Dwight L. Moody: Life, Ministry, and the Holy Spirit

Introduction: Moody's Place in Evangelical History

Dwight L. Moody was certainly one of the greatest evangelists of all time. During his lifespan, it is estimated that he traveled in excess of one million miles, addressed over 100 million people, and guided hundreds of thousands — if not millions — to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Among the most significant meetings the world has ever seen are those held by Moody and his musical partner Ira Sankey. In his popular revival services, Presidents Lincoln and Grant were both present. At the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, over 130,000 people participated in Moody's revival services in a single day.

These meetings were, under God, the means of stirring the church to new life and activity, and the vehicles by which tens of thousands of persons were gathered into the kingdom of God. Moody's passion for Christ was not restricted to preaching and teaching, although that was always his principal calling. He established educational institutions such as the Northfield schools for boys and girls — which continue operating to this day — and the Chicago Evangelism Society, later renamed the Moody Bible Institute. His tireless efforts also gave rise to several Christian publishing ventures, one of which bears his name: Moody Publishing. He used lecture halls and theaters as his pulpits, crossing rigid denominational lines and reaching masses who might never enter a church or hear the gospel by other means. His fame rose rapidly.

Early Life and Conversion

Moody was one of the unlikely instruments God chose to astonish the mighty. Like the Welsh preacher Christmas Evans, he had very little formal schooling before his conversion to Christ — he could barely read or write at the age of seventeen. Dwight Lyman Moody came from old New England Puritan stock. His ancestors had lived the quiet lives of farmers in the Connecticut Valley for seven generations, spanning roughly two hundred years. On February 5, 1837, he was born the sixth child in a family of nine children in the town of Northfield, Massachusetts — the same town where he would later establish his famous Bible schools. Moody's father died at the early age of forty-one, leaving his widow in poverty, with a mortgage on the home and seven children to support.

Dwight left home at the age of ten with a brother to work at a place about thirteen miles away. At seventeen, weary of farm life and determined to make his way in the world, he resolved to go to Boston. He arrived without money and struggled to find work until he was nearly destitute. He then secured a position with an uncle who was in the shoe business. He proved to be a successful salesman and became a regular worker at the Mount Vernon Congregational Sunday School. Because of his limited education he at first took little part in Sunday school classes, but he was gradually drawn into the study of the Bible and eventually joined in the class discussions. His teacher, Mr. Kimball, took a deep interest in him and slowly led him to understand the plan of salvation. Moody's entire life was transformed, and he embarked on a course of remarkable Christian service.

In 1856, the second year after his conversion, Moody moved to Chicago, where he joined the Plymouth Congregational Church and became a vigorous Christian worker, pouring his soul and energy into winning men to Christ. His great Sunday school work was well underway before he was even twenty-three years old. Through all his labor for Christ, he had no intention of entering formal ministry until he found that souls were being brought to Christ through his efforts. He decided to visit Great Britain in 1867 to study the methods of Christian work used in that country. It was during this first visit to Britain that Moody heard words that set him yearning and thirsting for a deeper Christian experience, marking a new period in his life.

Chicago Ministry and Spiritual Hunger

Moody had a persistent desire for growth in his own spiritual life. He had been greatly used by God, but sensed that far greater things were in store for him. The year 1871 proved to be a crucial one. He recognized increasingly how poorly equipped he was in himself for the work, and how much he needed to be empowered for service by the Holy Spirit. Three distinct events would deepen this hunger. The first took place in New York, where he had been asked to speak at a small Sunday school. As he was about to step into his carriage to leave for another meeting, an elderly gentleman approached him and said, "Young man, when you speak again, honor the Holy Ghost." The second and third involved two godly women who regularly attended his services in Chicago.

To reach people who would not attend church, Moody also developed what he called the "three R's" as a simple and powerful summary of the gospel: ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. In 1870, Moody had also met Ira Sankey in Chicago. Sankey was an extraordinarily gifted pianist, vocalist, and hymn writer. For the next twenty-five years the two men were nearly inseparable in their meetings and gatherings, selling hymnbooks to fund the Lord's work wherever they traveled.