Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 – December 22, 1899), also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now the Northfield Mount Hermon School), the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.

Early life

Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large family. His father, a small farmer and stonemason, was an alcoholic and died at the age of 41 when Dwight was only four years old. He had five older brothers and a younger sister, with an additional twin brother and sister born one month after his father’s death. His mother struggled to support the family, but even with her best effort, some of her children had to be sent off to work for their room and board. Dwight too was sent off, where he went he received cornmeal porridge and milk, three times a day. He complained to his mother, but when she found out that he had all that he wanted to eat, she sent him back. Even during this time, she continued to send them to church. Together with his eight siblings he was raised in the Unitarian church. His oldest brother ran away and was not heard from by the family until many years later.

When Moody turned 17, he moved to Boston to work in his uncle’s shoe store. One of his uncle’s requirements was that Moody attend the Congregational Church of Mount Vernon where Dr. Edward Norris Kirk was pastor. In April 1855 Moody was then converted to evangelical Christianity when his teacher, Edward Kimball talked to him about how much God loved him. His conversion sparked the start of his career as an evangelist. However his first application for church membership, in May 1855, was rejected. He was not received as a church member until May 4, 1856. As his teacher, Mr. Edward Kimball, stated,

“I can truly say, and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday School class; and I think that the committee of the Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.”

Chicago and the Civil War

Moody moved to Chicago, Illinois in September, 1856, where he joined the Plymouth Congregational Church, and began to take an active part in the prayer meetings. In the spring of 1857, he began to minister to the welfare of the sailors in Chicago’s port, then gamblers and thieves in the saloons. A contemporary witness, William Ryenolds, recalled a few years later:

“The first meeting I ever saw him at was in a little old shanty that had been abandoned by a saloon-keeper. Mr. Moody had got the place to hold the meetings in at night. I went there a little late; and the first thing I saw was a man standing up with a few tallow candles around him, holding a negro boy, and trying to read to him the story of the Prodigal Son and a great many words he could not read out, and had to skip. I thought, ‘If the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for His honor and glory, it will astonish me.’”

His work led to the largest Sunday School of his time. As a result of his tireless labor, within a year the average attendance at his school was 650, while 60 volunteers from various churches served as teachers. It became so well known that the just-elected President Lincoln visited and spoke at a Sunday School meeting on November 25, 1860.

After the Civil War started, he was involved with the U.S. Christian Commission of the YMCA, and paid nine visits to the battle-front, being present among the Union soldiers after the conflicts of Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landing, and Murfreesboro, and ultimately entered Richmond with the army of General Grant. He married Miss Emma C. Revell, on August 28, 1862, with whom he had a daughter, Emma Reynolds Moody, and two sons, William Revell And Paul Dwight Moody.

The growing Sunday School congregation needed a permanent home, so Moody started a church in Chicago, the Illinois Street Church.

In June 1871, Moody met Ira D. Sankey, the Gospel singer, with whom he soon partnered. In October the Great Chicago Fire destroyed his church, his home, and the dwellings of most of his members. His family had to flee for their lives, and, as Mr. Moody said, he saved nothing but his reputation and his Bible. His church was rebuilt within three months at a near-by location as the Chicago Avenue Church. His lay follower William Eugene Blackstone was a prominent American Zionist.

In the years after the fire, Moody’s wealthy Chicago supporter J.A. Farwell attempted to persuade him to make his permanent home in Chicago, offering to build Moody and his family a new house. But the now-famous Moody, also sought by supporters in New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere, chose the tranquil farm he had purchased next door to his birthplace in Northfield, MA. He felt he could better recover from his lengthy and exhausting preaching trips in a rural setting. Northfield became an important location in evangelical Christian history in the late 19th century as Moody organized summer conferences which were led and attended by prominent Christian preachers and evangelists from around the world. It was also in Northfield where Moody founded three schools which later merged into today’s Northfield Mount Hermon School.

England

It was while on a trip to England in Spring of 1872 that he became well known as an evangelist. Some have claimed he was the greatest evangelist of the 19th century. He preached almost a hundred times and came into communion with the Plymouth Brethren. On several occasions he filled stadiums of 2,000 to 4,000 capacity. In the Botanic Gardens Palace, a meeting had between 15,000 to 30,000 people.

This turnout continued throughout 1874 and 1875, with crowds of thousands at all of his meetings. During his visit to Scotland he was helped and encouraged by Andrew A. Bonar. The famous London Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon invited him to speak and promoted him as well. When he returned to the United States, crowds of 12,000 to 20,000 were just as common as in England. President Grant and some of his cabinet attended a meeting on January 19, 1876. His evangelistic meetings were held from Boston to New York, throughout New England and as far as San Francisco, and other West coast towns from Vancouver to San Diego.

Moody aided in the work of cross-cultural evangelism by promoting “The Wordless Book”, a teaching tool that had been invented by Charles Spurgeon in 1866. In 1875 he added a fourth color to the design of the three-color evangelistic device: gold – to “represent heaven”. This “book” has been and is still used to teach uncounted thousands of illiterate people – young and old – around the globe about the Gospel message.

