Chapter 6: A Mandate from the Lord
Whitefield tells us more than anything else—orthodoxy is not enough.…In a sense John Calvin always needs George Whitefield. What I mean is this. The danger of those who follow the teachings of Calvin, and do so rightly, is that they tend…to sink into what I would describe as an “ossified orthodoxy.” And that is of no value, my friend. You need the power of the Spirit upon it.1
—Martyn Lloyd-Jones
In 1753, Samuel Davies, Jonathan Edwards’ successor as president of Princeton University, and the Presbyterian minister Gilbert Tennent set sail from America. They were headed to England on a mission to raise money for the fledgling institution. Their journey across the Atlantic was a turbulent sea voyage during which they feared being shipwrecked several times. At last they arrived in London on a Saturday morning. They immediately sought to know, “Is Mr. Whitefield in town?” To their delight, they were told he was due to preach the next morning. With great anticipation, these two spiritual leaders went to hear Whitefield preach.
Reflecting upon the service, Davies wrote, “It became clear to me quite soon in the service that Mr. Whitefield must have had an exceptionally busy week; obviously he had not had time to prepare his sermon properly.” He added, “From the standpoint of construction and ordering of thought it was very deficient and defective; it was a poor sermon.…But,” he said, “the unction that attended it was such that I would gladly risk the rigours of shipwreck in the Atlantic many times over in order to be there just to come under its gracious influence.”2
Davies became a spectator of the power of the Holy Spirit that so recognizably fueled the preaching ministry of George Whitefield. Here was a man endued with mighty influence from God as he carried out his proclamation of the Word. As Whitefield stood to declare the gospel, he was made strong in the Lord. The empowering of the Spirit enabled this gifted evangelist to accomplish a monumental work and to witness amazing results.
The effect of the Spirit’s influence in Whitefield’s life cannot be overstated. It was this divine might that enabled him to traverse the landscape of the British Isles and travel throughout the American colonies proclaiming Jesus Christ. And it was by the Spirit’s power that he saw two continents come under the sway of the gospel.
Whitefield believed it was crucial that the Holy Spirit be an experiential reality in his life and ministry. On the 250th anniversary of Whitefield’s birth, Northern Irish pastor Ian Paisley noted Whitefield’s belief that “the power of God, the Holy Ghost, must be manifested and can be experienced.”3 Whitefield himself asserted, “Believers can feel the Spirit of God in His sanctifying and saving impressions and witnessing with our own spirits.”4 Any observer of Whitefield’s expansive ministry would rightly conclude that this itinerant evangelist was endowed with an unusual measure of divine power from the Holy Spirit.
In this concluding chapter, our focus will be upon the power of the Holy Spirit in the preaching ministry of George Whitefield. We will consider how, having received a mission from the Lord, Whitefield was sovereignly called, relentlessly driven, spiritually energized, divinely comforted, and supernaturally effective.
Sovereignly Called
Whitefield believed God had sovereignly called him to preach the gospel. He could not explain his ministry apart from this divine work within him. Initially terrified at the thought of preaching, he would not have chosen this role. Lloyd-Jones commented, “He felt it was such a sacred task; and who was he to enter into a pulpit and to preach? He felt he would run a thousand miles away in order not to preach. Such was his view of it all, and such was his view of himself and his own unworthiness, that it took a great deal to persuade George Whitefield to enter a pulpit and preach.”5
The Spirit overcame his fears and apprehensions. In the depths of his soul, Whitefield knew he had been called by the Spirit to preach—and preach he must. Reflecting on his calling to ministry, Whitefield said he knew it was the Spirit who had summoned him to preach:
I went to Oxford without a friend; I had not a servant, I had not a single person to introduce me; but
God, by his Holy Spirit, was pleased to raise me up
to preach for his great name’s sake: through his divine
Spirit I continue to this day and feel my affections are
as strong as ever toward the work and the people of
the living God.6
Once converted, Whitefield immediately possessed a full assurance that God had sovereignly called him to Himself. Likewise, he was persuaded that he had been empowered for gospel ministry. His sermons were Spirit-charged, and it was obvious to his hearers that it was God speaking when he opened his mouth to preach.
Whitefield believed that many ministers in the Church of England were unconverted and uncalled. These unregenerate preachers had not been divinely appointed to ministry and preached empty and lifeless messages. J. I. Packer said, “Anglican clergy were writing and reading flat sermons of a mildly moralistic and apologetic sort.”7
In stark contrast to this hollow rhetoric, Whitefield preached in a fashion that more resembled the Apostles. Packer further explained:
Whitefield preached extempore about heaven and
hell, sin and salvation, the dying love of Christ, and
the new birth, clothing his simple expository outhnes
with glowing dramatic conscience-challenging rhetoric, and reinforcing his vocal alternations of soothing
and punching with a great deal of body movement
and gesture, thereby adding great energy to the things
he was saying.8
It was the Holy Spirit who quickened Whitefield’s mind, ignited his soul, inflamed his heart, fueled his passion, and strengthened his body. His preaching reintroduced the old truths of Scripture back into the dry atmosphere of gospel preaching. He employed all his gifts and talents to this sacred task. But only the Spirit’s calling and gifting can explain the extent of Whitefield’s impact.
Relentlessly Driven
Propelled by the power of the Holy Spirit, Whitefield stormed forward into ministry. The relentless drive of Whitefield’s herculean effort was fueled by power from on high. Consider the unparalleled pace of Whitefield’s itinerant ministry. No matter what lay before him, be it an opportunity or an obstacle, Whitefield’s spiritual determination could not be quenched. If denied access to a church pulpit, he would take to the open field. If persecuted by an angry mob, he would persevere despite threats to his safety and life. If preaching on one continent, he would board a ship and sail to the other side of the Atlantic. This persistent herald possessed an assiduous drive to proclaim Christ as few ever have.
Whitefield’s productivity extended beyond his preaching. He gave myriad personal interviews with individuals who sought his counsel and kept up a prodigious letter-writing ministry. He founded three churches and one school, and founded and assumed responsibility for an orphanage in Savannah, Georgia. He said, “I ought to lay myself out more and more in going about endeavoring to do good to precious and immortal souls.”9 His heart so overflowed for others that he was compelled to bring them God’s Word. Such was Whitefield’s resolve.
The endless demands upon his life stretched him beyond his limits. This “inter-continental gospel preacher”10 was an indefatigable evangelist, often preaching five or six times a day, for as much as forty hours a week. Travel in the eighteenth century was arduous, and Whitefield’s schedule—going from city to city, country to country, even continent to continent—would have used up any other man. It is remarkable that he lived as long as he did under such an exacting load.
Whitefield was often urged by others to slow the pace of his ministry. A typical response was, “I would sooner wear out, than rust out.”11 He simply could not shorten his stride, even as his time on earth drew to a close. As Whitefield prepared to deliver what would be his final sermon, someone said to him, “Sir, you are more fit to go to bed than to preach.” Whitefield looked up to the heavens and said, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of Thy work.”12 Though depleted by his stupendous labors in gospel ministry, Whitefield stepped forward to finish the course that had been set before him.
The only way Whitefield could endure all he did, travel as much as he did, preach as much as he did, and exert the energy that he did, was through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Whitefield continually testified to that effect in his Journals: “God enabled me to speak with the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power.”13 On another occasion he remarked, “Preached…with such demonstration of the Spirit as I never spoke before.…God has given me a double portion of His Spirit indeed.”14 Amid his exhausting pace, Whitefield once remarked, “Slept but little tonight, as well as the night before; but was much strengthened by the Holy Spirit.”15 In his own weakness, the Spirit gave him supernatural power to make up what was lacking physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
To the very end, Whitefield was relentlessly driven by the Holy Spirit to accomplish all his hands set out to do. His effectiveness lay not merely in his eloquence or zeal, but arose from the fact that God had “granted upon him and his ministry ‘a mighty effusion of the Holy Ghost’; and it was this, the Divine power, which was the first secret of his success.”16
Spiritually Energized
Whitefield demonstrates that neither mere assent to the truth, nor doctrinal correctness, is enough for effective gospel influence. There must be the empowerment of the Spirit to accompany this truth, both in the preacher and the listener. As Whitefield wrote: “Oh, how Divine truths make their own way, when attended by Divine power.”17 Any power Whitefield possessed did not come from his innate human abilities, but from the Spirit who lived within him.
