William Huntington’s conversion, as related by himself in his
“Kingdom of Heaven Taken by Prayer.”
‘I HAVE now brought my reader to the day of jubilee (one of the most remarkable deliverances from all his sorrows that any man has ever experienced). It was in the winter season, a little before so-called Christmas. My business at that time was pruning the wall trees. I was one day cutting a large pear tree; and while standing on the ladder, pensive in thought, and sometimes fretting because there was no deliverance for me from this blasphemous temptation (about election), and with my thoughts all captured and kept in hold under the sceptre of eternal death,
I said to myself, ‘O what a place hell must be! I have already got the earnest of it in my heart. Our clergy will not tell us which way we can be saved, though they know, yea, they must know, because they are learned. All the prayers which I have read will not do, nor do any of the ministers express my case in their sermons. The Whole Duty of Man holds forth what I cannot perform; the more I strive against sin, the more violent are my temptations, and the more defiled my heart appears. I strive to be holy, but I cannot. I strive to please God, and to appease His wrath, but in vain. I get worse and worse, and God’s displeasure burns the hotter. When I go to church I am only grieved, for the minister longs to finish; some of the people sleep and some laugh, while others only admire each other’s beauty and dress. If I read the Bible, I cannot make one part agree with the other; if one passage comes with any encouragement or comfort, another occurs to my mind full fraught with terror and vengeance, and cuts it off. The doctrine of election is dreadful. I have searched it out, and it is the truth; I have tried to write down all the places where it is mentioned, but cannot, for the Bible is full of it. If I am not elected, I shall never be saved, do what I will; I will, therefore, strive no more, but expect the worst, which ere long I shall surely know. Oh, that I had been upon the earth when the Saviour was! I would have followed Him, however He had used me. But alas! the Jews were a highly favoured people. O that I was a Jew! But I am not; I am a Gentile, and I am a sinner!’
“While I was standing on my ladder, pondering on the doctrine of election, sinking in despondency, or rather despair, wishing for more books of prayers and fretting because I could get none that would suit my case: behold, suddenly a great light shined round about me (Acts xxii. 6), quick as lightning, and far superior to the brightness of the sun; but whether my bodily eyes saw it or not, I know not, but this I know, that it shined into my heart (II Cor. iv. 6), and it brought, as I thought, all the Scriptures that I had read to my remembrance (John xiv. 26), and impressed them, in their spiritual meaning, with uncommon energy on my mind (Jer. xxxi. 33). And there appeared in the vision two straight lines, drawn throughout the whole world, and I know they were God’s lines, fallen unto me in pleasant places, for I have a goodly heritage (Ps. xvi. 6). One of these lines consisted of commandments, conditional promises, threatenings and curses; and these belonged to the wicked; they are their portion from God (Job xx. 29), and the curses from Mount Ebal (Deut. xxvii. 13). The other line was unconditional promises and sweet invitations from Christ, and these belong to God’s elect. And the human race was divided into two classes, in the open vision, all arranged before the eyes of my mind, and there was no more. The one is the line of confusion (Isa. xxxiv. 11), the other the line of inheritance (Ps. lxxviii. 55). All this was done in a minute. The plan is still in my mind, and will ever remain there, and, it is Scriptural, as it is written, ‘Even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive’ (II Sam. viii. 2). These are God’s lines, and agree with the curse from Ebal and His blessing from Gerizim; and these were the two lines which the apostles were sent to stretch out (Ps. xix. 4; II Cor. x. 16).
“All my thoughts were taken up in pondering the plan of these two covenants, and the two classes of people that were under them; and one
of these cords must be stretched out to reach every stake of the tabernacle (Isa. liv. 2). I was as though I had been enwrapt in the full blaze of the sunbeams. My hair stood upright, and my blood rankled in my veins, fearing this was to bring me to my dreadful and long-expected end, for I knew not as yet of which class I was to die a member, not being pardoned. Thus Paul was enlightened with the light that shone round about him (to which vision I have often compared mine), but it was three days after the light shined that he received the Holy Ghost in that powerful manner, as you read in the ninth chapter of the Acts.
