[256] These Prayers were six in number. Afterwards, thirteen
more were published, including "A Prayer for a Rich Man;" "A
Prayer for a Poor Negro;" "A Prayer for a Woman lately married
to a believing Husband;" "A Prayer for a Man, convinced that it
is his duty to marry, for Direction in the Choice of a Wife;"
"A Prayer for a Woman desiring Direction of God, after an Offer
of Marriage is made to her," etc. All the Prayers are very
scriptural, and beautifully devout.
15.[257] "Faith acts above Reason, proved from the Example of
Abraham, in offering up Isaac. And the great Folly of Races.
A Sermon preached at Hackney-Marsh, during the time of the
Horse-Races."[258] 8vo. 19 pp.
[257] The following sermons were not published till the year
1740, but all of them were preached in 1739.
[258] This, in the collected works, is entitled, "Abraham's
Offering up his Son Isaac;" but, except in general outline, the
resemblance between the two discourses is small.
16. "Christ the Support of the Tempted. A Sermon preached at
Blackheath." 8vo. 23 pp.
17. "Christ the only Rest for the Weary and Heavy-laden. A
Sermon preached at Kennington Common." 8vo. 21 pp.
18. "God's free Grace in the Salvation of Sinners, proved
from the Conversion of St. Paul. A Sermon preached at
Newington."[259] 8vo. 34 pp.
[259] In the collected works, the title is, "Saul's Conversion."
The two sermons are very different.
19. "The Polite and Fashionable Diversions of the Age,
destructive to Soul and Body. A Sermon preached at Blackheath."
8vo. 31 pp.
20. "The Observation of the Birth of Christ, the Duty of all
Christians; or, the true way of keeping Christmas. A Sermon
preached at Bristol." 8vo. 21 pp.
21. "A New Heart, the best New Year's Gift, and Repentance the
only Way to obtain it. A Sermon preached at Bristol." 8vo. 35 pp.
22. "The great Duty of Charity recommended, particularly to
all who profess Christianity. A Sermon preached at Kennington
Common, and at Gloucester," etc. 8vo. 25 pp.
23. "Christ the only Preservative against a Reprobate Spirit. A
Sermon preached at Blackheath." 8vo. 29 pp.
24. "The Serpent's Beguiling Eve explained, considered,
and applied to all under Temptation. A Sermon preached at
Blackheath, Newington," etc.[260] 8vo. 29 pp.
[260] Entitled, in the collected works, "The Seed of the Woman,
and the Seed of the Serpent." The two are very different.
25. "The Folly and Danger of Parting with Christ for the
Pleasures and Profits of Life. A Sermon preached at Kennington
Common." 8vo. 33 pp.
26. "Christ the best Husband: or, an earnest Invitation to Young
Women to come and see Christ. A Sermon preached to a Society of
Young Women in Fetter Lane." 8vo. 28 pp.
27. "The Danger of Man resulting from Sin, and his Remedy by
Christ considered. A Sermon preached on Kennington Common." 8vo.
34 pp.[261]
[261] "The title, in the collected works, is, "What think ye of
Christ?" There is scarcely any resemblance between the two.
The whole of these twenty-seven publications were "printed for C.
Whitefield, London."
From an account book, in which Whitefield entered the times and
places of his ministerial labours, it appears that, during his
remarkable career, he preached upwards of eighteen thousand
sermons.[262] Of these, only eighty-one have been printed; and even
this number includes eighteen preached during the last seven years
of Whitefield's life, and which can hardly be regarded as authentic,
inasmuch as they were taken in shorthand as delivered from the
pulpit, and were printed without Whitefield's revision, consent, or
knowledge. This reduces the number of his _authentic_ discourses to
sixty-three. By these, the public have been accustomed to form their
opinions of Whitefield as a theologian and a preacher; and, because
the sermons are, in many respects, exceedingly defective, the
judgments pronounced respecting Whitefield's intellectual culture,
biblical learning, and literary skill, have not been favourable.
This is an unintended injustice to his character and fame. How
stands the case?
[262] _Gospel Magazine_, 1776, p. 443.
