27
June 1736 A.D. George
Whitfield Preaches His First Sermon
Mr. Graves tells the story.
Graves, Dan. “1st of Many
George Whitfield Sermons.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/1st-of-many-george-whitefield-sermons-11630221.html. Accessed 5 May 2014.
George Whitefield made it his
business to find salvation for his soul. He joined a group
of like-minded men, the Holy Club, to which John and Charles Wesley also
belonged, and exceeded the other members in zeal and good works. He was a
familiar visitor of prisoners. For long hours he studied religious works. He
fasted until his health broke. He prayed on his knees under a hedge in the
cold. For all his hard work his soul was unsatisfied.
He would have despaired, except
he felt the Lord had promised him he would yet be saved. The Wesleys sailed to
Georgia on a futile mission. They, too, would find peace only when their hearts
were warmed by the Holy Spirit. This did not come about until each recognized
that salvation was by grace, a free gift through Jesus Christ rather than by
works. To live a life of faith was to be born again; it was to be
"in" Christ and have Christ in oneself. Once Whitefield grasped this,
peace flooded his heart.
He returned to school, pouring
out this truth to others. As his health recovered, he trained toward being
ordained so that he could enter full-time ministry. His efforts at private
evangelism continued. What before had been labor was now an act of joy. But as
ordination neared, he trembled. Despite having studied the scriptures line by
line on his knees, he felt unprepared. As the day for ordination approached, he
found relief in prayer. In May he was publicly examined by men who desired to
embarrass him.
Bishop Benson believed Whitefield
was the kind of man the church needed. To quiet the young man's mind, he
promised there would be no public examination at his ordination. June 20, 1736
came. "I attempted to behave with unaffected devotion, suitable to the
greatness of the office I was to undertake." He read over Paul's advice to
Timothy and determined to let no one to despise him for his youth.
A week later, on this day, June 27th, 1736, Whitefield preached
his first sermon. He took as his topic the need for Christians to help one another. At first he
was awkward, for his mother, his brothers and sisters, and many who had known
him as a youngster were in the audience. As he proceeded, the Spirit filled
him. Those who came to listen were so moved by the authority of his words that
parishioners complained to the bishop that some had gone "mad."
Whitefield himself wrote,
"Glory! Glory! Glory! be ascribed to an Almighty Triune God." He went
on to preach thousands more powerful sermons. He became a force in the Great
Awakening which brought fresh life to America's churches. His last sermon was
preached in 1770. He was then desperately ill but, mounting a barrel, urged his
listeners to examine themselves whether they were in the faith. To be saved,
they must be born again, he urged. The following morning he died.
Bibliography:
1. Daniels, W. H. Illustrated
History of Methodism. New York: Hunt and Easton, 1890. Source of the image.
2. Dallimore, Arnold A. George
Whitefield; the life and times of the great evangelist of the
eighteenth-century revival. Banner of Truth Trust, 1970.
3. Demaray, Donald E. Pulpit Giants;
what made them great. Chicago: Moody Press, 1973.
4. Macartney, Clarence Edward Noble.
Six Kings of the American pulpit. Philadelphia, The Westminster press, 1942.
5. McGraw, James. Great Evangelical
Preachers of Yesterday. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1961.
6. Whitefield, George. George
Whitefield's Journals. Banner of Truth Trust, 1960.
Last updated April, 2007.
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