Conclusion: We Want Again Whitefields!.
Have we read or heard of any person who called so many thousands, so many myriads of sinners to repentance? Above all, have we read or heard of anyone who has been God’s blessed instrument to bring so many sinners from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God as Whitefield?1
—John Wesley
It is virtually impossible to read the life and ministry of George Whitefield without being impressed with his evangelistic zeal. Here is a man who gave himself entirely to the most noble calling of all—preaching for the souls of men. Without gimmicks and props, without smoke and mirrors, here is a humble messenger, armed only with the gospel, emboldened by the Spirit, seeking to revive the church and win the lost to Christ. Here is a soul on fire and a life zealous to preach the glorious gospel.
Whitefield never lost sight of the fact that he was a lowly sinner saved by the matchless grace of his Redeemer. He never promoted himself, but desired simply that Christ be glorified through his many labors. He allowed no Christian institution or religious movement to be named after him. He was a model of self-effacing humility, even amid his painful controversies. He never championed his own cause, nor sought the spothght. Instead, Whitefield only sought the honor of God in the salvation of lost souls.
What do we learn most from the life of George Whitefield? Among his many qualities worth emulating, we see the primacy of the gospel in his preaching. He lived to proclaim the saving message of Jesus Christ. In this present day when many in ministry are striving to be many things—CEOs, marketers, strategists, communicators, actors, dramatists, organizers, promoters, and the like—what a challenge it is to be brought face-to-face with one like Whitefield.
This is what must be recovered in this present day. Charles Spurgeon prophetically described the great need of the hour:
We want again Luthers, Calvins, Bunyans, Whitefields, men fit to mark eras, whose names breathe
terror in our foemen’s ears. We have dire need of such.
Whence will they come to us? They are the gifts of
Jesus Christ to the church, and will come in due time.
He has power to give us back again a golden age of
preachers, and when the good old truth is once more
preached by men whose lips are touched as with a live
coal from off the altar, this shall be the instrument in
the hand of the Spirit for bringing about a great and
thorough revival of religion in the land. 2
With unwavering conviction, Spurgeon concluded:
I do not look for any other means of converting men
beyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the
opening of men’s ears to hear it. The moment the
church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise
her. It has been through the ministry that the Lord has
always been pleased to review and bless His churches.3
The enduring example of this “Grand Itinerant” sets before us what should be in every preacher’s soul. In his magisterial work on George Whitefield, Arnold Dallimore longed for what is surely in our hearts:
This book is written in the desire—perhaps in a measure of inner certainty—that we shall see the great
Head of the Church once more bring into being His
special instruments of revival, that He will again raise
up unto Himself certain young men whom He may
use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men
will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives
dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and
holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with
the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be
men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human
aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to
be “fools for Christ’s sake,” who will bear reproach
and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose
supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades,
but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear
before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men
who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes,
and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit. . . . Indeed this book
goes forth with the earnest prayer that, amidst the
rampant iniquity and glaring apostasy of the twentieth
century God will use it toward the raising up of such
men and toward the granting of a mighty revival such
as was witnessed two hundred years ago.4
May the Lord raise up a new generation of zealous evangelists who will never lose sight of the need to preach the gospel with urgency and passion. Now more than ever, we must have men dominated by the glory of God who will expound the Scripture, proclaim the doctrines of grace, and call men and women to follow Christ by faith. May the Lord grant to preachers and Christians alike the mind, heart, and passion of George Whitefield—a mind for the truth, a heart for the world, and a passion for the glory of God.
Truly, we want again Whitefields!