CONTEMPLATIONS

- A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND

William Huntington (1745-1813)

LETTER IV

TO THE REV. J. JENKINS, LEWES, SUSSEX.

Beloved,

Since I sent off the last, my head and my heart have been conceiving and bringing forth again, insomuch that I think I have more oil in my cruse now than when I began. "My horn is exalted like the horns of an unicorn, and I am anointed with fresh oil." Therefore I will proceed to shew that the Holy Ghost is a distinct person. He is said to proceed from the Father" - When the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me," John, xv. 26. If he proceed from the Father, he must be distinct from him from whom he proceeds. Again - "It is expedient for you that I go away; for, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto on; but, if I depart, I will send him." Here the Spirit proceeds from the Son also, as well as from the Father. And, as he is distinct from the Father, so he is also from the Son - "I will send him." The Spirit, which is sent, is a distinct person from him that sends him. He is likewise called another. "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter." God is called the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort: the Saviour is called the Consolation of Israel, which good old Simeon waited to see; and Christ, being, about to leave his flock, promises to send them another comforter, that should abide with them for ever; and, if he be another comforter, he must be distinct both from the Father and the Son, or else he cannot be another, but must be the same.

I believe that God the Father never did any works from which the Son or the Spirit were excluded. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what be seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doth the Son likewise," John, v. 19. Nor did he ever work any work from which the Spirit was excluded. Their distinct personality appears in all their divine operations; and in every work they seem to be jointly concerned. In the secret councils of old, and in the decree of election, and in the covenant of grace which was made from everlasting, they were jointly concerned: there was the Father choosing, the Son in whom the choice was made undertaking to save, and the Spirit to sanctify and make obedient the objects chosen. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," 1 Pet. i. 2. This will appear more plain in the following passage, where you have an account of the covenant, and of the persons in the Holy Trinity altogher. "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever," Isa. lix. 21. Here is the Father and the Son agreeing, about a covenant; "I have made a covenant with my chosen." The Son is undertaking to become man: it is to be a covenant by sacrifice. He undertakes in our behalf, and for us: the promise of eternal life and the Holy Spirit are to come upon him: this the Holy Ghost undertakes to do; and these are to abide upon him, the head of influence, till salvation is finished. And, when Christ was glorified, then the Word and Spirit were to be sent forth by the Covenant Head to the chosen seed. The Spirit is to apply the benefits of the cross, and proclaim liberty to the elect "By the blood of thy covenant I have sent thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." They are called Christ's prisoners, because they are given unto him to redeem, sanctify, and save.

In the work of creation the distinct personality and operations of the Holy Trinity plainly appear. There is God the Father creating all things by Jesus Christ, Eph. iii. 9; and there is the Holy Spirit moving, upon the face of the waters, Gen. i. 2, bringing, the confused chaos into its present beautiful form and order. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth," Psalm xxxiii. 6. Here is the Lord, and the essential Word which was with God, and was God, creating the world; and the breath of his mouth, which is the Holy Ghost, equally concerned in the work; for by his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens," Job, xxvi. 13.

Nor need it be thought strange that the Holy Ghost is compared to breath and to the wind; seeing, as a learned man observes, that "generation expresses the Son's distinct mode of subsisting in the divine Essence, so spiration may also express the Spirit's distinct mode of subsisting therein; and, perhaps, is the true reason of his bearing, this name." And, as he is called the Breath of the Almighty, and as Christ breathed on the apostles and said unto them, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" the procession of the Holy Spirit is beautifully set forth thereby.

There was a council held among the divine persons about the creation of man. "Let us," says the Father to the Son, "make man in our image, after our likeness;" and the Holy Ghost was breathed into him, who formed his soul and quickened him. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." In those words, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," a plurality of persons appear; but in the last text, "So God made man in his own image," the unity of the Divine Essence is preserved; the first account being in the plural number, and the last in the singular.

