Since to pray “without ceasing” could misunderstood, Manton works the possibilities and then concludes
“This praying without ceasing is to be interpreted of the universality and the frequency of the return of the occasions and opportunities of prayer; and we may be said to do that without ceasing which we do very often. So that though the act of prayer be intermitted, the course of prayer should not be interrupted; for we are to pray at all times, in all conditions, and in all businesses and affairs.”
As for all times means at the least daily
“We need daily bread, daily pardon, daily strength against temptations. Yea, there seemeth to be a double standing occasion; every day in the morning for direction, in the evening for protection; as God appointed a morning and evening sacrifice: Num. 28:4,”
It is also in every condition in which we may find ourslef
“In all estates and conditions, afflicted and prosperous. In an adverse or afflicted estate: James 5:13, ‘Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.’ That gives vent to our sorrow, and turneth it into a spiritual channel. In a prosperous estate we are to pray that we may not forget God.”
And finally prayer is not to spiritual matters alone
“In every business, civil or sacred: ‘In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths,’ Prov. 3:6. In business secular. Abraham’s servant beggeth success in his errand: Gen. 24:12, ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham! I pray thee send me goodspeed this day.’ In matters sacred: 2 Thes. 3:5, ‘The Lord direct your heart into the love of God.’ So that a serious sensible christian seldom wanteth an errand to the throne of grace, and if we be not strangers to ourselves, we cannot be strangers to God.”
Thomas Manton in his sermon on 1 Thess. 5:17 (pray without ceasing) defines prayer as desire
“It is an offering up of our desires. Desires are the soul and life of prayer, words are but the body. Now as the body without the soul is dead, so are prayers unless they are animated with our desires: Ps. 10:17, ‘Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble.’ God heareth not words, but desires.”
He then further specifies the nature of this offering up of prayer.
First the desire is offered with the right heart.
“These desires are offered unto God, or brought before the Lord in this solemn way: Zeph. 3:10, ‘My suppliants, even the daughters of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering;’ that is, shall reverently express their desires to God. An offering was either a sacrifice, and prayer is a spiritual sacrifices: 1 Peter 2:5,”
The prayer is offered up not on our own account but we come bearing Christ’s name
“They are desires presented in the name of Christ, in whom alone we are acceptable to God: John 16:23, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.’”
Finally these are agreeable to God
“All our desires must be regulated by his revealed will, and subordinated to his secret will, so far as God seeth it fit for his glory and our good; for upon other terms he is not bound to us.”
The question of why does God hear our prayers? There is obviously no obligation in God to hear prayer: God is under no duty to the creature. The creature cannot compel God to hear prayer. The prayers of human beings in the course of history have raised in number of absurd, wicked, hurtful prayers.
In Psalm 68:18, the Psalmist writes, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the lord will not hear me.” In Proverbs 1, Wisdom warns that the one who will not regard wisdom will not be heard when he prays having suffered the result of refusing wisdom:
Proverbs 1:24–33 (AV)
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
So we see that the matter of being heard is not automatic. Why then does God hear prayer?
Sibbes gives two reasons: (1) the good in our prayer has been brought about by the action of the Spirit; and (2) God receives as he has chosen us in election. It is God’s good grace toward us, to choose us and to transform us that is the basis for God hearing us.
First: the operation of God
Now God hears our prayers, First, Because the materials of these holy desires are good in themselves, and from the person from whence they come, his beloved spouse, as it is in Cant. 2:14, where Christ, desiring to hear the voice of his church, saith, ‘Let me see thy countenance, and let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.’ Thus the voice of the Spouse is sweet, because it is stirred up by his own Spirit, which burns the incense, and whence all comes which is savingly good. This offering up of our prayers in the name of Christ, is that which with his sweet odours perfumes all our sacrifices and prayers; because, being in the covenant of grace, God respects whatsoever comes from us, as we do the desires of our near friends, Rev. 8:3.
Second, God receives us in the relationship which He has chosen for us:
And then, again, God hears our prayers, because he looks upon us as we are in election, and choice of God the Father, who hath given us to him. Not only as in the near bond of marriage, husband and wife, but also as he hath given us to Christ; which is his plea unto the Father, John 17:6, ‘Thine they were, thou gavest them me,’ &c. The desires of the church please him, because they are stirred up by his Spirit, and proceed from her that is his; whose voice he delights to hear, and the prayers of others for his church are accepted, because they are for her that is his beloved.
