The Resurrection and the Life

Following on from Good Friday, here’s another hymn from John Newton for Easter Sunday. This was published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 116, under the title ‘The Resurrection and the Life’.

Notice the first three stanzas are set around by quotation marks, with Christ addressing the believer, to which the rest of the hymn then provides a response.

“I am,” says Christ, “your glorious Head,”

(May we attention give,)

“The Resurrection of the dead,

The life of all that live.

“By faith in me the soul receives

New life, though dead before;

And he that in my name believes,

Shall live to die no more.

“The sinner sleeping in his grave

Shall at my voice awake,

And when I once begin to save,

My work I’ll ne’er forsake.”

Fulfil thy promise, gracious Lord,

On us assembled here;

Put forth thy Spirit with the word,

And cause the dead to hear.

Preserve the power of faith alive

In those who love thy name;

For sin and Satan daily strive

To quench the sacred flame.

Thy power and mercy first prevailed

From death to set us free;

And often since our life had failed,

Had it not been in thee.

To thee we look, to thee we bow,

To thee for help we call;

Our Life and Resurrection thou,

Our Hope, our Joy, our All.

Looking at the Cross

For this year’s Good Friday, here’s one from John Newton.

This was published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. ii., No. 57, under the title ‘Looking at the Cross’.

In spite of it being one of his lesser-known hymns, it carries his trademarks. Note the preponderance of monosyllabic words and the theologically-informed piety.

In my home church back in the day, we sung it with a refrain after each verse:

O, can it be, upon a tree

The Saviour died for me?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

In evil 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 fix’d His languid eyes on me,

As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never, till my latest breath,

Can I forget that look:

It seem’d to charge me with His death,

Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and owned the guilt,

And plunged me in despair,

I saw my sins His blood had spilt,

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 had slain!

A second look He gave, which said,

‘I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid;

I die, that thou may’st live.’

Thus, while His death my sin displays,

In all its blackest hue,

Such is the mystery of grace,

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,

My spirit now is fill’d,

That I should such a life destroy,

Yet live by Him I kill’d.

Amazing Grace

I didn’t want to let today go by without acknowledging that it was 250 years ago today that John Newton first presented his hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ to his congregation in Olney, to accompany his sermon for that day on 1 Chronicles 17:16–17.

Interestingly, the BBC has picked up on the anniversary here, as has The Observer here.

Bruce Hindmarsh gives a good rundown here.

Looking at the Cross

For this year’s Good Friday, here is one of John Newton’s lesser-known hymns. This was published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. ii., No. 57, under the title ‘Looking at the Cross’.

In evil 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 fix’d His languid eyes on me,

As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never, till my latest breath,

Can I forget that look:

It seem’d to charge me with His death,

Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and owned the guilt,

And plunged me in despair,

I saw my sins His blood had spilt,

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 had slain!

A second look He gave, which said,

‘I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid;

I die, that thou may’st live.’

Thus, while His death my sin displays,

In all its blackest hue,

Such is the mystery of grace,

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,

My spirit now is fill’d,

That I should such a life destroy,

Yet live by Him I kill’d.

Knowing and Doing (Winter 2013)

The Winter 2013 edition of Knowing & Doing – ‘A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind’ – from the C.S. Lewis Institute is now available online (here as a pdf), and contains the following articles:

Joel S. Woodruff

Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of Clive Staples Lewis’s Entrance into Heaven

The C.S. Lewis Institute believes that Lewis’s greatest work was that of committing his life to serving Jesus Christ in a manner that encouraged others to explore the truth and joy of faith in Christ.

Joel S. Woodruff

C.S. Lewis the Truth-Seeker: How God Formed a Great Christian Apologist

Joel Woodruff’s article describes Lewis’s journey and points to him as a wonderful example of what it means to live as an authentic disciple of Jesus.

Mark Carter

Desert Discipleship

Mark Carter, an Annapolis Fellow alumnus, is leading groups of soldiers stationed at Djibouti through the Heart and Mind Discipleship program, uniting Protestants and Catholics in their pursuit of God.

Thomas A. Tarrants, III

What God Wants from You

Have you ever wondered what God wants from you? Tom Tarrants challenges each of us to seek that answer and then to live our lives based on God’s call to each of us.

Steve and Allison King

From Russia with Blessing

Steve and Allison, DC alumni Fellows, describe their emotional journey as God led them to adopt two young boys from Russia and how, along the way, they were captivated by the boys’ love and learned even deeper lessons about God’s love for each of us.

David B. Calhoun

“Amazing Grace”: John Newton and his Great Hymn

In this profile of John Newton, David Calhoun reminds us how God took a wretched man and transformed him into a vessel that produced perhaps the most beloved hymn ever written.

I Saw One Hanging on a Tree

One of John Newton’s lesser-known hymns, for Good Friday:

I saw One hanging on a tree,

In agony and blood,

Who fixed His languid eyes on me,

As near His cross I stood.

O, can it be, upon a tree,

The Saviour died for me?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

Sure, never to my latest breath,

Can I forget that look;

It seemed to charge me with His death,

Though not a word He spoke.

O, can it be, upon a tree,

The Saviour died for me?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

My conscience felt and owned the guilt,

And plunged me in despair,

I saw my sins His blood had spilt,

And helped to nail Him there.

O, can it be, upon a tree,

The Saviour died for me?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

A second look He gave, which said,

‘I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid;

I die that thou mayst live.’

O, can it be, upon a tree,

The Saviour died for me?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

John Newton on Guidance and the Bible

‘Others, when in doubt, have opened the Bible at a venture and expected to find something to direct them in the first verse they should cast their eye upon. It is no small discredit to this practice that the heathens, who knew not the Bible, used some of their favourite books in the same way… for if people will be governed by the occurrence of a single text of Scripture, without regarding the context, or duly comparing it with the general tenor of the Word of God, and with their own circumstances, they may commit the greatest extravagances, expect the greatest impossibilities, and contradict the plainest dictates of common sense, while they think they have the Word of God on their side.’

‘In general, he [God] guides and directs his people by affording them, in answer to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which enables them to understand and to love the Scriptures. The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery; nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which, detached from their proper places, have no determinate import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct.’

J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom, ‘John Newton on Divine Guidance’, in Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life’s Decisions (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2008), 244, 246.