I’m drawing to a close in Dallimore’s Volume 2 of Whitefield and it has been a great joy to read about this incredible man. I have come to realize just how valuable it is to read biographies with other books. Reading about real lives that are committed to Christ is so soul inspiring, that it has given me much needed perspective on life and death. And GW is one man whose life under-appreciated in today’s Christian world.

J. C. Ryle, in writing about Whitefield, sums up well Whitefield’s legacy:

Whitefield wrote no book for the million of world-wide fame, like Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. He headed no crusade against an apostate Church, with a nation at his back, and princes on his side, like Martin Luther. He founded no religious denomination, which pinned its faith on his writings and carefully embalmed his best acts and words, like John Wesley. There are Lutherans and Wesleyans in the present day, but there are no Whitefieldites. No! The great evangelist of the 18th century was a simply guileless man, who lived for one thing only, and that was to preach Christ. If he did that, he cared for nothing else.

GW was a man fixated on the glory of Christ and all else was subservient to that end. We don’t hear much about him, although at a time where there was no ability to cross the Atlantic without much difficulty, he did it many, many times. He took part in the founding of three universities (Princeton, Dartmouth, UPenn), and yet, very few realize his critical role in each. He cared for orphans when few did so in England and America. He preached to more people than any other (approximately two million people, at a time where people were scattered all throughout rural areas in the colonies, and in England where few were willing to listen to such preaching), probably until the advent of the automobile. He was almost beaten to death twice for preaching the Gospel. And his oratory skills and incredible, resounding voice had no equal and might never have. He ultimately stopped forming Whitefield societies not because he did not value organization, but he simply did not want his name to gain any renown.

Despite all of this, few think of Whitefield as one of the most Evangelicals in the past few centuries because in the end, he cared much more about the advance of the Gospel than about his own name and legacy. If we had more Whitefields, not in gifting but in humility, selflessness, Christ-exaltedness, and hunger for God, this world would be radically transformed. It is sobering to read about his life and to see how far short mine falls.

When asked if he expected to see Wesley in heaven, GW responded:

I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance we shall hardly get a sight of him.

But I think as GW is at such a distance from the throne, the Lord will see Him there and say to Him, “GW, you were last on earth, but here, you’re first.” And he’ll be transported to the front of the line.

Facts About the Indefatigable George Whitefield (from Steve Lawson):

• About 80 percent of all American colonists heard him preach at least once.
• He preached in Boston to the greatest crowds ever assembled there to hear the gospel. Some 8,000 assembled in the morning, and some 15,000 returned to the famous Commons in the evening.
• Whitefield’s farewell sermon on Boston Commons drew 23,000 people—more than Boston’s entire population.
• When preaching on Society Hill in Philadelphia, he spoke to 6,000 in the morning and 8,000 in the evening. On the following Sunday the respective crowds were 10,000 and 25,000. At his farewell address, more than 35,000 gathered to hear him.
• Another preaching visit in Philadelphia caused the crowds to spill over into more than a dozen city blocks.
• On another occasion, when Whitefield left Philadelphia on horseback, he was accompanied by at least 1,000 people, and 3,000 people traveled to the next town to hear him again.
• From Philadelphia, Whitefield went to New York where he preached to 8,000 in the field, on Sunday morning to 15,000, and Sunday afternoon to 20,000.
• The largest audience he ever addressed was at Cambusland, Scotland, near Glasgow, where he spoke to an estimated 100,000 people! He preached for an hour and a half to the tearful crowd. Converts from that one meeting numbered nearly 10,000.
• In Scotland, he once preached to 30,000; then to 20,000 in Edinburgh. In traveling from Glasgow to Edinburgh, he preached to 10,000 souls every day.
• Wherever he went, vast crowds gathered to hear him. Commerce would cease. Shops would close. Farmers would leave their plows mid-furrow. Affairs of the greatest import would be postponed. Even the judges delayed their hearings until his sermon
  was over.
• In Savannah, there was recorded the largest single crowd ever to gather anywhere in the colonies—despite the relatively small local population.
• In 34 years of public ministry, George Whitefield preached more than 18,000 formal sermons. If less formal occasions are included he preached in excess of 30,000 times.
• He made seven trans-Atlantic trips to America, 15 journeys to Scotland, two to Ireland, and one each to Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Holland.