Big Homegroup 2020: George Whitefield

Okay. So this is our last session on George Whitfield, the third and last. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you're inspired to go and read a biography of him. As I say, the good 1 is if you can if you can bear 2 volumes, which is about 1200 pages.

They're the Dallimore 2 volumes. But you can get the short volume in about 300 pages of Dallimore, and that's definitely worth reading. Very exciting. So here's George Whitfield. He's 55 when he died, and we're gonna get up to that.

But what I thought I would do is very briefly, And I hope it doesn't get monotonous. We're going to do a year in the life of Whitfield. And the year is 17 fifties, about 37 years old. There he is. That is, in fact, a drawing from the time, but someone's colored it in.

It's quite nice, isn't it? Well, like that. Can you see him? Yeah. Can you hear him?

I think his voice is still echoing around. So here we go. Are you ready? This is 1 year. Okay?

So he starts off at Tottenham Court Road tabernacle in January 17 50. This is his normal week. Whenever he's back at the tabernacle, this is his week. So Sundays, he preaches 4 times. Everyday, except Saturday, he preaches at 6 AM and 6 PM, and then several other times throughout the week.

Lady Hunting often has 2 meetings a week that he goes and speaks at, and there are lots of funerals and lots of weddings that he preaches at. He also has oversight of the 3 tabernacles that are in London. He has to write to inquirers and lots of correspondence and he is involved in an orphanage in America that I've told you nothing about, but it was a big burden on him. And he had to organize that from England and collect money for that. So that he sees his week.

Whenever he's back in London, that's how it goes. Okay? So that's January. In February, he sets out for a 2 month open air campaign. Now, you don't just drive there or get the train or get a plane.

He's very green, so he's on a horse. In fact, he's in a carriage, but, you know, he he would do that as well. So he preaches at Gloucester, Bristol, Exeter Plymouth, 2 or 3 days each of those. That's that's what he's preaching. Remember he's got to get there as well.

In March, he decides to go down to Devon, and he goes all the way down to Cornwall, nearly lands end, preaching all the way. Then he's back in London. So remember he's gonna come back and he preaches on the way back as well. He's back in London. What does he do when he's back in London?

On Sundays, he preaches 4 times. Every day, he accepts Saturday, he preaches at 6 AM and 6 PM. Several other times throughout the week, they Hundundon puts on another couple of meetings. He's preaching there. There's funerals and weddings as oversight of the 3 tapping eccles.

There's inquirers, correspondence, and the orphanage concerns. That's April. He sets off for Portsmouth on on a preaching tour across sort of the channel coast down there. Still in April. This is what someone wrote to him said, brother.

Be careful of your health. Yeah. He said, fear not. Your weak body. We are immortal till our work is done.

Christ laborers must live by miracle. If not, I will not live at all. For God only knows what I daily endure. My continual vomitings almost kill me, and yet the pulpit is my cure so that my friends begin to pity me less and to leave off that ungrateful caution spare thyself. Anyway, that's this is April.

May, he's back in London. What does he do when he's back in London? Well, on Sundays, he preaches 4 times 4 times a day on the Sundays every day at 6, and so we go on. Yep. Then he's off in May to set out for Scotland.

He wants to go and preach up in Scotland. I think this is his fourth or visit to Scotland. And on the way, he preaches at Oldney, Northampton, Kettering, Ashby, Nottingham, Nottingham, Sutton, Sutton Mansfield, preaching 2 of 2 or 3 days at each of those, and traveling there, of course, and preaching at various places on the way as well. In June's still on the way to Scotland, because it takes a long time to get there. So he preaches at Leeds, Manchester, and I can't give you the list of all the other places in Lancashire and Yorkshire that he's preaching.

These are some of the things he said. On the way to Scotland, at Rotham. He said, the cryer, that's the town cryer, was employed to give notice of a bear baiting. You may guess, who was the bear. Because there was a lot of opposition, of course.

