CONTEMPLATIONS

- A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND

William Huntington (1745-1813)

LETTER XVI.

TO THE REV. J. JENKINS, AT THE NEW VICARAGE, LEWES, SUSSEX.

My dearly beloved Son,

I TOLD thee, in my last, that the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; and that these blessings shall be upon the head of my son. And this shall come to pass "by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb." These blessings of heaven are the blessings that will bring us to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth," Psalm cxxi. 1, 2. "But who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart, &c." Psal. xv. The best blessing in heaven is that of being filled with all the fullness of God; the best blessing that lieth under, is the victory Christ obtained over Satan, sin, death, and hell, by his own death and burial; the best of all breasts is the comforts of the Holy Ghost attending the gospel, called the sincere milk of the word; and the best womb is the promise of adoption and life, in which all the children of the promise lay. But I must proceed,

16. To shew the sealing of the Holy Spirit. This is promised to all that are taught of God: "And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law, among my disciples," Isa. viii. 15. 16. But then what is the testimony? It is the gospel. And what is the gospel? The ministration of the Spirit. But if the ministration of death was glorious, How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8. He therefore, that receives the Spirit and is born again of him, receives our Lord's testimony or witness. "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that, which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness," John, iii. This doctrine Jesus spake; and adds, "We speak that we do know:" and this he testified: "We testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness." This doctrine of the new birth, received in the experience of it, is emphatically called the testimony of Jesus. "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," Rev. xix. 10. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Hence it is plain that no man, in an unregenerate state, can be a prophet of the Lord, nor a minister of Christ, nor a testifier, nor a true witness; for he is destitute of the testimony of Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy. Christ sends the Spirit into our hearts, and he is the living testimony and the witness; and we are witnesses of what he does in us through 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. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning," John, xv. 26, 27. This is the testimony. The bond that binds the testimony is the bond of the covenant; and that bond is the everlasting "love of God" the Father, which is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us," Rom. v. 5. Thus God's covenant, in which he promises that the word of life and the spirit of truth shall never depart from Christ, nor from his seed, are received into the heart of God's elect, and are attended with the sweet blessing of God's eternal love to our souls.

"Seal the law among my disciples." This law is not the moral law; for that was given by Moses, and which Christ came to fulfil: it is another law, that poor miserable sinners, who feel the plague of their heart, are commanded to wait for; for, as for the moral law, such sinners have got enough of that already, in their soul's cursing and condemning them; and, to encourage them, they are commanded to wait for another. "Hearken unto me, my people! and give ear unto me, O my nation! for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near: my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people: The isles shall wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust," Isa. li. 4, 5. This law that goes forth is attended with salvation and righteousness; but neither salvation from sin, nor righteousness to justify, are obtained by the works of the moral law. The Lord's arm is to judge the people. It is "the arm of the Lord revealed" that makes a man believe the gospel report; and he that believes is saved with this salvation; and the righteousness of Christ is to and upon all them that believe: they are justified; and that is their judgment which begins at the house of God first. And this judgment of the people is to be a light to them in future; for every preacher that contradicts or denies the justification of God's elect by faith, contradicts the gospel and the Spirit's work: therefore the Lord says, in the same chapter, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them," Isa. viii. 20.

Thus, my dear brother, comes the arm of the Lord working faith. Salvation from sin, and justification from all things, attend believing. Such souls have taken their trial; their judgment is over: their cause is decided, and the decision is in their favour: they are pronounced just: and, of course, are passed from death to life, and shall not come into condemnation, John, v. 24. On this arm of the Lord are we to trust, and to say, "In the Lord we have righteousness and strength," Isa. xlv. 24. And this our judgment is to be our future light, to try preachers and their doctrines by; these are to be brought to this law, and to the testimony that we have received; and if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them: and this is the judgment that we are to make of them. And how few preachers have we that can stand in this judgment, or in a congregation thus made righteous!

Upon believing, we are to be sealed - "Seal the law among my disciples." This law is the law of faith the seal of God never attends the preaching, of any other law. "This would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the preaching of faith?" Gal. iii. 2. Again, "He, therefore, that ministereth the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Gal. iii. 5. Not by the law, for that worketh wrath; and all ministers of the law are dead men. "We are not ministers of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."

