George Whitefield
Perhaps the greatest orator of the Great Awakening was George Whitefield. Along with
Edwards, his impact on the era was monumental. So enthralling was his preaching that it was
said that his mere pronunciation of the word “Mesopotamia” would bring tears to men’s eyes. Although hailing from England, Whitfield spent much of his career evangelizing throughout the American colonies. He traveled colonies up and down the Atlantic coast with an unimaginable cadence. In one year, Whitefield covered 5,000 miles in America and preached more than 350 times.
His presentation was known as was charismatic, and at times histrionic. Whitefield would
frequently proclaim the Word of God with such pathos and intensity that he would tremble
during his sermons. People gathered by the thousands in churches and farmers’ fields to hear him preach. His celebrity status drew the attention and admiration of Benjamin Franklin, who was captivated by his work.
Whitfield was born in Gloucester, England in 1714. He came from a broken home which likely resulted in a non-religious upbringing. As Lawson says, “George became involved in stealing, lying, fighting and cursing. He had a knowledge of sin during these formative years but had no knowledge of Christ.” His mother kept an inn, and the young Whitefield was gainfully employed assisting her. He would often entertain their guests with his theatrics, which undoubtedly served as a precursor to his preaching posture. However, his wit was unmistakable, which by providence landed him at Pembroke College, Oxford.
While at Oxford, Whitefield made the acquaintance of the Wesley brothers Charles and
John. These were the fledgling chapters of Methodism, and George fit right into the disciplined
life and close comradery. However, their religiosity was dull and unfulfilling. All remained
unconverted.
Whitefield first learned of the new birth after reading Henry Scougal’s book, The Life of
God in the Soul of Man. Again, Lawson reports, “He learned that the way of salvation was not
by his religious works but by divine regeneration. Under tremendous agony of conviction, he
realized, ‘I must be born again or be damned!” By God’s grace, George Whitfield was converted at the age of 21.
Whitefield was undoubtedly Calvinist in his theology as attested to by most historians.
As Dallimore related, “Whitefield produced a very real understanding of the doctrines of grace,
not as an abstract system of thought, but as the teachings of the Scriptures and the basic
principles of the daily Christian life.” However, Whitefield did not demonstrate the iconic
Calvinistic stereotype by any measure. He was fervently enlivened by the message of sovereign
grace, which drove an intense urgency to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. “The deeper Whitefield plunged into these sacred truths, the higher he ascended into his declaration of them.”
Whitefield’s style was not exclusively expository like Jonathan Edwards but took on
more of a topical nature. Much after the pattern of Matthew Henry, he tended to give
immediately applicable messages that were both evangelistic and practical to the Christian life.
As James Stitzinger related, “As the Puritan era gave way to the preaching of the Evangelical
Awakening, preaching that was generally topical, such as that of Wesley and Whitfield [sic],
replaced exposition.”
However, there were elements of exposition in the few remaining sermons of Whitefield.
He seemed to follow the tenets of William Perkins in his sermon development. Namely,
beginning with reading the text, explaining the text, revealing essential doctrine, and finally,
applying said doctrine. This methodology demonstrates that one can address a topic while simultaneously expositing the related Scripture.
In his classic, The Method of Grace, Whitefield describes the authentic work of grace in a
regenerated person’s heart. Whitefield declares, “we can speak peace to our hearts” when God’s
work is legitimate. The critical distinctions are a Biblical understanding of sin, the nature of
unbelief, and capturing the righteousness of Christ by faith alone in Christ alone. The sermon
also addresses different people, including true Christians, struggling believers, and those who
have never known Christ in their hearts or are patently religious without experiencing new life in Christ. One of the critical notes in his message is that when one comes to Jesus, he must hate his sin and hate his seemingly righteous deeds.
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