Evangelist
extraordinaire George Whitefield was born on this day, December 16, 1714 at the Bell Inn,
Gloucester, England. According to Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle, Whitefield was “the greatest preacher of the gospel
England has ever seen” (Ryle, J.C.,
Christian Leaders of the 18th Century.
Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1990, p. 31). Like the Wesley brothers, Whitefield traveled countless miles spreading the gospel on two continents, frequently preaching in the open air when church doors were closed to him. Writing in 1885, Ryle gives the first place among revival evangelists to Whitefield: “Of all the spiritual heroes of a hundred years ago none saw so soon as Whitefield what the times demanded, and none were so forward in the great work of spiritual aggression” (Ryle, p. 31).
George Whitefield grew up in conditions of poverty, both financial and spiritual. His parents kept the Inn where he was born, but never had much success in business. When he went to Pembroke College, Oxford, he had to hire himself out as a servant to higher class students because he couldn’t afford the tuition.
In college he met John and Charles Wesley. These men had come to the realization that something was amiss in their lives—they were merely products of their times and were not right with God. So they, along with a few friends, formed The Holy Club to help them live lives that they thought would be pleasing to God. Others referred to them derisively as “Methodists” because of their strict method of living. Whitefield was delivered from the darkness of mere self-denial after reading books like Henry Scougal’s The Life of God in the Soul of Man and Matthew Henry’s Commentary. These books pointed him to the Scriptures, which he spent increasing amounts of time reading. After a period of temptation and mourning the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ broke through the darkness and George Whitefield began rejoicing in God his Savior.
Whitfield’s theology was Calvinistic, which caused a break in close fellowship with the Wesleys, but he always urged sinners to come to Christ at the end of his sermons. People flocked to hear him, with reports from England estimating open-air crowds at 25,000 – 30,000 in number, all hearing his voice clearly. The response to Whitefield’s preaching was overwhelming, and churches were established in his name. Critics in the media frequently lampooned him and the attendees of revival meetings, but Whitefield pressed on with the gospel.
In the American colonies Whitefield preached in New England and parts of South Carolina and Georgia. He became the minister of Savannah, GA in 1738 after the hurried departure of John Wesley, who left in defeat. Wesley returned to England where he soon afterward received the light of the gospel at the famous church meeting on Aldersgate Street. Comparing the journals of Whitefield and Wesley from this time period reveals a vast difference of perception between these two men. Whitefield already knew the Lord; John Wesley did not yet know Him. Whitefield’s journal has a ring of worship to it; Wesley’s a note of despair. But Wesley’s journal was soon to change tones as he felt his heart “strangely warmed” at that church meeting. What a difference the Lord makes in a life!
Whitefield was tireless in his labors, preaching all over England and making seven trips to America, where he preached up and down the eastern seaboard. In New England he sometimes worked with Jonathan Edwards in preaching the gospel. In Georgia and South Carolina he preached at churches and founded an orphanage several miles outside of Savannah, the Bethesda Home for Boys, which still operates today. A chapel was later erected on the orphanage’s campus in honor of his ministry.
Whitefield died in Newburyport, Massachusetts on September 30, 1770. At his request he was buried under the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church, which was built for his use.
What made Whitefield’s ministry so attractive and successful? Obviously it was the blessing of God. But on the human level what was it about George Whitefield that drew people to him? His biographer Arnold Dallimore quotes an entry in Whitefield’s journal where the young preacher was fervently describing the joy he experienced while communing with God that day. This doesn’t seem to be unusual for him, but an everyday experience. Dallimore concludes,
Such spiritual joy, explains, in part, the extraordinary attraction which people found in his ministry. Other men might talk of the things of God, but in a way which made them appear little more than dry theories; yet as Whitefield expressed them they were full of life and meaning and power. No wonder neither church nor house would hold the throngs that came to hear! (Dallimore, Arnold, George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival, vol. 1. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1970, p. 110)
How do we represent God? What do people think of Jesus Christ based on what they see in us? Is our joy dependent on our circumstances? Is it contrived? Or do we have the real joy of the Lord in our hearts because of the truth of the Lord in our minds? At this time of year more than any other we are reminded that the gospel is good tidings of GREAT JOY to all people. May we really get to know Him so that we may glorify the Lord and enjoy Him forever!
Some resources for learning more about George Whitefield:
Books by Whitefield—
Books about Whitefield—
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of this biography, “Justice has at last been done to the greatest preacher that England has ever produced.”
- Arnold A. Dallimore, George Whitefield: God's Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century (Crossway Books, 1990).
- J.C. Ryle, Christian Leaders of the 18th Century (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1990).
Ryle has good chapters on Whitefield, John Wesley, William Grimshaw, Daniel Rowlands, and others.
- H. S. Stout, The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991).
- F. Lambert, 'Pedlar in Divinity': George Whitefield and the Transatlantic Revivals, 1737-1770 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).
- Robert Philip, Life and Times of George Whitefield (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2007).
Internet—
Wikipedia’s article on Whitefield
The George Whitefield Homepage
Monergism’s article on Whitefield
George Whitefield (Dec. 16, 1714—Sept. 30, 1770)
This morning, I opened up Iain Murray's Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace (BOT, 2008) and found a section in chapter two, "Preaching and the Holy Spirit," where Murray draws a comparison between Whitefield and Lloyd-Jones in order to illustrate the necessity of power in preaching. This is penetrating:
