CONTEMPLATIONS

- A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND

William Huntington (1745-1813)

LETTER V

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

Fellow Servant and Fellow Soldier,

Grace and peace be with thee, both in the armoury and in the field. "Counsel in the heart," saith the wise man (or rather Wisdom itself), "is as deep waters, and the words of wisdom a flowing brook" This witness is true; for before I had gotten the last out of hand I had two more in my heart; and therefore I must speak, or write, that I may be eased. I shewed, in my last, how each person in the glorious Trinity were jointly concerned in the salvation of God's elect; and treated a little of their co-operations in every branch of it. And this will further appear, even in the application of the promise. "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd," (Eccl. xii. 11. In the masters of assemblies a plurality of persons appear; but in the one shepherd the unity of God is seen. If it be replied, that by the masters of assemblies the Jewish doctors are meant; I answers they were not preachers of God's word; they made that of none effect by their own traditions. Nor can it mean the apostles or ordinary gospel-ministers, for they dare not take the title of master: "Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ," Matt. xxiik 8. Nor is it in the power of any man to apply the word of God. To fasten the word of God, as a nail driven up to the head, requires power; and "the excellency of the power is of God, and not of us." If the most eloquent orator in the world, by the dint of elocution, was to attempt this work and move the passions of men to the uttermost, all that can be said of it is, that they received it in word only: but, when the word comes "with power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance," the nail is fastened; nor is it possible for either men or devils to draw it out. God the Father calls himself a master. "If I am a master, where is my fear?" Mal. i. 6. "Call no man master, for one is your master, even Christ." And so be that is taught of the Spirit sows to the Spirit, and is led by the Spirit; he learns, obeys, and follows his master. Now these words of the wise, called goads, that prick; and nails, that hold fast, are given from one shepherd, even God: "The Lord is my shepherd, therefore I shall not want: for we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."

Again - We are baptized in the name of all the three divine persons. "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," Matt. xxviii. 19. And, when we are baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, the love of God is shed abroad in the heart; the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his beams, and shines like the sun in his full strength; when the Holy Ghost brings the live coal from off the altar, or puts both life and love in the word, and says it upon our tongue, telling us that our iniquity is taken away, and our sin purge, and that we must now confess it, and proclaim it. This baptism makes a minister a flaming fire, a burning and shining light; and unites poor souls to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and interests them in the love of all three. But, besides the baptism of the Holy Ghost, there is another that follows, and that is the fiery trial. We read of the spirit of judgment, and of the spirit of burning: for God keeps his fire in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem, that his real churches may not be overrun with tares and chaff, straw and stubble. The vessels of gold and of silver will stand the furnace, but the vessels of wood and of earth will consume: the former, by losing their dross, appear the brighter and better for the fire; the latter, like a fool brayed in a mortar, ten times worse.

This blessed mystery ever was, and ever will be, with the chosen of God; for thus it is written: "According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come," Haggai, ii. 5,6. Here is God the Father speaking and covenanting; and the essential Word, who in the covenant-head, and the covenant itself; because the covenant is with him, made with him, confirmed by him, and all the blessings of it are in him. The glorious proclamation of the name of the Lord is nothing else but the mercy and blessings of God in Christ Jesus, held forth in the covenant of grace: and this "my name," says God, "is in him" - in the angel that went before them. Hence they are charmed to obey him, and not to provoke him, "for he will not pardon your transgressions." When Moses calls Christ the Rock, whose work is perfect; and sets him before them as their refuse, their life, and the length of their days; and tells them not to say in their heart, "Who shall ascend into heaven, or who shall descend into the deep?" to fetch the Word to them these are all applied in the New Testament to Christ, and are the things of the new covenant, which the Spirit applies to the elect of God. Here is the Lord of Hosts speaking, and the Word (Christ) spoken of, and called "the desire of all nations;" and the covenant with him; and the Spirit remaining still among them; for, although national mercies were often taken away from Israel, and national calamities brought on, yet the elect were never deserted of their God.

Moreover, the Holy Trinity are to be considered in all our addresses or approaches to God: "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Here is the Father, to whom we find nearness and access, the surety having removed our sins and a broken law out of the way, and appearing as our peace-maker and mediator, through whom we are indulged with this access; and here is one Spirit, under whose influence, as a spirit of grace and supplication, we draw nigh. This is the new and living way which Christ hath consecrated: and he tells us that no man can come to the Father but by him; and he that enters not by this new way and straight gate, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; and such thieves and robbers are the Arians, Socinians, and Papists; the former of which allow of no mediator, and the latter have brought in a hundred.

This mystery, my dearly beloved, we must keep, hold fast, and abide in; which is so clearly revealed in the word of God. For, "if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father; but the anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him," I John, 1. 24-27. Hence we may conclude that whosoever hath not the doctrine of Christ hath not God; but he that hath the doctrine of Christ, who receives the love of the truth, or the love of God, which is promised to us in the word of truth; and he that receives the truth in the love of it, believes in it, and holds it fast, confesseth it, and abides in it, even he shall continue in the Son, and in the Father; and likewise be shall continue in the anointing which is truth, and is no lie. But I must break off, and go to our gates, where there are things new and old, which are laid up for the king's beloved, that a portion of meat in due season may be given to the household. Adieu.

Yours in him,

W. HUNTINGTON, S. S.