a key element in our response to temptation is how we view the world around us. If we see the world, this present age, as friendly or even benign, it is likely that we will view many of its priorities and practices as friendly or benign; thus dulling our discernment of good and evil, right and wrong, righteousness and unrighteousness.

This has led me to consider a term that I’ve heard in the church, and often used myself, for at least three decades – “enculturation”. We speak of the church being enculturated by the world; that is, the church has imported the ethos of the world.

I think the word “enculturation” may be an euphemism for “worldliness” and “sin” in that it allows us to avoid the harsh reality that being a friend of the world makes us God’s enemies, and that if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15 – 17). We would rather say that we are enculturated than say we’re sinful. We would rather say that we are enculturated than say we need to repent. As I review the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation, I can’t find the concept of enculturation but I do see the command to repent of sin in the church.

The fact that some Christians may use the term “worldliness” in a self-righteous and legalistic context, in which they compare themselves with others in a holier-than-thou fashion, should not mean that we do not consider the term in a Biblical context – the truth of the Bible is always being traduced one way or another by those who call themselves Christians.

When Israel and Judah built altars to idols throughout the land, and when the priests brought idols into the Temple in Jerusalem, I don’t think God called it enculturation. When Ezekiel was shown the idolatry rampant in Jerusalem and the Temple, I don’t see where God called it enculturation. When Jesus, in the Seven Letters, condemns spiritual and sexual promiscuity, lukewarmness toward Him, a lack of love for God – I don’t see Jesus calling these things enculturation. When Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude write and warn against false teaching and ungodly living, I don’t see them using the word enculturation or its conceptual equivalent.

Is “enculturation” a euphemism? What do you think?

Is This Normal?

I've been preaching through Paul's letter to the church in Rome. My perspective on Romans is, I suppose, fairly simple. After Paul's introduction in 1:1 - 1:15 in which he lays the foundation for the entire letter, we have the Gospel in 1:16 - 8:39. Within 1:16 - 8:39 we have two main movements, the first, which concludes in 5:11, is focused on justification through the Cross and blood of Jesus Christ. The second movement, from 5:12 - 8:39, focuses on our identity in Jesus Christ, through the Cross and our dying and rising with Him. This is a comprehensive statement of the Gospel, one movement without the other leaves us with a partial Gospel. 

In chapters 9 - 11 we see the providence of God and His election.

In chapters 12 - 16 we see, based on the preceding chapters, how we should live both in the world and in the Church. Or, as I also style it, in these chapters we see what the working out and manifestation of the New Jerusalem is to look like in our lives as God's People. 

In 5:12 - 8:39 we see that we are no longer in Adam but in Christ. We are dead to sin and alive to God. We are no longer married to the Law because we have died with Christ on the Cross (the Law has not died!) so that we may be married to Christ. We are the sons and daughters of the Living God, being led by the Spirit of God, and in Christ we are super-overcomers. 

Romans Chapter 7 is perhaps, I think, the most misunderstood passage in the Bible - and I speak in respect to both the first section and the section section. Regarding the first section, we tend not to understand that we have died with Christ to the Law, and that this death servers and ends our marriage to the Law. Consequently we are now married to "another", to Christ, so that we might bear fruit unto God.

Understanding the second section is controversial with often more heat than light. Both in the academic and pastoral communities there is disagreement - often with opposing sides imputing motives and theology to others that simply isn't true. 

Be that as it may, one principle of interpretation is that when we encounter a passage that is unclear, that we interpret that passage with passages that are clear. That is what I have attempted to do in the handout (below) that I gave to the congregation this past Sunday. I realize that not all who read this will agree with me, and perhaps it will generate some heartburn, but I am committed to shepherding others into a secure identity in Jesus Christ, a vibrant life in Jesus Christ, with a single-minded focus on Jesus Christ. I am not in any way suggesting that we do not deal with sin in this life, but I am insisting that Christ be our identity, our source of life, our everything - so that we might be His Presence in this generation. We are transformed as we behold Christ (2 Cor. 3:17 - 18; 1 John 3:1-3). Love...Bob 

Is This Normal? (Romans 7:14 – 25)

Notes – September 29, 2019

Pastor Bob Withers, Bethlehem Congregational Church

A.   Who is Paul describing in this passage and why is it important to know?

a.    It is critical to know who Paul is describing because if he is describing his present condition (the condition he was in when he wrote Romans), then we can look at this passage as being normative for Christians. However, if he is describing himself before he knew Christ, or if he is describing a hypothetical Jew under the Law before knowing Christ, then we understand this passage as an experience that should not be normative for the disciple of Jesus Christ.

B.   How do we interpret this passage?

a.    We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate God’s Word to us (1 Cor. Chp. 2).

b.    We must be willing to submit to God’s Word.

c.    What is the context? “A text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext.

C.   What is the context?

a.    The immediate context – the surrounding verses.

b.    The context within the book of the Bible we are reading.

c.    The context of the author’s other writings (if any) in the Bible.

d.    The context of the entire Bible.

D.   The immediate context of Romans 7:14 – 25:

a.    In 7:1 – 12 Paul teaches that our relationship with the Law has ended through the death of Christ.

b.    In Romans Chapter 6 we are taught that in Christ we are dead to sin and alive to God and that we are to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness.

c.    In Romans Chapter 8 we see that we are the Spirit-led children of God who are overwhelmingly conquerors through Him who loved us.

d.    Conclusion: the immediate context of Romans 7:14 – 25 indicates that Romans 7:14 – 25 should not be normative for the Christian.

E.   The context of Paul’s teaching:

a.    1 Cor. 6:9 – 11; Gal. 5:19 – 24; Eph. 5:3 – 5: If these passages are true then Romans 7:14 – 25 cannot be normative for the Christian.

b.    Colossians 3:1 – 17: What is our identity in this passage? If this passage represents our true identity in Christ, then Romans 7:14 – 25 cannot be normative for the Christian.

F.    The context of the Bible:

a.    1 Peter 2:4 – 12; 1 John 3:1 – 3; Hebrews Chp. 2; John Chp. 17; James 1:18; Isaiah 60:1 – 3; Psalm 100:3. If these passages reflect who we are in Christ, then Romans 7:14 – 25 cannot be normative for the Christian.

G.   One more question: What about us? How are we living? How am I living? How are you living? How is Bethlehem Church living?

The Source of our Political Troubles

John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, wrote to pastor David Williamson concerning a book that Williamson had published on civil and religious liberty. The context was the bloody French Revolution – I mention this because the French Revolution was certainly a threat to England, both socially and militarily.

Newton writes in part, “My dear sir, my prayer to God for you is, that he may induce you to employ the talents he has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil, and to engage those who love and fear him, instead of losing time in political speculation.” (John Newton, Wise Counsel, John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland, Jr., Grant Gordon editor, Banner of Truth, 2009).

In Newton’s letter to pastor John Ryland, Jr. of November 6, 1793, in which he touches on David Williamson’s book and his letter to Williamson, Newton writes:

“The times are awfully dark, but the Lord reigns…However, it shall be well with the righteous. I am, or would be, of no sect or party, civil or religious;[i] but a lover of mankind. It is my part to mourn over sin, and the misery which sin causes, to be humbled for my own sins especially, to pray for peace, and to preach the gospel. Other things I leave to those who have more leisure and ability, and I leave the whole to Him who does all things well.” (Ibid).

What can we learn from John Newton? If we believe the words he penned in Amazing Grace, what should that look like in our lives? In my life? In your life? In the lives of our churches?

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[i] While Newton was an Anglican priest, he had fellowship and participated in ministry with non-Anglicans who loved Christ and the Gospel. John Ryland, Jr. was a Baptist. Newton was focused on what C.S. Lewis later regarded as “Mere Christianity” – the core of the Gospel.