The Rule and Riddle - William Huntington (Highly Recommended)

The Rule and Riddle

This is the best thing I've read on the believer's freedom from the law.

http://www.williamhuntington.net/Works/Misc/603.htm#THE_LAW_NOT_OF_FAITH_BUT_OF_WORKS_

Law and Gospel: Holiness by the Spirit of God (W. Huntington)

The people had now an opportunity of trying both Sinai and Zion; many ran to and fro, and knowledge was increased. Some found it as I had done, the more law the more bondage, and the more gospel the more love. It served also to separate between servants and sons: some cleaved to the citizens of Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage, which Christ calls citizens of this country, who feed with husks; and some cleaved to the citizens of Zion, on which mountain the feast of fat things is promised, and where God promises to destroy the face of the covering cast over all nations, and to swallow up death in victory. Never, I think, had Moses more disciples than at that time: but pulpit and press proclaimed little else but the law; but, as those who preached it knew not what they said, so those that published it knew not what they wrote, for not one that I read had ever experienced the application of it; and I knew that I was at a point in this, namely, that I retained the whole morality of the law, by enforcing holiness by the Spirit of God. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us by the faith of Christ, and love to God and the brotherhood, by the love of God shed abroad in the heart; and all beside these is death.

"God the Guardian of the Poor and the Bank of Faith", Letter 2

The Cry of Little Faith (William Huntington)

This is excellent reading and shows the way of faith, as it grows.

http://truegospel.net/Huntington/Works/Volume09/09022.htm

Here is an excerpt:

Sometimes pride carries him away; he is so lifted up in his comfortable frames, that he concludes that no person has any faith but himself; he can admit of no doubts, fears, or misgivings; he has got a little of the good wine of the kingdom; he drinks, and forgets his poverty, and thinks he shall remember his misery no more, Prov. xxxi. 7. Prosperity has made him forget the wormwood and the gall, Lam. iii. 19; therefore it is beneath him to come down from his excellency to sympathize with them who are putting their "mouth in the dust, if so be there might be hope," Lam. iii. 29. This tincture of haughtiness procures him a little degradation; the humble soul, that he thought little of, is exalted to honour; while he, to his great mortification, is obliged for a while to take the lowest room.

Sometimes Little Faith abuses his liberty; his light joys carry him too high; filial fear is not strong enough to make him think soberly; joys and triumphs are all in all; prayer gets out of season with him; whereas we never need be more fervent in prayer than in times of prosperity. For these things he is often shut up in the black hole; then prayer becomes seasonable: "I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee; I have stretched out my hands unto thee," Ps. lxxxviii. 9, 10.

Sometimes he is too heedless in his race; he runs here and there, to try various winds of doctrine. Judging himself capable of discerning good and evil, he will dispute doctrinal points with any old sorcerer, like John's young disciples, who began to dispute with the Jews about purifying, John, iii. 25. He can play on the hole of the asp, and put his hand upon the cockatrice den, or even take a dog by the ears, Prov. xxvi. 17. He thinks his joys are sufficient to carry him through. However, in order to keep him in the company of wise men, the Lord sometimes permits the harlot, or false church, to cast such an one down wounded, until he finds himself laid by the heels, to teach him to run more carefully when he has the use of his limbs. Then he complains, "Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet," Job, xiii. 27.

Sometimes he discovers much rebellion and stubbornness under the rod, and would sooner run away from God than humble himself under his mighty hand. He will flee from the rod, rather than confess and supplicate; and be froward, rather than submissive: "I smote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart," Isaiah, lvii. 17. It is common with some children, when threatened, or when whipped, to take to their heels; for which defiance this message is often sent after them: I shall have you at night, I will give it you when you come to bed. We all know there is a night coming, in which no man can work, John, ix. 4. If we wait, the grave is our house; yet we should not like to make our bed in the darkness, Job, xvii. 13. As none would like to be put to bed in the dark, nor under the rod, let Little Faith kiss the rod, know who hath appointed it, and fly to the hand that holds it; lest at bed time he cry out, as others have done, "O spare me, that I may recover strength before I go hence, and be no more!" Psalm, xxxix. 13. the rod is useful; iniquity is bound in the heart of a child, and it is the rod of correction that shall drive it out. God does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of his love without cause: he visits sins with the rod, and we procure the stripes to ourselves.