At Bolton, a drunk stood up behind me to preach. And a woman attempted twice to stab the person who was putting up a stand for me to preach on. This last night, Some persons got into the barn and stable and have cut my chase, who will Carriage, and 1 of the horse's tails. So they're trying to stop him being able to travel around. The more we listen to this, I mean, only the more we do, the more we may do.

Every act strengthens the habit. The best preparation for preaching on Sundays is to preach every day in the week. Yeah. Alright. June and July.

July, he arrives in Edinburgh, 1 month preaching tour in Scotland all all around. Returns to London. Remember he's to return, and he goes to the various places that he'd already been to on the way up. September, he's back in London. What did he do when he's back in London?

On Sundays, he preaches 4 times on the Sunday, every day, except Saturday. He preaches at 6 AM, and then 6 PM. He preaches several times, lady hundreds, and still try trolling out her and so forth. September, sets for Portma for a week to go on a preaching tour. Oh, are you exhausted yet?

Where are we? October, he sets where are we? Where where was I? Come on. Just jumped.

September Portsmouth. October, he's back he's back in London for a week, all those things that he does. As normal, Then October, he sets out for a preaching tour. He goes to Gloucester, Birmingham, Coventry, Windnessbury. Evesham Nottingham, 2 days ministers conference at Lady Huntings, and she's gone up north in the midlands just to to worry him, I think.

And so, that's what he does in October. But in November, he's back in London. He does all the same things that he does when he's back in London. In November, he sets out for another preaching tour. This is the Southeast Coast to Canterbury, and he's preaching 2 to 3 days in all of those places.

Pops back to London and off he goes again to the normal routine that he's doing in London, and then guess what happens in December halfway through. Becomes ill. Become very ill for 2 weeks, but wrote, this is what he wrote. My disorder was a violent fever, Jesus has rebuked rebuked it. I am raised up once more.

Oh, may it be that I may minister unto him? For me to live is Christ, but alas, how little do I live to his glory? Yesterday, December sixteenth, entered upon my seventh and thirtieth year I am ashamed to think that I have lived so long and done so little. That's 1 year. In 7 Do you wanna go through another year?

That's 1 year. It's extraordinary, isn't it? I put a picture of a horse up there, but he did use this little chase which he would read in and prepare his sermons and so forth in and have his assistant with him So it is it's it's it's quite a it's quite a remarkable set of things to do in a year, and it's just exhausting almost reading it out. So there's a there's a year. Let's let's just come on to persecutions because I've sort of slightly mentioned it in the last 2 talks.

So I've got to get through my year here. But let's just pick on a couple of persecute There were persecutions wherever wherever he went. The first 1 is, I want us just to pick on, he's a riot in Ireland when he goes over to Ireland. He's over there in in 17 57. And then the second 1 is a mocking play that was even put on by David Garrett and the theater there in the West End.

So let me just tell you the first 1. And it's worth just looking at this picture a little bit, in a bit more detail. I don't know whether you can quite see it. But if you see what's going on there, there's there's people shouting out There's a bloke there in the foreground picking up a rock to chuck at him. There's other people throwing rocks a bloke with a rattle making noises there.

There's a bloke with a whip in the background that's gonna whip him and that sort of stuff. There's people shouting out with their fists in the air. There's all kinds of stuff going on that you can see what happened. Let me read you what happens. So he's in Dublin.

This is July ninth 15 75, and he writes, many attacks have I had from Satan's children. But yesterday, you would have thought he had been permitted to have given me an effectual parting blow. So what has happened is he'd been preaching in the open air in a very large open air area outside some barracks. So it was a big open air meeting that he had. He said this he went to that place because the Ormond and Liberty Boys, that's the high and low party Boys.

I don't know what that means. Generally assemble every Sunday to fight each other. Right? So you've got these gangs that go to this field to fight, so Whitfield thinks, I'll go and preach. So he goes to preach, so he may be asking for it.

So what happened was, he he was preaching to a large congregation, and he says there was no noise or disturbance, and the word of God came with great power. So he was very encouraged. And by being encouraged by that, he gave a notice that he was gonna preach the next Sunday, the next day on the on the Sunday. So he arrives there. VAST was the multitude that attended.

