CONTEMPLATIONS

- A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND

William Huntington (1745-1813)

LETTER XI.

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

WHAT, my son! and what, the son of my faith! and what, the son of my vows! Children are not to lay up for the fathers, but the fathers for the children; and I would willing give thee one portion above thy brethren; yea, a double portion; because thou art poor and needy, near-sighted, subject to the rickets, to incredulity, and many other infirmities which have gone from father to son; but, as poring over these things, with fretting and grieving at them, does no good, we will amuse and comfort ourselves with a better subject.

7. The Holy Spirit testifies of Christ - " But 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. And this the Holy Spirit does by giving testimony to the word of his grace; by proving the truth and reality of the word to the sensible sinner's conscience; by attending it with faith, light, evidence, and full demonstration; so that Christ is evidently set forth as crucified before them, Gal. iii. 1. Christ's voice is heard and felt, and his all-subduing power is displayed in the soul. The Spirit testifies of him as the almighty and eternal God, by the glorious majesty of Christ which the Spirit discovers, and which shines into the soul. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of God is risen upon thee; and the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Under this manifestation the soul falls prostrate before him; owns, honours, adores, and worships him. The Spirit testifies of him as our high priest, and applies the atonement, with pardon and peace, as the blessed effects of it. He testifies of him as our physician; and the proof of it is, our iniquities are all forgiven, and all our infirmities are healed. He testifies of him as the end of the law for righteousness, by applying his righteousness to the heart, and by passing the sentence of justification upon the conscience; at which time Christ, as our Advocate, silences all our accusers; and, as our Mediator, he gives us access to God, a claim upon him, and boldness with him. The Holy Spirit testifies of him as our King, and reveals him as such, and erects his empire in the soul upon our reception of Christ; which stands in power, in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. When sin is dethroned, the devil, his armour, and artillery, are cast out, death is abolished, life and immortality is brought to light, and the fear of death and the dread of damnation are dispersed; and all our perplexing doubts, cares, and gloomy thoughts about it scattered into all winds. Thus, my dear brother, does the Holy Spirit testify of Christ, and gives evident proofs of his ability to save to the uttermost; he realizes his saving benefits, applies his merits, proclaims his omnipotence, his mild and blessed government, the powerful sway of his righteous sceptre, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

8. The application of all the promises is the work of the Holy Spirit. The promise of life and the spirit of life always go together, for it is the powerful application of the word by the Spirit that makes the promise - "The incorruptible seed, the word of God, that liveth and abideth for ever." All the promises of divine consolation have their sincere milk from Christ, by the Holy Spirit: one promise brings peace, another joy, another love, another comfort, another rest; just as the Holy Spirit sends them in, so they discharge their rich contents: the hungry soul, by exercising faith upon them, sucks the sweetness of them, till he is filled with joy unspeakable and fall of glory. "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory," Isa. lxvi. 10, 11. There is no converting, refreshing, encouraging power attends the word without the Spirit's operation. When he makes application of it, faith, life, and love attend it; for "our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurances," 1 Thess. i. 5. And various are the sensations of the soul under the Spirit's influence when he applies he word: sometimes it is a word of support that fortifies and strengthens; sometimes a word of encouragement to keep us watching, waiting, and to bear us up under trials and crosses; sometimes a word of correction that leads us to self-examination, which awes us, and excites watchfullness and amendment; at other times a soft word that breaketh the bone, and melts us under a sense of undeserved love and self-abhorrence; and often a word of instruction to correct the mind, disperse some wrong notion, to inform the judgment, and to bring more harmonious and consistent views of things to the soul. Innumerable are the ways by which the Holy Spirit works by the word, and in his application of it; but it is always a seasonable application; "And a word spoken in due season, how good is it? A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver," Prov. xv. 23; and xxv. 11.

