D.L. Moody, being the forerunner to Billy Graham and other well-known evangelists, conducted large evangelistic meetings throughout the United States and Great Britain.
Dwight L. Moody (1837 – 1899) has been reputed as being “the greatest evangelist of the 19th century,” and though Moody had many notable accomplishments, we will focus on just one episode of his life, involving a revival that took place in England. We will begin this story with the destruction of his church, the Illinois Street Church, which took place during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
A few of the locations where D.L. Moody conducted evangelistic events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico
Great Chicago Fire
Leading up to October 8, 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire started, Moody had already been experiencing fatigue. He had been on a ministry trip to California during that summer, and upon his return he found that many in his congregation had quit coming to the church. He then began preaching sermons on the lives of biblical characters, and by the fall of that year, he was preaching to the largest crowds he had ever seen in that city.
From September till the first part of October, Moody started preaching a 6-week series of sermons on the Life of Jesus. On Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, he completed the fifth sermon in the series and left his congregation with this question:
What then shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?
He then concluded his sermon telling them:
I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds during the week, and next Sabbath we will come to Calvary and the cross, and we will decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.
D.L. Moody
The tragedy was that sermon #6 wasn’t delivered, as the Chicago fire started that night, and continued for three days, leaving 300 dead, and destroying a large portion of the city, including Moody’s church and home.
Change in How the Good News Was Presented
Prior to and during that era, evangelists considered salvation to be a process that took time, with people having to “pray through” to obtain their salvation–that it wasn’t immediate. Following the Chicago Fire, and Moody not being able to present his final and 6th sermon in that series, which included a challenge to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior, everything changed. From that time on Moody began to challenge people to make an immediate decision to accept Jesus. Evangelists ever since have been doing the same.
The Extraordinary Prayer of Intercessors
Two ladies in Moody’s church had begun praying for him. Their prayers raised in Moody “an intense hunger and thirst for spiritual power.” These ladies would sit on the front row of the church praying for him, and at the end of the service they would tell him, “We have been praying for you.”
Moody tried to get them to direct their prayers to the unsaved, but they objected, claiming that “you need the power of the Spirit.”
Moody reflected on his success, of having the largest congregation in Chicago, and many conversions. He said that he was “in a sense satisfied.”
As time went on Moody asked those women to come and speak with him, because their talk about “anointing for special service” got him thinking. As they met together, and poured their hearts out to him that through prayer he might receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, he said that
There came a great hunger into my soul. I did not know what it was. I began to cry out as I never did before. I really felt that I did not want to live if I could not have this power for service.
Fundraising to Rebuild the Church
There was a temporary structure built to replace the burned down church building, and it was finished by the end of December 1871. To obtain sufficient finances to rebuild a permanent building, Moody traveled to New York.
D.L. Moody preaching
Baptism of Power
While in New York, attempting to raise finances for a new Chicago church, that spiritual hunger he sensed in Chicago was still present. While walking the streets of New York, an irresistible impulse came upon him. He knew he had to get alone and pray. He remembered a friend who lived not far away, and he went there, asking to use a room in his home for prayer. He stayed in that room for several hours, and it was during that time that he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Of that moment in time, Moody said:
I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York—oh, what a day!—I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths; and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world—it would be as the small dust of the balance.
Moody preaching at the Great Opera House, Haymarket, London
Trip to England
In June 1872, though recharged spiritually by his encounter with God in New York, Moody was still very tired physically. To regain his physical strength, he knew he needed rest, so he took a trip to England with the intent of just resting—no preaching
While in England, at a prayer meeting, Moody encountered Theophilus Lessey, a pastor of a church in the north of London, who asked him to preach in his church, and Moody consented.
Coldest Congregation Ever
Following the sermon at Lessey’s church, Moody felt it was one of the coldest groups of people he ever ministered to. This solidified his decision to not preach in England, but to spend his time resting and studying. The problem was that he had committed to preach in that evening service on that same day, and he knew he had to follow through with his commitment.
