Shane Kennard's Blog

What response was D.L. Moody wanting from his hearers?

He wanted to engage the Heart and Head, but he didn’t want a merely emotional or intellectual response. An emotional response is like cotton candy. Feels good at the time, but doesn’t last. An intellectual response is like brussels sprouts. You know its good for you, but you would rather it taste better.

The response Moody was after was a response of transformation. He wanted the old man to be transformed into the new man…

Moody “made it as clear as noon-day that salvation is not the mere setting right of man’s existing faculties, but the impartation of new life in Christ, a new nature, a new creation.” p. 436.

“New creation in Christ–not the mending of the old creation–is Mr. Moody’s idea of Christianity: and it is the divine reality which many are now enjoying.” p. 436.

It wasn’t enough to get an emotional or intellectual response. Moody wanted people to walk away with a brand new nature.

The fascinating aspect to this is that a response of transformation is something outside of our reach. We can create emotional and intellectual responses on our own without God. Transformation only occurs when God is involved. Does this mean that we have no control? Not really. If we are not intentional in creating the right environment, then transformation will not occur.

Moody’s preaching…

“Is not a mixture of law and Gospel: his gospel is ‘the Gospel of the grace of God,’ ‘without the works of the law,’ the ‘Gospel of God’ coming in righteously and saving the lost, not by a mere judicial manipulation and theoretically, but by grace, power, and life coming in when men were dead, so that we have not only sins blotted out by the blood of Christ, but deliverance from sin in the nature by death and resurrection, and life beyond death, so that a risen Christ is before us, and we in Him.” p. 435-6.

Moody preached God’s grace, not his law.
He preached life coming when people were dead.
He preached sins being blotted out only by Christ’s blood.
He preached deliverance from sin through our resurrection.
He preached a life beyond death.

When we preach grace, life, washing, deliverance and eternity, this sets the foundation for a fertile soil ready for the fruit of transformation.

But like we’ve seen in previous weeks, it must happen with the hearer clearly in mind. We have to show them how it looks in their real life. It cannot be a mere download of information. We must preach a completely new operating system.

How can we prepare for preaching for transformation? I ask God a few questions…

• How does this passage bring hope?
• How does this passage bring healing?
• How does this passage strengthen faith in Your power?

Wanting transformation in people isn’t enough. No preacher doesn’t want that. We must be willing to preach for transformation, not for emotions or intellectualism. In the end, we want them to have faith in God’s power. This is what will transform.

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875. Emphasis mine.

Moody’s sermons shot right to the heart, but did so without emotionalism that can characterize revivals.

Said about his affect on the heart…

• “He is gifted with a rare sagacity, an insight into the human heart, a knowledge of what is stirring in it, and of what is fitted to impress it.” p. 391.
• “He has a deeply pathetic vein, which enables him to plead very earnestly at the very citadel of the heart.” p. 391.
• “As his words fall from his lips, hearts are moved.” p. 485-6.

Said about the absence of emotionalism…

• “A striking feature of these meetings is the absence of all excitement. The thousands who usually flock to our hall, when once seated, are impressively still; it is a grand, encouraging sight to watch this sea of human faces eagerly waiting for the world of life. Mr. Moody puts no effort forward to attract; he stands before his audience quiet; he never introduces himself; you see at once he wants you to listen to his message. His words are most simple and earnest; there is nothing elaborate, or strange, or new, not even his illustrations. ” p. 485-6.
• “Presenting the truth very plainly, earnestly, and pungently, appealing to the heart and conscience, without any effort to excite animal feeling; and at all these meetings there was an entire absence of fanaticism. The people are absorbed by what is said, and there is nothing noisy or demonstrative” p. 541.
• Moody and Sankey do it “calmly, without mere passionate appeals, without efforts to capture the imagination of their hearers, and without noisy or disorderly demonstrations among their hearers.” p. 583.

Moody’s time was no different than today. On the one hand, you had revivals and preaching that sought to illicit emotion, even though true transformation might not be present. On the other hand, other preaching was dry and only affected the head and not the heart.

Moody worked to find a balance between the two.

Sure, there is a good deal of this tension that is found because of the Spirit at work in Moody and the people. But to say that there was not an effort by Moody to make sure that this tension is bridged would be false. Tensions are not found accidentally. If we do what is natural, we will fall into one category or the other.

Moody knew people. He knew how people were moved. This comes through the work of being around and getting to know people.