During his lifetime, Whitefield prepared about sixty-three of his
sermons for the public press. Of these, twenty have been already
noticed in the foregoing pages. Add to these the twenty-six sermons,
included in the list just given, and all preached during the year
1739, and it will be found, that, of the sixty-three authentic
sermons, printed in Whitefield's collected works, at least forty-six
were preached, and committed to the press, before he was twenty-five
years of age. Is it fair that Whitefield's sermonising abilities
should be determined by these juvenile productions?
Want of space renders it impossible to enlarge upon the remaining
twenty-six sermons not already noticed; and yet, as the year, in
which these sermons were delivered, was, in many respects, the most
important period of Whitefield's life, a few extracts, even at the
expense of wearying the reader, must be given.
_Spiritual Pride._--"To check all suggestions to spiritual
pride, let us consider that we did not apprehend Christ, but
were apprehended of Him; that we have nothing but what we
have received; that the free grace of God has alone made the
difference between us and others; that were God to leave us to
the deceitfulness of our own hearts, but one moment, we should
become weak and wicked like other men; that being proud of grace
is the most ready way to lose it; and that were we endowed
with the perfections of seraphims, if we were proud of those
perfections, they would but render us more accomplished devils."
(Sermon on Satan's Devices.)
_Catholic Spirit._--"When we confine the Spirit of God to this
or that particular church, and are not willing to converse with
any but those of the same communion, this is to be righteous
over-much with a witness; and so it is to confine our communion
within church walls, and to think that Jesus could not be in a
field, as well as on consecrated ground. This is Judaism; this
is bigotry; this is like Peter, who would not go to preach the
gospel to the Gentiles, till he had a vision sent from God. The
Spirit of God is the centre of unity; and wherever I see the
image of my Master, I never enquire of them their opinions:
I ask them not what they are, so they love Jesus Christ in
sincerity and truth; but embrace them as my brother, my sister,
and my spouse. This is the spirit of Christianity. Many persons
who are bigots to this or that opinion, when one of a different
way of thinking has come where they were, have left the room or
place on that account. This is the spirit of the devil; and,
if it were possible that these persons could be admitted into
heaven with these tempers, that very place would be a hell to
them. Christianity will never flourish till we are all of one
heart and of one mind. This may be esteemed as enthusiasm and
madness, and as a design to undermine the Established Church:
no, God is my judge, I should rejoice to see all the world
adhere to her Articles. I am a friend to her Articles. I am a
friend to her Homilies. I am a friend to her Liturgy; and, if
they did not thrust me out of their churches, I would read them
every day; but I do not confine the Spirit of God there, for,
I say it again, I love all that love the Lord Jesus Christ."
(Sermon on the Folly and Danger of not being Righteous enough.)
_Innocent Diversions._--"They talk of innocent diversions and
recreations. For my part, I know of no diversion but that of
doing good. If you can find any diversion which is not contrary
to your baptismal vow, of renouncing the pomps and vanities of
this wicked world; if you can find any diversion which tends to
the glory of God; if you can find any diversion which you would
be willing to be found at by the Lord Jesus Christ, I give you
my free license to go to them. But if, on the contrary, they
are found to keep sinners from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ;
if they are a means to harden the heart, and such as you would
not willingly be found in when you come to die, then, my dear
brethren, keep from them. Many of you may think I have gone too
far, but I shall go a great deal farther yet. I will attack the
devil in his strongest holds, and bear my testimony against
our fashionable and polite entertainments. What pleasure is
there in spending several hours at cards? Is it not misspending
your precious time, which should be spent in working out your
salvation with fear and trembling? Do play-houses, horse-racing,
balls, and assemblies tend to promote the glory of God? Would
you be willing to have your souls demanded of you while you are
at one of those places? What good can come from a horse-race,
from abusing God Almighty's creatures, and putting them to a
use He never designed them? The play-houses are nurseries of
debauchery, and the supporters of them are encouragers and
promoters of all the evil that is done there. They are the bane
of the age, and will be the destruction of the frequenters of
them. Is it not high time for the true ministers of Jesus Christ
to lift up their voices as a trumpet, and cry aloud against the
diversions of the age? If you have tasted of the love of God,
and have felt His power upon your souls, you would no more go
to a play than you would run your heads into a furnace. And
what occasions these places to be so much frequented is the
clergy's making no scruple to be at these polite entertainments
themselves. They frequent play-houses; they go to horse-races;
they go to balls and assemblies; they frequent taverns, and
follow all the entertainments that the age affords; and, yet,
these are the persons who should advise their hearers to refrain
from them. They always go disguised, for they are afraid of
being seen in their gowns and cassocks; for their consciences
inform them that it is not an example fit for the ministers of
the gospel to set." (Ibid.)