9. The secret things of God, such as his counsel and covenants, are made known to us by the Holy Spirit. "What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God," 1 Cor.ii.11. The Holy Spirit, when he has testified of Christ to us, leads us back to his great undertaking and appointment from everlasting; he leads us up to the everlasting love of God, and to his absolute choice of us in Christ Jesus; to his secret decrees of election and predestination; to his good will of purpose in Christ, and to the secret counsel of his will; and to his covenant made with Christ before the world began - "For the froward is abomination to the Lord; but his secret is with the righteous," Prov. iii. 32. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenants 'Psalm xxv. 14. The secret of predestinating us to the adoption of children by Christ Jesus, and of his giving us life in him, and of his ordaining us to it before the world began, is revealed and made known to the elect of God by the Spirit; and our knowledge of these things, and of our interest in them, is our highest wisdom; "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," I Cor. ii.7-10. Our faith is called "the faith of God's elect," not only because it is a grace peculiar to them, but because God's election of us is a truth revealed to faith, and a truth which faith apprehends and holds fast; for there can be no such thing as making our calling and election sure, without being assured that there is such a doctrine as election. From God's secret counsel and covenant springs no small part of our unspeakable joy. God fills us with joy and peace in believing, and especially in believing our election of God: "Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven," Luke, x. 20. If these things are lacking in our faith, our faith is deficient in one of the most sublime and establishing articles. He that believeth the love that God hath to him, is led to believe that this love took its rise from eternity (for there are no new acts in God); and from those ancient settlements are the goings forth of Christ dated. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting Micah, v. 2. Into these deep things does the Holy Spirit lead us, and into a humble acquiescence with them, and fills us with wonder and astonishment at them. And he likewise leads us into the distinct personal works of the holy and blessed Trinity. As a spirit of adoption he gives us power and boldness to claim our interest in God as our Covenant-God and Father; "To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This birth makes our sonship clear: love gives us a dwelling in God - "He that loveth dwelleth in God, and God in him." Faith gives us a dwelling in Christ - "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And the Spirit's witness proves our adoption-the Spirit cries, "Abba, Father." Receiving power to become the sons of God, is receiving the Spirit; and by the Spirit the grace of faith, to enable us, as I before observed, with a holy boldness to claim our sonship before God. "But I said, How shall I put thee among, the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me," Jer. iii. 19. This promise the Spirit makes good; he makes us say, "My Father." And this may be seen in the prodigal son - "I will arise, and go to my father." These words were spoken under the emboldening, and encouraging influence of the spirit of adoption; and whatever the Holy Spirit says or does is always owned and honoured by God the Father, and confirmed in heaven; as may be seen in that parable - "This is my son," says God; "he was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." The Jews spake the same language the prodigal did, even to Christ - "We have one father, even God." But this is neither owned nor honoured; for, "If God were your Father," (says Christ) "you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him," John, viii. 42, 44. Thus we see that no claim upon birth-privileges, no, not upon national adoption; no unwarrantable, no presumptuous claims upon God, are either approved or confirmed.

10. The Holy Spirit is given for a witness to us. "If we receive the witness of men," (as many do, and rest in it,) "the witness of God is greater. He that believes hath the witness in himself." And sure I am that without the infallible testimony of the Holy Ghost, no poor, convinced, self-condemned, the self-despairing sinner could ever lay any claim upon the Almighty. A sensible sinner, who feels the enmity of his mind and the rebellion of his heart, who is loathsome in his own sight, and conscious to himself that, he is a child of wrath, and a willing drudge to Satan; for such an one to call God his father (even while God's wrath and jealousy seems to smoke against him) he would think it the vilest presumption in such a wretch as he, and the greatest affront and insult, the greatest dishonour and indignity, that could be offered to the majesty of heaven. He may say "to corruption, Thou art my father; and to the worm, Thou art my mother," Job, xvii. 14. But to think that God would, or could, ever acknowledge or accept such an one as a child of his, is what would never have entered his mind world without end, if the Holy Ghost did not put it there. And he does it in the following manner: - First, he silences all the sinner's accusers and all accusations, and brings the confused and confounded soul into a state of the most profound calm, quietude, peace, and tranquillity. Here our sins, which appeared like the sins of Sodom, crying to heaven; Conscience, also, with his cutting accusations; the law, with all its curses and unlimited demands; Justice, with his calls for vengeance; Satan, with all his blasphemies, fiery (darts, accusations, and terrible suggestions; together with all our heart-misgivings and heart-risings, and those terrible passages of scripture which describe the fruitless cries of Esau, the horrors of Judas, the misery of Cain, the distraction of Saul, and the fearful end of Corah, Abiram, and Dathan; are all stilled and bushed into the profoundest silence, the violent storm of wrath abates, and the troubled sea ceases from her raging. The poor sinner stands astonished to know what are become of all his accusers; he looks about him, and finds that all his sins which were set in order against him, all his secret sins which stood in the light of God's countenance, are blotted out as a cloud, and his transgressions as a thick cloud; and, as far as the east is from the west, so far does God separate our transgressions from us. The guilt and filth of sin within is all purged away, and every inbred corruption is subdued and out of sight; so that not one unclean bird remains upon the living sacrifice. The Holy Spirit sets Christ crucified before the eve of faith; while the Spirit, in the application of the blood of sprinkling, speaks pardon, peace, reconciliation, and perfect friendship. Sin being pureed, nothing separates or stands between God and the soul. The Holy Ghost sheds abroad God's love in the heart, which casts out fear and torment, doubts and all misgivings of the heart about it; while love dissolves the stony heart, melts the stubborn mind, and makes the rebellious will submit and become pliant. Joy unutterable flows in, while floods of pious and godly sorrow flow out. The benign Father of all mercies, and God of all comfort, indulges the soul with the greatest freedom and familiarity, and with nearness of access to him. God shines well-pleased in the face of Jesus, accepts and embraces the soul in him; while Faith, attended with the fullest assurance, springs up and goes forth in the fullest exercise upon the everlasting love of God, and on the finished salvation of Jesus Christ, and is fully persuaded of her eternal interest in both; while the Holy Spirit cries " Abba, Father:" to which cry both law and gospel, the love of God and the blood of Christ, retributive justice, and honest conscience, all put their hearty amen.

The Holy Spirit, with the witness that he bears, follows the convinced sinner through every stage of his experience, from his first awakening, until his translation into the kingdom of God takes place. So that the convinced sinner who comes to the light who waits upon God, and waits for him, has the witness of the the truth of what he feels, and of what Spirit in his own heart to the truth of what he feels, and of what he seeks. The Spirit bears his witness to the reality of his wants; to the deep sense that he has of his sins; to the honesty and integrity of his soul; to his fervent cries and earnest searches; to his real grief on account of his sins, and his earnest desire of deliverance from them. Nor can such a soul look either God or conscience in the face, and say, I am neither awakened nor quickened; I am neither in earnest, honest, nor sincere. Nor dare he say, I have no hunger nor thirst after God, nor that I neither labour nor am heavy laden. Nor dare he say that he has neither hope nor expectation of better days and better things; nor dare he say that there is no truth in him, nor that God has done nothing for him; nor would he change states (miserable as he is) with the most secure pharisee, nor with the most gifted professor in the world; nor would he part with his dreadful feelings, the chastisements, the reproofs of God, the bitter sense he has of his sins, nor the intolerable burden of them, for all the treasures of Egypt, unless he could get rid of them the right way; namely, by an application of the atoning blood of Christ. He can smell the stinking savour of an hypocrite in Zion, and feel the barrenness and emptiness of a minister of the letter; he can see through a sheep's skin on a wolf's back, and knows the empty sound of swelling words. Neither the graceless heart of a foolish virgin, nor the arrogance of them that talk of liberty while they are the servants of corruption, are hid from him-though he is fast "bound in affliction and iron." He is a strange creature both to himself and others. He speaks a language that few understand; and it is a language that he cannot explain. He is always in action, and acts a part that astonishes himself. He sucks his sweets from bitterness, Prov. xxvii. 7, and cleaves to the rod that beats him. By affliction he lives, and in the shadow of death he finds the most life. He gets health in his sickness, and healing in his wounds; satisfaction in sorrow; life in death; faith ill severity; hope in heaviness; and expectation in self-despair. His burden is more than he can bear, yet he dreads the thought of losing it. He is completely miserable, yet he hates ease. And, though his life hangs in doubt, he trembles at the thoughts of security. And that which he is most afraid of, is that which he seeks most after. None work so hard as he, and none so great an enemy to works. To secure himself is all his concern, and yet he hates himself more than he hates the devil.

Beloved, farewell; be of good comfort, follow peace, and the God of truth and peace shall be with thee. I add no more at this time, but my poor petitions, and subscribe myself,

Yours in him,

W. HUNTINGTON.