The time will come - William Huntington

The harvest is great, but the labourers are few; however, he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto eternal life; and the time will come when he that soweth and he that reapeth shall both rejoice together: then cometh the end and the harvest-home, when the sheaves shall be gathered into the floor, and the Lord of the harvest shall rejoice in the crop; when the labourers shall banquet at the higher table, and angels themselves attend the guests: while such poor worms as we, who are enabled to believe through grace, shall shine in endless light and burn in endless love; live in endless life, and bathe in endless pleasure; wear an immortal crown; be adorned in the shining robes of immortality and everlasting righteousness; look back to the path we have been led in; wonder at the dangers we have escaped; and admire the good hand of God that has held us up and brought us through: this is the end of our race, this the reward of inheritance, this the portion of our souls; and every visitation, every token for good, every answer to prayer, every drop of honey, every beam of light, and every drop of comfort, are so many earnests, pledges, and foretastes of it. My son, the Lord be gracious to thee, and keep thee near himself, that under the shadow of his wings thou mayest find a refuge till all the calamities of this life be overpast; until the pit be digged up for the wicked, and the door of heaven be displayed for the admission of the righteous; and an abundant entrance be ministered to us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If thou aim at holiness by the law - William Huntington

"If thou aim at holiness by the law, remember thou must be perfect in the flesh as well as in spirit. The law is perfect; it will allow of no infirmities, no evil thoughts, no adulterous looks, no anger nor evil tempers, no fire to be kindled on the Sabbath day; not speaking thy own words, nor thinking thy own thoughts on that day; thy neighbor must be loved as thyself; half thy goods must be given to the poor; one coat of the two must go to them that have none... Make the law your only rule of life; read it, keep you eyes upon it, and live by it; and I will pray that I may be kept dead to the law, and alive unto God; that I may be crucified with Christ, and yet live; yet not I, but that Christ may live in me. If you make the law your rule of life, you are alive to the law, and walk in the law. And, if Christ lives in me, I shall be kept alive unto God, and walk in newness of life. Go you on with the commandments, and I will go on with the promises. Make the law your rule of walk, and I will pray God to perform his promise in me, for God hath said, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them." Thus you go on by the law, and I by the gospel. Do you perform your duty, and I will plead my privileges. Act thou as an industrious servant; and, by God's grace, I will act as an affectionate son. Be thou obedient to the law, and I will pray for grace for obedience to the faith. Live thou in the fear of thy master, and I will endeavour to honour my heavenly Father." -William Huntington

They zealously affect you, but not well - William Huntington

Thou hadst not got this yoke on thy neck, nor this grave-cloth wrapped about thy head, when thou satest under what is now called Antinomianism: thy soul seemed then to be healthy, thy conversation savoury, and thy countenance comely; thy heart was like the chariots of Amminadib, and thou didst run the race set before thee with delight. But where art thou now? They have driven thee with the law till thou art both blind and bound. "They zealously affect you, but not well;" they that lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy path; thou art not now in Wisdom's pleasant ways, nor in the paths of peace.

Remember from whence thou art fallen; from thy first love, from heartfelt union and fellowship with Christ, from joy and peace in believing, and from the happy enjoyment of God's free Spirit! Thou didst then enjoy the liberty of the gospel; now thou feelest the bondage of the law. The Lord did attend the word with a marvellous power, and ministered the Spirit among you by the preaching of faith. Does he then same now by the works of the law? I trow not. Thou hast felt the Saviour's yoke to be easy, and his burden light; and thou never wast more holy nor happy within, nor more circumspect without, than thou wast then. I would have thee try and see what the law can do for thee: stick to it, and try what love, life, peace, and holiness, can be fetched from thence; and, when thou hast perfected the work of sanctification by that rule, then be so kind as to send me an exact account of it; explain the operations of it, thy sensations under it, and a true account of the superabounding practical holiness that thy family, fellowmembers, and neighbours, see in thee.

Not one holy motion, not one divine and pleasing sensation, not a single flame of pure love to God or man, wilt thou ever fetch from that covenant. "The law worketh wrath;" and the carnal mind is enmity against the lawgiver; nor can it be subject to the law. Those that are under it may cleave to one another, but the union is only the bond of natural affections; and some are held together by corrupt affections, and some given up to vile affections. But pure love flows freely from a reconciled God in Christ Jesus; and is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, who is the spirit of life and of a sound mind.

The Excellency of Prayer - William Huntington

The Excellency of Prayer

(By William Huntington, in a letter to a friend.) Prayer is the blessed means which God has appointed to bring every grace from Christ to the believer. The believer is to let his requests be made known unto God, and for his encouragement God says that the prayer of the upright is His delight. Yes, He says that He loves to hear it. "Let Me hear your voice, let Me see your face! For your voice is pleasant, and you are lovely!" Prayer is the casting of our cares and burdens on the Lord. It is the pouring out of the soul before Him, the presenting of our troubles to Him. Prayer is communing and corresponding with Christ—and receiving grace from His fullness to help in every time of need. It is keeping open the communion between the Lord and His people. Prayer is their way of paying morning and evening visits to the King of kings and Lord of lords! It is their means of cultivating and keeping up perfect friendship with a Friend who loves at all times—and therefore it should never be neglected. Prayer is pouring out the soul unto God and placing before Him our troubles. It is "casting all our cares upon Him who cares for us."—and our burdens upon Him in whom we have "righteousness and strength." Prayer is opening the heart, the mind, and the mouth to Him who has said, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble! I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." It is besieging the everlasting kingdom, moving the throne of grace and knocking importunately at the door of mercy—encouraged by the promise, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." In prayer we must take no denial. If we have but a feeling sense of our needs, and a Scripture warrant of a promise to plead, we must argue, reason, plead, supplicate, intercede, confess, acknowledge, thank, bless, praise, adore, repeat, importune, watch, and take hold of whatever may be of use to the soul. Sinners, sensible of their lost estate by nature, who feel their need and poverty, have many invitations, encouragements, precedents and promises. They have, under the teachings of the Holy Spirit, to plead and rely upon the covenant of Jehovah, the oath of God; the merits of Christ and all His covenant engagements, undertakings and performances; the covenant characters He sustains; His near relationship to them—together with all the glorious train of Divine perfections found in the proclamation of the Name of God to Moses (Ex. 34:6,7)—for these all sweetly harmonize and brightly shine in Christ crucified—who has never once yet disappointed the hope of a penitent sinner, but has graciously said, "Come unto Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!" His promises, like Himself, are unchangeable, and this is one of them—"The one who comes unto Me, I will never cast out." Private prayer is the Christian's court-visit to his God—the life and breath of his soul. It is the ascent of the heart to the Almighty—and its returns are the descent of Christ to be the soul's help! Prayer is the assuagement of grief, the easement of a burdened heart, and the vent of a joyful heart. It is the rich aroma of mystical incense, the overflowing of a living fountain, an all-prevailing sacrifice, and the delight of the Almighty! Moreover, prayer is the greatest, most blessed and most glorious privilege, with which perishing sinners ever were favored! Prayer is a defense against the spirit of this world, a bar to the inroads of vanity, a maul upon the head of the 'old man', and a lash of scorpions for the devil. It is a bridle in the jaws of a persecutor, a triumph over a voracious enemy, a dagger to the heart of a heretic, a key to parables and difficult Scriptures, and a battering-ram on the walls of salvation—for "the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." Prayer uncloses the bountiful hand of God, opens the door of mercy, retains Christ on the throne of the affections, and covers every rival and usurper with shame and confusion of face! It is the believer's Royal Exchange, where he may take his cares, burdens, snares and troubles; his vexations, temptations, doubts and fears; his misgivings of heart, sorrows of mind, hardness of heart and ingratitude; together with his faintness, unbelief, and rebellion; also all his spiritual disorders—the leprosy of sin, the evil within, the plague of his heart, the plague of his head, his deaf ears, blind eyes, feeble knees, languid hands, halting feet and stiff neck! He may take all his sins there get rid of—and leave them all! In return for their troubles, believers receive from their heavenly Banker numberless deliverances, blessings and mercies; many spiritual refreshings, renewings, revivals and restorations; large returns of comfort, peace, love and joy; together with fresh discoveries, love tokens, wholesome truths, profound mysteries, glorious glimpses, bright prospects, celestial views, undoubted evidences, heavenly lessons; conspicuous deliverances, pledges and foretastes; reviving cordials; valuable banknotes in "exceeding great and precious promises," payable this very day, and every day—and even to millions of ages afterwards—signed, sealed, and delivered by Jehovah Himself—the "God who cannot lie!" Prayer has often scattered the confederate enemies of the soul, marred the schemes of opponents, frustrated the tales of liars, and made false teachers mad. Prayer counteracts the designs of Satan and his emissaries. It has made the believer to be an enemy to the world, the successful rival of deceivers, the envy of hypocrites, an eye-sore to the devil, the admiration of perishing sinners, a spectacle to the world—and a wonder to himself! He prays to his Father in secret, and his Father who sees in secret has engaged to reward him openly. By prayer the spiritual pauper comes up from the dust, and the beggar up from the ash-heap—to sit among the princes of God's people, and inherit the throne of glory! Prayer in faith has brought in countless providential mercies, as well as spiritual blessings. God could have granted them all without asking, but has condescended to honor the exercise of prayer by saying, "For all these things I will be inquired of by the house of Israel—that I may do it for them." Prayer engages the Almighty on the side of the suppliant, and establishes an alliance with God. "All things are possible to him who believes." "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Prayer has brought health to the sick, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, eyes to the blind, life to the dead, salvation to the lost; and has even driven the devil himself from the hearts of many—and brought the God of heaven to dwell in his place. Prayer is God's appointment, the Spirit's gift, the believer's privilege, and the scourge of Satan! Therefore, prize it and use it! God is well-pleased, and receives with pleasure, approbation, and delight— all who approach His throne of grace, sensible of their needs—in the name of Christ crucified. Hence faith in Christ becomes the only way of access to God—all other avenues are stopped up! The sword of justice is brandished to keep every other way to the tree of life closed. In Christ, we may come with boldness to the throne of grace; there is no obstacle, no hindrance, in this way. The sword of justice is sheathed, the law magnified, the ransom price paid, the devil dethroned, sin expiated, wrath endured, God wellpleased, sinners redeemed, enemies reconciled—that the Lord God might dwell among them!