The fatherly severity of God is intended to humble our pride, imbitter sin, and keep us in reverential awe and filial fear of him. A hiding God, a spiritual fast, and the chastening rod, are terrible things to the Lord's little ones: sleeping or waking, they can find no rest, till matters are made up, and peace be restored. Some children, when they have had a whipping over night, will often dream about it; and cry out in their sleep, as if they really felt the strokes; and this is sometimes the case with Little Faith: "When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions; so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life," Job, vii. 13-15. If he was terrified with dreams, it is plain he dreamt of the rod. Had his dreams been heavenly, like those of Jeremiah, they would have left the same sweetness upon his soul: Upon this I awaked, and beheld, and my sleep was sweet unto me," Jer. xxxi. 26. 

To be short: the strongest man in faith was once a babe in grace. Those that are weak are to be received, but not to doubtful disputations. Faith and her evidences, Unbelief and her doubts, do inhabit a believer at one and the same time. There is little faith, growing faith, and the fullest assurance of faith, mentioned in scripture. Neither the apostles, prophets, nor even God our Saviour himself, ever refused to suckle the babe, lead and feed the child, strengthen the weak, or encourage the ewe great with young. No bible pastor ever found the whole family of God in the full assurance of faith; much less did they confine their ministry to those only who are called fathers in Christ. Lambs stand in more need of the shepherd's aid than grown sheep or old rams; and children are more craving after food than aged fathers, who can feed themselves. If you choose to reply to this, I will, God willing, urge a second plea, and shew thee that I have yet to speak in behalf of Little Faith. Meanwhile I would caution thee, as David did Joab, to deal gently with the young man, even Little Faith.

Short Quotes on True Religion and Love

"a lively sense of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus will enable those who have it to walk in His fear and seek the welfare of others." (Gospel Standard 1948, p.81) James Abbot

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What is all religion without the Holy Spirit! An empty show and a weariness to the flesh." William Huntington

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You need the promises, so take them.  Overcome by the promises of God - “I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth” (Is 43:6).

 

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“Who then can pride himself over against someone else and claim to be better than he?  Especially in view of the fact that he is always capable of doing exactly the same as the other does and, indeed, that he does secretly in his heart before God what the other does openly before men.  And so we must never despise anyone who sins but must generously bear with him as a companion in a common misery.  We must help one another just as two people caught in the same swamp assist each other.  Thus we must ‘bear one another’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ’ (Galatians 6:2).  But if we despise the other, we shall both perish in the same swamp.”

Wilhelm Pauck, translator, Luther: Lectures on Romans (Philadelphia, 1961), page 115.

The Huntingtonians: Biography of W. Huntington and Ministers Associated with Him

http://gracetruthministries.com/gjmillerthehuntingtonians.html

Extemporaneous and Desperate Prayer (William Huntington)

I kneeled down, and began to pray extempore, in the language of one desperate, precisely thus - "Oh Lord, I am a sinner, and thou knowest it. I have tried to make myself better, but cannot. If there is any way left in which thou canst save me, do thou save me; if not, I must be damned, for I cannot try any more, nor won't."

