George Whitefield

Grace Sight #3 is George Whitefield.

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

George Whitefield had an extraordinary impact on the people of his times and continues to be revered by Christians today.  A favorite saying from George Whitefield is something he wrote in a letter to James Hervey who was suffering from poor health (Source).

"Fear not your weak body; we are immortal until our work is done."

The above quotation is very meaningful to me because it communicates that we should work for the Lord and that the sovereignty of God over our life is more powerful than anything that the world can do to us.   My paternal Grandfather, Henry Stokes, believed this premise because he was still winning souls to Christ through personal evangelism until his death at age 93.  As he lived through several decades of the season of old age, each time there was a new convert under Grandpa's ministry, he would wonder if his work here on earth was done and if death would knock on his door.  He would carry this thought until he would find the next person in his life that needed Christ.

Steve Lawson gave an excellent message on the life and impact of George Whitefield that provides a helpful insight into a study of Whitefield's life.  Here Lawson answers the question, "Why did God use this man in such an extraordinary way?" by giving 8 distinguishing marks of George Whitefield's life and ministry.

In Dr. Steve Lawson's message above on Whitefield he attributes the following witty statement to George Whitefield:  

"We are all born Arminians, but born-again Calvinists."

Charles Spurgeon mentioned the first part of the above George Whitefield statement in Vol. 2, p. 124 of his Sermons, saying "George Whitefield said, 'We are all born Arminians.' It is grace that turns us into Calvinists."

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said about Whitefield, "Other men merely existed, Whitefield lived."  The following is Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones' documentary on the life of George Whitefield.

It has been incorrectly stated that Calvinists place little priority on Christian evangelism. Whitefield was the greatest evangelist that England has ever produced and he was a Calvinist.  

Despite their theological differences, George Whitefield was a close friend with John Wesley, the father of Methodism.  The two may have disagreed on the theology of election but they remained respectful to each other according to the following page on the global ministries website of the United Methodist Church.  In fact, John Wesley gave a Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Rev. George Whitefield.   In this sermon, Wesley gives great insight into Whitefield's life saying about Whitefield the following.  

"Have we read or heard of any person since the Apostles, who testified the gospel of the grace of God through so widely extended a space, through so large a part of the habitable world?" (John Wesley)

Whitefield died on July 30, 1770 and is buried under the pulpit of a church he founded in Newbury, Massachusetts.  See some fascinating pictures of that church at "Here I Blog" .

For further study of the life of this genuinely great Christian preacher of the 18th century the Reformed Sermon Archives has a selection of 38 of his sermons available on their site.   Let's follow George Whitefield as he followed Christ.