AWAKE YOU WHO SLEEP

Eph.5:14 – Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

George Whitefield was famously part of the Holy Club in Oxford, England with the John and Charles Wesley while they were in college. The strange thing about that, none of them had yet experienced the new birth experience. They were heavily involved with religious disciplines but had not yet experienced the blessing of salvation by faith. Apparently the first to come to the end of themselves and experience the new birth was Whitefield. He had been given a book written by a young pastor from Scotland named Henry Scougal and the book was entitled THE LIFE OF GOD IN THE SOUL OF MAN. It was while reading this book that Whitefield was awakened to the message of the new birth. Here are some comments from George Whitefield concerning his new birth experience.

“God was pleased to remove the heavy load, to lay hold of his dear Son by a living faith, and by giving me the Spirit of adoption, to seal me, even to the day of everlasting redemption. O! with what joy- joy unspeakable- even joy that was full of and big with glory, was my soul filled when the weight of sin went off, and an abiding sense of the love of God broke in upon my disconsolate soul! Surely it was a day to be had in everlasting remembrance. My joys were like a springtide and overflowed the banks. Not long before his death, looking back upon this life- transforming event Whitefield declared, “I know the place: it may be superstitious, perhaps, but whenever I go to Oxford I cannot help running to that place where Jesus Christ first revealed himself to me, and gave me the new birth.”

This experience was the beginning of an amazing calling on this young man that became a tool in God’s hand to awaken two continents. From his conversion Whitefield had a powerful touch of God on his life preaching in the churches of England until the power on his ministry caused him to be banished from the pulpits in the Church of England. From there young Whitefield went to the open air preaching in fields where thousands would gather to hear the word of God. The Wesleys themselves soon experienced conversion and joined Whitefield in the open air meetings.

From there it was to the colonies in America where Whitefield preached for three decades. It has been said that the fruit of his labors in America birthed one nation under God.