The Holy Spirit of promise belongs to the new covenant and he is the giver of the law of life. "The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death," Rom. viii. 2. Believers in the Son of God, whose hearts are purified, and whose souls are justified; these, and no other, are ministers of the Spirit. No other, however gifted, can convey the golden oil, for that always flows through golden pipes, Zech. iv. 2, 12. Spiritual gifts, such as the gift of tongues, or that of working miracles, or that of prophecy, or that of understanding all mysteries, or of having all knowledge, or that of casting out devils, which is the best of all-are not the things that accompany salvation; men may have all these, and yet be nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, all ye that work iniquity," Matt. vii. 22, 23. Balaam was a worker of iniquity when he prophesied, and so was Judas when he preached and wrought miracles; the love of money, the root of all evil, was in the heart of them both; nor did they ever love God, or seek his glory; they sought their own glory, and therefore they were not true men, nor was there any righteousness in them. Spiritual gifts have their seat only in the judgment and in the understanding: and the word of God never goes any deeper than into their judgment and their mouth; there they hold the truth, and it is in unrighteousness, Rom. i. 18. The nobler faculties of the soul are never touches by these gifts, nor does the soul reap any benefit from them. There is no divine power operating on the will, making them willing. He that God makes willing repents, and goes into the vineyard and does the will of his father. Nor is the conscience purged, nor the heart purified, by these things. There is no law written in the mind, nor any holy fire kindled in the affections, to raise them up to the right hand of God where Christ sitteth. If they have any confidence or peace; the former is only presumption, and the latter is kept up by the strong man armed, who remains in possession of his goods unmolested; and all their joys spring from the novelty of the doctrine, and from the operation of oratory on the natural passions. Many of these gifts were bestowed on graceless men in the apostolic age, to raise reports, to send out a sound into the world, to excite curiosity, and to draw people to hear the word, and be witnesses of the power of God; which terminated in the salvation of God's elect, and which was for a witness against others, Matt. xxiv. 14. But, when the elect of God were collected together, and churches formed and endowed with the Holy Ghost, then the year of jubilee was come, and these gifts returned again to the Prince of peace; as was foretold by the prophet; and the men that were endowed with them either went into the world, or into all manner of heresies, and so became the Pests and foes of Zion; just as we see some people do now. "Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But, if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince; but his inheritance shall be his sons for them " Ezek. xlvi. 16, 17. Thus we see there is nothing secured to the servant when the year of jubilee comes; but the inheritance of the sons is richly secured. All which is punctually fulfilled by Christ. "Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt. xxv. 28-30.

But God writes the law of faith in the mind, and the law of love in the fleshly tables of the heart: and where these come, there the year of jubilee is proclaimed, and the law of liberty is published in the soul; and, to make all things sure and secure here, God sets the broad seal of heaven to the work. "In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," Eph. i. 13. Believers are living epistles, and as such they are sealed with an everliving seal. Others may know these epistles and read them; but the choice contents, the mysteries, and the treasure, belong to God, and none else.

Seals are to keep things secret to the real proprietors, who can open them, read and delight themselves with the contents when they please, and seal them up again when they have done, and keep them close from all others. "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse: a spring shut up, a fountain sealed," Song iv. 12. The waters of this fountain are all sacred to the heavenly Bridegroom and his friends; when the Lord chooses that they should spring up in praise and thanksgiving to himself, or flow out to refresh his friends, they are opened, and will keep rising up and running over as long as this opening or enlargement lasts; and, when shut up and sealed, they always stop.

