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

LONDON:

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

MDCCLXXII.

A Penitent Heart, the best New Year’s Gift.

* * *

Luke xiii. 3.

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

WHEN we consider how heinous and aggravating our offences are, in the sight of a just and holy God, that they bring down his wrath upon our heads, and occasion us to live under his indignation; how ought we thereby to be deterred from evil, or at least engaged to study to repent thereof, and not commit the same again; but man is so thoughtless of an eternal state, and has so little consideration of the welfare of his immortal soul, that he can sin without any thought that he must give an account of his actions at the day of judgment; or if he, at times, has any reflections on his behaviour, they do not drive him to true repentance: he may, for a short time, refrain from falling into some gross sins which he had lately committed; but then, when the temptation comes again with power, he is carried away with the lust; and thus he goes on promising and resolving, and in breaking both his resolutions and his promises, as fast almost as he has made them. This is highly offensive to God, it is mocking of him. My brethren, when grace is given us to repent truly, we shall turn wholly unto God; and let me beseech you to repent of your sins, for the time is hastening when you will have neither time nor call to repent; there is none in the grave, whither we are going; but do not be afraid, for God often receives the greatest sinner to mercy through the merits of Christ Jesus; this magnifies the riches of his free grace; and should be an encouragement for you, who are great and notorious sinners, to repent, for he will have mercy upon you, if you through Christ return unto him.

St. Paul was an eminent instance of this; he speaks of himself as “the chief of sinners,” and he declareth how God shewed mercy unto him. Christ
loves to shew mercy unto sinners, and if you repent, he will have mercy upon you. But as no word is more mistaken than that of repentance, I shall

I. Shew you what the nature of repentance is.

II. Consider the several parts and causes of repentance.

III. I shall give you some reasons, why repentance is necessary to salvation. And

IV. Exhort all of you, high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to endeavour after repentance.

I. Repentance, my brethren, in the first place, as to its nature, is the carnal and corrupt disposition of men being changed into a renewed and sanctified disposition. A man that has truly repented, is truly regenerated: it is a different word for one and the same thing; the motley mixture of the beast and devil is gone; there is, as it were, a new creation wrought in your hearts. If your repentance is true, you are renewed throughout, both in soul and body; your understandings are enlightened with the knowledge of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ;
and your wills, which were stubborn, obstinate, and hated all good, are obedient and conformable to the will of God.
Indeed, our deists tell us, that man now has a free will to do good, to love God,
and to repent when he will; but indeed, there is no free will in any of you, but to sin; nay, your free-will leads you so far, that you would, if possible, pull God
from his throne. This may, perhaps, offend the Pharisees; but (it is the truth in Christ
which I speak, I lie not) every man by his own natural will hates God; but when he is turned unto the Lord,
by evangelical repentance, then his will is changed; then your consciences, now hardened and benumbed, shall be quickened and awakened; then your hard hearts shall be melted, and your unruly affections shall be crucified. Thus, by that repentance, the whole soul will be changed, you will have new inclinations, new desires, and new habits.

You may see how vile we are by nature, that it requires so great a change to be made upon us, to recover us from this state of sin, and therefore the consideration of our dreadful state should make us earnest with God to change our condition, and that change, true repentance implies; therefore, my brethren, consider how hateful your ways are to God, while you continue in sin; how abominable you are unto him, while you run into evil: you cannot be said to be christians while you are hating Christ, and his people; true repentance will entirely change you, the biass of your souls will be changed, then you will delight in God, in Christ, in his law, and in his people; you will then believe that there is such a thing as inward feeling, though now you may esteem it madness and enthusiasm; you will not then be ashamed of becoming fools for Christ’s sake; you will not regard being scoffed at; it is not then their pointing after you and crying, “Here comes another troop of his followers,” will dismay you; no, your soul will abhor such proceedings, the ways of Christ and his people will be your whole delight.

It is the nature of such repentance to make a change, and the greatest change as can be made here in the soul. Thus you see what repentance implies in its own nature; it denotes an abhorrence of all evil, and a forsaking of it. I shall now proceed

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