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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
January, 1936
Desiring GOD’S GLORY B y MRS. R. A. TORREY Wheaton, Illinois W hat others considered domination in Dr. Torrey seemed to me merely the exercise o f good judgment. All problems were thought and prayed through until God’s guidance was clear. Then Dr. Torrey was firm as to the course to be followed. My husband was a man o f much prayer and Bible study. He .denied himself social intercourse with even his best friends, in order that he might have time for prayer, study, and the preparation for his work. Dr. Torrey was accused o f being boastful, because in some sermons he had enumerated the places visited and meetings held in numerous countries. A fter one person criticized him to me, my husband said, “ I tell what the Lord has done, for His glory.” Only a few weeks before his death, I mentioned some thing about a biography. He said, “ No one could write my life except myself, and I don’t want a biography writ ten. Most biographies glorify the man instead o f glorify ing God.” That was the reason we never wrote or had written the story of Dr. Torrey’s life. W e carried out his own wish. Writing from El Segundo, California, Mr. Morton, a Christian layman, tells o f treasuring three hundred personal letters from Dr. Torrey. H e emphasizes the patience and persistence o f this great evangelist in an unusual friendship that extended over a long period o f years. 1 n writing a few words as to how I became acquainted JL with R. A . Torrey, and concerning what his friendship meant to me for many years, I want- to keep the fact constantly before me that while Dr. Torrey was unusually richly endowed by nature, no man knew better than he that it was because his gifts were wholly surrendered to the Spirit of God that they proved so wonderfully effective. He could say with Paul: “ By the grace o f God I am what I am”— and he meant it. And he could proclaim with Zechariah the prophet: “ Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord o f hosts.” T orrey M eets Tw o B rothers I met Dr. Torrey for the first time in Glasgow, Scot land, more than thirty years ago. I had heard Dr. Torrey preach in a hall in Glasgow at an earlier period, but I had never had the pleasure o f meeting him. On this occasion, as my brother and I were on our way to the railway station, we noticed before us a gentleman walking with a Bible under his arm. My brother nudged me and said, “ There is a man who is not ashamed to carry his Bible!” I looked for a moment or two at the very purposeful- looking man ahead o f us, and then in an instant it flashed on me who he was. I turned to my brother and said, “ Why, that is Dr. Torrey.” W e quickened our pace and soon overtook him. He was walking in a leisurely manner to his hotel from a busi ness men’s meeting. When we had introduced ourselves and Dr. Torrey had shaken hands with us, my brother said to me, “ Ask him whether he believes in believer’s baptism.” I put the question to Dr. Torrey and can at this moment Dr. Torrey as a FRIEND B y DUNCAN A. ^ O R T O N
recall his exact words as clearly as when they were uttered. His reply was characteristic. Turning to me and looking straight into my face with his clear, searching eyes, he replied, “ I do, but I don’t make a hobby o f it.” ; W e talked a little while, especially on the question o f assurance o f salvation and rest of conscience; then we parted, as Dr. Torrey had reached his destination. I never expected to see him again, and it never occurred to me that out o f this brief meeting, such blessing o f God was to come to me and mine. A t this time, although a regenerated man; \ I was in great darkness, uncertainty, and travail of soul. I had been born and reared in a godly home, but had imbibed modernistic notions and was all at sea. I wanted to believe the Bible, for I was under deep conviction o f sin, and knew that the Christ o f the Bible was my only hope. But I could not see how the Bible could possibly withstand the attacks being made upon it by modern criticism. T he A ppeal of C ertainty When the Torrey-Alexander evangelistic party came to Dundee, I was privileged to have a visit at my home from Miss Grace Saxe, the now well-known Bible teacher. Miss Saxe arranged for my wife and me to meet Dr. Torrey at „ his hotel, where we renewed our acquaintance. As I lived within a few miles o f Dundee, I went to hear Dr. Torrey preach in the Kinnaird Hall as often as I could, and the more I listened to him, the more I admired him and his masterly presentation o f Bible truth. Here, I thought, is a man who knows something for certain, and I feel sure he can help me. T o hear Dr. Torrey say, “ I know God better than I know any one else,” and to hear him declare, “ I know God answers prayer,” was like the breath o f God from the eternal world to my poor battered spirit. * T orrey ’ s F aithfulness and H umility Taking my courage in both hands, I wrote to Dr. Torrey and was agreeably surprised to find that instead o f resent ing my writing to him, he encouraged me to do so. When writing to him years afterwards, I apologized for taking up so much o f his time. His reply was, “ Write me as often as you want to, and any time you want to. Your letters don’t worry me. I enjoy them!” For twenty-five years, Dr. Torrey befriended me, in ways known only to God and himself. During that period he wrote over three hundred letters to me— quite a number of them with his own hand. Only those o f us who knew how busy a man Dr. Torrey was can realize what this faith fulness meant. Dr. Torrey counseled me, encouraged me, and prayed for me, and he never once gave up or lost his patience. No wonder he was so successful in leading men to Christ and helping poor souls out o f the “ slough of despair,” into the clear light of God’s W ord ! He never gave up any one. He was the most optimistic man I ever knew, and he fairly radiated sunshine. W hy T orrey W as .P ositive As to Dr. Torrey’s faith, he knew what he believed and x why he believed it. He did not come easily by his faith, but it came out o f real soul exercise and struggle. In February, 1917, while I was staying at the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, I had listened one morning to Dr. Torrey as he gave some o f his proofs of the resurrection o f Christ. He was at his best on that occasion. I went to the cafeteria for lunch and had just sat down at a table when Dr. Torrey joined me. I said, “ Dr. Torrey, I wondered, when listen ing to your lecture, whether you had gone through all
W “ This world can be reached and evangelized far more quickly and thoroughly by personal work Q than by public preaching.”— Torrey.
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