PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., Vol. 5 (of 6) : Containing all his sermons and tracts, etc.
Whitefield, George, 1714-1770 · 189,652 words · 269 reading sections
Part 241
Whilst CHRIST was himself on earth, it is said, that the people hung upon him to hear the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. And if we looked on ministers as we ought, as the sent of JESUS CHRIST, we should hang upon them to hear their words also. Besides, the sacred truths that gospel ministers deliver, …
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6. _Sixth_ and last direction: If you would receive a blessing from the LORD, when you hear his word preached, pray to him, both before, in, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put in practice, what he shall shew from the book of GOD to be your duty.…
905 wordsSECTION 243SERMON XXIX.
The Extent and Reasonableness of Self-Denial. LUKE ix. 23. _And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself._ WHOEVER reads the gospel with a single eye, and sincere intention, will find, that our blessed LORD took all opportunities of reminding his disciples that his kingdom was not o…
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And I cannot but particularly press this doctrine upon you, because it is the grand secret of our holy religion. It is this, my brethren, that distinguishes the true christian from the mere moralist and formal professor; and without which none of our actions are acceptable in GOD’s sight: For “if thine eye be single,” …
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But to proceed: As we must renounce our affection for riches, so likewise our affections for relations, when they stand in opposition to our love of, and duty to GOD: For thus saith the Saviour of the world: “If any man will come after me, and hateth not his father and mother, his children, and brethren, and sisters, y…
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When our blessed master had been discoursing publicly concerning the watchfulness of the faithful and wise steward, his disciples asked him, “Speakest thou this parable to all, or only to us?” The same question I am aware has been, and will be put concerning the foregoing doctrine: for too many, unwilling to take CHRIS…
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Had any of us seen _Lazarus_ when he lay full of sores at the rich man’s gate; or _Job_ when he was smitten with ulcers, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot: And had we at the same time prescribed to them some healing medicines, which, because they might put them to pain, they would not apply to their wo…
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1. And the first means I shall recommend to you, in order to reconcile you to this doctrine, is, to meditate frequently on the life of our blessed Lord and Master JESUS CHRIST. Follow him from his cradle to the cross, and see what a self-denying life he led! And shall not we drink of the cup that he drank of, and be ba…
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Which GOD of his infinite mercy grant, _&c._…
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CHRIST’s Transfiguration. LUKE ix. 28‒36. _And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took |Peter| and |John| and |James|, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his rayment was white and glistering. And behold, there talked with him…
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The verses give us an account of what is generally called our LORD’s _Transfiguration_; his being wonderfully changed, and his being wonderfully owned by his Father upon the mount. Some think that this was done upon a sabbath-day; and the particular occasion of our blessed LORD’s condescending to let his servants have …
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Well, as CHRIST had told them, that they should not taste of death, till they had seen the kingdom of GOD, why the Evangelist, at the 28th verse, tells us, “It came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took _Peter_, and _John_, and _James_, and went up into a mountain to pray.” About an eight days; that …
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“Behold, two men, which were _Moses_ and _Elias_;” these were two very proper persons to come upon this embassy to the Son of GOD. _Moses_ was the great lawgiver, _Elias_ was the great restorer of the law: The body of _Moses_ was hidden and never found, _Elias_’s body was translated immediately, and carried up in a fie…
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♦ “she” replaced with “he” However, in the midst of these infirmities, there was something that bespoke the honesty and integrity of his heart. Though he knew not very well what he said, yet he was not so stupid as his pretended successor at _Rome_. He does not fall down and worship these two departed saints, neither …
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St. _Mark_ and St. _Matthew_ add “in whom I am well pleased.” The same testimony that GOD the Father gave to the blessed JESUS at his baptism, before he entered upon his temptation, is now repeated, in order to strengthen and prepare him for his impending agony in the garden. Probably, it was a small still though artic…
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But, my dear friends, did our LORD JESUS CHRIST take _Peter_, _James_, and _John_ into a mountain to pray? Are any of you fathers, mothers, masters and mistresses of families? Learn then from hence to take your children, your servants, and those that belong to you, from the world, at certain times, and not only pray fo…
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Did _Peter_ know which was _Moses_ and which _Elias_? Then I think, and GOD be praised for it, it is plain from this and other passages of scripture, that we shall know one another when we come to heaven. _Dives_ knew _Lazarus_: “Father _Abraham_, send _Lazarus_:” And we are told, “he saw _Lazarus_ sitting in _Abraham_…
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I can now only mention one thing more, and that is, Did the Father say, “This is my beloved Son, hear him?” then let every one of our hearts echo to this testimony given of CHRIST, “This is my beloved Saviour.” Did GOD so love the world, as to send his only begotten Son, his well beloved Son to preach to us? then, my d…
395 wordsSECTION 259SERMON XXXI.
The Care of the Soul urged as the one thing needful. LUKE x. 42. _But one thing is needful._ IT was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that “he went about doing good,” this great motive, which animated all his actions, brought him to the house of his friend _Lazarus_, at _Bethany_, and directed his behav…
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Now in a few words, it is the “_Care of the soul_,” opposed, as you see in the text, to the care, the excessive care of the body; to which _Martha_ was gently admonished by our LORD. This is a general answer, and it comprehends a variety of important particulars, which is the business of our ministry often to open to y…
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Our LORD, you see, speaks of it as needful in the general. He says not, for this or that particular person; or for those of such an age, station, or circumstance in life, but needful for all. And indeed, when discoursing on such a subject, one might properly introduce it with those solemn words of the psalmist, “Give e…
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As _David_ observes, that “the commandment of GOD is exceeding broad,” _Psalm_ cxix. 96. so we may say of this one thing needful; or as _Solomon_ very justly and emphatically expresses it, “to fear GOD and to keep his commandments is the whole duty of man,” _Ecclesiastes_ xii. 13. his whole duty, and his whole interest…
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For if we inquire what it was that our LORD JESUS CHRIST judged to be the one thing needful, the words of the text contain as full an answer as can be imagined; and the sense of them is repeated in a very lively and emphatical manner, in that remarkable passage wherein our LORD not only declares his own judgment, but s…
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Once more, what if to the testimony of the dying, we could add that of the dead? What if GOD were to turn aside the vail between us and the invisible world, and permit the most careless sinner in the assembly to converse for a few moments with the inhabitants of it? If you were to apply yourself to a happy Spirit, that…
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A crown of everlasting glory is not surely such a trifle as to be thrown away on a careless creature, that will not in good earnest pursue it. GOD doth not ordinarily deal thus, even with the bounties of his common providence, which are comparatively of little value. As to these, the hand of the diligent generally make…
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Nothing can be more evident from the word of the GOD of truth. It there plainly appears to be a determined case, which leaves no room for a more favourable conjecture or hope. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, even all the nations that forget GOD,” _Psalm_ ix. 17. “They shall go away into everlasting punishment,” …
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If religion be indeed the truest wisdom, then surely we have the justest reason to say with _Solomon_, “that folly and madness is in mens hearts,” _Ecclesiastes_ ix. 3. Is it the one thing needful? Look on the conduct of the generality of mankind, and you would imagine they thought it the one thing needless: the vaines…
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I know you that are young, are under peculiar temptations to do this; though it is strange that the death of so many of your companions, should not be an answer to some of the most specious and dangerous of those temptations. Methinks, if there were the least degree of uncertainty, the importance is too weighty to put …
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I hope, that when you see how commonly it is neglected, neglected indeed, by many, whose natural capacities, improvements, and circumstances in life, appear to you superior to your own; you will humbly acknowledge, that it was distinguishing grace which brought you into this happy state, and formed you to this most nec…
580 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.