Missionary preaching in China using Moody’s version of The Wordless Book

Dwight L. Moody visited Britain with Ira D. Sankey, with Moody acting as preacher and Sankey singing. Together they published books of Christian hymns. In 1883 they visited Edinburgh and raised £10,000 for the building of a new home for the Carrubbers Close Mission. Moody later preached at the laying of the foundation stone for what is one of the few buildings on the Royal Mile which continues to be used for its original purpose and is now called the Carrubbers Christian Centre.

Moody greatly influenced the cause of cross-cultural Christian missions after he met the pioneer missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. He actively supported the China Inland Mission and encouraged many of his congregation to volunteer for service overseas.

His influence was felt among Swedes despite the fact that he was of English heritage, never visited Sweden or any Scandinavian country, and never spoke a word of the Swedish language. Nevertheless, he became a hero revivalist among Swedish Mission Friends in Sweden and America.

News of Moody’s large revival campaigns in Great Britain from 1873–1875 traveled quickly to Sweden, making “Mr. Moody” a household name in homes of many Mission Friends. Moody’s sermons published in Sweden were distributed in books, newspapers, and colporteur tracts, and led to the spread of Sweden’s “Moody fever” from 1875–1880.

He preached his last sermon on November 16, 1899 in Kansas City, KS. Becoming ill, he returned home by train to Northfield. During the preceding several months, friends had observed he had added some 30 pounds to his already ample frame. Although his illness was never diagnosed, it has been speculated that he suffered congestive heart failure. He died on December 22, surrounded by family. Already installed by Moody as leader of his Chicago Bible Institute, R. A. Torrey succeeded Moody as its president. Ten years after Moody’s death, the Chicago Avenue Church was renamed The Moody Church in his honor, and the Chicago Bible Institute was likewise renamed Moody Bible Institute.

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The Life and Work of Dwight Lyman Moody

Table of Contents

Preface

Appreciations of Moody

1. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

Early Acquaintance with Mr. Moody – A Most Profound – Influence – Master in Moving Men – The Power of God on His Work – The Last Picture of the Evangelist – Professor Drummond on Moody.

2. NORTHFIELD

Northfield Not a Modern Town – The First Settlers – The Second Settlement – After the Revolution – The House in Which Moody was Born – The Character of the Town.

3. MR. MOODY’S EARLY LIFE

The Death of His Father – Mrs. Moody’s Struggle – Incidents from Moody’s Early Days – His Rudimentary Education – Departure from Home – Looking for Work.

4. HIS MOTHER

A Picture Never To Be Forgotten – His Mother’s Blessing – Her Puritan Ancestry – Her Conversion – D. L. Moody’s Tribute to His Mother – Verses She Had Marked.

5. HIS CONVERSION

First Acquaintance With Mr. E. D. Kimball – Just Ready for the Light – Mr. Moody’s Probation – Admitted To the Church – A Changed Life – He Seeks His Future In the West.

6. SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

Preparation for Future Work – Recruiting For the Church and For Sunday Schools – The School on “the Sands” – Muscular Christianity – The North Market Mission – President Lincoln’s Visit – Incidents of the Work.

7. THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION AND THE CHICAGO AVENUE CHURCH

First work with the Young Men’s Christian Association – The Illinois Street Church – Elected President of the Young Men’s Christian Association – Dedication of the New Building – A Great Religious Centre – The North Side Tabernacle – Development of the Chicago Avenue Church.

8. GIVING UP BUSINESS

Moody as a Commercial Traveller – “God will Provide” – He Gives Up Business – His Means Exhausted – Friends Come with Unsolicited Aid – Marriage – His Wife and Her Influence – Mr. Moody’s Family.

9. MOODY AND SANKEY

Mr. Sankey’s First Singing at a Moody Meeting – A Sudden Proposition – A Street Service – Mr. Sankey joins Mr.Moody – The Effect of Mr. Sankey’s Singing – A Blessed Partnership.

10. EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, IRELAND AND SCOTLAND

The Discouraging Outlook – Sunderland – Revival Fire Kindled at Newcastle – Edinburgh – The Work in Scotland Continued – The Evangelists go to Ireland – The Return to England – Various Meetings – The London Revival.

11. EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

The Gospel Campaign in Brooklyn – The Campaign in Philadelphia The Great Meetings in New York – Glorious Enthusiasm for the Lord – In Baltimore, 1878.

12. MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

The Sanitary and Christian Commissions – Mr. Moody’s Zeal – Experiences from the War – The Revival at Camp Douglas – Work in the War with Spain – On Sea and Land – Striking Illustrations – “God Keep Us From War.”

13. THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD

A Blessed Town – Northfield Dear to Mr. Moody – Mr. Moody’s Love of Nature – Dr. A. J. Gordon – Rev. F. B. Meyer at Northfield – A Star In the Midnight Darkness.

14. THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS

Marvellous Educational Work – The Beginnings of Northfield Seminary – Three Great Ends in View – Mt. Hermon – The Northfleld Training School.

15. THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE AND THE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

Various Bible Conferences – The Pre- Eminence of Northfleld – The Beginnings and the Growth of the Conference – The Student Volunteers – Missionary Interest Awakened.

16. THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

The Need of the Institution – The Practical Nature of the Work – Touching Requests for Prayer – The Rev. R. A. Torrey – The Women’s Department.

17. THE WORLD’S FAIR CAMPAIGN

The First Meeting – How Mr. Moody Vivified the Work – The Reports of Co-Workers – The Monday Conferences – Meetings For Children.

18. THE LAST CAMPAIGN

Mr. Moody Goes to Kansas City – The Great Convention Hall – Inspiring Opening Services – The Beginning of the End – Mr. Moody Breaks Down – Back to Northfleld.

19. MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

D. L. Moody an Evangelist in the Truest Sense of the Word – Especially Adapted to His Work – His Dread of Notoriety – His Views on Sudden Conversion.

20. HIS BIBLE

A Book More Than Precious to Him – The Advice of Harry Moorehouse – Mr. Moody’s Ideas Concerning the Way to Use God’s Word.

21. HIS CO – WORKERS

Ira David Sankey – Paul P. Bliss – Major Whittle – Henry Varley – John McNeill – George C. Stebbins – Ferdinand Schiverea – H. M. Wharton – R. A. Torrey – A. C. Dixon – Henry Drummond – G. Campbell Morgan – George H. Macgregor – F. B. Meyer.

22. THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

Characteristics of the Three Sermons – God’s Love – The Excuses of Men – Reaping Whatsoever We Sow.

23. HIS BEST ILLUSTRATIONS

The Fervour of His Eloquence – “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” – “For Charlie’s Sake” – A Penalty Necessary – Calling on God – One Year’s Record.

24. REVIVAL CONVENTIONS

A Typical Convention – What is Evangelistic Service? – We Want New hymns – Apt Replies to Questions.

25. HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

A Characteristic Bible Reading – Helpful Auxiliaries to Bible Study – Jesus the Key to the New Testament – The Four Gospels – Six Things Worth Knowing – How Christ Dealt With Sinners.

26. HIS CREED – THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

His View Concerning the Word of God – What to do With Difficult Passages – Don’t Cut Anything Out of the Bible – Christ Referred to the Old Testament – The Second Coming of Christ – Will the World Grow Better or Worse? – The Work of the Holy Ghost – The Holy Ghost, A Person – The Real Fruit is Love – How The Judge Became a Working Christian – The Holy Ghost Testifies of Christ – Three Classes of Christians – We Have to Be Very Humble – A Blessed Experience.

27. THE FUNERAL

Mr. Moody’s Last Moments – A Triumphant Passing Away – Funeral Services – Addresses by Dr. Scofield, Dr. Weston, Dr. Chapman, Bishop Mallalieu, Mr. Torrey, and others.

28. ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY LOVED TO SPEAK AND WHERE HE WAS BURIED

Mr. Moody’s Remains Taken to Roundtop – A Place of Blessing – Roundtop Particularly identified With Mr. Moody.

29. MEMORIAL SERVICES

The Great Meeting in New York – Impressive Addresses – Estimates of Mr. Moody by Dr. Greer, Mr. John R. Mott, Mr. Cutting, Dr. Buckley, and Others who Knew and Loved Him.

30. APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS

Testimony to Mr.Moody’s Wonderful Personality -The Opinions of Prominent Men who Knew Him and His Work -The Universal Regard in Which He Was Held.

31. EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

Important Tributes from the Secular and Religious Press – All Men Eager to Admit Mr. Moody’s Greatness – What He Accomplished for the Betterment of Mankind.

32. THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

Personal Characteristics – His Hold Upon His Friends – His Charming Social Side – His Kindliness, Modesty and Unselfishness.

33. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY

By Rex. H. M. Wharton, D.D. An Estimate of Mr. Moody, based on intimate association with him and long knowledge of his work.

34. A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

By Rev. H. M. Wharton, D.D. Mr. Moody as He Appeared to one of his Prominent Co-Workers during the World’s Fair Campaign.

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Power from on High by Charles Finney

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Power from on High

Chapter 2 – What is it?

Chapter 3 – The Enduement of the Spirit

Chapter 4 – Enduement of Power from on High

Chapter 5 – Is it a hard saying?

Chapter 6 – Prevailing Prayer

Chapter 7 – How to Win Souls

Chapter 8 – Preacher, Save Thyself

Chapter 9 – Innocent Amusements

Chapter 10 – How to Overcome Sin

Chapter 11 – The Decay of Conscience

Chapter 12 – The Psychology of Faith

Chapter 13 – The Psychology of Righteousness

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Charles Finney

Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was a minister of the gospel who became an important figure in the Second Great Awakening. His influence during this period was enough that he has been called “the Father of modern revivalism”.

Finney was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings, such as having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender, development of the “anxious bench” (a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer), and public censure of individuals by name in sermons and prayers. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching.