George Whitefield ---- 1714 - 1770
William Carey ---- 1761 - 1834
Adoniram Judson ---- 1788 - 1850
Charles Finney ---- 1791 - 1875
D.L. Moody ---- 1837 - 1899
Hudson Taylor ---- 1832 - 1905
John Hyde ---- 1865 - 1911
C.T. Studd ---- 1860 - 1931
Billy Sunday ---- 1862 - 1935
J. Frank Norris ---- 1877 - 1952
Jack Hyles ---- 1926 - present
George Whitefield
When the name George Whitefield is mentioned, the image of a man preaching to great crowds in the fields of Great Britain comes to mind. There are some who even consider him the greatest evangelist since the first century. Those who have studied the life of Mr. Whitefield know him to be a man whose hearts for souls was as big as the boom in his voice; a man whose Christ-like compassion for the lost drove him to preach and consequently reach about one half million precious souls for Christ.
Born the son of an innkeeper, his father died at an early age. Young George help his mother work in a tavern. A mischievous boy, he would attend the church near his home and then go back to the bar and mimic the pastor in delight of the drunkards.
While attending the Oxford University, he came under the influence of John Wesley and the "Holy Club." Darkness turned to lights as George Whitefield experienced the new birth and was forever changed.
He soon became a preacher of the gospel and would preach the message, "Ye must be born again" wherever he went. In his early twenties he would preach in the largest churches. when he told one congregation that he would go to the United States , then the colonies of England the people wept. He was a man of God who loved people and they responded in kind. Seven times in his lifetime he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to preach in the "Colonies" and to help several orphanages he had organised.
Once in America he preached at Harvard University and it was claimed that every student and professor accepted Christ as Saviour! Benjamin Franklin, a famous scientist, author, and inventor, measured his voice and said it could be heard at a distance of one half mile (800 meters), and that he could be heard at a distance of one mile away if conditions were good. God had given him, it seemed, a supernatural ability in speaking. Benjamin Franklin said,"Whitefield can control and keep hold of a crowd of 30,000 to 40,000 people." closed to him.
Arriving back in England in 1739, he suddenly found the churches closed to him. Society in England was in a wicked state. It was no shame for statesmen and leaders in society to be publicly drunk. Crime was rampant in spite of the fact that the death penalty applied to over 160 offenses.
True conversions among the clergy was rare. There were many brilliant and educated clergy. It was the fashionable thing for them to frequent and shine in all public places, except their pulpits. Although many congregations wanted to hear Whitefield preach his message of the new birth;it was repulsive to He says in his diary, "I had the pleasure of hearing that the mayor and the sheriff of Bristol have this ministers.
But nothing could stop George Whitefield on preaching on this basic truth about going to heaven. It was estimated that he preached on the subject "Ye must be born again" over 3,000 times. One critic asked him why he preached so many times on the same subject. He replied,"Because sir, ye must be born again!" This is what drove Whitefield, a belief that a person was lost without Christ's forgiveness and that the new birth was the most important thing in any one's life.
He went to Bristol to preach, having received an invitation. However, when he arrived there, his invitation has been withdrawn because of his statement that he could produce two shoe cobbler who knew more of true Christianity than all the clergy in the city of Bristol.
He says in his diary, "I had the pleasure of hearing that the mayor and sheriff of Bristol have absolutely forbidden me to preach there any longer because I insisted upon the necessity of the new birth."
On his way to lunch in Kingswood (about one and half miles out side the walls of Bristol) on February 17, 1739, he saw the coal miners, who were called "colliers", coming out of the mines. These colliers were wicked and vile men. Even the hardened sailors of that day were afraid of them. Once, upon being cheated out of enjoying the sight of a public hanging of a local criminal because he had committed suicide rather than being made a public spectacle, they dug up his corpse as revenge for ruining their fun.
These kind of people were completely ignored by the clergy. Although their bodies might be fouled and wicked, their souls were immortal. They could only be reach in the open air. Whitefield's good friend John Wesley had told him that preaching in the open air out in the fields was a bad "notion." Later ,upon seeing the result of Whitefield's field preaching, Wesley not only changed his mind, but preached in the field himself.
The miners came up of the pits, their faces blackened with coal. Whitefield stood in a small hill. He felt afraid of what he is about to do but if the churches were closed to him, he should all the more go and preach like Jesus did. He pitched his voice about 100 yards away(meters) to group of colliers walking toward him. He called out, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."
The miners stopped and stared at a person holding a book that they could hear 100 yards away. His young voice sounded out again,"Matthew Chapter five, and verse three: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."
The miners came closer and listened as he told them story which made them laugh. None had ever heard a preacher tell a joke: most had never ever heard a preacher at all. About 200 men gathered as he spokes of hell as being black as their pit and of the certainty of judgement. He talked about Jesus who was a friend of publicans and sinners and came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He spoke of the cross and the love of God and brush tears from his eyes.
Suddenly he noticed tears coming from the eyes of a young man on his right. These tears were forming a pale streak on his grimy face. He saw the same thing happen to an old bent miners on his left,and then more and more of them. He said he saw, "White gutters made by their tears down their black cheeks."Whitefield's said, "Blessed be God. I have broke the ice. I believe I was never more acceptable to my master than when I was standing beside those hearers in the open field."
The men invited him to come the next day to speak to their friends and families. About 2,000 people came out to hear him preach. Five days later he preached to 5,000 people and two days later to over 10,000. A few days later he preached at Rosegreen Common to so great a multitude that it covered three acres. The crowd was estimated at 20,000 people.
Whitefield would go to places where a crowd would gather and preach. Public hangings were common and thousands would gather to witness the event. As soon as the hangings was over he would climb up on the platform and preach about death and eternal life,with quite an object lesson below. It was said often, "When the body quits twitching, Whitefield starts preaching." The weather never kept the crowds away. Once 8,000 came out of the snow and 12,000 hear him preach during heavy rain.
He preached near a horse race and the 10,000 who came for the races left to hear him preach.
Once he preached near a carnival where great crowd was attending. Before long most of people left the carnival and came to hear the preaching. The owner of the carnival sent out a prize fighter to take care of Whitefield. This brawler had no shirt on. He had a cauliflower ear and a broken nose. Whitefield lifted out his voice and thundered out as loud as he could,"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ,for it is the power of God unto salvation." The prize fighter meekly turned around and left.
The next day Whitefield came back to preach so the carnival owner sent a man who throw eggs, part of dead dogs, and rocks. Whitefield was hit in the mouth with a rotten tomato. Since this didn't stop him, a man climb a tree near he was preaching and drop his pants. George tell all the ladies to cover their eyes and he kept on preaching. Not to be deterred, the man urinated on Whitefield but even that wouldn't stop him. Nothing would stop him. Several times he was hit with stones. One of his evangelist friends was killed by stone throwers during his field preaching.
In the month of May, 1739, he preached to a total of over 500,000 people in the fields. His diary revealed the power of God: "Sunday, May 6. Preached this morning in Moorfields to about 20,000 people, who were very quiet and attentive, and much affected. Went to public worship morning and evening; and at six, preached at Kinnington. Such a sight I never saw before. I believe there were no less than 50,000 people, and near fourscore coaches, besides great numbers of horses. There was an awful silence among them. God gave me great enlargement of heart. I continued my discourse for an hour an half,and when I returned home, I was filled with such love, peace and joy, that I cannot express. I believe this was partly owing to some oppositions I met yesterday. It is hard for men to kick against the pricks The more they oppose, the more shall Jesus be exalted. Our adversaries seem to have come to an extremity,while for one arguments to convince, they are obliged to all out to the civil magistrate to compel me to be silent;but I believe it will be difficult to prove our assemblies in the fields either disorderly or illegal..Friday June 1. Dined at Old Ford, and gave a short exhortation to a few people on a field,and preached, in the evening, at a place called Mayfair near Hyde Park Corner. The congregation, I believe, consisted of near 80,000 people. It was, by far, I ever preached to yet. In the time of my prayer, there was a little noise; but they kept a deep silence during my whole discourse. A high and a very commodious scaffold was erected for me to stand upon; And though I was weak in myself, yet God strengthened me to speak so loud, that most could hear, and so powerfully,that most, I believe, could feel. All love, all glory be to God through Christ!...Sunday June 3. Preached at Moorfield to a larger congregation than ever... Preached in the evening at Kinnington Common, to the most numerous audience I ever yet saw in that place, and collected 34 pounds 5s. When I mentioned my departure from them, they were melted into tears. Thousands of fervent prayers were poured out to God on my behalf, which gave me abundant reason to be thankful to my dear Master."
He preached for one and one half hours to an estimated 100,000 people at Combusland in Scotland and over 10,000 people received Christ as Saviour that day!
He preached hard against sin and also the Roman Catholic Church. After visiting a Roman Catholic high Mass hour, he spoke out with his mighty voice to the people: " There needs to be another argument against popery than to see their superstition and idolatry in worship."
George Whitefield gave his all preaching and teaching, often travelling and preaching three and four times a day. Sometimes he would preach for two hours and preach so hard that his throat would bleed. This finally took a toll on him, but literally to the end of his life he went on preaching. The following story tells of his last message: "One day George Whitefield started out to preach in a certain city. On the way he had to go through some smaller cities. He stopped in one city and people said, "Mr. Whitefield, we know you are going to the next city to preach, but please preach for us." And he preached. He travelled a little further in another city people who knew him said, "Please preach for us before you go on that city." He stop several times that day. Finally, late evening he reached the city where he was supposed to preach, and he preached. He went up to his room and had gone to bed, When he heard people calling his name. He walked over to the window, looked out and the crowd had gathered. Some of them said, "Mr. Whitefield, some of us were working on the fields and we didn't get to hear you preach. Some of the women had to stay at home with the babies and they didn't get to hear you preach. Now we are here to hear you." Mr. Whitefield pick up a candle that was on the piece of cardboard, and with his Bible in the other hand , walked out and said, "I will preach until the lights went out, then went back into his room and to bed. The next morning they knocked on his door, but there was no answer. They knocked again, but no answer. They knocked harder, but no answer. They broke in. Mr. Whitefield was found on his knees beside the bed with a little piece of cardboard with melted wax where the candle had burned out. He literally preached until the light went out."
During that night, or early in the morning, he had gone on to be with the Lord just after preaching his last sermon. He was 55 years old.
Will there be another George Whitefield? Probably not, but we know that God's power will come upon the thirsty and those who are willing to pay the price as George Whitefield did.
Home
George Whitefield ---- 1714 - 1770
William Carey ---- 1761 - 1834
Adoniram Judson ---- 1788 - 1850
Charles Finney ---- 1791 - 1875
D.L. Moody ---- 1837 - 1899
Hudson Taylor ---- 1832 - 1905
John Hyde ---- 1865 - 1911
C.T. Studd ---- 1860 - 1931
Billy Sunday ---- 1862 - 1935
J. Frank Norris ---- 1877 - 1952
Jack Hyles ---- 1926 - present
