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
P. O. Box 1099 Murfreesboro, TN 37133 USA
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