"Those, my brethren, are not weary and heavy-laden with a
sense of their sins, who can delight themselves in the polite
entertainments of the age. Now they can go to balls and
assemblies, play-houses and horse-racing. They have no thought
of their sins. They know not what it is to weep for sin, or
humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. They can laugh
away their sorrows, and sing away their cares. They are too
polite to entertain any sad thoughts, and the talk of death and
judgment is irksome to them, because it damps their mirth. They
could not go to a play, and think of hell. They could not go
quietly to a masquerade, and think of their danger. They could
not go to a ball, if they thought of their sins. But, at the
day of judgment, all will be over. All their carnal mirth, all
their pleasure, all their delight, will be gone for ever. They
think now that if they were to fast, or to pray, and meditate
and mourn, they would be righteous over-much. Their lives would
be a continual trouble, and it would make them mad. Alas! my
brethren, what misery must that life be, where there are no more
pleasant days, no more balls, or plays, no cards, or dice, no
horse-racing, and cock-fighting! How miserable will your life
be when all your joys are over, when your pleasures are all
past, no more mirth, or pastime! Do you think, my brethren,
there is one merry heart in hell? one pleasing countenance? or
jesting, scoffing, swearing tongue? A sermon now is irksome. The
offer of salvation, by the blood of Jesus Christ, is now termed
enthusiasm; but there you would give a thousand worlds for one
offer of mercy, which now you so much despise. Now you are not
weary of your diversions, nor heavy-laden with the sins with
which they are accompanied; but then you will be weary of your
punishments. Your cards and dice, your hawks and hounds, your
bowls and pleasant sports, will then be over! What mirth will
you have in remembering them!" (Sermon on Christ the only Rest
for the Weary and Heavy-laden.)
"What good can proceed from play-houses, where God is profaned,
the devil honoured, your time misspent, your souls endangered?
Dare any of you who profess Christianity, frequent these places?
Would you be willing to be found at a play, or reading one,
when God demands your souls? If so, why do not you, when upon
a sick or dying bed, instead of sending for a minister to pray
with you, send for a comedian to comfort you through the dark
valley of the shadow of death? But though these things are so
destructive, our learned Rabbins do not warn the people of their
danger. No; they are too great frequenters of them themselves.
If you come to hear a sermon, your families are ruined, they
are neglected. This is the cry of the Pharisees of this
generation; but if you spend six times the time at a play-house,
at a ball, at an assembly, at cards, dice, or any of their
polite entertainments, nothing is said then against ruining
your families, or losing your business. But, my brethren, ask
yourselves which will be best, at a dying hour, to think you
spent so much time at a play, a ball, or a neighbouring place of
vanity;[263] or of hearing the word of God from a poor despised
field-preacher? from a mountebank? from a babbler, as the world
is pleased to term me? You may call this enthusiasm, if you
like; but I speak the truth, I lie not; these diversions, these
innocent, polite, fashionable entertainments of the age, are
only hurrying the infidels, who attend them, faster to hell.
What is the common language of these polite entertainments, but
the language of hell? What are their frequent prayers, but for
damnation? Will these polite and fashionable entertainments
bring you to Jesus Christ? Will they make you sensible of the
need you have of Him? Can you see the necessity of being born
again, by following horse-racing, and by seeing a poor abused
creature carrying its rider faster into hell? But what makes
these places to be the more frequented, is, the clergy make no
scruple about being there themselves. They neglect the work of
their calling. Their sermons are but a week's study to please
the ears of the people, or to advance their own reputation.
If they were here, I, a boy, would tell them to their face
that they do not preach the doctrines of the Reformation; that
they feed not their hearers with food convenient for them. No:
Seneca, Cicero, Plato, or any of the heathen philosophers would
preach as good doctrine as we hear in most of our churches.
Our ministers subscribe to their Articles, and think no more
about them. They use them as a key to get preferment; and,
when they have got it, they put the key into their pockets.
