The Sermons of George Whitefield

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

One of books I just finished reading is volume 3 in a 4 volume collection of sermons by George Whitefield, compiled by Pietan Publications. I have a great admiration for the life and career of Whitefield, who devoted his life to preaching to those outside the walls of the Established Church of England. Hills and gravestones were his pulpits, as he brought the message of God’s redeeming love to the masses, who had been excluded from the parish church. His sermons were marked by great waves of emotion and spiritual upheaval in the audience.

One of the striking things about Whitefield’s sermons is that his appeal to the unsaved is not strictly an appeal based on emotion. The emotional component is there, very strongly, usually in his closing paragraphs. But he always begins with an appeal to the mind, based on the Biblical text. He explains his text before he begins to apply it.

A prime example of this is the first sermon in the volume, “The Lord our Righteousness” based on Jeremiah 23:6. He divides the sermon into five parts.

1) Who is this Lord?
2) How the Lord is our righteousness.
3) Objections to the doctrine.
4) Consequences to denying the doctrine.
5) Exhortation to come to Christ by faith and say “the Lord our righteousness.”

The move from definition to objection to application to exhortation was a throwback to the great Puritan preaching on the 1600s. This was the preaching that helped to spawn the Great Awakening in England and in America. As you read any volume of Whitefield’s preaching, you get a sense of passion for lost souls, coupled with the desire to proclaim Christ’s message rightly. This whole collection, over 100 sermons in all, is powerful and of great value to preachers of today.