The First Great Awakening of the 18th century was a revival that saw thousands of people brought to faith in Christ, primarily in England and America.
The First Great Awakening was an awakening of repentance, personal relationship with Christ, enthusiasm of faith, and stepping away from the deism that brought with it moral and spiritual decay.
Deism is defined as a movement of thought advocating natural religion based on human reason rather than revelation. It emphasizes morality and denies the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe (Pratney, 1983, p. 64). Basically, morality without God or a works-based system in which no one can measure up.
As with other revivals in history, the First Great Awakening had its beginnings come from prayer meetings in Germany in 1724 held by a group called The Lord’s Watch which was established by a man named Count Nikolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf.
This group sent out Moravian missionaries to America, and in 1735 these missionaries would encounter the yet unsaved John Wesley. John Wesley had fallen into the morality without God, a works-based religious system, not realizing that he did not have a personal relationship with Christ. He, his brother Charles, a man named George Whitefield, and other men formed the Holy Club at Oxford University to have more opportunities to do lots of good works. Upon returning to England from a failed mission to America, John Wesley had his own true born-again experience.
George Whitefield, a former member of the Holy Club with the Wesley brothers, became a “street preacher”, not having been raised in the church like the Wesleys. Whitefield had a loud, projecting voice and a captivating way of speaking.
Whitefield influenced Wesley to begin open-air preaching out in the fields which led to many very large gatherings and speaking opportunities for both men. While these two Englishmen were boldly proclaiming repentance and salvation to thousands, another man was beginning to do the same in America. His name was Jonathan Edwards.
Edwards is most famous for his fiery sermon entitled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The influence of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards in America’s Great Awakening led to the desire for true freedom and independence. David Barton is quoted saying, “Historians agree, there is no America as an independent nation had it not been for the Great Awakening” (Barton, 2022)
The First Great Awakening demonstrates many of the features and impacts of revival, as written by Winkie Pratney in his book Revival Principles to Change the World, we will examine some of those here.
One that is briefly mentioned in the book, is the intense level of prayer and spiritual preparation that precedes a revival. As mentioned above, prayer meetings were being held in Germany before the start of the Great Awakening. These prayer meetings went on for 100 years, 24 hours a day. Men from this group became an influence in the life of John Wesley which led him to the path of true salvation.
The next feature of revival seen in the First Great Awakening is that revival is a divine attack on society. Society, both in England and America in the early and mid-1700s were eaten up with immorality and a lack of a fear of God. Crime, godlessness, drunkenness, gambling, and immorality paved the way for the rise of deism which gives no resolve to any of these societal and moral issues.
At the same time, those in the church lost the understanding of what it meant to be a sinner saved by grace. When John Wesley became born again and tried preaching in the churches that we are sinners, saved by grace and not by works, he was rejected and thrown out of the churches. This led to open-air preaching and preaching out in fields which allowed thousands of sinners ready for grace to hear the gospel (The Torchlighters, , The John Wesley Story, 2021).
Another feature of revival that was present in the First Great Awakening that I found to be incredibly fascinating is God’s sovereignty. The interconnectedness of the lives, stories, and missions of the three foremost men of this revival, John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Jonathan Edwards is truly remarkable and God-ordained.
As a young boy, John Wesley is saved from a terrible house fire, he was “a branch plucked from the burning.” Because of his life being spared in such a dramatic way, his parents believed that God had a special call on his life. While attending Oxford, John and his brother Charles established the Holy Club, which was a group of young men who believed themselves to be holy and did many good works to show everyone just how holy they were. Among the men in this group was a young George Whitefield.
John and Charles set out to be missionaries in America, however, they had no success in converting any colonists or Native Americans. John traveled back to England on a ship with the Moravian missionaries mentioned above.
When a deadly storm came upon the ship John was terribly afraid for his life and had no security in his salvation. He saw the peace the Moravians had and no fear of death. This led John to begin questioning and searching when he finally had a true understanding of his need for Christ as a sinner. The Lord was beginning to put together the puzzle pieces of this revival.
George Whitefield did not have Christian parents, a foundation of faith, or a church upbringing. In fact, he grew up around a very tough crowd and began to cultivate the loud voice he would later need to preach to thousands. He then went to Oxford where he met the Wesley brothers. Because of this connection with the Wesleys, he was later able to connect with John about preaching out in the open fields.
God used Whitefield’s past and upbringing to prepare him for the work of the kingdom. Whitefield’s ability to project his voice and his captivating way of speaking drew in crowds and made him quite famous. Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards both made an incredible impact in America during this time. All three men were used by God to pluck the branches from the burning.
A notable feature of revival surrounding Jonathan Edwards in particular is that of it being wholly of God and divinely influenced. Pratney states in his book, “The ruthless logic of Jonathan Edwards’ famous discourse, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, could not have produced the effect it did had God not been in the midst” (Pratney, 1983).
Edwards was said to have had very poor writing and eyesight, and he would need to be very close to his paper to read his writings. It was also said that he read his sermons in a monotone voice. This isn’t what one would picture when thinking of a revival preacher, but God used him even in these particular weaknesses.
Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon gripped the heart and brought fear for the soul upon many. The conviction of sin was strong, even while in the natural the presentation may have been less than fantastic.
Fearless preaching is another feature of revival in the First Great Awakening. As mentioned above, John Wesley had tried to preach the message of salvation by grace alone in the churches and this brought a lot of controversy. The controversy did not discourage him from the message, however.
In England, George Whitefield also had church doors closed to him because of his message, so he began to go to the people and preach outdoors. While Whitefield was very popular and drew large crowds, he also had a lot of opposition and people who set out to disrupt, embarrass, and hurt him while he preached. He had rotten food, dead animals, and feces thrown at him while preaching. Men would try to injure him while standing up on his platform. People would climb trees and expose themselves to him (and the crowd).
When he came to America, he continued to face opposition, but this time more of an intellectual opposition. He continued to preach boldly (A Brief History of the 1st Great Awakening, 2019).
Features of revivalists as noted by John Gillies in Accounts of Revivals (1795) that I believe marked men like Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield in the First Great Awakening include: earnest about the work of the ministry, bent upon success, men of faith, men of labor, men of boldness and determination, and men of most decided doctrine.
Learning more about the lives and stories of these men involved in this revival has been truly inspiring and I wish I had learned about them sooner. Reading about people like this being used by God in such big and amazing ways can spur us on to the work of the kingdom and a stronger desire to be used by the Lord. Nor everyone will be used in the ways these men were, but God is looking for willing vessels.
References
A Brief History of the 1st Great Awakening. (2019, November 8). Retrieved from HeartCryForRevival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvFn42E9_fk&t=487s
Barton, D. (2022, June 1). The Great Awakening Changed American History Forever . Retrieved from Kirk Cameron on TBN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjysK_qrCOk
Pratney, W. (1983). Revival Principles to Change the World. Pensacola: Christian Life Books.
The Torchlighters, , The John Wesley Story. (2021, September 28). Retrieved from Vision Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF4vkrOXw0c
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