“Orthodoxy is not enough,” Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote. “There were orthodox men in [Whitefield’s] time, but they were comparatively useless. You can have a dead orthodoxy.”18 Reflecting on the Spirit’s work in Whitefield, Lloyd-Jones added:
The power of the Spirit is essential. We must be
orthodox, but God forbid us to rest even on orthodoxy. We must seek the power of the Spirit that was
given to George Whitefield. That will give us a sorrow
for souls and a concern for souls, and give us the zeal,
and enable us to preach with power and conviction to
all classes and kinds of men.19
Whitefield’s deep love for the souls of men and women did not originate in himself. It was God who gave him an uncommon love for those to whom he preached.
The Spirit also gave Whitefield endurance to accomplish more and more. To a minister in Charleston, South Carolina, he wrote, “I have been enabled to prepare nine discourses for the press. My body waxes stronger; and, last night, the great God, in a glorious manner, filled and overshadowed my soul. I am panting for the complete holiness of Jesus my Lord.”20 There is no explanation for what Whitefield accomplished apart from the power of God in his life.
Even when he felt despair by looking at his adverse circumstances and trials, Whitefield gained strength from the Spirit in order to persevere steadfastly. On one occasion, he recounted:
Through infinite mercy, I am enabled to strengthen
myself in the Lord my God. I am cast down, but not
destroyed; perplexed, but not in despair. A few days ago
in reading Beza’s Life of Calvin, these words were much
pressed upon me, “Calvin is turned out of Geneva,
but, behold a new church arises!” Jesus, the ever loving, altogether lovely Jesus, pities and comforts me.21
At another time, Whitefield wrote, “I have been enabled to preach twice daily, and to ride several miles. Congregations have been surprisingly large; the word is attended with power, and the alarm in the country rather greater than ever.”22 From Gloucester on February 5, 1742, he wrote, “Yesterday, I preached three times, and visited a private Society in the evening. Today, I was enabled to preach three times, with great power. Here there is such an awakening, as I never saw in these parts before.”23 Though physically exhausted and mentally drained from the previous days’ rigors, Whitefield was spiritually energized for each new day: “I seem to have a new body, and the Lord greatly enriches my soul.”24 Time and again, Whitefield attributed his effectiveness, influence, and scope in ministry to the quickening effect of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit also gave Whitefield resilience in the face of opposition to the message he preached. He wrote of little boys and girls pelting him eggs and dirt,25 and recounted that on another occasion, “A few poor souls began to insult me, but Jesus strengthened me much. Several clods were thrown, one of them fell on my head, and another struck my fingers, while I was in prayer. A sweet gospel spirit was given to me.”26
When faced with such opposition, Whitefield felt as though he was opposing Satan himself. No human messenger relying upon his own strength, Whitefield contended, could ever expect to succeed in direct confrontation with the evil one. He understood the Apostle John’s words: “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The power of the Holy Spirit made him an overcomer in his conflict with the prince of the power of the air. Of one such conflict with the Devil, Whitefield remarked:
Went to St. Helen’s, where Satan withstood me
greatly—for on a sudden I was deserted, and my
strength went from me. But I thought it was the Devil’s
doing, and therefore was resolved to resist him steadfast in the faith. Accordingly, though I was exceedingly
sick in reading the prayers, and almost unable to speak
when I entered the pulpit, yet God gave me courage
to begin, and before I had done, I waxed warm and
strong in the Spirit, and offered Jesus Christ freely.27
In 1739, in Basingstoke, England, Whitefield preached for an hour in a large room thronged with people, while a mob outside shouted and threw stones at the windows. He recounted, “After this, my spirits revived, my body was strengthened, and God gave me utterance, so that I spoke freely…the Word of God.”28 Examples like these serve to demonstrate the energizing effect of the Spirit upon Whitefield’s preaching ministry as he faithfully proclaimed the saving message of Christ even amid such adversaries.