We sang, prayed, and preached without much molestation molestation Only now, and then a few stones and clods of dirt were thrown at me. So it got through it mostly. Some stones and dirt were thrown at him, mostly people heard, and he talks about the word of God going out with power. And then it's over. He preached 2 hours, by the way.

Then it's over. All being over, I thought to return home the way I came. But to my great surprise, access was denied. So I had to go near half a mile from 1 end of the green to the other, through hundreds and hundreds of papists, Roman Catholics. Finding me unattended for a soldier and 4 methodist pre who came with me had forsook me and fled.

I was left to their mercy, but their mercy, as you may easily guess, was perfect cruelty. Voliers of hard stones came from all quarters, and every step I took a fresh stone struck and made me real backwards and forwards until I was almost breathless, and all over a gore of blood. My strong beaver hat served me As it were for a skull cap for a while, but at last it was knocked off, and my head was quite defenseless. I received many blows and wounds. 1 was particularly large and near my temple.

I thought of Stephen. And as I believed that I would receive more blows, I was in great hope that like him, I should be dispatched and go off into into this bloody triumph to an immediate presence of my master. But providentially, a minister's house laying next door to the green. With great difficulty, I staggered to the door, which was kindly opened and then shut upon me. Some of the mob, in the meantime, having broken apart the boards of the pulpit, into large splinters.

They beat and wounded my servant grievously in in his head and arms, and then came and drove me from the door. For a while, I continued speechless, panting, 4, and expecting every breath to be my last. 2 or 3 of the hearers, my friends, by some means or other, got admission. And kindly with weeping eyes washed my bloody wounds and gave me something to smell and to drink. I gradually revived, but soon found that the lady of the house desired my absence for fear that the house should be pulled down.

What to do? I knew not, being near near 2 miles from mister w's place. Some advised 1 thing some advised another. At length, a carpenter, 1 of the friends that came in, offered me his wig and coat, that I might go off in disguise. I accepted of and put them on, but was soon ashamed of not trusting my master.

To secure me in my proper habit, and threw them off with disdain. I determined to go out since I found my presence for so troublesome. Immediately, deliverance came, a methodist preacher with 2 friends brought a coach. I leaped onto it and hid in gospel triumph through the oaths and curses and imp in imperocations of the whole street of papists, unhurt, though threatened every step of the ground. Just listen to what happens.

You've got to get this. You've got it, haven't you? He he's been nearly knocked unconscious. Yeah. This is this is an incredible ordeal, and now he's escaped.

None but those who were spectators of the scene, can form an idea of the affections with which I was received by the weeping morning, but now joyful methodist. A Christian surgeon was ready to dress my wounds, which being done, I went into the preaching place. And after giving a word of exhortation, joined in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to him, who makes our extremities, his opportunities. Who's who's stills the noise of the waves and the madness of the most malignant people. Next morning, preach Brilliant, isn't it?

That's 1 persecution and quite extraordinary, really. And that that's a 1 that's just 1 I've read. That's happening all the time. Remember, you know, as he's preaching, people are throwing dead cats at him. And blood and all kinds of kinds of things.

Sometimes the methodist women are actually all the whole skirts are pulled up over their heads to reveal their naked bodies. It's amazing what was going on, but he went and preached. This 1 was, in 1 sense, more ugly, less violent, but more ugly. This was the theater people, and they wanted to make a mockery of him, and they they wrote a play, a bloke called Samuel Foot. He was a talented actor, a talented comedian, and he wrote a play about mister Whitfield, it's called the minor, as in sort of small, the minor.

And there were 4 characters, Shift, Shirk, Missus Cole, and doctor Squintum. And doctor Squintum was mocking Whitfield because he had a an eye that you know, whatever that eye is a squint eye. It was a lewd, lewd play, pretty dirty, you know, suggestions that missus Cole and missus Cole had been cleansed, 1 of the lines is I've been made pure by the rubbing down of mister doctor Squintam, and it was all lewd and sexual and and innuendos and all kinds of stuff. Lady Huntington tried to get it stopped, because it was so disgusting, but couldn't seem to do it. David Garrett, he's the 1 he was the actor that actually went to hear Whitfield just to hear him say, oh, You know?

He thought it was pretty nasty, but he wanted it was making money in the West End, so he put it on. And there's some I won't read out some of the lewd things that said. Now Whitfield basically ignored it and sort of believed that any any you know, more people came out to hear him because because of it. Although it was pretty unpleasant because people started to say, how's missus Cole? Doctor Squintam to him, you know, suggesting that he was immoral when he wasn't.

The only reference he makes to it is about being mimicked on stage once. And then in a sermon, He he's preaching on heaven, and he's taken up with his idea of heaven and the release from persecution. Remember, the bloke who wrote this place called Foot. And he says this, there, there, this is in heaven, there, there, the ungodly foot. Will trample upon the Saint no more.

So that's persecution. So you can see how persecutions were coming. So we've had a year in the life, and we've seen some of the persecutions that he suffered. Last day before rest, it's an extraordinary day. The day before, let's just go back.

He died in September 30, 17 70. He's in America now. This is his seventh visit to America. Takes a few months to get over to America. And it's his seventh visit.

And he's pretty ill by this point. His friend says to him, sir, you before he goes to preach once, his friend says, sir, you're more fit for bed than to preach. And he said, true, sir, Lord, Jesus. I am weary in thy work, but not of thy work. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for thee once more in the fields, seal thy truth, and let me come home and die.

Now, he was planning to go to Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was on his way there. And on his way there, he goes through Exeter and a great crowd demand that he preach. So he's really ill, but then he prays that prayer when he's there in Exeter. He stands up and he preaches for 2 hours.

When he stands up, he can hardly stand. So his assistant stands by him, holds him up, lifts him up, and he prays, Lord, help me. Give me assistance, gracious Lord, assist me once more to speak in thy name. And he preached for 2 hours on the text. Test yourself to see if you are in the faith.

People say it was the best sermon they ever heard in preach, But you know, people are prone to that sort of thing, but it it it clearly was pretty good. After he preached, he was obviously shattered. Makes his way finally to Newburyport, where his friend, a pastor friend, is is gonna put him up. He he goes there for for dinner, and he can't eat anything. He coughs up volumes of blood.

And says, excuse me, I hope you don't mind, oh, I need to go to bed. He's going up to bed. Okay? And he's just coughed up liters of blood and feeling very, very ill. And there's a crowd at the door and say, no, you can't go to bed.

Please preach to He has a candle that he's just lit going up the stairs. Unfortunately, it's a new candle. And he said, I'll preach as long as a candle lasts. And he stands on the stairs and people crowd at the door, and he preaches. To them and then goes upstairs and dies.

It's an amazing life, an amazing life. I mean, genuinely amazing life that God used, and it's worth reading. Okay. What have we got? Oh, that that's his resting place.

It's in America. It's weird. It looks like a pizza thing. And, I mean, it's just absolutely weird. And that's a that's a sort of that's not his skull.

It's a sort of fake skull on a fake bible. It's Americans are weird, aren't they? Yeah? They put a fake skull on a fake bible in a pizza thing. Anyway, there we go.

But what do we learn? Lessons to learn. Let's do lessons to learn, and there are quite a lot, I think. I think this verse is worth us Look, we're not Whitfield, so we can't try and be him. So you you you don't start saying, oh, I've gotta be like I've gotta be a Whitfield.

But you do say what lessons can I learn from Whitfield? He was a particular person that God used at a particular time. But these verses do come to mind, John 16 8 8 to 11. This is Jesus speaking to his disciples, of course. But, nevertheless, they apply.

When he, that's the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. About sin because people do not believe in me, about righteousness because I'm going to the father where you can see me no longer and about judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned. So the Holy Spirit's Ministry is the convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So what can we learn? Well, we need to pray for revival.

