At St. Peter's and St. Paul's Church, in Olney, England, somewhere in the back corner of the cemetery you will find a granite marker, identifying the spot where John and Mary Newton are buried. Newton's tombstone reads, "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy." When quite young, Newton began his career as a sailor. After many voyages, Newton found himself sailing on a slave ship. Always in trouble in his youth, Newton was put off of the ship along the African coast, where he went to work for a slave trader. The trader's black "wife" disliked the young Newton intensely and convinced the trader that the boy should be treated as a slave. So there he worked, along with black slaves -- poorly fed, poorly clothed, unpaid -- for about a year. He was rescued by another white slave trader and later returned to England on the ship Greyhound. It was on the Greyhound that John turned back to his Christian roots. But his re-found religion didn't alter his views on slavery. Five years later, as captain of his own ship, he wrote in his journal that he was thankful for being led into "an easy and creditable way of life." And he was not alone in his way of thinking. In 1753, when he wrote the entry, the slave trade was respectable and, in England, overwhelmingly accepted. Ships would make the first leg of their voyage from England nearly empty until they would anchor off the African coast. There tribal chiefs would deliver to the Europeans stockades full of men and women, captured in raids and wars against other tribes. Buyers would select the finest specimens, which would be bartered for weapons, ammunition, metal, liquor, trinkets, and cloth. Then the captives would be loaded aboard, packed for sailing. They were chained below decks to prevent suicides, laid side by side to save space, row after row, one after another, until the vessel was laden with as many as 600 units of human cargo. Once they arrived in the New World, blacks were traded for sugar and molasses to manufacture rum, which the ships would carry to England for the final leg of their "triangle trade." Then off to Africa for yet another round. John Newton transported more than a few shiploads of the 6 million African slaves brought to the Americas in the 18th century. A terrible storm started John Newton to begin to reassess his life. When in his 70s he wrote: My Gracious Lord, Thou hast preserved me to see another anniversary of that great, awful and merciful day, when I was upon the point of sinking with all my sins and blasphemies upon my head into the pit which has no bottom, and must have sunk, has not Thine eye pitied me, and preserved me in a manner which appears to me little less miraculous, than all the wonders Thou didst perform for Israel in Egypt and at the Red Sea. "O I have now cause to praise thee for that terrible storm, which first shook my infidelity, and made me apprehensive that death was not, as my corrupt heart had persuaded me, an eternal sleep." After four years as a slave ship captain, Newton resigned his commission on the advice of his doctors. By this time his views on the trade had begun to change. Several years later, after becoming a minister, he wrote, "I think I should have quitted [the slave trade] sooner had I considered it as I now do to be unlawful and wrong. But I never had a scruple upon this head at the time; nor was such a thought ever suggested to me by any friend." Once convicted of the wrongness of slavery, he began to work against it. He became allies in the fight against this cruelty of man to man with William Wilberforce, the name that has become legendary in connection with the outlawing of slave trade. What can make a man sell another human being as cattle? What causes wars, fights, abuse, etc? What is there in mankind that creates these reactions? We find an answer in the Word of God. Gen 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen 6:11-12 "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. {12} So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." Just how depraved is the natural man? That's a little like asking, after a funeral, "How dead was Uncle Joe when they buried him?" No one is only a little dead at his own funeral. And in the same way that dead is dead, depraved is depraved. Just how bad is the situation? The Apostle Paul wrote: Romans 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." 13 "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." As if this were not a graphic enough description of the condition of mankind, let us go on. Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Note the downward spiral. God is clearly manifest. People chose not to glorify Him. They became foolish. They made idols. They exchanged truth for lies. They became sexually immoral. Then you see in 26-31 the total breakdown of society. Not my words. But God's. Jesus said: Mark 7:20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man." In other words, we are not bad because we sin. We sin because we are bad. The problem is not just behavior. It is the rotten core within us that we are able to change. Turning again to Paul, he, then goes on to take it from the overview of society to a personal level. I believe that here he is dealing with the experience of the Christian. Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. One writer gave the following illustration: "Consider a number of pigs that have become trapped in the bottom of a deep and barren pit with vertical walls. No one put them there; they fell in because pigs are greedy and foolish by nature and there was food in the bottom of the pit. The pit is rapidly filling with water so that soon the pigs will drown. There are no ledges to cling to, no trees to climb, and no objects on which to float. The pit is far too deep to allow for the possibility that any of the pigs could jump or climb to safety. Lastly, there is no hope that the water will recede in time for even the strongest swimmers to survive. These pigs are certainly doomed. The only possible way of escape, apart from outside assistance, would be for these pigs to have the ability to fly. But pigs cannot fly. The same nature that got them into trouble renders them unable to get out of it. Additionally, because of their greedy nature, they are so focused on gorging themselves that they are quite oblivious to their dilemma. And if someone were to try to rescue them, they would undoubtedly see the rescuer as a threat-as someone who was trying to take them away from the one thing they love most." 1 Cor 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." "If we were to see some of these pigs escaping, flying out of the pit on their own power while the rest drowned, we could say with all certainty that they were no ordinary pigs. We would be right to conclude that they had been given new abilities as well as a new awareness of the danger, both of which ordinary (natural) pigs do not possess. Likewise, when we see people pleasing God through genuine repentance and saving faith in Christ, we know God has granted them new abilities and a measure of awareness that natural men do not possess." We are given a choice. We are asked to choose. That choice is expressed in: Rom 6:16 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" Rom 6:19 "I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness." But we can only make the choice. The rest is the work of God through His Spirit. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). That wonder vision that Ezekiel saw of the valley full of bones. Hopeless, helpless, good for nothing dry bones. Assembled, connected, covered, revived, and enthused through the power of the Holy Spirit. Freed from the slavery of death. "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). John Newton continued to speak out against the slave trade. In 1797, he stated, "If the trade is at present carried on to the same extent and nearly in the same manner, while we are delaying from year to year to put a stop to our part in it, the blood of many thousands of our helpless, much injured fellow creatures is crying against us. The pitiable state of the survivors who are torn from their relatives, connections, and their native land must be taken into account." Just before Newton's death, in 1807, the English government officially brought to a close its participation in the slave trade. Our Savior came to stop the slave trade. Humanity, claimed as slaves by Satan has been freed by the blood of the Lamb. The Amazing Grace of our Lord and Savior frees us. The only hope we have for freedom is found in giving our lives to Jesus Christ. Satan desires to bind us down with all manner of issues. He points to God as one who will enslave us by taking away our vices. By our vices he in turn enslaves us. He whispers in our ear that God does not have our best interest at heart, when his goal is to lead us to eternal ruin. Our human nature makes us at once the slaves and the enslaver. We are slaves to our passion, pride, and prejudice. And we often tend to enslave others with our fears, codependencies, and anger. But freedom is possible. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Freedom comes through reconciliation. Freedom comes from being servants of Christ. All of His forbiddings and enablings are for our eternal good. No one, no where, no how, cares as much about you as does your Lord. And His goal, since sin entered the world, is reconciliation. He asks nothing of us that is not for our good. Our good now, and for eternity. Today, we need to recognize just how sinful we are. We need to realize that our motives, our deep desires, often conflict with the work of the Spirit in our lives. But today, I am asking you to make that better choice. To drink from the well that provides living water. To taste and see that the Lord is Good. What are you hanging on to that is more important than Jesus? What material blessing on this earth means more to you than eternal riches. What in this world that takes up your time is more important than the eternity that Jesus offers us? Today, we are all called to choose Jesus and eternity. What do you say?