The sermon focuses on the life and impact of George Whitefield, a key figure in the Great Awakening. It highlights Whitefield's understanding of the need for being born again and the role of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. The sermon emphasizes the importance of relying solely on the righteousness of Christ for salvation and the fruits of the Spirit that manifest in the lives of those who are born again.

Welcome back to Burnet Bible Church. Join us this week as Pastor Hopkins continues his sermon series through the Book of Romans. If you would, turn with me in your Bibles once again to the book of Romans, the eighth chapter, where we will be reading once again chapter eight, verses seven through nine, together as a congregation, if you would stand for the reading of the word of the Lord. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his let's pray father we ask that you might be pleased once again to give the Spirit to open our understanding and pierce our hearts with the power and conviction of the truth of the word that's set before us this afternoon and lift our hearts to heaven where Christ sits at your right hand and where we are also seated who are united to him by faith.

For we ask it in his holy name Amen Amen, let's be seated in our last two sessions We looked briefly at testimonials from the lives of two men from history Aurelius Agustin and William Wilberforce And in a few minutes, I want to remind you of the significance of these two testimonials of the lives of these two men as they relate to the text that's before us from Romans 8 this afternoon. But first, how many this afternoon are familiar with the life of a man in history, from history, named George Whitefield? How many? Good. For those who know anything of that earth-shaking revival that took place on this continent in the 1700s known as the Great Awakening, you know that Whitefield was a man who was used of God in a mighty way, both in England, where he was born, as well as in America.

It was in England that Whitefield began to preach at the age of 22. First in the churches of England after he was ordained in England by the church of England, and then in the churchyards and in the fields in the open air after the pulpits of those churches in England were closed to him on account of his message. Whitfield preached of the new birth. Whitfield preached that men must be born again. And he preached that this birth, this new birth, was a work of the Holy Spirit.

Worked upon the hearts of men in regeneration, making them a new creation in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Whitfield's a message that many baptized churchgoers and even their ministers were unsaved or unchanged or unconverted sinners still dead in their trespasses and sins, and headed for hell, was not well received by the clergy in England. And many, many pulpits were then closed to Whitfield, to his message. And when they were, he took to the churchyards after the services, and he took to the open fields of England where crowds of literally tens of thousands of people, many who had never darkened the doorways of a church, flocked to hear him preach, and where many thousands were converted to Christ.

In 1740, Whitfield actually made several trips to America. He made seven trips to America from England. It took about four months to cross the ocean, so he made 13 trips across the ocean, about four months each in his travels to America. But in 1740, I believe it was his second trip to America, George Whitefield comes to America this time to do what he's been doing in England. Before he was ministering at and helping establish an orphanage in Georgia, but on the second trip and thereafter, he begins to do what he did in England and to preach in the open air.

And George Whitefield preached in the open air in America, in the New England colonies, to crowds of up to 30,000, once preaching to an audience in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was twice the size of the population of the city. And all that before the invention of amplification. Whitfield, imagine him on horseback, crisscrossing the nation, preaching two and three sermons a day. It was truly a great awakening. Through the open air preaching of men like George Whitfield and the sermons of men like Jonathan Edwards who wrote, by the way, the most popular sermon that's ever been published in the world, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, known by more people than any other message.

But through the preaching of Whitefield and the sermons of men like Jonathan Edwards, it is believed that one in 10 people living in the colonies at that time were born again, came to saving faith, were resurrected from the state of spiritual death to life and faith in Christ. It was indisputably the greatest revival that has ever rained down from heaven on American soil. But back in England, before Whitfield sailed to America, and before he began to preach in his homeland, Whitfield himself was spiritually dead. He was a walking dead man. He was a spiritual corpse.

Whitfield had become friends with the Wesley brothers in England, Charles and John, while attending Pembroke College at Oxford, England. And the three would gather together, along with others, every week in what would later become to be known as the Holy Club. And in this club, the Westleys in Whitfield would pray and encourage each other to fasting and to good deeds. Whitfield fasted. One time I read that he had, his body had become so emaciated through denial and through fasting that he was unable to climb the stairs in the place where he lived, and the doctors actually ordered him to bed, and he stayed in bed for seven weeks.

He was serious about this thing of trying to gain God's favor. He fasted, he gave all to the poor, he visited those in prison, he did many other works, but Whitfield would later confess that despite his personal piety and his good intentions, he was not even converted at the time. He was an unsaved man. It was not until George Whitefield read a book written by a young Scottish Puritan named Henry Scugel, the life of God and the soul of man, that Whitefield realized that he had never experienced a new birth in Christ. Whitefield was still unconverted, unregenerate, spiritually dead.

