George Whitfield: A Legacy of Faith and Transformation

George Whitfield was born in the city of Gloucester on December the 16th 1714 not in a Bishop's Palace not in a clergyman's rectory but in the Bell Inn the old Inn unfortunately has been demolished by now but it was very similar to this new in in which we are now standing which was contemporary with it his father died while he was quite to buy but his mother continued to keep the inn and there he would serve beer and various other drinks he was characterized from the beginning from by a kind of lovable character and also by his sharpness his intelligence but Above All by his gift of speech and of oratory his clear addiction and elocution were quite outstanding he could declaim Shakespeare and he take part in plays in school at 18 on a borrow 1010 he went up to pem College Oxford in exchange for free tuition he served as a Lackey to other more highly placed students but his residence here was to be the great turning point of his life. [00:00:06]

Whitfield tells us that at one period he fasted so rigorously that he could scarcely drag himself up stairs however he and the Wesley Brothers came to see subsequently that this was all wrong that they were trying to justify themselves by works and Good Deeds then having read a book called The Life of God in the soul of men by Henry skugal he realized that true Christianity was something in the heart and that he needed a new nature he he realized he'd never been a Christian at all so now he sought this with tears and prayers and eventually he was given a sense that his sins were forgiven indeed this was even sealed to him as he put it by the holy spirit in his heart. [00:01:53]

A week later Whitfield preached his first sermon in public here in the Church of St Mary decrypt perhaps we can do nothing better than read a letter which he himself wrote describing the occasion to a friend he said curiosity drew a large congregation together the sight at first a little AED me but I was comforted with a heartfelt sense of the divine presence and soon found unspeakable advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking as a boy at school and of exalting and teaching the prisoners while at the University as I progressed I perceived a fire kindled till at last though so young and amidst a crowd who knew me in my childish days I trust I was enable to speak with some degree of gospel Authority and I have since heard that a complaint has been made to the bishop that I drove 15 Med indeed such a complaint was made but the wise old Bishop Bishop Benson simply replied by saying that he wished and hoped very much that the madness would not be forgotten before the following Sunday. [00:02:38]

When Whitfield returned from America at the end of 1738 he found a great change in the attitude of the churches to him no longer was he received with open arms as he'd been in 1737 the pulpits were close to him this presented him with a problem in addition to that he had become am struck by the need of people like the bited cers in the Kingswood District outside Bristol they were living in debauchery and sin and and no one went to preach to them and they wouldn't enter the churches what could he do so in February 1739 he took one of the greatest decisions of his whole life it affected his entire future and that of the whole Methodist Revival he decided that he must take the gospel to the people so here on Hannah Mount at Kingswood outside Bristol he first preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the open air. [00:04:40]

Whitfield comments as follows on the response of his congregation the first discovery of there being affected was to see the white Cutters made by their tears which plentifully fell down their black cheeks as they came out of the cul pits at the end of this incident Whitfield wrote in his journal I believe I never was more acceptable to my master than when I was standing to teach those heras in the open air returning to London in April Whitfield found all the churches close to him apart from St Mary's parish Church in Islington he went there one Friday with intention of preaching but just as he was about to enter the pulpit the church Warden questioned his title rather than create a scene Whitfield decided to go out and preach in the churchard the congregation followed him and others joined them and this was the real beginning of his open air preaching in London. [00:06:11]

He wrote in his journal that night since the self-righteous men of this generation count themselves unworthy I go out to the highways and hedges and compel harlots publicans and sinners to come in that my Master's house may be filled another favorite spot of whitfield's for this field preaching was Minchin Hampton common in gluster where from this very spot which is still known as whitfield's tump he preached many times to vast congregations of 20 or 30,000 people some have queried this as to whether it was possible but there are contemporary records which assure us that people in stoud which is about a mile distant could frequently hear him quite distinctly when he preached here. [00:07:10]

Whitfield did not found a denomination and he was not an organizer like his friend John Wesley the nearest he came to founding a cause was that he cooperated with the Countess of Huntington in building chapels which were known as Tabernacles in various parts of the country we have here in what is known as the rodb Tabernacle a perfect example of one of these Chapel that were built by the counts of Huntington the mention of the name of Lady Huntington reminds us of another most important Point concerning George Whitfield and his preaching some would get the impression that he was just a mob aor appeal to drunken miners but this was far from being the case he was equally popular with the Gentry and the great in the land. [00:08:48]

Take for instance the well-known actor David Garrick Garrick said he could melt an audience from euphoric joy to tears merely by saying and pronouncing the word Mesopotamia in different ways Garrick also said that he would willingly part with 100 guins if he could only say the word oh with the same pthos and effect as Whitfield The Great Lord Chesterfield he frequently listened to the preaching in the home of the CEST of Huntington and The Story Goes that on one occasion Whitfield was using a great illustration to warn Sinners of their Peril in time and in eternity and it was a story of a blind beggar with a dog walking near the edge of of a cliff leading to a great precipice and Whitfield was describing this men and how suddenly the dog left him and there was the poor man stumbling along and not knowing where he was going and drawing nearer and nearer and nearer to the edge of the precipice and in danger of falling to destruction at any moment and he kept this up for such length of time and increased the tension to such an extent that Chesterfield was completely carried away and falling on his face to the floor cried out saying good God he's gone such was the moving eloquence of this men. [00:09:37]

What is the explanation of the of this remarkable story of this Apostolic and sfic Ministry it was certainly not advertising and organization it was not even his amazing eloquence and his indefatigable Zeal though they contributed he himself would have said that it was largely the message what was the message it was the old message of the New Testament of the Protestant fathers and the Puritans it was a declaration that we are all dead in trespasses and sins and under the wrath of God that we are to be called to repentance it was an emphasis on the ab abolute necessity of a new birth in the spirit the ultimate explanation of Whitfield is the extraordinary unction and anointing of the holy spirit that attended his preaching he himself was always conscious of this and always stressed that one should always preach a felt Christ to use the words of the Apostle Paul whitfield's gospel came to the people not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and with much Assurance. [00:12:17]

Has this anything to say to us today surely it has for men and the world are still the same as they were at the beginning of the 18th century still more important whitfield's God is still the same we honor his memory best of all by seeking with diligence that same God sought by him and his friends and contemporaries. [00:13:31]