Divinely Comforted
Whitefield was inwardly consoled in the midst of many demanding circumstances in his life and ministry. He was confronted with many difficulties throughout his life and was met by resistance on many sides. Any of these would have been sufficient to have discouraged the strongest of men. Yet, as we read of Whitefield’s life, we see a servant of the Lord not deflated by discouragements, nor drowning in despair, but abounding in joy and filled with peace. This must be attributed to the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit within him.
At times, Whitefield felt abandoned by the Lord. It was then that the Lord came in great power to shore up his weakness. Whitefield reflected, “Sometimes I perceive myself deserted for a little while, and much oppressed, especially before preaching, but comfort soon after flows in.”29 The refrain “I was deserted before I went up to the pulpit” was often repeated by Whitefield, but was inevitably followed by “God strengthened me to speak.”30 It was Whitefield’s realization of his own weakness that caused him to depend upon God exclusively for His all-sustaining power.
As Whitefield so aptly stated, “I walk continually in the comforts of the Holy Ghost.”31 He received constant encouragement from the Comforter, without whom he could have never continued with calmness of heart in the midst of the many turbulent storms. On one challenging occasion, he remarked, “My soul was full of ineffable comfort and joy in the Holy Ghost.”32 Whitefield found the Holy Spirit to be an endless source of joy in the many disappointments he faced.
In 1738, he boarded the Mary, bound from Charleston to England. Except for two or three days, the first month of the passage home was a continuous storm on the open sea. During the first week, Whitefield never undressed, and lay upon the deck, or on a chest every night. On October 3, when they had sailed about 150 miles, they encountered a violent storm, which slit nearly all the ship’s sails. The captain’s hammock in the great cabin was half-filled with water. Whitefield, in his berth, was drenched. Most of the fresh provisions were washed overboard and the tackling of the ship was seriously injured.33
In the midst of such a turbulent storm, Whitefield was kept at peace by the comforting and sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit. He wrote: “I have been but a little sea-sick; and though I have not had my clothes off, and lay upon deck or on a chest every night, yet the goodness of God keeps me healthy and strong, and gives me a feeling possession of His Holy Spirit.”34 It was the Spirit who gave him calm confidence during these most adverse circumstances.
Whitefield understood that the inward ministry of the Spirit, though inexplicable, was nevertheless real. Once when he was depleted, he stated, “Afterwards found my strength renewed, and my soul filled with divine love and joy in the Holy Ghost. Oh what a mystery is the hidden life of a Christian.”35 As he faced these many trials in his life and ministry—the conflict with the Wesleys, the financial burden of the Bethesda Orphanage, the long ocean voyages, the premature death of his newborn son, the loss of his wife, and the growing hecklers in the crowd—this valiant soldier of the cross found supernatural solace in the Lord, mediated by the Holy Spirit. Without this inner joy and peace, the multitudes would have not been attracted to the gospel he held forth.
This testimony of such divine help was his constant refrain. In his Journals, Whitefield bore witness, time and again, that it was the Holy Spirit who was granting supernatural peace and joy to his troubled soul: “We long since knew that the Kingdom of God did not consist in any externals, but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”36 Again, “Glory be to God that He fills me continually, not only with peace, but also joy in the Holy Ghost.”37 Or, “God fills me with love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.…Oh how does the Holy Ghost cause me to joy in God!”38 Whitefield found the Spirit to be a fountain of inexhaustible grace that washed over his weary heart, comforting, upholding, and sustaining him with each laborious step of his extensive journey.
Supernaturally Effective
Whitefield understood that the effects of his preaching were sovereignly determined by God. His responsibility was to deliver the message and leave the results entirely with God. In the wake of Whitefield’s preaching, lives were visibly affected and dramatically altered. These results were clearly the effect of God’s hand. Iain Murray observed, “Whitefield’s preaching was accompanied by effects similar to those produced by the preaching of the apostolic age.”39 J. C. Ryle remarked, “He was one of the most powerful and effective preachers that ever lived.”40 These men understood this effect was the direct result of God’s power in Whitefield’s ministry.