Despite Whitefield's decision at Oxford to live a life of discipline and rigorous self-denial, Whitfield was unable to gain a sense of acceptance with God and assurance of his salvation. It was Schugel's book that God used to open Whitfield's eyes at the age of 20 to his loss and miserable condition. Quote, I really wanted to know God and to be assured of salvation, Whitfield writes, but even strict discipline didn't seem to help. God showed me that I must be born again, end quote. What Whitfield came to understand and over time experience was what Jesus said to Nicodemus 1700 years earlier.

You must be born again. Except the man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of The Spirit is Spirit. And if you look at our text from Romans this afternoon, it says, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

And isn't that exactly what Eric was just delivering in his message from the Baptist's confession? They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Seeking to obtain God's favor by means of a works righteousness is an exercise in futility. By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, Paul said. And Whitfield came to understand this.

Whitfield writes, quote, God showed me that I must be born again or be damned. I learned that a man may go to church, he may say his prayers, He may even receive the sacrament, that is the Lord's Supper, and yet not be a Christian." End quote. It was that kind of preaching that would later so alarm the churchmen of England that the ministers would unite together to banish Whitefield from their pulpits. He said even some of your ministers are not born again. Whitefield would begin to teach what God had showed him.

That those who have not been born again with new life from above cannot do anything to please God. That a man must be born again. That church going, rule keeping, outward attempts at moral reformation, never saved anyone. The life of God must be in the soul of man. Then a man will want to obey God from the heart out of love for God and in gratitude for what God has done for him, he knows he could not do for himself.

There must be an operation of the life-giving Spirit of God upon the soul of man that produces a new heart. A heart that is not constrained by the law of God, but constrained by the love of God. And that delights then to do his will. God brought Whitfield to the place where he despaired of any notion of acceptance with him on account of his own human effort. And he brought him to that place of despair and to the place where he was driven to the only relief for his soul to trust in the person and the work of Jesus Christ, God's Son alone.

Whitfield came to understand that then, and only then, being born again, can a person begin to truly obey God from the heart? Apart from a work of God, it's just rule keeping from the outside, being constrained by the law of God, without any sense of the love of God. Brothers and sisters, we will always be frustrated with constant failure who go about to establish a righteousness of our own. Isn't it interesting how that works? You try to establish a righteousness of your own, You use all your human powers that you can muster up and you can't do it.

And then God invades your soul by his grace, changes you from the inside out, makes you a new creature in his son. Through no work or effort at all of your own, you didn't do anything, and now you have the ability to begin for the first time in your life to do what he asks you to do from the heart. Never perfectly, but more and more progressively. The work of God in regeneration, in the new birth, results in a condemnation of our self-justifying works. We abominate any notion that we could somehow merit God's favor by our works.

And it brings us to a place, the work of God and regeneration brings us to a reliance upon Christ and what He has done for us alone. All who are born again, truly born again, rely solely on the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus. Well, how do I know if I'm born again? Well, the born again rely solely on the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus. Well, how do I know if I'm born again?

Well, the born again rely solely on the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus. They've come to that place of despair of any self-righteousness or any merit on their part or any ability on their part to even get God's attention, much less be saved by Him on account of their works. It is on account, it is on account of the new birth by the Spirit and from the ongoing work of the Spirit and sanctification within those whom God has justified by faith. Listen, that the fruits of the Spirit proceed. The fruits of the Spirit proceed from the heart and from the life of a person who is indwelt by the Spirit.

And that happens at the moment of regeneration of the new birth. And by the grace of God, Whitefield came to understand this, and he came to experience it, and then he began to preach it to others. Think about it, everything else is just moralism. An attempt to reform without what God has not performed within. The life of God must be in the soul of man.

Henry Schugel was right. You must be born again, Jesus said. They that are in the flesh can't even begin to serve God. Whitfield will later preach this truth from personal experience. He will say, yes, quote, Christianity includes morality.

Because they were coming after him. You're saying there's no morality in Christianity and doesn't matter what we do? No. Christianity includes morality, but if we are mere moralists, this is Whitfield, if we're not inwardly worked upon, if we're not changed by the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, unless our moral actions proceed from a principle of a new nature, However we may call ourselves Christians, we shall be found naked at the great day, the day of judgment, and in the number of those who have neither Christ's righteousness imputed to them for their justification in the sight of God, nor holiness in their souls as a consequence of that in order to make them fit for the enjoyment of God, end quote. Many of the churches and their ministers didn't like this kind of preaching.

They just wanted, you know, attenders, tithers. You get baptized. You go through the Lord's table. Just be here. Just support the building ministry or the building project or whatever, that was enough for them.