Many, very many of our clergy, know no more of regeneration
than Nicodemus did, when he came to Christ by night. To talk of
feeling the Spirit of God, is esteemed as nonsense; and persons
have been forbidden the sacrament only for reading my books;
but, as my books and sermons are agreeable to the doctrines
of Jesus Christ, I dare venture my salvation on the truth of
them." (Sermon on the Polite and Fashionable Diversions of the
Age.)[264]
[263] Meaning "Vauxhall Spring Gardens."
[264] It is a curious fact that this sermon was not published in
Whitefield's collected works, in 1772.
"The clergy charge us with being over-righteous; but let them
take care lest they are not over-remiss. Let them examine their
own lives before they condemn others for enthusiasts. It is
manifest that their actions are unbecoming of Christians, and
more especially of ministers of the Church of England. They
make no scruple of frequenting taverns and public-houses. They
make no conscience of playing several hours at billiards,
bowls, and other unlawful games, which they esteem as innocent
diversions. Plurality of livings, and not the salvation of
your souls, is the aim, the chief aim, of many, very many,
of our present clergy. They have quite forsaken the good old
way, and brought up a new one which their fathers knew not.
They don't catechise. They don't visit from house to house.
They don't watch over their flocks, by examining their lives.
They keep up no constant religious conversation in families
under their care. No, my brethren, these things are neglected;
and if they were to be acted by any one, the person would be
esteemed as an enthusiast, and as righteous over-much. We
may justly cry to my letter-learned brethren, 'Physicians,
heal yourselves.' Don't flatter yourselves that a long gown,
and great preferment, authorise you to speak, write, or
preach against the doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ. No, my
letter-learned, pleasure-seeking brethren, Jesus Christ, at the
day of judgment, will judge you, not as doctors and rulers, but
by the deeds done in the body, whether they be good, or whether
they be evil. At the great day, we shall all be upon a level.
No distinction there! No difference there! If they had preached
Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, I would not have opened my
mouth against them; but when they exclaim, 'The temple of the
Lord! the temple of the Lord!' and are building up the temple
of the devil, if I were not to preach, the very stones would
cry out. They may thrust me out of their churches, but they
cannot thrust me from the Church of Christ. They are welcome to
say what they please of me. They may cast me out, and say all
manner of evil against me; yea, they may put me to death; but as
my day is, so my strength shall be. I have a gracious Master,
and into His hands I commit myself, and leave all my affairs to
His wise discretion." (Sermon on Jesus Christ the only Way of
Salvation.)[265]
[265] This sermon also was not included in Whitefield's collected
works, in 1772.
It would be easy to multiply extracts like these; but, to exhibit
more fully the character of Whitefield's preaching, a few of another
kind must be introduced.
_Self-Righteousness._--"How many are there who go to church,
and say their prayers, and receive the sacrament, and give alms
to the poor, and then think themselves good Christians, because
they have done so; and when we tell them that all this will not
do, they immediately cry out, we are preaching them to despair.
But, O good God! Thou knowest that I wish I could bring all men
off from this undoing delusion, that will but betray them into
everlasting misery. It is because I know such persons are more
odious, in the sight of God, than the vilest sinners, that makes
me so earnest in warning them of their guilt and danger; for
I have more hope of common swearers, drunkards, fornicators,
Sabbath-breakers, and harlots, and of deists and infidels,
than I have of such self-righteous Pharisees. It is against
these that almost all our Saviour's parables are levelled. If
you depend upon your own duties, you are but Pharisees and
hypocrites, for hypocrites may do all this as the Pharisees
did. There is no doubt that you are to do your duty; but, if
you depend upon your duties, you make a Saviour of them, and
deny the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may go
in an easy, decent, and polite way of religion, and obtain a
reputation in the sight of men; but you are odious in the sight
of God, and incarnate devils within." (Sermon on the Necessity
of the Righteousness of Christ.)[266]
[266] This sermon was on the parable of the Pharisee and
Publican, but is altogether different from that, on the same
text, in Whitefield's collected works.
"O ye Pharisees, what fruits do ye bring forth? Why, you are
moral, polite creatures. You do your endeavours, and Jesus is
to make up the rest. You esteem yourselves fine, rational, and
polite beings, and think it is too unfashionable to pray. It
is not polite enough. Perhaps you have read some prayers, but
knew not how to pray from your hearts. No, by no means! That
was being righteous over-much! But if once, my brethren, you
were sensible of your being lost, damned creatures, and see
hell gaping ready to receive you, then, O then, you would cry
earnestly unto the Lord to receive you, to open the door of
mercy unto you. Your tones would then be changed. You would no
more flatter yourselves with your abilities and good wishes.