Extraordinary Prayer of an Intercessor
A bedridden woman–a member of Lessey’s congregation–had been pleading with God for revival in her church. She read in the paper of the services Moody was having in the United States, and she began to pray for God to send D. L. Moody to preach at her church (Lessey’s). Following the morning service in which Moody preached, the bedridden woman’s sister, who had attended the service, and who was caring for her sister, informed her that Moody had preached that morning.
The bedridden woman called out, “God has answered my prayers!” And she told her sister not to prepare her any food, as she was going to spend time in prayer and fasting for the evening service.
Everything Changed
During the evening service Moody recognized that something had changed, and his biographer wrote the following about that time:
… it seemed, while he was preaching, as if the very atmosphere was charged with the Spirit of God. There came a hush upon all the people, and a quick response to his words, though he had not been much in prayer that day, and could not understand it.
D.L. Moody
At the end of his sermon Moody presented an appeal for anyone who wanted to become a Christian to stand. All over the building people began to stand. It seemed as if the entire congregation were on their feet.
Neither Moody nor Lessey had ever seen a response like this, so Moody presented the invitation again, and the response was the same–the entire crowd stood at the same time.
After further remarks, people were asked to go to a side room to receive additional counsel concerning their decision, and extra chairs had to be set up to accommodate all who were making that decision.
The final counsel given to the congregation on that evening was that if they were truly serious, they should return on Monday night to meet with their pastor, as Moody was to leave the next morning for Dublin, Ireland.
Change in Itinerary
On Monday night, when Lessey went to the church to meet with and counsel the new converts, he found that the numbers of people had increased. Lessey then sent a message to Moody, strongly requesting him to return to London to continue his preaching, which Moody did. For ten days Moody preached, and at the end of that time there were 400 new members that had joined that church.
A few of the locations where D.L. Moody preached in Europe
The Revival’s Fire Continued
Following the 1872 revival in London, invitations began to be received from different locations throughout Ireland, Scotland, and England. Crowds of 20,000 and even up to 30,000 people assembled. Children’s meetings would reach up to 14,000.
The long-term results of Moody’s ministry in Europe was that awakenings were also experienced throughout Scandinavia. There was also a revival that occurred in Germany in 1880, and it lasted 30 years. In addition to these, there was a peasant revival in the Ukraine, and effective evangelistic efforts were conducted among Russian upper classes.
Moody in carriage
Funeral of D.L. Moody (December 1899); Casket being carried by 32 students from the Mt. Hermon School, which was started by Moody.
Primary Sources
► The Life and Work of Dwight L. Moody by J. Wilbur Chapman
► The Life of Dwight L. Moody by W. R. Moody
► The 10 Greatest Revivals Ever by Elmer Towns
Secondary Sources
► Anecdotes and Illustrations of D.L. Moody by J. B. McClure
► Best Thoughts and Discourses of D.L. Moody by Abbie Clemens Morrow
► Christian History Timeline: Dwight L. Moody and his World by Christian history Institute
► D. L. Moody and His Work by W.H. Daniels
► D. L. Moody Evangelizing the World by Bonnie C. Harvey
► Dwight L. Moody by Wikipedia
► Life Words from Gospel Addresses of D. L. Moody
► Men Who Saw Revival by Rick Martin
► Moody Church by Wikipedia
► Revival and Revival Work: A Record of the Labours of D.L. Moody & Ira D. Sankey by John MacPherson
► Tell Me About Moody by Will H. Houghton and Charles Thomas Cook
► The American Evangelists, D.L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey, in Great Britain and Ireland by John Hall
► The D.L. Moody Year Book by Emma Moody Fitt
► The Gospel Awakening; Sermons and Address of Moody and Sankey, in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston by D. L. Moody and L. T. Remlap
► The Life of D.L. Moody by William R. Moody
► The Shorter Life of D. L. Moody by Paul D. Moody and Arthur P. Fitt
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