Satan Picermpetan a MEMORIAL LIFE AND WORKS OF DWIGHT L. MOODY THE WORLD'S GREATEST EVANGELIST. A COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC REVIEW OF THE MARVELOUS CAREER OF THE MOST REMARKABLE RELIGIOUS ~ GENERAL IN HISTORY BY REV. J. W. HANSON, A. M., D. D. Author of “Religions of the World,” ‘‘Manna,” ‘‘Cloud of Witnesses;” and other religious works. INTRODUCTION BY REV. H. W. THOMAS, D. D. The Celebrated Pastor of People’s Church, Chicago. EULOGY BY HON. J. V. FARWELL The Millionaire Philanthropist and Co-Worker of Mr. Moody. PUBLISHED BY i Le NICHOES 6e-CO: ATLANTA, GA. NAPERVILLE, ILL. TORONTO, ONT. SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION 1900 By ROBT. O. LAW, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at W PeSBlisib Rs | REFACE. Spurgeon was called the pastoral evangelist ; Chalmers, the parish evangelist; Finney, the revival evangelist; Howard, the prison evan- gelist; Whitefield, the field evangelist; Shaftes- bury, the philanthropic evangelist; Bliss, the singing evangelist; McCauley, the evangelist of the outcast, but Dwight L. Moody was the evangelist of the people. For forty years his name was known among the English speaking people. For nearly forty years his sayings have been household words; for nearly forty years his stories have been told at almost every Christian fireside. His life, with its peculiarly fitting ending, is known in a general way to the great majority of the people, but few of them realize what a great man he was. Born in New England poverty, but with an indomitable spirit, he made his mark as a boy even in wise old Boston. As a young man in Chicago, he demonstrated his stability in commerce as well as in religion. He founded, by his energy, one of the largest Sunday-schools in the world out of apparently the poorest material to be found on the Ameri- can continent. A few years later, he electrified Europe with his methods and thousands of people turned 5 330455 6 | PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. from ways of sin to ways of righteousness. He came home and founded the great schools at Northfield where thousands of young men and women can procure an education at a nominal figure. Thirty buildings stand as a monument to him there. In Chicago, the great Bible Institute, with its auxiliary features, where thousands of young men and women, desirous of greater insight into the Holy Scriptures daily assemble and listen to explanations of the Bible. The present work was commenced early in 1898 and is the result of months of careful research and many interviews with personal friends of Mr. Moody. It embodies a com- plete account of the great evangelist’s marvel- ous career from his birth to his death, enliv- ened with anecdotes contributed from all parts of the world. The labor of arranging, select- ing and condensing the vast amount of material gathered during the past two years, was very great and it was found necessary to omit a large amount of very interesting and valuable matter in order to keep the work within the lines of a popular life of Mr. Moody. Many of the illustrations were taken specially for the work by our own photographer; others were redrawn from designs furnished our special artist. INTRODUCTION By H. W. THOMAS, D. D., Pastor of People’s Church, Chicago. WIGHT L. MOODY would have been a |) marked man in almost any field of active affairs, and simply because of his large natural abilities. That he was great as an evangelist was owing mainly to his special adaptation to that form of work; his glad and en- tire consecration to it, and his wonderful power to use others, to marshal and control forces to inspire minds and hearts with his own pur- pose and earnestness. Brother Moody understood well the power of numbers, of large assemblies, and the value of sympathetic emotion. Hence he did not go forth alone to gather and reach the outside world, as did Wesley; but sought and secured the united action of the preachers, the mem- bers and choirs of the evangelical churches, and this he could do sincerely because he saw nothing vital in the lines that differentiated the denominations, and felt that their coming to- gether would be helpful to each; that the com- 590455 8 INTRODUCTION. mon life of all would be quickened and en- larged. No one, perhaps, has done so much to lessen the lines of separation, and so much to unite all in the great law and life of love. Had he sought to found a new denomination, this united action would not have been possible, for the movement would naturally have been looked upon as competitive. Brother Moody did not wish to found another denomination; he thought there were too many already; but he did, and wisely, too, look to the perpetuation of his own spirit and work in one central church and through the educational power of training schools, and in this was successful through his singular ability to reach men of large means, and to bring other workers into the field. There will not be another Moody; as there will not be another Beecher, Simpson or Philips Brooks; it is not Nature’s God’s way of work- ing. Brother Moody filled a needed place in his time; other minds and hearts will come forth for the needs of new conditions. We all loved and honored Brother Moody, and pray that his inspiration, his consecration, his great love for man and God, may be caught up and carried forward to bless a world. H. W. THOMAS. DWIGHT L. MOODY. By JOHN V. FARWELL. I never felt so small as when requested to give in words, as an observer from its begin- ning until his translation, some sort of a digest of Dwight L. Moody’s character. While lying in his coffin in the Northfield church, that gust of wind that opened enough of one window blind to let in the light of the sun on his kindly face, suggests to my mind that only the mind of God—the only source of light of life—can measure a mind and _ heart aflame with the inspiration of the Almighty, from whence he drew his power for daily use in his work. Environment and want of education under such a heavenly ray of light, was no obstruc- tion to his being lifted out of weakness into a power sufficient to confound the mightiest men, who had any less communion with God. Look at yonder dirty pool, too foul for use. We expect nothing from it to help mankind. Look again. The sun, with its silent chem- istry, has in due time drawn it up into heaven’s 9 10 DWIGHT L. MOODY. blue, and on fhe very spot where it cursed the earth, is a garden of flowers, watered by its dew drops, and in the heavens above is God’s rainbow of promise, painted by its mystery of heavenly art while on its way to earth, to water that garden of the beautiful, and fields plowed and planted by man, that the earth may bring forth bread for the hungry. The natural man with his earthly lusts and passions is that dirty pool, only needing the potentialities of heaven’s light and heat to trans- form its stagnant elements into the beautiful and useful. Mr. Moody was thus transformed by his own deliberate choice, placing himself under the hands of the Almighty, to be used in His vineyard. Thus equipped, his works were well done, and it may be well said of him, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, for their works do follow them.” A mighty man has finished his work on earth. The oldest book in existence records, “There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding.” Moody’s spirit—or mental ability—was natur- ally of a superior order. Had he taken up polities he would have made an exceptional statesman. Having taken up with Christ as DWIGHT L. MOODY. 11 Lord for his life work, the inspiration of the Almighty gave him a power in Christian work second to no one in the apostolic succession from Saints Peter and Paul until December 22d A. D., 1899, measured by the results of his ministry, practically surrounding the globe in its influence, and nearly so in his travels. The key to the understanding of all this is that Moody’s body, soul and spirit, by his own deliberate choice, were consecrated to that ministry. He once heard a man say, ‘The world has yet to see how much one man, wholly consecrated to God, can accomplish in this world for Him.” ‘Then,’ said Moody, “T will be that man, for I can consecrate my all to Fim.” He began his work as a mission Sunday- school drummer, and from that graduated in regular succession into Superintendent of one of the largest mission Sunday-schools in the city, President of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and the world’s exangelist, the highest office in Christ’s ministry. When he left a successful business for this calling, he had accumulated about $12,000, all of which was invested in mission enterprises at the time he was most busy with the work of the Y.M.C. A. A little prayer meeting of three asked for wisdom to procure a building 12 DWIGHT L. MOODY. for that association, and in answer Mr. Moody began and finished the first building ever erected for the use of a Y. M. C. A. on earth, represent- ing Christian union, and in his work in Chicago, after returning from his London mission, he raised the money to free it from debt, after having been twice burned to the ground, but for this timely effort of his the present magnifi- cent temple of the Y. M. C. A. would not be one of the world’s bést material monuments of Christian unity (for which he stood) that was ever erected. The lineal descendants of his first enterprise, the North Market Hall Mission Sunday-school, are the Bible Institute and the Chicago Avenue Church, now filled to its utmost capa- city twice every Sunday to hear the plain testi- mony of Jesus, which theangel said to John was “the spirit of prophecy,” or preaching; and conversions follow every service as a rule, and some times scores and hundreds attend the second meeting which follows the evening service. Being dead, he yet speaks through these in- stitutions as clearly as did the angels when they sang “Glory to God in the Highest” and “On earth Peace and Good Will to Men,” at the birth of Christ, through whose Life more abundant now given to men, that song is to be DWIGHT L. MOODY. 13 perpetuated through the agency of such men to the end of time. The meaning of the removal of such work- men from the harvest field at such a time as this is beyond our ken, when, instead of one re- movala regiment of them seems to be needed for fields white for the harvest, and the world one as it never was before by the power of steam and electricity, as well as the power of Christian civilization in the strongest nations on earth. Yea, and when there are calls on Moody’s desk from Europe and America that would re- quire months, if not years, to fill if he were here to do it. Why? God only knows. LIST OF ILLUSTRATION] PAGE. ¥ Dwight-L, Moody... 05.020 0sias ached Frontispiece METRE SOWEL.” «ois inieoisiojeis wreicicjcle- uiste.ds ele o + 2/15 atom 20 Moody Family Gathering, 1867... 2... ....+++.sesseeen 29 ~ Period Pictures' of Mr. Moody. <<.) -/:..+ <1 ons ieee 39 The Old and the New ... 0.0.40. 4002.00. 400000 «23 49 WV Mr. Moody’s Missionary Pony...:......:0.«+0s00sseneeen 59 yevorth Side Tabernacle... fo 5. 2. esc secs seg se eee 77 PP BSShns ectGet su gc he ooe se oe sine gine a1 5 ee een 87 fia wD SANKECY ni crelete © «cin loie aie\n cle eheiniclelal=l~ oe -iele eee 97 vMr. Moody’s Characteristic Attitude .. ..............006- 115 Mr. Moody ona Morning Drive... 27... 2... «2 see 125 Free Church, Assembly Hall, Edinburgh................ 135 Exhibition Hall) "Dublin... . 6.0 sc jee. 0c cnc onto s 2 eee 153 Haymarket Opera House. 22.05... 000+. sels 171 Characteristic Page from Mr. Moody's Bible............. 182 Farewell: Meeting at Glasgow ....... <0... = +5: Cena 189 “Chicago Avent: Churell, .....6..~ s:600.0~ +s 00c% ssi eee 207 yInterior of\Chicago’Ghurch’..0.<..<-2.2 seen seen IR - 225 The Empty Chair....... sa eiSidje.cBls sieltveisiectelniere es ae en 243 The Bible He Preached From.........00.5<- =< 00s se pee 261 “Moody Bible Institutes. 52505. < cccce news eins ee 279 Bible Institute Library. .). 0.025.080. ec coe see cls «cee 297 A Music Lesson, Bible Institute ...................0ccece 315 / Pastor’s Study, Chicago Avenue Church ................. 333 Colportage Cottage ......... wale wld 4 o Gie Shlen eee 351 The Funeral Bier 0. .0o ces os .cjck esos sivistare ooo ieee 367 Congregational Church, Northfield...................... 387 Recitation Halloo.. s suisiscldess 6c lovinciecets cc crecee ene eee 405 Marquand Memorial Halls. 5 559. < 6 <00.s czsce0 see eee 423 Mt: Hermon School), 5. oos,..0..c6.2210 sejeieis © saint a Ce 441 “East, Hall, Northfield'Seminary:.....5..<.s-« + co esse eee 459 Auditorium, Northeld....0.6 0 .:c.0saececk acd «ssc eee 477 Retitation Hall, Northfield o: 2-0-6 acc ceiniciten mice eee 495 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. Ancestors of Mr. Moody—Statement that every other Moody family contained a preacher— Three great Moody’s, one in the seventeenth, one in the eighteenth, and one in the nine- (aera CHAIN Cosbcws Cacbae dooreno>so0Raae 21-33 II. Moody’s early life—Left to the care of his mother at four—Eldest brother runs away— Some early escapades—First trip away from III. Life in Boston—Gets a place in his uncle’s store —Forced to attend church—His conversion— Compelled to wait six months before being admitted to membership................... 48-57 IV. Beginning of his career—Secures employment in Chicago, and invents new methods of secur- ing customers—His first Sunday-school—Some hardwexpericuees ore yartacciokinn was ee ee 57-67 V. President of the Y. M.C. A. for four years— Agent of the United States Christian Commis- sion—Comforts the wounded and dying on the DAtEe eld el cic actclealew cislars Sia: craeeis/.s vinvsis s 68-72 16 CONTENTS. CHSPTER. PAGE. Vi. First meeting with Bliss—Life of the great singing evangelist—Some of the great songs he wrote—His end at Ashtabula.............. 73-80 VII. Sermons on P. P. Bliss—The great evangelist praises the dead singer—Corrects reports about money received from song books........ . 81-89 VIII. First meeting with Sankey—An attachment formed which lasts through life—Story of the mf great singer’s early days. ........0.sseam 90-94 TX., Side lights on the character of Mr. Moody—His 9 likes and dislikes—Some men he admired—His belief in ‘advertising:.... .< 3)...-. eee Q5-1II X. English visit of Moody and Sankey — Great awakening in England, Ireland, and Scot- BAT tare iose ciclelojeic oi siele\aietela’) other that has nothing green about it. It looks dried up.’’ ‘‘Oh,’’ said he, ‘‘you are a stranger here.’’ I said, ‘*Yes, that was my first visit.’’ ‘‘Well,’’ he said, ‘“‘that man there irrigates and brings the water down from the mountains, and in consequence he 174 TYPICAL ANECDOTES. _ Taises two or three crops a year, while the man that owns the other ranch, does not raise hardly any- thing, because he does not irrigate.’’ In many churches you will find men and women as dry as Gideon’s fleece. Some people will come and go and occupy the same pew for forty years and not move an inch. Another man right close to him is active and bright, and everything he touches seems to grow; the breath of God seems to be upon him. When I was a young man and preached out in the West—I was a commercial traveler then—I would go into a little town and hold a meeting in a log schoolhouse, when some old gentleman would say, ‘‘This young brother from Chicago will speak here this evening at early candle light,’’ and the first person that came would bring an old dingy lantern and stick it up on a bench—even an old lantern with old oil and a wick, you know, gives out consider- able light after all on a dark night—and the next person that came, an old woman, perhaps, would bring along a sperm candle, and then would come an old farmer with another candle, and they would stick them up on the desks, and they would sputter away there, yet all the time giving a good deal of light, and do you know, by the time the people got together there in that old school house we had plenty of light. Now, it can be just so here in New York; there are Christians enough here to light up the whole city. You remember that it was revealed to Elijah that he should be caught up into heaven. He was with Elisha at Gilgal, and he said to Elisha, ‘‘Let us go to Bethel and see how the prophets are getting along.’’ They had a sort of theological seminary TYPICAL ANECDOTES. 1% down there, -as it were. Well, Elijah and Elisha went to Bethel, and I suppose their arrival created no small stir among those young prophets, for it had been revealed to them that Elijah was to be taken away, and one of them got Elisha off alone, as I can imagine, and whispered to him, ‘‘Do you know that your man is to be taken away?’’ “‘Sh! sh! hold your peace,’’ said Elisha, ‘‘I know all about it.’’ Pres- ently, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘‘You stay here now, and I’ll go down to Jericho and see how the prophets are getting along there,’’ for there was another the- ological seminary down there, but Elisha would not let him go alone, and went with him. When they got down there, another prophet got Elisha to one side and said, ‘‘Do you know that Elijah is to be taken away?’ ‘‘Yes, I know all about it,’’ said Eli- sha; ‘‘keep still, do not say anything.” Presently, Elijah turned to Elisha and said, ‘‘Elisha, you stay here with the prophets, and I will go over to the Jordan and worship.’’ Elisha said, ‘“‘As the Lord liveth and as I live, you will not go without me.’’ He tried to leave him up there at Bethel, and he would not be left, and I can imagine him locking arms with Elijah and going along with him, as they started to the Jordan together. I was in Palestine some time ago, and oh, how I longed to see the very spot where those two men crossed the Jordan; as they passed along down the valley and came to the river, Elijah took off his mantle and waved it, and the waters began to recede on either side of them and piled up higher and higher, and they stepped down into the bed of the river and crossed, and climbed up the bank on the eastern side, and ‘passed out into the desert. And by-and-by the two 176 TYPICAL ANECDOTES. men disappeared. I had wished that-their whole conversation had been put on record, but, alas, there came a whirlwind which caught up the sand and dirt and drove it into their eyes, and the two men got separated, but before they were separated, Elijah turned to Elisha and said, ‘‘Whatisit that you want?”’ I tried to leave you back there at Bethel, but you would not stay. Make your petition known. What- ever you ask I will grant it.’’ I think if some of our millionaires in New York should ask me to make my petition known to them, that they would grant it, I would draw on them for enough money to support my schools at Northfield. I would not be afraid to make my petitiori known, and I would get a big draft. But, as I said, this whirlwind separated the two men. The Master was going to take Elijah away, and I can imagine Elisha getting the sand and dust out of his eyes and exclaiming, ‘‘Where is my mas- ter?” and looking in all directions for him, and sud- denly he looked up and saw a flame of fire , and he cried out, ‘‘My Father, my Father,’’ and ‘“‘the cha- riot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.’’ Elijah remembered his promise as Elisha called to him, and he took off his mantle and threw it back, and Elisha took off his old mantle and rent it. When Mr. Moody was asked at the last service in Cooper Union whether he was satisfied with his New York campaign, he replied: ‘‘Satisfied, I am not satisfied. I did not come to New York to reach sinners, but to reach Christians. I wish them to live on a higher plane, to be comforted to the image of Christ. If that result has not been reached, my work here will be of little avail, and the result will TYPICAL ANECDOTES. 177 soon pass away like acloud.’’ For five weeks Mr. Moody preached twice a day, five days in the week in Cooper Union, to audiences which taxed the re- sources of that large hall to its utmost seating capa- city, and sometimes its standing capacity. In addi- tion to these meetings, he preached every Sunday in November and December in Carnegie Music Hall. ‘‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.’’ Now, I come to the Sunday newspapers. I would not touch a Sunday newspaper any more than I would touch tar. If there are any attacks on me next Sunday I won’t see them, for if anyone sends me a Sunday newspaper, I always tear it up. Noth- ing is doing more damage to the church and God than the Sunday newspaper. The papers abuse Tammany, but Tammany never did one-fourth as much harm in this city as have the Sunday newspa- pers. There are about twenty-five thousand divorces every year in the United States. Many of them are directly due to the Sunday newspapers, which pub- lish accounts of divorces in all their details. The Sunday newspapers are responsible for many sui- cides and murders. All the theaters in Chicago are open on Sunday, as the result of the Sunday news- papers. In Chicago men are knocked down and robbed in open daylight. Murders occur every day. Masked men go into stores and rob them. There is not a divorce case which is full of filth, there is not a case of adultery which the Sunday newspapers do not rake up and publish. The Angel Gabriel could not be heard by the Sunday newspaper readers. Now, how many will swear that they will never again read a Sunday newspaper? Once on a battlefield, Napoleon’s horse became 12 178 TYPICAL ANECDOTES. frightened, and a private jumped from the ranks ~ and grasped the bridle and quieted him. Napoleon looked at the soldier and said, ‘*Thank you, cap- tain.’’ ‘‘Of what company, sire?’’ asked the soldier. With a moment’s ‘hesitation, ‘‘The life guards,’’ said Napoleon. The soldier went at once to the life guards and placed himself at the head of the com- pany. The officers were going to put him under arrest; but he told them he was captain. ‘*Who said so?’’ demanded the officers. ‘‘He said so,’’ replied the soldier, pointing to Napoleon. If God says a thing in this book, you lay hold of it and be- lieve without question. There is a man living in this city, who has a home on the Hudson river. His daughter and her family went to spend the winter with him, and in the course of the season the scarlet fever broke out. One little girl was put in quarantine, to be kept separate from the rest. Every morning the old grandfather used to go upstairs and bid his grandchild good-bye before going to his business. On one of these occasions the little thing took him by the hand, and leading him to a corner of the room, without saying a word, she pointed to the floor where she had arranged some crackers, so they would spell out ‘‘Grandpa, I want a box of paints.’’ He said nothing. On his return he hung up his overcoat, and went to the room as usual, when his little grandchild, without looking to see if her wish had been complied with, took him to the same corner where he spelled out in the same way, ‘‘Grandpa, I thank you for the box of paints.”’ Don’t you think the old gentleman was pleased with the faith his little grandchild had in him? I had a large Sunday-school in Chicago with twelve TYPICAL ANECDOTES. 179 or fifteen hundred scholars. I was very much pleased with the numbers. If the attendance kept up, I was pleased, but I didn’t see aconvert. I was not look- ing for conversions. There was one class in a corner of the large hall made up of young women, who caused more trouble than any other class in the school. There was only one man who could ever manage that class and keep it in order. If he could keep the class quieted, it was about as much as we could hope for. One day this teacher was missing, and I taught the class. The girls laughed in my face. I never felt so tempted to turn anyone from Sunday-school as those girls; never saw such frivol- ous girls. I couldn’t make any impression on them. The next day the teacher came into the store. I noticed that he looked very pale, and I asked him what was the trouble. ‘‘I have been bleeding at the lungs,’’ he said, ‘‘and the doctor said I cannot live. I must give up my class and go back to my wid- owed mother in New York State.’’ As he spoke, his chin quivered, and the tears began to fall. I said I was sorry, and added, “‘You are not afraid of death, are you?’’ ‘‘Oh, no, I am not afraid to die; but I shall soon stand before my Master. What shall I tell Him of my class. Not one of them isa Christian. I have made a failure of my work.’’ I have never heard anyone speak in that way, and I said, ‘‘Why not visit every girl and ask her to become a Christian?’ ‘‘I am very weak,”’ he said, “too weak to walk.'’ I offered to take a carriage and go with him. He consented, and we started out. Going first to one house and then to another, the pale teacher sometimes leaning on my arm, he saw each girl, and calling her by name, Mary, or 180 TYPICAL ANECDOTES. Martha, or whatever it was, he asked her to become a Christian, telling her he was going home to die, and that he wanted to know that his scholars had given their hearts to God. Then he would pray with her, and I would pray with her; so we went from house to house, and after he used up all his strength, I would take him home, and the next day we would go out again. Sometimes he went alone. At the end of ten days he came to the store, his face beaming with joy. ‘‘The last girl has yielded her heart to Christ. I am going home to New York. I have done all that I can do, and my work is done.’’ I asked when he was going, and he said, *‘To- morrow night.’’ Isaid, ‘‘Would you like to see your class together before you go?” He said he would, and I asked if he thought the landlady would allow the use of her sitting-room. He thought she would. So I sent word to all the girls, and they all came together. I had never spent such a night up to that time. I had never met such a large number of young converts. The teacher gave an earnest talk, and then prayed, and then I prayed. AsI was about to rise, I heard one of the girls begin to_ pray. She prayed for her teacher, and she prayed for the superintendent. Up to that time I never knew that anyone prayed for me in that way. When she had finished, another girl prayed. Before we arose, every girl had prayed. What a change had come over them in a short space of time. We tried to sing, but did not get on very well. We bade one another good-bye, but I felt that I must see the teacher again before he left Chicago, and so I met him at the station, and while we were talking, one of the girls came along, and then another, until TYPICAL ANECDOTES. 181 the whole class had assembled. They were all there on the platform. It was a beautiful summer night. The sun was just setting down behind the western prairies. It was a sight I shall never forget. A few gathered around us—the fireman, engineer, brakeman and conductor on the train, and some of the passengers lifted their windows as the class sang together— “Here we meet to part again, But when we meet on Canaan’s shore, There'll be no parting there.”’ As the train moved out of the station, the pale- faced teacher stood on the platform, and with his finger pointing heavenward, said, ‘*I will meet you there.’’ Then the train disappeared from view. "so.injdj19g 843 30 Apnys ey} pepe Ajqe013 ued sip] ‘Spudelsj S}Y 0} Wey} Avs pus ‘19UUEUI S14} U] Se[qIg JO Spo1puny dn poyiem Apooyg ‘1 ‘SH/Id1d S.:AGOOW ‘UM AO ANO NI ANVd OLLSIUALOVUVHO V ABT O 390% Aq ‘006 ‘943}x4dop 735 ELE Socronp Re diye dreoeeag oye OF pow, PU oe wos) 6-4 areca oy I Vays=qIPR 719 ” “SNVISADdS oY © oTody OM TOV P MME CLL 0 ery ere veicnuramne laa 14 182 CHAPTER XV. MR. MOODY’S BIBLE. Mr. Moody’s Bible was a spectacle indeed, marked, underscored, much of it defaced with hieroglyphics, ragged with incessant use, but only one of many. He was always wearing out bibles or filling their margins and passing them on. It was a treasure, indeed, for many to get hold of these and one was welcome if they would give as much as they would take. Great interleaved Bibles are now in cir- culation, to which he had contributed many of his gleanings from the stores of observation and research, but he expected them to come back with additions from those who had had the loan. And he was quick to lay hold of any fresh point or strik- ing illustration to incorporate in the address which he was always engaged in preparing, re-modeling or adding to. His process of sermon manufacture was very original. There was something automatic about it. The basis for each sermon was a big envelope, labeled Repentance, Faith, Peter, Zac- cheus, the Elder Son; into this envelope he put clippings from papers, extracts from books, illustra- tions and incidents, scraps of all kinds, which were more or less connected with the subject. When this process had continued for some time, he went 183 184 MR. MOODY’S BIBLE. through the mass of accumulation, rejecting some, laying hold of some, fitting it into a connecting whole. Of this he took a few jottings in a large hand to the pulpit or platform. The process of look- ing through the envelope was constantly repeated so the points that had been overlooked were brought to his mind, fresh illustrations introduced and the entire subject was entered anew in all its lights. This secured freshness of delivery, and preserved him from the monotony of perpetual repetition. DEATH OF MR. MOODY’S MOTHER. Betsey Holton Moody, the mother of the great evangelist, died at her home in Northfield, January 26, 1896, aged ninety-one years. She left to mourn her loss four sons and three daughters. Mr. Moody made an address at her funeral and it was the more remarkable, because he told not only of her love and patience, but also of her stern dis- cipline. ‘‘She was so loving a nrother,’’ he said, “that when we were away we were always glad to get back. But Inevershall forget her old-fashioned whippings. I believe in them to-day.’’ He also spoke of her way of making all her boys go to church. Hewasstrongly of the impression that the teachings which he imbibed in those early days, in a great measure, influenced his subsequent life. Mr. Moody’s mother was buried in a large plat of ground contiguous to the cemetery. It was always kept beautifully filled in with flowers placed there by a young man at the special instigation of Mr. Moody. Mr, Moody, inthe summer after her death, MR. MOODY’S BIBLE. 185 when standing by her grave with her friends, said: “‘She made home so pleasant. I thought so much of my mother and cannot say half enough. The dear face, there was no sweeter face on earth. Fifty years I have been coming back and was always glad to get back. WhenI got within fifty miles of home I always grew restless and walked up and down the car. It seemed as if the train would never get to Northfield. For sixty-eight years she lived on that hill, and when I came back after dark I always looked to see the light of my mother’s window. It was because she made our home so happy that she started me thinking how to make homes happy for others, and when God took mother he gave me these little children. Here is one century that is passed. And here is the century that’s coming,’’ and with this he beckoned for the little babes and other children who were on hand in their mother’s arms, and they were brought into the circle and dedicated to God in united prayers. MOODY MEETS MISS WILLARD. Miss Frances E. Willard, the celebrated temper- ance advocate, was identified with Mr. Moody in several of his meetings. Miss Willard said that she would never forget a stormy Sabbath day early in 1877 when through a blinding snow 9,ooo women gathered at the Tabernacle in Chicago to hear a ser- mon especially for them, from what she termed the most successful evangelistic of the Christian era. It was then she and Mr. Moody met for the first time and he asked her to lead the meeting in prayer. She said she never beheld a more impressive scene. 186 MOODY’S BIBLE. At the close of the meeting in January of that year Mr. Moody sent for Miss Willard to come to his hotel, and he asked her to accompany him to Boston and help in the women’s meeting there. She said she would be glad to do so, but that she wanted to consult her mother about it. He asked her what her means of support were and she told him that her expenses were paid by the W. C-: T. U. while she worked for them, but that if she should devote her time to revival meetings even that source of income would cease. Mr. Moody suggested that they pray for light; this they did and the interview ended. Her mother liked the plan and early in February she took up her work in Boston and devoted consid- erable time each morning to the study of the Bible. One day as Miss Willard was about to open her new meeting in the Burkley Street Church, Mr. Moody came rushing up the steps and said that he had heard that she had been talking temperance all around the suburbs. He asked her why she did this and stated that he wanted her attention to the Bos- ton meeting. She replied that she had no money and that it was necessary that she should go out - and earn some. Moody seemed perplexed and wanted to know whether he had given her nothing. She replied that he had not. He then wanted to know if certain people had not paid her way from Chicago and sent her money for traveling expenses. She said that they had not. Moody said that he guessed that they had forgotten it and rushed away. That night when she was going to a meeting he thrust a generous check in her hand. Miss Willard continued throughout the Boston meeting, and then devoted herself to other work. CHAPTER XVI. THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. On November 15, 1899, Mr. Moody told the min- isters who were associated with him in the revival which he was holding in the great Convention Hall at Kansas City, that he was nearly exhausted, and that he must have rest, and that he would not lead the after-meetings in the church as had been his custom previously. Mr. Moody had been holding revival services in Kansas City for some weeks, and they had been remarkably successful. The great effort, however, in speaking in an immense hall, was too much for his years and strength. The next day a physician was called after he left the hall, and went to his hotel, and the next evening he an- nounced himself very much better; he said he did not know just what was the matter with him, but that he was under the impression that he had a lit- tle cold and a little touch of malaria, but that he was being brought around all right. Heconcluded that in order to cure himself that he would only hold two meetings.each day in Convention Hall. The morn- ing and afternoon prayer-meeting and the after meetings, all of which were held in the Second Presbyterian church, were led by someone else; Mr. Moody was not present. In four days that week some three hundred people had expressed 187 188 THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. their intention of becoming Christians. The names and addresses of all the converts were taken, with their church preferences, if any, and these facts were to determine who should look after them until they were safely landed in the right path and to be | able to see their own way to salvation. On the 17th of November, for the first time in forty years as a preacher-evangelist, Mr. Moody was obliged to give up and leave ameeting. Mr. Moody found himself worse on Friday morning, and he kept getting worse, until, by noon, his physician, Dr. E. W. Schauffler, found his patient becoming so weak that he informed him that it would not be advisable for him to preach at the afternoon meeting. Mr. Moody held out until the last moment, hoping his strength would revive, but finally was reluctantly compelled to coincide with his physician in his views. As the morning wore on, Mr. Moody’s friends saw that he kept growing weaker, and it was not long before Mr. Moody himself decided that he must do what he had never done before in his life, abandon a series of meetings before its close, and go as soon as possible to his home in Northfield, Mass. It almost broke his heart to carry out such a decision, but his rapidly waning strength warned him that he should be at home where he could have the cheer- ing and reviving influences which would come to him from the ministrations of his wife and family. Accordingly, arrangements were made for the journey by the road which would get him to his home in as short a time and in as comfortable a manner as possible. No special or private car in the city being available at that time, Mr. and Mrs. Neil, the evangelists, tendered the use of their gos- ‘Ire uodo 943 ul ayods Apooy ‘1yx pue ‘pey oq plnoo ajdood oy} ploy 0} yBnous 93.1¥] [[VY OU 9SO]O 94} PAVMO} VY} JV91B OS SEM SSUTJOOUI MOBS][H JY} 7 4S9.10}UI OY, “MODSVI9 LV ONILHAN TIFMEHAVA “MET ‘O “9q037 Aq ‘O06T ‘AUStaAdoH id Ly ii] THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. 191 pel car, ‘“‘The Messenger of Peace.’’ This was accepted, and it was attached to the Wabash train. Mr. Moody left Kansas City at 9.15 o’clock on the night of November 17th for the long journey to his home, going by way of St. Louis and Buffalo. Mrs. Neil accompanied the car to assist in nursing the sick man, who was also accompanied by Dr. Robert Schauffler, who, with his father, had been attending Mr. Moody, and by Mr. Charles M. Vining, teller of _ the Union National Bank, who went at Mr. Moody’s special request, Mr. Vining having been a classmate and intimate friend of Mr. Moody’s son at college. Mr. Moody’s friends say that he had shown much physical weakness since his arrival at Kansas City, and there had been a rapid running down in his condition, and to this they attributed the fact that he had seemed to fail to get the hold upon his audi- ences which was usual with him. His talks had appeared to lack the power and con- vincing energy to which those who had heard him frequently were accustomed, still there had been a great awakening among religious people, and quick- ening of the spirit, which had resulted in great good to the church. The foundation had been laid upon which great revivals in the individual churches could be raised, while the way had been opened for successful evangelical meetings, as they had been previously advertised in nearly all the churches in the city. The direct results in actual converts at the meetings, however, had not been nearly so large as was usual in his meetings. Mr. Moody himself, nevertheless, did not appear to have any fears but that he would be able to go on with his evangelistic meetings after a few days. 11 192 THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. He regretted very much to leave the Kansas City meetings, and he cancelled an engagement which he had for beginning a series of meetings at Roches- ter, N. Y., on the following Wednesday. He said that it was not the speaking in the hall there that had brought on his illness. The speak- ing, he said, did not specially tire him, as he felt no pain or difficulty while preaching. It was in walk- ing back and forth from Convention Hall to the , Coates House, where he stopped, that he felt pain and difficulty in breathing. Mr. Moody thought of the meetings up to the time he left, sending a special word over to the evening meetings, thanking the choir for their services, and asking all to continue under the arrangement whereby the meetings were to continue on to the next Sunday evening as planned. He also thanked the ministers for the cordial support they had given him, and the reporters for their work, saying he had never held meetings in a city where the newspapers had reported his meetings with more appreciation and cordiality. Mr. Moody’s last sermon was on the night of No- vember 16th, was on the parable of a certain man who made a great feast and invited his friends, but when these friends all sent their regrets, he went out into the streets and invited everybody, and into the hedge rows and compelled people to come, de- claring meanwhile that they who had been invited and refused to come should not taste of his feast. Mr. Moody took up the excuses of those who refused to go to the feast, and showed how frivolous they were. The man who had just bought a piece of land surely knew what it was before he bought THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. 193 it. So with the oxen and the man who married— his bride would undoubtedly have been glad to go to the king’s banquet. ““These excuses do look pretty foolish now when I hold them up to you,’’ said Mr. Moody, “‘but I have an invitation to-night to all of you to attend a royal feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb—and your excuses for not coming are even more frivolous and false. *‘Men at the present time are about all making excuses. The habit is as old as Adam. Adam made a mean, contemptible excuse; said it was his wife; he even threw the blame back upon God, and said, ‘This woman that Thou gavest me.’ But men all have excuses. They have not the moral courage to say they don’t want to go tothe feast; they lay awake nights to make up excuses, and if I were to tear up every excuse that you have here to-night and then jump down off this platform and ask the first man down there, he would have a new excuse ready. ‘I tell you excuses are the devil’s cradles to rock souls off to sleep in.’’ Mr. Moody then took up the excuses men most frequently give for not becoming Christians. “* ‘The Bible is not true,’ they say. They criticise the Bible who have never read it, never study it, don’t know anything about it. Some say, ‘I don’t know asI have been foreordained to be saved’; others stay out because ‘there are so many hypocrites in the church.’ ”’ Said Mr. Moody: ‘‘I’ll find a hundred hypocrites in the world to where you will find one in the Church. Of course, there are hypocrites in the church—the tares and the wheat grow up together; 104 THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. but if you stay out of church because there are hypocrites in it, why don’t you quit your business because there are hypocrites in that? Are youa grocer? There are folks in this country who grind marble up in the sugar.. Are youa lawyer? Are there any hypocrites among the lawyers? Are you a doctor? Are there any quacks among the doctors? Are you a Republican? Are there any hypocrites there? Or a Democrat? ‘But,’ you say, ‘I don’t belong to either; I am a Prohibitionist.’ Are there any hypocrites among the prohibition parties? “‘Oh, Iam about tired and sick of people trying to live on the faults of others; you can’t get very fat on that; look out for the men who are always howl- ing about hypocrites; they are hypocrites them- selves.” Other excuses which were given were treated very much in the same manner by the speaker, who finally said that there were two excuses which were more universal than any, but which are seldom avowed. ‘‘One is the lack of moral courage,’’ said he; ‘‘they area pack of cowards waiting to enter the kingdom of God if they would act up to their convictions. The other excuse is sin. People have some sin possibly they do not want people to know about, but they don’t want to give that sin up as they would have to do if they became Christians.” Mr. Moody closed by stating that if an excuse was written out by one of the reporters asking God, “‘I pray Thee have more excuses from the marriage feast,’’.that no one in the house would sign it, but those who go out of the house without accepting the invitation virtually do the same thing. If the note was written to go to God direct, ‘‘I will be there,’’ THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. 195 all would want to sign it. ‘‘Now,’’ said the preacher, ‘how many will accept this invitation? How many will say, ‘I will?’ ’”’ Half a dozen, scattered through the audience, re- sponded, and as Mr. Moody repeated the request, there was as many more that had been stirred to the heart by his resistless logic, and as he said, “‘I will wait afew moments longer to see if any one else, any man, woman or child, will say the word. I could stand here all night and listen to those ‘I wills.’ ” The responses came from all parts of the great hall until about half a hundred had responded to the invitation held out by Mr. Moody. Mr. Moody arrived in St. Louis the next day, and after partaking of a hearty breakfast at the Union Station, continued his journey home. In the morn- ing he sent the following telegram to the Conven- tion Hall meeting at Kansas City: ‘“‘I thank the good people of Kansas City for all their kindness to me. Had best night in a week. Heart stronger and temperature nearly normal.” Mr. Moody reached Northfield, Sunday, the roth. His wife and son, William R. Moody, had gone to Buffalo to meet him, but as he did not stop in Buf- falo, they missed each other. He went to Greenfield over the Fitchburg road, where he was met by his youngest son, Paul, with a pair of horses, and was at once driven over the country roads to East North- field, twelve miles away. The ride apparently did Mr. Moody much good, and he expressed himself as greatly pleased at having reached his home. He sent the following telegram, which was read at the opening of the last meeting of the revival in 196 THE KANSAS CITY MEETING. Kansas City that night to ten thousand people: ‘‘East Northfield, Mass., November 19th. Have reached here safely; have traveled back and forth for forty years, and never felt better. Regret heartily that I had to leave Kansas City. Had I been there to-night, I would have preached on ‘They are not far from the Kingdom.’ My prayer is, that many be led into the kingdom under Mr. Torrey’s preaching. I want to thank the good people of Kansas City for their kindness and prayers. Dr. Robert Schauffler and Mr. Vining have been of great help, and I appreciate your kindness in send- ing them.’’ (Signed.) Dwicut L. Moopy. ‘CHAPTER XVII. DEATH OF MOODY. With the words ‘‘God is calling me,’”’ Dwight L. Moody, the evangelist, whose fame was world wide, fell asleep in death, at his home in East Northfield, Mass., at noon, December 22, 1899. The passing of his spirit from a body which had been tortured with pain for some weeks, to the rest beyond, was as gentle as could be wished for. His family were gathered at his bedside, and the dying man’s last moments were spent in comforting them and in contemplation of that reward for which he had so long and earnestly labored. He knew that death Was near, but its sting to him was lost in the un- folding to his mental vision of a beautiful scene, judging from his last words. The gathering of the family around the bedside of the great evangelist was a scene that will be re- ferred to many times in years to come, as Mr. Moody’s work is carried forward. Besides the fam- ily there were present also Drs. Schofield and Woods, and the nurse. During the night, Mr. Moody had a number of sinking spells. He was, however, kindness itself to those about him. At two o’clock in the morning Dr. N. P. Wood, the family physician, who spent the night in the house, was called at the request of 197 198 DEATH OF MOODY. Mr. Moody. He was perspiring, and he requested» his son-in-law, A. P. Fitt, who spent the night with him, to call the physician that he might note the symptoms. Dr. Wood administered a hypodermic injection of strychnia. This caused the heart to perform its duties more regularly, and Mr. Moody himself requested his son-in-law, Mr. Fitt, and Dr. Wood to retire. Mr. Moody’s eldest son, Will R. Moody, who had been sleeping the first of the night, spent the last half with his father. At 7.30 in the morning Dr. Wood was called, and when he reached Mr. Moody's room found his patient in a semi-conscious condition. When Mr. Moody recovered consciousness, he said, with all his eld vivacity: ‘“What’s the matter; what’s going on here?”’ Some member of the family replied: ‘Father, you haven’t been quite so well, and so we came in to see you.’’ A little later he said to his boys: ‘‘I have always been an ambitious man, not ambitious to lay up wealth, but toleave you work to do.’’ In substance Mr. Moody urged his two boys and his son-in-law, Mr. Fitt, to see that the schools in East Northfield, at Mt. Hermon and the Chicago Bible institute should receive their best care. This they assured Mr. Moody they would do. During the forenoon, Mrs.A. P. Fitt, his daughter, said to him: ‘‘Father, we can’t spare you.’’ Mr, Moody’s reply was: ‘I’m not going to throw my life away. If God has more work for me to do, I'll not die.”’ As the noonday hour drew near the watchers at the bedside noted the approach of death. Several DEATH OF MOODY. 199 times his lips moved as if in prayer, but the articula- tion was so faint that the words could not be heard. Just as death came Mr. Moody awoke as if from slumber, and said with much joyousness: ‘‘T see earth receding; heavenisopening. God is calling me.”’ Anda moment later he had entered upon what one of his sons described as ‘‘a triumphal march into heaven.”’ Dr. Wood says that Mr. Moody did not have the slightest fear of death. He was thoroughly con- scious until within less than a minute of his death. Dr. Wood says the cause of his death was heart fail- ure. He adds that the walls surrounding the heart grew weaker and weaker. While it is true that Mr. Moody had symptoms of Bright’s disease a few days ago, his death was due, the physician says, to dila- tion of the heart. There had been dilation in a gradual way for the past nine years. The family had been told some time ago that Mr. Moody might get out and about, but still he was liable to drop away at any time. There were present in Mr. Moody’s chamber when he died his wife, his daughter, Mrs. A. P. Fitt, and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Will R. Moody, Paul Moody, the youngest son; Dr. N. P. Wood and Miss Powers, the nurse. Mrs. Moody had carried herself during the sickness of her husband with the greatest bravery and patience, but when death came she was prostrated. As soon as Mr. Moody’s death became known in the village the utmost sorrow was shown. The death of Mr. Moody was not unexpected, although his temporary recovery from illness was hoped for, not only by his friends near at hand, but 12 200 DEATH OF MOODY. by those who had listened to his words and teachings on both continents. In the family there was fear that death was not a long way off. The cause of death was a general breaking down of his health, due to overwork. His constitution was that of an exceedingly strong man, but his untiring labors had gradually undermined his vitality until that most delicate of organs, the heart, showed signs of weakness. Mr. Moody’s exertions in the West during the month of November brought on the crisis, and the collapse came during the series of meetings at Kan- sas City. An early diagnosis by eminent physicians made it evident that Mr. Moody’s condition was serious and cancelling his engagements he returned to his home in East Northfield, so near the greatest achievements of his later life. On reaching his home the family physician, Dr. N. P. Wood, took charge of Mr. Moody, and for some days bulletins as to the patient’s condition were issued, all having an encouraging tone, seem- ingly, but unerringly pointing to the fact that the evangelist’s work on earth was about finished. During the week previous to the one in which his death occurred, a change for the worst prepared immediate friends for what was to come. In the last week, however, the patient improved steadily, until the day before his death, when he appeared very nervous. This symptom was accom- panied by weakness, which much depressed the family, who were anxiously watching the sufferer. Mr. Moody’s failing health, or, rather, his appre- ciation that he must guard the vitalities of his life, unless he wished to have his work cut short even DEATH OF MOODY. 