There is a well-known story told of Napoleon the First’s time. A certain John Bacon, once a famous sculptor, left an inscription to be placed on his tomb in Westminster Abbey: that I should receive my death wound from that side whence I expected no harm, and be safe in the part where I looked for most danger.”. About one o’clock Farwell hall was burned; soon the church in which I had preached went down, and everything was scattered. This is my prayer. “We don’t want you. Some people think they have to tear down the scaffolding before they begin on the building. Come up higher!’ They said, “You are not going to preach, are you? The man of God, D.L. “No,” he replied, “but I have seen it. Have you lost something?” and I were to say, “No, I haven’t lost anything; I’m not looking for anything particular,” I fancy he would just let me go on by myself, and think me very foolish. They are like these farms in California—a dreary desert, everything parched and desolate, and apparently no life in them. They seemed to know it was no place for a Christian to go. We should see even Gabriel saying, “Let me go and win that soul to Christ.” We should see Paul buckling on his old armor again, and saying, “Let me go back again to earth, that I may have the joy of leading that little one to his Saviour.” It is a free gift, presented to “whosoever” will accept it. I was a Union soldier, and was in the wood that night with a party of scouts. Moody the Evangelist: A Character Sketch with Original Sayings By: Joseph B. Bowles, circa 1926. Do not think that you will have no battles if you follow the Nazarene, because many battles are before you. Moody: A Man used of God “Look here; what does this mean? The religion that has no fire is like painted fire. But a man comes forward, and says: Cut the cord! People would look in and see that there was no water, and say nothing. Current Issue You might have been a rich man, riding in your own carriage.’ Then I see a man who was young when I was walk by in perfect health, and Satan whispers: ‘If God loved you, couldn’t He have kept you from breaking your back?’ ” We must study the Bible thoroughly, and hunt it through, as it were, for some great truth. You know, sister, if you had said half the mean things before I was converted that you have said since, I would have been angry and answered back, but if you remember correctly, I haven’t answered once since I have been converted.” So off he ran to watch for me. It is a false idea that all pride is confined to the upper classes. It might be a very insignificant work—very small; but if it was done in the right spirit, God accepted it. There are multitudes of Christians who have so far proved the veracity of the Bible that they are ready to trust it without reserve in all that it pledges for the world yet unseen and the life yet unrealized.”. It will take bitter toil to uproot them. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D. One of them said: This was the woman’s story: If they have not always done so, it is probable that they have not yet matured. God is always true to what He promises to do. I said: “What has never struck you.” Here were men who surrounded the apostles, full of prejudice, full of malice, full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God, and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested, a man whom they hated, stands up and preaches the Gospel, and three thousand of them are immediately convicted and converted, and become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They tried it a few years ago. At last I said: “Willie, don’t take your eyes off me”; and I held the little fellow’s eyes, and said, “Now, jump; don’t look at the floor;” and he leaped into my arms. Many a home might be lit up with the Gospel if the mothers and daughters would only speak the word. “It was a good thing I settled it last night.” Then in April, Mount Vernon Church held a revival. “I know where they ain’t!” was the reply. When he awoke, his first thought was: “Yes; but I’d like to have you mention my name.” Suppose a man says, “Mr. Well, the mother took the work up with this boy. May God help you to make a right choice! I never got a ripe apple from that tree in my life, and I don’t believe any one else ever did. “Now I want you to take the question with you and think it over, and next Sunday I want you to come back and tell me what you are going to do with Him.” “The life of Christianity,” says Luther, “consists of personal pronouns. Said he: “Oh, Mr. Moody, it has been the most wretched day in my life.” He had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find. I thought, Oh, if I could only have the gift of speech like some men! The men knew who was going to lead them, and they were sure of having success. A great many think that we need new measures, new churches, new organs, new choirs, and all these new things. Ah! “I found your good youth on my ground,” said Satan; “so I took him.” One day the father was hauling some wood into the city, perhaps to pay his boy’s bills. “Oh,” she said, “it will be a long time before papa comes.” In one of the conscriptions, during one of his