The very moment the last sentence had dropped from my lips, "the spirit of grace and of supplication was poured into my soul," Zec. xii. 10; and "I forthwith spake as the Spirit gave me utterance," Acts, it. 4. I immediately prayed with such energy, eloquence, fluency, boldness, and familiarity, as quite astonished me: as much as though I should now suddenly speak Arabic, a language that I never learned a syllable of. And the blessed Spirit of God poured the sweet promises into my heart, from all parts of the scriptures, in a powerful manner; and helped my infirmities greatly, by furnishing my faltering tongue with words to plead prevalently with God. Yea, that blessed Spirit enabled me to compass the Almighty about with his own promises; which were so suitable to my case, that his blessed Majesty could not get out of his own bonds. It came to pass that, after I had been wrestling in this manner for about the space of a quarter of an hour, behold, Jesus Christ appeared to me in a most glorious and conspicuous manner, with all his body stained with blood! He appeared in his aspect as one greatly dishonored and much abused, and yet inclined to pity me. I turned my eyes from him, but he pursued me, and was still before me. I fell to the ground, and laid on my face, but could not shun the sight. I never before saw sin in such a light as I then did.

(Taken from, “The Kingdom of Heaven Taken By Prayer”)

William Huntington's Experience of Regeneration/God

Taken from, "The Kingdom of Heaven Taken by Prayer"

 

The more I strove to avoid him, the nearer he approached, the vision opened brighter and brighter, and the deeper impression was made upon my mind: and the more I condemned myself, and tried to creep into darkness from his sight, the more he smiled upon me, and the more he melted, renewed, and comforted my soul. When I found I could not shun him, nor shut out his dissolving beams, I arose from the ground, and went into the garden. Here I found that all my temptations were fled; my hard thoughts of God, and the dreadful ideas I had of him in his righteous law, were dissipated; my sins, which had stood before me during so many months, with their ghastly and formidable appearance, had spread their wings and taken flight, as far from me "as the east is from the west," so that no bird remained upon the sacrifice. My darkness was dispelled by the rays of "the sun of righteousness;" and life and immortality appeared in such a glorious point of view, that I swooned in the soul-renewing and soul-transporting flames of everlasting love! All the horrors of the damned, and meditations upon their irrevocable doom, vanished; confusion and despair sunk into oblivion; the selfexistent Jehovah, the God of armies, had put all to flight, and kept both throne and field alone, waving the banner of eternal love. The reprobate and the awful lines of threaten lugs were all set at the foot of the mount, and I was brought under the covenant line of God's elect; while the unconditional promises of an everlasting gospel stood as numerous as the leaves in autumn to secure my interest in a finished salvation. My thoughts were sweetly established; my heart was firmly fixed; my mind was serenely composed; my doubts and fears were finally fled; my conscience appeared a mysterious principality, divinely governed by the Prince of peace; my affections were rapturously inflamed; my will sweetly resigned; and Grace, with all her comforting operations, swaying her uncontrollable sceptre over every faculty of my soul. Thus sin, Satan, death, destruction, horror, despair, unbelief, confusion, and distraction, struck their flags; and were routed, vanquished, and slain, before the triumphant Redeemer's divine artillery, displayed from that wonderful armory, the mystery of the cross, where God and sinners meet.

Gleanings in the Vintage CIV (William Huntington)

(Concerning Fear and Love)

Church-street, Paddington.

YOURS came safe to hand. You fear of failing of the grace of God; this fear often springs from a knowledge of one's own heart, and the desperate deceitfulness of it; from pious suspicion, and godly, jealousy, and well becomes the young ––, as it is a spur to his prayers and inquiries. It excites a desire of being searched and tried, and led in the way everlasting. It is planted there to keep thee from stopping short, from settling on the old legal bottom, and from resting in thy former attainments: It will make thee forget those things which are behind, and keep thee pressing after those things which are before. Be thou in this fear all the day long, that thou mayest not depart from him.