And further:
To confirm this further, see Isa. 58:9. ‘Thou then shalt cry, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt call, and presently he shall say, Here I am,’ &c. So as soon as Daniel had ended that excellent prayer, the angel telleth him, ‘At the beginning of thy supplications the decree came forth,’ &c., Dan. 9:23. So because he knows what to put into our hearts, he knows our desires and thoughts, and therefore accepts of our prayers and hears us, because he loves the voice of his own Spirit in us. So it is said, ‘He fulfils the desires of them that fear him; and he is near to all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth,’ Ps. 145:18. And our Saviour, he saith, ‘Ask and ye shall receive,’ &c., Mat. 7:7. So we have it, 1 John 5:14, ‘And we know if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
First:
Use 1. Let it therefore be a singular comfort to us, that in all wants, so in that of friends, when we have none to go to, yet we have God, to whom we may freely pour out our hearts. There being no place in the world that can restrain us from his presence, or his Spirit from us, he can hear us and help us in all places. What a blessed estate is this! None can hinder us from driving this trade with Christ in heaven.
I was told by a woman that when she was a child, she was told by an adult, I do not love you. The little girl thought to herself, that is okay. Jesus loves me.
Second, when stop realize what a privilege it is to go to God in prayer, it should stir up our hearts to make use of the privilege:
Use 2. And let us make another use of it likewise, to be a means to stir up our hearts to make use of our privileges. What a prerogative is it for a favourite to have the fare* of his prince! him we account happy. Surely he is much more happy that hath God’s care, him to be his father in the covenant of grace; him reconciled, upon all occasions, to pour out his heart before him, who is merciful and faithful, wise and most able to help us. ‘Why are we discouraged, therefore; and why are we cast down,’ Ps. 42:11, when we have such a powerful and such a gracious God to go to in all our extremities? He that can pray can never be much uncomfortable.
And three:
Use 3. So likewise, it should stir us up to keep our peace with God, that so we may always have access unto him, and communion with him.
But this is a privilege which can be lost:
What a pitiful case is it to lose other comforts, and therewith also to be in such a state, that we cannot go to God with any boldness! It is the greatest loss of all when we have lost the spirit of prayer; for, if we lose other things, we may recover them by prayer. But when we have lost this boldness to go to God, and are afraid to look him in the face, as malefactors the judge, this is a woful state.
Sibbes then considers two things which will break the fellowship with God which makes prayer possible. First, there is unrepentant sin:
Now there are diverse cases wherein the soul is not in a state fit for prayer. As that first, Ps. 66:18, ‘If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not regard my prayer.’ If a man hath a naughty heart, that purposeth to live in any sin against God, he takes him for an enemy, and therefore will not regard his prayer. Therefore we must come with a resolute purpose to break off all sinful courses, and to give up ourselves to the guidance of God’s Spirit. And this will be a forcible reason to move us thereunto, because so long as we live in any known sin unrepented of, God neither regards us nor our prayers. What a fearful estate is this, that when we have such need of God’s favour in all estates; in sickness, the hour of death, and in spiritual temptation, to be in such a condition as that we dare not go to God! Though our lives be civil,* yet if we have false hearts that feed themselves with evil imaginations, and with a purpose of sinning, though we act it not, the Lord will not regard the prayers of such a one; they are abominable. The very ‘sacrifice of the wicked is abominable,’ Prov. 15:8.
