John Newton Quotations

A bowler can make or break a chap.

God works powerfully, but for the most part gently and gradually.

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.

Many have puzzled themselves about the origin of evil. I am content to observe that there is evil, and that there is a way to escape from it, and with this I begin and end.

He was frustrated with the direction commercial software was taking and what you could accomplish with the high-ticket sales model, The evolution cycles go so much faster, and the clock speed of the industry goes much, much faster.

I think a lot of it is a forming of attitudes. I think, primarily, they know our name but they don't know much about us.

I think those of us who know the university feel pretty good about it. But I think that it's not known. This is not the flagship of the state.

To carry an umbrella without any headgear places a fellow in a social no man's land-in the category of one hurrying round to the corner shop for a bottle of stout on a rainy day at the behest of a nagging landlady.

Alas! though I know in theory what a Christian should be--I am still sadly deficient in practice! I am a poor creature, and see much to be ashamed of every day, and in every circumstance. Yet, though sin will distress--it cannot condemn, those who believe in Jesus!

It's the only way to go now. It's the future of software. It's inevitable.

There was a mood on campus that this was going to be the next Michigan State.

The Christian ministry is the worst of all trades, but the best of all professions

I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I would like to be; I am not what I hope to be. But I am not what I once was, and by the grace of God, I am what I am.

The midsummer sun shines but dim, The fields strive in vain to look gay; But when I am happy in Him December's as pleasant as May.

If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw near to Him, we may be sure we will get none by keeping away from Him.

If two angels were to receive at the same moment a commission from God, one to go down and rule earth’s grandest empire, the other to go and sweep the streets of its meanest village, it would be a matter of entire indifference to each which service fell to his lot, the post of ruler or the post of scavenger; for the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.

So long as men are compassionate to such a degree that they cannot hear a fly struggling in a spider's web without emotion it can never be reasonably maintained that it is their natural impulse to wound and kill the dumb animals, or to butcher one another in what is called the field of honour.

The Christian must know that the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be afforded him according to his need.

By affliction prayer is quickened, for our prayers are very apt to grow languid and formal in a time of ease.

If we venture beyond the pale of Scripture, we are...exposed to all the illusions of imagination and enthusiasm.

Faith upholds a Christian under all trials, by assuring him that every painful dispensation is under the direction of his Lord.

Christ has taken our nature into Heaven to represent us; and has left us on earth, with His nature, to represent Him.

How many times has He delivered me! Yet, alas! How distrustful and ungrateful is my heart even until the present!

To embrace what are called the Calvinistic doctrines was an infallible token of a humble mind.

I am a great Sinner and God is a great Savior

If you once love Him, you will study to please Him.

"What Thou wilt, when Thou wilt, how Thou wilt." I had rather speak these three sentences from my heart in my mother tongue than be master of all the languages in Europe.

Not only the guilt, but the love of sin, and its dominion, are taken away, subdued by grace, and cordially renounced by the believing pardoned sinner.

When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons.

I know not a better rule of reading the Scripture, than to read it through from beginning to end and when we have finished it once, to begin it again. We shall meet with many passages which we can make little improvement of, but not so many in the second reading as in the first, and fewer in the third than in the second: provided we pray to him who has the keys to open our understandings, and to anoint our eyes with His spiritual ointment.

There are many who stumble in the noon-day, not for want of light, but for want of eyes.

I look upon prayer-meetings as the most profitable exercises (excepting the public preaching) in which Christians can engage. They have a direct tendency to kill a worldly, trifling spirit, and to draw down a Divine blessing upon all our concerns, compose differences, and enkindle (at least maintain) the flames of Divine love amongst brethren.

Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame,The fire of love supplies ;While that which often bears the name,Is self in a disguise.True zeal is merciful and mild,Can pity and forbear ;The false is headstrong, fierce and wild,And breathes revenge and war.

Whether men are pleased or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb that was slain.

Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God!

A real friendship should not fade as time passes, and should not weaken because of space separation.

Many are convinced, who are not truly enlightened; are afraid of the consequences of sin, though they never saw its evil; have a seeming desire of salvation, which is not founded upon a truly spiritual discovery of their own wretchedness, and the excellency of Jesus.