Whitfield shook things up. God shook things up through George Whitefield. Brothers and sisters, if there's any here today who are in the painful condition of trying to please God, who have not the Spirit of God, I understand your frustration. It's painful. It's frustrating.

And the apostle Paul says it's impossible. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. It is impossible to obey God from the heart who have not God in the heart. We need a new heart and that only God can give and it's a work of the Spirit of God. They that are in The flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, our text says, if so be that the spirit of God dwells in you.

The life of God and the soul of man is the answer, both for our justification as well as our sanctification that follows. The question we should ask ourselves, is the Spirit of God dwelling in me? Am I in Christ and Christ in me? Our text this afternoon goes on to say, if any man has not the spirit of Christ, he's none of his, that means he doesn't belong to God. It's frightening words.

John said in 1 John 4.13, but hereby we know that we are in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit. It should increase our assurance. Further on in Romans 8 Paul will say, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God. But maybe, you know, maybe you've been, maybe there's someone here who maybe has been trying to strong arm your flesh into submission. Like Whitfield before his conversion.

Whitfield was carrying a heavy load, but God removed it and enabled him, in Whitfield's words, quote, to lay hold of his dear son by a living faith, and by giving him, giving me, he says, the spirit of adoption, the spirit to seal me to the day of everlasting redemption. Whitfield goes on to speak of the joy experienced when God did this in his life. Oh, oh with what joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory was my soul filled when the weight of sin fell off, when the weight of sin went off, and then he speaks of going back from time to time to the place where it happened, where he really sensed that this took place, this area of the world where it took place in his life, where Jesus Christ first revealed himself to him and gave him the new birth. Two weeks ago we saw something similar to this in the life of Aurelius Augustine, remember? Here was a man who would become the greatest theologian of the early church but before he's born again, he's miserable.

He's dead and trespasses and sins. The arm of the flesh failed him too, just like Whitefield. Remember his story? Whitefield's mother is praying for his conversion. Remember counting how she felt more pain praying for her son's conversion than she experienced giving birth to him.

Her boy is unregenerate. He's unsaved, he's dead and trespasses and sins. He's living in sexual uncleanness. And he can't shake it. And his mother knows it.

And she's heartbroken. And she's following her son, she's following Augustine. Everywhere he goes from city to city, literally following him from city to city. Leaving behind him a trail of tears. And then in a single day, our prayers are answered.

Aurelius, Augustine, comes under conviction for his sin. He says, from the bottom of his soul, a mighty storm arose, bringing a mighty shower of tears. And Aurelius falls face down under a fig tree and he cries out to God, remember? He cries out to God, tomorrow? Tomorrow?

Why not today? Why not deliver me now from my uncleanness? You may sit there and think, well my sin isn't as great as Augustine's. Maybe not but it's just as enslaving and with all as Horatius Bonar and his hymn says with all your prayers and sighs and tears, you can't remove the awful load. You can't get deliverance from it.

But remember, when Aurelius is at that moment of greatest despair, Sometimes God brings us to the point of greatest despair, right? The Puritans used to talk about it's the darkest just before the dawn. He's just at that moment of greatest despair and he's lying face down under under a fig tree and he's crying out to God. No relief at all. Just then he hears the voices of children in the distance at a neighboring house and they're chanting, pick up and read, pick up and read.

And he takes it as a command from God to go back to where he was sitting before, where his friend was sitting with him, and there was a volume of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. And he picks it up at random and he reads where the Apostle Paul says, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, that is sexual immorality and uncleanness and lust, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, put ye on the Lord Jesus. It's the same thing as saying look to Jesus alone. Augustine said he didn't need to read anymore because of that moment. A light as it were of serenity infused into his heart.

Those are his words. That's regenerate, that's the moment of regeneration. That was the moment of his new birth Charles spurgeon recounts, you know a similar Experience he's 15 years old He's walking in a snowstorm. He's under conviction for his sin. He can't get free from it.

He can't get any relief for his condition, he's despairing, He's unable to obey God from the heart. He has no comfort of soul that he's even truly been saved. He's walking out in a snowstorm, 15 years of age, and he happens on a small church with only 15 people there. A Methodist church. And he's a Baptist and he goes into a Methodist Church.

And there's this unknown pastor there. He said he thinks maybe a shoemaker because the other pastor wasn't able to be there, the church. And he's reading, he picks this text from Isaiah, chapter 45, verse 22, look to Jesus, all ye ends of the earth, look to Jesus and be saved, all ye ends of the earth. Look to Jesus and be saved, all ye ends of the earth. And it just strikes him, here he is, he came in, he says, and I'm in darkness.

