Preaching the Baptism with the Holy Ghost
In his early days he (Moody) was a great hustler; he had
a tremendous desire to do something, but he had no real
power. He worked very largely in the energy of the flesh.
But there were two humble Free Methodist women who used to
come over to his meetings in the Y.M.C.A. One was "Auntie
Cook" and the other, Mrs. Snow. (I think her name was not
Snow at that time.) These two women would come to Mr. Moody
at the close of his meetings and say: "We are praying for
you." Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to
them one night: "Why are you praying for me? Why don't you
pray for the unsaved?" They replied: "We are praying that
you may get the power." Mr. Moody did not know what that
meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to
these women and said: "I wish you would tell me what you
mean"; and they told him about the definite baptism with the
Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and
not they merely pray for him.
Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervor with which
Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that
I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them.
And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone.
Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was
walking up Wall Street in New York; (Mr. Moody very seldom
told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst
of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was
answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the
street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and
ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room
he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him,
filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask
God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very
joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy
Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through
the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey's church),
the power of God wrought through him mightily in North
London, and hundreds were added to the churches; and that
was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful
campaign that followed in later years.
Time and again Mr. Moody would come to me and say: "Torrey,
I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I
do not know how many times he asked me to speak on that
subject. Once, when I had been invited to preach in the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York (invited at Mr.
Moody's suggestion; had it not been for his suggestion the
invitation would never have been extended to me), just
before I started for New York, Mr. Moody drove up to my
house and said: "Torrey, they want you to preach at the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. It is a great
big church, cost a million dollars to build it." Then he
continued: "Torrey, I just want to ask one thing of you. I
want to tell you what to preach about. You will preach that
sermon of yours on 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to
Be the Word of God' and your sermon on 'The Baptism With the
Holy Ghost.'"
Time and again, when a call came to me to go off to some
church, he would come up to me and say: "Now, Torrey, be
sure and preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do
not know how many times he said that to me. Once I asked
him: "Mr. Moody, don't you think I have any sermons but
those two: 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the
Word of God' and 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost'?" "Never
mind that," he replied, "you give them those two sermons.
Once he had some teachers at Northfield -- fine men, all of
them, but they did not believe in a definite baptism with
the Holy Ghost for the individual. They believed that every
child of God was baptized with the Holy Ghost, and they did
not believe in any special baptism with the Holy Ghost for
the individual. Mr. Moody came to me and said: "Torrey, will
you come up to my house after the meeting tonight and I will
get those men to come, and I want you to talk this thing out
with them."
Of course, I very readily consented, and Mr. Moody and I
talked for a long time, but they did not altogether see eye
to eye with us. And when they went, Mr. Moody signaled me to
remain for a few moments. Mr. Moody sat there with his chin
on his breast, as he so often sat when he was in deep
thought; then he looked up and said: "Oh, why will they
split hairs? Why don't they see that this is just the one
thing that they themselves need? They are good teachers,
they are wonderful teachers, and I am so glad to have them
here; but why will they not see that the baptism with the
Holy Ghost is just the one touch that they themselves need?"
With permission from Job Anbalagan gloryofhiscross@yahoo.co.in
To obtain a copy of this booklet, write to Sword of the
Lord Publishers
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