January 1929
11
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
drifted into loose living, though he never abandoned at tendance at church and prayer meeting, nor gave up Bible reading and prayer. In his junior year, being under intense conviction of sin, he arose from his bed one night and told God that if He would give him relief, he would
which he did, and soon he became Superintendent of the City Missionary Society also. He was now led to renounce any stipulated salary and to trust God to supply all the needs of himself and his family. He also came into that blessed experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit for
preach the Gospel, should He bid him. He found peace at once, though he did not make an open con fession of Christ until his senior year. After graduation he entered Yale Theological Seminary, and here for a season he fell into the darkness of skepticism. From this he was deliver ed through his studies in Christian Evidences, il luminated by the Holy Spirit. M eets M r . M oody While Mr. Torrey was. in his senior year in the Seminary, Mr. M o o d y held meetings in New Haven. Mr. Torrey, with other students, attended, and Mr. Moody set him to work in the inquiry room,
service after he had come to realize his lack of spir itual power and had told the Lord he would not go into the pulpit again un til he had received “power from on high.” See how God was preparing this “chosen vessel,” for who can number the multitude of men and women who through his teaching have come into the like blessed experience ? T h e F irst B ible I nstitute In 1886 Mr. Moody had launched a series ’of “Bible Institutes,” as he called them in Chicago. These were Bible classes, and classes, for training Christian workers, held in the C h i c a g o Avenue Church, lasting for some
CR ^ A . TO RRET , D .D . (An English Tribute) B y W illiam O lney Adieu, Great Heart! The God, Who gave thee, grants That we may still enjoy the messages Thou hast left to us in the printed page. Thy How to pray; How to win men for Christ; The Holy Spirit; and His Baptism; And many other works, will still inspire The Church’s faith and zeal, though thou art gone Thou hast well fought, and in thy Master’s strength Grandly didst conquer in the holy fray. Thy works and words were lesser than thyself! Thy bitter hate to sin, thy stern rebukes, Thy love for Christ and souls, and thy combined Courage and tenderness, will long abide A mem’ry to urge on the hosts of God. May we the same straight path of Faith pursue, Till me meet round the Throne. Brave soul, adieu!
thus giving him his first taste of the joy of winning souls by personal work. Had Mr. Moody any idea that night of how closely the young theological student and himself would be associated in the days ahead, or what a master and teacher of the art of soul-winning by personal work the newly enlisted recruit would prove ? Graduating from the Seminary in 1878, he was or dained to the Congregational ministry. His first charge was at Garrettsville, Ohio, where his ministry was much blessed. He said the blessing was due to the prayers of a woman who was one of the first converts. During his residence, here he was married to Miss Clara Smith. After four years, feeling the need of further equip ment, he resigned his pastorate and went to Germany, where he studied under Delitzsch, Luthardt, Kahnis, and Frank. While studying at Erlangen and Leipsic, he was led to discard the tenets of the higher critics in favor of the older beliefs which are the very foundations of evan gelical truth. He used to tell in the class-room how he came home from his classes one day, his head in a whirl and feeling himself all at sea in his thinking. He sat down at his table and put his head between his hands, for it seemed as though it would burst. Then, as though it were a real voice that spake, he heard these words: “Torrey! God knows some things you cannot know.” The light had dawned and he was quite content to have it so, though he never ceased to master, so far as he could, all that God has seen fit to reveal of Himself and of His plans. He had found his guide and was supremely happy. Was it any wonder that he spoke with the authority of one who knows by personal experience, and that with unshak able confidence he could invite perplexed souls to “come and see,” fully assured whom they would find ? P astor and C ity M issionary Returning to the United States in 1883, he was invited to organize a Congregational Church in Minneapolis,
weeks, and conducted by leading Bible scholars and Chris tian workers. By 1889 the movement had crystallized in Mr. Moody’s mind, so that he interested a number of his friends in opening a training school for men and women who felt called to become lay workers, and also for those who were already in Christian work who felt their need of further training, especially for a fuller knowledge of the Word of God. Buildings adjoining the church were pur chased to house the young women under the care of Mrs. S. B. Capron, a missionary, returned from India, and a three-story building for the young men was erected on ground purchased for the purpose in the rear of the church. T he C all to C hicago Who was the man to be put in charge of this adven ture, for there was no such school in existence to serve as a model ? Mr. Moody had heard of the remarkable work Dr. Torrey was doing in Minneapolis, and invited him to come down and see him in Chicago. The result of the interview was that on October 1, 1889, Dr. Torrey, then 33 years old, was made Superintendent of the newly organized Bible Institute, the building not yet finished. I have before me, as I write, an invitation to the “Opening of the New Building for the Men’s Department of the Bible Institute of the Chicago Evangelistic Society, Thursday afternoon and evening, January 16, 1890.” Mr. Moody imparted to Dr. Torrey something of the lines on which he believed the Institute training should be carried on, but the new superintendent was given a free hand in working out the details. This development came slowly and after prayerful deliberation and consultation, always keeping in mind the end to be achieved: the send ing out from the Institute a body of men and women of approved Christian character, devoted to the Master’s service, equipped with a thorough working knowledge of the English Bible and how to preach it, teach it, and use it in personal work; men and women with a passion for
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker