In Philadelphia, in 1875, evangelist Dwight L. Moody observed the closing of the old year with a special service. At this service, he and a respected Bible scholar, William S. Plumer, were seated on a platform before an audience. The scene was described thus by friend Henry Clay Trumball:
"Mr. Moody was on this occasion represented, not as the teacher, but as the inquirer. Plumer stood out as the teacher, to whom the younger Moody came with his questionings of heart. Few men, if any, in the world better knew the anxious cravings and doubts of the inquiring soul than Moody, as he had met with them in his varied evangelistic labors.... (And) few theologians could have more wisely and simply answered those inquiries than the large-hearted, large-framed, venerable patriarch (Plumer) before whom Moody stood.
"The whole scene evidenced the simplicity of trust in God as the sinner came to Him through Jesus Christ, in his need and in his confidence.
"Moody and Plumer were at one in this interview. A few specimen questions and answers will illustrate."
Moody: "Is any given amount of distress necessary to genuine conversion?"
Plumer: "Lydia had no distress‹we read of none. God opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken by Paul. But the jailer of Philippi would not have accepted Christ withoutsome alarm. If you will accept the Son of God, you need have no trouble. There is nothing in trouble that sanctifies the soul."
Moody: "Well, what is conversion?"
Plumer: "Glory be to God there is such a thing as conversion. To be converted is to turn from self, self-will, self-righteousness, all self-confidence, and from sin itself, and to be turned to Christ."
Moody: "Can a man be saved here tonight, before twelve o'clock‹saved all at once?"
Plumer: "Why not? In my Bible I read of three thousand men gathered together one morning, all of them murderers, their hands stained with the blood of the Son of God. They met in the morning, and before night they were all baptized members of Christ."
Moody: "How can I know that I am saved?"
Plumer: "Because of the fact that God is true. 'Let God be true, but every man a liar.' If I accept Jesus Christ, it is not Mr. Moody's word, nor Mr. Sankey's; it is the Word of the living God, whose name is Amen. 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.'"
Moody: "What if I haven't got faith enough?"
Plumer: "Glory to God, if I can touch the hem of my Saviour's garment I shall be saved. A little faith is as truly faith as a great deal of faith. A little coal of fire in the ashes is as truly fire as the glowing heat of a furnace."
Moody: "I don't feel that I love Christ enough."
Plumer: "And you never will. To all eternity, you never will love Him as much as He deserves to be loved.
'Had I ten thousand tongues,
Not one should silent be;
Had I ten thousand hearts,
I'd give them all to Thee.'
"As the hour of midnight approached, the appeals of Mr. Moody, following this illustrative inquiry meeting, grew more and more earnest, and the solemnity of the service deepened. Just before twelve o'clock he asked all present to join in silent prayer.
"While all heads were still bowed the profound stillness was broken by Mr. Sankey's singing of Almost Persuaded. Then the closing moments of the passing year were given to earnest prayer, especially for those who had risen to ask for it at Mr. Moody's call, and were now urged to a final decision.
"When at midnight the sounding out of the bell of Independence Hall was the signal for all the bells of the city and the steam-whistles on every side to greet the incoming year, Mr. Moody wished all a 'Happy New Year,' and that never-to-be-forgotten watch-night service closed. Its echoes are still resounding in many hearts on earth and in heaven, and their gratitude is now deeper than ever to dear Mr. Moody and his fellow-worker on that sacred occasion."
‹Taken from The Life of D. L. Moody
