Sermon Illustrations

The English Anglican evangelist George Whitefield was preaching at Moorfields fair in 1742. As he did so stones, dirt, rotten eggs and pieces of dead cat were thrown at him from the crowd. He vividly describes a group who were intent on putting an end to his preaching: ‘…having got a large pole for their standard, [they] advanced toward us with steady and formidable steps till they came very near the skirts of our hearing, praying and almost undaunted congregation.’ Now George was earnestly praying for deliverance when something remarkable happened: ‘Just as they approached us with looks of resentment, I know not by what accident, but they quarrelled among themselves, threw down their staff and went their way.’ Gorge Whitefield reckoned that about 350 souls were saved that day and he received 1,000 notes from hearers.