1 Sovereign grace has power alone
To subdue a heart of stone;
And the moment grace is felt,
Then the hardest heart will melt.
2 When the Lord was crucified,
Two transgressors with Him died;
One with vile blaspheming tongue,
Scoffed at Jesus as he hung.
3 Thus he spent his wicked breath,
In the very jaws of death
Perished, as too many do,
With the Savior in his view.
4 But the other, touched with grace,
Saw the danger of his case;
Faith received to own the Lord,
Whom the scribes and priests abhorred.
5 "Lord," he prayed, "remember me
When in glory Thou shalt be";
"Soon with Me," the Lord replies,
"Thou shalt rest in paradise."
6 This was wondrous grace indeed,
Grace vouchsafed in time of need!
Sinners, trust in Jesus’ name;
You shall find Him still the same.
7 But beware of unbelief,
Think upon the hardened thief;
If the Gospel you disdain,
Christ, to you, will die in vain.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #9075
John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >
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