The second is a refusal to forgive:
Another case is, when we will not forgive others. We know it is directly set down in the Lord’s prayer, ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us,’ Mat. 6:14; and there is further added, ver. 15, ‘If you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.’ If our hearts tell us we have no disposition to pardon, be at peace and agreement, then we do but take God’s name in vain when we ask him to forgive our sins, and we continue in envy and malice. In this case God will not regard our prayers, as it is said, ‘I care not for your prayers, or for any service you perform to me,’ Isa. 1:15. Why? ‘For your hands are full of blood,’ Isa. 66:1. You are unmerciful, of a cruel, fierce disposition, which cannot appear before God rightly, nor humble itself in prayer. If it doth, its own bloody and cruel disposition will be objected against the prayers, which are not mingled with faith and love, but with wrath and bitterness. Shall I look for mercy, that have no merciful heart myself? Can I hope to find that of God, that others cannot find from me? An unbroken disposition, which counts ‘pride an ornament,’ Ps. 73:6, that is cruel and fierce, it cannot go to God in prayer. For, whosoever would prevail with God in prayer must be humble; for our supplications must come from a loving, peaceable disposition, where there is a resolution against all sin, Ps. 73:1. Neither is it sufficient to avoid grudging and malice against these, but we must look that others have not cause to grudge against us, as it is commanded: ‘If thou bring thy gifts to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift,’ Mat. 5:23. So that if we do not seek reconciliation with men unto whom we have done wrong, God will not be reconciled to us, nor accept any service from us.
There is another reference to the result of a failure to forgive spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 18. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus tells of a servant who was forgiven much but he himself would not forgive another slave who owed him just a little:
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
What then was the result for the one who refused to forgive:
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Matthew 18:21–35 (AV). The man was delivered to tormentors until he would forgive. The lord would not hear the prayer of the servant who would not forgive. This is the most dreadful of states.
Sibbes then finishes with an interesting question: How do I know if God hears my prayer?
Quest. How shall I know whether God regard my prayers or not?
Ans. 1. First, When he grants the thing prayed for, or enlargeth our hearts to pray still. It is a greater gift than the thing itself we beg, to have a spirit of prayer with a heart enlarged; for, as long as the heart is enlarged to prayer, it is a sign that God hath a special regard of us, and will grant our petition in the best and fittest time.
2. When he answers us in a better and higher kind, as Paul when he prayed for the taking away of the prick of the flesh, had promises of sufficient grace, 2 Cor. 12:7–9.
3. When, again, he gives us inward peace, though he gives not the thing, as Phil. 4:6, ‘In nothing be careful, but in all things let your requests be made to God with prayer and thanksgiving.’
Obj. But sometimes he doth not answer our requests.
Ans. It is true he doth not, but ‘the peace of God which passeth all understanding guards our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,’ Philip. 4:7. So though he answers not our prayers in particular, yet he vouchsafes inward peace unto us, assuring us that it shall go well with us, though not in that particular we beg. And thus in not hearing their prayers, yet they have their hearts’ desire when God’s will is made known. Is not this sufficient for a Christian, either to have the thing, or to have inward peace, with assurance that it shall go better with them than if they had it; with a spirit enlarged to pray, till they have the thing prayed for. If any of these be, God respects our prayers.
In Daniel Block’s “For the Glory of God”, he asks the question as to whether we should address worship specifically and personally to the Spirit. His analysis begins with three observations:
“No one addresses the Holy Spirit in prayer, or bows to the Holy Spirit, or serves him in a liturgical gesture. Put simply, in the Bible the Spirit is never the object of worship.”
“The Spirit drives the worship of believers yet does not receive worship.”
“In true worship, the person of the Trinity may not be interchanged without changing the significance of the work.”
He notes two historical developments in the church. First, is the development of the Doxology,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise him above you heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
He noted that it derives from Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto, Glory to God the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. This was changed in response to the Arians, which sought to ontologically subordinate Jesus. To avoid that movement, the connections where changed to “and” from “through” and “in”.
The second development was the Charismatic movement to single out the Spirit for particular adoration in prayer and song.
Block is reticent to make the Spirit the unique object of worship
When we read Scripture, the focus will on God the Father or Jesus Christ the Son. However, it seems that the Holy Spirit is most honored when we accept his conviction of sin, his transforming and sanctifying work within us, and his guidance in life and ministry, and when in response to his leading we prostrate ourselves before Jesus.
This emphasis on the Spirit’s work in is matched by an interesting comment from Kuyper
It appears from Scripture, more than has been emphasized, that in the holy act of prayer there is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit working both in us and with us.
Kuyper, Holy Spirit (1946), trans. de Vries, p. 618.
