{"id":5637,"date":"2013-01-01T10:45:02","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T15:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stonescryout.org\/?p=5637"},"modified":"2013-01-01T10:45:02","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T15:45:02","slug":"happy-new-year-and-happy-240th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/?p=5637","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Year! And Happy 240th!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is January 1st, 2013. Happy New Year! It also happens to be the 240th anniversary of the sermon with which John Newton introduced his newly written poem, Amazing Grace<\/a><\/em>. From Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns<\/a><\/em>,<\/p>\n

On Friday morning, January 1, 1773, John Newton, former slave trader and infidel, preached a New Year\u2019s message from 1 Chronicles<\/a> 17:16\u201317 in his church at Olney, England. Newton opened his sermon, saying, \u201cThe Lord bestows many blessings upon His people, but unless He likewise gives them a thankful heart, they lose much of the comfort they might have.\u201d He told his church to look back at God\u2019s goodness, look around at God\u2019s promises, and look forward to future usefulness. In concluding, Newton introduced a poem he\u2019d written for the occasion, the hymn \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Morgan, Robert J., Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The scriptural text that Newton referred to in his sermon, the setting just after the announcement of the Davidic Covenant,<\/p>\n

Then King David<\/a> went in and sat before the LORD and said, \u201cWho am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O LORD God!<\/p>\n

(1 Chronicles 17:16-17 ESV<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Newton’s original six verses:<\/p>\n

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
\nThat sav’d a wretch like me!
\nI once was lost, but now am found,
\nWas blind, but now I see.<\/p>\n

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
\nAnd grace my fears reliev’d;
\nHow precious did that grace appear
\nThe hour I first believ’d!<\/p>\n

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,
\nI have already come;
\n‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
\nAnd grace will lead me home.<\/p>\n

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
\nHis word my hope secures;
\nHe will my shield and portion be
\nAs long as life endures.<\/p>\n

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
\nAnd mortal life shall cease;
\nI shall possess, within the veil,
\nA life of joy and peace.<\/p>\n

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
\nThe sun forbear to shine;
\nBut God, who call’d me here below,
\nWill be forever mine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is January 1st, 2013. Happy New Year! It also happens to be the 240th anniversary of the sermon with which John Newton introduced his newly written poem, Amazing Grace. From Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns, On Friday morning, January 1, 1773, John Newton, former slave trader and infidel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,447,59],"tags":[985,986,984],"class_list":["post-5637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-evangelicals","category-rusty","tag-amazing-grace","tag-davidic-covenant","tag-john-newton"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5637\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stonescryout.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}