George Whitefield Books: His Sermons, Works and Memoirs

Sermons Revival Preaching Biography

George Whitefield (1714–1770) preached perhaps eighteen thousand sermons, but only a small share of them were ever written down. He was a preacher first and a writer a long way second. What survives is still a lot: sermons, open letters, tracts defending the revival, prayers and journals. TheWay Library has five books by or about him, all free to read: a short book of selected sermons, three of the six volumes of his collected Works, and John Gillies's Memoirs of his life with more sermons bound in. For his life story, see who was George Whitefield.

Where to start

Start with Selected Sermons of George Whitefield. It's short, it includes his very first sermon, and its introduction explains what made him such a preacher.

After that, choose by what you want:

His best-known gospel sermons: Works, Volume 5.
Sermons on the Gospels, the Spirit and the new birth: Works, Volume 6.
The controversies of the Great Awakening, his letter to Wesley, and his prayers: Works, Volume 4.
His life: Gillies's Memoirs.

Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of George Whitefield quotes.

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Six sermons with an introduction on Whitefield as a preacher. The introduction admits that his printed sermons don't explain his power on their own, and points to where he preached: in churches as a young deacon, in the fields, beside a condemned man at the gallows, and at midnight to crowds in Hyde Park. The sermons are "The Necessity and Benefits of Religious Society," his first, preached at Gloucester in 1736; "Regeneration"; "A Penitent Heart the Best New Year's Gift"; "The Almost Christian"; "Glorifying God in the Fire," for the afflicted; and "Jacob's Ladder," a farewell sermon.

We often pray, Lord, give us Abraham's faith, but never pray, give us Abraham's trial at the same time.
Selected Sermons of George Whitefield, Glorifying God in the Fire

This is the easiest way into Whitefield, and "The Almost Christian" is a fine sermon to read first. Read Selected Sermons.

The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield

His collected Works came out in six volumes after his death. TheWay Library has Volumes 4, 5 and 6. In the Works the sermons are headed only by number, so we've given their titles here.

Volume 5: Sermons I to XXXI

Thirty-one sermons, including many of his best known. Several press the new birth and the righteousness of Christ: "The Lord our Righteousness," "The Righteousness of Christ, an everlasting Righteousness," "The Folly and Danger of being not righteous enough," and "Marks of a true Conversion." Others preach from the Old Testament and the Gospels: "The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent," "Walking with God" (on Enoch), "Abraham's offering up his Son Isaac," "The Potter and the Clay," "The Temptation of Christ," "Blind Bartimeus," "The wise and foolish Virgins" and "Christ's Transfiguration." Practical sermons include "The great Duty of Family-Religion," "Directions how to hear Sermons," "The Benefits of an Early Piety" and "Christ the only Rest for the Weary and Heavy-Laden."

My brethren, if Jesus Christ be not very God of very God, I would never preach the gospel of Christ again.
The Works of George Whitefield, Vol. 5, What think ye of Christ?

If you only read one volume of the Works, read this one. Read Volume 5.

Volume 6: Sermons XXXII to LIX

Twenty-eight more sermons. Many follow the Gospels: "The Gospel Supper," "The Pharisee and Publican," "The Conversion of Zaccheus," "The Marriage of Cana," "The Resurrection of Lazarus" and "Peter's Denial of his Lord." Others treat the Holy Spirit: "The Indwelling of the Spirit, the common Privilege of all Believers," "The Holy Spirit convincing the World of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment" and "Marks of having received the Holy Ghost." Here too are "The Almost Christian," "On Regeneration," "Of Justification by Christ," "Satan's Devices," "Intercession every Christian's Duty" and "Persecution every Christian's Lot," with a sermon preached before the governor and assembly of Georgia in 1770.

Jesus never denies us one thing, but he intends to give us something better in the stead of it.
The Works of George Whitefield, Vol. 6, The Resurrection of Lazarus

Read Volume 6.

Volume 4: Tracts, Letters and Prayers

This volume has no sermons. It gathers the writings Whitefield published to defend the revival and to answer its critics. He replies to the Bishop of London's pastoral letter and to other charges of "enthusiasm." His Letter to the Reverend Mr. John Wesley answers Wesley's sermon Free Grace and defends election and the final perseverance of believers. He vindicates the revival in New England, writes to the president and tutors of Harvard, and expostulates with Count Zinzendorf. There are letters to the religious societies of England and to the people of the southern colonies, prefaces to Bunyan's works and the Homilies, and a large collection of Prayers on Several Occasions.

Faith is the means whereby that salvation is applied to our hearts, and good works are the necessary fruits and proof of that faith.
The Works of George Whitefield, Vol. 4, Answer to the Bishop of London's Last Pastoral Letter

It's the volume for students of the Great Awakening and its debates. Note that Law Gospelized, in this volume, is Whitefield's adaptation of William Law's writing on holiness, so much of its wording is Law's. Read Volume 4.

Memoirs of Rev. George Whitefield

John Gillies, a Glasgow minister and friend of Whitefield, wrote the first full life of him. This 1834 edition, revised and enlarged, follows him year by year in twenty-two chapters: Gloucester and Oxford, the Holy Club and his conversion, Georgia and the orphan house, field preaching at Moorfields and Kennington Common, his separation from Wesley, Scotland, his tours of America and Bermuda, the London Tabernacle, and his last preaching and death in New England in 1770. Extracts from funeral sermons and an estimate of his character follow. The second half prints twenty-seven of Whitefield's sermons, among them "The Method of Grace" and "The Great Duty of Family Religion," with his letter to Wesley.

The text of this edition came from a scan with many misread words, so it's the hardest of the five to read. Use it for the story of his life, and read the sermons in the cleaner volumes above when they appear in both. Read the Memoirs.

Reading Whitefield well

His sermons were preached, not written, and many were taken down by hearers. They're full of direct appeals: "Come," "Will you not?" "O that you would!" Read them aloud if you can. You'll hear the urgency that held his crowds.

For the wider story of the revival he helped lead, see our list of the best Christian books on revival, and read about his friend John Wesley and Wesley's books. Jonathan Edwards, who welcomed Whitefield to New England, is in the library too; see who was Jonathan Edwards.

Why read Whitefield today

He keeps the main thing the main thing: you must be born again, and Christ is freely offered to you now. Begin with the Selected Sermons, then read Volume 5 of the Works. All five books are on the George Whitefield author page.