From the beginning of his ministry, Whitefield recounted the evidence of the Holy Spirit upon his preaching. After his first sermon, on June 30, 1736, in Gloucester, he wrote, “I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some few mocked, but most for the present seemed struck; and I have since heard, that a complaint has been made to the bishop, that I drove fifteen mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before next Sunday.”41 Even in his initial sermon, Whitefield recognized the supernatural effect upon his listeners.
Later, in Scotland, Whitefield recounted, “The Holy Spirit seemed to come down like a rushing mighty wind.…Every day I hear of some fresh good wrought by the power of God. I scarce know how to leave Scotland.”42 Wherever he went, the effect of the Spirit in his ministry was noticeable in the conviction and conversion of souls.
Untold examples could be offered of these Spirit-generated effects. On July 19, 1740, George Whitefield wrote in his Journals concerning the effectiveness of his ministry in Charleston, South Carolina: “Indeed, the Word often came like a hammer and a fire.”43 Whitefield attributed this power in preaching to the Holy Spirit. He realized his sermons contained converting power that must be traced back to God. A. S. Billingsley noted:
When Mr. Whitefield preached in New York with
“crying, weeping, and wailing” all over the congregation, a little boy sitting on the pulpit stairs was so
deeply affected, “that he could scarce stand.” He cried
out when one asked him why he cried, he said, “Who
can help it? The Word cut me to the heart.” When he
preached in Baskinridge he says, “I had not discoursed
long till in every part of the congregation somebody
began to cry out, and almost all were melted to tears.”44
On another occasion, Billingsley explained, “Whitefield gave a word of exhortation with a most melting effect. One that received Christ cried out, ‘He is come! He is come!’ and could scarce sustain the discovery that Jesus Christ made to his soul.”45 Yet again, Whitefield recorded:
Others were so earnest for the discovery of the Lord
Jesus to their souls, that their eager crying obliged me
to stop, and I prayed over them as I saw their agonies
and distress increase. At length my own soul was so full,
that I retired, and was in a strong agony for some time.
I wept under a deep sense of my own vileness, and the
sovereignty and greatness of God’s everlasting love.46
Whitefield knew this operation of the Spirit could not be automatically transferred into print. When asked for a copy of a sermon so it might be published, he said, “I have no objection, if you will print the lightning, thunder and rainbow with it.”47
With humble recognition, Whitefield saw himself as merely a channel through which the Spirit flowed: “The Holy Ghost so powerfully worked upon my hearers, pricking their hearts, and melting them into such floods of tears, that a spiritual man said, ‘he never saw the like before.’ God is with me.…My understanding is more enlightened, my affections more inflamed, and my heart is full of love towards God and man.”48 This is the only explanation that can rightly interpret Whitefield’s preaching—it was by the Spirit’s operation in his own life and upon his listeners, producing extraordinary effects.
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The same Spirit who indwelled Whitefield has taken up His royal residence within the heart of every believer in Christ. The same Spirit who called Whitefield from obscurity to worldwide influence has placed the same call upon every Christian’s heart to bear gospel witness. The same Spirit who empowered Whitefield in his numerous endeavors will propel every follower of Christ to service in His name. The same Spirit who energized Whitefield will give divine energy and supernatural power today to accomplish all He wills.
It is this influence of the Holy Spirit seen in Whitefield’s preaching that so desperately needs to be recovered again. Concerning such Spirit-emboldened preaching, Robert Philip wrote:
It is high time that the church of Christ should consider, not only the duty of depending on the Spirit,
but also the import and the importance of the “demonstration of the Spirit,” in preaching. That is more
than the demonstration of orthodoxy. It is more than
the demonstration of either sound scholarship or hard
study. It is even more than the demonstration of mere
sincerity and fidelity. Sincerity may be cold, and fidelity harsh.49
A dead orthodoxy will never impart life in gospel ministry. To the contrary, the power of the Holy Spirit is essential in gospel preaching to inject life to human souls. Whitefield was certainly endued with such divine power in his evangelistic preaching. This heaven-sent power must be recovered in pulpits today. May the sovereign Head of the church, who possesses all authority in heaven and earth, give to His church such Spirit-endowed messengers.