I make it a rule of Christian duty never to go to a place where there is not room for my Master as well as myself.

Though the island of Great Britain exhibits but a small spot upon the map of the globe, it makes a splendid appearance in the history of mankind, and for a long space has been signally under the protection of God and a seat of peace, liberty and truth.

So dress and conduct yourself so that people who have been in your company will not recall what you had on.

Time, by moments, steals away, First the hour, and then the day; Small the daily loss appears, Yet it soon amounts to years

Every drop of rain hits its appointed target.

My grand point in preaching is to break the hard heart, and to heal the broken one.

The art of spreading rumors may be compared to the art of pin-making. There is usually some truth, which I call the wire; as this passes from hand to hand, one gives it a polish, another a point, others make and put on the head, and at last the pin is completed.

But by the grace of God I am what I am

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

Experience is the Lord's school, and they who are taught by Him usually learn by the mistakes they make that in themselves they have no wisdom; and by their slips and falls, that they have no strength.

If two angels were sent down from heaven,--one to conduct an empire, and the other to sweep a street,--they would feel no inclination to change employments.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation.

Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the dark.

Let me endeavor to lead you out of yourself: let me invite you to look unto Jesus.

If our zeal is embittered by expressions of anger, invective, or scorn—we may think we are doing service of the cause of truth, when in reality we shall only bring it into discredit!

If it were possible for me to alter any part of his plan, I could only spoil it.

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! How imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be. I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be. Soon, soon, I shall put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was—a slave to sin and Satan. And I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am.’

How Sweet the name of Jesus... the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding place, my never failing treasury, filled with boundless stores of grace.

By one hour's intimate access to the throne of grace, where the Lord causes His glory to pass before the soul that seeks Him you may acquire more true spiritual knowledge and comfort than a day's or a week's converse with the best of men, or the most.

A soul disengaged from the world is a heavenly one; and then are we ready for heaven when our heart is there before us.

What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?

We have no clear ideas of the agency of [demonic] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but tells us plainly that he is always watching us, and desiring to sift us as wheat. I believe we give him no more than his due, when we charge him with having a hand in all our sins. I believe he cuts us all out abundance of work.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fear.

I endeavored to renounce society, that I might avoid temptation. But it was a poor religion; so far as it prevailed, only tended to make me gloomy, stupid, unsociable, and useless.

Though troubles assail And dangers affright, Though friends should all fail And foes all unite; Yet one thing secures us, Whatever betide, The scripture assures us, The Lord will provide.

If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, His arm over us, His ear open to our prayer - His grace sufficient, His promise unchangeable.

The best advice I can give you: Look unto Jesus, beholding his beauty in the written word.

I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon. (his last words)

I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.

A minister full of comforts & free from failings as an angel, though he would be happy, wouldn't be a good or useful preacher

As to myself, if I were not a Calvinist, I think I should have no more hope of success in preaching to men, than to horses or cows.

We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to his glory and our own advantage.

Our work is great; our time is short; the consequences of our labors are infinite.

I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of the year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday's stick over again today, and adding tomorrow's burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.

God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He brings a death upon our feelings, wishes, and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.

May we sit at the foot of the cross; and there learn what sin has done, what justice has done, what love has done.

Whoever is truly humbled — will not be easily angry, nor harsh or critical of others. He will be compassionate and tender to the infirmities of his fellow-sinners, knowing that if there is a difference — it is grace alone which has made it! He knows that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart. And under all trials and afflictions — he will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved.

God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms.

All shall work together for good; everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds.

This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now i see.

I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am

The Law was given by Moses; the moral law, to discover the extent and abounding sin; the ceremonial law, to point out, by typical sacrifices and ablutions, the way in which forgiveness was to be sought and obtained. But grace, to relieve us from the condemnation of the one, and truth answerable to the types and shadows of the other, came by Jesus Christ.

There is many a thing which the world calls disappointment; but there is no such thing in the dictionary of faith. What to others are disappointments are to believers intimations of the will of God.

Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much.

Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord's power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope, and been suddenly snatched from danger, and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the word and power of God, beyond and against appearances: and this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance; for even assurance has degrees.

Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.

The level of violence was unacceptable and beyond the proper view of punishment,