07.04.07
Who Was The Great Evangelist “George Whitefield”?
Many have noticed quotes from George Whitefield on my home page for Wesley’s Blog. It has come to my attention that, unfortunately, many do not know who he was or what he did. So I thought I could take this oppurtunity to give a biography of Mr. Whitefield. Most of what I am sharing will be from a book titled “Whitefield Gold” which is a collection of his popular quotes and excerpts of his written sermons.
George Whitefield (pronounced Whitfield), son of an innkeeper, was not an imposing figure. Slight of build, cross-eyed, and the youngest of seven children, he received more than his fair share of knocks and torments. But God gives each of us at least one talent, and to George Whitefield, that talent was a voice-a voice like a trumpet, a voice like a lion, a voice that could be heard a mile away, a voice that could shake walls, rattle windows, and create tears to run down the soot-covered cheeks of the coldest, hardest coalminers of the day. Whitefield did not discover this talent unil he was nineteen, but once discovered, he never hid it away or neglected the great gift God gave him.
Although forced to leave school, George continued reading and learning on his own. He would don his old blue apron and wash dishes, clean rooms, and draw beer by day, and read his Bible and classics by night. By the time he was 16, he could read Latin and some Greek. His mother always wanted her youngest to attend college, but knew it was impossible because there was no money. One day a customer came into the tavern and described to George and his mother how he had attended Oxford university as a “servitor.” Servitors were poor students who worked for rich students. George eagerly accepted the challenge, and in 1732 at the age of 17, he entered Pembroke college at Oxford.
The life of a servitor was much like that of an indentured servant. Servitors served three or four higher students and did whatever they wanted done: washing clothes, shining shoes, completing homework, or running errands. George had to wear a special gown, and regular students could not speak to him. He was not permitted to associate with other students or join clubs or take part in activities. Most servitors could not endure the constant humiliation and left college. George persevered by becoming extremely devout in his Bible study and prayers, and by visiting prisoners and poorhouses. He had heard of a large group of religious students called “the Holy Club” but had never met them and was not allowed to approach them. However one of the founders of the club, Charles Wesley, had heard of George’s devotion, and broke tradition by inviting him to join the group.
Members of the Holy Club were mockingly called “Methodists” because of their highly disciplined and structured lifestyle. But the lifestyle practiced by John and Charles Wesley and the other members of the club appealed to George, and he quickly became their most devoted and hardest working member. George discovered a book by Rev. Henry Scougal, “The Life of God in the Soul of Man”, that showed him that all of his good deeds, service and fasting were for naught unless he had Christ formed “within” him and was born again.
This book shook George’s faith to the core. He wanted to be born again, but did not know how. He fasted more, gave his money away dressed in rags, and spent all night in prayer. He spoke to no one and withdrew from the Holy Club. His studies faltered until he was threatened with expulsion. It appears that he had an emotional breakdown and suffered from severe depression. Other students thought he was mad and threw dirt at him. For Lent that year he ate only a little bread and tea. He became so sick and emaciated that a physician was called, and George was confined to bed for seven weeks. During this convalescence, George finally surrendered to God and cried out for help. “I thirst”, he moaned from his bed. He said it was like a floodgate opening, and he felt profound joy and release. He was reborn!
Whitefield preached his very first sermon in the church in Gloucester were he had been baptized and reared as a child. He preached with such eloquence and authority that someone complained to the Bishop that he had driven fifteen people mad. The Bishop calmly replied that he hoped the madness would not be forgotten before the next Sunday.
But just as Whitefield’s ministry was increasing exponentially every week, he received a request from John Wesley to travel to the colony of Georgia in America to become a missionary. He accepted the challenge and sailed to Savannah. Sailing across the Atlantic was a perilous trip that took two months in good weather and up to three or four months in usual weather. Even though Whitefield was never in good health, he made a total of seven trips to America, crossing the Atlantic thirteen times, and spending a total of over two years at sea. This never slowed down his preaching as he presented sermons every day aboard ship, along with prayer and Bible study. In Georgia, he founded schools and an orphanage named Bethesda [meaning House of Mercy] that still exists today. He returned to England after only four months to find that his ministry was still growing, but his pulpit-space was disappearing.
He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in Oxford, but when he went to London, only four churches would let him in the door. He preached wherever he was allowed and spoke to societies and prisoners, nobility and shopkeepers. But as his crowds and popularity grew, the Church became more antagonistic.
Whitefield then did the unthinkable for an ordained minister. He preached outdoors! Not only was open air preaching unacceptable, undignified, and dirty, it was illegal. Preaching was to be done only in “consecrated buildings.” The only exception was for public hangings, were Whitefield often preached, frequently delaying the execution while the crowds stood, riveted to his every word of repentance and forgiveness.
Despite these prohibitions, in 1739, Whitefield set out for Kingswood, a poor coal-mining area near Bristol. It was a freezing, February day, but he walked through the dirt streets and found 200 people willing to listen to him. He told them about the love of Jesus and how Jesus had died for them. The next day, 2,000 people showed up, and by Sunday more than 10,000 people appeared from all over the area. Whitefield started a young people’s meeting in his sister’s house with 50 people, and within 6 weeks he had over 5,000 filling the village green. Whitefield preached in the open all over England that spring and summer, and spoke to over two million people. The churches were closed, but the people were open to the Word of God.
Whitefield left this great revival in the hands of John and Charles Wesley to return to America in August 1739. Regional revivals were already appearing in America under the leadership of William Tennant and his sons in Pennsylvania and Johathon Edwards in New England. Whitefield ignited these revivals into a continent-wide “Great Awakening”. He spoke in every city, town , and village green, morning, noon, and night. He preached to over 35,000 in Philadelphia, 20,000 in New York, and 20,000 in Boston. The name George Whitefield was the most recognized name on the North American continent, not only because of the news of his preaching, but because he had met face-to-face with more people in America than any other single person of that era. Even George Washington was just a young boy contemplating cherry trees when Whitefield stormed through Virginia. When he tried to travel south to Georgia, over 1,000 people followed him, and he had to stop at every village to preach. It took him over two months on horseback and canoe to reach Savannah.
A local farmer by the name of Nathan Cole, recollects in a letter, of his hearing Whitefield speak. Here is an excerpt of that long letter, this was during his travel to the location where Whitefield was going to preach:
We went down in the stream but heard no man speak a word all the way for 3 miles but every one pressing forward in great haste and when we got to Middletown old meeting house there was a great multitude, it was said to be 3 or 4,000 of people assembled together; we dismounted and shook off our dust; and the ministers were then coming to the meeting house. I turned and looked towards the Great River and saw the ferry boats running swift backward and forward bringing over loads of people and the oars rowed nimble and quick, every thing, men and horses and bots seemed to be struggling for life. The land and banks over the river looked black with people and horses all along the twelve miles I saw no man at work in his field, but all seemed to be gon.
Whitefield preached till the day that he died:
Whitefield preached a schedule that would have destroyed even a healthy man, and Whitefield was far from healthy. He preached usually thirteen sermons a week, each lasting one to two hours or more. It is estimated that he preached 18,000 sermons in his lifetime. Even when he tried to rest, the crowds forced him to continue.
Although thousands found faith and hope through Whitefield’s work, he also had tormentors and enemies. He was jeered and ridiculed, pelted with stones and dead cats, and even attacked and beaten by a man with a gold-headed cane. Nothing deterred or even delayed his preaching. He was fearless in his work and frequently proclaimed, “We are immortal till our work is done.”
Although suffering continually from asthma, Whitefield refused to give up his daily sermons. In 1769 he made his final trip to America, arriving in Savannah to work on converting his orphanage to a college. He traveled up the Atlantic coast with crowds at every stop. By the time he reached Boston, he was too ill to speak and spent three days in bed. On September 29, he was carried to Exeter, New Hampshire, where he prayed, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in your work, but not of your work. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for you once more in the fields, seal your truth, and come home to die.” Barely able to stand, Whitefield preached for two hours on “Faith and Works”, and then went to his friend’s house in Newburyport for supper and bed. But when he tried to walk up the stairs to bed, dozens of people appeared at the parsonage and begged for just a short message. Whitefield stood on the steps and spoke until the candle he was holding in his hand burned down to his palm. He told a companion that his asthma was returning and, “I am dying.” At 6:00 the next morning he died. He was 55 years old.
Here is what John Wesley had to say about Whitefield:
Have we read or heard of any person who called so many thousands, so many myriads of sinners to repentance? Above all, have we read or heard of anyone who has been God’s blessed instrument to bring so many sinners from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God as Whitefield.
For the Truth of my King
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