The Method of Grace

This sermon details an authentic work of grace in a believer’s heart. Whitefield uses the phrase “we can speak peace to our hearts” when God’s work is genuine. The defining qualities are a correct understanding of sin, the nature of unbelief, and laying hold on the righteousness of Christ. The second part of the sermon is addressed to different people including true believers, backsliders and those who have never known Christ in their hearts.

GEORGE WHITEFIELD (1714-1779) was born in Gloucester, England. He attended Pembroke College at Oxford, where he was a member of the Holy Club with Charles and John Wesley. The group was highly disciplined and "methodical" in their performance of religion. In 1735, he read Henry Scougal's The Life of God and the Soul of Man and had a spiritual new birth. Ordained in 1736, he started preaching and became very popular immediately. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean many times and preached in churches and open fields. Gifted with a prodigious voice and untiring energy he preached to huge crowds with great consequence.