Lessons Learned from D. L. Moody, pt. 2

Press men into the Kingdom!

Dr. H. C. Mabie writes: "I first met Mr. Moody in the fall of 1863, in Chicago…As we passed in prayer meeting for the YMCA there was a stocky, bustling, Simon Peter sort of a man standing at the door and shaking hands with all who entered. He spoke an earnest word to each. At the close of the meeting his same man remained to speak and pray with an inquirer or two who had shown signs of interest during the meeting. This honest man was Mr. Moody, and it made an impression upon me for life. I had never before seen a layman so making it his business to press men into the Kingdom as he seemed to be doing. I had learned to expect that of ministers, but I had never seen a layman so dead in earnest; but I like it.”[1]

“There is nothing novel in the doctrine Mr. Moody proclaims. It is the old gospel…yet always fresh and young as the living fountain or the morning sun. It is spoken with most impressive directness, not as by a man half convinced and who seems always to feel that a skeptic is looking over his shoulder, but with a certainty of the truth of what he says, as if, …he did not speak the very stones would cry out.”[2]

“He preaches as if there never was to be another meeting, and as if sinners might never hear the Gospel sound again: these appeals to decide now are most impressive.”[3]

Moody was a possessed man when it came to the gospel preaching. When he talked about eternal realities, they were fixed in his mind as firm as the ground underneath him. Because of it, he pressed Christ upon people with great earnestness so as to convince the hearer of his or her need. The Chicago fires of 1871 had a tremendous impact on him. On Oct. 8th he preached to the largest crowd he had ever preached to up until then. After finishing his sermon, he urged the crowd to turn the text over in their minds during the week, and next Sunday he would continue and give them an opportunity to embrace Christ. That night Chicago was lit ablaze and many of those in the audience were swept into eternity. Moody was heartbroken over the fact that he never gave them an opportunity to respond. In Moody’s own words, “I have asked God many times to forgive me for telling people that night to take a week to think it over, and if he spares my life, I will never do it again…I want to tell you of one lesson I learned that night which I have never forgotten, and that is, when I preach, to press Chris upon the people then and there, and try to bring them to a decision on the spot.”[4]

Though I think Moody did not have a proper understanding of the doctrines of grace, I believe he got it right in this fiery urgency that weighted his soul when sharing the gospel. I think that is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he said in 2 Cor. 5:11, “Knowing the fear fo he Lord, we persuade others.” It happens when the realities are truly pressed upon us.

[1] William R. Moody, The Life of Dwight L. Moody, (Sword of the Lord Publishers: Murfreesboro, TN; 1900), 79.
[2] Ibid., 184.
[3] Ibid., 168
[4] Ibid., 145-46.