Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 – 1899) was a prominent American evangelist who helped establish the pattern for later evangelism in large US cities. Converted in his late teens under the influence of his Sunday school teacher Moody moved to Chicago where he became active in both secular and evangelistic work. By 1860 he gave up his work as a shoe salesman to focus solely on missionary and evangelistic work. Among some of his accomplishments he became the president of the Chicago YMCA, founded the Moody Bible Church and became active in slum mission work.
Moody’s real claim to fame, however, was his tireless work as a full-time evangelist both in America and the United Kingdom. In addition to his urban campaigns in North America, Moody made two tours of major British cities from 1873 to 1875 and from 1881 to 1884. During these meetings Moody attracted enormous crowds in which many people gave their hearts to Jesus.
Moody had very little formal education (he only completed school up to the fifth grade) but because of his passion for Jesus, was used mightily by God. But when all was said and done this humble man of God preached to more than 100 million people throughout his life.
He was a strong proponent of prayer and the need to study the Bible. Some of his more famous quotations below will give you some insight into the heart of this uniquely American evangelist.1
“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.”
“I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.”
“Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.”
“There will be no peace in any soul until it is willing to obey the voice of God.”
“He who kneels the most, stands the best.”
“If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!”
“The measure of a man is not how many servants he has but how many men he serves.”
“Character is what a man is in the dark.”
“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”
“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”
“The object of the Bible is not to tell how good men are, but how bad men can become good.”
“Be humble, or you’ll stumble.”
“There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God’s hands of leading one person out of the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of Heaven.”
“When God gave Christ to this world, He gave the best He had, and He wants us to do the same.”
“We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.”
“The fact is, we are leaky vessels, and we have to keep right under the fountain all the time to keep full of Christ, and so have fresh supply.”
“The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him.”
“If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.”
“A man who prays much in private will make short prayers in public.”
“Someday you will read in the papers that Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit shall live forever.”
“Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer.”
“If the Savior could die for the world, can’t we work for it?”
“When a man has no strength, if he leans on God, he becomes powerful.”
“The Bible without the Holy Spirit is a sundial by moonlight.”
“Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water; but if the water gets into the ship, she goes to the bottom. So, Christians may live in the world; but if the world gets into them, they sink.”
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY DWIGHT L. MOODY (of 294) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
All are encouraging Curt!
Elaine