George Whitfield (1714-1770), who was used by God to spread the Great Awakening, became perhaps the best-known preacher in Britain and America in the 18th century. In May of 1750, after hearing Whitfield preach, John Thorpe and three friends attended a local “Hell-Fire Club,” an atheists’ gathering. To amuse his friends, with amazing accuracy Thorpe recited the sermon he had just heard Whitfield preach. With remarkable tone and clever mimicry, John Thorpe presented the preacher’s message until, suddenly, he slumped into a chair and cradled his weeping face in his hands. With a self-inflicted wound, he had been converted under his own preaching! “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12). Subsequently, John Thorpe was greatly used in Bristol in the salvation of many.