No: you would see how unable you were to save yourselves;
that there is no fitness, no free-will in you: no fitness but
for eternal damnation; and no free-will but that of doing
evil. Ye Pharisees, who are going about to establish your own
righteousness; who are too polite to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity and truth; who are all for a little show,
a little outside work; who lead moral, civil, decent lives,
Christ will not know you at the great day, but will say unto
you, 'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, unto that place
of torment, prepared for the devil and his angels.' Good God!
and must these discreet, polite creatures, who never did any
one harm, but led such civil, decent lives, must they suffer
the vengeance of eternal fire? Cannot their righteous souls
be saved? Where then must the sinner and the ungodly appear?"
(Sermon on Christ the only Rest for the Weary.)
_Warnings._--"O the folly and madness of this sensual world! O
consider this, you who think it no crime to swear, whore, drink,
or scoff and jeer at the people of God,--consider how your
voices will then be changed, and how you will howl and lament
at your own madness and folly. He, who is now your merciful
Saviour, will then be your inexorable Judge. Now He is easy to
be entreated; then all your tears and prayers will be in vain.
Your wealth and grandeur will stand you in no stead. You can
carry nothing of these into the other world. What horror and
astonishment will then possess your souls! Then all your lies
and oaths, your scoffs and jeers at the people of God, all your
filthy and unclean thoughts and actions, will be brought at once
to your remembrance, and at once be charged upon your guilty
souls." (Sermon on a New Heart, the best New-Year's Gift.)
"Alas! our great men had much rather spend their money in a
play-house, at a ball, an assembly, or a masquerade, than in
relieving a poor distressed servant of Jesus Christ. They had
rather spend their estates on their hawks and hounds, on their
whores, and on their earthly, sensual, and devilish pleasures,
than in comforting, nourishing, or relieving one of their
distressed fellow-creatures. But what difference is there
between the king on the throne and the beggar on the dunghill,
when God demands their breath? There is no difference in the
grave. There will be none at the day of judgment. You will not
be excused because you have had a great estate, and a fine
house, and have lived in all the pleasures that earth could
afford you. You will be judged not according to the largeness
of your estate, but according to the use you have made of it."
(Sermon on the great Duty of Charity recommended.)
"Sinners! how fearful soever you may be of appearing before
this tribunal, you will be obliged to do it. Then you will
call for the rocks and mountains to fall upon you, to hide you
from the face of the Lord God. Then you will see Him whom your
sins have pierced. Then you will be called to answer for your
revilings and mockings against the people of God. Then it will
plainly appear who are the enthusiasts, and who the madmen. Then
we shall see who have been fools, and who were the fitter for
Bedlam." (Sermon on the Serpent's beguiling Eve.)
"Oh! brethren, it is a certain, but an awful truth, that your
souls will be thinking and immortal beings, even in spite of
themselves. They may indeed torment, but they cannot destroy
themselves. They can no more suspend their power of thought and
perception, than a mirror its property of reflecting rays that
fall upon its surface. Do you suspect the contrary? Make the
trial immediately. Command your minds to cease from thinking but
for one quarter of an hour. Can you succeed in that attempt? Or
rather, does not thought press in with a more sensible violence
on that resistance; just as an anxious desire to sleep makes
us so much the more wakeful? Thus will thought follow you
beyond the grave. Thus will it, as an unwelcome guest, force
itself upon you, when it can serve only to perplex and distress
you. It will for ever upbraid you, that notwithstanding the
kind expostulations of God and man, notwithstanding the keen
remonstrances of conscience, and the pleadings of the blood of
Christ, you have gone on in your folly, till heaven is lost, and
damnation incurred; and all for what? for a shadow and a dream!"
(Sermon on the Care of the Soul urged as the One Thing Needful.)
