Just before the American Revolution, a revival called the Great Awakening spread across the 13 colonies. It was called the Great Awakening. One of the stars of the revival was an English preacher named George Whitefield. He could preach to up to 25,000 people without a sound system beyond his own voice. Benjamin Franklin attended some of his meetings in Philadelphia and was very impressed by him, though he didn’t convert.
Whitefield had a simple strategy in his meetings. The first night he would preach on the wonderful love and grace of God, freely given to anyone who would believe. The rest of the nights he would preach on sin.
Whitefield was convinced that any presentation of the gospel had to begin by exposing the listener’s sin and his dire need for salvation. He believed that no one seeks salvation until they are convinced they stand in God’s condemnation. So Whitefield preached on the holiness of God, the curse of disobedience, the certainty of death, the reality of the final judgment, and of eternal punishment in hell.
Whitefield was relentless, and tens of thousands were saved. Many of you have never heard of him but he made a lasting impact on Christianity in America. There is a straight line from George Whitefield to Billy Graham.
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Holwick: I recall hearing this in seminary back in the 1980s but I am not positive if Whitefield or Wesley was the example. Whitefield’s ministry certainly emphasized the penalty of sin so I believe it was him. The fourth paragraph in this illustration was derived from the article “Whitefield’s Sin Exposing Spotlight,” by Steven Lawson, Ligionier.org, April 18, 2018; < https://www.ligonier.org/blog/whitefields-sin-exposing-spotlight/ >.