Required reading
The Works (Vol 4) of John Newton (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon VI (Salvation published from the mountains).
My summary
This week Newton preaches on 'O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!' (Isa 40:9)
Newton explains that the cause of this exultation arises from the character of the Messiah and this is answerable to the condition in which he finds mankind.
Thus Newton teaches us the deplorable state of fallen man by examining three principal features that characterize our whole species:
(i) guilt;
(ii) alienation of heart;
(iii) misery.
What grabbed me
I enjoyed Newton's description of what it means to be one of the Messiah's subjects: 'Messiah establishes a new, a spiritual kingdom upon the earth ; and his happy subjects are freed from the misery in which they were involved. They commit all their concerns to him, and he manages for them. Their fears are removed, their irregular desires corrected, and all that is really good for them is secured to them by his love, promise, and care. Afflictions still await them, but they are sanctified. To them the nature of afflictions is changed. They are appointments graciously designed for their advantage. Their crosses, no less than their comforts, are tokens of God's favour ; they have them only because their present situation requires discipline, and they could not be so well without them. They are assured of support under them, and a final deliverance out of them all, for there is a happy hour approaching, when all their troubles shall cease, and they shall enter upon a state of eternal, uninterrupted, inconceivable joy.'
Happy are the children of the kingdom!
Next week's reading
Read Sermon VII (The morning light).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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