A hypocrite is a stage-player; the part that he always acts is that of a saint of God, as the devil does that of an elect angel. He is one that begs at the door of mercy, but never hungered after the bread of life, nor the righteousness of Christ, having never felt the sting of death, nor the curse of a broken law. He covets the name of a saint, but in heart hates the grace that is in him. He mocks God in words, and men in appearance--it is all to be seen of men. His mouth goes one way, and his heart another; with the former he draws near to God, with the latter he is far from him. His outward appearance is righteous before men, his inward, extortion and excess; his religion is all in the crowd, none in the closet. He cannot believe, because he seeks honour from men, and not the honour that cometh from God only, John v. 44. He groans much under a sermon, but is never sick nor sorry; he often turns up his eyes to God, but has not one thought or affection with him. He is swift to speak, and slow to hear; often in raptures, but never in contrition; quick-sighted in the faults of others, but blind to all his own; sees a mote in a rival, and overlooks a beam in self. Ire loves to be flattered, but hates to be searched; talks much of relieving the poor, but steals half that is in the poor's bag; cannot endure waste in the ointment, but sells innocent blood for half the value. He strains at a Gnat, but swallows a camel; he treasures up wrath in religion, and cries not when God binds him for his dissimulation.

To love the Lord above every object, is doubtless the criterion of a saint; but as the carnal mind is enmity, and as the law stirs that enmity up, it is not expected to be found in an awakened soul, when the anger of God appears against it, and servile fear is predominant; which fear always has the wrath of God for its object, as filial fear has the goodness of God for the object of it. Moreover, all the time we doubt whether God loves us or no, our love will be clogged, it will be smoking flax; but it will not flame till a sense of God's love to us draws it forth. We may love a creature that does not love us, for nature loves nature, and corrupt affections love corruption, "With my flesh I love the law of sin;" but we cannot love God till he loves, or discovers a love to us moreover, "Where little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Again, love works according to the proportion of faith; if faith be weak, love will be languid; if strong, love will be warm, for faith works by love, Gal. v. 6.

There must be a love to him, where there is a restlessness for him, a dissatisfaction with every thing short of him, and an earnest desire for him, and the heart making diligent search after him "O thou whom my soul loveth, tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon," Cant. i. 7. But that which swallows up all our love, is a love-visit from Christ, when we visits us with his free and full salvation; and faith in full exercise receives it, with a sense of God's love to us, shed abroad in our hearts-then, "Whom having not seen ye love; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory," I Pet. i. 8.

W. H

THE NEW MAN (William Huntington)

He may at times feel rebukes, checks, and lashes within; which he may, and many do, call the old man of sin: but this is a mistake; it is not an enemy, but a friend; not the old man of sin, but honest conscience doing his duty, buffeting the sinner for his hypocrisy. So, on the other hand, a hypocrite may, at times, find a little calm of peace and tranquility in his mind, which he may call the new man, and I believe thousands do so: but as the former is nothing but natural conscience accusing, so the latter is nothing but natural conscience excusing, according to the light of nature.
For, even under this calm of peace and tranquility, there is no godly sorrow flowing out to God; no condemning, hating, and abhorring self; nor any real tears of pious grief, mourning over a suffering Savior; no repentance towards the Lord, nor heartfelt gratitude to him, nor real thanks and praises for his long-suffering, undeserved, and unexpected clemency.

Such men's peace springs from a cessation of arms with Satan; they have had a few days' respite, in which the devil has not wallowed them in the mire; and, during, this interval, they have done something for God, and of course he must be pleased with them. All this takes its spring from self, and centers in self, and there such faith stands; for he has no trust but in his own heart; look to Jesus he cannot, because there is no good thing in him toward the Lord God of Israel: whereas the believer looks to Jesus, depends on his arm, and views his own heart worse than Satan himself-being "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," Jer 17:9. The believer knows that he can stand no longer than while the Lord upholds him; if he withdraw his supporting hand he is sure to sink, and when sunk he despairs of all help in his own arm, or in his own heart; he knows that nothing can recover him but a propitious look from his dear Lord, or a restoring visit from him, or a fresh discovery by faith of his dying love, attended with the reviving and renewing operations of the Holy Spirit of promise.