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One of the men who most influenced D. L. Moody was a young preacher named Henry Moorehouse. He once preached for Moody for an entire week using the same text every night—John 3:16.

The preaching of Moorehouse, according to Moody, was much different from his own. Instead of preaching that God was behind people with a double-edged sword to hue them down, he told them God wanted every person to be saved because He loved them. Moody said of his preaching: “I didn’t know God thought so much of me. It was wonderful to hear the way he brought out Scripture. He went from Genesis to Revelation and preached that in all ages God loved the sinner.”

In closing the final service of that series, Moorehouse said: “For seven nights I have been trying to tell you how much God loves you, and this poor stammering tongue of mine will not let me. If I could ascend Jacob’s ladder and ask Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, to tell you how much love God the Father has for this poor lost world, all that Gabriel could say is: (quote John 3:16). {From the biography of D. L. Moody)

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