We need to pray for a revival. Because this was revival back in the eighteenth century. We have had other revivals in this country, and perhaps we'll look at these in future years. This is a revival. This is not only just a preacher that's preaching with power.

This is people's ears being opened up. This is dead rising again. This is thousands upon people thousands upon thousands of people coming to hear the Word of God. We should be praying for a revival. Our nation needs revival.

It's been blessed by people like Whitfield, and and we need revival. And we need to be praying that the Holy Spirit, you know, will convict people of their sin. I mean, you know, to us who are reading the scriptures, the sin is so obvious, but to them, they think they're righteous. No 1 thinks they're a sinner. The sins that are on display now are extraordinary.

They're just extraordinary. And, you know, the grip that people in, I mean, I was at the university with Tom and the others, and I picked up the university newspaper, which amazingly is actually very good. Way better than it used to be. And it has articles on how many are taking cocaine. You know, like 1 fifth of students are taking cocaine.

It's amazing, isn't it? But where are we? That that's happening. And we go on as if life is all happy. I mean, it's the end, isn't it, really?

It's extraordinary. And, you know, all we can go on about is climate change. It's extraordinary that we would think that that's our priority. And so we need to pray that people will be convicted of their sin because you'll never become a Christian until you know you're a sinner and of righteousness of judgment to come. So can we pray for this?

To pray that God will convict people, and then we can give them the balm of the gospel. Secondly, we need to pray for preachers. Do pray for us. Let's let's not please, not not pray. Let's It's it's pride not to ask for prayer.

So please pray. Pay for us that preach in the church here. Do pray for us. That will be people that will preach sin, righteousness, judgment to come, and come to the lord Jesus Christ, that will be unrelenting on that and keep preaching that gospel. Pay for preachers.

So do pray, and I leave these points up in a minute for us to pray over, But to the this weekend on Sunday, and then, of course, there's all the teaching in the in the Sunday schools and the the youth. But on Sunday, Tom is Tom is preaching, and we know that there are gonna be many guests. There could be many non Christians on Sunday morning. Be there early, talk, Look for opportunities and pray. Perhaps we'd take a group of us out to pray.

While Tom is preaching. We need to pray. So Laura Robson, apparently, you know, and Tom, they've got 30 coming on their own because it's a, you know, a thanks giving. You know, that that's 13 non Christians, plus. That's extraordinary, isn't it?

So we need to pray for Tom. We don't want him to do a good little talk. We want the spirit of God to come upon him so that that people will be convicted of sin, of righteousness, and judgment to come. So can we pray for that? Rore is preaching in the evening, in Luke.

And it's Zakius, and let's pray. Zachius, a sinner, bloke into money, twisting and manipulating people to get money comes to Christ. Christ or Christ comes to him. So let's pray. There'll be people there that will be converted.

What? Yeah. You write that 1 down here. 3. What can we learn?

He trusted the gospel. He absolutely trusted the gospel. JC Ryal says he was among oh, sorry. When it comes to revival, let me just read you John Wesley's. They had quite a lot of arguments.

John Wesley and and George Whitfield. I didn't go into that. Wesley was mostly wrong. John Wesley pre he was. John Wesley preached at his funeral though and said, have we have we read or heard of any person who called so many thousands, so many periods of sinners to repentance.

Above all, have we read or heard of anyone who has been given the blessed instrument, bringing so many sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Let's pray for revival. Those things will happen. Let's pray for preachers. Trust in the gospel.

He trusted in the gospel. J. C. Rowe said, He was amongst the first to show that the right way to meet the attacks of the infidels and the skeptics. To Christianity was a clear, powerful presentation of the gospel, not metaphysical reasoning, not dry critical discussions and debates, but preaching the whole gospel, the living gospel, and spreading the gospel.

He attacked sin and wickedness of the day, and gave no peace to that. Until people were convicted and then he applied the gospel. So we need to trust the gospel, and let's pray that we keep trusting the gospel. Fourthly, the things that we can learn, his personal character, here's a whole load of things. Humility, I mean, if you're talking to crowds like that, it it it would be I mean, God can only give that to certain people because most of us would be full of pride.