Worship God in spirit and in truth - William Huntington

"...we "worship God in spirit and in truth, for God seeks such worshippers to worship him," John, iv. 23. To "worship God in the Spirit" shews that a man must be inspired, and approach God with a spiritual mind, with a spiritual understanding, 1 Cor. xiv. 15; with spiritual affections; and to pray as the Spirit operates on him, 2 Sam. vii. 27; and "gives him utterance," Acts, ii. 4. "The words of his mouth must be the meditation of his heart," Psal. xix. 14. He must pray in spiritual faith, James, i. 6. He must plough in spiritual hope, Prov. xiii. 12. And in spiritual expectation, Hab. ii. 1. Yea, he must pray against every thing of which the Spirit convinces him to be evil, 1 Cor. iv. 10. And he must pray for every blessing which the Spirit convinces him of the need of, Heb, iv. 16. And he will find this blessed Spirit will help his weaknesses, and kindle a willing frame when he is reluctant; a fervent frame when he is lifeless; yea, a bold frame when he has cause to blush and take shame to himself, Dan. ix. 7-9. Yea, and a believing frame, to enable him to call Godfather, as the prodigal son did, even "when he was in a far country," Luke, xv. 18. This blessed "Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God" revealed in his word and never contrary to it, Rom. viii. 26, 27. To worship God in truth, implies that a man prays for what he truly feels the want of, Matt. v. 6; and that he prays to the only true God, whom he hath a scriptural and an experimental knowledge of; that he, by the Spirit, sees how all the glorious attributes of God harmonize together in Christ Jesus, the true substance and sacrifice of all the ceremonial types, figures, and shadows. To worship God in truth, is to let our lips and our hearts go together, Prov. iii. 26; to pray against every sin and error that the Spirit points out to us; to pray for every blessing that God has promised to give, and to take a scriptural warrant for it; and so address God in his own language, Hoses, xiv. 2. This is spiritual, and this is true worship; and, if my reader tries this way, he will find "the Spirit help his infirmities, and make intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered," even when he has grieved him. And, under the fervent influences of the Spirit's intercession, he will be brought to know the very thoughts of the Lord concerning himself, Psalm, cxxxix. 17; and to "pour out his very soul before him, and shew him all his trouble," Psalm, cxiix. 2; and leave his burdens with him, Psalm, lv. 22; like Hannah, that sweet female wrestler, when she went from her knees at Shiloh, with her blessed "countenance no more sad," 1 Sam. i. 18." -William Huntington

The dreadful consequences attending such errors

"He will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail." The drink of the thirsty soul is the efficacy of the Saviour's blood, or the atonement of Christ received and enjoyed under the operations of the Spirit of grace. The water of life is the quickening energy of the Spirit; and the river of God's pleasure is the love of God in Christ Jesus, which is felt under the influence of God's Spirit, and which fills the soul with joy, peace, and divine consolation, in believing. But as pardon and eternal peace with God, through the blood of the Lamb, are denied by this vile person; and as the everlasting inhabitation of the Spirit is opposed and denied also; and the doctrine of the eternal love of God reprobated; and the gift of eternal life exploded, by asserting that all these things may be forfeited and lost? the dreadful consequences attending such errors must be, that divine refreshment, the pure stream of life and peace, will be rarely found; the Spirit is grieved, and ceases to operate." - William Huntington

