The Pilgrim Path---John 3:3

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

George Whitefield (1714--1770)

There were three remarkable ministers in Great Britain in the early 18th Century: John Wesley, William Grimshaw, and George Whitefield. Whitefield would actually become a celebrity in the American Colonies because of his preaching---America's Great Awakening was really launched by Whitefield's preaching tour of 1739-40. He was 25 years old. Approximately 80% of all American colonists would end up knowing the name of Whitefield---because they would have heard him preach---or read some extract of his sermons in a paper (he traveled seven times to America preaching). Benjamin Franklin became a close friend of this preacher---Franklin once estimated that Whitefield, without any kind of amplification, could be heard "outside" by a crowd of more than 30,000 people.

One of Whitefield's favorite texts was John 3:3, "Ye must be born again." When asked Why? he preached on that so frequently he responded, "Because You must be Born again."

He had already been ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church, and returned from a missionary tour in Georgia---when he decided to give himself to something with new vigor and effort---outdoor preaching. Hear Harry S. Stout: "When Whitefield returned to London from Georgia in late 1738, he found many churches closed to him. He then experimented with outdoor, extemporaneous preaching, where no document or wooden pulpit stood between him and his audience. Whitefield did not invent extemporaneous preaching, but he did bring it to its highest art. Where others felt hesitant or at a loss with no notes, he discovered release."

Some portions of a message delivered in Glasgow, Scotland in 1741---"The Kingdom of God"---Romans 14: 17---"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

---By righteousness we are to understand the complete, perfect, and all-sufficient righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, as including both his active and his passive obedience. My dear friends, we have no righteousness of our own; our best righteousness, take them all together, are but many filthy rags; we can only be accepted for the sake of the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. This righteousness must be imputed and made over to us, and applied to our hearts; and till we get this righteousness brought home to our souls, we are in a state of death and damnation---the wrath of God abides on us...Did you ever see yourself as damned sinners? Did conviction ever fasten upon your hearts? And after you had been made to see your want of Christ, and made to hunger and thirst after righteousness, did you lay hold on Christ by faith? Did you ever close with Christ? Was Christ's righteousness ever put upon your naked souls?---If not, you are in a damnable state---you are out of Christ; for the apostle says here, "The kingdom of God is righteousness"; that is, righteousness of Christ applied and brought home to the heart...

Interestingly, Mark Galli points out that Whitefield would admonish slaveholders for not teaching their salves about Jesus Christ---he said he found, "Their consciences are awake, and consequently prepared in good measure for hearing the gospel." Yet, Whitefield would advocate for slavery to be legalized in Georgia because it would save his boys orphanage substantial costs in operation (this was about to make him go broke). Galli sums it up well, "his concern for orphans won out over his concern for blacks..." As Galli states, "Whitfield was not out of step with the times. By 1776, only one denomination in America---the Quakers---had declared slavery a sin."----Consider Whitefield's times---and your day---and Your Own Heart before the LORD...

Grace & Peace in Jesus Christ Our LORD, Pastor Jason