He definitely wasn't. I mean, of his and get this, of his 1400 letters published, If you if you whiz through them apparently, he talks in terms of let witch fields name Die with Whitfield. He talks in terms of, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He's constantly thinking of himself as a sinner. He says this.

Truly, I am vile. Viler than the vilest. And stand amazed at his employing such a wretches I am. So there's a humility about him. We need to learn that.

You know, this is God's work and the humility there. Love for the Lordese Christ just poured out of him. It said that all his communications had this fragrant ointment. That people could savor the savior. He was always about his master's business, that 1 year in his life.

I gave you a week last time. It gave you a year this time. You can see 40 to 6 hour 40 to 60 hours a week preaching. That's preaching, you know. His self denial, he cared little for money, He really he really wasn't interested in anything that got in the way of the glory of God and the glory of Christ.

And he was prepared to deny himself for that. He he wasn't about money. Even though he was accused of making lots of money, he he could have made lots of money. He he I mean, he could have. His books, you know, his sermons sold, and he could have been very, very rich, but it it all it all went.

To gospel work. Happy and cheerful spirit. I think it's worth putting down because all of the pictures, when he saw those paintings, of himself. He didn't recognize himself, and he was he wasn't really happy about those paintings. He says, I always have my arms in the air, So almost every painting has his arm in the air like this, and he said I couldn't be doing this, and always gave him a rather severe grumpy face.

And he wasn't. He was very thankful. He was a rejoicing Christian, 1 lady said mister Whitfield was so cheerful that it tempted me to become a Christian. He was a very cheerful man. And and all the readings, when you read, you know, Benjamin Franklin and all of those people, they say that he was a very cheerful, thankful man.

Thanks a man. But was often smiling. Giving, he gave himself. I haven't talked as I said before about his campaign for this orphanage in in in America. It was a massive burden on him.

He had to raise money for it. It it it got him into debt. And into into great difficulties financially as he it was pouring money into into this orphanage. But he was a man of of charity. He didn't accept money just for himself.

Someone offered him 7000 pounds for him, and he turned it down. You know, that's 7000 pound I don't know how that's sort of millions, I guess. It's quite extraordinary. And then he inspired other preachers. And I think we can learn these things.

We're not Whitfield, even if we wish we were, we're not. We haven't got his gifts. We're living at at times that are very similar to the times that he lived in before the revival, and we should be praying and using these things. So on our tables, let's Oh, let me Sorry. So many things.

Let me just end with this and then you can pray. What is that? Oh, I must have left that in. This is what he did every night. I don't know how he did it.

When he went to bed, which was usually 10 o'clock. Have I? Look at all these things. Have I won, been fervent in private prayer, Have I, 2, use stated hours of prayer. 3, used prayer every hour.

4, After or before, every deliberate conversation or action considered how it might tend to God's glory. 5, after any pleasure immediately given thanks. 6, planned business for the day, 7, been simple and recollected in everything. I'm not sure what recollected means. Does anybody I'm not quite sure what it means?

He uses it again in a minute. 8 is enough here to go go by. So I don't mind if I'd have missed 1 out. 8, been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could, 9, been meek, cheerful, affordable in everything I said or did, 10, been proud, vain, unchaste, or enviable of others, 11, recollected in eating and drinking, thankful, temperate in sleep. 12, taken time for giving thanks according to William Law's rules.

That's a writer. 13, been diligent in studies, 14, fought or spoken unkindly of anyone, 15 confessed all my sins. No wonder the Lord used him. Here's a man who is not idle, here is a man that really does believe the gospel. And when someone believes the gospel like He did, then God can use him for mighty, mighty things.

It is said, by the way, that he stopped the revolution in this country by the people that were converted. So it's quite interesting. Turn on our tables. Let's let's pray some of these things through some of the lessons that we can we need to learn, I'll put those up again. Lessons there.

Let's pray for a few minutes.