George Whitefield and Gospel Appeals

We live in a time where much biblical ministry is, sadly, characterised by distinct weaknesses in gospel appeals and gospel application. Perhaps unsurprisingly so, given sermon times have reduced drastically over the past century or so, and, well, something has had to have been lost! Quite often, a commendable commitment to expounding the Bible and theological teaching has meant that much sermon time is taken up by pure doctrinal teaching – on analysing and explaining the text in hand. The flip side to such resolutions is that the application of this teaching, and, particularly, its subsequent appeals often have to give way, sometimes being diminished down to just a sentence or two, if any at all.

 

One of the real delights in reading the sermons of George Whitefield is found in his gospel appeals. Whitefield’s sermons were considered to be theologically-light compared to many of the contemporary heavy-weights of his day (though they would be considered theologically-dense by many today!). His theological expounding of texts would often amount to a relatively small introductory section of his sermon, with his application of that teaching to the respective hearers taking up the majority of space, leaving his gospel appeals to close out the sermon. These gospel appeals were full, heartfelt and deliberately particular to the differing groups that would be found in the large assemblies of his hearers – with the selection of those groups usually determined by the relative ‘application’ sections of each sermon.

 

“An unapplied Christ is no Christ at all”[1] once declared Whitefield, with what would prove to be a statement of intent that he remained committed to throughout his ministry. It is believed Whitefield preached to more than ten million people over the course of his life,[2] often preaching to tens of thousands at a time through his open-air preaching. George Whitefield did not just want people to come to his preaching to hear about Jesus Christ, he also did not want them to leave without having met with Jesus and knowing Him as their Saviour – Whitefield’s love for people burnt as passionately within his heart with a fire that blazed almost as fiercely as His love and zeal for his beloved Lord and His glory.

 

Gaining a true sense of the impact of Whitefield’s ministry through the written medium was always going to be an unrealistic hope, without being able to witness the extraordinary elocution and oratory of the man, nor (even more importantly) the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit from a time-period of the English-speaking world’s greatest revivals, in person. Yet what is possible to get (at least) a fair impression of through Whitefield’s written sermons is that strength of fervour and love he has for people, from the feelings of urgency, exuberance and anguish of soul, that saturate his appeals, such as can be felt in the following examples:

 

“Alas, my heart almost bleeds! What a multitude of precious souls are now before me! How shortly must you be ushered into eternity! And yet, O cutting thought! Were God now to require all your souls, how few, comparatively speaking, could really say, ‘the Lord our righteousness!”[3]

 

“If your souls were not immortal, and you in danger of losing them, I would not speak thus to you; but the love of your souls constrains me to speak: methinks this would constrain me to speak unto you forever.”[4]

 

“My heart is full of love to you. I would speak, till I could speak no more, so I could but bring you to Christ.”[5]

 

An Example of Whitefield’s Gospel Appeals

 

An excellent representation of Whitefield’s gospel appeals can be found in his sermon, ‘The Lord Our Righteousness’[6] based on the text Jeremiah 23:6. Whitefield begins his application of the text with a generalised, “Sirs, what think you?”, immediately probing the hearers’ consciences and drawing them into the application from the outset.

 

Next, as Whitefield offers out the gospel hope found within his text, Whitefield again challenges his hearers with, “Can you say, the Lord our Righteousness?” Whitefield further seeks to probe the conscience of those unable to make such an affirmation at this point by reminding them of the consequences of not being able to do so that he had already earlier expounded.

 

Whitefield again offers out gospel hope for sinners by emphasising the freeness of Jesus’ offer of salvation - and of Jesus Himself - offsetting a warning against false hopes by accentuating Jesus’ desire to save.

 

It is at this point that Whitefield aims his gospel appeals at different groups within the assembled hearers, dividing the groups on this occasion in terms of age. The following quotes offer just snippets of Whitefield’s message to each group:

 

Young men

 

“Come, then, O young men, who (as I once acted myself) are playing the prodigal, and wandering away afar off from your heavenly Father’s house, come home, come home, and leave your swine’s trough. Feed no longer on the husks of sensual delights: for Christ’s sake arise, and come home! Your heavenly Father now calls you.”

 

Young women

 

“But I must speak a word to you, young maidens, as well… I see many of you adorned, as to your bodies: but are not your souls naked?.. which of you was ever solicitous to be dressed in this robe of invaluable price?.. O seek for the Lord to be your righteousness, or otherwise burning will soon be upon you instead of beauty!”

 

The middle-aged

 

“And what shall I say to you of a middle age, you busy merchants… who, with all your gettings, have not yet gotten the Lord to be your righteousness? Alas! What profit will there be of all your labour under the sun, if you do not secure this pearl of invaluable price?”

 

The older-aged

“O grey-headed sinners, I could weep over you! Your grey hairs, which ought to be your crown, and in which perhaps you glory, are now your shame… Alas, you have one foot already in the grave, your glass just run out, your sun is just going down, and it will set and leave you in an eternal darkness, unless the Lord be your righteousness!”

 

Children

 

“But I must not forget the lambs of the flock. To feed them was one of my Lord’s last commands. I know He will be angry with me, if I do not tell them that the Lord may be their righteousness, and that such is the kingdom of heaven. Come then, ye little children, come to Christ… If your fathers and mothers will not come to Christ, do you come without them. Let children lead them, and show them how the Lord may be their righteousness.”

 

The outcast

“I must not forget the poor negroes[7]: no I must not. Jesus Christ has died for them, as well as for others. Nor do I mention you last, because I despise your souls, but because I would have what I shall say make the deeper impression upon your hearts… Did you never read of the eunuch belonging to the queen Candace? A negro, like yourselves. He believed… Do you also believe, and you shall be saved.”

 

In other sermons George Whitefield would single out 'those who are nearby', ‘backsliders’, as well as ‘opponents’ and ‘mockers’ of his message. He dealt with wrong understandings, answering objections with refutations and the implications of such thinking. These appeals were all sincere, heartfelt and direct in approach, giving clear warnings as well as impassioned offers of hope.

 

The art of such gospel appeals seems to be largely lost today. Studying sermons of the likes of George Whitefield, and other such preachers like him, could be a great help in the recovery of this art. Today’s preaching - and tomorrow’s - would surely benefit greatly by it.

[1] Select Sermons of George Whitefield, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2009), p.132.

[2] Steven J. Lawson, The Evangelistic Zeal of George Whitefield, (Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2013), p.2.

[3] Select Sermons, p.134.

[4] George Whitefield, The Revived Puritan: Select works of George Whitefield, (Lewes: Sussex Press, 1829), p.227.

[5] Whitefield’s Sermons (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library). Sermon: A Penitent Heart, the Best New Year’s Gift: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/whitefield/sermons.xxxiv.html#xxxiv-p0.2

[6] Select Sermons, p.116-138.

[7] **It is important to note here that it is not good to divide people by ethnicity in this way today – yet in Whitefield’s day the 'poor negroes', as he describes them, were the outcast of society. The white man’s gospel preaching was – to the great shame of the church of that day – rarely given to include them. Very rarely would BME even be allowed into their churches, never mind together with the whites! Whitefield, however, had such a strong love for them that he would go against society’s norms for them and made a special effort to ensure they understood that they also were included as, in his own words, those for whom Jesus died.