In the government of the world the Trinity appears to be equally concerned. This may be seen in the king of Babylon's visions: "I saw in the visions of my head, upon my bed; and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven," Dan. iv. 13. This is in the singular number. "This matter (says Daniel) is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the Holy Ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will," Dan. iv. 17. I know that many are of opinion that these watchers are angels; but that cannot be; for the decree is called the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the words of the Holy Ones; but angels are not of God's council, nor have they any hand in making God's decrees. "Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord; or, being his counsellor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him?" Isa. xl. 13, 14. What is called the decree of the Watchers and of the Holy Ones, is explained by the prophet. "This is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king," Dan. iv. 24. Besides, though the angels are holy creatures, yet three of them cannot be emphatically called the Holy Ones," for there are twenty thousand of holy angels, and there are holy souls in heaven and holy saints on earth. But God in three persons is the fountain of holiness. Nor need we wonder at the Trinity being called Watchers, seeing God the Father, Son, and Spirit, watch over all the saints. He that keepeth thee will not slumber - "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep Psa. cxxi. 3. And, unless the Lord keep the city of Zion, all other watchmen wake but in vain. Thus do the Holy Trinity work jointly together, and their distinct personality is seen in all their glorious works; and so it will further appear in every branch of the work of salvation.

As in the mission and commission of Christ - " From the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me," Isa. xlviii. 16. Here is Christ who is the ME that is sent, and the Lord God and his Spirit which sent him. If a trinity of names is meant, and not persons, as a wise man observes, it should have been worded thus: "And now I myself, and myself, have sent myself," This prophecy had its accomplishment just before Christ entered on his ministry, at his baptism. Christ was upon the earth, the Holy Ghost descending in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." These are the Lord God and his Spirit sending, Christ forth, and bearing their testimony both to his sonship and to his appointment.

Salvation also is ascribed to all the three persons, who are equally concerned in it. The Father speaks thus: "But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God; and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen," Hosea, i. 7. Thus the Father bears testimony to his only-begotten Son, and tells us that he is the Lord God by whom he saves us; and we believe him, not doubting, but God is a faithful and true witness, and must be a better judge of his own Son, and what he is, than all the Arians and Socinians in the world. God the Father saves us by the Lord our God, who is the Son; hence he is called "Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins," Matt. i. 21. Nor is the Holy Ghost excluded from the work of salvation; for the Father, who tells us that he will have mercy upon the house of Judah, tells us also how this mercy shall come to us, even by the Holy Spirit - "But according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tit. iii. 5. Thus are all the three divine persons engaged in our salvation. Hence we read of wells, more wells than one, in which salvation is to be had - "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation," Isa. xii. 3.

Again, an empty name cannot write nor bear record. How does a fictitious name appear in a court of law, when there is no person to be found that bears that name, or is called by it? But there are three that bear record in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one," I John, v. 7, 8. And this is not a trinity of names accommodated to the making, of a covenant, as some suppose; for a name cannot be a father nor a son. So, likewise, if there be but one person in the Trinity, there cannot be either a Son or a Father; he that denies either, denies both. - "He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son: whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father," I John, ii. 22, 23. None, therefore, but persons can bear record: but the persons in the Holy Trinity do bear record; and the record that they bear is to the sonship of Christ; and their distinct record stands in the holy scriptures. The Father's record, twice written, is this - "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased," Luke, iii. 22. Again, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him," Matt. xvii. 5. The Lord's testimony of himself stands upon record thus - "say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God. If I do not the things of the Father, believe me not," John, x. 36, 37. For this blasphemy, as the wicked Jews called it, was Christ condemned; and this he never denied, but sealed it with his blood. The record of the Holy Ghost is to the same truth. "Paul, a servant, separated unto the gospel of God, which he promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead," Rom. i. 1-4. This is the witness which is recorded by the Spirit that Christ is the Son of God; not in name, for there is no power in an empty name; but be is the Son of God with power, the Omnipotent, "the First and the Last, the Almighty," Rev. xi. 8. And this is declared, or manifested, by his own resurrection from the dead - " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up: this is the testimony borne and recorded "by the Spirit of Holiness." Now, that the threefold record, borne by the Father, Son, and Spirit, is to the sonship of Christ, appears plain from the apostle John's conclusions, - "There are three that bear record in heaven, and three that bear witness on earth. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made himself a liar, because be believeth not the record that God gave of his Son," I John, v. 7-10. Thus God's witness, that he hath testified, and which stands upon record, is called the testification and record that God gave of his Son. The natural inferences are these: 1. That none but those who believe in the only begotten Son of God have the witness of the Spirit in themselves. 2. That all those who tell us that Christ is only a name, or a mere creature, are infidels; they believe not the record that God gave of his Son. And, 3. The infamy charged upon such is, that they make God a liar, than which nothing can be worse; and such liars are all our Arians and Socinians, and therefore their witness is nothing worth.

