Page:The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A. (1771 Vol 1).djvu/186

 but the hath brought me to believe on Him, and I now do so no more. I once was full of envy, hatred, malice, and such like cursed tempers; but now I have love, and peace, and joy. And because hath shewn such mercy to me, I desire that all others should be made as happy, nay happier than I am myself.—Hearken therefore now to the voice of the. Pray to that you may feel yourselves poor, miserable sinners, and come by a living faith to. Then he will pardon you of all your sins, make you holy by his spirit here, and take you into everlasting happiness hereafter. Your traders, some of them at least, will tell you, that you must be miserable, if you will be christians. But these know nothing of ; for they are ungodly men, walking after their own wicked lusts. Whosoever will follow, though happy in himself, must be looked upon as a fool by others. The spirit of the world, and the spirit of are quite contrary one to the other; and therefore if you will live godly in Him, you must suffer persecution; you must have all manner of evil spoken against you falsely, and be called madmen and fools; but let not that daunt you, or make you afraid. There is a world to come, there is a judgment-day, and then shall crown all those with glory, who have suffered for his name's sake. Once more, therefore, hearken to the voice of the. For the died for you, as well as for the white men among you, and that you might be taught the gospel; but they have made you worse than you were before, and therefore shall receive the greater damnation. He who brings this, no doubt, will be despised amongst them, because he will, I hope, neither get drunk, nor curse, nor swear.—But I trust the will strengthen him, and cause him to shew many of you the true way of salvation—I shall not fail to pray for him, and for you; for though I know you not, yet if I could thereby save your precious souls, I think I could die for your sake. May the bless you, and bring you out of darkness into his marvellous light, for his infinite mercy's sake. This is the prayer of, dear brethren,

Your soul's well-wisher and servant in ,

G. W.