The Great Awakening

We are in the Evangelism Awakening Revival Institutes, and if you will turn in your handout to session two, Revival History, we will begin. This session is an overview of the Great Awakening. If you want a more detailed account, I refer you to my definitive two-volume biography on George Whitefield published by Revival Literature that is 1200 pages long.

The history of Revival is exciting to read, and it has an intoxicating nature in that by studying historical revivals, one wants to be part of one. I've longed to be part of Revival for years. Revival often spreads like a prairie fire, and entire communities can be affected by Revival.

Ben Franklin was good friends with George Whitefield, and Whitefield often stayed with Franklin in his home in Philadelphia. Ben Franklin once estimated that George Whitefield could be heard by 30,000 people from a mile away. We have Franklin's account of Whitefield visiting the city of Philadelphia in 1739.

In 1739, the Reverend Mr. Whitefield arrived among us. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our churches, but the clergy, taken to dislike to him, soon refused him their pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation to me who was one of the number to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them by assuring them they were naturally half beasts and half devils.

It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants, from being thoughtless and indifferent about religion. It seemed as if all the world was growing religious, so that one could not walk through Philadelphia in the evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. Well, that's a remarkable account by Ben Franklin on Whitefield's preaching.

The great awakening which gripped America in revival began with Jonathan Edwards in the town of Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards describes these times as a great and abiding alteration in the town, where the youth of the community, more free of revelry, frolicking, profane and licentious conversation, and lewd songs since the great work God in 1735. So the revival fires were already lit when George Whitefield arrived, and he just threw gasoline on that fire.

In 1740, Whitefield preached two sermons in Edwards' church in Northampton, and he wrote in his journal that a good Mr. Edwards wept during the whole time of exercise. Soon, George Whitefield was drawing immense crowds out in the open air, where on Boston Common he preached to 20,000 hearers at a time when the city population was only 60,000. He had a third of the populace there to hear him.

Whitefield preached up and down New England, visiting Harvard and Yale. By the time he made it to Middleton, Connecticut, it seemed the whole country was flocking to hear him. We have an eyewitness account of Whitefield in Middletown, Connecticut, written by a farmer named Nathan Cole.

Here now is an excerpt from that exciting account. Now it pleased God to send Mr. Whitefield into this land, and my hearing of his preaching at Philadelphia, like one of the old apostles, and many thousands flocking after him to hear the gospel in great numbers converted to Christ, I felt the Spirit of God drawn me by conviction. Next I heard he was on Long Island, and next at Boston, and then one morning, all of a sudden, about eight or nine o'clock, there came a messenger and said, Mr. Whitefield preached at Hartford and Wethersfield yesterday, and is to preach at Middletown this morning at ten o'clock.

I was in my field at work, I dropped my tool, I had my hand, and I ran home and ran through my house and bade my wife get ready quick to go hear Mr. Whitefield preach at Middletown, and ran to my pasture for my horse with all my might, fearing I should be too late to hear him. I brought my horse home and soon mounted, and took my wife up and went forward as fast as I thought the horse could bear, and when my horse began to be out of breath, I would get down and put my wife in the saddle, and bid her ride as fast as she could, and not stop or slack for me, except I bade her, and so I would run until I was almost out of breath, and then mount my horse again, and so I did several times to favor my horse, for we had twelve miles to ride, doubling little more than an hour. On high ground I saw before me a cloud or fog rising, I first thought it was from the great river, but as I came nearer the road I heard a noise, something like a low rumbling of horse's feet coming down the road, and this cloud was a cloud of dust made by the running of horse's feet, it arose some rods in the air over the tops of the hills and trees, and when I came within twenty rods of the road I could see men and horses slipping along in the cloud-like shadows, and when I came nearer it was like a steady stream of horses and their riders, scarcely a horse more than his length behind another, all a-lathering, some would sweat, we went down with the stream, I heard no man speak a word all the way three miles, but everyone pressing forward in great haste, and when we got down to the old meeting-house there was a great multitude, three to four thousand people assembled together, we got off from our horses and shook off the dust, then the ministers were coming to the meeting-house, I turned and looked toward the great river, and saw ferry boats running swift, forward and backward, bringing over loads of people, the oars rode nimble and quick, everything, men, horses and boats, all seemed to be struggling for life, the land and the banks over the river looked black with people and horses, all along the twelve miles I saw no man at work in his field, but all seemed to be gone, when I saw Mr. Whitfield come up upon the scaffold, he looked almost angelical, a young, slim, slender youth, before some thousands of people, with a bold undaunted countenance, and my hearing how God was with him everywhere as he came along, it solemnized my mind and put me into a trembling fear, before he began to preach, for he looked as if he was clothed with authority from the great God, and a sweet solemnity sat upon his brow, and my hearing him preach gave me a heart wound, by God's blessing, my old foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness would not save me, well, I will stop there, friends, I have stood on that hill in Middletown, Connecticut, looking down at the river where Whitfield preached, it must have been an awful, awful, solemnizing sight, the great awakening produced a host of powerful preachers, like Gilbert Tennant, and Jonathan Parsons, Samuel Davies, and Thomas Prince, men whom God used mightily to rouse a sleeping church and nation, in England you had John and Charles Wesley, and Hal Harris, and others, these were all men set for their times, and gifted by God Almighty, to stir a nation, God will always raise up men to advance his kingdom work, men like the Apostle Paul, Luther, Wesley, Whitfield, Knox, Edwards, Finney, Spurgeon, Moody, each shared a calm denominator of fire in their belly, they each were so eaten up with the gospel, and thirsty for Christ, and filled with the Holy Ghost, they could not stand idly by while others perished, they saw nothing but eternity, worshipped the Holy God, and served the risen Christ, living not for earth, nor its gains, but living only for heaven, and its rewards, when they preached, they linked the devil with sin, and the cross with salvation, they preached hell and its fire, and Christ and him crucified, not one of them feared king, queen, or pope, and not one of them sought the compliments of men, well that ends session two friends, we were prepared for the next session.