Sealing is to make things sure. So the Spirit seals the saints, that they may be sure that they belong to the elect of God. Assurance, therefore, attends the seal. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you," 1 Thess. i. 4, 5. Assurance, therefore, is to the believer one of the blessed effects of this seal; as it is written, "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places," Isa. xxxii 15-18. The Jewish nation, called a fruitful field, was to be counted a forest; and the Gentile world, which formerly was called a wilderness, was to be turned into a fruitful field, under the out-pouring of the Spirit. Then judgment and righteousness were to remain in this field: peace, quietness, and assurance for ever, are to be the effects of judgment and righteousness. Their habitation is to be a peaceable one: and so it is, for they dwell in the cleft of the rock, that is their habitation - "Let the inhabitants of the rock sing; let them shout from the tops of the mountains," Isa. xiii. 11. They are to have sure dwellings: and so they have, for they abide in the Son and in the Father - "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations," Psal. xcl. . And "he that dwelleth the secret in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," Psal. xci. 1. They are to have peaceable resting-places: they rest in the love of God, in his absolute choice of their persons, in his covenant, in the finished salvation of Christ, and in the Holy Spirit's work on their own souls; and I know of no resting-places so precious and so quiet as these.

Paul calls circumcision a seal. "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, being yet uncircumcised," Rom. iv. 11. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, before ever he was circumcised, that neither he nor his seed might ever glory in the flesh. His circumcision is called no more than a sign of real circumcision; for a true circumcised person is one whose heart God circumcises, that he may love him with all his heart, and with all his soul, that he may live, Deut. xxx. 6. Such, and only such, are truly circumcised - "For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," Phil. iii. 3. The real seal of true and spiritual circumcision is love; and circumcision in the flesh was a sign of this, and no more. This seal in Abraham's heart, and the sign of it in his flesh, was to assure Abraham that God would adopt (by national adoption) his natural seed, and give unto them the land of promise; which he did; and led then, into it by the hand of Moses and Joshua. And love was a seal to all Abraham's spiritual seed, that he would adopt them by his grace, bless them with faith, righteousness, and life; and that he would give them the heavenly country, and bring them into it by that renowned seed Christ Jesus, in whom all nations should be blessed.

Almost every thing belonging to the believer is sealed; the foundation on which be builds is sealed. "Hymeneus and Philetus, concerning the truth, have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure; having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his," 2 Tim. ii. 18, 19. I do understand this passage as some good men do; that by seal here is meant the secret purpose of God, or his prescience. By this foundation the apostle undoubtedly means the Lord Jesus Christ; as it is written, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. iii. 10, 11. Now this foundation standeth sure; as the prophet Isaiah speaks. "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste," Isa. xxviii. 16. From this text Paul takes it, and says, with the prophet, "Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure; having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." Now this foundation, which is Christ Jesus, has got the seal of God upon it. "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him hath God the Father sealed," John, vi. 27. Christ was sealed with the Holy Spirit; he was distinguished, pointed out, authorized, anointed, commissioned, and sent to be the promised and long looked-for Messiah. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from the womb, and sealed by the public descent of the Holy Spirit upon him at his baptism, just before he entered on his public ministry. The miracles that he wrought, and the souls that he converted, were all scriptural evidences of his being sealed and sent of God. Hence the apostle concludes, that though some, who profess the name of Christ, depart from the faith themselves, and overthrow the faith of others; yet the true Messiah, who is the omniscient God, and who, as man, is sealed with the Holy Ghost, must know who his own elect are; he must know whose sins he bore, for whom he died, and who are his own purchased possession: and surely he will never lose what his Father has given him, nor suffer any of those to be plucked out of his hand who are made his charge. The good shepherd may suffer Satan to steal away the wolves, but not the sheep; for the Lord (but none else) knoweth them that are his. Hence it appears that the believer's foundation is sealed, and so is the believer himself; and his sealing, is said to be in Christ - "In whom, after that ye believed, ye were sealed," Eph. i. 13 And thus God seals both the Saviour and the saved. "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God: who hath also sealed us," 2 Cor. i. 21. Those, therefore, that are joined to the Lord are one spirit, for the seal of God is upon them both.

