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. Life was more than hard in London; it was intolerable! The value of human life had fallen to an all time low and the leaders seemed in no better shape to deal with the problems of the land than their people did. One writer wrote of this period:
It was into this world of infanticide, gin houses and corruption that George Whitefield was born on December 16, 1714. His parents owned an inn called the Bell Tavern in Gloucester, England. While affording a good life to their children, the Whitefield's profession placed them in the middle of the worst kinds of people in these worst kinds of times. Looking back on his youth, Whitefield said, "It would be endless to recount the sins and offenses of my younger days." George's father died when he was two and his stepfather proved to be a poor manager leaving the family with little of their former means. In spite of their problems, Whitefield's mother was determined to see her son educated. So, at the age of 17, the young man headed off for Oxford in 1732. George Whitefield may have been in a Christian school but Christ was not in him. Realizing something needed to change in his life Whitefield joined a small group of young men headed by John and Charles Wesley called "the Holy Club." These men sought through religious exercises and almost monastic living to cleanse their lives of evil. None went as far as young George did in seeking to practice "self-mortification" by denying himself of all outward pleasures of life. Like Martin Luther, Whitefield thought he could make himself right with God by depriving himself of all things of this world. After a long period of deprivation and Bible study the light of God's grace dawned on his heart. He saw that he must depend solely on God's grace through faith to be saved. So finally George Whitefield could write in his Journals:
Once the issue of his own spiritual state was settled there was a new world of preaching opportunity opened to the young Oxford student. Between the summer of 1736 and Christmas of 1737, his preaching proved very popular in London and surrounding areas. Whitefield was always first and foremost a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His appeal as a preacher crossed all social lines. The poor coal miners of northern England flocked by the thousands to hear him. At the same time, the aristocracy of London was entranced with his strait forward style. At his death, everyone from laborers to philosophers (including David Hume) came to mourn his loss. John and Charles Wesley had sailed to Georgia two years earlier and now they sent for Whitefield to join them. They had experienced little success in their mission endeavor (because they as of yet had not become true Christians). From the time his feet stepped in American soil, the people knew there was something special about George Whitefiled. One of his first concerns was the plight of homeless children and his orphanages would be a continuing source of concern and support. After their return to England it became increasingly obvious that there were serious doctrinal differences between Whitefield and the Wesleys. John and Charles were committed Arminians and George Whitefield was just as committed a Calvinist. Had Wesley not insisted on printing his sermon Against Predestination, the differences between them would probably have never been made public. While they remained personal friends they more or less parted ways from there on out. While firmly committed to the Doctrines of Grace, Whitefield was a true evangelical. He once declared:
Whitefield sought to keep such issues from becoming a dividing point but he was also committed to the truths he espoused. "I embrace the Calvinistic scheme," he wrote, "not because Calvin, but because Jesus Christ has taught it to me."5 He also wrote, "I know Christ is all in all, Man is nothing; he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to will and do of his good pleasure." 6 On returning to England, Whitefield began to turn his attention to something considered odd and crude; preaching in the open air to the masses. Whitefield's message of the necessity of regeneration and true heart salvation rankled the established clergy of England. "The clergy had begun to perceive that either his doctrines or theirs, concerning the new birth and the way of a sinner's justification before God, must fall." 7 Such opposition only seemed to encourage the common folks to flock to hear the man who preached a religion of the head and heart. Whitefield's oratorical skill and prowess are legendary. He often preached to from 10 to 30 thousand people at a time, often 5 times a day. J.C. Ryle would later write:
George Whitefield preached with a passion that few had seen or heard. He often wept as he pleaded with people to hear the sound doctrines of God. Sometimes he could also use humor and even sarcasm at times to make his point. If Edwards was the mind of the Great Awakening then Whitefield was the heart and mouth of that revival. Whitefield returned to America's Philadelphia in November of 1739 to the beginnings of the First Great Awakening. Among many supporters was Benjamin Franklin who would remain a life-long friend. Whitefield's impact on the colonies was profound. He brought to what had become a rather sterile Puritan church a newfound zeal for God. His preaching again proved that sound doctrine and sound preaching are no exclusive of each other but rather depend on each other. George Tennent (a pastor of the time) said, "He convinced me more and more that we can preach the Gospel of Christ no further than we have experienced the power of it in our own hearts … Hypocrites must either soon be converted or enraged at his preaching." 9 Over the years, George Whitefield sailed the Atlantic to preach in the colonies 7 times. During those travels he ministered with many great pastors including Jonathan Edwards. There can be no underestimating the influence this man had on the church and the world. Whitefield died in his adopted America on September 30, 1770. The world had been his parish and Whitefield had been faithful to that parish. A testimony to the character of the man was the fact that first in line to offer highest praise for Whitefield's work were John and Charles Wesley. They may have differed on doctrinal particulars but there was no doubt who George Whitefield's Lord was. To Him be the glory and to Him alone! VISIT THE GEORGE WHITEFIELD SERMON PAGE 1 The Spiritual Awakeners by Keith J. Hardman, Moody Press, 1983, p. 75. 2 England: Before and After Wesley by J. Wesley Bready, Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, p.144. 3 The Spiritual Awakeners, p. 81. 4 George Whitefield, The Awakener by Albert David Beldon, Rockliff Publishers, 1953, p. 240. 5 George Whitefield by Arnold A. Dallimore, Crossway Books, 1990, p. 69. 6 Ibid., p. 70. 7 The Great Awakening: A History of Revival of Religion in the Times of Edwards and Whitefield, Tappan and Dennet, 1842, p. 48. 8 Life and Labors of Whitefield by J.C. Ryle, p. 33. 9 Journals by George Whitefield, pp. 347-48.
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"Things
could
never have been worse than they are now!" That was the exclamation
I heard a lady in our church make recently. In fact things have
often been worse than they are now. Early 1700's England was indeed
a worse place if ever there was one. Civic morality was almost nil;
drunkenness was rampant, and child labor was common. English people
had become, according to Bishop Benson,
"what they had never been before, cruel and inhuman." 1