GEORGE WHITEFIELD: Experiencing a New Birth

In 1739, a young Anglican priest would be persecuted by his fellow ministers for doing the unthinkable of the day; preach to multitudes outside the confines of the church.

George Whitefield while staying in Bristol, England became burdened for coalminers in the nearby village of Kingswood. With no church in the town, Whitefield decided to climb a small hill and preach to over 200 miners.

“The first discovery of their being affected,” he said, “was to see the white gutters made by their tears which plentifully fell down their blackend cheeks." The following week over 10,000 people gathered in the fields to hear him proclaim that they can be born again.

In John chapter 3, the Lord Jesus Christ states, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

Alienated from having a relationship with God because of our sin, Jesus instructs us on the need to experience a spiritual rebirth by humbly placing our faith and active trust in Him. Upon this simple, yet profound act, we are born again into a new life of fellowship with God now and for eternity.

George Whitefield, within church walls or out in open fields, preached that this new birth, " .. is not only one of the most fundamental doctrines of our holy religion, but the very hinge on which the salvation of each of us turns."