_Entreaties._--"You all, my brethren, must be born again. You
must feel yourselves lost and undone in yourselves, or there is
no salvation for you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Men may be angry
with me for telling you these things, and may come and carry me
to prison, or to death; but my inward satisfaction at having
been made instrumental of bringing any poor sinners home to
Jesus Christ, I esteem more than a balance for all that I can
suffer: If this is to be vile, I beg of God I may be yet more
vile. If this is to be mad, I pray God I may be yet more mad, in
my Master's cause. Let His own will be done in me, with me, by
me, and upon me, so I may not be brought as a witness against
you in the great day. As this is my last time of speaking to
you, in this place, I would invite you the more earnestly to
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. O do not lay the blame of your
perishing upon our doctrine. Do not lay the fault upon us; for
the Lord now sends His servants to call and invite you to Him;
and if you still refuse both Him and us, what must I say? I
must appear in judgment against you; and, oh! what shall I say?
The very thought, methinks, chills my blood." (Sermon on the
Necessity of the Righteousness of Christ.)
"I come to you, not with the enticing words of man's wisdom,
but with plainness of speech. Perhaps many may slight me for
this way of preaching; but I am not willing to go without you
to Christ. It is a love for your better part that constrains
me. O that I had ten thousand lives to give away, that I might
win you to Christ! Had I the tongue of an angel, that I might
speak so loud that the whole world could hear me, I would bid
the Christian world preach a common salvation, a common Saviour,
unto all who lay hold on Him by faith. Are you seeking where
to wash? I tell you not to go to the river Jordan, but to the
blood of Christ. You need not fear to go. Though He has given
His grace to thousands, He has still enough. Come, ye publicans;
come, ye harlots; come to Jesus Christ. O do not let me go
without my errand. Do not force me to say, 'Who has believed
my report?' I cannot bear the thought of it. I must lift up
my voice, like a trumpet, begging you to lay down your arms,
and to return home, that your loving Father may dress you in
His spotless robe. Come and see whether Christ will make ample
recompence for all, for more than all this world can give.
Consider, if you do not, your damnation is from yourselves. Must
I weep over you, as our Saviour did over Jerusalem? I beseech
you, by all that is good and dear to you, do not cast away your
souls for ever. O mind, in this your day, the things that belong
to your peace, before they are for ever hidden from your eyes.
Could I speak with the tongues of men or angels, with all the
rhetoric possible, I could never tell the worth of Christ. He is
a good Master; indeed He is. I wish all that hear me this day
would lay hold on Him, by faith, and take Him on His own terms.
Do not be angry with me for my love. How glad would I be to
bring some of you to God! Come! He calls you by His ministers.
Bring your sins with you, that He may make you saints. He will
sanctify all who believe on Him." (Sermon on Watching, the
peculiar Duty of a Christian.)
"Come, come unto Him. If your souls were not immortal, and you
in danger of losing them, I would not thus speak unto you; but
the love of your souls constrains me to speak. Methinks, this
would constrain me to speak unto you for ever. Come, all ye
drunkards, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, adulterers, fornicators!
Come, all ye scoffers, harlots, thieves, and murderers; and
Jesus Christ will save you. He will give you rest, if you are
weary of your sins." (Sermon on Christ the only Rest for the
Weary.)
"O fly, fly unto the Lord Jesus Christ. I invite you all to
accept of Him. I offer Jesus Christ to the greatest profligate
on earth. Surely, there are none can say, I preach damnation
now. They cannot say I am sending you to hell now. No, my
brethren, I preach salvation to all of you, who will come and
accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh! I know not how to leave you,
without some hopes of your coming to Him." (Sermon on Polite and
Fashionable Diversions.)
"The devil shews men the bait, but hides the hook. He promises
great wages; but his wages are really death here, and eternal
damnation hereafter. If you want to know more what wages the
devil gives his servants, you need not stir from the place
where you now are. Look yonder,[267] and there you will see
how he pays them. He seeks your souls to destroy them; but,
my brethren, fear him not. Though he is your enemy, he is a
chained one. He can go no farther than he is permitted. He could
not hurt a herd of swine, till he had leave of Jesus Christ."
(Sermon on the Danger of Man resulting from Sin.)
[267] Pointing, on Kennington Common, to the gallows, where three
men were hanging in chains.
These are long extracts, at the end of an inconveniently long
chapter; but, it must be borne in mind, that, the fame of Whitefield
chiefly rests on his character as a preacher; and that there are
only thirty-five of his published sermons which belong to dates
subsequent to the year 1739; and that even more than half of these
were taken from his lips, in shorthand, and printed without his
revision or consent.