The choice treasures of the covenant also, or the spiritual blessings of the New Testament, are all concealed and bid, under the same seal, from the eyes of all living; nor can any man ever get at them until the Spirit that seals the believer unseals the gospel, and leads the believing mind into it. "The natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned," I Cor. ii. 14. "And the vision of all is become unto you as a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed. Therefore, says God, I will proceed to do a marvellous work, and a wonder among this people: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid," Isa. xxix. 11, 14. And this came to pass in the days of Christ - "Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things, from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes: even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight," Matt. xi. 25. How many times, before I was twelve months old from my second birth, have I seen men in a pulpit labouring in the dark to get into the treasure of an eminent text which lay hid under the seal, but all in vain. The sweet sense of pardon, of peace, of joy unspeakable and full, of glory; the melting flames under a sense of eternal love; the sweet soul-dissolving sensations enjoyed under the divine flowings of godly sorrow and evangelical repentance, which are drawn forth under the sounding of God's bowels towards us, and the repeated discoveries of his love to us in Christ Jesus; the heavenly sense and divine glee that spring up by the Spirit, under the impressions that attend the divine presence being about our path and about our bed: the sweet rays of divinity that often appear in the word, ploughing up the deep mysteries, and leading the enlightened mind, by a glorious radiance, out of one mystery into another, establishing the soul in the glorious harmony that appears in the word; when crooked things are made straight, rough places plain, and apparent discords are made to harmonize; the delightful and soul-enriching thoughts of poor worms being indulged with access to God, and with boldness, freedom, and familiarity with him; and to hold communion and fellowship both with the Father and the Son; and, at the same time, to see the word of God tally with all the divine teachings, influences, and operations of the most Holy Spirit of God upon us; and to be sensibly under the divine smiles of heaven; to be acquainted with the private thoughts of God's heart, which are thoughts of good and not of evil, to give us an expected end! How many transient visits! how many transforming views! what sympathy does the God of all grace discover to us in trouble! what succour does he afford! what support does the heart feel in a trying hour! how sensibly does he rent the heavens and come down to our relief! Isa. lxiv. 1. He admits our hopes within the veil, and our affections to his own right hand, where Christ sitteth. His blessed presence, when he shines upon the soul, casts a divine lustre upon the whole work of his hands; his brilliant perfections shine in both globes; "his glory covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise," Hab. iii. 3. The astonishing condescension of God, in stooping so low to visit us, makes us less than nothing. The distance and disproportion between God and such worms appear to be more, if possible, than infinite; and yet charity, that believeth all things, says, at the same time, and that with the witness on earth and the record of heaven, "I dwell in God, and God dwells in me." The divine hints dropped for faith to catch, the mysterious leadings of his providence, the goodness that passes daily before us, and the mercy and truth that follow us; the watchful eye of God upon us; the most minute circumstances which are so sensibly observed by him; the deaf ear that he turns to all our exclamations against ourselves; the divine approbation; the love, the paternal embraces, which are forced upon us, which we, when self-abased, coyly shun and try to put away, judging ourselves unworthy his clemency! These things, and thousands more, which my poor soul has enjoyed, and with which the word of God abounds, are all couched under the seal; which no natural man, however bright his parts, or however profound his learning, can touch, much less discover, and bring to the light. Natural men in the ministry are broken cisterns, wells without water, clouds without rain, lamps without oil, and a cruse without salt. One dead discourse from a minister of the letter is sufficient to cast the most lively soul into a deep sleep, to lay the most enlarged saint in irons, and to make a watered garden like a barren heath. Spiritual lethargy, legal bondage, and soul-beggary, are all that ever I got from such ministers; and I have formerly had enough of this hard fare. They turn a house of prayer into a prison, and freeborn citizens into slaves.

The believer, as a living epistle, has all the contents of God's laws written upon his heart, sealed and kept secret from the world; for the men of the world can neither see them nor believe them, though he declares them. He is sealed with the assurance of faith, which fixes his heart. He is sealed with the love of God in Christ Jesus, which is his circumcision, and a sure sign and seal of the righteousness of Christ being his; for love casteth out fear, and believeth all things. Christ, his foundation, is sealed; the covenant, and all its rich contents, which are hid from the world, are sealed also, and made sure to him; but not concealed, nor hid from him.