James Hastings has a discussion on prayer directed to the Spirit. The conclusion comes in his last paragraph:
In First Thessalonians, Paul begins the body of his letter with a prayer of thanksgiving for what is taking place in the church:
1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 (ESV)
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father
your work of faith
and labor of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are thus three qualities in this church, work, labor and endurance. This work is characterized by faith, love & hope. Therefore, we can take these qualities as something (perhaps not all) that a local congregation should exhibit.
We thus can ask: (1) What causes these qualities to exist? (2) How do these qualities work themselves out (what is the result)?
Each of these elements have two parts:
The cause
From God
From humans
The result
Immediate
Continuing
Cause in God
Cause in Men
Immediate Result
Continuing Result
work of faith, labor of love, steadfast hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
Love from God
Chosen by God
The Gospel brought to them.
Power, in the Holy Spirit, with full conviction
The example of Paul (and those with him)
You became imitators of us and of the Lord
(and you are remaining so)
You received the Word in much affliction
You received the Word with Joy
You became an example to others of receiving the Word with joy in the midst of affliction
The Word of the Lrod has sounded forth from you (they are thus repeating what they heard and saw in Paul)
Others are now repeating what they saw and heard in the Thessalonians
You turned from serving idols to (1)
serve the true and living God, and (2) wait for his Son from heaven
And continue to do so
Additional detail on how Paul came to them:
Cause in God
Cause in Men
Immediate Result
Continuing Result
We came in affliction but with much boldness
Our appeal did not spring from or entail:
1. Error
2. Impurity
3. An attempt to deceive
4. Not to please men
5. Only to please God
6. Not in flattery
7. Not as a pretext for greed
We have been approved by God and entrusted with the God (God entrusts)
God tests the hearts of men (to prove they have not proclaimed the Gospel for a wrong motive)
We were:
1. Gentle among you (like a nursing mother).
2. Affectionately desirous of you
3. We shared the Gospel
4. We shared our lives
5. We worked to support ourselves so that we would not be a burden to you
6. We desired not to be a burden to you
7. We were holy and blameless toward yu
8. Like a father we “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”
You received the Word as the Word of God
The Word is at work in you.
You became imitators of the preceding churches of God
Keeper of Your elect, It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in princes. Therefore cause my dear children to take refuge in You alone. Be their strength and their song; be their great salvation.
Let them lift up the cup of salvation and call on Your Name. Open to them the gates of righteousness, that they may enter through them and give thanks to You. Raise their eyes to the hills to see from where their help comes. For their help comes from You, who made heaven and earth. Do not let their feet be moved; keep them and do not slumber. Please keep them and neither slumber nor sleep. Keep them from all evil; keep their lives. Keep their going out and their coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
My children, do you know who keeps you? The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. Lord Jesus, keep my children. We wait eagerly for Your appearing. Hasten the wonderful day of Your return—the wedding supper of the Lamb. Amen (Psalm 118, 116, 121).
Andrew Case. Setting Their Hope in GOD (Kindle Locations 275-284). Booksurge.
He has written models of prayers for husbands, wives and parents. I wonderful resources. You will find his work here: http://hismagnificence.com/books/
Humility is the secret of fellowship, and pride the secret of division.
R.C. Chapman
The fifth letter is ministry advice to a young man who has set into ministry. The man has asked Newton what to expect in ministry. Newton’s advice should be heeded by anyone who has or will enter into ministry. And, while the letter is directed specifically to the preaching pastor of a congregation, the observations, warnings and encouragements are use to anyone involved in Christian ministry at any level:
General Outline
Greeting & Commendation
I. You Will Meet With Difficulties
A. Have you prayed?
B. Don’t be naive.
C. Sweet then bitter
D. Encouragement
II. Three Difficulties You Will Meet
A. General Observations
B. Opposition
1. General
2. Two temptations.
a. The temtpation of anger and bitterness
i. Ruin your work
ii. How to respond.
b. The temptation of self-importance
C. Popularity
1. A danger few will avoid
2. Do not mistake gifts for grace
3. How God protects us.
D. Spiritual Weakness
1. “Hypocrite!”
2. Never preach again.
III. Conclusion
Here is the letter with analysis:
GREETING:
This is a curious introduction. Newton is writing to an (apparently) young man who has recently been ordained to the ministry. However, he does not merely praise young man; he also includes a prayer:
I hope he has given you likewise a heart to devote yourself, without reserve, to his service, and the service of souls for his sake.