many wars, a man was balloted as a conscript who did not want to go, but he had a friend who offered to go in his place. There is a legend that the Apostle John was much distressed over the fall of a young convert. It does not matter, for if God has decreed you are going to die, you will; if He hasn’t, you will get better. If I take care of my character, my reputation will … He was one of the millionaires of Ohio. Now what was true in these two cases is practically true with every one. Yes, D. L. Moody certainly was a wonderful preacher; taking it all in all, the most wonderful preacher I have ever heard, and it was a great privilege to hear him preach as he alone could preach; but out of a very intimate acquaintance with him I wish to testify that he was a far greater pray-er than he was preacher. He went away sorrowful, but came back the next day, and said: “I have a young wife and child, and all the furniture in my house I have bought with money I have got in this dishonest way. I never saw that audience again. Why is it that many Christians are cold? What would you think of a man who seemed very happy to-day and full of joy, and couldn’t tell you what made him so? “I felt it.” So there is a scarlet thread running all through the Bible—the whole book points to Christ. The boy sat down between Mr. Spurgeon and the elder who was with him, and said: He was going to toss the whole Bible over because Balaam’s ass couldn’t speak. McCheyne, the Scotch preacher, once said to some friends, “Do you think Christ will come to-night?” He said that bird never got back its sweet notes. Click here for more biographical information on D.L. I have sometimes been in a place where the very air seemed to be charged with the breath of God, like the moisture in the air. “Moody, while you are my guest I want you to make yourself perfectly at home, and if there is anything in the orchard or in the vineyard you would like, help yourself.” When they took him out, he was broken and mangled, and had only two or three minutes of life left in him. Parents would think it a great calamity to have their children born dumb; they would mourn over it, and weep; and well they might; but did you ever think of the many dumb children God has? I thought what greater work could any man do than Christ had done? Years had passed away, and she said: They had a law in that town that fruit on a tree overhanging the street belonged to the public, and any fruit on the other side of the fence belonged to the property-holders. “Why don’t you go?” He found he was in for a life job, and he picked the book up. But,” he said, “we have rented all our pews and are able to pay all our running expenses. I cannot tell your feelings, but I can my own. Will you not do it now? Commenting on the text: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power,” Spurgeon said: “Well, what do you see now?” “We’ll not trouble the child about it; she is too young to remember her mother; just let her remain where she is until the funeral is over.” He thought his father would be very angry. But let the wax be warmed up and an impression is made. Running to a little hill, he looked around and shouted again. He has given us the privilege of drawing on Him day by day—not “forty days after sight.” There is plenty of grace in the bank of heaven; we need not be afraid of its becoming exhausted. Horatio Gates Spafford was born in New York, on 20th October 1828, but it was in Chicago that he became well-known for his clear Christian testimony. “Well, we will put down ‘houses’ next and then “land.’ Next we will put down ‘fast horses.’ ” “Where is mother?” she cried. My friends, they could not stand comparison. If I were not sick, I would not have a thought about my soul, and I am not going to insult God now.” That is the way I used to feel when I was a boy. His manners were often brash and crude, and he never became an ordained minister. With her dying breath, she said: Sins, like serpents, breed quickly, and need to be constantly watched. Make haste to be wise; for “how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”. But this is not the Gospel order. He has found the broken part, and it hurts. It is the old power that the apostles had. “According to your faith it shall be unto you.” This man had expected nothing and he got just what he expected. “Sambo, how old are you?” D.L. Truth is truth, whether you believe it or not; and a lie is a lie, whether you believe it or not.” One after another they said, “I think not.” We just want to know what men do believe. “Wednesday.” In giving his testimony, he said he had been in the habit of attending church for a great many years, but he could not say that he had really heard a sermon all the time. Now, you will find perfect order in a cemetery. Man’s Need | The day came for his graduation, and he walked down the broad aisle with that poor mother dressed very shabbily, and put her into one of the best seats in the house. I don’t know how many times I talked with her. I remember singing this hymn—, ‘All my trust on Thee is stayed, “Why, man, you must be mad. 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