It is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon the foregoing extracts. The
reader can form his own opinions of Whitefield's oratory, courage,
tenderness, earnestness, and fidelity. He can also judge of the
young preacher's imprudence, perhaps rudeness, in using language so
violent concerning the clergy of the Established Church. One fact,
however, must be noted. These sermons, as _originally published_,
contain scarcely any allusion whatever to Calvinian tenets.
Whitefield, no doubt, became a Calvinist; but this change in his
theology did not occur, until he was about to embark, the second
time, for Georgia. Indeed, though, in the seventeen sermons which
remain unnoticed, and which were written and revised by Whitefield
himself, there are passages embodying the doctrines of election
and final perseverance; also passages on imputed righteousness and
sinless perfection, propounding views not in harmony with those of
his friend Wesley; yet such passages, comparatively speaking, are
few in number, and are totally exempt from bitterness. It is also
right to add, that, Whitefield's Calvinism never interfered with his
warmhearted declarations concerning the _universality_ of redeeming
love, and the willingness of Christ to save _all_ who come to Him.
Doubtless there was some degree of inconsistency in this; but it
only shews that the man's heart was larger than his creed.
Excepting two or three, there is nothing in the remaining seventeen
sermons just mentioned which requires further notice. They are,
however, in most respects, his ablest and his best. There is less
incoherency of thought and language. There is an entire absence of
attacks on the clergy of the Church of England. The style is more
polished; the sentences more finished. There is more biblical and
anecdotal illustration. And there is a greater depth of religious
feeling and experience.
Excellent, however, as _these_ sermons are, they necessarily fail
to convey a full idea of Whitefield's marvellous preaching power.
His words could be printed, but not his intonations, action,
tears, smiles, solemnity, and pathos. Whitefield was born an
orator. His oratory was the gift of his Creator. He could not be
natural without using it. To have laid it aside would have been
affectation. His oratory, however, is a thing not to be seen in
his published sermons, but to be imagined. There was eloquence in
his very attitudes, in the accents of his voice, in his gestures,
in the features of his face, and in the motions of his hands.
These things could not be printed. To say nothing of his almost
unequalled voice, his versatility was wonderful. At will, he could
be a Boanerges, or a Barnabas. One moment, he would thunder on Mount
Sinai; the next, would whisper mercy on Mount Calvary. At all times,
he was inexpressibly earnest, and his hearers felt he believed the
truths he uttered. A writer, in the _New York Observer_, eloquently
observes:--
"We read Whitefield's printed sermons, and they disappoint
us. Of all men in the world, he was the last who should
have published his sermons. So much did he owe to physical
temperament, to the volume and varied intonations of his
voice, to the irrepressible fires of a soul all alive to the
grand and overpowering visions of divine truth, to a sort of
inspiration kindled by the sight of thousands whose eyes were
ready to weep and whose hearts were ready to break the moment
his clarion voice rang out on their expectant ears--so much did
he owe to these circumstances, that his eloquence cannot be
appreciated by any account of it which can be given verbally, or
be delineated on paper. Vain is it, therefore, to look into his
printed sermons to find his power. His power as a pulpit orator,
also, cannot be separated from his pious emotions, nor from
his religious views. Had he embraced a theory of religion less
emotional, more after the pattern of rationalists or ritualists,
his eloquence would have been lost to the world. Never would his
soul have taken fire, nor his lips glowed with the burning coal
of enthusiastic passion. But he believed in man's ruin by sin,
in the certain interminable woe that awaited the impenitent;
in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, and the free offer
of salvation through faith in the cross. Such were his views,
and, under these convictions, he looked upon his audiences.
He saw but one hope set before them, and with his whole soul
moved and melted by the love of Christ on the one hand, and
the love of souls on the other, he pressed every hearer, with
all the energy of a dying man speaking to dying men, to accept
the great salvation. Nor do we think that the pulpit can reach
its appropriate power, nor for any length of time retain it,
unless these grand cardinal doctrines of grace are the inspiring
themes."
These remarks are as just as they are eloquent; but it is now time
to follow Whitefield in his transatlantic wanderings.
_SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA._