The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., Vol. 5 (of 6)

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THE

WORKS

OF THE REVEREND

GEORGE WHITEFIELD, M.A.

Late of Pembroke-College, Oxford,
And Chaplain to the Right Honourable, the Countess of Huntingdon.

CONTAINING

All his SERMONS and TRACTS

Which have been already published:

WITH

A Select COLLECTION of LETTERS,

Written to his most intimate Friends, and Persons of Distinction, in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, from the Year 1734, to 1770, including the whole Period of his Ministry.

ALSO

Some other Pieces on Important Subjects,

never before printed; prepared by Himself for the Press.

To which is prefixed,

An ACCOUNT of his LIFE,

Compiled from his Original Papers and Letters.

VOLUME V.

LONDON:

Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry;
and Messrs. Kincaid and Creech, at Edinburgh.

MDCCLXXII.

The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent.

* * *

Genesis iii. 15.

And I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy Head, and thou shalt bruise his Heel.

ON reading to you these words, I may address you in the language of the holy angels to the shepherds, that were watching their flocks by night; “Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” For this is the first promise that was made of a Saviour to the apostate race of Adam. We generally look for Christ
only in the New Testament; but christianity, in one sense, is very near as old as the creation. It is wonderful to observe how gradually God
revealed his Son to mankind. He began with the promise in the text, and this the elect lived upon, till the time of Abraham. To him, God
made further discoveries of his eternal council concerning man’s redemption. Afterwards, at sundry times, and in divers manners, God
spoke to the fathers by the prophets, till at length the Lord Jesus
himself was manifested in flesh, and came and tabernacled amongst us.

This first promise must certainly be but dark to our first parents, in comparison of that great light which we enjoy: And yet, dark as it was, we may assure ourselves they built upon it their hopes of everlasting salvation, and by that faith were saved.

How they came to stand in need of this promise, and what is the extent and meaning of it, I intend, God
willing, to make the subject-matter of your present meditation.

The fall of man is written in too legible characters not to be understood: Those that deny it, by their denying, prove it. The very heathens confessed, and bewailed it: They could see the streams of corruption running through the whole race of mankind, but could not trace them to the fountain-head. Before God gave a revelation of his Son, man was a riddle to himself. And Moses unfolds more, in this one chapter (out of which the text is taken) than all mankind could have been capable of finding out of themselves, though they had studied to all eternity.

In the preceding chapter he had given us a full account, how God
spoke the world into being; and especially how he formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into him the breath of life, so that he became a living soul. A council of the Trinity was called concerning the formation of this lovely creature. The result of that council was, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him.” Moses remarkably repeats these words, that we might take particular notice of our divine Original. Never was so much expressed in so few words: None but a man inspired could have done so. But it is remarkable, that though Moses mentions our being made in the image of God,
yet he mentions it but twice, and that in a transient manner; as though he would have said, “man was made in honour, God
made him upright, ‘in the image of God,
male and female created he them.’ But man so soon fell, and became like the beasts that perish, nay, like the devil himself, that it is scarce worth mentioning.”

How soon man fell after he was created, is not told us; and therefore, to fix any time, is to be wise above what is written. And, I think, they who suppose that man fell the same day in which he was made, have no sufficient ground for their opinion. The many things which are crouded together in the former chapter, such as the formation of Adam’s wife, his giving names to the beasts, and his being put into the garden which God had planted, I think require a longer space of time than a day to be transacted in. However, all agree in this, “man stood not long.” How long, or how short a while, I will not take upon me to determine. It more concerns us to enquire, how he came to fall from his stedfastness, and what was the rise and progress of the temptation which prevailed over him. The account given us in this chapter concerning it, is very full; and it may do us much service, under God, to make some remarks upon it.

“Now the serpent (says the sacred historian) was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made; and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Though this was a real serpent, yet he that spoke was no other than the devil; from hence, perhaps, called the old serpent, because he took possession of the serpent when he came to beguile our first parents. The devil envied the happiness of man, who was made, as some think, to supply the place of the fallen angels. God made man upright, and with full power to stand if he would: He was just, therefore, in suffering him to be tempted. If he fell, he had no one to blame except himself. But how must satan effect his fall? He cannot do it by his power, he attempts it therefore by policy: he takes possession of a serpent, which was more subtile than all the beasts of the field, which the Lord God had made; so that men who are full of subtilty, but have no piety, are only machines for the devil to work upon, just as he pleases.

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