{"id":400,"date":"2013-01-30T17:37:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T17:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.225.232.228\/us\/product\/wise-counsel\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T02:50:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T01:50:16","slug":"wise-counsel","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/uk\/store\/christian-living\/wise-counsel\/","title":{"rendered":"Wise Counsel"},"content":{"rendered":"

ENDORSEMENT<\/h2>\n

‘Some books are for tasting regularly, not reading through once. One such book is Wise Counsel<\/i>. Newton was the former slave-trader turned pastor, and the author of Amazing Grace<\/i>. The flavor of his ministry is such that frequent tastes are better than rare gulps.’ — JOHN PIPER<\/p>\n

Book Description<\/h2>\n

John Newton (1725-1807) has rightly been called \u2018the letter-writer par excellence<\/i> of the Evangelical Revival\u2019. Newton himself seems to have come to the conclusion, albeit reluctantly, that letter-writing was his greatest gift. In a letter to a friend he confessed, \u2018I rather reckoned upon doing more good by some of my other works than by my \u2018Letters\u2019, which I wrote without study, or any public design; but the Lord said, \u2018You shall be most useful by them,\u2019<\/i> and I learned to say, \u2018Thy will be done! Use me as Thou pleasest, only make<\/i> me useful.\u2019 Indeed, he wrote to his close friend William Bull that if the letters were \u2018owned to comfort the afflicted, to quicken the careless, to confirm the wavering, I may rejoice in the honour He has done me\u2019, and not envy the greatest writers of the age.<\/p>\n

All but ten of the letters in the present volume have been brought out of undeserved obscurity by Dr Grant Gordon, whose researches in libraries and archives, as well as in little-known nineteenth-century periodicals, have uncovered much material which is certainly calculated to comfort, quicken, and confirm. Of those already in print, one letter is in volume 1 of the Trust\u2019s six-volume edition of Newton\u2019s Works, and nine more are in volume 2. Three of the nine are also in the Trust\u2019s Letters of John Newton,<\/i> edited by Josiah Bull. The rest should be new to almost all readers.<\/p>\n

The particular recipient of Newton\u2019s \u2018wise counsel\u2019 in this book was John Ryland, Jr. (1753-1825), Baptist pastor and educator, and close friend of Andrew Fuller, William Carey, and all the pioneers of the modern missionary movement. But in the background stand all the major figures of the eighteenth-century Evangelical Revival. A list of Newton\u2019s friends and correspondents would, in fact, read like a \u2018who\u2019s who\u2019 of the Revival. And forming the wider background is a very eventful period of history, from the American Revolution to the French Revolutionary Wars, by way of the colonization of Australia, the first missions to India, and the abolition of the slave trade. Dr Gordon has helpfully set the letters in the context of these events and provided useful background detail.<\/p>\n

The reader will discover afresh in these letters, not only mature and wise counsel, but a wholesome emphasis on true Christian experience, a great breadth of Christian sympathy, and a strong confidence in the power of the grace of God, for, as Newton said, \u2018Grace has long and strong arms!\u2019<\/p>\n