This doctrine sets aside at once all arminianism - William Huntington

"…the covenant of promise belongs to the heirs of promise; and that the ministration of the Spirit is sent with power to none but to the heirs of eternal life; and that the gospel reveals the righteousness of God to all those that are predestinated to be called, justified, and glorified. Therefore, to preach a pure gospel, that reveals God’s righteousness, and no other, a gospel that sets forth the Saviour as the believer’s all in all, and to enforce and maintain subjection to the gospel of Christ, and an experience of the life and power of it, obedience to it, a life, walk, and conversation in it, to insist on the fruits of the Spirit, the works of righteousness, the works of faith, and labours of love, is the only way to be useful to God’s elect, and the only way to glorify Christ. This doctrine sets aside at once all arminianism, and all Arminians or bond children, and fixes them on their own covenant with the rest of the world, and under the commands and threatening of that law on which they build, and to which they look for righteousness and perfection."

The Moral Law - William Huntington

"The moral law is a chastening rod in the hand of God the Father, which he uses upon all the elect children that he has given to Christ, who are all of them transgressors of his law, being by nature under it, and children of wrath even as others; and guilty before him: hence it is, "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments: if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not make void from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to lie" Psalm lxxxix. 30, 31,32. All the elect have broken this law—therefore God sends the commandment home, and reveals his wrath in the soul till the sinner becomes dead, and left without either hope or help, the Father then leads the soul to Christ, in whom he has chosen him, where loving kindness is to be had, and where faithfulness is not to fail.


"Thus God chastens the sinner upon his bed with pains, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain; so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat; his flesh is consumed, that it cannot be seen; and his bones, that were not seen, stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life unto the destroyers. 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, and saith. Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom" Job, xxxiii. This is God the Fathers teaching. An "interpreter" is one that has passed under it, understands it, and can explain it to others; and these are like Solomon's "faithful men". "One among a thousand"; he is to shew the uprightness of God, in correcting the sinner for his folly, and then to point him to Christ, the ransom which God has provided, where he can be gracious unto him, and deliver him from going down into the pit.


When Moses passed under this discipline, he expected nothing but destruction; till Christ was exhibited to his faith, and God called him to the fellowship of him. "Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men" Ps. xc. 3.


Those who never knew any thing of this severity of God, never rightly knew any thing of his goodness. God gave Israel the law first, and then ordered a mercy-seat to be made. He disciplined them with blackness and darkness, storm and tempest, and spoke to them in the secret place of thunder; and after that pointed them to Christ by a sacrifice, and to the voice of mercy from off the mercy-seat; and he does the same now: "Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant" Ezek. xx. 36,37. God’s pleading against the sinner in the law, is to teach him the need of an advocate; passing under the rod, is feeling the terrors of the law; and going into the bond of the covenant, is the enjoyment of Gods eternal love in Christ Jesus, which neither life nor death shall ever separate us from." -William Huntington

True faith and false faith - William Huntington

"...But to give you a description of false faith is more then I can pretend to, unless you will allow me to describe true faith and oppose it to false, and so lead your mind in the line between the two.


As for the faith of arminianism, I believe it to be worse than the faith of devils; for I have heard arminians mention the awful decrees of God, and wantonly laugh at them; but devils believe and tremble. True faith holds every revealed truth of the Bible, but opposes none. If you live by faith, Christ, the bread of heaven, will be the food of thy faith. If you walk by faith, Christ, the living way, will be the path of faith, If you stand fast by faith, Christ will be faith's foundation; faith will stand no where, but on Christ; and Christ will always bear every weight that faith lays on him. Christ will never suffer faith to fail, nor will faith ever suffer Christ to have a co-partner; Christ will never suffer faith to be confounded; nor will faith ever suffer Christ to be dishonoured.

He submits to a rule which is falsely represented - William Huntington

"[Duty-faith] ...leads men to presume on the mercy of God, without either witness, evidence, or a claim by the Spirit of adoption; and without the influence of grace, by which alone he can have access; and without real faith, without which there can be no holy boldness. The unconverted sinner, who is thus encouraged to put in his claim or urge his plea, is excited to boldness, insolence, and rash presumption. For, if he calls God Father, it is a lie; if he calls Jesus his Lord, it is the same, for no man can do it without the Holy Ghost; if he calls himself a believer, his own heart condemns him; his profession is only the sheep skin, and in heart he is an hypocrite in Zion. He submits to a rule which is falsely represented; and his obedience is taught by the precepts of men, and therefore cannot be the obedience of faith: the whole of his religion is without the aid of the Holy Ghost, from the beginning to the end; and therefore his subjection, submission, profession, confession, devotion, and reformation, is not done as God has willed it to be done; and we doubt not, but there is the nature of sin in the whole of it." -William Huntington

