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D.L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 - 1899). American evangelist, publisher, and founder of Moody Bible Institute, born in Northfield, Massachusetts, to a poor Unitarian family. Leaving home at 17, he worked as a shoe salesman in Boston, converting to Christianity in 1855 through his Sunday school teacher. Moving to Chicago, he founded a Sunday school for street children, growing it to 1,500 attendees by 1860. Without formal ordination, he preached across the U.S. and Britain, holding campaigns with song leader Ira Sankey, drawing millions, including 130,000 in London in 1875. Moody authored books like Heaven (1880) and founded the Chicago Evangelization Society (1889), now Moody Bible Institute, training thousands of missionaries. Married to Emma Revell in 1862, they had three children. His practical, love-focused sermons bridged denominations, influencing figures like Billy Graham. He established Northfield Conferences, fostering global missions, and raised funds for Chicago’s YMCA. Moody’s tireless work, delivering over 100 sermons annually, transformed 19th-century evangelicalism. His maxim, “If this world is going to be reached, I am convinced it must be done by men and women of average talent with hearts on fire,” drives his enduring legacy.
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Sermon Summary
D.L. Moody shares a poignant story of a dying child who, in his final moments, repeatedly asks his father to lift him higher, symbolizing the human desire for spiritual elevation and closeness to God. The father's efforts to lift the child reflect God's willingness to raise us up in our spiritual journey. Moody encourages believers to continually seek a deeper relationship with Christ, echoing the child's plea for 'higher' as a metaphor for striving towards holiness and divine connection. The sermon emphasizes the importance of yearning for a closer walk with God, especially as we face life's challenges. Ultimately, it serves as a reminder that our ultimate destination is to be with the eternal King in heaven.
Higher and Higher
I remember a few years ago, a little child died, and just before his soul went home he asked his father to lift him up, and the father put his hand under the head of the child and raised it up. But the child only said, "That is not enough; that is not what I want; lift me right up." The child was wasted all to skin and bones, but still his father complied, and lifted the dying child out of his bed. But the little fellow kept whispering, fainter and fainter, "Lift me higher, higher, higher!" And the father lifted higher and higher, till he lifted him as far as he could reach. Yet, still the barely audible whisper came, "Higher, father, higher," till at last, his head fell back, and his spirit passed up to the eternal King—high at last. So, my dear friends, let your constant cry be higher, higher, more near the cross of the Son of God.
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Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 - 1899). American evangelist, publisher, and founder of Moody Bible Institute, born in Northfield, Massachusetts, to a poor Unitarian family. Leaving home at 17, he worked as a shoe salesman in Boston, converting to Christianity in 1855 through his Sunday school teacher. Moving to Chicago, he founded a Sunday school for street children, growing it to 1,500 attendees by 1860. Without formal ordination, he preached across the U.S. and Britain, holding campaigns with song leader Ira Sankey, drawing millions, including 130,000 in London in 1875. Moody authored books like Heaven (1880) and founded the Chicago Evangelization Society (1889), now Moody Bible Institute, training thousands of missionaries. Married to Emma Revell in 1862, they had three children. His practical, love-focused sermons bridged denominations, influencing figures like Billy Graham. He established Northfield Conferences, fostering global missions, and raised funds for Chicago’s YMCA. Moody’s tireless work, delivering over 100 sermons annually, transformed 19th-century evangelicalism. His maxim, “If this world is going to be reached, I am convinced it must be done by men and women of average talent with hearts on fire,” drives his enduring legacy.