<TITLE>15. Par 82-85</TITLE>L-82 Charles G. Finney, a lawyer, a great Philadelphian lawyer, but when he come into the Presence of God he dropped his law study and become a mightiest preacher of this nation's ever had yet. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
... was a preacher, because one day he come in the presence of God. He thought once he'd studied the ministry... You know his book? I got his autobiography. He went out to pray. He thought he was a preacher. He had a desire that he wanted to preach, and he had him a few sermons he'd try to preach. He went out one day out of his office to pray, went out in the woods. He got down behind an old blown down tree where he'd go every afternoon: very religious, but he didn't believe in that...
There was two women in the church kept saying, "Mr. Finney, we're praying that you'll receive the Holy Ghost."
He said, "I got the Holy Ghost." Said, "I'm a preacher."
Said, "Mr. Finney, you're a great man, and you got a great hold of the Word, but you need the Holy Ghost. We're praying for you." Sweet little women...
So he went on, on. So every day he'd go out behind his office, his boss and all of them there he worked, and he'd go out of his law office and go out there to pray. And one day he was out there praying and he heard a brush break. He thought his boss was coming up, hunting him. He jumped up real quick. He was saying, "Lord God, I believe You." Stopped, brushed before he got... "Uhm! Uhm!" raised up and said, looked around, see where it was broke the brush. And it was then he come into the Presence of God. He realized that brush had broke for a purpose. He stood there; the tears running down his cheeks. He said, "Maybe them women's right. I'm ashamed for somebody to see me talking to my God, but I'd think it was an honor for somebody to see me talking to my boss. How much greater is my Lord than my boss." Said, "Lord, forgive me and fill me with the Holy Ghost," started screaming and shouting. He was in the Presence of God. He run downtown real quick to his office. He got to screaming so hard he had to go behind the door, said, "Lord, I'll bring disgrace upon You. Hide me back here till I get over this spell." Why? He'd come in the Presence of God. He was a changed man. The sermons that he used to preach, he preached them same sermons and souls came to the altar. See, he had been in the Presence of God.

L-85 Moody, a little old shoe cobbler, hardly knowed his ABC's. That's right. His grammar was poor. Somebody told him one day, "Your grammar is awful poor, Mr. Moody."
He said, "But I'm winning souls with it."
So one day the newspapers, the editor went to writing the newspaper. He went over to see how could this man hold crowds of people under any conditions, little old guy, baldheaded, and everything, and had whiskers hanging way down, kind of pot-bellied; he was a horrible looking man to look at. So this newspaper really give him a write-up, said, "I don't see what in the world that anyone would see in Dwight Moody." Said, "He's ugly; his voice is squeaky; he's got whiskers plumb down to his waistline; he's as baldheaded as a pumpkin." And said, "How in the world would anybody ever go to see anything in Moody?"
So Moody's manager happened to see it, said, "Look, Mr. Moody, I'll read this to you." Moody couldn't read it himself. So he said, "I'll read you the editorial." And he wrote it.
Moody just shrugged his shoulder, said, "Certainly not, they come to see Christ." That was all. Why? He had been in the Presence of God. From making soles on shoes, for people to wear out; he shod the people with the Gospel of preparation. Why? He was in the Presence of God. Right.


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