George Whitefield (1714-1770) was the great preacher of the 18th century as Charles Spurgeon was in the 19th and Billy Graham in the 20th century. He was one of the leaders of the first Great Awakening. He traveled many times across the Atlantic and up and down the 13 colonies raising money for his Georgia Bethesda Orphanage. A friend of John and Charles Wesley although they had a rift with him over his Calvinism. He stayed with Benjamin Franklin when he was in Philadelphia. His final “sermon” was in Newburyport, MA where he was buried. Below are the texts and audio of his 57 sermons and many texts narrating his life and work.
George Whitefield, The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15)
(52 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 2: “Walking with God” (Gen. 5:24)
(51 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, “Thankfulness for Mercies received, a necessary Duty” (Ps. 108:30-31)
(36 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, “The Necessity and Benefits of Religious Society” (Eccles. 4:9-12)
(45 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, “The Folly and Danger of Being Not Righteous Enough” (Eccles. 7:16)
(51 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, “A Preservative Against Unsettled Notions, and Want of Principles, in Regard to Righteousness and Christian Perfection–Being a More Particular Answer to Doctor Trapp’s Four Sermons Upon the Same Text”
(49 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 14: “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6)
(43 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, “The Righteousness of Christ, an Everlasting Righteousness” (Dan 9:24)
(45 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 16: “The Observation of the Birth of Christ, the Duty of All Christians; or the True Way of Keeping Christmas,” (Mat 1:21)
(27 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 17: “The Temptation of Christ” (Matthew 4:1-11)
(44 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 18: “The Heinous Sin of Profane Cursing and Swearing” (Mat 5:34)
(29 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 19: “Christ the Support of the Tempted” (Matt 6:13)
(31 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 20: “Worldly Business No Plea for the Neglect of Religion” (Mat 8:22)
(23 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 21: “Christ the Only Rest for the Weary and Heavy-Laden” (Mat 11:28)
(29 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 22: “The Folly and Danger of Parting with Christ for the Pleasures and Profits of Life ” (Matt 8:23-34)
(44 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 23: “Marks of True Conversion” (Matthew 18:3)
(51 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 24: “What Think Ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42)
(57 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield,
(42 mins)
George Whitefield, Sermon 27: “Blind Bartimaeus” (Mark 10:52)
(43 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 28: “Directions How to Hear Sermons” (Luke 8:18)
(23 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 29: “The Extent and Reasonableness of Self-Denial” (Luke 9:23)
(33 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 31: “The Care of the Soul Urged as the One Thing Needful” (Luke 10:42)
(54 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 32: “A Penitent Heart” (Luke 13:3)
(48 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 34: “The Pharisee and Publican” (Luke 18:14)
(39 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 35: The Conversion of Zaccheaus” (Luke 19:9-10)
(44 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 36: “The Marriage of Cana (John 2)”
(42 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 37: “Search the Scriptures”
(26 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 38: “The Indwelling of the Spirit, the Common Privilege of All Believers (John 7) ”
(38 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 39: “The Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11)”
(62 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 40: “The Holy Spirit Convincing the World of Sin, Righteousness and Judgment (John 16:8)”
(43 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 41: “Saul’s Conversion” (Acts 9:22)
(49 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 42: “Marks of Having Received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2)
(33 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 43: “The Almost Christian” (Acts 26:28)
(37 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 44: “Christ, the Believer’s Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption” (1 Cor 1:30)
(45 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 45: “The Knowledge of Jesus Christ the Best Knowledge” (1 Cor 2:2)
(25 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 46: “Of Justification by Christ” (1 Cor 6:11)
(30 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield,
(xx mins)
George Whitefield, Sermon 48: “Satan’s Devices”
(36 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield,
(xx mins)
George Whitefield, Sermon 50: “Christians, Temples of the Living God” (2 Cor. 6:16)
(38 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 51: “Christ the Only Perservative against a Reprobate Spirit”
(34 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield,
(xx mins)
George Whitefield, Sermon 54: “Intercession Every Christian’s Duty” (1 Thes. 5:25)
(30 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 55: “Persecution, every Christian’s Lot”
(43 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 56: “An Exhortation to the People of God Not to be Discouraged in Their Way, by the Scoffs and Contempt of Wicked Men (Heb. 4:9)”
(14 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 57: “Preached before the Governor, and Council, and the House Assembly, in Georgia, on January 28 1770–Day of Small Things (Zech 4:10)”
(48 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 58: “The Method of Grace (Jer 6:14)”
(48 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield, Sermon 59: “The Good Shepherd: A Farewell Sermon (John 10:27-28)”
(42 mins) Audio mp3
George Whitefield was born in 1714–approximately 300 years ago. He was the great preacher/evangelist of the eighteenth century. He was friends with John, and especially Charles Wesley although they had a major disagreement over Calvinism and free will their friendship never wavered. Whitefield was a committed Calvinist. He was thoroughly evangelical and much of his preaching focused on personal salvation, justification by faith, Christ’s imputed righteousness and the perils of rejecting Christ. In England, he preached in Glouchester, Bristol and London as well as Wales and Scotland and then, as a young man he made his way to Savanna Georgia to found an orphanage for which he was constantly trying to raise money. He preached and united America from Boston, New York to Savanna. In Philadelphia he was a good acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin. He crossed the treacherous Atlantic thirteen times. He died after preaching his last 2 hour sermon in Exeter New Hampshire in September of 1770 and is buried under the pulpit in old South Presbyternian Church in Newburyport, MA a few miles from Gordon College. He was known for preaching out of doors to huge crowds and the Pulpit Rock in Rowley, MA is a testimony to his rhetorical ability and strength of voice which was admired by so many of his followers. He preached in open fields to crowds of over 10,000 when churches closed their doors to his ministry of the Spirit. He, along with Jonathan Edwards and the Wesleys, are the great founders of the First Great Awakening that spiritually revived many in England and America in the late 1730’s and early 1740’s. In some senses, Whitefield can be seen as a prelude to the uniting of American prior to the War of Independence in 1776. In short, he is a fascinating traveling evangelist and here I have attempted to preserve some of his legacy for the current situation which is in such need of another Christ-centered third “great awakening.”
Books and Texts on George Whitefield:
Joseph Belcher, George Whitefield: A Biography with Special Reference to His Labors in America, 1857. 515 pgs. *.html [Web]; *.docx [MS Word]; *.pdf [Acrobat]
James P. Gledstone, The Life and Travels of George Whitefield, 1871 .
522 pgs. *.html [Web]; *.docx [MS Word]; *.pdf [Acrobat]
Robert Phillip, The Life and Times of the Reverend George Whitefield,
M.A. 1838 . 588 pgs. *.html [Web]; *.docx [MS Word]; *.pdf [Acrobat]
J. C. Ryle, A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield, from The
Christian Leaders of England in the Eighteenth Century (1869; 33
pages) *.html [Web Viewing]; *.docx [Word Processing]; *.pdf [Acrobat
Printing]
Michael A. G. Haykin, “The revived Puritan: The Spirituality of George
Whitefield,” The Fellowship for reformation and pastoral studies 29.1
(Sept 2000) Acrobat (*.pdf), Cited with permission.
Mark Christy, The Place of George Whitefield in the Great Awakening,
2008, Paper for Southwestern Baptist Seminary. Cited with
permission. *.pdf [Acrobat]
Steven Lawson, Lecture on George Whitefield (video) 76 minutes, Sermon
given at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama 36609.
The Remarkable Influence of George Whitefield (useful timeline of his life)
by Steven Lawson. (*.pdf Acrobat)
Audio Sermons, journal and Letters of George Whitefield on the web: SermonAudio.com
Text for Whitefield’s Sermons at: www.ccel.org
28 Never reprinted Sermons: http://www.quintapress.com/extra_sermons.html
George Whitefield – Lessons for Today (Part 1) – The Message By David Meager, compliments of www.churchsociety.org
George Whitefield – Lessons for Today (Part 2) – The Impact of His Preaching By David Meager, compliments of www.churchsociety.org
George Whitefield – Lessons for Today (Part 3) – Whitefield and the Church of England By David Meager, compliments of www.churchsociety.org
George Whitefield – Lessons for Today (Part 4) – Christian Character By David Meager, compliments of www.churchsociety.org
The Controversial George Whitefield” Christianity.com
Christianity Today Synopsis on Whitefield Remarkable Influence of George Whitefield
“George Whitefield – The Necessary Interdependence of Preaching Style Sermon Content to Effect Revival,” by Marion D. Aldridge (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 23.1 [March 1980]), 55-64.
George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin on Rev. George Whitefield (1739) by National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox.
“Benjamin Franklin, George Whitefield, and the Founding of the University of Pennsylvania” Thomas Kidd (2013 at Patheos).
John Wesley’s, “Death of George Whitefield,” Sermon 53 *.html [Web Viewing]; *.doc [Word Processing]; *.pdf [Acrbat Printing]
Context for Understanding George Whitefield
Two major books that influenced the thinking and religious formation of George Whitefield beyond the Greek New Testament and Matthew Henry Commentary, and Cruden’s Concordance:
William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (Acobat *.pdf) (from www.ccel.org) LibriVox free audio recording: (*.mp3)
Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man (Acrobat *.pdf) (from www.ccel.org)LibriVox free audio recording: (*.mp3)
Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ (Acrobat *.pdf) (from www.ccel.org) LibriVox free audio recording: (*.mp3)
Significant people who interacted with Whitefield:
Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia)
Bishop Benson (ordained him)
Bishop Lavington of Exeter (opposition)
Wartburton (opposition)
Countess of Huntingdon–Selina Hastings (supporter)
Dr. Philip Doddridge
James Hervey (writer/friend)
James Habersham (Bethesda orphanage in Georgia)
Dr. Isaac Watts (hymnist)
Dr. William Seward
John and Charles Wesley (England)
John Cennick
Jonathan Edwards (MA, New England)
Howell Harris (of Wales) (vid. online discussion)
Prof. Franke (Germany)
Rev. Jonathan Parsons (Newburyport, MA)
Ralph and David Erskine (Scotland)
Samson Occom (American Indian, Dartmouth College)
William and Gilbert Tennant (New Jersey, Log College)
Mr. Moody (York, Maine)
Broader contexts which he interfaced with:
Holy Club at Oxford Quakers
Moravians Methodists
Puritans Dissenters
Enthusiasts Church of England in the 18th Century
New Lights Deism
Great Awakening Fetter Lane Religious Society
Locations:
Bath Bethesda Orphanage [Georgia]
Blackheath hill Boston [Massachusetts]
Bristol [Kingswood] Charleston [South Carolina]
Dublin [Ireland] Glouchester
Edinburgh [Scotland] Cambuslang [by Glasglow]
Cardiff [Wales] Glasglow [Scotland]
Harvard University Leeds [Scotland]
London Tabernacle Moorsfields [London],
Kennington Common Kingswood [Bristol]
Newbury Port [Massachusetts] New York City
Northhampton, MA Oxford University
Philadelphia [Pennsylvania] Savanah [Georgia]
Tottenham Court Road Tabernacle [London]
Tabernacle (London)