Every wholesome truth, promise, or doctrine of Christ; every reproof or rebuke that gives instruction; together with all the cautions, warnings, and secret counsels, which are given by the great prophet of the church; are clothed with power, impressed upon the soul, and fixed, as with a seal, upon his heart. "For God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep filleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction; that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man," Job, xxxiii. 14-16. Without this sealing Satan and his heretics would soon steal away the word sown in the heart; as we often see in men of the greatest abilities, when the word is only received in the understanding and in the judgment. These are often seduce, and led to believe the greatest absurdities; and so would the elect themselves, were it not for the seal which attends the word. Truth, when sealed, makes the conscience free; and such souls set to their seal that God is true. Truth, then, reaches the affections; it is received in the love of it. It is the word of healing that makes us whole; the word of faith which makes us believe; the word of power which makes us obey; the word of wisdom which makes us wise unto salvation; the word of health which cures all our spiritual diseases, attended with the abundance of peace; a word of light to guide our feet into the way of peace. It is the word of righteousness which makes us just; and the word of reconciliation which makes us friends. It is the promise of adoption which makes us sons; the promise of life which makes us heirs; and the promise of victory through grace which makes us more than conquerors. All this, and much more, attends the sealing of our instruction. Hence the impossibility of the elect being finally deceived. Satan tries hard at the young believer, and sends the most wise and subtle servants in all his interest to do the same: but the young believer, just verged out of his bondage, and delighting himself in his liberty, and living upon little else but his divine comforts; and finding that these heretics bring nothing to his mind but confusion and bondage, which strip him of his sweet morsels; he soon begins to be afraid of them; he shuns them, and suspects them to be thieves and robbers: and he is quite right, for they are nothing else. And the Holy Spirit continues to revive and renew the work; this brings the soul again and again forth to the light. And every time the Lord shines into his heart the impostor is more and more discovered; while he feels his own heart the more strengthened, grounded, and settled in the truth.

By this seal the image of God is impressed; and this is done upon the soul by the Spirit, while Jesus Christ is exhibited to the enlightened understanding, and to the eye of faith: as it is written, "But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are chanced into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord," 2 Cor. iii. 18. Various are the views that believers have of Christ Jesus, while the Holy Spirit operates and makes this change, or impresses this image on the soul. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and Manoah, all saw him; for he appeared to each of these, and many more. Some saw him as an angel of the Lord, very terrible. Some in a human form, as Joshua; and in the clouds, as Job. Some as a flame of fire, as Moses. Some in suffering circumstances, as Isaiah. Others in his priestly habit, as Ezekiel and Daniel. Others in a war appearance, with garments dipped in blood, and upon a red horse, as John and Zechariah. Sometimes as the Ancient of days and venerable Judge, with his "hair like the pure wool." Some upon his judgment-seat, as Daniel. And others upon his glorious throne, as King of Zion, and above the cherubim, as Ezekiel. He was seen also of Paul; and since that by Mr. Hart, and by me also, and by many others in the present day, who have seen him in his own light by the eye of faith, and, with the enlightened understanding as man in suffering circumstances upon the cross, and shining, at the same time, in the fountain of eternal light. O most precious, most wonderful, and soul-transforming view! Others see him in the light of the word. The word is attended with light and life. The Spirit testifies of Christ to the soul; at which time "the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings;" which vision is promised to all them that fear his name, Mal. iv. 2; and it is a promise of gospel times. And this is attended with joy unspeakable and full of glory. - "Arise, shine forth; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising, Isa. lx. 1, 3. Which promise will be fulfilled, and be found to be true, as long as there is a chosen vessel among the Gentiles to be called. And, although we have many preachers who deny all vision, and of course all supernatural light, yet we know that such cannot be burning and shining lights, because they deny the light; nor ministers of Christ; for he makes "his ministers a flaming fire," Psalm civ. 4. Nor are they children of light, nor of the day, but of the night and of darkness; for, if what they assert be true, there is nothing but damnation in all the country: for God says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish," Prov. xxix. 18. Such blind guides have nothing to guide them but the light of nature; "They speak a vision of their own heart," Jer. xxiii. 16. To deny all vision is to deny God, who is light, and all knowledge of him. God promises that all his children shall know him; but how? God gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of himself in the face of Jesus. It is to deny all the sure word of prophecy; for this is "a light shining in a dark place." Such deny the title of the saints, and all the good work within; for they are called "the children of light, and children of the day." They deny the path of the just, which shines more and more. They deny the salvation of God; for that is "a lamp that burneth." They deny the lamp and the oil of the wise virgins; yea, and of the foolish too; for how could their lamps go out if they had no sort of light? They deny all joy to the righteous; for "the light of the righteous rejoiceth." Such men deny the scriptures of truth; for they are "a light to our feet, and a lamp to our path." They deny all preaching the gospel; for that is sowing "light for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." They deny the being of God in his church; for "out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." It strips a real servant of God of every name God gives him. How can be be a seer, a prophet, or a watchman, if he be stone-blind? How can he be a burning or a shining light, a flame of fire, a candle on a candlestick, or a star in the Lord's right hand, if there be no light in him? They must be blind watchmen and dumb dogs; for what dogs will bark unless they see a stranger, or hear a noise? And just such blind watchmen are all preachers who deny vision; for all supernatural light, which is above and beyond the light of nature, is vision whether it shine into the heart, as in Paul, or into the head, as in Balaam; whether it shine in the word of God, or in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul calls his the heavenly vision. Such men deny the dexterity of Satan; for Paul says that be is transformed into an angel of light. Yea, more; such preachers even deny their own deception, and the influence that they are under; for Paul tells us that even impostors, or ministers of Satan, are "transformed as the ministers of righteousness," 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15. In this account Satan aims to imitate an angel by his shining; and his servants to imitate the ministers of Christ by walking in the light of their own fire, and in the sparks that they have kindled.

The image of God, which the Spirit impresseth on the soul when it is sealed, stands in light, knowledge, glory, love, righteousness, and true holiness. And such souls shine as lights in the world, for they are converted; and real conversion is turning men "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God."

This sealing us is said to be unto the day of redemption. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption," Eph. iv. 30. The day of redemption, here spoken of, appears to be the resurrection, which is the redemption of the body from the grave. As it is written, "Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body," Rom. viii. 23. Now our sealing is the pledge and earnest of this. "In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession," Eph. i. 13, 14. In these words the church of God is called a possession, as it is the Lord's portion. "The Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." This portion is called the purchased possession, because it is bought with a price - "Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood," Acts, xx. 28. The whole of this possession was given by the Father to Christ, and be laid down his life for it; and the price that he paid purchased the whole body and soul: of all which he will lose nothing; no, not so much as a single hair, "There shall not an hair of your head perish. And this is the Fathers will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day," John, vi. 39, 40. This purchased possession is, at the present time, strangely scattered about. Many souls, called "the spirits of just men made perfect," are now in heaven. Two of the bodies of the saints, as well as their souls, are in heaven also, even Enoch and Elijah. The bodies of thousands of the saints are now in the dust, which their souls in faith have left behind them to sleep in hope. Some part of the purchase is now in a militant state; another part lies in the ruins of the fall: some in the wombs of women; some in the loins of men; and some in non-existence. But, at the first resurrection, they must be all collected together; all whose names are written in heaven, the whole church of the first-born. And this will be the grand convocation, or "the general assembly," Heb. xii. 23.

Now the apostle tells us that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto this day of redemption; which shews that none but sealed persons will rise in the resurrection of the just. None but those that are of faith, and who, upon thus believing are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, can rise in the first resurrection; for they, and only they, are blessed and holy persons. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power," Rev. xx. 6. Being of faith, they are blessed with faithful Abraham; and, being, sealed with the Holy Spirit, they are holy. Hence this sealing us to the day of redemption is to assure us of a part and lot in this first resurrection; it is a pledge and an earnest of it. It is the Holy Spirit sanctifying and sealing of us that makes us meet to partake of it. And this is a truth, that the Holy Ghost never will quicken and chance any one mortal body, and fashion it like unto the glorious body of Christ, unless he dwell in it, and make it his temple in this life. "Know ye not (saith the apostle) that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost? Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them." And this temple is holy; and, being blessed and holy, it must rise in the resurrection of the just; and truly blessed and holy shall it be when it rises. Christ raised up the temple of his own body; and the Holy Ghost will raise up the Church, which is his temple, and fashion it like unto the glorious body of Christ. To these things, which are not seen, must we look. This, and what follows upon it, is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. "So run that ye may obtain."

In the path of the just that leads to life, and in this race that is set before us, and in hope of the prize, this leaves me-faint, yet pursuing.

Ever yours in undissembled love,

William Huntington