As Newton will make clear, the work of a Christian minister can be brutally difficult. Only a man whose heart is devoted to Christ’s service will complete this work.
I. YOU WILL MEET DIFFICULTIES
The body of the letter concerns the difficulties which a minister will meet. Newton first begins with a general statement.
A. Have you prayed?
You have, doubtless, often anticipated in your mind the nature of the service to which you are now called, and made it the subject of much consideration and prayer.
As Newton will make plain, the difficulties of ministry are supernatural: they are snares and temptations, and “natural” responses will only make things make things worse.
B. Dont’ be naive.
I remember being in law school, thinking I had some idea what being a lawyer would be like. I quickly learned, I had only learned enough to later learn how to be a lawyer.
Likewise with pastoral work: One can train, but even those most closely connected to a pastor cannot quite understand the nature of the burden. There is something unique in the weight of ministry:
But a distant view of the ministry is generally very different from what it is found to be when we are actually engaged in it. The young soldier, who has never seen an enemy, may form some general notions of what is before him: but his ideas will be much more lively and diversified when he comes upon the field of battle. If the Lord was to shew us the whole beforehand, who that has a due sense of his own insufficiency and weakness, would venture to engage?
[Note: A chancery bill would be a pleading in a court; a request for some redress from the court. The plaintiff begins the lawsuit by filing a bill which accuses the defendant of many wrongs. It is common for plaintiffs to accuse the defendant of many things which the plaintiff does not reasonably believe the defendant to have done. The plaintiff does this so that the plaintiff can conduct discovery [seek evidence] on the matters accused in the bill. A chancery court also permits the judge to act with “equity”; the judge can do things which are not precisely specified in the law. Here, Spurstowe uses that power to show that God may show mercy.]
One cause and original can have but one orderly and genuine birth, for else what means our Savior’s question, Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Or that of St. James, Does a fountain at the same time send forth water sweet and bitter?
May it not then justly be the opinion and mind of many, that the least fruit of any holy meditation can never grow from such a bramble of contention is a Chancery bill? And that from such a spring of march [Exodus 15:23; marah means “bitter”], a sweet and delightful stream can never issue?
Yea, who will not be ready to take up Nathanael’s question, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And then, what better answer can I return to such then Phillip’s, Come and see? [John 1:46]
And now let me say what I have often thought, that between such a bill and most men’s confession of sin in prayer, in which they implead [a legal term, state the charges, thus here, confess/accuse] themselves to God, there is too great a likeness in this respect, that the complaints in both have more of course and form than truth and reality.
In the one it is the usage in custom of the court for the plaintiff to pretend fraud, rate, combinations [conspiracy], concealments done and made to the prejudice of his right, which yet he never intends to prove against the defendant, but only to make use of it as a ground of discovery.
And is it not thus also in the other? Are there not in prayer large catalogues and enumerations of sin which many charge themselves with before God in their self condemnation? Pride, wantonness, hypocrisy, contumacy, are the black, shall I say, or scarlet sins that are among others instanced in [set forth in the prayer]?
And yet what other thing is intended by them than to make up the outside of their prayer? The sins are only placed in it, as dark shadows in a picture to set it off with more advantage, and to commend it rather to mend them to God.
In the doing of the duty they think not in the least the worst of themselves or what they say against themselves, nor would have others so say to do, else how comes it to pass that in charging themselves so deeply at God’s Tribunal, there is as little appearance of shame or sorrow in their face as there was of a cloud in the heavens
when Elijah servant returned his answer, there was nothing? [1 Kings 18:23]
Now that would be no part either of my work or purpose to justify or condemn the practices of humane judiciaries, which admit new suggestions [I am not talking about how courts conduct themselves], which admit loose suggestions, that are ours arrow shot at random, because that now and then they may serve there discovery.
Yet I cannot but condemn and abhor that the confession of sin in prayer should be as slight and overly as the complaints of a chancery bill, and that particular sins specified in it, and aggravated and heinous circumstances, should be no other than things of course, done rather to length out the duty than affect the heart? To discover quickness of parts rather than truth of grace.