Moody also intentionally did things to keep emotion out of the meetings. When the Spirit is working, it is easy to let emotions drive what happens. He worked to keep the emotions at bay so that people would make transformative decisions.

In our preaching, we’ll shade to one side or the other. For me, I can keep sermons on the cerebral without moving the heart. Where people leave knowing they went deeper, but have no idea how it was supposed to move their lives.

How do we make sure we walk in the tension?

• For those like me that can focus more on the brain than the heart, make sure you preach to stir their insides. Ask God, “How does this passage give hope and heals the brokenness inside of people?”
• For those who have a tendency to play on people’s emotions, make sure you’re studying to engage the mind and not just the heart. Ask God, “How does the passage transform the mind of people?”

Life is a walk between two tensions. Preaching is no different. Learn to walk in the tension between affecting the mind and the heart.

Which do you have a tendency towards and how to you make sure you walk in this tension?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875. Emphasis mine.

We’ve all listened to that expert who had a ton of knowledge, but you left thinking, “What was I supposed to get from that?” They didn’t make their message simple.

Moody worked hard to make his message simple.

His day was no different than today. Preachers pride themselves on how deep they go for their congregations. In the meantime, the people listening know they’ve been taken deep, but they have no idea how to apply it into their lives.

What did contemporaries say about Moody?

• He has also distinguished with much decision and precision between the Adam nature and the new creation in Christ. p. 436.
• His words are most simple and earnest; there is nothing elaborate, or strange, or new, not even his illustrations. But as his words fall from his lips, hearts are moved. p. 485-6.
• He has avoided collateral issues. p. 545.
• Mr. Moody addresses himself to a multitude…in a vivid, epigrammatic, often pathetic, always simple and natural way. p. 583.
• That their [Mr. Moody's sermons] sole purpose is to induce people to accept a certain form of faith. p. 614.
• So clear and unmistakable is the plan of salvation presented that the most illiterate can readily understand it. p. 689.
• It was great singleness of aim, a remarkable earnestness and intensity of purpose…The most striking peculiarity that marks his preaching, is its simple, direct, practical, unceasing, and intensely earnest appeals to the Word of God. p. 712-3.

It is not easy to make a sermon simple. It is much easier to just give a whole lot of information and feel good that we gave them a 40-minute firehose of the Bible. I know. I can preach that way.

But check out the highlighted words. It looked like Moody preached with simplicity and direction. He wanted the people to be moved somewhere.

Part of the power of God working in people is through simplicity. Power comes when people can leave knowing deep things simply. Paul had this philosophy…

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2.

But Moody’s goal wasn’t just simple for simple sake. We can have simple, short messages, but the hearers still don’t know how it applies. Moody’s goal was to make the Bible get into people’s real life…

Their preaching to young men was far more effective if they could show them that their religion was making them get on well in business, and do their business well, and come to the front in the ordinary walks of life. p. 559-60.

Moody and Sankey were able to engage young men in great ways because they helped them connect the dots between the Bible and everyday life. We encourage a separation between Sunday and Monday when we don’t apply what we talk about on Sunday to how we live on Monday.

So what’s your simple point for your sermon this Sunday? Paul calls this “having faith in God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). How will people, when they walk out of the building, have more faith in God’s power because of the sermon?

This Sunday, mine is “Sin is a lack of faith in God’s provision.” The sermon is based on the creation story. Our goal is to get people to live like they know God will provide in every way. Physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually.

So how about you? What is the main point? What do you want people to walk out doing in faith?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875. Emphasis mine.

Moody didn’t only work in his preaching. But he also worked on his preaching.

Moody wasn’t the most impressive or by the book preacher of his day. But he had something so many didn’t: Power.

He [Moody] has none of the vehemence of Peter Cartwright or Elder Knapp, and he possesses none of the personal advantages or culture of an orator. p. 582.

Another minister says, “He could not think his [Moody's] sermon as a sermon amounted to much. p. 643

If he didn’t have the training or eloquence of other leading ministers and evangelists, where did his power come from?

He had a conviction–a confidence–in God’s Word.

The one who gave the first quote, also said…

Instead of all these he has a profound conviction of the reality of the future life; a just idea of its importance compared with this life and of the relations of the two, and an unhesitating belief in the literal truth of the Bible. p. 582.

The one who said that Moody’s sermon didn’t amount to much also said…

If he [the man making the quote] would but believe with Mr. Moody’s confidence, and declare the gospel with Mr. Moody’s positiveness, he would have more of Mr. Moody’s success in bringing his hearers to a sense of their danger, and to an acceptance of the full salvation to which he points them. p. 643.

Confidence in God’s Word as truth and what brings transformation brings power. Confidence in God’s Word comes with encounters with God’s Word in our own life. Do we study to preach? Or do we study for our own transformation into the image of Jesus? Even our sermon preparation should lead to that. Moody had confidence in God’s Word because of what it did in his own life. From that he knew that it would change others. He also knew that it was the only thing that could change others.

We’ll be spending a few weeks on how Moody worked on his preaching. This first one is the most important. Nothing will bring power like having confidence in God’s Word to transform lives. Nothing will bring confidence in God’s Word like God’s Word transforming us.

What are you doing to engage with God through his Word? How is he transforming you now?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

Moody worked. Hard.

He started his ministry in Chicago. A Mission Sunday School rejected him as a teacher because they didn’t have any students to give him to teach. If he were to get his own students, they would let him teach.

The next week he showed up with 18 students. Eighteen rough students. Students who wouldn’t normally been seen in a Sunday School. My resource didn’t say how he got these students. But it would be safe to say, he worked to get them. While the other teachers were content to teach whoever showed up. Moody wasn’t content with that. This set the tone for his ministry. He would work to reach those who were not already being reached.

As he gained credibility, he started his own school. For six years he rented a dance hall. Every Saturday night into Sunday morning for six years, he worked to clean the dance hall to prepare it for his students on Sunday morning. “The repetition of this kind of labor week after week was obviously not very agreeable; but it was cheerfully rendered by a young man who lived for one object–the salvation of souls.” (p. 379). His work paid off. He saw 1,000 students come to this school.

It takes work to chart a new course like Moody. But he refused to get stuck in a rut. In a speech to other ministers in Chicago, Moody remarked, “Services are not made interesting enough, so as to get unconverted people to come. They are not expected to come, and people would be mortified if they did come. Don’t get into a rut. I abominate ruts. There are few things I dread more.” p. 380-1.

He started off with the school, but he ended up starting a church. Why? He would encourage his students to go other churches, but these students would keep coming back because they would never feel accepted in these churches. So, he rented out a saloon on Sunday mornings and started a church. He incorporated music because he saw that the people of his area were entertained by music. He would even take a choir into saloons to sing in order to build relationships and draw these men into church.

Moody worked so hard, this was said about him, “Our Brother Moody is a man if inextinguishable zeal. In our city of 400,000 people all the boys of this wicked city [Chicago] know him, and respect him too.” p. 391. He had influence among the people, especially the boys and young men because of his work. Would you like influence in your city? Work like Moody.

His work wasn’t to keep the status quo. His work was to see the unconverted come. The work done the same way everyday becomes a rut. Once you get into a rut, the work becomes easy. Well, easy as compared to getting out of the rut. But staying in the rut causes us to draw the same type of people.

So we can work one of two ways.

1. We can work to keep the same people coming week-in and week-out, but the unconverted are mortified if they did come.
2. Or we could work to stay out of the rut, and the unconverted come and become converted.

Moody is a reminder to us that we work. We work hard. We work hard to build influence among the unconverted. We work hard to get out and stay out of ruts that cause unconverted people to stay away.

What ruts could you work to get out of to see unconverted people not be mortified?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

In working with Students and Young Adults, we might have a great experience, but it stops at the experience. We don’t see any lasting effects. How did Moody’s foundation and study of the Bible rub off on others?

From Moody’s own words, any ministry or revival should impact people in the area of Bible study.

“Any revival that don’t bring people to their Bible is a sham, and will last only for a few weeks; but if the people are brought to love the Word of God, there will be a revival that will last 365 days in the year.” p. 680.

Whatever we do, our goal should be to get people to read and study for themselves. If we can do this, the effects of the experience will last longer.

What type of effect did Moody have on the people effected by his revivals?

“Never in the best days of olden time was there anything like the present interest in Bible study, in the home, in the Sunday school, in the social religious meeting. More people are studying the Bible than ever before. A larger proportion of all the people are engaged in this study.” p. 678-9

When Moody spent prolonged periods in a city, he would have meetings to help people with personal Bible study. Routinely he would have thousands come. Even 6-8 thousand. Many of the attendees would be what we would consider Students and Young Adults. Wouldn’t you love 6,000 people to come to your next “How To Study the Bible” class?

What kind of effect did this end up having on people in their personal life?

“Whatever may be said of the meetings, one thing is certain, that an amount of good has been accomplished during the past eight weeks that is beyond all calculation. Blasphemers have been made to realize the extent of their sins; scoffers have been turned to Christ; drunkards have been reformed through the operations of the Holy Spirit, and those who denied the existence of a God have been compelled to cry for mercy and forgiveness. Where there has been strife there is now happiness; and where there was once discord there is now peace. Families have been united, and husbands and wives, once estranged, reconciled. With all this has come an entire dependence upon God, and but for the Scriptural teaching of the evangelist, it could not have been brought about.” p. 730

If Moody were here, what advice would he give us in studying the Bible?

“Nine-tenths of us read the Bible just to ease our conscience. You do not get the whole Bible by reading it in that way.” p. 681.

Don’t read the Bible as a topical index to just ease our conscience. Read it in its entirety. Read the Bible to hear from God, not just to do a checklist. Don’t read devotional books to see what other people say about God. Read straight from the Bible to see what God says about himself.

As leaders trying to make disciples of SYA’s, we must model this ourselves and teach them how to do it. I believe they want to know how to hear and obey. We must be modeling it. Right now as I sit in Starbucks writing this, there is an adult and a SYA reading through and talking about the Bible together. This will have a lasting effect on this SYA.

We can get so lost in the trees of planning experiences that we miss the forest. I’m task oriented; so this is something I can get trapped into doing. Instead of just planning an experience, how can we lead SYA’s to engage with God’s Word more because of the experience?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

This was said about Moody…

“He has filled the world with his fame as a herald of Christ, who has honored him with power over men for salvation such as few of the world’s heroes and saints have ever had.” p. 388-9.

Why on earth did Moody have a greater power than other ministers on the earth?

“Brother Moody is a firm believer in God’s word. It is a marvel to all our ministers, that while so many educated clergy-men in the Evangelical Church treat the Bible as Homer or Plato, he practically writes over every verse, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ Hence he has avoided all those crotchets that weaken and deform the influence of many good preachers.” p. 392, emphasis author’s.

1. Moody’s focus with God’s Word was that it was exactly that…it was his powerful word. It wasn’t a history book. It wasn’t an idea book. It wasn’t a book about good morals. It was God’s very words to man. The Bible was where Moody was able to draw his strength.

“His mind has evidently been in contact with clear Scripture teachings, such as one seldom meets with in our day: for he has learned to draw his words of grace and truth from the clear crystal river of divine Revelation, and not from the muddy streams of human theology; and if we, ministers of Christ, are still to get a hearing from the people who have hung as if spell-bound on the ministry of Mr. Moody, we must preach in the same simple, scriptural, loving, and direct manner. He has lifted up a crucified and glorified Christ, honored the Holy Ghost by believing in His constant presence and grace, and his Gospel has been made the power of God unto salvation to unnumbered souls.” p. 430-1, emphasis mine.

2. But Moody made God’s Powerful Word simple and clear to people so that they can understand it. Being faithful to the Bible as God’s Word doesn’t mean that we don’t make it understandable to people. Quite the opposite. What good is it to have a power in the Scripture if people didn’t know how to have faith in that power?

“We have no doubt that a very great part of Mr. Moody’s superiority over most ministers as a preacher of the gospel, arises from his superior knowledge and grasp of the Holy Scriptures.” p. 433, emphasis mine.

3. Despite his illiteracy, Moody still had a tremendous study ethic. This ended up giving him an amazing knowledge and grasp of the Bible.

Our job isn’t to compete against other ministers. Dwight Moody didn’t set out to be better. In fact, his contemporaries said that he was an average preacher. He was not the most polished. He was not the “deepest.” However, he did stand on three things that other ministers didn’t stand on…

1. The Bible was his strength.
2. The Bible was to be made simple.
3. The Bible had to be known well to have it as his strength and to make it simple.

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

The love of Scripture is the foundation to power, but having a foundation isn’t enough.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu/profile/abcdz2000

You have to have a study ethic. If Moody’s love for Scripture was the foundation. His study ethic was the framework.

Not only was D. L. Moody’s love for Scripture noticed by his contemporaries, his study ethic was even more impressive.

Here is what a couple of other pastors said about his Bible…

“His [Moody's] bible which he had snatched from the flames, he left on the desk, and the pastor finding it there examined it with care, and observed with wonder how thoroughly and faithfully it had been studied, as shown by the ink marks it bore on almost every page. He had been wont to rise before day, and give himself with absolute devotion to the prayerful conscientious study of that Divine Manual of instruction for the preacher’s work.” p. 388-9.

About Moody’s Bible, “Some of the leaves are worn through with handling. But nearly every page gives another and more positive proof of the study Mr. Moody has given the Book. In the Old Testament many portions are annotated on nearly every page. Especially is this true of those parts treating of the history of the Israelites, the chosen people of God. But in the New Testament, open the book wherever one may, the pages are marked and annotated in black, red, and blue ink to a wonderful extent. Sometimes certain words are underscored; again a whole verse is inclosed in black lines, with mysterious numbers or a single letter of the alphabet marked opposite. All around the margins and at the chapter-heads are comments on certain passages–an idea embodied in two or three words, with the more important word underscored. Turning to the texts of the sermons Mr. Moody has preached in Brooklyn, one finds the burden of his themes often embodied one of those marginal notes. There is scarcely a page in the New Testament where a dozen such annotations could not be counted; while in some instances every space in the margin is filled, and hardly a sentence has escaped the evangelist’s pen.” p. 590-1.

Moody’s Bible didn’t just get worn out and marked all over through random study. He had a study ethic. In the midst of revival in England, Scotland and Ireland that lasted multiple years, where he taught and preached 3-4 times a day to 10′s of thousands, this is what one minister said of his study ethic…

“Mr. Moody’s habit of Bible study has been for the past five years to rise at five o’clock and give an hour in the early morning to the study of the Bible. p. 591.

Moody knew that his power came only from one source: God. And the Bible was how he tapped into that source.

Despite all of this, you know what was the most impressive about his study ethic? Check out this quote from another minister…

“This humbly born, illiterate Mr. Moody is a ‘chosen vessel,’ or witness to the treasures hid in the book of grace.” p. 716.

Did you catch that? Moody was illiterate. He was uneducated. Apparently he didn’t let a little excuse like not knowing how to read keep him from learning how to read so that he could study the Bible! On top of that, he didn’t have “easy to read” translations and paraphrases like we have today!

So what’s our excuse for not having a study ethic? Too tired? Don’t have time? Can’t understand what we’re reading? God is doing too much in our ministry for us to give time to his Word?

The point isn’t to mirror Moody’s system. The point is to mirror Moody’s study ethic. If we think that God wants to use us in amazing ways, we can’t divorce ourselves from his Word.

Comment…how does your study ethic contribute to what you see God do in and around you?

Next: How Moody was different from his contemporaries.

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

D.L. Moody’s impact in the world was nothing short of remarkable. It truly was an act of God. Because of modern technology, for someone to speak to 10′s of thousands at one time and in one day isn’t that remarkable. For 1875, this type of stuff simply didn’t happen.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu/profile/abcdz2000

There are tons of areas in which we can draw from Moody’s life and ministry. But there is one thing he had that was the foundation behind the ministry…

His love for Scripture.

Here is what other people said about Moody’s relationship with God’s Word…

• “Brother Moody is a firm believer in God’s word…His profound adoring love of the Scriptures has led some to think that he reads nothing else.” p. 392.
• Mr. Moody has a “superior knowledge and grasp of the Holy Scriptures.” p. 433.
• “Mr. Moody has given the Bible its due place of prominence.” p. 435.
• Mr. Moody is “a man of one book.” p. 579.
• Mr. Moody has “great Bible knowledge.” p. 591.
• Mr. Moody “values Bible-study. He urges it on all. He leads many to it.” p. 678-9.

These quotes were from other ministers. They were peers and contemporaries to Moody. Other guys who no doubt read their Bibles. But they looked at Moody in awe in his love for Scripture.

What would other people, other ministers, say about my love for Scriptures? What would they say about your love for Scriptures?

His love for Scripture didn’t create a revival. Lots of people love Scripture. But his love for Scripture made its way into his real life through his study ethic. His study ethic caused something supernatural to occur in his ministry.

It is as if he had a clear understanding of his God-given appointment and he knew exactly what would give him the power to fulfill that appointment: God’s Word.

I want these posts on revival and Moody’s life to encourage us. Today, to encourage us to look at our Bible and think, “Is my love for Scripture so dominate in my life that other people would notice?” (Yeah, literally. Look at your Bible and think about the place it has in your heart). There is nothing that would transform us and impact we have on others more than a deep love for his Scripture.

Next: How did Moody’s love for Scripture practically work in his life?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

1. The Foundation Behind Moody’s Power.
2. Moody’s study ethic.
3. How Moody was different from his contemporaries.
4. How he transfered this to others.

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