October, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
362
JAMES M. GRAY-"With Christ”
Drawn aside with unexpected suddenness from the activi ties of Bible conferences, teaching, writing, and editing— work in which he had been vigorously engaged throughout a long life— James M. Gray was welcomed, on the afternoon of September 21, into the presence of the King. He was in his eighty-fifth year when the Lord took him. Coming to the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago forty- two years ago at the personal invitation of Dwight L. Moody, Dr. Gray ministered in positions of ascending responsibility and widening influence as teacher, Dean, Executive Secretary, and President; and on November I, 1934, he became Presi dent Emeritus, when the man of his own choice, Will H. Houghton, was elected to succeed him as President of the Moody Bible Institute. To the end, Dr. Gray's life was given without stint to the promulgation of Bible truth by both voice and pen. He was the author of some twenty-five volumes and booklets.
By many thousands of the Lord's people, Dr. Gray is held in affectionate remem brance, not only for his unwearied defense of the faith, but also for the kindliness of his Christian courtesy. It is significant that in the Moody Monthly, of which he was the editor, there appear, in the current issue, among the last items which he pre pared for the press, two editorials which illustrate these prominent character traits. One of these comments speaks of an anticipated trip to the British Isles, where Dr. Gray planned "to represent the Institute in a proposed celebration of the centenary of D. L. Moody." The whole world knows the truths for which Moody stood: the inspired Word, the atoning Lord, the reality of sin, and the perfection of God's plan of re demption. And the whole world has come to know also that for the protection and propagation of these sacred truths, James M. Gray would give his life. Referring to his relation to Moody, Torrey, and other leaders of the Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Gray declared his position a few months ago in these memorable words: "In later years, enemies of evangelical truth have tried to garble or distort the teachings of these great men. They have hoped that their testimony to the gospel might be weakened, so that credence might be given to certain vagaries and fanati cisms of these latter days. But we who have been placed as watchmen upon these walls of Zion, have guarded the sacred deposit those men left with us. And we ask you to thank God with us. . . . that it is being handed down intact to our successors." Dr. Gray "kept the faith"!
Not only was he a militant champion of the cause of Jesus Christ; James M. Gray was also a Christian gentleman and sympathetic friend. The second item in the October Moody Monthly, to which attention is called, offers an illus tration of the brotherly love which Dr. Gray had for those of like precious faith. This editorial concerns the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, its retiring President, Louis T. Talbot, and its new leader, Paul W. Rood. Dr. Gray's comment concludes with this gracious paragraph: "W e are glad to think of these two brethren as so closely associated in the service of the Lord in that strategic world center on the Pacific coast, and we bespeak for them, and es pecially for him who is just entering upon an untried field, the fervent supplication of every child of God who reads this. To contend valiantly for the faith, and at the same time to be gentle, understanding, Christiike toward the faithful, is to offer in one's life a fulfillment of Paul's injunction to "hold the truth in love." In the passing of Dr. Gray, may there be a call to all the Lord's children to follow him in this matter as he followed Christ.
Only a Sinner By JAMES M. GRAY ★
Naught have I gotten but what I received; Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase; I’m only a sinner saved by grace! Tears unavailing, no merit had I;
Mercy had saved me, or else I must die; Sin had alarmed me, fearing God’s face; But now I’m a sinner saved by grace! Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, Loving his Saviour, to tell what he knows; Once more to tell it, would I embrace I’m only a sinner saved by grace! Only a sinner saved by grace! Only a sinner saved by grace! This is my story, to God be the glory I’m only a sinner saved by grace!
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