Wesley Corpus

On The Death of The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield Preached at the Chapel in Tottenham-Court Road on Sunday, November 18, 1770 and at the Tabernacle, near Moorfields, on Friday, November 23, 1770. "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" Num. 23:10. 1. "Let my last end be like his!" How many of you join in this wish Perhaps there are few of you who do not, even in this numerous congregation! And O that this wish may rest upon your minds! -- that it may not die away till your souls also are lodged "where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest!" 2. An elaborate exposition of the text will not be expected on this occasion. It would detain you too long from the sadly-pleasing thought of your beloved brother, friend, and pastor; yea, and father too: for how many are here whom he hath "begotten in the Lord!" Will it not, then, be more suitable to your inclinations, as well as to this solemnity, directly to speak of this man of God, whom you have so often heard speaking in this place -- the end of whose conversation ye know, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." And may we not, I. Observe a few particulars of his life and death II. Take some view of his character and, III. Inquire how we may improve this awful providence, his sudden removal from us 1. We may, in the first place, observe a few particulars of his life and death. He was born at Gloucester, in December, 1714, and put to a grammar-school there, when about twelve years old. When he was seventeen, he began to be seriously religious, and served God to the best of his knowledge. About eighteen he removed to the University, and was admitted at Pembroke College in Oxford; and about a year after he became acquainted with the Methodists (so called), whom from that time he loved as his own soul.