The Edward Kimble Story

The year was 1855, April in America, Mr. Edward Kimble who was 40 years of
age learned that he was going to die and had very little time to live. He was
a man of very little education but taught a Sunday School class of 15, and
after the pastor of the church where he attended had preached on evangelism he
went out to lead all of his class to the Lord. Mr. Kimble had to overcome fear
to go into a shoe store to talk to one or the boys named Dwight. But it was in
the stock room of this shoe store he lead D. L. Moody to the Lord.
 
Dwight Lyman Moody 1837-1899 An American evangelist. Moody was born in North-field,
Massachusetts. His father died when he was four years of age. He left school
at the age of 17 to find work. Moody was led to Christ by his Sunday School
teacher, Edward Kimball, and later began his own Sunday School class with 13
street kids. This class increased its enrollment to 1,500 in four years.
Moody did personal work with the soldiers during the Civil War. He traveled
in Europe and America, holding campaigns, and personally dealt with over
750,000 individuals. He preached to more than 100,000,000 people, and had
over 1,000,000 first time conversions to Jesus Christ. His work continues
today through the Moody Memorial Bible Institute of Chicago.
Dwight L Moody rocked the world with his preaching. Moody was preaching
in the British Isles, and a lady teacher was so moved by his testimony that
she told it to her class. She in turn also told her preacher Frederick
Brotherton Meyer that every one of her students had given their heart to the
Lord. The report of the teacher had a profound effect on his life. He realized
for the first time what it meant to be brokenhearted about sin and point people
to Jesus.
 
Meyer came to America and preached at Moody’s school in Northfield, Massachusetts. 
He said, If you’re not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you
willing to be made willing.” That remark changed the life of a young preacher
named J. Wilbur Chapman.
 
Chapman went on to be a great evangelist in his era. But when he decided to
return to the pastorate, he turned his ministry over to a YMCA clerk who had
been his advance man. The young mans name was Billy Sunday.
 
Billy Sunday is one of the twentieth century’s best-known evangelists. By the
time of his death in 1935, he had preached to millions, and it is estimated that
three hundred thousand men and women were led to faith in Christ at over 200
campaigns. His campaigns were known as the sawdust trail. His career spanned
five decades.
 
In 1924, Sunday conducted a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. Out of those
meetings came a group of laymen that formed a permanent organization to continue
witnessing for Christ in their city. Eight years later in 1932, that same
group brought an evangelist named Mordecai Ham to town for a citywide meeting.
 
Mordecai Ham lived from 1878 to 1959; he was a Baptist evangelist. During
the first year of his ministry Mordecai saw more than 33,000 conversions. In
30 years of ministry more than 300,000 new converts joined Baptist Churches in
the south.
The author of the amendment for prohibition stated that Billy Sunday and
Mordecai Ham nearly put the saloons out of business. Mordecai exalted Christ
and fought sin with all his might.
 
It was at Mount Gilead, Kentucky he encountered two incidents he could never forget.
First, a strange power came over him; it was much like that which Finney and Moody
had experienced. It was the power of the Holy Spirit, and Ham always preached
in that power from then on.
The next day after that Ham visited a dying girl named Lulu. As Lulu, who
apparently was unsaved, closed her eyes in death he called to her, “Lulu how
is it?” A voice came back, not hers “Lost..... lost.....Oh.....so dark; so dark.....”
 
Ham established a pattern that was to follow him the rest of his days. He
went after the biggest sinners in town, and often saw them saved. A typical story
is in a Southern town he was directed to a certain cornfield to seek out the most
notorious sinner. The infidel saw the feared preached coming and hid. The evangelist
began to hunt is pray and, heard suspicious sounds under a corn shock, hauled him out.
“What do you want with me?” The atheist quivered. Ham retorted, “I’m going to ask
God to kill you! You don’t believe God exists. If there is no God, then my prayers
can’t hurt you. But if there is a God, you deserve to die because you are making
atheists out of your children and grandchildren.
The infidel begged him not to pray that way, Ham said, “Very well then, I shall
ask God to save you.” He was saved, and before the meeting was over, all of that
infidel’s family was baptized---forty of them.
 
In November of 1934, in Charlotte, North Carolina, during a fall crusade, Ham
was having a trying time. The place was a temporary tabernacle on Pecan Avenue
on the outskirts of town. A total of 6,400 were saved at this crusade.  A young
man was there and was amazed as he saw more than 5,000 in every meeting, and every
seat was filled. People were getting saved all around this young man. It seemed
to the young man that the only safe place from the evangelist’s wrath was to join
the choir. So that is where he and his friend sat the next night. As the evangelist
came up to speak his first words were “there is a great sinner in this place tonight.”
The young man thought “my mother has been talking to him about me.” That night
he turned to his friend and said, “lets go.” He and his friend were saved that
night. His name is Billy Graham and his friend is Grady Wilson.
 
Are You Willing to be Made Willing
 
Pastor: Robert Lindsay