“I now came down from the ladder, and stood looking this way and that, but could see nothing except the vision. I cried out, ‘What is it? What is it? What is it?’ fearing it was something to bring me to my end, and that I should have no part in that sweet line of promises and invitations which I saw belonged to the elect, who were emphatically styled heirs of promise. Immediately I heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me in plain words, ‘Lay by your forms of prayer, and go pray to Jesus Christ; do not you see how pitifully He speaks to sinners?’ These are the words verbatim, for I think that I shall never forget them.
“‘I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision’ (Acts xxvi. 19), but went to my little tool-house to pray; yet I cannot remember that I had at that time any faith in the Saviour, or expectations of being heard or answered; to all appearance I was sunk too low for that. I rather thought this vision was to bring me to my final end. Therefore I trembled in myself, and was almost desperate, fearing that I should shortly sink under that awful line of dreadful threatenings and curses. When I came into my little tool-house, to the best of my remembrance, I did as I usually had done, that is, I pulled off my blue apron, and covered my head and face with it, for I was like the poor publican, I could not even look up to God; I was afraid He would damn me if I offered to do it. I kneeled down and began to pray extempore, in the language of one desperate, precisely thus: ‘O 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, and will not.’
“The very moment the last sentence had dropped from my lips the Spirit of grace and of supplications was poured into my soul (Zech. xii. 10), and I forthwith spake as the Spirit gave me utterance (Acts ii. 4). I immediately prayed with such energy, eloquence, fluency, boldness, and familiarity as quite astonished me, as much as though I should now 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 blessed 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 dishonoured 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.
“The more I strove to avoid Him, the nearer He approached, the vision opened brighter and brighter, and the impression was made deeper 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 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 for 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 self-existent 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 awful lines of threatenings 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 mind was serenely composed; my doubts and fears 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 spectre 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 the wonderful armoury, the mystery of the cross, where God and sinners meet. I went into the tool-house in all the agonies of the damned, and returned with the kingdom of God established in my heart. O happy year! O happy day! Blessed minute! Sacred spot! Yea, rather, blessed be my dear Redeemer, Who ‘delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling’ (Ps. cxvi. 8).
“I now went and tried to work, but could not; for I had not a thought at my command, nor an affection but what was in Heaven, nor was it in my power to recall them thence, for my heart was where my treasure was (Matt. vi. 21). I went to my tool-house to fetch a tool, but before I reached the spot I forgot what I wanted. I stood trembling, laughing, crying and rejoicing, and saying, ‘What do I want? What do I want?’ but I could not recollect which tool I wanted. So I went back again to my work, and stood looking at it, but my soul was fled to her own mansion, and the poor gardener was left alone. As I could do nothing without her, I was just like a mere machine without wheels. After I had stood
considering a long time, I thought it was a hoe I wanted, then I ran to my tool-house, crying out as I went, ‘Hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe!’ but before I could reach the tool-house my thoughts and the hoe were fled together. I then went back a second time, and stood looking at my work, laughing and crying aloud for joy. When I was able to consider a little, I remembered it was a rake I wanted. Then I set off again, as fast as I could walk, to my tool-house, crying out, ‘Rake, rake, rake, rake!’ but before I could get to my journey’s end, the thought of the rake went after the hoe, so that I could get neither of them. I was like poor blessed Peter, when he said, ‘It is good to be here,’ but knew not what he said. I now went back the third time, and gave up all hopes of being able to work, and I considered with myself what I should do in the case. If I did not work I could not conscientiously receive my wages, and, if I received no pay, my wife and child must suffer for want of bread. As for myself, I regarded not food, nor do I believe I should have felt the want of it had I starved to death.
“However, all my efforts to work would not do; Jesus Christ was come; it was the year of jubilee with me, and the earth must bring forth of herself, for I could not till the ground. The servant was now freed from his master, and my hands were delivered from the pots. My soul had got on the wings of a dove; she had fled to keep holy-day, and I was determined to keep holy-day also. I therefore left the garden and went to Sunbury Common, where I could walk as many miles as I pleased without being molested, and there I blessed and praised God with a loud voice, without anybody listening to the glorious converse which I held with my dear Redeemer.
“When I came there I was amazed, for the whole creation appeared in such embroidery as I had never before seen. ‘His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise’ (Hab. iii. 3). Indeed, I could not compare myself to anything, unless it was to one who had been shut up in a dark cell from the moment of his birth till he arrived at the age of twenty or thirty years, and then was turned into the world on a glorious sunshiny day, and placed on an eminence, where he could survey the greatest part of the world at one view.’