Thus the holy Three bear record, which a trinity of names cannot do; for, as I before observed, if a fictitious name appear in a court of law they can do nothing, with it, being, but an empty name: and it must be some person or other that must have written that; but the Holy Trinity want none to write for them (unless it be in condescension to our weakness), for they can all write for themselves. Thus saith God the Father. "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people," Jer. xxxi. 33. And God the Son promises to write the following inscription upon all conquerors: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name," Rev. iii. 12. And the Holy Ghost's hand-writing is recorded thus: "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart," 2 Cor. iii. 3. The law that God puts into the hidden parts is shedding, abroad his everlasting love in our hearts (love being the fulfilling of the law) by the Holy Ghost given unto us. Writing his law in the mind, is persuading us by his Spirit, and working in us the law of faith; "The Lord shall persuade Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." What Habakkuk was ordered to write plain upon tables, that he who runs might read, God writes on the fleshly tables of our hearts, by justifying us and giving us faith and life; and in this the vision speaks in our conscience - "The just man shall live by his faith."

Christ writes upon us the name of his God; that is, he gives us an experience of that glorious covenant-name which God proclaimed before Moses - "The Lord, the Lord God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger abundant in goodness and truth; pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin." Pardon comes by the blood of Christ; grace, goodness, and mercy, all come together when God reveals his dear Son in us. To write upon us the name of the city of God, is to give us the happy enjoyment of peace, which is the fruit and effect of imputed righteousness; and to bless us with the presence of God. The city is to be called Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there; or the city of God's presence; God promising to dwell in Zion for ever, it being his resting-place, and be having desired it. The Lord's new name seems to be that worn upon his vesture and on his thigh, and is, King of kings, and Lord of lords;" which name he will achieve by the destruction of antichrist, and taking, to himself his great power and reigning, when the kingdoms of this world will become his; and he then will make his children princes in all the earth. This greatest of all kingdoms, bigger than the Babylonian, Grecian, or Roman, will be given to the saints of the Most High, who shall take it and possess it for ever and ever; then the saints will be kings, and rule over their oppressors. Making, them pillars, is polishing them by grace, making them upright and ornamental in their profession; and where these things are found written by the Holy Spirit on the fleshly tables of the heart, the sum and substance of the New Testament, whether in the gospels or in the epistles of the apostles, are experienced in the souls of God's elect, which makes them the pillar and ground of the truth, known and read of all men, being, made manifest in the consciences both of saints and sinners, hypocrites and heretics; and such living epistles have a seal upon them, as all epistles should have, having the broad seal of heaven on their souls, by which they become God's secret treasure, being sealed up to the day of redemption, which is redemption from the grave. These things are recorded by the Holy Trinity, and these things are written in the minds and hearts of all believers; and these inscriptions are as puzzling to the wise and prudent among us, as the hand-writing, upon the walls of Belshazzar's palace was to the wise men of Babylon. But messengers who bear such tidings, and interpreters to explain them, are scarce. "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him," Job, xxxiii. 23. And I think that, if every congregated thousand in a profession in this nation had a real messenger to bring forth such good tidings, and endowed with divine skill to interpret them to sinners in whose hearts they are written, old England would be one of the happiest countries in all the world.

Dearly beloved, pardon me for the amazing length of this epistle; it was written, some late at night, and the rest early in the morning. When the waters are moved, and I can step in, I am (like Peter on the mount) apt to forget myself, but hope ever to remember thee at the throne; and he that hath such a friend must shew himself friendly.

Ever yours,

W. Huntington, S.S.