A Rope of Sand
Friday, January 6, 2023
“I will bawl; I will not be a velvet mouthed preacher.” – George Whitefield
Along with Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Tennant, and John Wesley, George Whitefield was one of the leaders of the First Great Awakening that swept across the American colonies in the mid-1700s. This extended period of spiritual revival laid the foundation for not only the modern evangelical movement, but also for the American Revolution.
Whitefield was trained as an actor and consequently, his sermons were often filled with a certain theatrical flair that included shouting, weeping, and trembling. His emotional style of preaching wasn’t well received by the Church of England and so, Whitefield came to the colonies and started conducting outdoor revival meetings. Thousands of people would attend these sometimes-spontaneous services and Whitefield would keep his listeners transfixed with his soaring oratory.
From New England to Georgia, Whitefield preached more than 15,000 sermons during his seven trips to the colonies. He delivered his last sermon in Exeter, New Hampshire on September 29, 1770. The Second Parish Church was scheduled to host Whitefield that day but, when the crowd swelled to more than 6,000 people, the service was moved outdoors where a board was laid across two barrels for the 56-year-old Whitefield to stand on.
When a friend suggested that Whitefield was too tired and weak to preach, he replied, "True, sir." He then added, "Lord Jesus, I am weary in thy work but not of it." And so, Whitefield spoke for two hours before traveling by horseback to Newburyport, Massachusetts. After speaking to a small gathering there, Whitefield died in his sleep the following morning.
One of the more memorable lines in Whitefield’s final sermon was this…
"Works! Works! A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!"
George Whitefield, who “graduated to Glory” exactly 189 years before I was born, was anything but a velvet mouthed preacher. I hope and pray that, when I am finally called home to join him in heaven, people will say the same thing about me.
“What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!” Matthew 10:27 (NLT)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
