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“Whole days and WEEKS have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer.” (George Whitfield)
- By: Del Fehsenfeld at Life Action Revival Ministries
- Wed, May 5, 2010
You know what I hate? Showing up to preach on a topic, only to discover that the people inviting me know way more about the subject than I do. So when I showed up for a meeting recently and one of the pastors told me he was doing his doctoral thesis on the sermons of George Whitefield, one of the foremost revivalists of the First Great Awakening, I started looking for the exits!
Then the pastor asked me if I would help him by analyzing ten of Whitefield’s sermons. That sounded like a lot of analysis, but I did have a vacation coming up (one can’t drink lattes and soak up rays ALL day), so I agreed. Then I had to go home and tell my wife that Whitefield was coming with us on vacation!
Rediscovering a Legend
Whitefield was probably the greatest preacher of his generation, with a voice so powerful he could be heard in the open air by 30,000 people. Newspapers called him “the marvel of his age,” and he is thought to have preached 18,000 times to about 10 million people during his ministry—an astonishing number before modern travel or communications.
The power of Whitefield’s oratory was so great that David Garrick, the most famous actor in Britain, said he would “give a hundred guineas if I could only say ‘Oh!’ like Mr. Whitefield.” And the ever practical Benjamin Franklin said he refused to even bring his wallet when he went to hear Whitefield speak, because he always ended up emptying its contents under Whitefield’s spell.
Yet what amazed me about reading Whitefield is the relative simplicity of his themes and the confrontational nature of his content. Whitefield does not read like a man interested in pleasing crowds or wowing followers. In fact, rediscovering Whitefield was a rediscovery of the message God used to turn Britain and the American Colonies back to Himself in wide-scale revival.
The ABCs of Revival Preaching
1. Aim for the heart. Whitefield relentlessly sought to redefine Christianity as a matter of the heart. In his view, knowledge of the truth could never substitute for experience of the truth. He attacked the false securities of his age—religion, church attendance, self-made morality—with laser-beam precision and white-hot intensity. He simply wouldn’t stop increasing the intensity until the root condition of his listeners was laid bare.
In essence, Whitefield’s probing was concentrated in one question: “Why do you think you are a Christian?” And the answer had to be more than mere belief in Christ and His power to forgive sins. Whitefield was looking for signs of an entirely new inward disposition that come from being made a new creation indwelled by the Holy Spirit:
“Regeneration is … the very hinge on which the salvation of each of us turns…. To be in him [is] not only by an outward profession, but by an inward change and purity of heart, and cohabitation of his Holy Spirit.”
“He is a true Christian who is one inwardly…. We must be so altered as to the qualities and tempers of our minds, that we entirely forget what manner of persons we once were…. Christianity requires a thorough, real inward change of heart.”
“What delight can the most harmonious music afford a deaf man; or what pleasure the most excellent picture give a blind one? Can a tasteless palate relish the richest dainties, or a filthy swine be pleased with the finest garden of flowers?”
2. Brokenness before joy. Whitefield was crystal clear on the relationship between law and gospel. While he knew that the law had no power to transform, he also knew that Christ would be no remedy to those who saw no need for healing. Whitefield thus sought to wound before he healed, to pierce before he comforted. This perhaps more than anything else was the secret to Whitefield’s impact on his listeners:
“What a pity is it that modern preachers attend no more to the method those took who were first inspired by the Holy Ghost in preaching Jesus Christ! … Ministers would then learn first to sow and then to reap. They would endeavor to plough up the fallow ground, and thereby prepare the people for God’s raining down blessings upon them. Thus Peter preached when under a divine influence…. He charged the audience, though many of them were learned and high and great, with having been the murderers of the Son of God.”
“We can give them no comfort, until we find they are made sick of sin, and made willing to embrace an offered Jesus.”
3. Call for a response. Once Whitefield was convinced that his audience had been disabused of their excuses and deceptions, no one “drew the net” like he did! In fact, large sections of each of his sermons consisted of a clear presentation of Jesus Christ, accompanied by intense appeals for repentance and faith. He often called this “closing with Christ.”
What sets Whitefield apart in this regard is how personally he seemed to take responsibility for the listener’s response. At times, he literally pled with his audience to respond as if his own peace and well-being were wrapped up with theirs. He often told them that he wished he could take their place in hell, if necessary, in order for them to experience the freedom and delights of salvation. And the crazy thing is, I think he actually meant it.
Whitefield’s pathos for souls was the single greatest point of conviction to me, because it made me realize how little I care for people:
“O, Christless sinners, I am distressed for you! … For whither would you flee, if death should find you naked? Harden no longer your hearts, but open them wide, and let the King of glory enter in; believe me, I am willing to go to prison or death for you; but I am not willing to go to heaven without you!”
“Come away my dear brethren; fly, fly, fly for your lives to Jesus Christ! Fly to a bleeding God, fly to a throne of grace; and beg of God to break your hearts, beg of God to convince you of your original sin, beg of God to convince you of your self-righteousness—beg of God to give you faith, and to enable you to close with Jesus Christ.”
“Hitherto I have been preaching only the law; but behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy. If I have wounded you, be not afraid; behold, I now bring a remedy for all your wounds…. If you truly believe on Jesus Christ, you shall receive the quickening Spirit promised in the text, and be restored to the glorious liberty of the sons of God; I say, if you believe on Jesus Christ.”
“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners…. [He] died a painful, cursed, ignominious death; and by his obedience and by his death wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them. So that now, whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ … there is no condemnation for him. This is, in a few words, the Gospel.”
Whitefield Still Speaks
For those in revival ministry, Whitefield is a model of the timeless truths that God has blessed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. While the style of ministry may change to fit the shifting tides of culture, revival preaching will always include an emphasis on inward change, conviction of sin, and the necessity of responding to Christ.
For those who would like to read Whitefield for yourself, click here. But to capture the flavor of what it must have been like to hear Whitefield for yourself, check out actor Max McLean’s audio reenactment of one of Whitefield’s sermons (click here).
Think spiritual revival can’t happen? Think again!
Have you ever looked around, taken stock of the spiritual apathy and confusion in our culture, and wished for a nationwide religious revival? If so, you’re not the first Christian to do so. If you’re despairing that a society-wide revival could ever take place, you might be surprised to learn that just a few hundred years ago, that’s exactly what happened!
I’m talking about the “Great Awakening” that swept through America in the 18th century, sparking great church growth, renewed missions work, and inter-denominational unity. Sound far-fetched? Here are a few resources to introduce you to the Great Awakening and the evangelists who helped spark it:
- First, read a brief overview of the Great Awakening—who started it and what it meant for an America increasingly affected by spiritual malaise and the humanist philosophies of the Enlightenment.
- Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan preacher who, distressed by what we saw happening (or not happening) in America’s churches, began a preaching tour that kickstarted a great spiritual revival. His 1741 sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (link goes to an audio reading of it) is one of the most famous sermons in all of Christian history. (You can listen to many more of his sermons at Sermon Index.)
- George Whitefield, a British evangelist and friend of Ben Franklin, was another major figure in the Great Awakening. Greatly upset by the “lukewarm Christianity” he saw all around him, he did all he could to shake Christians out of their stagnant spiritual state. Read more about Whitefield’s evangelistic work, or check out some of his many sermons. For a shorter sample of his teaching style, see this brief Whitefield excerpt on the importance of “frequent and devout prayer”.
- Revival didn’t end with the Great Awakening— it wasn’t long after that a Second Great Awakening was sparked, with an even greater impact on American society.
The preaching of Edwards, Whitefield, and other evangelists had a profound effect on their society—and if you take the time to read some of their sermons, you’ll be amazed at how relevant they are. Some of them feel like they could just as easily have been written in 2008! So next time you’re tempted to despair at the all the religious confusion we see in society around us, remember the Great Awakening, and be reminded that what seems impossible to man is quite possible for God.
By: Andy. This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 11:50 pm and is filed under Church History, Evangelism, History, revival, sermons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
How shall we pray and prepare ourselves for the coming revival? George Whitefield helps us in this regard. On his way to Georgia in 1737 he prayed:
“God, give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst!” (Brian Edwards, Revival! A People Saturated With God, 57).
May all those attributes be true in me.
bryanaloha
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