Large Shoulders to Stand On
by Andy Perry

 

Dwight Lyman Moody was a big man. Two hundred, eighty pounds of girth and height to be exact. He could have been a lumberjack or a longshoreman carrying heavy loads on his broad shoulders. Instead, he carried children and brought them to the Chicago YMCA where He told them of his Savior. He was a big man.

It is often said that, though we do not have what it takes to surpass the heroes who inspire us, through their own stories and examples written in history, we can stand on their shoulders and see even farther than they did. The shoulders I commend you to climb upon today are those of the great evangelist D.L. Moody. Despite his great physical size, it was Moody’s character and godliness which made him truly great—which gave his shoulders the width upon which we can stand. Recently, I mentioned some incidents from Moody’s life in a sermon. In what follows I’d like to give you a fuller picture of his life, heart, and ministry to further inspire you to look from this man’s shoulders at the life you could be living by God’s grace.

Moody died in 1899, therefore no living person today ever met him. But one who did and knew him perhaps better than any other was R.A. Torrey, founder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. In 1923 Torrey gave a stirring address entitled “Why God Used D.L. Moody” in which he mentioned seven reasons which made the difference in Moody’s exceptionally fruitful life. As you consider each one, consider yourself. What changes might you need to make in each area for you to be used of God for the gospel in our day as Moody was in his?

1. Fully Surrendered to God

Moody once told Torrey, “If I believed God wanted me to jump out of that window, I would jump.” In other words he put himself completely at his Master’s beck and call. He was God’s to command and God was His to obey. Period. Therefore, whenever he discovered any clear command in the Bible, he did not try to interpret it or work his way around it, he simply obeyed. One of Moody’s friends once said to him, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” In response Moody said to himself, “I will be that man.” And he was. If we ask ourselves, “Why am I not more like D.L. Moody? Why am I not sharing Christ with more people, discipling more people, hoping more in heaven and filled with more joy?” I believe we would need to begin with the admission that we are still holding back, still playing God, still living for ourselves and our pleasure where Moody was wholly surrendered to God.

2. A Man of Prayer

One principle dominated Moody’s life. It wasn’t his great ability to preach. It wasn’t his skill at drawing a crowd or teaching a class or building a Christian organization, though he did all those things admirably. The one principle dominating this man’s life was this: Nothing is too hard for God. Moody knew that God saves sinners accomplished so much for God because he depended utterly upon God for it all. Only one thing reveals our dependence on God and that’s prayer. Who will rise at your funeral and say of you, “The one thing that stood out most in __________ life was this: they were a person of prayer.”? Be that person.

3. A Student of the Bible

It is true, D.L. Moody was not a well read theologian in the technical sense. But in a wider sense he certainly was because he was a thoroughly committed student of the Bible. According to Torrey, who knew him best, Moody rose about four o’clock every morning of his life to read the Bible. Once when they were staying in the same house, Torrey heard a knock on his door at 5 a.m. then heard Moody’s voice whisper, “Torrey, are you up?” Moody had already been up more than an hour studying his Bible. Why did Moody’s preaching have such great effect? Because he preached the Bible. He kept his finger on the text and proclaimed it with great boldness. Are you a Bible student?

4. A Humble Man

Certainly, Moody had his share of talent and hard work for which to commend himself. But, according to Torrey, he never did. When Moody preached, other speakers often followed him in the order of events, and he would frequently announce, “There are better men coming after me.” But he didn’t just say it, he fully believed they were better than him. In Torrey’s words, Moody always underestimated himself and overestimated others. Could the same be said of us? Nothing kills our effectiveness for God like pride, and nothing aids it like a humble heart which says of Christ, like John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

5. A Man Free From the Love of Money

Given the overwhelming success of his ministry, Moody could have been a wealthy man. When he personally published a hymnal containing the songs written by his friend Ira Sankey because no publisher would touch it, sales generated more than one million dollars. Moody gave it all away. He didn’t have to. He could have kept it all himself, but he remembered Jesus’ words about the deception of wealth and would not touch it. Moody was not in ministry for the money. He resisted the lusts of the world and so found freedom to devote himself wholly to God.

6. A Man With a Passion for the Salvation of the Lost

You may have heard that D.L. Moody made a covenant with God shortly after he was saved that he would never let twenty-four hours pass without speaking to at least one person about his soul. One night he remembered his resolution and stepped outside to find it pouring rain. “Well,” he said to himself, “it’s no good going out now.” Just then he saw a man approaching on the sidewalk with an umbrella. When he passed by where Moody stood, the evangelist stepped out and said, “May I share the shelter of your umbrella?” “Certainly,” the man replied. After walking together for a time, Moody asked him, “Your umbrella is nice, but do you have true shelter in the time of storm?” and he shared the gospel with him. I could tell story after story about Moody’s compassionate boldness in speaking to lost sinners about the Savior. Though he preached to millions, he always took time to share Christ with the boy selling newspapers or the barber cutting his hair. When was the last time you boldly and compassionately spoke the gospel with an unbeliever? Don’t answer that! Here is a better question, “When is the next time you will share the gospel?” Make it today.

7. A Man Filled with the Holy Spirit

Though Moody believed that every born again believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, he also knew the crucial importance of seeking to be filled and filled again. Moody knew that our hearts are like sieves that leak, so we need every day to be refilled with God’s power and perspective and love and faith. Here is evidence, once again, that D.L. Moody did not depend upon his own power or intelligence or abilities to effect God’s work. He was hungry and thirsty for God Himself and took the time to seek and knock and ask, knowing full well the Lord’s pleasure to pour out the Holy Spirit in great measure to all who come earnestly (Luke 11:13). Paul sums it up beautifully in Colossians 1:27, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And Moody knew that we need more of Christ in us—more through earnest prayer, more through delving deep in God’s Word, more through holy conversation with brothers and sisters who love us enough to sharpen us in the truth, and more through living out the gospel in righteousness and speaking the gospel to the lost around us with fearless faith. More of God—Moody longed for it, asked for it and received it. Let’s endeavor to stand upon his shoulders, walk in his footsteps and become, like him, lighthouses for the Lord in our own day.