2U1 before it was, came when he was in England some years ago, when physicians cautioned him. And it appeared that he took some heed, but the zeal that was in him must find its outlet, and his ceaseless work had done the rest. At Kansas City, after beginning a short series of meetings there, he found that the hand of prostra- tion, if nothing more, was laid upon him, and he returned to his home to rest and recover. The physi- cians and specialists had offered encouragement, but coupled it with the reservation that, with his vitality impaired by such excessive calls upon it, there was achance that he might recover and be ready for more work. They felt, in the light of the great efforts of the past, it could not be told with surety that this favorable turn would come. The end came and the great man passed from earth. Mr. Moody made, in his will, provision for his wife, but the sons receive a legacy of their father’s work to continue, and they modestly say they look upon it with some tremulousness, realizing that the mighty will and intense personality of their father is absent. However, the school work at which Mr. W. R. Moody is practically the head as representing his father’s plans and ideas will be continued. The outside work they make no pretense of repeating. From many sources Mr. Moody received large sums of money, and, after the devotion of it to the school work, where so directed, was careful and prudent with the rest. On his own account, he acquired large sums, too, and, after proper provision for his home and those nearest him, he gave the rest to his work. With many legitimate opportunities to be- come a wealthy man, he never used them, and his 202 DEATH OF MOODY. estate is unknown, not large, but presumably large enough for the purposes he devised. A quiet night followed the day that brought bereavement to the Moody family and the town of which Mr. Moody and the institutions founded by him were such prominent figures. The inmates of the Moody home, after a restful night, were astir early. Mrs. Moody seemed to be considerably refreshed, and the other members of the family had gained new strength for their experience during the intervals of sleep which came to them. Messages of condolence, which began to come in the first day, were received in increased numbers the next day. Nearly one hundred telegrams from all parts of the United States were received during the day. A number of cablegrams were also received. The Rev. F. B. Meyer, of London, who has been a prominent speaker at Northfield, and who, with Mr. Moody, held meetings in several of the large cities of the country last fall, cabled from England his condolence. Some of the expressions of sympathy follow: Deepest sympathy and Christian love. Our hearts bleed for you. H. M. Moore, C. A. Hopkins, Boston. Sad news just received. Will be there to-morrow. Ira D. Sankey, Brooklyn. Our entire household bereaved with you. H. C. Masie, Newton. Deepest and most affectionate sympathy. Now, if you ever get salvation you have to take it as a gift. You cannot buy it, and you cannot get it by your good works. Suppose I should say to this audience, if anybody wants this Bible he can have it, anda man steps up, I reach out the Bible, he takes it, puts it under his arm and starts off home. He gets home, and his 492 GRACE. wife says, ‘‘John, where did you get that Bible?’’ And he says, ‘‘Why, Mr. Moody gave it to me.’’ That would be a gift. But suppose I should say I will give the Bible to any one that wants it, anda man comes up and says, ‘‘Mr. Moody, I don’t just like your terms. I don’t like to be under obligations to you,’’ and that is about the way with sinners; they do not like to be under obligations to God. So this man says, ‘‘I would like to take it, but not on your terms. I will give you twenty-five cents for the Bible.’’ I know it is worth a good deal more than that; but suppose I take the twenty-five cents and the man goes home with the Bible under his arm, and his wife says, ‘‘John, were did you get that Bible?’’ He says, ‘‘I bought it.’’ It is no gift at all. He bought it. Now, don’t you see that it is a gift? All through the Bible it is called a gift. If it is a gift it must be without works—it must be without money. It would be no gift at allif you paid for it—if you paid a farthing. It is a gift from God. But you can spurnthe gift. Youcan trample it under your feet. You can say, ‘‘I will not have grace.’’ Then you must have judgment. If any man will not have grace he must have judgment. If a man will not have mercy he must have punishment. Is not that the teaching of the Scriptures? God says, “‘I delight in mercy; I want to give you the gift of eternal life.’’ ‘‘The wages of sin is death.’’ Man has got to take his wages whether he wants to or not. ‘‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.’’ Now, the question comes, To whom does He offer this gift?—to the righteous? He offers it to the GRACE. 493 world. He offers it to sinners; andif a man can prove that he isa sinner I can prove that he has got a Savior. If man can prove he was born into this world I can prove that God has provided a Savior forhim. ‘‘God gave Him up,” says Paul, “‘freely for us all.’’ I like these texts that have these sweeping assertions that take us allin. ‘‘God gave him up for us all.’’ Christ did not die for Paul any more than He did for the rest of us. He tasted | death for us all. ‘‘That is what I believe,’’ says a man down there, ‘‘and every man will be saved.” Yes, every man that will lay hold of the cross will be saved. ‘If ye die in your sins, where I am ye cannot come.’’ If a man goes on sinning, violating the law of God, trampling it under his feet, and will not take the yoke of God upon him down here, do you think he is going into the kingdom of God? Do you think he will have any taste for heaven? In the second chapter of Titus, eleventh and twelfth verses, Paul says, ‘‘For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”’ I can imagine a man says: ‘‘Do- you think that is really true?’ ‘‘Yes.’’ ‘‘What! does that mean drunkards?’ ‘‘Yes, every drunkard in Cleveland.’’ “What! do you mean all these harlots that are walk- ing the streets to-night?” ‘‘Every harlot. The grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to every man.’’ ‘‘What! do you mean gamblers?’ ‘‘Yes, every gambler.’’ ‘‘And these murderers down here - in prison, and some that haven’t been caught?” - “Yes; every murderer. The grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to a// men,’’.. If men are lost, it is because they spurn God’s gift. They - 494 GRACE. spurned His offer of mercy. It is not that God don’t offer it. It is as free as the air we breathe. I remember preaching upon the grace of God once in Chicago, to a fashionable congregation, and I was just hungering for some souls. I was anxious” that the grace of God might find some one there, and while I was preaching I was looking around to see if I could see any one that was anxious to be saved. At the close of the meeting I said, *‘If there is any one here that wants to be saved, I will be glad to stay and talk with him.’’ It was one of the cold- est nights of the winter, and they all got up and went out, and my heart sank within me. I looked all around and did not see any one wait. I got my overcoat, and was the last one to leave, as I sup- posed; but as I got to the door, I saw a man behind the furnace. He was crying asif his heart would break. I sat down by his side and I said, ‘*What is the trouble?’’ He said, ‘‘Well, you said something to-night that broke my heart.” ‘‘What is it?’’ “You said that the grace of God was for the likes of me.”’ I said, ‘‘That is good; I am gladit has reached you.’’ He thought he could not be saved. But it was for the likes of him. I talked with him, and found out what his trouble was. He was just one of those poor unfortunate men that liquor had got the mastery of, and, although it was one of the cold- est nights, he had nocoaton. He drank that up. He said that within the past six months he had drank up twenty thousand dollars. ‘‘And now,” said he, ‘‘my wife has left me, and my children, and my own father and mother have cast me off, and I expected to die here in the gutter one of these nights. I expected this was my last night.’’ He ‘saSo][0o o31y] Jo sosvjUVApe [eNOo][oUI pu [vIOOS 943 ssassod Suo1zNn4NSUL PJeyYYIION oyL ‘CIFIANHIMON “IIVH NOILVLIO“Y “MET “OQ “900% Aq ‘ODE ‘FUBIAkdop GRACE. 497 said, ‘‘I didn’t come in to hear you; I came in to get warm, but my heart is broken. Do you think the grace of God can save me—a poor, miserable, vile wretch like me?’’ I said, ‘‘Yes.’’ It was refreshing to preach the gospel of the Son of God to that poor man. I prayed with him, and after I prayed with him, he didn’t ask me for any money, but I took him to a place where he was pro- vided for for that night, and the next morning I hada friend go to the pawnbroker’s to get his coat—got his coat upon him, and in a little while he came out a decided Christian; and when Mr. Sankey and my- self went to Europe, I don’t know a brighter light in all the Western States than that young man. The grace of God found him. The grace of God saved him, and the grace of God has kept him. That is what the grace of Godis for. There is not a man, woman or child in Cleveland so far gone, but the grace of God can save him. What we want is, as Christians, to be up and publishing the tidings— proclaiming the glorious gospel of Christ. It is a gospel of glad tidings. My friends, make haste. Take the torch of salvation and carry it down into the dark lanes, and dark alleys, and dark homes, and light them up with the glorious gospel of the Son of God. Jesus is mighty to save. “‘His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.’’? He is a mighty Savior, but the world don’t know it. The world has been deceived by the devil—has been blinded by the god of this world. What we want is to tell them that Christ is able to save, and that He is ready to save. There is a story told of William Dorset, that Yorkshire farmer. He was preaching one night in 28 498 GRACE. London, and he made the remark that there was not a man in all London so far gone but that the grace of God could save him. That is a very strong assertion, for there are some pretty hard cases in London, a city of four million inhabitants. You go into the east of London and see that awful pool of iniquity —the stream of death and misery flows right on. But he made that statement, that there was not a man or woman in all London so far gone but that the grace of God could save them. It fastened in a young lady’s mind. She went home that night, and the next morning she went to see the York- shire farmer. She said, ‘‘I heard you preach last night, and I heard you say that there was not a man so far gone in all London but that the grace of God could save him.’’ She said, ‘‘Did you really mean it?’’ ‘‘Why,’’ he said, ‘‘certainly I meant it.’’ ‘‘And do you think that there is not a man in all London but that can be saved if he will be?’’ ‘‘Why, certainly,’’ said Mr. Dorset, ‘‘not a man.’’ ‘‘Well,’’ she said, ‘‘I am a missionary and I work down in the East End of London, and I have found a man there who says that there is no hope for him. He is dying, and I can’t make him believe that there is any hope for him. I wish you would go and see him.’’ The man of God said he would be glad to go. She took him down one of those narrow streets until they came toanold filthy build- ing. She said, “‘I think, perhaps, you can manage him better alone.’