THE KI NG ' S BUSINESS
January, 1937
7
usual fervor was able to hold it off from taking arrogant force until after his death. This is Moody’s estimate as to what was to happen: “ Thirty years ago people did not question the gospel. They believed that the Lord Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross, had done something for them. And my work was to bring them to a decision to do what they already knew they ought to do. But all is different now. The question mark is being raised every where. There is need for teachers who shall begin at, the beginning and show the people what the gospel is.” Thus Moody foresaw the condition into which the church was to slip very quickly after his death. He did not have to face the full backwash of these dismal decades from 1900 to 1920 — but R. A . Torrey did! If any one who evaluates has felt regret that the love note so prom inent in Moody was somewhat missing in Torrey, let him remember that the hand of God raised up Moody for a believing period; and the same divine hand raised up T o r rey for an unbelieving age. Let no one fancy that this term, “ The Set Face,” is one of deprecation. The One whom Torrey most loved, and toward whom the full warmth of his devotional life con stantly moved, received this same caption from the Holy Spirit, writing in Isaiah 50 :7 : “ For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” If any friend of Dr. Torrey feels that this is a severe title, my own heart responds that if this Valiant of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were alive at this moment, he himself would esteem it to be a crown of glory; and perhaps would object that he is un worthy of it since it belonged only to his King. •• • • The wonderful part about one’s falling dead in love with the King, as Torrey did, is that so many things he admires in the King begin slowly to reappear in his own \Continued on page 36]
The Continuing Influence of Torrey's Ministry By ALBERT G . JOHNSON * Portland, Oregon D r . T orrey ’ s first visit to Liverpool was, as I see it now, a link in the chain of God’s providences in my life. I was then a young Christian, in the tender and formative years of my Christian experience. The meetings were held in the Tournament Hall, a massive structure, ideal for the throngs that attended the meetings nightly for several weeks. The masses literally poured in, and the great hall, seating many thousands, was often filled long before the meeting began. Charles M . Alexander was then at the height of his career as an evangelistic singer. W ell do I recall his platform presence and resonant voice. Dr. Torrey’s method of evangelism was free from tricks. He captivated the British public by his liquid logic, Bib lical soundness, and transparent sincerity. He was deeply in earnest, and he made others conscious of that fact. The legitimate emotional appeal of preaching was never di vorced from an informed intelligence. The conversions of the Moody and Torrey campaigns were not spurious.' Many of the pillars in the churches of Great Britain today were converted to Christ in the Moody-Sankey and Tor- rey-Alexander campaigns. Dr. Torrey was stern, yet withal gentle. He was in tolerant of sham and superficiality. I remember vividly one of the famous question hours, always a feature of his campaigns. On this occasion, some one asked him, “Where was the soul of Lazarus during the days between his death and the rising from the dead ?” Dr. Torrey had correctly appraised the spirit o f the questioner, from the content of his letter, and after reading the question, he promptly and solemnly replied in words to this effect: “ When I am dead and buried four days, if you will come around and ask me, I will tell you,” and he went on with the next question. Secure in his knowledge of God, he met the organized opposition of the secular societies which distributed their atheistic literature at the doors of the great halls where he preached, by openly challenging them to present the fruits of their philosophies and doctrines. The well-known British atheist, Blatchford, was then in the height of his power and influence. The Clarion, the organ of the atheists, which Blatchford edited, and one of his skeptical books, God and M y Neighbor, were much in evidence in those days, and many of the youth of England were led astray. Torrey’s coming seemed providentially timed to meet this propaganda in Great Britain. It is a well-known fact that a number of the confessed atheists were won to Christ through Torrey’s ministry. I knew one such skeptic who became a veritable firebrand for Christ. T orrey ’ s A fternoon B ible R eadings One of the features of the Torrey-Alexander campaigns in Britain was the custom of holding afternoon Bible read ings. Christians would gather with Bibles and notebooks, and Dr. Torrey would bring out the treasures new and old. It was in one of those meetings that I met the crisis [ Continued on page 36] * Minister, Hinson Memorial Baptist Church ,
Hostetler-Skinner Studios Richard Ellsworth Day (left) and President Paul W. Rood of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles meet in Dr. Rood's library to examine some of the books written by Reuben Archer Torrey, books which reveal the inner character of the man of "The Set Face." As the beloved and honored Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the years from 19 12 to I924, Dr. Torrey, whose birthday anniversary is January 28, and whose portrait appears -in the center of this picture, left an imprint upon the life of Biola which can never be erased. Dr. Day is the biographer who in "The Shadow of the Broad Brim"—the story of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and in "Bush Aglow"—the account of the soul-struggles of Dwight L. Moody, has caught and revealed the secret of the Lord's power in the lives of these men. All who know these two popular works by Dr. Day are eager for his interpretation of Dr. Torrey.
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