Table of Contents Expand \u2193<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nForeword by Michael A. G. Haykin I<\/td>\nx<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPreface and Acknowledgements<\/td>\nxi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nIntroduction\u20131: Overview of the Letters<\/td>\nxiii<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nIntroduction\u20132: The Earlier Years of Newton and Ryland<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nRyland\u2019s Poems \u2013 Justification \u2013 Humility<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nJustification \u2013 High Calvinism<\/td>\n19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nVisit of Rowland Hill<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nNorthampton \u2013 Advice on Preaching<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nSpiritual Experience \u2013 A Believer\u2019s Frames<\/td>\n33<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nWilliam Guy \u2013 Guidance<\/td>\n39<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nHenry Venn \u2013 Christ in the Vessel<\/td>\n43<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nDisappointments \u2013 Christian Unity<\/td>\n47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nBetty Abraham \u2013 The Fellowship at Olney<\/td>\n51<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nDanger of Delusive \u2018Impressions\u2019<\/td>\n55<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nControversy with Arminianism \u2013 News of Friends<\/td>\n61<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nBlessings \u2013 Moravian Missions \u2013 Unity<\/td>\n65<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nHopes for a Schoolboy \u2013 Inward Trials<\/td>\n69<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nAdvice on Marriage<\/td>\n73<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nThe King in His Beauty \u2013 Life as a Journey<\/td>\n77<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nAmerican Revolution \u2013 Politics \u2013 Thankfulness<\/td>\n83<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nSpiritual Progress \u2013 The Soul a Besieged City<\/td>\n87<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nMarriage \u2013 Waiting on God \u2013 Submission<\/td>\n91<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nDisappointments \u2013 Providence \u2013 The Eternal View<\/td>\n99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nCourtship \u2013 Possible Move from Olney<\/td>\n103<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\nCourtship \u2013 A Call to Hull?<\/td>\n107<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\nSmallpox \u2013 Inoculation \u2013 Providence<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\nOvercoming Fear \u2013 Bereavement<\/td>\n115<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\nNew England Divines on a Work of Grace<\/td>\n119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\nDelays \u2013 Submission to the Will of God<\/td>\n123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\nOlney Hymns \u2013 Earthly Gloss Fades \u2013 Forms<\/td>\n127<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
27<\/td>\nOlney Hymns \u2013 America \u2013 Lawfulness of War<\/td>\n131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28<\/td>\nRyland\u2019s Marriage \u2013 Advice on the Married State<\/td>\n137<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
29<\/td>\nMarried Life \u2013 Move to London \u2013 Letters<\/td>\n143<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30<\/td>\nAnecdotes \u2013 Cardiphonia \u2013 The Infallible Pilot<\/td>\n149<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
31<\/td>\nTrials \u2013 Cotton Mather \u2013 Simplicity in Preaching<\/td>\n153<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
32<\/td>\nRyland, Sr. \u2013 Newton\u2019s Apologia<\/td>\n159<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
33<\/td>\nRyland\u2019s Brother and Father \u2013 Comforts \u2013 Messiah<\/td>\n163<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
34<\/td>\nDeath of Eliza \u2013 A Great Shepherd \u2013 Messiah<\/td>\n169<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35<\/td>\nProvision for Ryland, Sr. \u2013 Benefit of Trials<\/td>\n175<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\nBirth of a Son \u2013 Ambrose Serle \u2013 Controversy<\/td>\n181<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
37<\/td>\nDeath of Mrs Ryland \u2013 God All-Sufficient<\/td>\n185<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/td>\nFaithful Wounds \u2013 Danger of Excessive Grief<\/td>\n189<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\nGiving for Chapel-Building \u2013 Sanctified Trials<\/td>\n191<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40<\/td>\nEffects of Grief \u2013 William Huntington<\/td>\n193<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
41<\/td>\nSermons \u2013 Family Trials \u2013 The Slave Trade<\/td>\n199<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
42<\/td>\nAdvice on Remarriage<\/td>\n205<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
43<\/td>\nRemarriage \u2013Trusting the Lord to Provide<\/td>\n209<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
44<\/td>\nBetsy\u2019s Illness \u2013 Marriage \u2013 Ministerial Success<\/td>\n213<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45<\/td>\nFuller \u2013 Controversy \u2013 Carey \u2013 Botany Bay<\/td>\n217<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
46<\/td>\nDiscipline \u2013 Foes as Friends \u2013 Independency<\/td>\n221<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
47<\/td>\nFalse Reports \u2013 Church and Family Trials<\/td>\n227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
48<\/td>\nPatience \u2013 Mrs Newton\u2019s Illness \u2013 Ellis Williams<\/td>\n231<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
49<\/td>\n\u2018No Protestant Popery\u2019 \u2013 Mrs Newton Declining<\/td>\n235<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\nMrs Newton \u2013 The School of the Cross<\/td>\n241<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
51<\/td>\nTravels \u2013 Funerals \u2013 Need for Dying Strength<\/td>\n245<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
52<\/td>\nRyland Advised to Ignore Huntington Pamphlet<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
53<\/td>\nRyland, Sr. \u2013 The Lord\u2019s Fan \u2013 Let Embers Die<\/td>\n255<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
54<\/td>\nBristol \u2013 Movements of Ministers<\/td>\n261<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55<\/td>\nAbraham Booth \u2013 Certainty about a Call<\/td>\n263<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
56<\/td>\nAdvice regarding Call to Bristol<\/td>\n267<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
57<\/td>\nBristol Refused \u2013 Visit to Northampton<\/td>\n271<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
58<\/td>\nMrs Fuller\u2019s Death \u2013 Bristol \u2013 French Revolution<\/td>\n275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
59<\/td>\nFuller\u2019s Illness \u2013 All the Lord Does Is Right<\/td>\n279<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
60<\/td>\nThe Lord Can Make the Crooked Straight<\/td>\n283<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
61<\/td>\nDavid George \u2013 Sierra Leone \u2013 Letters to a Wife<\/td>\n289<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
62<\/td>\nFuller on Socinianism \u2013 Politics \u2013 God Reigns<\/td>\n293<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
63<\/td>\nBristol \u2013 Fuller \u2013 France \u2013 Newton\u2019s Politics<\/td>\n299<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
64<\/td>\nConduct of War \u2013 Sin the Great Evil<\/td>\n303<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
65<\/td>\nAlarms of War \u2013 Eclectic Society \u2013 Missions<\/td>\n309<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
66<\/td>\nDeath of Trinder \u2013 Friends Given and Removed<\/td>\n313<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
67<\/td>\nRomaine \u2013 Unity in Mission and in Suffering<\/td>\n317<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
68<\/td>\nA Lofty Spirit \u2013 Church and Dissent \u2013 Unity<\/td>\n323<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
69<\/td>\nMission in India \u2013 Carey \u2013 Caste System<\/td>\n327<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
70<\/td>\nSierra Leone \u2013 Servants \u2013 Newton\u2019s Ministry<\/td>\n333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
71<\/td>\nNewton\u2019s High Regard for Carey<\/td>\n339<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
72<\/td>\nMacaulay\u2019s \u2013 David George \u2013 Unity<\/td>\n341<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
73<\/td>\nFuller \u2013 Pearce \u2013 Grimshaw \u2013 Value of Academies<\/td>\n349<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
74<\/td>\nSalvation of Infants \u2013 Grimshaw \u2013 India Mission<\/td>\n353<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
75<\/td>\nSeeking Favours \u2013 Waiting God\u2019s Time<\/td>\n357<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
76<\/td>\nThe Reach of Mercy \u2013 The Missionary Spirit<\/td>\n363<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
77<\/td>\nFailing Powers \u2013 The Lord\u2019s Shop \u2013 Preaching<\/td>\n369<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
78<\/td>\nMission News \u2013 National Sins \u2013 Mercies<\/td>\n375<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
79<\/td>\nWilling to Be Laid Aside \u2013 Recalling Past Mercy<\/td>\n379<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
80<\/td>\nRobert Hesketh \u2013 The Lord Reigns<\/td>\n385<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
81<\/td>\nCast Down but Not Destroyed \u2013 Discipline<\/td>\n389<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
82<\/td>\nGriffith \u2013 A Dark Cloud \u2013 Thankfulness<\/td>\n393<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
83<\/td>\nPrayer \u2013 Depression of Spirits \u2013 A Chief Sinner<\/td>\n395<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nConclusion: The Remaining Years of Newton and Ryland<\/td>\n399<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nIndex of Persons and Principal Topics<\/td>\n405<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Reviews<\/h2>\n