And then in a moment, the sun comes out, the darkness rolled away. He could see the light of the sun spiritually. The people of Israel weren't healed of their snake bites by looking at their snake bites. They were healed by looking at the serpent on the pole, which was a figure of Christ to come who would be nailed to a cross for our sins. They looked to the bronze serpent on the pole, And Spurgeon looked to Jesus that day.

And it was because the Lord invaded his heart by his grace, his spirit did a work in him that day that he had not done any other day. He had been in the presence of eloquent pastors and eloquent speakers, the greatest speakers and preachers of his time, and God uses an unknown shoemaker with the simple words, look to Jesus. And the load of his sin he's carrying falls off. The Spirit of God regenerates him. He sets his hopes and he sets his hopes on Christ alone.

And I don't want to, as I close here, I don't want to, in presenting these, I don't want anyone to come away with the idea that it always happens in an instant, the bright flash of light, no? It happened over a period of time with Whitefield. He marks the times where God is working upon him. The Spirit of God is beginning that work in him. It is God, the apostle Paul said, who begins that work in us.

And the work he begins, he completes. It is God who works in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. But it happened over a period of time with Whitefield. And God brought about the circumstances. Despair of human effort.

You see that common denominator, despair of human effort. I can't do this, God. I'm done for. I'm ruined, finished. I have no strength left.

Praise God, there's no such thing as salvation by human effort. We must be born again. Whitfield came to a place of despair. Augustine came to a place of despair. Spurgeon came to a place of despair.

And they all looked to Jesus. And like Wesley's hymn says, their chains fell off, their hearts were freed, they rose went forth and then they followed him. Regeneration bringing about our justification followed by sanctification, our growth and holiness and obedience to God. That's how it happens. It's interesting, you know, that when we cry out to God in despair of self-effort like Whitefield and Augustine and Spurgeon, the work of the Spirit has already begun.

You see that? That's the sign, that's the evidence that it's already begun. You have People that sit there and they're cold-hearted and then I'm not going to cry out to God, I'm not asking for God to give me a new heart. You need a new heart. You need a new heart.

I'm not crying out to God for a new heart. The moment you do, the evidence is in that God has already begun that work within you. If any have been trying to strong arm the flesh and failed, remember God works when he wills, where he wills, and upon whom he wills, and when he does, he sets our eyes on Christ. When he regenerates us, he sets our eyes on Christ. And the Spirit, it's the Spirit of God doing a work within us that we could never do ourselves.

As a final note, that Puritan, Henry Schugel, author of the life of God and the soul of man that God used so mightily in the conversion of Whitfield. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 27. 37 years before Whitfield was born. Schugel could never have known the impact of what was originally a letter that was later published as a book, that it would lead to the conversion of a 20-year-old man who would become one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever known, and be used of God to bring, some people say millions, into the kingdom of God. He would preach to millions before his death, 10 million were estimated to have heard his voice in America.

That was back then. 10 million were estimated to have seen him and heard his preaching face to face in a day when there was no amplification or iPhones and social media. And his message that he preached, and he preached thousands of messages. I think they said 18,000 messages before he died his message that he preached that we preached thousands of him was really only one message preached in many ways, the words of Jesus, you must be born again. And the same message from the Apostle Paul from our text this afternoon, they that are in the flesh can't please God, but you're not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. That's the life of God in the soul of man. That's the life of God in the soul of man. Let's pray. Father we are well aware God that we can't pull ourselves up by our own spiritual bootstraps.

We can't save ourselves. We can't prepare ourselves unto salvation. We can't do enough good works to merit acceptance with you. We know God from your word that there's not going to be anyone accepted in your sight on account of their merits. And Lord, we are looking to the merits of Christ alone.

And God, we thank you for the Spirit who makes the truth about Christ and his person and his work and his cross, what he has done for us, Lord, real to us and applies that atoning sacrifice of Christ to the hearts of the lives of those whom you have elected from the foundations of the world we thank you for that God and We thank you God that when the Spirit of God changes us, Lord, and gives us a new heart, the fruits of the Spirit begin to manifest themselves. And we thank you God that it's all your work from beginning to end. Yes, our justification and our, as well as our sanctification. We thank you, God. Lord, we ask that as we approach this of the Lord's table, that you would give us hearts, Lord, of gratitude for what Christ has done for us.

And Lord, if there is any that have never known you, who have not the Spirit, God, I pray this might be the moment, Lord, the very hour, very moment, of new birth and true faith in Christ and reliance upon Him alone for their salvation. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.