Dwight Lyman Moody

I few months ago I purchased a compilation of DL Moody Sermons on eBay titled 'Moody's Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers.' It was printed in 1880 and is over 800 pages long, and so far I have not been disappointed by a single one of his sermons, there's always a new gem in each one. Last night I read five sermons, and got to sermon #36 titled 'The Prodigal Son,' and I'm still only about 300 pages in.

If you haven't ever read anything by Dwight Lyman Moody I strongly encourage you all to pick up some of his writings. It has been a real blessing for me.

Even though these sermons were preached nearly 130 years ago they were given in a vernacular that is very similar to our speech today, so they are very easy to read. If you can get past all of the civil war references, the high infant mortality rate, references to Chicago in the 1870's, and 'the looming war in Europe,' then they sound like they could have been preached last Sunday.

I would love to read some of those sermons. I have read his book Secret Power recently and it is a short read but has profound meaning. It is about the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life and was written before the modern pentecostal movement. It is still in print and can be picked up for less than $10.

Moody was an amazing man and a great inspiration to any believer who will simply trust and obey God to do great things.

In Christ,

Ron

I'm thinking I might have to creat a Moody archive similar to the one that is out there for Spurgeon's writings.

iansmith wrote:
I'm thinking I might have to creat a Moody archive similar to the one that is out there for Spurgeon's writings.

That would be cool!

If I recall, D.L. Moody was a layman...he was never an ordained preacher. Or am I wrong?

ginnyrose

Ginny,

DL Moody was a shoe salesman in Chicago when God caught hold of him. His lay background gave him a special insight into preaching against greed and the excesses of capitalism.

He also didn't take the standard route to becoming a preacher. His passion was for 'Sunday Schools' which sounds odd to this generation's ears. Because his 'Sunday Schools' were not for church kids, but for the unchurched. He would go to a slum and gather up all of the children and teach them about Jesus.

The church in Chicago that now bears the name Moody was founded by members of his Sunday Schools. His Sunday Schools gained an enormous reputation for being filled with evangelistic fervor and it attracted the attention of a generation of Christians who multiplied his methods. Abraham Lincoln was even said to have approvingly visited his Sunday School.

He went to the lowest and God elevated him to the highest.

ian,

I am well aware of D.L. Moody's ministry. What impressed me about him was that he did not set out to be a preacher. He was just faithful to the LORD where he put him and as a result, God was able to use him. Like I said, I do not think he was ever ordained to the ministry: he was just a layman. Is that not amazing?

ginnyrose

I believe when God revives His work, people will go back to His Book. People are tired and sick of this awful controversy. Sam Jones' motto has been, "Quit your meanness." I hope the motto of the ministers of this country will be, "Quit your fighting and go to work, and preach the simple gospel.''

Now the question is, shall we have a great and mighty harvest, or shall we go on discussing our differences? As far as I am concerned, I am terribly tired of it, and I would like before I go hence to see the whole church of God quickened as it was in '57, and a wave going from Maine to California that shall sweep thousands into the kingdom of God.

Why not?

Talk about this work not lasting; Pentecost isn't over yet!

-DL Moody from his sermon entitled Revivals.
Address delivered on Wednesday morning, August 2, 1899, at East Northfield, Mass.

From the book 'Moody's Latest Sermons' in it's entirety for download here: http://books.google.com/books?id=YFUAAAAAMAAJ&dq

In case you're wondering who this [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jones_%28evangelist%29]Sam Jones[/url] is that Moody is refering to, he was a prolific Methodist Evangelist at the time, whose quotes you might be more familiar with than his name.

[i]"Quit your meanness."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

"I always did despise theology and botany, but I do love religion and flowers."

"The curse of this age is that we have put gold above God, chattels above character, and mammon above manhood. We have inverted God's order of things"

"The tune of America is pitched to the dollar"[/i]

Good stuff!