The commands of Christ are quite distinct from the moral law - William Huntington

"The commands of Christ are quite distinct from the moral law, with respect to the person, and the office of the person speaking; the persons spoken to, who are his own elect; the divine power that attends his commands; his orders, his sayings, and his words, being life; and the divine aid promised and given to the evangelical servants who serve him in the newness of the Spirit." -William Huntington

Fully Persuaded - William Huntington

"God promised that He would “persuade Japhet, and he should dwell in the tens of Shem,” (Gen. 9:27), and this work of persuading seems to be His working Faith in the minds of men by the power of the Holy Ghost. Hence God is said to send the gospel to the souls of men with power in the Holy Ghost, and much assurance (1 Thess. 1:5). And the operation of this divine power put forth is said to produce Faith: “God fulfills all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of Faith with power” (2 Thess. 1:11). This persuasion Paul asserts to be the Faith of Abraham, who was fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform” (Rom. 4:31)."—William Huntington.

It would have been otherwise - WIlliam Huntington

"I believe, that the reason of so many persons making shipwreck of their confession of faith, and apostatizing from their profession of it, is, because they had no other bond to hold them to it but the bondage of the law; nor any other rule to walk by but the commandments. Had the bond of everlasting love got hold of them, and Paul's gospel rule of eternal life been given them, I believe it would have been otherwise." -William Huntington

The great difference between law and gospel - William Huntington

"There is a great difference between law and gospel, works and grace, the letter and the Spirit; and between a legal commandment and a life-giving commandment. The former bids us work for life, the latter bids us live: "When thou wast in thy blood, I said unto thee, live." At which command the sting of death flies, and life and immortality are brought to light." -William Huntington

The grace of faith is the Spirit's fruit - William Huntington

"The grace of faith is the Spirit's fruit: he produces it under his operation, and testifies of, and exhibits to the mind, the object to be believed in. The Spirit persuades the mind of interest in that object, and produces the appropriating act of faith to make the application. Faith, the act of it, and the exercise of it, is wholly depending on, and owing to, the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of faith. If this wind blow not on the Lord's garden, no spices will ever flow out grateful to him who can eat nothing but his own pleasant fruits. And he that turns the mystery of the gospel into a legal rule, and makes the above faith, in its nature, act, and exercise, the duty of the uncircumcised, he proclaims to the world at once that he never yet, with the heart, believed unto righteousness; for he cannot make confession with his mouth to salvation. The mystery of faith is the law of the Spirit, or the Spirit's law; and it is under his divine operations and influence that evangelical obedience is produced: both service and worship must be performed in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." -William Huntington

We are not to be silent - William Huntington

"...we are to contend for the faith, to be valiant for the truth, to stop the mouths of the gainsayers, to shun profane and vain babblings, and to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. We are not to be silent under every person who is called a pastor, when he is running away with the key of knowledge, shutting up the kingdom of God against us, sending the ark to the Philistines, and bringing Israel into Egypt." -William Huntington

The faithful should depart - William Huntington

"If a minister goes from his confession to the church, no wonder if members go from their professed subjection to him. If he departs from the faith, the faithful should depart from him, Their faith is not to stand in his wisdom, but in God's power. He has no dominion over their faith, but is, or should be, a servant of the church, and a fel ow-helper of their joy; for by faith they stand." -William Huntington

The Congregation of Hypocrites - William Huntington

"...when a pastor is going to leave the holy commandment delivered unto him, and to turn aside to vain jangling, he generally circulates his new leaven in a private way, and biases the minds of all he can, before he brings the dregs of his heart out: and, if the majority seems against him, the church door is often thrown open a little wider than common, and numbers are admitted who come to spy out the saints' liberty, and to bring them into bondage: by which means Christ is often turned out of doors; and, when he is gone, the faithful, by degrees, go after him; till, in process of time, nothing is left behind but stubble, the refuse of the harvest. "The congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate." -William Huntington

Such Doctrine Had No Good Effect - William Huntington

"...such doctrine [duty-faith] had no good effect, either upon the saint, or upon the sinner: not to the saint, for he was sent to Moses for help; nor to the sinner, for he was sent to the physician before he was sick. Nor will God ever attend with his blessing and his seal such a doctrine as this to the conversion of any soul living." -William Huntington