What is this but to make prayer in itself, which should be as sweet as incense burning up on the golden altar, to be as an offering of sulfur? What is this but to mock God, the great searcher of the heart, with vain words, and to publish to the world how little they fear his anger or value is pardon?
For if the confession of sin be formal, how can the seeking of forgiveness be real?
O Holy lord preserve me from such hypocrisy, and remember not what in this kind I have been guilty of my desire is to judge myself, not in word, but in truth, and unfeigningly to beg, That I, who am in the court of thy justice wholly inexcusable, may in the Chancery of a mercy become altogether inaccusable.
On August 24, 1774, John Newton sent a letter to a young who left out in life. First, as a wise counselor, Newton begins by seeking engagement with the young man. He does not merely throw advice at him from a distance, but Newton draws up close and shows a personal concern for this man at this time.
Newton begins with the circumstances of their parting. Newton is careful enough to note even the manner of speech and his own conduct at the meeting:
THE lowness of your voice, and a blameable absence of mind on my part, prevented me from understanding what you said when you took your leave of me; nor did I just at that instant recollect that you were so soon going away.
Such careful involvement with the life of the person addressed is a necessary aspect of love in counseling. One must not merely offer information. Rather an honest concern with the life of the other is necessary, or the knowledge has been given without love.
Next, Newton notes the natural advantages of the young man, both a fortune and a good upbringing by his part. Newton notes a thing which is invisible to young men — the necessity of a wise restraint to obtain that which is good:
How many at your years, who have been brought up in affluence, are unprincipled, uninstructed, and have already entered upon a course of dissipation and folly, in which it is impossible they themselves can find satisfaction, and which (unless they are reclaimed from it by an Almighty arm) will infallibly preclude them from usefulness or esteem!
He then commends to the young the gift of God in the manner of the young man’s life:
What may I not then further hope from these beginnings, especially as it is easy to observe that He has given you an amiable and promising disposition of spirit,
It is easy to forget that our very lives, including our intelligence and disposition, are gifts from God. Moreover, Newton points to God as the source of the restraint from foolishness as a gift of God.
Having noted the grace of his prior restrain from foolishness, Newton briefly addresses the vanity of the creature — but not as an end in itself, but rather as a stepping stone to the satisfaction of the Creator:
[perhaps] you feel a vanity in science, an emptiness in creatures, and find that you have desires which only He who gave them can satisfy
Restraint is not a negative move; rather it is a necessary step to obtain that which is greater. By getting on an airplane, we restrain our options for the moment so as to obtain the greater good of the destination. Newton quickly moves through possible infidelities and distractions which may meet the young man on the way.
Newton notes that the life of Christian is the only possible way to fit one for a fruitful life in this world — but he does not stop there. All the things of this life are not worth comparison to the goodness of Christ:
But then, the religion, which only deserves the name, must come from above; it must be suited to the state and wants of a sinner; it must be capable of comforting the heart; it must take away the sting and dread of death; and fix our confidence upon One who is always able to help us. Such is the religion of Jesus, such are its effects, and such are the criteria whereby we are to judge of the various forms and schemes under which it is proposed to us. But I forbear; I am only reminding you of what you know, and what you have known to be verified by living and dying examples.
This happiness, my dear sir, is open to you, to all who seek. He is enthroned in heaven, but prayer will bring him down to the heart. Indeed, he is always before-hand with us; and if we feel one desire towards him, we may accept it as a token that he gave it us to encourage us to ask for more.
Newton keeps his own on the end: there will be death, there will be judgment. No degree of distraction of foolishness in this world can avoid that end. Only Christ is a sufficient ground for our life and happiness.
I wish to underscore especially two elements of Newton’s commending Christ. First, Christ is brought near by prayer:
He is enthroned in heaven, but prayer will bring him down to the heart.
Our need commends us to Christ and draws Christ to our heart.
Second, the fact that we desire Christ is evidence that Christ desires our company — and thus should encourage us to come to Him:
if we feel one desire towards him, we may accept it as a token that he gave it us to encourage us to ask for more.
In the end, this letter brings comfort to all by reminding us that Christ will come to our heart — and that our desire for Christ is a proof that Christ will come to us.
John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 633.