. It was a five-story building. He went up stairs to the upper story and found a young man lying there upon some straw; there was no bed. Ah! the way of the transgressor is hard! He had got clear down into great poverty and want, GRACE. 499 and there he was sick and dying. Mr. Dorset bent over him, whispered into his ear and called him friend. The young man looked up at him aston- ished. ‘*You are mistaken, sir, in the person. You have got in the wrong place.’’ ‘‘How is that?’ asked Mr. Dorset. ‘‘Well, sir, I have no friend; Iam friendless.’’ He said, ‘‘You have a friend.’’ Then he told him of the sinner’s friend. He told him how Christ loved him. The young man shook his head, echrist don't love me.’*) “Why not?’?* “1 have sinned against Him all my life.’’ ‘“‘I don’t care if you have. He loves you still and He wants to save you.’’ And he preached Christ to him there. He told him of the glorious grace of God. He told him that God could save him, and he read to him out of the Bible. The light of the gospel began to dawn upon that darkened mind, and the first sign of a new life was, his heart went out toward those whom he had injured, and he said, ‘“‘If I could only know that my father would forgive me I could die in this garret happy.’’ He asked him where his father lived. He said, ‘‘In the West End of London.” Mr. Dorset said, ‘‘I will go up and see him and will ask him if he will not forgive you.’’ The young man shook his head. ‘‘I don’t Want you to do that. Why, sir, my father has disowned me. He has disinherited me. My father has had my name taken off the family record. He does not own me any more as his boy. I am as dead, sir, to him. If you go and talk to him about me he will get angry and order you out of the house, and you have been so kind to me I don’t want your feelings hurt.’’ Mr. Dorset went up to the West End of London toa most beautiful place and rang the bell. A servant 500 GRACE. dressed in livery came to the door. Mr. Dorset inquired if his master was in, and was told that he was. He was taken into the drawing-room, and while he was waiting there for the man of the house to come down, he looked around him. There was not a thing that heart could desire that had not been laid out on that beautiful home. By and by the man came into the room. Mr. Dorset got up and went across the room to shake hands with him. He said, ‘‘You have a son, sir, by the name of Joseph, have you not?’’ The father’s hand fell by his side. His countenance changed. Mr. Dorset saw that he had made him very angry. He said in a great rage, ‘‘No, sir. Andif you have come here to talk to me about that worthless vaga- bond I want you to leave my house. I don’t allow any one to mention his name in my presence. He has been dead to me for years, and if you have been to him you have been deceived. He cannot be relied upon.’’ He turned on his heel to go out ‘of the room, to leave him. Mr. Dorset said, ‘‘Well, he is your boy yet. He won’t be long.’’ The father turned again; ‘‘Is my Joseph sick’’ ‘“‘Yes, your boy is at the point of death, sir. He is dying. I have not come here to ask you to take him home, or to ask you to give him anything, sir; I will see that he has a decent burial. All I want is to have you tell me that you forgive him, and let him die in peace.'” The great heart of the father was broken, and he said, ‘‘Forgive him? Oh, I would have forgiven him long ago if I had known he wanted it. Forgive him! Certainly. Can you take me to him?’’ The man of God said he would take him to him, and they got into a carriage and were GRACE. 501 soon on their way; and when the father reached that garret he could hardly recognize his boy, all mangled and bruised by the fall of sin. The first thing the boy said to his father was, ‘‘Father, can you forgive me? Will you forgive me?’’ ‘‘Oh, Joseph, I would have forgiven you long ago if I had known you wanted it.’” He met him in grace right there. The father said, “‘Let my. servant take you in the carriage and take you home. I cannot let you die in this fearful place.’’ ‘‘No, father, I am not well enough to be moved. I shall die soon, but I can die happy now that I know you have forgiven me; for I believe that God, for Christ’s sake has forgiven me.’’ And in a little while, with his head on the bosom of his father, Joseph breathed his last, and passed back to his God. Yes, my friends, that father was willing to for- give him when he knew that the boy wanted grace. Now God knows all your hearts, and if you want grace to-day the God of all grace will meet you. He will meet you in mercy. He will meet you in pity. He will bless you to-day. He wants to bless you. Sin ruins, sin casts down, but the grace of God lifts up. O, may the grace of God lift you up to-day out of the pit and place your feet on the Rock of Ages. CHAPTER XXXIV. COME. I want this audience to-night, while I am speak- ing, to pray. I would like to ask you friends that are not Christians to pray. I would like to give you a little prayer, and I would like to ask you to make it all the time I am speaking: ‘‘Lord, if these things are so, show them to me.’’ I don’t want you to believe one solitary word I say that is not from God. If it is not true, I don’t want you to believe it. But if it is, you certainly ought to be honest enough to want to know it. That is per- fectly fair. No skeptic, no infidel, no deist, no athe- ist really can object to making that prayer; but if there is an atheist here, let him make this prayer: ‘Tf there be a God, let Him show these things to me, if they are true.’’ Let us be willing to-night to let the God that created us teach us. Now, the text I want to call your attention to is in the seventh chapter of Genesis, the first verse. It is atruth that a great many of you, per- haps, don’t believe. A great many people have the idea that no such thing ever took place. But if you make that prayer we will find out. ‘‘If it is true, Lord, show it tome. Reveal it to me.”’ ‘And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark.’’ That word ‘‘come’”’ 592 COME. 503 occurs all through the Bible. It begins in the first book of the Bible and runs clear through Revelation. The prophets took it up and their cry was, ‘‘Come, come, ’’ When that blessed Master came, He took up that same cry, ‘‘Come unto Me all ye that labor.’’ When the apostles commenced to work after Christ left the earth, they kept ringing out that word ‘‘Come.”’ We find it in the last chapter of Revelation. The first time it occurs in the Bible is in this text I have to-night. God Almighty was the preacher, and He was calling Noah in out of the coming storm, out of the coming judgment that was coming upon the earth. One hundred and twenty years before that Noah had received the most awful com- munication that ever came from heaven to earth. God told him that He was going to destroy the earth on account of sin. Sin sprang into this world full grown. The first man born of woman was a mur- derer. I suppose that we, at this age, know noth- ing about the sins of the antediluvians. Men had time then to carry out their plans, and their iniqui- ties, and their sins. They lived a thousand years, nearly. I don’t know what would happen now if men should live so long in sin. It says in the sixth chapter of Genesis and the fifth verse, ‘‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’’ The wickedness of earth had come up to God. God purposed that He would destroy the earth. But He gave them one hundred and twenty long years’ grace—one hun- dred and twenty long years to repent; and if they had repented like Nineveh, God might have 504 COME. spared the Old World, and might have spared those antediluvians. But I can imagine they talked very much as men talk now, and when Noah brought them that message they mocked him; they laughed at the idea; they scoffed at the idea. ‘‘God going to destroy this world! You don’t suppose we are fools enough to believe that, do you? God going to destroy His own world! God going against the law of nature! Why, it is against our reason! It is against our intellect! We don’t see any reason for it. God going to destroy the world? Away with such a God as that! We won’t have anything to do with a God of judgment—a God who is going to judge this world on account of sin.” Then there was another class of people, undoubt- edly, that were atheists, that took the ground that the world came by chance, that there was no God, and that Noah was a fanatic. Some of them, per- haps, went so far as to think he was out of his mind. If they had had insane hospitals in those days they would have tried to get him into one of them. ‘Poor, deceived, deluded man! God going to de- stroy the world! God going to drown all in it—our great men, our mighty men, our kings, our princes, our rulers, our governors, and our wise men! Away with such a doctrine! We don’t believe it.”’ Noah and his family stood alone on that dark day. There was not a man to stand with him, and God told him to build an ark, and the God of heaven was the architect. He told him how to build it, and I will venture to say that every dollar’s worth of ma- terial that went into that ark came out of Noah's property. He could not get a manto help him. When you built this church you got every man you COME. 505 could to help you build it. But there was not a man that would help Noah build that ark. He had to pay the expenses alone. They laughed at the idea, They mocked at the idea. They ridiculed the idea. Why, the strongest thing against you, Noah, is that no one believes with you; the great men and all the leading minds of the present day differ with you. They don’t believe there is going to be a flood— that there is going to be a deluge and a judgment; there arenosignsinthe heavens. The astronomers look up in the heavens and they say, ““We see no sign of acoming storm ora coming judgment. It is all a delusion, God is not going to destroy the world. I don’t believe it. And then we havea majority with us. They all go with us, and you stand alone.’’ Buttheoldmantoiledon. Day after day you can see him there at that ark. He must have known when he received the commission to build the ark, how much sport they would make of it—how he would become the butt of ridicule, how he would become the song of the drunkard and how he would become the laughing stock of that day. If they had the theaters in those days I have not any doubt but that they would have Noah’s Ark on the stage and make all manner of sport of it. Lec- turers went up and down the country warning these antediluvians against fanaticism, and to be careful about being carried away with that delusion. If they had newspapers in those days once in a while there would have been a reporter coming around to see how he was getting along, and he would write up an article on ‘‘Noah’s Delusion,’’ or ‘‘Noah’s Ark.’’ If they had the telegraph in those days every once in a while there would have been a telegraphic 506 COME. dispatch sent around the world about Noah’s Ark and about the deluded man spending all his money and all his time upon that ark. And then there was that gray-haired old man and his family, his three sons and their wives, only eight in all, and yet he is building an ark large enough to accommodate hundreds and thousands! Deluded man! Gone clean mad! Some one has suggested the idea that Noah must have been deaf or he could not have withstood the scoffs and the jeers of that day. But if he was he had an ear to hear God. He commaned with God, and when God spoke to him, he could hear and he obeyed. Well, a hundred years passes away. There is no sign of a coming storm, and these men are increasing in their infidelity and in their unbelief. They go on, scoffing and mocking and ridiculing. And the men that helped Noah, his carpenters there whom he hired, undoubtedly if they went into a saloon and began to drink or play cards, men would make fun of them. ‘‘Ah, you are helping that old lunatic there to make the ark.’’ But I can imagine they would say, ‘‘Noah’s money is as good as any. We don’t believe in his old ark; we don’t believe in the delusion, but we are after his money, that is all.”’ There are a good many men to-day that talk in the same way about the ark that God has provided. The day of scoffing is not passed. The day of mocking, and the day of ridicule is not passed. Many a man is kept out of the kingdom of God be- cause he cannot stand the ridicule of some scoffing, sneering, contemptible wretch, who would trample his mother’s prayers, and feelings, and her Bible, COME. 507 and all of her precepts under his feet, and mock at the idea of his mother’s God. Time passes on. The hundred and twenty years have expired. The merriment increases. Noah has got his ark done. All the contracts are closed. During the past hundred and twenty years many a time has he stopped the work, perhaps, on the ark and gone out and warned his countrymen. He told them of the coming judgment. But they mocked the old man. They didn’t believe him. But now the ark is finished. I don’t know what time of the year it was finished; perhaps it was in the spring. In that spring Noah did not plant anything. ““Now, surely, he will come to want. Every year he has planted; like others he has provided for the future, but now he has not planted anything. He is preparing to go into that ark. He says that this is the last year. The world is going to be destroyed. What an absurdity.’’ When we talk now about God’s burning up this world men scoff at the idea, **God destroy the world! He is not going to do any- thing of the kind. The world is improving, grow- ing better all the while. What is God going to de- stroy the world for if the world is growing better, and if men are getting on so well, accumulating wealth and great fortunes. Away with such a delu- sion! God is not going to burn up the world. There is no God of judgment. God is not going to judge the world for sin. To be sure, they put His Son to death. But then he just winked at that. He is not going to hold them responsible for that. It is all a delusion.’”’ That is the talk of the world to-day. That is the cry. I can imagine when the last year expired—the one 508 COME. hundred and twenty years were up, and the day of grace was closing, those men just increased in their scoffing and their infidelity. Noah at last moves into the ark. That was just the climax of the whole thing. A most absurd thing. Why didn’t he wait until the storm began? There was time enough to move; then to build an ark on dry land, as if the storm was going to get up there; and if it did, do you think that thing would float? They made all manner of sport of it, and ridiculed it. Visitors came to look at it. You can see them looking around; going up into the different sories of it. If they saw Noah around, they would say, ‘‘That’s him, that’s him there!’’ They would just point the finger of scorn at him, ‘deluded man!’’ The business men of that day undoubtedly said that ark was not worth as much when Noah got it done as the nails they put into it. If it was put up at auction it would not bring any more than what it was worth for kindling wood. It was not good for a house to live in, and you could not make a barn of it. Yct that man had put all his wealth, probably, in that ark. For years he had. gathered up all he had and putitin that ark. The world looked upon it with scorn and contempt, but God called him in, ‘‘Come, thou and all thy house, into the ark.’’ And, thank God, his children went in with him. Noah lived so that his children had con- fidence in his piety. I have great admiration for Noah. If aman could live in that dark day, with those scoffers and unbelievers all about him, and command his children so that they followed him, he must have lived right at home. He must have been a true man, and he must have walked with COME. 509 God Almighty. And after they had gone in, God gave the earth seven days more of grace. He added seven days to the hundred and twenty years. Un- doubtedly he gave them that time torepent. If they had repented then they might have been saved. But they did not repent. They mocked at the idea, and they said to Noah when he told them that he had built that ark so large that he might preserve his seed upon the earth, the fowls of the air, and animal creation, they mocked at the idea. ‘‘How are you going to get the wild fowls and beasts of the desert into that ark? How are you going to get the wild animals from their caves and dens into that ark?’’ And they went on mocking at the idea. It was a most absurd idea. Ican imagine that the first thing that alarmed and aroused them was one morning to their surprise they saw the heavens black with the fowls of the air, coming from the corners of the earth, two by two, mated by God, and as they came to that ark, Noah took them in. And the animals came in from their dens and caves, from the corners of the earth, and they came up to the ark, two by two. The lion and the lamb passed in side by side, and as they looked down at the earth, they could see little in- _ sects creeping up towards that ark two by two, as if pushed up by some unseen hand, and they cried out, ““Merciful God, what does this mean?’’ They are alarmed now. That was the first thing, probably, that woke them up. Would to God they had re- pented then, and cried for mercy. But undoubtedly their wise men said, ‘‘We don’t exactly understand it, but there is no danger. Our astronomers tell us there is no sign in the heavens; the old sun shines 510 COME. as it did two thousand years ago, and the stars shine at night as bright as ever; the lambs are skipping on the hill sides as usual, the cattle are grazing on a thousand hills; business was never more prosper- ous. The world never looked more promising. There is no sign of a coming storm. We don’t un- derstand this strange thing; we admit we can’t un- derstand it, but then there is no sign; be quiet.’’ If some one was alarmed they would say, ‘‘He is weak- minded.’’ ‘That is what young men say of their ‘mothers now; that they are weak-minded women, deluded, carried away. Religion may be a good thing for women and weak-minded people. O, may God forgive the young man that speaks of his mother in-that way. It may be the next thing that took place God shut the door. Noah did not shutit. The Almighty shut the door. The last year had come, the last month, the last week, the last day, the last hour, the last minuute had come. When God shut the door the day of grace was over; the day of mercy was ended. When once the master of the house is risen up and shut the door, there is no hope. You may cry for mercy then, but it is too late. A man said that when he died he would go to heaven and he would knock and ask for Mercy, and Mercy would let him in. A man said you need not ask for Mercy there; for Mercy has not been at home for eighteeen hundred years. Mercy is abroad in the earth. It is too late to ask for mercy.’’ This is the day of mercy. This is the day of grace. This is the ac- ceptable time of the Lord. This is the day the door is wide open. God says, ‘‘Come in.’’ God calls you COME. 511 in out of the coming storm and out of the coming judgment. I can imagine some of you say, ‘‘Moody, you don’t believe there was such a thing asa flood, and God shut that door?’’ I believe it just as much as I be- lieve that Jesus Christ came into this world. Listen to what the Son of God has to say: “‘As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, until the flood came and took them all away.’’ It came suddenly. Jesus Christ believed in the flood. But when once the Master of the house had risen up and shut the door, it was too late. Men say, ‘‘I can repent any time.’’ Do not de- ceive yourself. There is such a thing as a man sin- ning away the day of grace. There is such a thing as aman going on rejecting and rejecting the Spirit of God until the last hour and the last moment has come, and it is too late. Those antediluvians found it was too late. The door was shut. I don’t know when the storm broke upon them. It might have been in thenight. And what a night it was! Did this world ever witness such a night as that? I can imagine as the sun went down, little did they think it was the last time they were to look upon it, as it shone upon that ark and the door was closed. The day of grace wasended. The day of mercy was over,and there was no hope. Their doom was sealed. The door that shut Noah and his family in shut them out. That night, perhaps at midnight, they could hear in the distance the thunder. The sound grew louder and louder, until the storm 512 COME. broke upon them. Perhaps the scoffers and the triflers in those days began to mock and say, ‘‘ Well, now Noah will say this is his flood. Noah, now in the ark, will begin to rejoice and say this is what he was telling us about.’’ But by-and-by their mock- ing was all gone. There could not be a scoffer found. And do you know there is a time coming when there cannot be a scoffer found on the face of the earth? There is a time coming when these men that are mocking at the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bow the knee tothe Lord Jesus. 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