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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e57edf --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50586 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50586) diff --git a/old/50586-8.txt b/old/50586-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5109393..0000000 --- a/old/50586-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15855 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Billy" Sunday, by William Ellis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: "Billy" Sunday - The Man and His Message - -Author: William Ellis - -Release Date: December 1, 2015 [EBook #50586] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "BILLY" SUNDAY *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Hulse, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[Illustration: REVEREND WILLIAM ASHLEY SUNDAY, D.D.] - - - "BILLY" SUNDAY - - THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE - - WITH HIS OWN WORDS - WHICH HAVE WON - THOUSANDS FOR CHRIST - - BY - WILLIAM T. ELLIS, LL.D. - AUTHOR OF "MEN AND MISSIONS" - - Authorized Edition - - PHILADELPHIA - THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY - L. T. MYERS - - CAUTION - - The entire contents of this book are protected by the stringent new - copyright law, and all persons are warned not to attempt to reproduce - the text, in whole or in part, or any of the illustrations. - - - - - Authorized by Mr. Sunday - - This work contains the heart of Mr. Sunday's gospel message arranged - by subjects, and is published by special agreement with him for the - use of copyright material and photographs, which could be used only by - his permission. - - - - -A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR - - -Because he is the most conspicuous Christian leader in America today; -because he has done an entirely unique and far-reaching work of -evangelism; and because his words have a message for all men, I have -written, at the request of the publishers, this narrative concerning -Rev. William A. Sunday, D.D. - -The final appraisal of the man and his ministry cannot, of course, be -made while he is alive. "Never judge unfinished work." This book has -endeavored to deal candidly, though sympathetically, with its subject. -Mr. Sunday has not seen either the manuscript or proofs. He has, -however, authorized the use of the messages which he is accustomed to -deliver in his meetings, and which comprise more than half the contents -of the volume. - -The author's hope is that those of us who are just plain "folks" -will find the book interesting and helpful. He has no doubt that -professional Christian workers will get many suggestions from the story -of Mr. Sunday's methods. - -I would acknowledge the assistance of Miss Helen Cramp and the Rev. -Ernest Bawden in collating and preparing for publication Mr. Sunday's -utterances. - - WILLIAM T. ELLIS. - - SWARTHMORE, PA. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - Preface 5 - - Contents 7 - - CHAPTER I - - One of God's Tools - - God's Man Sent in God's Time--Sunday's Converts--Religion - and the Common People--A Great City Shaken by the - Gospel--Popular Interest in Vital Religion--Sunday - a Distinctively American Type 15 - - CHAPTER II - - Up from the Soil - - Sunday's Sympathy with Every-day Folk--Early Life--The - Soldiers' Orphanage--The Old Farm--Earning a Living--The - School of Experience--First Baseball Ventures 22 - - CHAPTER III - - A Base-Ball "Star" - - Fame as a Baseball Player--Eagerness to "Take a - Chance"--Record Run on the Day Following his - Conversion--The Parting of the Ways 33 - - CHAPTER IV - - A Curbstone Recruit - - Mrs. Clark and the Pacific Garden Mission--Sunday's Own - Story of his Conversion--Winning the Game of Life 39 - - CHAPTER V - - Playing the New Game - - The Individuality of the Man--His Marriage--Mrs. Sunday's - Influence--Work in the Y. M. C. A.--A Father - Disowned--Redeeming a Son--The Gambler--A Living - Testimony--Professional Evangelistic Work 45 - - CHAPTER VI - - A Shut Door--and an Open One - - Sunday Thrown Upon His Own Resources by Dr. Chapman's - Return to Philadelphia--Call to Garner, Iowa--"This - is the Lord's Doings" 57 - - CHAPTER VII - - Campaigning for Christ - - Splendid Organization of a Sunday Campaign--Church - Co-operation--The Power of Christian Publicity--District - Prayer Meetings--Sunday's Army of Workers--The Sunday - Tabernacle--The Evangelist's Own Compensation--Personnel - of the Sunday Party 61 - - CHAPTER VIII - - "Speech--Seasoned with Salt" - - Vivid Language of the Common People--"Rubbing the Fur - the Wrong Way"--"Delivering the Goods"--Shakings - from the Sunday Salt-cellar 69 - - CHAPTER IX - - Battling with Booze - - An Effective Foe of the Liquor Business--"Dry" Victories - Following Sunday Campaigns--"De Brewer's Big - Hosses"--The Famous "Booze" Sermon--Interest in - Manhood--Does the Saloon Help Business?--The Parent of - Crimes--The Economic Side--Tragedies Born of - Drink--More Economics--The American Mongoose--The Saloon - a Coward--God's Worst Enemy--What Will a Dollar Buy?--The - Gin Mill--A Chance for Manhood--Personal Liberty--The - Moderate Drinker--What Booze Does to the System 80 - - CHAPTER X - - "Give Attendance to Reading" - - Sunday's Reverence for "Book Learning"--No Claim to - Originality--Some Sources of His Sermons--God's - Token of Love--The Sinking Ship--"What If It Had - Been My Boy?"--A Dream of Heaven--The Battle - with Death--"Christ or Nothing"--Calvary--The - World for God--A Word Picture--The Faithful Pilot 121 - - CHAPTER XI - - Acrobatic Preaching - - Platform Gymnastics--The Athlete in the Preacher--Sunday's - Sense of Humor Stronger than His Sense of - Pathos--His Voice and Manner--Personal Side of - Sunday 138 - - CHAPTER XII - - "The Old-Time Religion" - - Sunday's Power of Positive Conviction--His Ideas of - Theology--The Need of Old-time Revival--The Gospel - According to Sunday--Salvation a Personal Matter--"And - He Arose and Followed Him"--At the Cross-roads--"He - Died for Me" 146 - - CHAPTER XIII - - "Hitting the Sawdust Trail" - - Origin of the Phrase, "The Sawdust Trail"--Impressive - Scenes as Converts by the Hundred Stream Forward--Vital - Religion--Mr. Sunday's Hand--All Sorts and Conditions - of People 158 - - CHAPTER XIV - - The Service of Society - - Social and Ethical Results of Sunday's Preaching--The - Potent Force of the Gospel--Religion in Every-day - Life--Testimony of Rev. Joseph H. Odell, D.D.--Testimony - of Rev. Maitland Alexander, D.D.--The "Garage Bible - Class"--Making Religion a Subject of Ordinary - Conversation--Lasting Results--A Life Story 167 - - CHAPTER XV - - Giving the Devil His Due - - Sunday's Sense of the Reality of the Devil--Excoriation - of the Devil--"Devil" Passages from Sermons 182 - - - CHAPTER XVI - - Critics and Criticism - - Storm of Criticism a Tribute--Preaching "Christ - Crucified"--Recognition from Secretary Bryan--Pilgrimage - of Philadelphia Clergymen--Heaven's Messenger--Plain - Speech from Sunday Himself 188 - - - CHAPTER XVII - - A Clean Man on Social Sins - - Clean-mindedness of the Man--A Plain Talk to Men--Christian - Character--Common Sense--No Excuse for Swearing--Family - Skeletons--Nursing Bad Habits--The Leprosy of Sin--"But - the Lord Looketh on the Heart"--The Joy of Religion--A - Plain Talk to Women--Hospitality--Maternity Out of - Fashion--The Girl Who Flirts--The Task of Womanhood 202 - - CHAPTER XVIII - - "Help Those Women" - - Sunday's Honor of Womanhood--The Sermon on "Mother"--A - Mother's Watchfulness--A Mother's Bravery--Good Mothers - Needed--God's Hall of Fame--A Mother's Song--A Mother's - Love--A Mother's Responsibility--Mothers of Great Men 231 - - CHAPTER XIX - - Standing on the Rock - - The Old-Fashioned Loyalty of the Evangelist to the - Bible--Some of His Utterances on the Bible 249 - - CHAPTER XX - - Making a Joyful Noise - - No Gloom in a Sunday Revival--The Value of a Laugh--The - Value of Music--The Tabernacle Music--The Campaign - Choirs--A Revival of Song 261 - - CHAPTER XXI - - The Prophet and His Own Time - - The Evangelist's Arraignment of the Sins of Today--His - Treatment of the Church and Society 267 - - CHAPTER XXII - - Those Billy Sunday Prayers - - Unconventionality of the Prayers--Specimen Prayers--"Teach - Us to Pray"--Learning of Christ--Pride Hinders - Prayer--Praying in Secret--Praying in Humility--Men - of Prayer 271 - - CHAPTER XXIII - - The Revival on Trial - - The Sea of Faces--Laboratory Tests--"The Need of - Revivals"--What a Revival Does--Revival Demands - Sacrifice--Persecution a Godsend 288 - - CHAPTER XXIV - - An Army With Banners - - Unique Plans for Reaching the Masses of the - People--Visiting Delegations--Parade at Close of - Campaign--"Spiritual Power"--Derelicts in the - Church--The Meaning of Power--Church Needs Great - Awakening--Lost Power 299 - - CHAPTER XXV - - A Life Enlistment - - Some Notable Instances of the Lasting Results of Sunday - Revivals--"Gospel Teams"--Sermon on "Sharp-Shooters"--The - Value of Personal Work--"My Father's - Business"--Feeding the Spiritual Life--The Dignity of - Personal Work--Five Classes of People 311 - - CHAPTER XXVI - - "A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ" - - Astounding Number of Conversions--Statistics of Campaigns - in Various Cities--Sunday's "Consecration" - Sermon--God's Mercies--The Living Sacrifice--A Glass - of Champagne--Denying One's Self--Thinking for - God--What God Asks 326 - - CHAPTER XXVII - - A Wonderful Day at a Great University - - Visit to University of Pennsylvania--"What Shall I Do - With Jesus?"--"Real Manhood"--"Hot-cakes Off the - Griddle"--Comment of _Old Penn_--Opinions of - Students--Comment of Religious Press 343 - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - The Christian's Daily Helper - - "The Holy Spirit"--No Universal Salvation--Happiest - Nation on Earth--Ambassadors of God--Holy Spirit - a Person--The Last Dispensation--"Little Things"--The - Fame of a Christian 359 - - CHAPTER XXIX - - A Victorious Sermon - - Conquests by the Sermon on "The Unpardonable Sin"--What - It Is--Resisting the Truth--"Too Late"--Representative - of the Trinity--Death-bed Confessions--A Forgiving - God--Power of Revivals 370 - - CHAPTER XXX - - Eternity! Eternity! - - "What Shall the End Be?"--Men Believe in God--At the - Cross--The Judgment of God--Glad Tidings to All--The - Atonement of Christ--God's Word--Eternity and - Space--God's Infinite Love--Preparing for Eternity--A - Leap in the Dark--"The End Thereof" 383 - - CHAPTER XXXI - - Our Long Home - - "Heaven"--"I, Too, Must Die"--No Substitute for - Religion--Morality Not Enough--The Way of - Salvation--Rewards of Merit--A Place of Noble - People--"A Place for You"--The Missing 404 - - CHAPTER XXXII - - Glorying in the Cross - - "Atonement"--Suffering for the Guilty--Jesus' Atoning - Blood--No Argument Against Sin--"There is Sin"--"How - Long, O God?" 424 - - - - -CHAPTER I - -One of God's Tools - -I want to be a giant for God.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Heaven often plays jokes on earth's worldly-wise. After the consensus -of experience and sagacity has settled upon a certain course and -type, lo, all the profundity of the sages is blown away as a speck of -dust and we have, say, a shockingly unconventional John the Baptist, -who does not follow the prescribed rules in dress, training, methods -or message. John the Baptist was God's laugh at the rabbis and the -Pharisees. - -In an over-ecclesiastical age, when churchly authority had reached the -limit, a poor monk, child of a miner's hut, without influence or favor, -was called to break the power of the popes, and to make empires and -reshape history, flinging his shadow far down the centuries. Martin -Luther was God's laugh at ecclesiasticism. - -While the brains and aristocracy and professional statesmanship of -America struggled in vain with the nation's greatest crisis, God -reached down close to the soil of the raw and ignored Middle West, and -picked up a gaunt and untutored specimen of the common people--a man -who reeked of the earth until the earth closed over him--and so saved -the Union and freed a race, through ungainly Abraham Lincoln. Thus -again Heaven laughed at exalted procedure and conventionality. - -In our own day, with its blatant worldly wisdom, with its flaunting -prosperity, with its fashionable churchliness, with its flood of -"advanced" theology overwhelming the pulpit, God needed a prophet, -to call his people back to simple faith and righteousness. A nation -imperiled by luxury, greed, love of pleasure and unbelief cried aloud -for a deliverer. Surely this crisis required a great man, learned -in all the ways of the world, equipped with the best preparation of -American and foreign universities and theological seminaries, a man -trained in ecclesiastical leadership, and approved and honored by the -courts of the Church? So worldly wisdom decreed. But God laughed--and -produced, to the scandal of the correct and conventional, Billy Sunday, -a common man from the common people, who, like Lincoln, so wears the -signs and savor of the soil that fastidious folk, to whom sweat is -vulgar and to whom calloused hands are "bad form," quite lose their -suavity and poise in calling him "unrefined." - -That he is God's tool is the first and last word about Billy Sunday. -He is a "phenomenon" only as God is forever doing phenomenal things, -and upsetting men's best-laid plans. He is simply a tool of God. For a -special work he is the special instrument. God called, and he answered. -All the many owlish attempts to "explain" Billy Sunday on psychological -and sociological grounds fall flat when they ignore the fact that he is -merely a handy man for the Lord's present use. - -God is still, as ever, confounding all human wisdom by snatching the -condemned baby of a Hebrew slave out of Egypt's river to become a -nation's deliverer; by calling a shepherd boy from his sheep to be -Israel's greatest warrior and king; and by sending his only-begotten -Son to earth by way of a manger, and training him in a workingman's -home and a village carpenter shop. "My ways are not your ways," is a -remark of God, which he seems fond of repeating and illustrating. - -There is no other explanation of Billy Sunday needed, or possible, than -that he is God's man sent in God's time. And if God chooses the weak -and foolish things of earth to confound the mighty, is not that but -another one of his inscrutable ways of showing that he is God? - -Why are we so confident that Billy Sunday is the Lord's own man, when -so many learned critics have declared the contrary? Simply because he -has led more persons to make a public confession of discipleship to -Jesus Christ than any other man for a century past. Making Christians -is, from all angles, the greatest work in the world. Approximately two -hundred and fifty thousand persons, in the past twenty-five years, have -taken Sunday's hand, in token that henceforth their lives belong to the -Saviour. - -That amazing statement is too big to be grasped at once. It requires -thinking over. The huge total of dry figures needs to be broken up -into its component parts of living human beings. Tens of thousands of -those men were husbands--hundreds of whom had been separated from their -wives and children by sin. Now, in reunited homes, whole families bless -the memory of the man of God who gave them back husbands and fathers. -Other tens of thousands were sons, over many of whom parents had long -prayed and agonized. It would be hard to convince these mothers, whose -sons have been given back to clean living and to Christian service, -that there is anything seriously wrong with Mr. Sunday's language, -methods or theology. Business men who find that a Sunday revival means -the paying up of the bad bills of old customers are ready to approve -on this evidence a man whose work restores integrity in commercial -relations. - -Every conceivable type of humanity is included in that total of a -quarter of a million of Sunday converts. The college professor, the -prosperous business man, the eminent politician, the farmer, the -lawyer, the editor, the doctor, the author, the athlete, the "man about -town," the criminal, the drunkard, the society woman, the college -student, the workingman, the school boy and girl: the whole gamut of -life is covered by the stream of humanity that has "hit the sawdust -trail"--a phrase which has chilled the marrow of every theological -seminary in the land. But the trail leads home to the Father's House. - -One must reach into the dictionary for big, strong words in -characterizing the uniqueness of Billy Sunday's work. So I say that -another aspect of his success is fairly astounding. He, above all -others in our time, has broken through the thick wall of indifference -which separates the Church from the world. Church folk commonly avoid -the subject of this great fixed gulf. We do not like to face the fact -that the mass of mankind does not bother its head about conventional -religious matters. Even the majority of church-goers are blankly -uninterested in the general affairs of religion. Sad to tell, our -bishops and board secretaries and distinguished preachers are really -only local celebrities. Their names mean nothing in newspaper offices -or to newspaper readers: there are not six clergymen in the United -States with a really national reputation. Each in his own circle, of -locality or denomination, may be Somebody with a big S. But the world -goes on unheeding. Great ecclesiastical movements and meetings are -entirely unrecorded by the secular press. The Church's problem of -problems is how to smash, or even to crack, the partition which shuts -off the world from the Church. - -Billy Sunday has done that. He has set all sorts and conditions of -men to talking about religion. Go to the lowest dive in New York's -"Tenderloin" or in San Francisco's "Barbary Coast," and mention the -name "Billy Sunday," and everybody will recognize it, and be ready -to discuss the man and his message. Stand before a session of the -American Philosophical Society and pronounce the words "Billy Sunday" -and every one of the learned savants present will be able to talk about -the man, even though few of them know who won last season's baseball -championship or who is the world's champion prize-fighter. - -This is a feat of first magnitude. All levels of society have been made -aware of Billy Sunday and his gospel. When the evangelist went to New -York for an evening address, early in the year 1914, the throngs were -so great that the police were overwhelmed by the surging thousands. -Even Mr. Sunday himself could not obtain admittance to the meeting for -more than half an hour. Andrew Carnegie could not get into the hall -that bears his name. Probably a greater number of persons tried to -hear this evangelist that night than were gathered in all the churches -of greater New York combined on the preceding Sunday night. To turn -thousands of persons away from his meetings is a common experience of -Mr. Sunday. More than ten thousand, mostly men, tried in vain to get -into the overcrowded Scranton tabernacle at a single session. Every -thoughtful man or woman must be interested in the man who thus can make -religion interesting to the common people. - -The despair of the present-day Church is the modern urban center. Our -generation had not seen a great city shaken by the gospel until Billy -Sunday went to Pittsburgh. That he did it is the unanimous report of -press and preachers and business men. Literally that whole city was -stirred to its most sluggish depths by the Sunday campaign. No baseball -series or political campaign ever moved the community so deeply. -Everywhere one went the talk was of Billy Sunday and his meetings. From -the bell boys in the hotels to the millionaires in the Duquesne Club, -from the workmen in the mills and the girls in the stores, to the women -in exclusive gatherings, Sunday was the staple of conversation. - -Day by day, all the newspapers in the city gave whole pages to the -Sunday meetings. The sermons were reported entire. No other topic -ever had received such full attention for so long a time at the hands -of the press as the Sunday campaign. These issues of the papers were -subscribed for by persons in all parts of the land. Men and women -were converted who never heard the sound of the evangelist's voice. -This series of Pittsburgh meetings, more than anything else in his -experience, impressed the power of Sunday upon the metropolitan centers -of the nation at large; the country folk had long before learned of him. - -Any tabulation of Mr. Sunday's influence must give a high place to -the fact that he has made good press "copy": he has put religion on -the front pages of the dailies; and has made it a present issue with -the millions. Under modern conditions, no man can hope to evangelize -America who has not also access to the columns of the newspapers. -Within the memory of living men, no other man or agency has brought -religion so powerfully and consecutively into the press as William A. -Sunday, whom some of his scholarly critics have called "illiterate." - -All of which proves the popular interest in vital, contemporaneous -religion. Men's ears are dulled by the "shop talk" of the pulpit. They -are weary of the worn platitudes of professional piety. Nobody cares -for the language of Canaan, in which many ministers, with reverence for -the dead past, have tried to enswathe the living truths of the Gospel, -as if they were mummies. In the colloquial tongue of the common people, -Jesus first proclaimed his gospel, and "the common people heard him -gladly," although many of the learned and aristocratic ecclesiastics of -his day were scandalized by his free and popular way of putting things, -by his "common" stories, and by his disregard for the precedents of the -schools. Whatever else may be said about Billy Sunday's much-discussed -forms of speech, this point is clear, and denied by nobody: he makes -himself and his message clearly understood by all classes of people. -However much one may disagree with him, nobody fails to catch his -meaning. He harnesses the common words of the street up to the chariot -of divine truth. Every-day folk, the uncritical, unscholarly crowd of -us, find no fault with the fact that Sunday uses the same sort of terms -that we do. In fresh, vigorous, gripping style, he makes his message -unmistakable. - -College students like him as much as do the farmers and mechanics. In -a single day's work at the University of Pennsylvania, when thousands -of students crowded his meetings, and gave reverent, absorbed attention -to his message, several hundred of them openly dedicated their lives -to Christ, and in token thereof publicly grasped his hand. Dr. John -R. Mott, the world's greatest student leader, once said to me, in -commenting upon Sunday: "You cannot fool a great body of students. -They get a man's measure. If he is genuine, they know it, and if he is -not, they quickly find it out. Their devotion to Mr. Sunday is very -significant." - -[Illustration: "GOD LIKES A LITTLE HUMOR, AS EVIDENCED BY THE FACT THAT -HE MADE THE MONKEY, THE PARROT--AND SOME OF YOU PEOPLE."] - -This man, who meets life on all levels, and proves that the gospel -message is for no one particular class, is a distinctively American -type. Somebody has said that the circus is the most democratic of -American institutions: it brings all sorts and conditions of people -together on a common plane and for a common purpose. The Sunday -evangelistic meetings are more democratic than a circus. They are -a singular exhibit of American life--perhaps the most distinctive -gathering to be found in our land today. His appeal is to the great -mass of the people. The housekeepers who seldom venture away from their -homes, the mechanics who do not go to church, the "men about town" -who profess a cynical disdain for religion, the "down and outs," the -millionaires, the society women, the business and professional men, the -young fellows who feel "too big" to go to Sunday school--all these, and -scores of other types, may be found night after night in the barn-like -wooden tabernacles which are always erected for the Sunday meetings. -Our common American life seems to meet and merge in this baseball -evangelist, who once erected tents for another evangelist, and now has -to have special auditoriums built to hold his own crowds; and who has -risen from a log cabin to a place of national power and honor. Nowhere -else but in America could one find such an unconventional figure as -Billy Sunday. - -Succeeding chapters will tell in some detail the story of the man and -his work; and in most of them the man will speak his own messages. But -for explanation of his power and his work it can only be said, as of -old, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was"--Billy Sunday. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -Up from the Soil - - If you want to drive the devil out of the world, hit him with a cradle - instead of a crutch.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Sunday must be accepted as a man of the American type before he can -be understood. He is of the average, every-day American sort. He is -one of the "folks." He has more points of resemblance to the common -people than he has of difference from them. His mind is their mind. The -keenness of the average American is his in an increased degree. He has -the saving sense of humor which has marked this western people. The -extravagances and recklessnesses of his speech would be incredible to a -Britisher; but we Americans understand them. They are of a piece with -our minds. - -Like the type, Sunday is not over-fastidious. He is not made of a -special porcelain clay, but of the same red soil as the rest of us. He -knows the barn-yards of the farm better than the drawing-rooms of the -rich. The normal, every-day Americanism of this son of the Middle West, -whom the nation knows as "Billy Sunday," is to be insisted upon if he -is to be understood. - -Early apprenticed to hardship and labor, he has a sympathy with the -life of the toiling people which mere imagination cannot give. His -knowledge of the American crowd is sure and complete because he is -one of them. He understands the life of every-day folk because that -has always been his life. While he has obvious natural ability, -sharpened on the grindstone of varied experience, his perceptions and -his viewpoints are altogether those of the normal American. As he has -seen something of life on many levels, and knows city ways as well -as country usages, he has never lost his bearings as to what sort of -people make up the bulk of this country. To them his sermons are -addressed. Because he strikes this medium level of common conduct and -thought, it is easy for those in all the ranges of American life to -comprehend him. - -"Horse-sense," that fundamental American virtue, is Sunday's to an -eminent degree. A modern American philosopher defines this quality -of mind as "an instinctive something that tells us when the clock -strikes twelve." Because he is "rich in saving common sense," Sunday -understands the people and trusts them to understand him. His most -earnest defenders from the beginning of his public life have been the -rank and file of the common people. His critics have come from the -extreme edges of society--the scholar, or the man whose business is -hurt by righteousness. - -The life of William A. Sunday covers the period of American history -since the Civil War. He never saw his father, for he was born the -third son of pioneer parents on November 19, 1862, four months after -his father had enlisted as a private in Company E, Twenty-third Iowa -Infantry Volunteers. - -There is nothing remarkable to record as to the family. They were one -with the type of the middle-western Americans who wrested that empire -from the wilderness, and counted poverty honorable. In those mutually -helpful, splendidly independent days, Democracy came to its flower, and -the American type was born. - -Real patriotism is always purchased at a high price; none pay more -dearly for war-time loyalty than the women who send their husbands -and sons to the front. Mrs. Sunday bade her husband answer the call -of his country as only a brave woman could do, and sent him forth to -the service and sacrifices which soon ended in an unmarked grave. Four -months after she had bidden farewell to her husband, she bade welcome -to his son. To this third child she gave the name of her absent soldier -husband. - -The mother's dreams of the returning soldier's delight in his namesake -child were soon shattered by the tidings that Private William Sunday -had died of disease contracted in service, at Patterson, Missouri, on -December 22, 1862, a little more than a month after the birth of the -boy who was to lift his name out of the obscurity of the hosts of those -who gave "the last full measure of devotion" to their nation. - -Then the mother was called upon to take up that heaviest of all burdens -of patriotism--the rearing of an orphan family in a home of dire -poverty. The three children in the Sunday home out at Ames, Iowa--Roy, -Edward and William--were unwitting participants in another aspect of -war, the lot of soldiers' orphans. For years, Mrs. Sunday, who at this -writing is still living and rejoicing in the successes of her son, -was able to keep her little family together under the roof of the -two-roomed log cabin which they called home. In those early days their -grandfather, Squire Corey, was of unmeasured help in providing for and -training the three orphan boys. - -Experience is a school teacher who carries a rod, as Sunday could -well testify. He learned life's fundamental lessons in the school of -poverty and toil. To the part which his mother played in shaping his -life and ideals he has borne eloquent tribute on many platforms. When -the youngest son was twelve years old, he and his older brother were -sent off to the Soldiers' Orphanage at Glenwood, Iowa. Later they -were transferred to the Davenport Orphanage, which they left in June -of 1876, making two years spent in the orphanages. Concerning this -experience Sunday himself speaks: - -"I was bred and born (not in old Kentucky, although my grandfather -was a Kentuckian), but in old Iowa. I am a rube of the rubes. I am a -hayseed of the hayseeds, and the malodors of the barnyard are on me -yet, and it beats Pinaud and Colgate, too. I have greased my hair with -goose grease and blacked my boots with stove blacking. I have wiped my -old proboscis with a gunny-sack towel; I have drunk coffee out of my -saucer, and I have eaten with my knife; I have said 'done it,' when I -should have said 'did it,' and I 'have saw' when I should 'have seen,' -and I expect to go to heaven just the same. I have crept and crawled -out from the university of poverty and hard knocks, and have taken -postgraduate courses. - -"My father went to the war four months before I was born, in Company E, -Twenty-third Iowa. I have butted and fought and struggled since I was -six years old. That's one reason why I wear that little red, white and -blue button. I know all about the dark and seamy side of life, and if -ever a man fought hard, I have fought hard for everything I have ever -gained. - -"The wolf scratched at the cabin door and finally mother said: 'Boys, I -am going to send you to the Soldiers' Orphans' Home.' At Ames, Iowa, we -had to wait for the train, and we went to a little hotel, and they came -about one o'clock and said: 'Get ready for the train.' - -"I looked into mother's face. Her eyes were red, her hair was -disheveled. I said: 'What's the matter, mother?' All the time Ed and I -slept mother had been praying. We went to the train; she put one arm -about me and the other about Ed and sobbed as if her heart would break. -People walked by and looked at us, but they didn't say a word. - -"Why? They didn't know, and if they had they wouldn't have cared. -Mother knew; she knew that for years she wouldn't see her boys. We -got into the train and said, 'Good-bye, mother,' as the train pulled -out. We reached Council Bluffs. It was cold and we turned up our coats -and shivered. We saw the hotel and went up and asked the woman for -something to eat. She said: 'What's your name?' - -"'My name is William Sunday, and this is my brother Ed.' - -"'Where are you going?' - -"'Going to the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Glenwood.' - -"She wiped her tears and said: 'My husband was a soldier and he never -came back. He wouldn't turn any one away and I wouldn't turn you boys -away.' She drew her arms about us and said: 'Come on in.' She gave us -our breakfast and our dinner, too. There wasn't any train going out on -the 'Q' until afternoon. We saw a freight train standing there, so we -climbed into the caboose. - -[Illustration: "WHERE'S YOUR MONEY OR TICKET?"] - -"The conductor came along and said: 'Where's your money or ticket?' - -"'Ain't got any.' - -"'I'll have to put you off.' - -"We commenced to cry. My brother handed him a letter of introduction -to the superintendent of the orphans' home. The conductor read it, and -handed it back as the tears rolled down his cheeks. Then he said: 'Just -sit still, boys. It won't cost a cent to ride on my train.' - -"It's only twenty miles from Council Bluffs to Glenwood, and as we -rounded the curve the conductor said: 'There it is on the hill.' - -"I want to say to you that one of the brightest pictures that hangs -upon the walls of my memory is the recollection of the days when as a -little boy, out in the log cabin on the frontier of Iowa, I knelt by -mother's side. - -"I went back to the old farm some years ago. The scenes had changed -about the place. Faces I had known and loved had long since turned to -dust. Fingers that used to turn the pages of the Bible were obliterated -and the old trees beneath which we boys used to play and swing had -been felled by the woodman's axe. I stood and thought. The man became a -child again and the long weary nights of sin and of hardships became as -though they never had been. - -"Once more with my gun on my shoulder and my favorite dog trailing at -my heels I walked through the pathless wood and sat on the old familiar -logs and stumps, and as I sat and listened to the wild, weird harmonies -of nature, a vision of the past opened. The squirrel from the limb of -the tree barked defiantly and I threw myself into an interrogation -point, and when the gun cracked, the squirrel fell at my feet. I -grabbed him and ran home to throw him down and receive compliments for -my skill as a marksman. And I saw the tapestry of the evening fall. -I heard the lowing herds and saw them wind slowly o'er the lea and I -listened to the tinkling bells that lulled the distant fowl. Once more -I heard the shouts of childish glee. Once more I climbed the haystack -for the hen's eggs. Once more we crossed the threshold and sat at our -frugal meal. Once more mother drew the trundle bed out from under the -larger one, and we boys, kneeling down, shut our eyes and clasping our -little hands, said: 'Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord, my -soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul -to take. And this I ask for Jesus' sake, Amen.' - - "'Backward, turn backward, O time in thy flight, - Make me a child again, just for tonight, - Mother, come back from that echoless shore, - Take me again to your heart as of yore. - Into the old cradle I'm longing to creep, - Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep.' - -"I stood beneath the old oak tree and it seemed to carry on a -conversation with me. It seemed to say: - -"'Hello Bill. Is that you?' - -"'Yes, it's I, old tree.' - -"'Well, you've got a bald spot on the top of your head. - -"'Yes, I know, old tree.' - -"'Won't you climb up and sit on my limbs as you used to?' - -"'No, I haven't got time now. I'd like to, though, awfully well.' - -"'Don't go, Bill. Don't you remember the old swing you made?' - -"'Yes, I remember; but I've got to go.' - -"'Say Bill, don't you remember when you tried to play George Washington -and the cherry tree and almost cut me down? That's the scar you made, -but it's almost covered over now.' - -"'Yes, I remember all, but I haven't time to stay.' - -"'Are you comin' back, Bill?' - -"'I don't know, but I'll never forget you.' - -"Then the old apple tree seemed to call me and I said: 'I haven't time -to wait, old apple tree.' - - "'I want to go back to the orchard, - The orchard that used to be mine, - The apples are reddening and filling - The air with their wine. - I want to run on through the pasture - And let down the dusty old bars, - I want to find you there still waiting, - Your eyes like the twin stars. - Oh, nights, you are weary and dreary, - And days, there is something you lack; - To the farm in the valley, - I want to go back.' - -"I tell it to you with shame, I stretched the elastic bands of my -mother's love until I thought they would break. I went far into the -dark and the wrong until I ceased to hear her prayers or her pleadings. -I forgot her face, and I went so far that it seemed to me that one -more step and the elastic bands of her love would break and I would -be lost. But, thank God, friends, I never took that last step. Little -by little I yielded to the tender memories and recollections of my -mother; little by little I was drawn away from the yawning abyss, and -twenty-seven years ago, one dark and stormy night in Chicago, I groped -my way out of darkness into the arms of Jesus Christ and I fell on my -knees and cried 'God be merciful to me a sinner!'" - -[Illustration: BILLY SUNDAY AND "POP" ANSON, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE -FAMOUS CHICAGO "WHITE SOX" BASEBALL TEAM, ON THE GOLF LINKS.] - -Of formal education the boy Sunday had but little. He went to school -intermittently, like most of his playmates, but he did get into the -high school, although he was never graduated. Early in life he began -to work for his living, even before he went off to the Soldiers' -Orphanage. Concerning these periods of early toil he himself has spoken -as follows: - -"When I was about fourteen years old, I made application for the -position of janitor in a school. - -"I used to get up at two o'clock, and there were fourteen stoves and -coal had to be carried for all them. I had to keep the fire up and keep -up my studies and sweep the floors. I got twenty-five dollars a month -salary. Well, one day I got a check for my salary and I went right down -to the bank to get it cashed. Right in front of me was another fellow -with a check to be cashed, and he shoved his in, and I came along and -shoved my check in, and he handed me out forty dollars. My check called -for twenty-five dollars. I called on a friend of mine who was a lawyer -in Kansas City and told him. I said: 'Frank, what do you think, Jay -King handed me forty dollars and my check only called for twenty-five -dollars.' He said, 'Bill, if I had your luck, I would buy a lottery -ticket.' But I said, 'The fifteen dollars is not mine.' He said, 'Don't -be a chump. If you were shy ten dollars and you went back you would not -get it, and if they hand out fifteen dollars, don't be a fool, keep it.' - -"Well, he had some drag with me and influenced me. I was fool enough -to keep it, and I took it and bought a suit of clothes. I can see -that suit now; it was a kind of brown, with a little green in it and -I thought I was the goods, I want to tell you, when I got those store -clothes on. That was the first suit of store clothes I had ever had, -and I bought that suit and I had twenty-five dollars left after I did -it. - -"Years afterwards I said, 'I ought to be a Christian,' and I got on my -knees to pray, and the Lord seemed to touch me on the back and say, -'Bill, you owe that Farmers' Bank fifteen dollars with interest,' and -I said, 'Lord, the bank don't know that I got that fifteen dollars,' -and the Lord said 'I know it'; so I struggled along for years, probably -like some of you, trying to be decent and honest and right some wrong -that was in my life, and every time I got down to pray the Lord would -say, 'Fifteen dollars with interest, Nevada County, Iowa; fifteen -dollars, Bill.' So years afterwards I sent that money back, enclosed -a check, wrote a letter and acknowledged it, and I have the peace of -God from that day to this, and I have never swindled anyone out of a -dollar." - -There are other kinds of education besides those which award students a -sheepskin at the end of a stated term. Sunday has no sheepskin--neither -has he the sheep quality which marks the machine-made product of any -form of training. His school has been a diversity of work, where he -came face to face with the actualities of life. He early had to shift -for himself. He learned the priceless lesson of how to work, regardless -of what the particular task might be, whether it was scrubbing floors -(and he was an expert scrubber of floors!), or preaching a sermon -to twenty thousand persons. He had a long hard drill in working -under authority: that is why he is able to exercise authority like -a major-general. Because personally he has experienced, with all of -the sensitiveness of an American small boy, the bitter injustice of -over-work and under-pay under an oppressive task-master, he is a voice -for the toilers of the world. In this same diversified school of -industry he learned the lesson of thoroughness which is now echoed by -every spike in his tabernacle and every gesture in his sermons. Such a -one as he could not have come from a conventional educational course. -It needed this hard school to make such a hardy man. - -It was while a youth in Marshalltown, Iowa, playing baseball on the -lots, that Sunday came to his own. Captain A. C. Anson, the famous -leader of the Chicago "White Sox," chanced to see the youth of twenty, -whose phenomenal base-running had made him a local celebrity. It is no -new experience for Sunday to be a center of public interest. He has -known this since boyhood. The local baseball "hero" is as big a figure -in the eyes of his own particular circle as ever a great evangelist -gets to be in the view of the world. Because his ears early became -accustomed to the huzzahs of the crowd, Sunday's head has not been -turned by much of the foolish adulation which has been his since he -became an evangelist. - -A level head, a quick eye, and a body which is such a finely trained -instrument that it can meet all drafts upon it, is part of Sunday's -inheritance from his life on the baseball diamond. - -Most successful baseball players enter the major leagues by a -succession of steps. With Sunday it was quite otherwise. Because he -fell under the personal eye of "Pop" Anson he was borne directly from -the fields of Marshalltown, Iowa, to the great park of the Chicago -team. That was in 1883, when Sunday was not yet twenty-one years -of age. His mind was still formative--a quality it retains to this -day--and his entrance into the larger field of baseball trained him to -think in broad terms. It widened his horizon and made him reasonably -indifferent to the comments of the crowds. - -A better equipment for the work he is doing could not have been found; -for above all else Sunday "plays ball." While others discuss methods -and bewail conditions he keeps the game going. Such a volume of -criticism as no other evangelist, within the memory of living men, has -ever received, has fallen harmless from his head, because he has not -turned aside to argue with the umpire, but has "played ball." - -There is no call for tears or heroics over the early experiences -of Sunday. His life was normal; no different from that of tens -of thousands of other American boys. He himself was in no wise a -phenomenon. He was possessed of no special abilities or inclinations. -He came to his preaching gift only after years of experience in -Christian work. It is clear that a Divine Providence utilized the very -ordinariness of his life and training to make him an ambassador to the -common people. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A Base-Ball "Star" - - Don't get chesty over success.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Sometimes the preacher tells his people what a great journalist he -might have been, or what a successful business man, had he not entered -the ministry; but usually his hearers never would have suspected it if -he had not told them. Billy Sunday's eminence as a baseball player is -not a shadow cast backward from his present pre-eminence. His success -as a preacher has gained luster from his distinction as a baseball -player, while his fame as a baseball player has been kept alive by his -work as an evangelist. - -All the world of baseball enthusiasts, a generation ago, knew Billy -Sunday, the speediest base-runner and the most daring base-stealer in -the whole fraternity. Wherever he goes today veteran devotees of the -national game recall times they saw him play; and sporting periodicals -and sporting pages of newspapers have been filled with reminiscences -from baseball "fans," of the triumphs of the evangelist on the diamond. - -A side light on the reality of his religion while engaged in -professional baseball is thrown by the fact that sporting writers -always speak of him with pride and loyalty, and his old baseball -associates who still survive, go frequently to hear him preach. The -baseball world thinks that he reflects distinction on the game. - -Now baseball in Marshalltown and baseball in Chicago had not exactly -the same standards. The recruit had to be drilled. He struck out the -first thirteen times he went to bat. He never became a superior batter, -but he could always throw straight and hard. At first he was inclined -to take too many chances and his judgment was rather unsafe. One -baseball writer has said that "Sunday probably caused more wide throws -than any other player the game has ever known, because of his specialty -of going down to first like a streak of greased electricity. When he -hit the ball infielders yelled 'hurry it up.' The result was that they -often threw them away." He was the acknowledged champion sprinter of -the National League. This once led to a match race with Arlie Latham, -who held like honors in the American League. Sunday won by fifteen feet. - -[Illustration: HIS SLIDES WERE ADVENTURES BELOVED OF THE "FANS"] - -Sunday was the sort of figure the bleachers liked. He was always -eager--sometimes too eager--to "take a chance." What was a one-base hit -for another man was usually good for two bases for him. His slides and -stolen bases were adventures beloved of the "fans"--the spice of the -game. He also was apt in retort to the comments from the bleachers, but -always good-natured. The crowds liked him, even as did his team mates. - -Sunday was a man's man, and so continues to this day. His tabernacle -audiences resemble baseball crowds in the proportion of men present, -more nearly than any other meetings of a religious nature that are -regularly being held. Sunday spent five years on the old Chicago -team, mostly playing right or center field. He was the first man in -the history of baseball to circle the bases in fourteen seconds. He -could run a hundred yards from a standing start in ten seconds flat. -Speed had always been his one distinction. As a lad of thirteen, in -the Fourth of July games at Ames, he won a prize of three dollars in a -foot-race, a feat which he recalls with pleasure. - -Speed is a phase of baseball that, being clear to all eyes, appeals to -the bleachers. So it came about that Sunday was soon a baseball "hero," -analogous to "Ty" Cobb or "Home-Run" Baker, or Christy Mathewson of -our own day. He himself tells the story of one famous play, on the day -after his conversion: - -"That afternoon we played the old Detroit club. We were neck and neck -for the championship. That club had Thompson, Richardson, Rowe, Dunlap, -Hanlon and Bennett, and they could play ball. - -"I was playing right field. Mike Kelly was catching and John G. -Clarkson was pitching. He was as fine a pitcher as ever crawled into -a uniform. There are some pitchers today, O'Toole, Bender, Wood, -Mathewson, Johnson, Marquard, but I do not believe any one of them -stood in the class with Clarkson. - -"Cigarettes put him on the bum. When he'd taken a bath the water would -be stained with nicotine. - -"We had two men out and they had a man on second and one on third and -Bennett, their old catcher, was at bat. Charley had three balls and two -strikes on him. Charley couldn't hit a high ball: but he could kill -them when they went about his knee. - -"I hollered to Clarkson and said: 'One more and we got 'em.' - -"You know every pitcher puts a hole in the ground where he puts his -foot when he is pitching. John stuck his foot in the hole and he went -clean to the ground. Oh, he could make 'em dance. He could throw -overhanded, and the ball would go down and up like that. He is the only -man on earth I have seen do that. That ball would go by so fast that -the batter could feel the thermometer drop two degrees as she whizzed -by. John went clean down, and as he went to throw the ball his right -foot slipped and the ball went low instead of high. - -"I saw Charley swing hard and heard the bat hit the ball with a -terrific boom. Bennett had smashed the ball on the nose. I saw the -ball rise in the air and knew that it was going clear over my head. - -"I could judge within ten feet of where the ball would light. I turned -my back to the ball and ran. - -"The field was crowded with people and I yelled, 'Stand back!' and that -crowd opened as the Red Sea opened for the rod of Moses. I ran on, and -as I ran I made a prayer; it wasn't theological, either, I tell you -that. I said, 'God, if you ever helped mortal man, help me to get that -ball, and you haven't very much time to make up your mind, either.' I -ran and jumped over the bench and stopped. - -"I thought I was close enough to catch it. I looked back and saw it was -going over my head and I jumped and shoved out my left hand and the -ball hit it and stuck. At the rate I was going the momentum carried -me on and I fell under the feet of a team of horses. I jumped up with -the ball in my hand. Up came Tom Johnson. Tom used to be mayor of -Cleveland. He's dead now. - -"'Here is $10, Bill. Buy yourself the best hat in Chicago. That catch -won me $1,500. Tomorrow go and buy yourself the best suit of clothes -you can find in Chicago.' - -"An old Methodist minister said to me a few years ago, 'Why, William, -you didn't take the $10, did you?' I said, 'You bet your life I did.'" - -After his five years with the Chicago baseball team, Sunday played upon -the Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia teams, his prestige so growing with -the years that after he had been eight years in baseball, he declined a -contract at five hundred dollars a month, in order to enter Christian -work. - -For most of his baseball career Sunday was an out-and-out Christian. -He had been converted in 1887, after four years of membership on the -Chicago team. He had worked at his religion; his team mates knew his -Christianity for the real thing. On Sundays, because of his eminence -as a baseball player, he was in great demand for Y. M. C. A. talks. -The sporting papers all alluded frequently to his religious interests -and activities. Because of his Christian scruples he refused to play -baseball on Sunday. During the four years of his experience as a -Christian member of the baseball profession it might have been clear to -anybody who cared to study the situation carefully that the young man's -interest in religion was steadily deepening and that he was headed -toward some form of avowedly Christian service. - -[Illustration: BILLY SUNDAY IN NATIONAL LEAGUE UNIFORM.] - -"I had a three-year contract with Philadelphia. I said to God, 'Now if -you want me to quit playing ball and go into evangelistic work, then -you get me my release,' and so I left it with God to get my release -before the 25th day of March and would take that as an evidence that he -wanted me to quit playing ball. - -"On the 17th day of March, St. Patrick's day--I shall never forget -it--I was leading a meeting and received a letter from Colonel Rogers, -president of the Philadelphia club, stating I could have my release. - -"In came Jim Hart, of the Cincinnati team, and up on the platform and -pulled out a contract for $3,500. A player only plays seven months, and -he threw the check down for $500, the first month's salary in advance. -He said, 'Bill, sign up!' But I said, 'No!' I told him that I told God -if he wanted me to quit playing ball to get my release before the 25th -day of March and I would quit. - -"There I was up against it. I went around to some of my friends and -some said, 'Take it!' Others said, 'Stick to your promise.' I asked my -father-in-law about it, and he said, 'You are a blank fool if you don't -take it.' I went home and went to bed, but could not sleep, and prayed -that night until five o'clock, when I seemed to get the thing straight -and said, 'No, sir, I will not do it.' - -"I went to work for the Y. M. C. A. and had a very hard time of it. It -was during those hard times that I hardly had enough to pay my house -rent, but I stuck to my promise." - -It was in March of 1891 that Sunday made the decision which marked -the parting of the ways for him. He abandoned baseball forever as a -profession, although not as an interest, and entered upon definite -religious work. He accepted a position in the Chicago Y. M. C. A. as a -subordinate secretary at $83.33 per month--and sometimes this was six -months overdue. - -The stuff of which the young man's moral character was made is revealed -by the fact that he deliberately rejected a $500-a-month baseball -contract in order to serve Christ at a personal sacrifice. This -incident reveals the real temper of Sunday, and is to be borne in mind -when discussion is raised concerning the large offerings which are made -to him now in his successful evangelistic work. That act was not the -deed of a money-loving man. If it does not spell consecration, it is -difficult to define what it does mean. - -Doubtless there were many who thought this ending of a conspicuous -baseball career an anti-climax, even as the flight of Moses into the -wilderness of Sinai apparently spelled defeat. Out of such defeats and -sacrifices as these grow the victories that best serve the world and -most honor God. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A Curbstone Recruit - - You've got to sign your own Declaration of Independence before you can - celebrate your Fourth of July victory.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Nobody this side of heaven can tell to whom the credit belongs for any -great life or great work. But we may be reasonably sure that the unsung -and unknown women of the earth have a large part in every achievement -worth while. - -Mrs. Clark, saintly wife of Colonel Clark, the devoted founder of the -Pacific Garden Rescue Mission in Chicago, is one of that host of women -who, like the few who followed Jesus in his earthly ministry, have -served in lowly, inconspicuous ways, doing small tasks from a great -love. Night after night, with a consecration which never flagged, she -labored in the gospel for a motley crowd of men and women, mostly -society's flotsam and jetsam, many of whom found this hospitable -building the last fort this side of destruction. - -A single visit to a down-town rescue mission is romantic, picturesque -and somewhat of an adventure--a sort of sanctified slumming trip. Far -different is it to spend night after night, regardless of weather or -personal feelings, in coming to close grips with sin-sodden men and -women, many of them the devil's refuse. A sickening share of the number -are merely seeking shelter or lodging or food: sin's wages are not -sufficient to live upon, and they turn to the mercy of Christianity -for succor. Never to be cast down by unworthiness or ingratitude, to -keep a heart of hope in face of successive failures, and to rejoice -with a shepherd's joy over the one rescued--this is the spirit of the -consecrated rescue-mission worker. - -Such a woman was Mrs. Clark, the spiritual mother to a multitude of -redeemed men. Of all the trophies which she has laid at the feet of her -Lord, the redemption of Billy Sunday seems to human eyes the brightest. -For it was this woman who persuaded him to accept Christ as his -Saviour: he whose hand has led perhaps a quarter of a million persons -to the foot of the Cross was himself led thither by this saintly woman. - -When we contemplate the relation of that one humble rescue mission in -Chicago, the monument of a business man's consecration to Christ, to -the scores of Sunday Tabernacles over the land; and when we connect the -streams of penitents on the "sawdust trail" with that one young man of -twenty-five going forward up the aisle of the rude mission room, we -realize afresh that God uses many workers to carry on his one work; -and that though Paul may plant and Apollos water, it is God alone who -giveth the increase. - -It was one evening in the fall of 1887 that Sunday, with five of his -baseball team mates, sat on the curbstone of Van Buren Street and -listened to the music and testimonies of a band of workers from the -Pacific Garden Rescue Mission. The deeps of sentiment inherited from a -Christian mother, and the memories of a Christian home, were stirred -in the breast of one of the men; and Sunday accepted the invitation of -a worker to visit the mission. Moved by the vital testimonies which he -heard, he went again and again; and at length, after conversation and -prayer with Mrs. Clark, he made the great decision which committed him -to the Christian life. - -Sunday's own story of his conversion is one of the most thrilling of -all the evangelist's messages. It is a human document, a leaf in that -great book of Christian evidences which God is still writing day by day. - -"Twenty-seven years ago I walked down a street in Chicago in company -with some ball players who were famous in this world--some of them are -dead now--and we went into a saloon. It was Sunday afternoon and we -got tanked up and then went and sat down on a corner. I never go by -that street without thanking God for saving me. It was a vacant lot -at that time. We sat down on a curbing. Across the street a company -of men and women were playing on instruments--horns, flutes and slide -trombones--and the others were singing the gospel hymns that I used to -hear my mother sing back in the log cabin in Iowa and back in the old -church where I used to go to Sunday school. - -"And God painted on the canvas of my recollection and memory a vivid -picture of the scenes of other days and other faces. - -"Many have long since turned to dust. I sobbed and sobbed and a young -man stepped out and said, 'We are going down to the Pacific Garden -Mission. Won't you come down to the mission? I am sure you will enjoy -it. You can hear drunkards tell how they have been saved and girls tell -how they have been saved from the red-light district.' - -"I arose and said to the boys, 'I'm through. I am going to Jesus -Christ. We've come to the parting of the ways,' and I turned my back on -them. Some of them laughed and some of them mocked me; one of them gave -me encouragement; others never said a word. - -"Twenty-seven years ago I turned and left that little group on the -corner of State and Madison Streets and walked to the little mission -and fell on my knees and staggered out of sin and into the arms of the -Saviour. - -"The next day I had to get out to the ball park and practice. Every -morning at ten o'clock we had to be out there. I never slept that -night. I was afraid of the horse-laugh that gang would give me because -I had taken my stand for Jesus Christ. - -"I walked down to the old ball grounds. I will never forget it. I -slipped my key into the wicket gate and the first man to meet me after -I got inside was Mike Kelly. - -"Up came Mike Kelly; he said, 'Bill, I'm proud of you! Religion is not -my long suit, but I'll help you all I can.' Up came Anson, the best -ball player that ever played the game; Pfeffer, Clarkson, Flint, Jimmy -McCormick, Burns, Williamson and Dalrymple. There wasn't a fellow in -that gang who knocked; every fellow had a word of encouragement for me. - -"Mike Kelly was sold to Boston for $10,000. Mike got half of the -purchase price. He came up to me and showed me a check for $5,000. John -L. Sullivan, the champion fighter, went around with a subscription -paper and the boys raised over $12,000 to buy Mike a house. - -[Illustration: "BILL, I'M PROUD OF YOU!"] - -"They gave Mike a deed to the house and they had $1,500 left and gave -him a certificate of deposit for that. - -"His salary for playing with Boston was $4,700 a year. At the end of -that season Mike had spent the $5,000 purchase price and the $4,700 -he received as salary and the $1,500 they gave him and had a mortgage -on the house. And when he died in Pennsylvania they went around with -a subscription to get money enough to put him in the ground, and each -club, twelve in all, in the two leagues gave a month a year to his -wife. Mike sat here on the corner with me twenty-seven years ago, when -I said, 'Good-bye, boys, I'm going to Jesus Christ.' - -"A. G. Spalding signed up a team to go around the world. I was the -second he asked to sign a contract and Captain Anson was the first. I -was sliding to second base one day. I always slid head first, and hit a -stone and cut a ligament loose in my knee. - -"I got Dr. Magruder, who attended Garfield when he was shot, and he -said: - -"'William, if you don't go on that trip I will give you a good leg.' I -obeyed and have as good a leg today as I ever had. They offered to wait -for me at Honolulu and Australia. Spalding said, 'Meet us in England, -and play with us through England, Scotland and Wales.' I didn't go. - -"Ed Williamson, our old short-stop, a fellow weighing 225 pounds, was -the most active big man you ever saw. He went with them, and while -they were on the ship crossing the English channel a storm arose -and the captain thought the ship would go down. Williamson tied two -life-preservers on himself and one on his wife and dropped on his -knees and prayed and promised God to be true. God spoke and the waves -were stilled. They came back to the United States and Ed came back to -Chicago and started a saloon on Dearborn Street. I would go through -there giving tickets for the Y. M. C. A. meetings and would talk with -them and he would cry like a baby. - -"I would get down and pray for him, and would talk with him. When -he died they put him on the table and cut him open and took out his -liver and it was so big it would not go in a candy bucket. Kidneys had -shriveled until they were like two stones. - -"Ed Williamson sat there on the street corner with me, drunk, -twenty-seven years ago when I said, 'Good-bye, I'm going to Jesus -Christ.' - -"Frank Flint, our old catcher, who caught for nineteen years, -drew $3,200 a year on an average. He caught before they had chest -protectors, masks and gloves. He caught bare-handed. Every bone in the -ball of his hand was broken. You never saw such a hand as Frank had. -Every bone in his face was broken, and his nose and cheek bones, and -the shoulder and ribs had all been broken. He got to drinking, his home -was broken up and he went to the dogs. - -"I've seen old Frank Flint sleeping on a table in a stale beer joint -and I've turned my pockets inside out and said, 'You're welcome to it, -old pal.' He drank on and on, and one day in winter he staggered out of -a stale beer joint and stood on a corner, and was seized with a fit of -coughing. The blood streamed out of his nose, mouth and eyes. Down the -street came a wealthy woman. She took one look and said, 'My God, is it -you, Frank?' and his wife came up and kissed him. - -"She called two policemen and a cab and started with him to her -boarding house. They broke all speed regulations. She called five of -the best physicians and they listened to the beating of his heart, one, -two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, -and the doctors said, 'He will be dead in about four hours.' She told -them to tell him what they had told her. She said, 'Frank, the end is -near,' and he said, 'Send for Bill.' - -"They telephoned me and I came. He said, 'There's nothing in the life -of years ago I care for now. I can hear the bleachers cheer when I -make a hit that wins the game. But there is nothing that can help me -out now; and if the umpire calls me out now, won't you say a few words -over me, Bill?' He struggled as he had years ago on the diamond, when -he tried to reach home, but the great Umpire of the universe yelled, -'You're out!' and waved him to the club house, and the great gladiator -of the diamond was no more. - -"He sat on the street corner with me, drunk, twenty-seven years ago in -Chicago, when I said, 'Good-bye, boys, I'm through.' - -"Did they win the game of life or did Bill?" - -[Illustration: "FIRST--ARE YOU KINDLY DISPOSED TOWARD ME?"] - - - - -CHAPTER V - -Playing the New Game - - It is not necessary to be in a big place to do big things.--BILLY - SUNDAY. - - -If Billy Sunday had not been an athlete he would not today be the -physical marvel in the pulpit that he is; if he had not been reared -in the ranks of the plain people he would not have possessed the -vocabulary and insight into life which are essential parts of his -equipment; if he had not served a long apprenticeship to toil he -would not display his present pitiless industry; if he had not been -a cog in the machinery of organized baseball, with wide travel and -much experience of men, he would not be able to perfect the amazing -organization of Sunday evangelistic campaigns; if he had not been a -member and elder of a Presbyterian church he could not have resisted -the religious vagaries which lead so many evangelists and immature -Christian workers astray; if he had not been trained in three years of -Y. M. C. A. service he would not today be the flaming and insistent -protagonist of personal work that he now is; if he had not been -converted definitely and consciously and quickly in a rescue mission he -could not now preach his gospel of immediate conversion. - -All of which is but another way of saying that Sunday was trained in -God's school. God prepared the man for the work he was preparing for -him. Only by such uncommon training could this unique messenger of the -gospel be produced. A college course doubtless would have submerged -Sunday into the level of the commonplace. A theological seminary would -have denatured him. Evidently Sunday has learned the lesson of the -value of individuality; he prizes it, preaches about it, and practices -it. He probably does not know what "_sui generis_" means, but he is it. -Over and over again he urges that instead of railing at what we have -not enjoyed, we should magnify what we already possess. The shepherd's -rod of Moses, rightly wielded, may be mightier than a king's scepter. - -As we approach the development of the unique work of Billy Sunday, -which is without a parallel in the history of evangelism, we must -reckon with those forces which developed his personality and trace the -steps which led him into his present imperial activity. For he has gone -forward a step at a time. - -He followed the wise rule of the rescue mission, that the saved should -say so. At the very beginning he began to bear testimony to his new -faith. Wherever opportunity offered he spoke a good word for Jesus -Christ. In many towns and cities his testimony was heard in those early -days; and there was not a follower of the baseball game who did not -know that Billy Sunday was a Christian. - -The convert who does not join a church is likely soon to be in a bad -way; so Sunday early united with the Jefferson Park Presbyterian -Church, Chicago. He went into religious activity with all the ardor -that he displayed on the baseball field. He attended the Christian -Endeavor society, prayer-meeting and the mid-week church service. -This is significant; for it is usually the church members who are -faithful at the mid-week prayer-meetings who are the vital force in a -congregation. - -Other rewards than spiritual awaited Sunday at the prayer-meeting; -for there he met Helen A. Thompson, the young woman who subsequently -became his wife. Between the meeting and the marriage altar there were -various obstacles to be overcome. Another suitor was in the way, and -besides, Miss Thompson's father did not take kindly to the idea of -a professional baseball player as a possible son-in-law, for he had -old-fashioned Scotch notions of things. "Love conquers all," and in -September, 1888, the young couple were married, taking their wedding -trip by going on circuit with the baseball team. - -Mrs. Sunday's influence upon her husband has been extraordinary. It -is a factor to be largely considered in any estimate of the man. He is -a devoted husband, of the American type, and with his ardent loyalty -to his wife has complete confidence in her judgment. She is his man -of affairs. Her Scotch heritage has endowed her with the prudent -qualities of that race, and she is the business manager of Mr. Sunday's -campaigns. She it is who holds her generous, careless husband down to a -realization of the practicalities of life. - -He makes no important decisions without consulting her, and she travels -with him nearly all of the time, attending his meetings and watching -over his work and his personal well-being like a mother. In addition -Mrs. Sunday does yeoman service in the evangelistic campaigns. - -The helplessness of the evangelist without his wife is almost -ludicrous: he dislikes to settle any question, whether it be an -acceptance of an invitation from a city or the employment of an -additional worker, without Mrs. Sunday's counsel. Frequently he turns -vexed problems over to her, and abides implicitly by her decision, -without looking into the matter himself at all. - -Four children--Helen, George, William and Paul--have been born to the -Sundays, two of whom are themselves married. The modest Sunday home is -in Winona Lake, Indiana. When Mrs. Sunday is absent with her husband, -the two younger children are left in the care of a trusted helper. The -evangelist himself is home for only a short period each summer. - -Mrs. Sunday was the deciding factor in determining her husband to -abandon baseball for distinctively religious work. A woman of real -Scotch piety, in the time of decision she chose the better part. Her -husband had been addressing Y. M. C. A. meetings, Sunday-schools and -Christian Endeavor societies. He was undeniably a poor speaker. No -prophet could have foreseen the present master of platform art in the -stammering, stumbling young man whose only excuse for addressing public -meetings was the eagerness of men to hear the celebrated baseball -player's story. His speech was merely his testimony, such as is -required of all mission converts. - -If Sunday could not talk well on his feet he could handle individual -men. His aptness in dealing with men led the Chicago Young Men's -Christian Association to offer him an assistant secretaryship in the -department of religious work. It is significant that the baseball -player went into the Y. M. C. A. not as a physical director but in the -distinctively spiritual sphere. He refused an invitation to become -physical director; for his religious zeal from the first outshone his -physical prowess. - -Those three years of work in the Chicago Association bulk large in the -development of the evangelist. They were not all spent in dealing with -the unconverted, by any means. Sunday's tasks included the securing -of speakers for noon-day prayer-meetings, the conducting of office -routine, the raising of money, the distribution of literature, the -visiting of saloons and other places to which invitations should be -carried, and the following up of persons who had displayed an interest -in the meetings. Much of it was sanctified drudgery: but it was all -drill for destiny. The young man saw at close range and with particular -detail what sin could do to men; and he also learned the power of the -Gospel to make sinners over. - -The evangelist often alludes to those days of personal work in Chicago. -Such stories as the following have been heard by thousands. - - -A Father Disowned - -"While I was in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago I was standing on the corner -one night and a man came along with his toes sticking out and a ragged -suit on and a slouch hat and asked me for a dime to get something to -eat. I told him I wouldn't give him a dime because he would go and get -a drink. He said, 'You wouldn't let me starve, would you?' I told him -no, but that I wouldn't give him the money. I asked him to come to -the Y. M. C. A. with me and stay until after the meeting and I would -take him out and get him a good supper and a bed. He wanted me to do it -right away before going to the Y. M. C. A., but I told him that I was -working for someone until ten o'clock. So he came up to the meeting and -stayed through the meeting and was very much interested. I saw that he -used excellent language and questioned him and found that he was a man -who had been Adjutant General of one of the Central States and had at -one time been the editor of two of the biggest newspapers. - -"I went with him after the meeting and got him a supper and a bed and -went to some friends and we got his clothes. I asked him if he had any -relatives and he said he had one son who was a bank cashier but that he -had disowned him and his picture was taken from the family album and -his name was never spoken in the house, all because he was now down and -out, on account of booze. - -"I wrote to the boy and said, 'I've found your father. Send me some -money to help him.' - -"He wrote back and said for me never to mention his father's name to -him again, that it wasn't ever spoken around the house and that his -father was forgotten. - -"I replied: 'You miserable, low-down wretch. You can't disown your -father and refuse to help him because he is down and out. Send me some -money or I will publish the story in all of the papers.' He sent me -five dollars and that's all I ever got from him. I took care of the old -man all winter and in the spring I went to a relief society in Chicago -and got him a ticket to his home and put him on the train and that was -the last I ever saw of him." - - -Redeeming a Son - -"I stood on the street one Sunday night giving out tickets inviting -men to the men's meeting in Farwell Hall. Along came a young fellow, I -should judge he was thirty, who looked prematurely old, and he said, -'Pard, will you give me a dime?' - -"I said, 'No, sir.' - -"'I want to get somethin' to eat.' - -"I said, 'You look to me as though you were a booze-fighter.' - -"'I am.' - -"'I'll not give you money, but I'll get your supper.' - -"He said, 'Come on. I haven't eaten for two days.' - -"'My time is not my own until ten o'clock. You go upstairs until then -and I'll buy you a good supper and get you a good, warm, clean bed in -which to sleep, but I'll not give you the money.' - -"He said, 'Thank you, I'll go.' He stayed for the meeting. I saw he was -moved, and after the meeting I stood by his side. He wept and I talked -to him about Jesus Christ, and he told me this story: - -"There were three boys in the family. They lived in Boston. The father -died, the will was probated, he was given his portion, took it, started -out drinking and gambling. At last he reached Denver, his money was -gone, and he got a position as fireman in the Denver and Rio Grande -switchyards. His mother kept writing to him, but he told me that he -never read the letters. He said that when he saw the postmark and the -writing he threw the letter into the firebox, but one day, he couldn't -tell why, he opened the letter and it read: - -"'Dear----: I haven't heard from you directly, but I am sure that you -must need a mother's care in the far-off West, and unless you answer -this in a reasonable time I'm going to Denver to see you.' And she -went on pleading, as only a mother could, and closed it: 'Your loving -mother.' - -"He said, 'I threw the letter in the fire and paid no more heed to it. -One day about two weeks later I saw a woman coming down the track and I -said to the engineer: "That looks like my mother." She drew near, and I -said: "Yes, that's mother." What do you think I did?' - -"I said, 'Why you climbed out of your engine, kissed her and asked God -to forgive you.' - -"He said, 'I did nothing of the kind. I was so low-down, I wouldn't -even speak to my mother. She followed me up and down the switchyard -and even followed me to my boarding house. I went upstairs, changed -my clothes, came down, and she said, "Frank, stay and talk with me." -I pushed by her and went out and spent the night in sin. I came back -in the morning, changed my clothes and went to work. For four days she -followed me up and down the switchyards and then she said, "Frank, you -have broken my heart, and I am going away tomorrow." - -[Illustration: "FRANK, KISS ME GOOD-BYE!"] - -"'I happened to be near the depot with the engine when she got on the -train and she raised the window and said, "Frank, kiss me good-bye." -I stood talking with some of my drinking and gambling friends and one -man said, "Frank Adsitt, you are a fool to treat your mother like that. -Kiss her good-bye." I jerked from him and turned back. I heard the -conductor call "All aboard." I heard the bell on the engine ring and -the train started out, and I heard my mother cry, "Oh, Frank, if you -won't kiss me good-bye, for God's sake turn and look at me!" - -"'Mr. Sunday, when the train on the Burlington Railroad pulled out of -Denver, I stood with my back to my mother. That's been nine years ago -and I have never seen nor heard from her.' - -"I led him to Jesus. I got him a position in the old Exposition -building on the lake front. He gave me the money he didn't need for -board and washing. I kept his money for months. He came to me one day -and asked for it. - -"He used to come to the noon meetings every day. Finally I missed him, -and I didn't see him again until in June, 1893, during the World's Fair -he walked into the Y. M. C. A. I said, 'Why, Frank, how do you do?' - -"He said, 'How do you know me?' - -"I said, 'I have never forgotten you; how is your mother?' - -"He smiled, then his face quickly changed to sadness, and he said, -'She is across the street in the Brevoort House. I am taking her to -California to fill her last days with sunshine.' - -"Three months later, out in Pasadena, she called him to her bedside, -drew him down, kissed him, and said, 'Good-bye; I can die happy because -I know my boy is a Christian.'" - - -The Gambler - -"I have reached down into the slime, and have been privileged to help -tens of thousands out of the mire of sin--and I believe that most of -them will be saved, too. I've helped men in all walks of life. When I -was in Chicago I helped a man and got him a position, and so was able -to restore him to his wife and children. One night a fellow came to me -and told me that the man was playing faro bank down on Clark Street. I -said: 'Why that can hardly be--I took dinner with him only a few hours -ago.' - -"But my informant had told me the truth, so I put on my coat and went -down LaSalle Street and past the New York Life Building and along up -the stairway to the gambling room. I went past the big doorkeeper, and -I found a lot of men in there, playing keno and faro bank and roulette -and stud and draw poker. I saw my man there, just playing a hand. In a -moment he walked over to the bar and ordered a Rhine wine and seltzer. - -[Illustration: THE PACIFIC GARDEN MISSION IN CHICAGO, WHERE BILLY -SUNDAY WAS CONVERTED.] - -"I walked over and touched him on the shoulder, and he looked and -turned pale. I said, 'Come out of this. Come with me.' He said, 'Here's -my money,' and pulled $144 from his pocket and handed it to me. 'I -don't want your money.' He refused at first, and it was one o'clock -in the morning before I got him away from there. I took him home and -talked to him, then I sent down into Ohio for an old uncle of his, for -he had forged notes amounting to $2,000 or so, and we had to get him -out of trouble. We got him all fixed up and we got him a job selling -relief maps, and he made $5,000 a year. - -"I didn't hear from him for a long time; then one day Jailor Whitman -called me up and told me that Tom Barrett, an old ball player I knew -well, wanted me to come up and see a man who had been sentenced to the -penitentiary. I went down to the jail and the prisoner was my friend. -I asked him what was the matter, and he said that he and some other -fellows had framed up a plan to stick up a jewelry store. He was caught -and the others got away. He wouldn't snitch, and so he was going down -to Joliet on an indeterminate sentence of from one to fourteen years. -He said: 'You are the only man that will help me. Will you do it?' - -"I said: 'I won't help you, I won't spend so much as a postage stamp on -you if you are going to play me dirt again!' He promised to do better -as soon as he got out, and I wrote a letter to my friend, Andy Russell, -chairman of the board of pardons. He took up the case and we got my -friend's sentence cut down to a maximum of five years. - -"Time passed again, and one day he came in dressed fit to kill. He had -on an $80 overcoat, a $50 suit, a $4 necktie, a pair of patent leather -shoes that cost $15, shirt buttons as big as hickory nuts and diamond -cuff buttons. He walked up to my desk in the Y. M. C. A. and pulled out -a roll of bills. There were a lot of them--yellow fellows. I noticed -that there was one for $500. There was over $4,500 in the roll. He -said: 'I won it last night at faro bank.' He asked me to go out to -dinner with him and I went. We had everything on the bill of fare, -from soup to nuts, and the check was $7.60 apiece for two suppers. I've -never had such a dinner since. - -"We talked things over. He said he was making money hand over -fist--that he could make more in a week than I could in a year. I was -working at the Y. M. C. A. for $83 a month, and then not getting it, -and baseball managers were making me tempting offers of good money to -go back into the game at $500 to $1,000 a month to finish the season. -But I wouldn't do it. Nobody called me a grafter then. 'Well,' I said -to my friend, 'old man, you may have more at the end of the year than -I've got--maybe I won't have carfare--but I'll be ahead of you.' - -"Where is he now? Down at Joliet, where there is a big walled -institution and where the stripes on your clothes run crossways." - - -A Living Testimony - -"I had a friend who was a brilliant young fellow. He covered the -Chino-Japanese war for a New York paper. He was on his way home when -he was shipwrecked, and the captain and he were on an island living on -roots for a week and then they signaled a steamer and got started home. -He got word from the New York _Tribune_ and they told him to go to -Frisco, so he went, and they told him to come across the arid country -and write up the prospects of irrigation. And as he walked across -those plains, he thought of how they would blossom if they were only -irrigated. Then he thought of how his life was like that desert, with -nothing in it but waste. - -"He got to Chicago and got a job on the _Times_ and lost it on -account of drunkenness, and couldn't get another on account of having -no recommendation. So he walked out one winter night and took his -reporter's book, addressed it to his father, and wrote something like -this: 'I've made a miserable failure of this life. I've disgraced you -and sent mother to a premature grave. If you care to look for me -you'll find my body in the Chicago River.' He tossed aside the book and -it fell on the snow. - -"He leaped to the rail of the bridge, but a policeman who had been -watching him sprang and caught him. He begged him to let him leap, -but the policeman wouldn't do it and got his story from him. Then the -policeman said, 'Well, I don't know whether you're stringing me or not, -but if half of what you say is true you can make a big thing out of -life. I'm not much on religion, but I'll show you a place where they -will keep you,' and he took him to the Pacific Garden Mission at 100 -East Van Buren Street, which for 13,000 nights has had its doors open -every night. - -"He went in and sat down by a bum. He read some of the mottos, like -'When did you write to mother last?' and they began to work on him and -he asked the bum what graft they got out of this. The bum flared right -up and said there was no graft, that Mrs. Clark had just mortgaged her -home for $3,000 to pay back rent. Then he told him he could sleep right -there and go down in the morning and get something to eat free, and if -he could not land a bed by next night he could come back to one of the -benches. Then my friend got up and told him the story of Jesus Christ, -and the young man went down and accepted Christ. He was so full of gold -bromide cures that he tingled when he talked and he jingled when he -walked. - -"He started out to give his testimony and he was a marvelous power. I -met him some time later in an elevator in Chicago, and he was dressed -to kill with a silk lid and a big diamond and the latest cut Prince -Albert, and he said, 'Bill, that was a great day for me. I started out -with not enough clothes to make a tail for a kite or a pad for a crutch -and now look at me.' He was secretary in the firm of Morgan & Wright, -and was drawing $175 a month. He is an expert stenographer. A newspaper -in New York had written him to take an associate editorship, but I told -him not to do it, to stay where he was and tell his story." - -The next class in the University of Experience which Sunday entered -was that of professional evangelistic work, in association with Rev. -J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D., the well-known Presbyterian evangelist. This -invitation came after three years of service in the Chicago Y. M. C. -A. Not yet to platform speaking as his chief task was Sunday called. -Far from it. He was a sort of general roustabout for the evangelist. -His duties were multifarious. He was advance agent, going ahead to -arrange meetings, to organize choirs, to help the local committee -of arrangements with its advertising or other preparations, and, in -general, tying up all loose ends. When tents were used he would help -erect them with his own hands; the fists that so sturdily beat pulpits -today, have often driven home tent pegs. Sunday sold the evangelist's -song books and sermons at the meetings; helped take up the collection, -and, when need arose, spoke from the platform. The persons who wonder -at the amazing efficiency for organization displayed by Sunday -overlook this unique apprenticeship to a distinguished evangelist. He -is a "practical man" in every aspect of evangelistic campaigns, from -organizing a local committee and building the auditorium, to handling -and training the converts who come forward. - -The providence of all this is clear in retrospect: but as for Sunday -himself, he was being led by a way that he knew not. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -A Shut Door--and an Open One - - Faith is the beginning of something of which you can't see the end but - in which you believe.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Destiny's door turns on small hinges. Almost everybody can say out -of his own experience, "If I had done this, instead of that, the -whole course of my life would have been changed." At many points in -the career of William A. Sunday we see what intrinsically small and -unrelated incidents determined his future course in life. - -If he had not been sitting on that Chicago curbstone one evening, and -if the Pacific Garden Mission workers had failed on that one occasion -alone to go forth into the highways, Billy Sunday might have been only -one of the multitude of forgotten baseball players. If he had not gone -to prayer-meeting in his new church home he would not have met the wife -who has been so largely a determining factor in his work. If he had not -joined the Y. M. C. A. forces in Chicago he would not have become Peter -Bilhorn's friend and so Dr. Chapman's assistant. - -And--here we come to a very human story--if Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman had -not suddenly decided to abandon the evangelistic field and return to -the pastorate of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Sunday -would doubtless still be unknown to the world as a great religious -leader. The story came to me from the lips of the evangelist himself -one morning. We were discussing certain current criticisms of his -work and he showed himself frankly bewildered as well as pained by -the hostility displayed toward him on the part of those up to whom -he looked as leaders and counselors. Off the platform Sunday is one -of the most childlike and guileless of men. He grew reminiscent and -confidential as he said to me: "I don't see why they hammer me so. I -have just gone on, as the Lord opened the way, trying to do his work. I -had no plan for this sort of thing. It is all the Lord's doings. Just -look how it all began, and how wonderfully the Lord has cared for me. - -"I had given up my Y. M. C. A. work, and was helping Chapman, doing all -sorts of jobs--putting up tents, straightening out chairs after the -meetings and occasionally speaking. Then, all of a sudden, during the -holidays of 1895-96, I had a telegram from Chapman saying that our work -was all off, because he had decided to return to Bethany Church. - -"There I was, out of work, knowing not which way to turn. I had a wife -and two children to support. I could not go back to baseball. I had -given up my Y. M. C. A. position. I had no money. What should I do? I -laid it before the Lord, and in a short while there came a telegram -from a little town named Garner, out in Iowa, asking me to come out and -conduct some meetings. I didn't know anybody out there, and I don't -know yet why they ever asked me to hold meetings. But I went. - -"I only had eight sermons, so could not run more than ten days, and -that only by taking Saturdays off. That was the beginning of my -independent work; but from that day to this I have never had to seek -a call to do evangelistic work. I have just gone along, entering the -doors that the Lord has opened one after another. Now I have about a -hundred sermons and invitations for more than two years in advance. I -have tried to be true to the Lord and to do just what he wants me to -do." - -That naïve bit of autobiography reveals the real Billy Sunday. He -has gone forward as the doors have been providentially opened. His -career has not been shrewdly planned by himself. Nobody has been more -surprised at his success than he. Of him may be recorded the lines -that are inscribed on Emerson's tombstone in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, -Concord: - - "The passive master lent his hand - To the vast Soul that o'er him planned." - -From Garner, Iowa, to Philadelphia, with its most eminent citizens on -the committee of arrangements, seems a far cry; but the path is plainly -one of Providence. Sunday has added to his addresses gleanings from -many sources, but he has not abated the simplicity of his message. The -gospel he preaches today is that which he heard in the Pacific Garden -Rescue Mission a quarter of a century ago. - -In childlike faith, this man of straight and unshaded thinking has gone -forward to whatever work has offered itself. Nobody knows better than -he that it is by no powers of his own that mighty results have been -achieved: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." - -While the Sunday meetings have swung a wide orbit they have centered -in the Middle West. That typically American section of the country was -quick to appreciate the evangelist's character and message. He was of -them, "bone of their bone, flesh of their flesh," mind of their mind. - -When news of the triumphs of this evangelist's unconventionally-phrased -gospel began to be carried over the country a few years ago, the -verdict of religious leaders was, "Billy Sunday may do for the Middle -West, but the East will not stand him." Since then, again, to the -confusion of human wisdom, his most notable work has been achieved in -the East, in the great cities of Pittsburgh and Scranton; and at this -writing the city of Philadelphia is in the midst of preparations for a -Sunday campaign; while the Baltimore churches have also invited him to -conduct meetings with them. Billy Sunday is now a national figure--and -the foremost personality on the day's religious horizon. A recent issue -of _The American Magazine_ carried the results of a voting contest, -"Who's the Greatest Man in America." Only one other clergyman (Bishop -Vincent, of Chautauqua) was mentioned at all, but Billy Sunday was tied -with Andrew Carnegie and Judge Lindsey for eighth place. - -To tell the stories of the Sunday campaigns in detail would be needless -repetition; with occasional exceptions they continue to grow in scope -and efficiency and results. The record of independent campaigns extends -over nearly twenty years, and in that time the evangelist has gone on -from strength to strength. - -[Illustration: SUNDAY POSING IN FRONT OF TABERNACLE.] - -[Illustration: BILLY'S SMILE.] - -[Illustration: SUNDAY AND HIS YOUNGEST SON PAUL.] - -[Illustration: MR. AND MRS. SUNDAY IN A REVIVAL PARADE.] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -Campaigning for Christ - - Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the world - to Christ.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -His American birthright of plain common sense stands Sunday in stead -of theological training. He is "a practical man," as mechanics say. -Kipling's poem on "The American" hits off Sunday exactly: - - "He turns a keen, untroubled face - Home to the instant need of things." - -So a Sunday evangelistic campaign is a marvel of organization. It -spells efficiency at every turn and is a lesson to the communities -which do Christian work in haphazard, hit-or-miss fashion. Work and -faith are written large over every series of Sunday meetings. - -Sunday never took a course in psychology, but he understands the crowd -mind. He knows how to deal with multitudes. He sees clearly where the -masses must come from, and so he sets to work to bring them out of the -homes of the working people. He goes beyond the church circles for his -congregations, and makes his appeal to the popular taste. He frankly -aims to strike the average of the common people. For he is after that -host which too often the preacher knows nothing about. - -People must be set to talking about religion and about the Sunday -campaign if the latter is to succeed. Indifference is the foe of all -foes to be feared by an evangelist. Even hostile criticism really -serves a religious purpose, for it directs attention to the messenger -and the message. Knowledge of this is the reason why Sunday always -devotes his earliest sermons in a campaign to the subjects likeliest -to create comment. These are the discourses that contain the largest -proportion of startling views and language. - -Part of the task of a man who would move a city for Christ is to -consolidate Christian sentiment and to create a Church consciousness. -Sunday is at great pains to get his own "crowd" behind him. He evokes -that loyalty which alone makes organized work and war effective. - -So he insists that churches must unite before he will visit a city. -Also he asks that they surrender their Sunday services, all uniting in -common worship in the Tabernacle. For these campaigns are not Billy -Sunday meetings: they are an effort toward a revival of religion on the -part of the united Christian forces of a community. If anybody thinks -the evangelist disparages the Church, he need but recall the particular -effort Sunday makes to solidify the Church folk: that reveals his real -estimate of the Church. He would no more attempt a revival without -church co-operation than a general would besiege a city without an -army. This Christian unity which he requires first of all is a sermon -in itself. - -Before one has looked very deeply into the work of Evangelist Sunday -he perceives that it is no new message the man speaks, but that it is -his modernization of language and of methods that makes possible the -achieving of great results by the old Gospel. - -The preacher of a generation ago would have counted it indecorous -to make use of the public press. Sunday depends largely upon the -newspapers for spreading his message and promoting interest in the -meetings. He does not employ a press agent; he simply extends to the -local press all the facilities and co-operation in his power. He is -always accessible to the reporters and ever ready to assist in their -work in any proper fashion. He makes public announcements frequently -in his meetings of the cordial assistance he has received from the -newspapers. - -Without any expense to anybody and without any scientific experience in -this particular field, Sunday has demonstrated the power of Christian -publicity. The newspapers carry his messages all over the world. The -Pittsburgh dailies published special "Sunday Editions." They had -thousands of subscribers for the issues containing the evangelist's -sermons and many persons have been converted by reading the newspaper -accounts of the Sunday meetings. One cherished story tells of a young -man in China who had been converted thirteen thousand miles away from -the spot where the evangelist was speaking. Sunday makes religion "live -news." Editors are glad to have copy about him and his work, and about -anything that pertains to the campaigns. The uniform experience of the -communities he has visited is that the Church has had more publicity -through his visit than on any other occasion. - -After Sunday has accepted a city's invitation and a date has been fixed -for the meetings, and the time has drawn near, he gets the Church -people to organize. Before ever a hammer has struck a blow in the -building of the Sunday Tabernacle, the people have been meeting daily -in the homes of the city for concerted prayer for the Divine favor upon -the campaign. - -By the Sunday system of work, every few blocks in the city is made -a center for cottage prayer-meetings. No politician ever divided a -community more carefully than do the Sunday workers in arranging for -these prayer-meetings. Every section of the city is covered and every -block and street. By preference, the meetings are held in the homes of -the unconverted, and it is a normal experience for conversions to be -reported before ever the evangelist arrives. In Scranton the city was -divided into nine districts besides the suburbs and these districts -were again sub-divided so that one had as many as eighty-four prayer -groups. The total proportions of this kind of work are illustrated -by the Pittsburgh figures: Between December 2 and December 26, 4,137 -prayer meetings in private houses were held, having a combined -attendance of 68,360 persons. The following table covers eight -meetings, as follows: - - No. of Attendance Prayers Men Women - Meetings - - December 2 562 8,394 3,362 1,658 6,736 - December 5 579 8,909 3,667 1,931 6,978 - December 9 586 10,667 4,271 2,221 8,446 - December 12 410 6,532 2,753 1,410 5,122 - December 16 705 16,257 5,588 3,439 12,617 - December 19 590 8,580 4,602 2,027 6,553 - December 23 398 6,014 2,347 2,381 3,633 - December 26 307 5,388 1,983 1,179 4,209 - -When tens of thousands of earnest Christians are meeting constantly -for united prayer a spirit of expectancy and unity is created which -makes sure the success of the revival. Incidentally, there is a welding -together of Christian forces that will abide long after the evangelist -has gone. These preliminary prayer-meetings are a revelation of the -tremendous possibilities inherent in the churches of any community. -With such a sea of prayer buoying him up any preacher could have a -revival. - -Sagaciously, Sunday throws all responsibility back on the churches. -While he takes command of the ship when he arrives, yet he does all -in his power to prevent the campaign from being a one-man affair. The -local committee must underwrite the expenses; for these campaigns are -not to be financed by the gifts of the wealthy, but by the rank and -file of the church membership accepting responsibility of the work. The -guarantees are underwritten in the form of shares and each guarantor -receives a receipt for his shares to be preserved as a memento of the -campaign. True, no guarantor ever had to pay a dollar on his Billy -Sunday campaign subscription, for the evangelist himself raises all of -the expense money in the early meetings of the series. - -John the Baptist was only a voice: but Billy Sunday is a voice, plus a -bewildering array of committees and assistants and organized machinery. -He has committees galore to co-operate in his work: a drilled army -of the Lord. In the list of Scranton workers that is before me I see -tabulated an executive committee, the directors, a prayer-meeting -committee, an entertainment committee, an usher committee, a dinner -committee, a business women's committee, a building committee, a -nursery committee, a personal workers' committee, a decorating -committee, a shop-meetings committee--and then a whole list of churches -and religious organizations in the city as ex-officio workers! - -Wherever he goes Sunday erects a special tabernacle for his meetings. -There are many reasons for this. The very building of a tabernacle -dedicated to this one special use helps create an interest in -the campaign as something new come to town. But, primarily, the -evangelist's purposes are practical. In the first place, everything has -to be on the ground floor. Converts cannot come forward from a gallery. -In addition, existing big buildings rarely have proper acoustics. Most -of all Sunday, who has a dread of panics or accidents happening in -connection with his meetings, stresses the point that in his tabernacle -people have their feet on the ground. There is nothing to give way with -them. The sawdust and tan bark is warm, dustless, sanitary, fireproof -and noiseless. "When a crowd gets to walking on a wooden floor," said -Sunday--and then he made a motion of sheer disgust that shows how -sensitive he is to any sort of disturbance--"it's the limit." - -One of his idiosyncrasies is that he must have a perfectly still -audience. He will stop in the midst of a sermon to let a single person -walk down the aisle. When auditors start coughing he stops preaching. -He never lets his crowd get for an instant out of hand. The result is -that there probably never were so many persons gathered together in one -building at one time in such uniform quietness. - -The possibilities of panic in a massed multitude of thousands are best -understood by those who have had most to do with crowds. Sunday's -watchfulness against this marks the shrewd American caution of the man. -His tabernacles, no matter whether they seat five, eight, ten, fifteen, -or twenty thousand persons, are all built under the direction of his -own helper, who has traveled with him for years. He knows that nothing -will break down, or go askew. His tabernacles are fairly panic-proof. -Thus every aisle, lengthwise and crosswise, ends in a door. - -So careful is he of the emergency that might arise for a quick exit -that no board in the whole tabernacle is fastened with more than two -nails; so that one could put his foot through the side of the wall if -there was need to get out hurriedly. Describing the building of the -choir platform Sunday says, with a grim shutting of his jaws: "You -could run a locomotive over it and never faze it." His own platform, -on which he does amazing gymnastic stunts at every meeting, is made -to withstand all shocks. About the walls of the tabernacle are fire -extinguishers, and a squad of firemen and policemen are on duty with -every audience. - -There is nothing about a Sunday tabernacle to suggest a cathedral. -It is a big turtle-back barn of raw, unfinished timber, but it has -been constructed for its special purpose, and every mechanical device -is used to assist the speaker's voice. Sunday can make twenty-five -thousand persons hear perfectly in one of his big tabernacles. A huge -sounding board, more useful than beautiful, hangs like an inverted -sugar scoop over the evangelist's platform. - -Behind the platform is the post office, to which the names of -converts are sent for the city pastors every day; and here also are -the telephones for the use of the press. Adjoining the tabernacle -is a nursery for babies, and an emergency hospital with a nurse in -attendance. It seems as if no detail of efficient service has been -overlooked by this practical westerner. So well organized is everything -that the collection can be taken in an audience of eight thousand -persons within three minutes. - -While touching upon collections, this is as good a place as any to -raise the point of Mr. Sunday's own compensation. He receives a -free-will offering made on the last day. The offerings taken in the -early weeks are to meet the expenses of the local committee. Mr. Sunday -has nothing to do with this. This committee also pays approximately -half of the expenses of his staff of workers, and it also provides -a home for the Sunday party during their sojourn. Mr. Sunday himself -pays the balance of the expenses of his workers out of the free-will -offering which he receives on the last day. These gifts have reached -large figures--forty-four thousand dollars in the Pittsburgh campaign. - -There is a quality in human nature which will not associate money with -religion, and while we hear nobody grumble at a city's paying thousands -of dollars a night for a grand opera performance; yet an evangelist who -has sweetened up an entire city, lessened the police expense, promoted -the general happiness and redeemed hundreds of thousands of lives from -open sin to godliness, is accused of mercenariness, because those whom -he has served give him a lavish offering as he departs. - -Although much criticized on the subject of money, Mr. Sunday -steadfastly refuses to make answer to these strictures or to render an -accounting, insisting that this is entirely a personal matter with him. -Nobody who knows him doubts his personal generosity or his sense of -stewardship. Intimate friends say that he tithes his income. - -Three important departments of the Sunday organization are the choir, -the ushers, and the personal-work secretaries. Concerning the first -more will be said in a later chapter. The ushers are by no means -ornamental functionaries. They are a drilled regiment, each with his -station of duty and all disciplined to meet any emergency that may -arise. In addition to seating the people and taking the collection, -they have the difficult task of assisting the officers to keep out the -overflow crowds who try to press into the building that has been filled -to its legal capacity. For it is quite a normal condition in the Sunday -campaigns for thousands of persons to try to crowd their way into the -tabernacle after the latter is full. Sometimes it takes foot-ball -tactics to keep them out. - -Without the assistance of the personal-work secretaries the rush -forward when the invitation is extended would mean a frantic mob. -The recruits have to be formed into line and directed to the pulpit -where they take Mr. Sunday's hand. Then they must be guided into the -front benches and the name and address and church preference of each -secured. While the invitation is being given personal workers all over -the building are busy gathering converts. The magnitude of the Sunday -evangelistic meetings in their results is revealed by the necessity for -systematically handling the converts as vividly as by any other one -factor. - -The tabernacle by no means houses all of the Sunday campaign. There -are noon shop meetings, there are noon meetings for business women and -luncheon meetings, there are services in the schools, in the jails, -in the hospitals, and there are special afternoon parlor meetings -where social leaders hear the same message that is given to the men of -the street. In a phrase, the entire community is combed by personal -activity in order to reach everybody with the Sunday evangelistic -invitation. - -The personnel of the Sunday party has varied during the years. The -first assistant was Fred G. Fischer, a soloist and choir leader who -continued with the evangelist for eight years. At present the staff -numbers about a dozen workers. Among past and present helpers have been -Homer A. Rodeheaver, the chorister; Charles Butler, the soloist; Elijah -J. Brown ("Ram's Horn" Brown); Fred. R. Seibert, an ex-cowboy and a -graduate of the Moody School, who is the handy man of the tabernacle; -Miss Frances Miller, Miss Grace Saxe, Miss Anna MacLaren, Mrs. Rae -Muirhead, Rev. L. K. Peacock, B. D. Ackley, Albert G. Gill, Joseph -Seipe, the builder, Mrs. and Mr. Asher and Rev. I. E. Honeywell. As -the magnitude of the work increases this force is steadily augmented, -so that the evangelist must not only be a prophet but a captain of -industry. - -The Sunday Campaign clearly reveals that as Kipling's old engineer, -McAndrew, says, - - "Ye'll understand, a man must think o' things." - -[Illustration: BURNING WORDS OF MR. SUNDAY THAT REACH THE HEART.] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -"Speech--Seasoned with Salt" - - I want to preach the gospel so plainly that men can come from the - factories and not have to bring along a dictionary.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Sunday is not a shepherd, but a soldier; not a husbandman of a -vineyard, but a quarryman. The rôle he fills more nearly approximates -that of the Baptist, or one of the Old Testament prophets, than any -other Bible character. The word of the Lord that has come to him is -not "Comfort ye! comfort ye!" but "Arouse ye! arouse ye!" and "Repent! -repent!" - -Evangelist Sunday's mission is not conventional, nor may it be judged -by conventional standards. He is not a pastor; probably he would be -a failure in the pastorate. Neither would any sensible person expect -pastors to resemble Billy Sunday; for that, too, would be a calamity. - -Taking a reasonable view of the case, what do we find? Here is a man -whose clear work it is to attract the attention of the heedless to the -claims of the gospel, to awaken a somnolent Church, and to call men -to repentance. To do this a man must be sensational, just as John the -Baptist was sensational--not to mention that Greater One who drew the -multitudes by his wonderful works and by his unconventional speech. - -In the time of Jesus, as now, religion had become embalmed in petrified -phrases. The forms of religious speech were set. But Christ's talk was -not different from every-day speech. The language of spirituality, -which once represented great living verities, had become so -conventionalized that it slipped easily into cant and "shop talk." It -is a fact which we scarcely like to admit that myriads of persons who -attend church regularly do not expect really to understand what the -preacher is talking about. They admire his "zeal" or "unction," but as -for understanding him as clearly and definitely as they understand a -neighbor talking over the back fence--that is not to be thought of. - -When God called this man whom the common people should hear gladly, -he took him straight out of the walks of common life with no other -vocabulary than that of ordinary "folks." We Americans use the most -vivid language of any people. Our words are alive, new ones being born -every hour. "Slang" we call these word pictures, and bar them from -polite speech until the crowbar of custom has jimmied a way for them -into the dictionary. And the most productive slang factory of our time -is the realm of sports in which Sunday was trained. - -So he talks religion as he talked baseball. His words smack of the -street corners, the shop, the athletic field, the crowd of men. That -this speech is loose, extravagant and undignified may be freely -granted: but it is understandable. Any kind of a fair play that will -get the runners to the home plate is good baseball; and any speech that -will puncture the shell of human nature's complacency and indifference -to religion is good preaching. Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus was -dignified, and highly correct Pharisees despised them as vulgarians; -"but the common people heard him gladly." With such examples before him -on one side, and a Church waterlogged with dignity on the other, Sunday -has "gone the limit" in popularized speech. - -Perhaps he is not as polite as is professionally proper for a -preacher. He seems to have recovered some of the prophet's lost art -of denunciation. He dares call sin by its proper name. He excoriates -the hypocrite. He cares not for feelings of the unfaithful preacher -or of the double-living church member. As for the devil and all his -lieutenants, Sunday has for them a sizzling, blistering vocabulary -that helps men to loathe sin and all its advocates. His uncompromising -attitude is shown by this gem, culled from one of his sermons: - -"They say to me, 'Bill, you rub the fur the wrong way.' I don't; let -the cats turn 'round." - -Again, "It isn't a good thing to have synonyms for sin. Adultery is -adultery, even though you call it affinity." - -Again, "Paul said he would rather speak five words that were understood -than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. That hits me. I want -people to know what I mean, and that's why I try to get down where they -live. What do I care if some puff-eyed, dainty little dibbly-dibbly -preacher goes tibbly-tibbling around because I use plain Anglo-Saxon -words." - -Two important points are to be considered in connection with Sunday's -vigorous vocabulary; the first is that what he says does not sound as -bad as it seems in cold type. Often he is incorrectly reported. The -constant contention of his friends is that he should be heard before -being criticized. The volume of testimony of all the men who have heard -him--preachers, professors and purists--is that his addresses which -seem shocking when reported are not shocking when heard. - -On the public square in Scranton a great sign was displayed by the -local committee: - - +------------------------------------+ - | BE FAIR! | - | | - | DON'T JUDGE BILLY SUNDAY UNTIL YOU | - | HAVE HEARD HIM YOURSELF. | - | | - | NO REPORT, VERBAL OR PRINTED, CAN | - | DO HIM PERFECT JUSTICE. | - +------------------------------------+ - -One Scranton business man put it this way: "Type is cold; his sermons -are hot." - -Sunday speaks with his eyes, with his gestures and with every muscle -of his body; and all this must be taken into account in weighing his -words. Assuredly his message in its totality does not shock anybody. -That is why preachers sit through his arraignment of a deficient church -and ministry and applaud him. They find in his severest utterances a -substantial volume of undoubted truth. - -The second point is that the most vigorous speech is used earliest in -an evangelistic campaign. That is one way of stirring up the Church, -and of attracting attention to the meetings. Sunday goads Christians to -an interest. Apparently he purposely speaks to arouse resentment, if no -other form of interest is awakened in his hearers. The latter part of -a Sunday campaign is singularly free from his denunciations, from his -invective and from his slang. There is a clear method in his procedure, -which is always followed in about the same course. - -Sunday would be the last man to expect everybody to approve all that -he says, either in form or in substance. I don't; and I know no other -thinking observer of his meetings who does. No more do I expect him -to approve all that is said in this book. Nevertheless, there remains -the unanswerable rejoinder to all criticism of Evangelist Sunday's -utterances and message: he "delivers the goods." He does arouse -communities to an interest in religion as no other preacher of our -generation. He helps people "get right with God." His campaigns promote -righteousness, diminish wickedness and strengthen the Church. - -As samples of the pungent sort of speech with which Sunday's discourses -are flavored I have selected these shakings from his salt-cellar: - - Live so that when the final summons comes you will leave something - more behind you than an epitaph on a tombstone or an obituary in a - newspaper. - - You can find anything in the average church today, from a humming bird - to a turkey buzzard. - - The Lord is not compelled to use theologians. He can take snakes, - sticks or anything else, and use them for the advancement of his - cause. - - The Lord may have to pile a coffin on your back before he can get you - to bend it. - - Don't throw your ticket away when the train goes into a tunnel. It - will come out the other side. - - The safest pilot is not the fellow that wears the biggest hat, but the - man who knows the channels. - - If a man goes to hell he ought to be there, or he wouldn't be there. - - I am preaching for the age in which I live. I am just recasting my - vocabulary to suit the people of my age instead of Joshua's age. - - The Church gives the people what they need; the theater gives them - what they want. - - Death-bed repentance is burning the candle of life in the service of - the devil, and then blowing the smoke into the face of God. - - Your reputation is what people say about you. Your character is what - God and your wife know about you. - - When your heart is breaking you don't want the dancing master or - saloon-keeper. No, you want the preacher. - - Don't you know that every bad man in a community strengthens the - devil's mortgage? - - Pilate washed his hands. If he had washed his old black heart he would - have been all right. - - It takes a big man to see other people succeed without raising a howl. - - It's everybody's business how you live. - - Bring your repentance down to a spot-cash basis. - - I believe that cards and dancing are doing more to dam the spiritual - life of the Church than the grog-shops--though you can't accuse me of - being a friend of that stinking, dirty, rotten, hell-soaked business. - - If you took no more care of yourself physically than spiritually, - you'd be just as dried up physically as you are spiritually. - - We place too much reliance upon preaching and upon singing, and too - little on the living of those who sit in the pews. - - The carpet in front of the mirrors of some of you people is worn - threadbare, while at the side of your bed where you should kneel in - prayer it is as good as the day you put it down. - - Some persons think they have to look like a hedgehog to be pious. - - Look into the preaching Jesus did and you will find it was aimed - straight at the big sinners on the front seats. - - If you live wrong you can't die right. - - "You are weighed in the balance"--but not by Bradstreet's or - Dun's--you are weighed in God's balance. - - A revival gives the Church a little digitalis instead of an opiate. - - It isn't the sawdust trail that brings you to Christ, it's the Christ - that is in the trail, the Christ that is in your public confession of - sins. - - Some sermons instead of being a bugle call for service, are nothing - more than showers of spiritual cocaine. - - Theology bears the same relation to Christianity that botany does to - flowers. - - Morality isn't the light; it is only the polish on the candlestick. - - Some homes need a hickory switch a good deal more than they do a piano. - - Churches don't need new members half so much as they need the old - bunch made over. - - God's work is too often side-tracked, while social, business and - domestic arrangements are thundering through on the main line. - - A lot of people, from the way they live, make you think they've got a - ticket to heaven on a Pullman parlor car and have ordered the porter - to wake 'em up when they get there. But they'll get side-tracked - almost before they've started. - - I believe that a long step toward public morality will have been taken - when sins are called by their right names. - - The bars of the Church are so low that any old hog with two or three - suits of clothes and a bank roll can crawl through. - - You will not have power until there is nothing questionable in your - life. - - You can't measure manhood with a tape line around the biceps. - - The social life is the reflex of the home life. - - There are some so-called Christian homes today with books on the - shelves of the library that have no more business there than a rattler - crawling about on the floor, or poison within the child's reach. - - Home is the place we love best and grumble the most. - - I don't believe there are devils enough in hell to pull a boy out of - the arms of a godly mother. - - To train a boy in the way he should go you must go that way yourself. - - The man who lives for himself alone will be the sole mourner at his - own funeral. - - Don't try to cover up the cussedness of your life, but get fixed up. - - Wrong company soon makes everything else wrong. An angel would never - be able to get back to heaven again if he came down here for a week - and put in his time going with company that some church members would - consider good. - - The devil often grinds the axe with which God hews. - - I wish the Church were as afraid of imperfection as it is of - perfection. - - Whisky is all right in its place--but its place is in hell. - - A pup barks more than an old dog. - - Character needs no epitaph. You can bury the man, but character will - beat the hearse back from the graveyard and it will travel up and - down the streets while you are under the sod. It will bless or blight - long after your name is forgotten. - - Some people pray like a jack-rabbit eating cabbage. - - If you put a polecat in the parlor you know which will change - first--the polecat or the parlor? - - A church is not dropped down on a street corner to decorate the corner - and be the property of a certain denomination. - - Many preachers are like a physician--strong on diagnosis, but weak on - therapeutics. - - Your religion is in your will, not in your handkerchief. - - It won't save your soul if your wife is a Christian. You have got to - be something more than a brother-in-law to the Church. - - If every black cloud had a cyclone in it, the world would have been - blown into toothpicks long ago. - - No man has any business to be in a bad business. - - When you quit living like the devil I will quit preaching that way. - - You can't raise the standard of women's morals by raising their pay - envelope. It lies deeper than that. - - The seventh commandment is not: "Thou shalt not commit affinity." - - A saloon-keeper and a good mother don't pull on the same rope. - - The presumptive husband should be able to show more than the price of - a marriage license. - - Put the kicking straps on the old Adam, feed the angel in you, and - starve the devil. - - When a baby is born, what do you do with it? Put it in a refrigerator? - That's a good place for a dead chicken, and cold meat, but a poor - place for babies. Then don't put these new converts, 'babes in - Christ,' into refrigerator churches. - -[Illustration: "I'LL FIGHT TILL HELL FREEZES OVER."] - - - Nobody can read the Bible thoughtfully, and not be impressed with the - way it upholds the manhood of man. More chapters in the Bible are - devoted to portraying the manhood of Caleb than to the creation of the - world. - - Home is on a level with the women; the town is on a level with the - homes. - -[Illustration: "A SALOON-KEEPER AND A GOOD MOTHER DON'T PULL ON THE -SAME ROPE"] - - You will find lots of things in Shakespeare which are not fit for - reading in a mixed audience and call that literature. When you hear - some truths here in the tabernacle you will call it vulgar. It makes - all the difference in the world whether Bill Shakespeare or Bill - Sunday said it. - - The more oyster soup it takes to run a church, the faster it runs to - the devil. - - The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it - knows all about you. - - Bob Ingersoll wasn't the first to find out that Moses made mistakes. - God knew about it long before Ingersoll was born. - - All that God has ever done to save this old world, has been done - through men and women of flesh and blood like ourselves. - - Nearly everybody is stuck up about something. Some people are even - proud that they aren't proud. - - The average young man is more careful of his company than the average - girl. - - Going to church doesn't make a man a Christian, any more than going to - a garage makes him an automobile. - - If we people were able to have panes of glass over our hearts, some of - us would want stained glass, wouldn't we? - - To see some people, you would think that the essential orthodox - Christianity is to have a face so long they could eat oatmeal out of - the end of a gas pipe. - - God likes a little humor, as is evidenced by the fact that he made the - monkey, the parrot--and some of you people. - - Wouldn't this city be a great place to live in if some people would - die, get converted, or move away? - - The normal way to get rid of drunkards is to quit raising - drunkards--to put the business that makes drunkards out of business. - - You can't shine for God on Sunday, and then be a London fog on Monday. - - I don't believe that God wants any man to be a hermit. Jesus Christ - did not wear a hair shirt and sleep upon a bed of spikes. He went - among the people and preached the Gospel. - - If you only believe things that you can understand you must be an - awful ignoramus. - - There is more power in a mother's hand than in a king's scepter. - - I have no doubt that there are men looking into my face tonight who - will have "1914" carved on their tombstones. - - If God had no more interest in this world than some of you church - members have in Johnstown, this city would have been in hell long ago. - - I hate to see a man roll up to church in a limousine and then drop a - quarter in the collection plate. - - Give your face to God and he will put his shine on it. - - No fountain under the sun can hold enough to satisfy an immortal - spirit. - - Jesus Christ came among the common people. Abraham Lincoln said that - God must have loved the common people: he made so many of them. - - Yank some of the groans out of your prayers, and shove in some shouts. - - The Bible says forgive your debtors; the world says "sue them for - their dough." - - The race will appear as far above us as we are above the harem when - godly girls marry godly men. - - It is impossible for a saloon-keeper to enjoy a good red-hot - prayer-meeting. - - I'm no spiritual masseur or osteopath. I'm a surgeon, and I cut deep. - - A prudent man won't swallow a potato bug, and then take Paris green to - kill it. - - If you want milk and honey on your bread, you'll have to go into the - land where there are giants. - - There is nothing in the world of art like the songs mother used to - sing. - - God pays a good mother. Mothers, get your names on God's pay-roll. - - The man who can drive a hog and keep his religion will stand without - hitching. - - The right preaching of the Gospel will never hurt anything good. - - If you would have your children turn out well, don't turn your home - into a lunch counter and lodging house. - - Man was a fool in the Garden of Eden, and he has taken a good many new - degrees since. - - The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a - house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him - to his knees. - - There would be more power in the prayers of some folks if they would - put more white money in the collection basket. - - What have you given the world it never possessed before you came? - - Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. Yielding is - opening the door and inviting him in. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -Battling with "Booze" - - The man who votes for the saloon is pulling on the same rope with the - devil, whether he knows it or not.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -There is a tremendous military advantage in having a definite enemy. -The sermons that are aimed at nothing generally hit it. Billy Sunday is -happiest and most successful when attacking the liquor evil. Down among -the masses of men he learned for himself the awful malignity of strong -drink, which he deems the greatest evil of our day. - -So he fights it. Everybody will admit--the saloon-keeper first of -all--that Billy Sunday is the most effective foe of the liquor business -in America today. Small wonder the brewers spend large sums of money -in circulating attacks upon him, and in going before him to every town -where he conducts meetings, spreading slanders of many sorts. - -There is a ghastly humor in the success the brewers have in enlisting -the preachers to make common cause with them in discrediting this -evangelist. Shrewd men have come quite generally to the conclusion that -they will not give aid and comfort to the enemies of righteousness -whose interests are best served by criticism of Billy Sunday. All -incidental questions aside, Sunday does the Lord's work and is on the -Lord's side. It is a pitiable spectacle to see the Lord's servants -attacking him; though it is quite understandable why the liquor -interest should spend large sums of money in antagonizing Sunday. It -would be worth a million dollars to them any day if he could be put out -of action. - -Wherever Sunday goes a great temperance awakening follows. In eleven of -fifteen Illinois towns where he campaigned "dry" victories were won -at the next election. Fifteen hundred saloons were put out of business -in a single day in Illinois, largely as the result of his work. With -characteristic indifference to figures and tabulated results, Sunday -has kept no record of the communities which have gone "dry" following -his meetings. That consequence is common. His recent presence in -Pennsylvania is the surest token that the Keystone State will not much -longer be the boasted Gibraltar of the liquor interests. Even up in -Pennsylvania's coal regions, with their large foreign population, many -communities are going "dry," while individual saloons are being starved -out. Within about a year of Sunday's visit there, the number of saloons -was reduced by more than two hundred. - -So intense is Sunday's zest for temperance that he will go anywhere -possible to deliver a blow against the saloon. He has toured Illinois -and West Virginia in special trains, campaigning for temperance. -During the Sunday campaign in Johnstown ten thousand men in a meeting -organized themselves into a Billy Sunday Anti-Saloon League. In Iowa -literally scores of towns and counties are reported as having gone -dry as a direct result of the Sunday meetings. Muscatine, Ottumwa, -Marshalltown, Linwood and Centerville are communities in point. -Thirteen out of fifteen towns in Illinois visited by Sunday voted -out the saloon. West Virginia's temperance leaders utilized Sunday -in a whirlwind campaign through the state. He spoke in ten towns in -five days, traveling from point to point in a special car. It is now -history that West Virginia went dry by ninety thousand majority. His -latest work in the West has been timed to precede elections where -the temperance question was an issue. Next to his passion for the -conversion of men and women is this consuming antagonism to rum. - -More important than his own valiant blows against the saloon is the -fact that Sunday makes enemies for the liquor business. Practically -all of his converts and friends become enthusiastic temperance workers. -In western Pennsylvania he converted practical machine politicians to -the old time Gospel and to the temperance cause. - -Every campaign is full of incidents like that of the blacksmith, a -part of whose business came from a large brewery. When this man became -a Sunday convert and a temperance "fanatic," as they termed him, the -brewers' business was withdrawn. But the loyalty which Sunday infuses -into his followers, rallied to the man's help, and such a volume of -Christian business was turned his way that his conversion and the loss -of the brewery trade turned out to his profit. - -In the _Outlook_ of August 8, 1914, Lewis Edwin Theiss introduces a -powerful article, "Industry versus Alcohol," with this Billy Sunday -story: - -"We were discussing Billy Sunday and the economic effect of his work. - -"'The vice-president of the C---- Iron Works told me,' said a -manufacturer of railway cars, 'that his company could have afforded to -pay its employees a quarter of a million dollars more than their wages -during the period that Billy Sunday was working among them.' - -'The corporation concerned is one of the great steel companies of the -country. It employs thousands of men. - -"'Why was that?' I asked. - -"'Because of the increased efficiency of the men. They were steadier. -Accidents decreased remarkably. They produced enough extra steel to -make their work worth the quarter million additional.' - -"'It is interesting to find that religion has such an effect on -every-day life,' I observed. - -"'Religion as such had little to do with it,' replied the car-maker, -'except that it started it. The thing that made those men efficient was -cutting out the drink. Billy Sunday got them all on the water wagon. -They became sober and stayed sober. They could run their machines -with steady hands and true eyes. The men themselves realize what a -difference it makes. They are strong for prohibition. If the people -of Pittsburgh and its vicinity could vote on the temperance question -today, the saloons would be wiped out there.' - -"'The manufacturers are strong for prohibition, too. They never gave -much thought to the matter before. But this demonstration of Billy -Sunday's has made us all strong for prohibition. We _know_ now that -most of our accidents are due to whisky. For years we have been trying -to find a way to secure a high degree of efficiency among our men. We -never succeeded. Along comes this preacher and accomplishes more in a -few weeks than we have ever been able to do. - -"'We know now that until booze is banished we can never have really -efficient workmen. We're fools if we don't profit by what he has shown -us. Take it from me, booze has got to go. We are not much interested in -the moral side of the matter as such. It is purely a matter of dollars -and cents. They say corporations have no souls. From this time forth -corporations are going to show mighty little soul toward the man who -drinks.'" - -A great parade of men marks the close of a Sunday campaign. In -Scranton the line of march was broken into by a brewer's wagon. The -driver was not content with trying to break the line of parade, but -he also hurled offensive epithets at Sunday and his converts. Perhaps -passive endurance was the virtue called for on this occasion; but it -was certainly not the virtue practiced. For those husky mill workers -stepped out of line for a moment, bodily overturned the brewer's wagon, -and sent the beer kegs rolling in the street, all to the tune of the -Sunday war song, "De Brewer's Big Horses Can't Run Over Me." - -[Illustration: De Brewer's Big Hosses. - -(SOLO AND CHORUS.) - - H. S. Taylor. - J. B. Herbert. -] - -This song, written by H. S. Taylor, is the most popular one in the -Sunday campaign. It is by no means a hymn of worship, but rather a -battle-cry. When thousands of men lift their voices in this militant -refrain, with whistles blowing and bells ringing in the chorus, -the effect is fairly thrilling. Words and music are beneath the -consideration of the scholarly musician; but they strike the common -mind of the American who wants a battle hymn. - - -DE BREWER'S BIG HOSSES.[A] - - Oh, de Brewer's big hosses, comin' down de road, - Totin' all around ole Lucifer's load; - Dey step so high, an' dey step so free, - But dem big hosses can't run over me. - - CHORUS. - - Oh, no! boys, oh, no! - De turnpike's free wherebber I go, - I'm a temperance ingine, don't you see, - And de Brewer's big hosses can't run over me. - - Oh, de licker men's actin' like dey own dis place, - Livin' on de sweat ob de po' man's face, - Dey's fat and sassy as dey can be, - But dem big hosses can't run over me.--CHO. - - Oh, I'll harness dem hosses to de temp'rance cart, - Hit 'em wid a gad to gib 'em a start, - I'll teach 'em how for to haw and gee, - For dem big hosses can't run over me.--CHO. - -Sunday is the Peter the Hermit of the temperance crusade. He inflames -men's passions for this righteous war. Most critics call his sermon -on "booze" his greatest achievement. He treats the theme from all -angles--economic, social, human, and religious. When he puts a row of -boys up on the platform and offers them as one day's contribution to -the saloon's grist of manhood which must be maintained, the result is -electric; all the militant manhood of the men before him is urged to -action. - -[A] Reproduced by permission. Copyright, 1887, by Fillmore Bros. Homer -A. Rodeheaver owner. International copyright secured. - -THE FAMOUS "BOOZE" SERMON - -Here we have one of the strangest scenes in all the Gospels. Two men, -possessed of devils, confront Jesus, and while the devils are crying -out for Jesus to leave them, he commands the devils to come out, and -the devils obey the command of Jesus. The devils ask permission to -enter into a herd of swine feeding on the hillside. This is the only -record we have of Jesus ever granting the petition of devils, and he -did it for the salvation of men. - -Then the fellows that kept the hogs went back to town and told the -peanut-brained, weasel-eyed, hog-jowled, beetle-browed, bull-necked -lobsters that owned the hogs, that "a long-haired fanatic from -Nazareth, named Jesus, has driven the devils out of some men and the -devils have gone into the hogs, and the hogs into the sea, and the sea -into the hogs, and the whole bunch is dead." - -And then the fat, fussy old fellows came out to see Jesus and said that -he was hurting their business. A fellow says to me, "I don't think -Jesus Christ did a nice thing." - -You don't know what you are talking about. - -Down in Nashville, Tennessee, I saw four wagons going down the street, -and they were loaded with stills, and kettles, and pipes. - -"What's this?" I said. - -"United States revenue officers, and they have been in the moonshine -district and confiscated the illicit stills, and they are taking them -down to the government scrap heap." - -Jesus Christ was God's revenue officer. Now the Jews were forbidden to -eat pork, but Jesus Christ came and found that crowd buying and selling -and dealing in pork, and confiscated the whole business, and he kept -within the limits of the law when he did it. Then the fellows ran back -to those who owned the hogs to tell what had befallen them and those -hog-owners said to Jesus: "Take your helpers and hike. You are hurting -our business." And they looked into the sea and the hogs were bottom -side up, but Jesus said, "What is the matter?" - -And they answered, "Leave our hogs and go." A fellow says it is rather -a strange request for the devils to make, to ask permission to enter -into hogs. I don't know--if I was a devil I would rather live in a -good, decent hog than in lots of men. If you will drive the hog out you -won't have to carry slop to him, so I will try to help you get rid of -the hog. - -And they told Jesus to leave the country. They said: "You are hurting -our business." - - -Interest in Manhood - -"Have you no interest in manhood?" - -"We have no interest in that; just take your disciples and leave, for -you are hurting our business." - -That is the attitude of the liquor traffic toward the Church, and -State, and Government, and the preacher that has the backbone to fight -the most damnable, corrupt institution that ever wriggled out of hell -and fastened itself on the public. - -I am a temperance Republican down to my toes. Who is the man that -fights the whisky business in the South? It is the Democrats! They have -driven the business from Kansas, they have driven it from Georgia, and -Maine and Mississippi and North Carolina and North Dakota and Oklahoma -and Tennessee and West Virginia. And they have driven it out of 1,756 -counties. And it is the rock-ribbed Democratic South that is fighting -the saloon. They started this fight that is sweeping like fire over -the United States. You might as well try and dam Niagara Falls with -toothpicks as to stop the reform wave sweeping our land. The Democratic -party of Florida has put a temperance plank in its platform and the -Republican party of every state would nail that plank in their platform -if they thought it would carry the election. It is simply a matter -of decency and manhood, irrespective of politics. It is prosperity -against poverty, sobriety against drunkenness, honesty against -thieving, heaven against hell. Don't you want to see men sober? Brutal, -staggering men transformed into respectable citizens? "No," said a -saloon-keeper, "to hell with men. We are interested in our business, we -have no interest in humanity." - -After all is said that can be said upon the liquor traffic, its -influence is degrading upon the individual, the family, politics and -business, and upon everything that you touch in this old world. For -the time has long gone by when there is any ground for arguments as -to its ill effects. All are agreed on that point. There is just one -prime reason why the saloon has not been knocked into hell, and that is -the false statement that "the saloons are needed to help lighten the -taxes." The saloon business has never paid, and it has cost fifty times -more than the revenue derived from it. - - -Does the Saloon Help Business? - -I challenge you to show me where the saloon has ever helped business, -education, church, morals or anything we hold dear. - -The wholesale and retail trade in Iowa pays every year at least -$500,000 in licenses. Then if there were no draw-back it ought to -reduce the taxation twenty-five cents per capita. If the saloon is -necessary to pay the taxes, and if they pay $500,000 in taxes, it ought -to reduce them twenty-five cents a head. But no, the whisky business -has increased taxes $1,000,000 instead of reducing them, and I defy any -whisky man on God's dirt to show me one town that has the saloon where -the taxes are lower than where they do not have the saloon. I defy you -to show me an instance. - -Listen! Seventy-five per cent of our idiots come from intemperate -parents; eighty per cent of the paupers, eighty-two per cent of the -crime is committed by men under the influence of liquor; ninety per -cent of the adult criminals are whisky-made. The Chicago _Tribune_ kept -track for ten years and found that 53,556 murders were committed by men -under the influence of liquor. - -Archbishop Ireland, the famous Roman Catholic, of St. Paul, said of -social crime today, that "seventy-five per cent is caused by drink, and -eighty per cent of the poverty." - -I go to a family and it is broken up, and I say, "What caused this?" -Drink! I step up to a young man on the scaffold and say, "What brought -you here?" Drink! Whence all the misery and sorrow and corruption? -Invariably it is drink. - -Five Points, in New York, was a spot as near like hell as any spot on -earth. There are five streets that run to this point, and right in the -middle was an old brewery and the streets on either side were lined -with grog shops. The newspapers turned a searchlight on the district, -and the first thing they had to do was to buy the old brewery and turn -it into a mission. - - -The Parent of Crimes - -The saloon is the sum of all villanies. It is worse than war or -pestilence. It is the crime of crimes. It is the parent of crimes and -the mother of sins. It is the appalling source of misery and crime -in the land. And to license such an incarnate fiend of hell is the -dirtiest, low-down, damnable business on top of this old earth. There -is nothing to be compared to it. - -The legislature of Illinois appropriated $6,000,000 in 1908 to take -care of the insane people in the state, and the whisky business -produces seventy-five per cent of the insane. That is what you go down -in your pockets for to help support. Do away with the saloons and you -will close these institutions. The saloons make them necessary, and -they make the poverty and fill the jails and the penitentiaries. Who -has to pay the bills? The landlord who doesn't get the rent because the -money goes for whisky; the butcher and the grocer and the charitable -person who takes pity on the children of drunkards, and the taxpayer -who supports the insane asylums and other institutions, that the whisky -business keeps full of human wrecks. - -Do away with the cursed business and you will not have to put up to -support them. Who gets the money? The saloon-keepers and the brewers, -and the distillers, while the whisky fills the land with misery, and -poverty, and wretchedness, and disease, and death, and damnation, and -it is being authorized by the will of the sovereign people. - -You say that "people will drink anyway." Not by my vote. You say, "Men -will murder their wives anyway." Not by my vote. "They will steal -anyway." Not by my vote. You are the sovereign people, and what are you -going to do about it? - -Let me assemble before your minds the bodies of the drunken dead, -who crawl away "into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell," and -then out of the valley of the shadow of the drink let me call the -appertaining motherhood, and wifehood, and childhood, and let their -tears rain down upon their purple faces. Do you think that would stop -the curse of the liquor traffic? No! No! - -In these days when the question of saloon or no saloon is at the -fore in almost every community, one hears a good deal about what is -called "personal liberty." These are fine, large, mouth-filling words, -and they certainly do sound first rate; but when you get right down -and analyze them in the light of common old horse-sense, you will -discover that in their application to the present controversy they -mean just about this: "Personal liberty" is for the man who, if he -has the inclination and the price, can stand up at a bar and fill his -hide so full of red liquor that he is transformed for the time being -into an irresponsible, dangerous, evil-smelling brute. But "personal -liberty" is not for his patient, long-suffering wife, who has to -endure with what fortitude she may his blows and curses; nor is it -for his children, who, if they escape his insane rage, are yet robbed -of every known joy and privilege of childhood, and too often grow up -neglected, uncared for and vicious as the result of their surroundings -and the example before them. "Personal liberty" is not for the sober, -industrious citizen who from the proceeds of honest toil and orderly -living, has to pay, willingly or not, the tax bills which pile up as a -direct result of drunkenness, disorder and poverty, the items of which -are written in the records of every police court and poor-house in the -land; nor is "personal liberty" for the good woman who goes abroad -in the town only at the risk of being shot down by some drink-crazed -creature. This rant about "personal liberty" as an argument has no leg -to stand upon. - - -The Economic Side - -Now, in 1913 the corn crop was 2,373,000,000 bushels, and it was -valued at $1,660,000,000. Secretary Wilson says that the breweries -use less than two per cent; I will say that they use two per cent. -That would make 47,000,000 bushels, and at seventy cents a bushel that -would be about $33,000,000. How many people are there in the United -States? Ninety millions. Very well, then, that is thirty-six cents per -capita. Then we sold out to the whisky business for thirty-six cents -apiece--the price of a dozen eggs or a pound of butter. We are the -cheapest gang this side of hell if we will do that kind of business. - -Now listen! Last year the income of the United States government, -and the cities and towns and counties, from the whisky business was -$350,000,000. That is putting it liberally. You say that's a lot of -money. Well, last year the workingmen spent $2,000,000,000 for drink, -and it cost $1,200,000,000 to care for the judicial machinery. In other -words, the whisky business cost us last year $3,400,000,000. I will -subtract from that the dirty $350,000,000 which we got, and it leaves -$3,050,000,000 in favor of knocking the whisky business out on purely a -money basis. And listen! We spend $6,000,000,000 a year for our paupers -and criminals, insane, orphans, feeble-minded, etc., and eighty-two per -cent of our criminals are whisky-made, and seventy-five per cent of the -paupers are whisky-made. The average factory hand earns $450 a year, -and it costs us $1,200 a year to support each of our whisky criminals. -There are 326,000 enrolled criminals in the United States and 80,000 -in jails and penitentiaries. Three-fourths were sent there because of -drink, and then they have the audacity to say the saloon is needed for -money revenue. Never was there a baser lie. - -"But," says the whisky fellow, "we would lose trade; the farmer would -not come to town to trade." You lie. I am a farmer. I was born and -raised on a farm and I have the malodors of the barnyard on me today. -Yes, sir. And when you say that you insult the best class of men on -God's dirt. Say, when you put up the howl that if you don't have the -saloons the farmer won't trade--say, Mr. Whisky Man, why do you dump -money into politics and back the legislatures into the corner and fight -to the last ditch to prevent the enactment of county local option? You -know if the farmers were given a chance they would knock the whisky -business into hell the first throw out of the box. You are afraid. You -have cold feet on the proposition. You are afraid to give the farmer a -chance. They are scared to death of you farmers. - -I heard my friend ex-Governor Hanly, of Indiana, use the following -illustrations: - -"Oh, but," they say, "Governor, there is another danger to the local -option, because it means a loss of market to the farmer. We are -consumers of large quantities of grain in the manufacture of our -products. If you drive us out of business you strike down that market -and it will create a money panic in this country, such as you have -never seen, if you do that." I might answer it by saying that less -than two per cent of the grain produced in this country is used for -that purpose, but I pass that by. I want to debate the merit of the -statement itself, and I think I can demonstrate in ten minutes to any -thoughtful man, to any farmer, that the brewer who furnishes him a -market for a bushel of corn is not his benefactor, or the benefactor of -any man, from an economic standpoint. Let us see. A farmer brings to -the brewer a bushel of corn. He finds a market for it. He gets fifty -cents and goes his way, with the statement of the brewer ringing in -his ears, that the brewer is the benefactor. But you haven't got all -the factors in the problem, Mr. Brewer, and you cannot get a correct -solution of a problem without all the factors in the problem. You take -the farmer's bushel of corn, brewer or distiller, and you brew and -distill from it four and one-half gallons of spirits. I don't know -how much he dilutes them before he puts them on the market. Only the -brewer, the distiller and God know. The man who drinks it doesn't, but -if he doesn't dilute it at all, he puts on the market four and a half -gallons of intoxicating liquor, thirty-six pints. I am not going to -trace the thirty-six pints. It will take too long. But I want to trace -three of them and I will give you no imaginary stories plucked from the -brain of an excited orator. I will take instances from the judicial -pages of the Supreme Court and the Circuit Court judges' reports in -Indiana and in Illinois to make my case. - - -Tragedies Born of Drink - -Several years ago in the city of Chicago a young man of good parents, -good character, one Sunday crossed the street and entered a saloon, -open against the law. He found there boon companions. There were -laughter, song and jest and much drinking. After awhile, drunk, -insanely drunk, his money gone, he was kicked into the street. He found -his way across to his mother's home. He importuned her for money to buy -more drink. She refused him. He seized from the sideboard a revolver -and ran out into the street and with the expressed determination of -entering the saloon and getting more drink, money or no money. His fond -mother followed him into the street. She put her hand upon him in a -loving restraint. He struck it from him in anger, and then his sister -came and added her entreaty in vain. And then a neighbor, whom he knew, -trusted and respected, came and put his hand on him in gentleness and -friendly kindness, but in an insanity of drunken rage he raised the -revolver and shot his friend dead in his blood upon the street. There -was a trial; he was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life -imprisonment, and when the little mother heard the verdict--a frail -little bit of a woman--she threw up her hands and fell in a swoon. In -three hours she was dead. - -In the streets of Freeport, Illinois, a young man of good family became -involved in a controversy with a lewd woman of the town. He went in -a drunken frenzy to his father's home, armed himself with a deadly -weapon and set out for the city in search of the woman with whom he -had quarreled. The first person he met upon the public square in the -city, in the daylight, in a place where she had a right to be, was one -of the most refined and cultured women of Freeport. She carried in her -arms her babe--motherhood and babyhood, upon the streets of Freeport -in the day time, where they had a right to be--but this young man in -his drunken insanity mistook her for the woman he sought and shot her -dead upon the streets with her babe in her arms. He was tried and Judge -Ferand, in sentencing him to life imprisonment said: "You are the -seventh man in two years to be sentenced for murder while intoxicated." - -In the city of Anderson, you remember the tragedy in the Blake home. -A young man came home intoxicated, demanding money of his mother. -She refused it. He seized from the wood box a hatchet and killed his -mother and then robbed her. You remember he fled. The officer of the -law pursued him and brought him back. An indictment was read to him -charging him with the murder of the mother who had given him his birth, -of her who had gone down into the valley of the shadow of death to give -him life, of her who had looked down into his blue eyes and thanked -God for his life. And he said, "I am guilty; I did it all." And Judge -McClure sentenced him to life imprisonment. - -Now I have followed probably three of the thirty-six pints of the -farmer's product of a bushel of corn and the three of them have struck -down seven lives, the three boys who committed the murders, the three -persons who were killed and the little mother who died of a broken -heart. And now, I want to know, my farmer friend, if this has been a -good commercial transaction for you? You sold a bushel of corn; you -found a market; you got fifty cents; but a fraction of this product -struck down seven lives, all of whom would have been consumers of your -products for their life expectancy. And do you mean to say that is a -good economic transaction to you? That disposes of the market question -until it is answered; let no man argue further. - - -More Economics - -And say, my friends, New York City's annual drink bill is $365,000,000 -a year, $1,000,000 a day. Listen a minute. That is four times the -annual output of gold, and six times the value of all the silver mined -in the United States. And in New York there is one saloon for every -thirty families. The money spent in New York by the working people for -drink in ten years would buy every working man in New York a beautiful -home, allowing $3,500 for house and lot. It would take fifty persons -one year to count the money in $1 bills, and they would cover 10,000 -acres of ground. That is what the people in New York dump into the -whisky hole in one year. And then you wonder why there is poverty and -crime, and that the country is not more prosperous. - -The whisky gang is circulating a circular about Kansas City, Kansas. I -defy you to prove a statement in it. Kansas City is a town of 100,000 -population, and temperance went into effect July 1, 1905. Then they -had 250 saloons, 200 gambling hells and 60 houses of ill fame. The -population was largely foreign, and inquiries have come from Germany, -Sweden and Norway, asking the influence of the enforcement of the -prohibitory law. - -At the end of one year the president of one of the largest banks -in that city, a man who protested against the enforcement of the -prohibitory law on the ground that it would hurt business, found that -his bank deposits had increased $1,700,000, and seventy-two per cent -of the deposits were from men who had never saved a cent before, -and forty-two per cent came from men who never had a dollar in the -bank, but because the saloons were driven out they had a chance to -save, and the people who objected on the grounds that it would injure -business found an increase of 209 per cent in building operations; -and, furthermore, there were three times as many more people seeking -investment, and court expenses decreased $25,000 in one year. - -Who pays to feed and keep the gang you have in jail? Why, you go down -in your sock and pay for what the saloon has dumped in there. They -don't do it. Mr. Whisky Man, why don't you go down and take a picture -of wrecked and blighted homes, and of insane asylums, with gibbering -idiots. Why don't you take a picture of that? - -At Kansas City, Kansas, before the saloons were closed, they were -getting ready to build an addition to the jail. Now the doors swing -idly on the hinges and there is nobody to lock in the jails. And the -commissioner of the Poor Farm says there is a wonderful falling off -of old men and women coming to the Poor House, because their sons and -daughters are saving their money and have quit spending it for drink. -And they had to employ eighteen new school teachers for 600 boys and -girls, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, that had never gone to -school before because they had to help a drunken father support the -family. And they have just set aside $200,000 to build a new school -house, and the bonded indebtedness was reduced $245,000 in one year -without the saloon revenue. And don't you know another thing: In 1906, -when they had the saloon, the population, according to the directory, -was 89,655. According to the census of 1907 the population was 100,835, -or an increase of twelve per cent in one year, without the grog-shop. -In two years the bank deposits increased $3,930,000. - -You say, drive out the saloon and you kill business--Ha! ha! "Blessed -are the dead that die in the Lord." - -I tell you, gentlemen, the American home is the dearest heritage of -the people, for the people, and by the people, and when a man can -go from home in the morning with the kisses of wife and children -on his lips, and come back at night with an empty dinner bucket to -a happy home, that man is a better man, whether white or black. -Whatever takes away the comforts of home--whatever degrades that man -or woman--whatever invades the sanctity of the home, is the deadliest -foe to the home, to church, to state and school, and the saloon is the -deadliest foe to the home, the church and the state, on top of God -Almighty's dirt. And if all the combined forces of hell should assemble -in conclave, and with them all the men on earth that hate and despise -God, and purity, and virtue--if all the scum of the earth could mingle -with the denizens of hell to try to think of the deadliest institution -to home, to church and state, I tell you, sir, the combined hellish -intelligence could not conceive of or bring an institution that could -touch the hem of the garment of the open licensed saloon to damn the -home and manhood, and womanhood, and business and every other good -thing on God's earth. - -In the Island of Jamaica the rats increased so that they destroyed -the crops, and they introduced a mongoose, which is a species of the -coon. They have three breeding seasons a year and there are twelve to -fifteen in each brood, and they are deadly enemies of the rats. The -result was that the rats disappeared and there was nothing more for the -mongoose to feed upon, so they attacked the snakes, and the frogs, and -the lizards that fed upon the insects, with the result that the insects -increased and they stripped the gardens, eating up the onions and the -lettuce and then the mongoose attacked the sheep and the cats, and the -puppies, and the calves and the geese. Now Jamaica is spending hundreds -of thousands of dollars to get rid of the mongoose. - - -The American Mongoose - -The American mongoose is the open licensed saloon. It eats the carpets -off the floor and the clothes from off your back, your money out -of the bank, and it eats up character, and it goes on until at last -it leaves a stranded wreck in the home, a skeleton of what was once -brightness and happiness. - -There were some men playing cards on a railroad train, and one fellow -pulled out a whisky flask and passed it about, and when it came to -the drummer he said, "No." "What," they said, "have you got on the -water wagon?" and they all laughed at him. He said, "You can laugh if -you want to, but I was born with an appetite for drink, and for years -I have taken from five to ten glasses per day, but I was at home in -Chicago not long ago and I have a friend who has a pawn shop there. I -was in there when in came a young fellow with ashen cheeks and a wild -look on his face. He came up trembling, threw down a little package and -said, 'Give me ten cents.' And what do you think was in that package? -It was a pair of baby shoes. - -"My friend said, 'No, I cannot take them.' - -"'But,' he said, 'give me a dime. I must have a drink.' - -"'No, take them back home, your baby will need them.' - -"And the poor fellow said, 'My baby is dead, and I want a drink.'" - -Boys, I don't blame you for the lump that comes up in your throat. -There is no law, divine or human, that the saloon respects. Lincoln -said, "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." I say, if the -saloon, with its train of diseases, crime and misery, is not wrong, -then nothing on earth is wrong. If the fight is to be won we need -men--men that will fight--the Church, Catholic and Protestant, must -fight it or run away, and thank God she will not run away, but fight to -the last ditch. - -Who works the hardest for his money, the saloon man or you? - -Who has the most money Sunday morning, the saloon man or you? - -The saloon comes as near being a rat hole for a wage-earner to dump his -wages in as anything you can find. The only interest it pays is red -eyes and foul breath, and the loss of health. You can go in with money -and you come out with empty pockets. You go in with character and you -come out ruined. You go in with a good position and you lose it. You -lose your position in the bank, or in the cab of the locomotive. And it -pays nothing back but disease and damnation and gives an extra dividend -in delirium tremens and a free pass to hell. And then it will let your -wife be buried in the potter's field, and your children go to the -asylum, and yet you walk out and say the saloon is a good institution, -when it is the dirtiest thing on earth. It hasn't one leg to stand on -and has nothing to commend it to a decent man, not one thing. - -"But," you say, "we will regulate it by high license." Regulate what -by high license? You might as well try and regulate a powder mill in -hell. Do you want to pay taxes in boys, or dirty money? A man that -will sell out to that dirty business I have no use for. See how absurd -their arguments are. If you drink Bourbon in a saloon that pays $1,000 -a year license, will it eat your stomach less than if you drink it in a -saloon that pays $500 license? Is it going to have any different effect -on you, whether the gang pays $500 or $1,000 license? No. It will make -no difference whether you drink it over a mahogany counter or a pine -counter--it will have the same effect on you; it will damn you. So -there is no use talking about it. - -In some insane asylums, do you know what they do? When they want to -test some patient to see whether he has recovered his reason, they -have a room with a faucet in it, and a cement floor, and they give the -patient a mop and tell him to mop up the floor. And if he has sense -enough to turn off the faucet and mop up the floor they will parole -him, but should he let the faucet run, they know that he is crazy. - -Well, that is what you are trying to do. You are trying to mop it -up with taxes and insane asylums and jails and Keeley cures, and -reformatories. The only thing to do is to shut off the source of supply. - -A man was delivering a temperance address at a fair grounds and a -fellow came up to him and said: "Are you the fellow that gave a talk on -temperance?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, I think that the managers did a dirty piece of business to let -you give a lecture on temperance. You have hurt my business and my -business is a legal one." - -[Illustration: "SHOULD HE LET THE FAUCET RUN, THEY KNOW THAT HE IS -CRAZY"] - -"You are right there," said the lecturer, "they did do a mean trick; -I would complain to the officers." And he took up a premium list and -said: "By the way, I see there is a premium of so much offered for the -best horse and cow and butter. What business are you in?" - -"I'm in the liquor business." - -"Well, I don't see that they offer any premium for your business. You -ought to go down and compel them to offer a premium for your business -and they ought to offer on the list $25 for the best wrecked home, $15 -for the best bloated bum that you can show, and $10 for the finest -specimen of broken-hearted wife, and they ought to give $25 for the -finest specimens of thieves and gamblers you can trot out. You can -bring out the finest looking criminals. If you have something that is -good trot it out. You ought to come in competition with the farmer, -with his stock, and the fancy work, and the canned fruit." - - -The Saloon a Coward - -As Dr. Howard said: "I tell you that the saloon is a coward. It hides -itself behind stained-glass doors and opaque windows, and sneaks -its customers in at a blind door, and it keeps a sentinel to guard -the door from the officers of the law, and it marks its wares with -false bills-of-lading, and offers to ship green goods to you and marks -them with the name of wholesome articles of food so people won't know -what is being sent to you. And so vile did that business get that the -legislature of Indiana passed a law forbidding a saloon to ship goods -without being properly labeled. And the United States Congress passed a -law forbidding them to send whisky through the mails. - -[Illustration: "I'LL FIGHT TO THE LAST DITCH, THIS HELLISH TRAFFIC."] - -I tell you it strikes in the night. It fights under cover of darkness -and assassinates the characters that it cannot damn, and it lies about -you. It attacks defenseless womanhood and childhood. The saloon is a -coward. It is a thief; it is not an ordinary court offender that steals -your money, but it robs you of manhood and leaves you in rags and -takes away your friends, and it robs your family. It impoverishes your -children and it brings insanity and suicide. It will take the shirt off -your back and it will steal the coffin from a dead child and yank the -last crust of bread out of the hand of the starving child; it will take -the last bucket of coal out of your cellar, and the last cent out of -your pocket, and will send you home bleary-eyed and staggering to your -wife and children. It will steal the milk from the breast of the mother -and leave her with nothing with which to feed her infant. It will take -the virtue from your daughter. It is the dirtiest, most low-down, -damnable business that ever crawled out of the pit of hell. It is a -sneak, and a thief and a coward. - -It is an infidel. It has no faith in God; has no religion. It would -close every church in the land. It would hang its beer signs on the -abandoned altars. It would close every public school. It respects the -thief and it esteems the blasphemer; it fills the prisons and the -penitentiaries. It despises heaven, hates love, scorns virtue. It -tempts the passions. Its music is the song of a siren. Its sermons -are a collection of lewd, vile stories. It wraps a mantle about the -hope of this world and that to come. Its tables are full of the vilest -literature. It is the moral clearing house for rot, and damnation, and -poverty, and insanity, and it wrecks homes and blights lives today. - - -God's Worst Enemy - -The saloon is a liar. It promises good cheer and sends sorrow. It -promises health and causes disease. It promises prosperity and sends -adversity. It promises happiness and sends misery. Yes, it sends the -husband home with a lie on his lips to his wife; and the boy home with -a lie on his lips to his mother; and it causes the employee to lie to -his employer. It degrades. It is God's worst enemy and the devil's best -friend. It spares neither youth nor old age. It is waiting with a dirty -blanket for the baby to crawl into the world. It lies in wait for the -unborn. - -It cocks the highwayman's pistol. It puts the rope in the hands of -the mob. It is the anarchist of the world and its dirty red flag is -dyed with the blood of women and children. It sent the bullet through -the body of Lincoln; it nerved the arm that sent the bullets through -Garfield and William McKinley. Yes, it is a murderer. Every plot that -was ever hatched against the government and law, was born and bred, and -crawled out of the grog-shop to damn this country. - -I tell you that the curse of God Almighty is on the saloon. -Legislatures are legislating against it. Decent society is barring it -out. The fraternal brotherhoods are knocking it out. The Masons and Odd -Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias and the A. O. U. W. are closing -their doors to the whisky sellers. They don't want you wriggling your -carcass in their lodges. Yes, sir, I tell you, the curse of God is on -it. It is on the down grade. It is headed for hell, and, by the grace -of God, I am going to give it a push, with a whoop, for all I know how. -Listen to me! I am going to show you how we burn up our money. It costs -twenty cents to make a gallon of whisky; sold over the counter at ten -cents a glass, it will bring four dollars. - -"But," said the saloon-keeper, "Bill, you must figure on the strychnine -and the cochineal, and other stuff they put in it, and it will bring -nearer eight dollars." - -Yes; it increases the heart beat thirty times more in a minute, when -you consider the licorice and potash and log-wood and other poisons -that are put in. I believe one cause for the unprecedented increase of -crime is due to the poison put in the stuff nowadays to make it go as -far as they can. - -I am indebted to my friend, George B. Stuart, for some of the following -points: - -I will show you how your money is burned up. It costs twenty cents -to make a gallon of whisky, sold over the counter at ten cents a -glass, which brings four dollars. Listen, where does it go? Who gets -the twenty cents? The farmer for his corn or rye. Who gets the rest? -The United States government for collecting revenue, and the big -corporations, and part is used to pave our streets and pay our police. -I'll show you. I'm going to show you how it is burned up, and you don't -need half sense to catch on, and if you don't understand just keep -still and nobody will know the difference. - -I say, "Hey, Colonel Politics, what is the matter with the country?" - -He swells up like a poisoned pup and says to me, "Bill, why the silver -bugbear. That's what is the matter with the country." - -The total value of the silver produced in this country in 1912 was -$39,000,000. Hear me! In 1912 the total value of the gold produced in -this country was $93,000,000, and we dumped thirty-six times that much -in the whisky hole and didn't fill it. What is the matter? The total -value of all the gold and silver produced in 1912 was $132,000,000, and -we dumped twenty-five times that amount in the whisky hole and didn't -fill it. - -What is the matter with the country, Colonel Politics? He swells up and -says, "Mr. Sunday, Standpatism, sir." - -I say, "You are an old windbag." - -"Oh," says another, "revision of the tariff." Another man says, "Free -trade; open the doors at the ports and let them pour the products in -and we will put the trusts on the sidetrack." - -Say, you come with me to every port of entry. Listen! In 1912 the total -value of all the imports was $1,812,000,000, and we dumped that much in -the whisky hole in twelve months and did not fill it. - -"Oh," says a man, "let us court South America and Europe to sell our -products. That's what is the matter; we are not exporting enough." - -Last year the total value of all the exports was $2,362,000,000, and we -dumped that amount in the whisky hole in one year and didn't fill it. - -One time I was down in Washington and went to the United States -treasury and said: "I wish you would let me go where you don't let the -general public." And they took us around on the inside and we walked -into a room about twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide and as many -feet high, and I said, "What is this?" - -"This is the vault that contains all of the national bank stock in the -United States." - -I said, "How much is here?" - -They said, "$578,000,000." - -And we dumped nearly four times the value of the national bank stock -in the United States into the whisky hole last year, and we didn't -fill the hole up at that. What is the matter? Say, whenever the day -comes that all the Catholic and Protestant churches--just when the day -comes when you will say to the whisky business: "You go to hell," that -day the whisky business will go to hell. But you sit there, you old -whisky-voting elder and deacon and vestryman, and you wouldn't strike -your hands together on the proposition. It would stamp you an old -hypocrite and you know it. - -Say, hold on a bit. Have you got a silver dollar? I am going to show -you how it is burned up. We have in this country 250,000 saloons, and -allowing fifty feet frontage for each saloon it makes a street from New -York to Chicago, and 5,000,000 men, women and children go daily into -the saloon for drink. And marching twenty miles a day it would take -thirty days to pass this building, and marching five abreast they would -reach 590 miles. There they go; look at them! - -On the first day of January, 500,000 of the young men of our nation -entered the grog-shop and began a public career hellward, and on the -31st of December I will come back here and summon you people, and ring -the bell and raise the curtain and say to the saloon and breweries: "On -the first day of January, I gave you 500,000 of the brain and muscle of -our land, and I want them back and have come in the name of the home -and church and school; father mother, sister, sweetheart; give me back -what I gave you. March out." - -I count, and 165,000 have lost their appetites and have become -muttering, bleary-eyed drunkards, wallowing in their own excrement, and -I say, "What is it I hear, a funeral dirge?" What is that procession? -A funeral procession 3,000 miles long and 110,000 hearses in the -procession. One hundred and ten thousand men die drunkards in the land -of the free and home of the brave. Listen! In an hour twelve men die -drunkards, 300 a day and 110,000 a year. One man will leap in front -of a train, another will plunge from the dock into a lake, another -will throw his hands to his head and life will end. Another will cry, -"Mother," and his life will go out like a burnt match. - -I stand in front of the jails and count the whisky criminals. They say, -"Yes, Bill, I fired the bullet." "Yes, I backed my wife into the corner -and beat her life out. I am waiting for the scaffold; I am waiting." -"I am waiting," says another, "to slip into hell." On, on, it goes. -Say, let me summon the wifehood, and the motherhood, and the childhood -and see the tears rain down the upturned faces. People, tears are too -weak for that hellish business. Tears are only salty backwater that -well up at the bidding of an occult power, and I will tell you there -are 865,000 whisky orphan children in the United States, enough in the -world to belt the globe three times around, punctured at every fifth -point by a drunkard's widow. - -Like Hamilcar of old, who swore young Hannibal to eternal enmity -against Rome, so I propose to perpetuate this feud against the liquor -traffic until the white-winged dove of temperance builds her nest on -the dome of the Capitol of Washington and spreads her wings of peace, -sobriety and joy over our land which I love with all my heart. - - -What Will a Dollar Buy? - -I hold a silver dollar in my hand. Come on, we are going to a saloon. -We will go into a saloon and spend that dollar for a quart. It takes -twenty cents to make a gallon of whisky and a dollar will buy a quart. -You say to the saloon-keeper, "Give me a quart." I will show you, -if you wait a minute, how she is burned up. Here I am John, an old -drunken bum, with a wife and six kids. (Thank God, it's all a lie.) -Come on, I will go down to a saloon and throw down my dollar. It -costs twenty cents to make a gallon of whisky. A nickel will make a -quart. My dollar will buy a quart of booze. Who gets the nickel? The -farmer, for corn and apples. Who gets the ninety-five cents? The United -States government, the big distillers, the big corporations. I am -John, a drunken bum, and I will spend my dollar. I have worked a week -and got my pay. I go into a grog-shop and throw down my dollar. The -saloon-keeper gets my dollar and I get a quart of booze. Come home with -me. I stagger, and reel, and spew in my wife's presence, and she says: - -"Hello, John, what did you bring home?" - -"A quart." - -What will a quart do? It will burn up my happiness and my home and -fill my home with squalor and want. So there is the dollar. The -saloon-keeper has it. Here is my quart. There you get the whisky end -of it. Here you get the workingman's end of the saloon. - -But come on; I will go to a store and spend the dollar for a pair of -shoes. I want them for my son, and he puts them on his feet, and with -the shoes to protect his feet he goes out and earns another dollar, and -my dollar becomes a silver thread in the woof and warp of happiness -and joy, and the man that owns the building gets some, and the clerk -that sold the shoes gets some, and the merchant, and the traveling man, -and the wholesale house gets some, and the factory, and the man that -made the shoes, and the man that tanned the hide, and the butcher that -bought the calf, and the little colored fellow that shined the shoes, -and my dollar spread itself and nobody is made worse for spending the -money. - -I join the Booster Club for business and prosperity. A man said, -"I will tell you what is the matter with the country: it's -over-production." You lie, it is underconsumption. - -Say, wife, the bread that ought to be in your stomach to satisfy the -cravings of hunger is down yonder in the grocery store, and your -husband hasn't money enough to carry it home. The meat that ought to -satisfy your hunger hangs in the butcher shop. Your husband hasn't any -money to buy it. The cloth for a dress is lying on the shelf in the -store, but your husband hasn't the money to buy it. The whisky gang has -his money. - -What is the matter with our country? I would like to do this. I would -like to see every booze-fighter get on the water wagon. I would like to -summon all the drunkards in America and say: "Boys, let's cut her out -and spend the money for flour, meat and calico; what do you say?" Say! -$500,000,000 will buy all the flour in the United States; $500,000,000 -will buy all the beef cattle, and $500,000,000 will buy all the cotton -at $50 a bale. But we dumped more money than that in the whisky hole -last year, and we didn't fill it. Come on; I'm going to line up the -drunkards. Everybody fall in. Come on, ready, forward, march. Right, -left, here I come with all the drunkards. We will line up in front of a -butcher shop. The butcher says, "What do you want, a piece of neck?" - -"No; how much do I owe you?" "Three dollars." "Here's your dough. Now -give me a porterhouse steak and a sirloin roast." - -"Where did you get all that money?" - -"Went to hear Bill and climbed on the water wagon." - -"Hello! What do you want?" - -"Beefsteak." - -"What do you want?" - -"Beefsteak." - -We empty the shop and the butcher runs to the telephone. "Hey, Central, -give me the slaughter house. Have you got any beef, any pork, any -mutton?" - -They strip the slaughter house, and then telephone to Swift, and -Armour, and Nelson Morris, and Cudahy, to send down trainloads of -beefsteaks. - -"The whole bunch has got on the water wagon." - -And Swift and the other big packers in Chicago say to their salesmen: -"Buy beef, pork and mutton." - -The farmer sees the price of cattle and sheep jump up to three times -their value. Let me take the money you dump into the whisky hole and -buy beefsteaks with it. I will show what is the matter with America. I -think the liquor business is the dirtiest, rottenest business this side -of hell. - -Come on, are you ready? Fall in! We line up in front of a grocery store. - -"What do you want?" - -"Why, I want flour." - -"What do you want?" - -"Flour." - -"What do you want?" - -"Flour." - -"Pillsbury, Minneapolis, 'Sleepy Eye'?" - -[Illustration: "BILLY" AND "MA" SUNDAY.] - -"Yes, ship in trainloads of flour; send on fast mail schedule, with an -engine in front, one behind and a Mogul in the middle." - -"What's the matter?" - -"Why, the workingmen have stopped spending their money for booze and -have begun to buy flour." - -The big mills tell their men to buy wheat and the farmers see the price -jump to over $2 per bushel. What's the matter with the country? Why, -the whisky gang has your money and you have an empty stomach, and yet -you will walk up and vote for the dirty booze. - -Come on, cut out the booze, boys. Get on the water wagon; get on for -the sake of your wife and babies, and hit the booze a blow. - -Come on, ready, forward, march! Right, left, halt! We are in front of a -dry goods store. - -"What do you want?" - -"Calico." - -"What do you want?" - -"Calico." - -"What do you want?" - -"Calico." - -"Calico; all right, come on." The stores are stripped. - -Marshall Field, Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., J. V. Farrell, send down -calico. The whole bunch has voted out the saloons and we have such -a demand for calico we don't know what to do. And the big stores -telegraph to Fall River to ship calico, and the factories telegraph to -buy cotton, and they tell their salesmen to buy cotton, and the cotton -plantation man sees cotton jump up to $150 a bale. - -What is the matter? Your children are going naked and the whisky gang -has got your money. That's what's the matter with you. Don't listen to -those old whisky-soaked politicians who say "stand pat on the saloon." - -Come with me. Now, remember, we have the whole bunch of booze fighters -on the water wagon, and I'm going home now. Over there I was John, the -drunken bum. The whisky gang got my dollar and I got the quart. Over -here I am John on the water wagon. The merchant got my dollar and I -have his meat, flour and calico, and I'm going home now. "Be it ever so -humble, there's no place like home without booze." - -Wife comes out and says, "Hello, John, what have you got?" - -"Two porterhouse steaks, Sally." - -"What's that bundle, Pa?" - -"Clothes to make you a new dress, Sis. Your mother has fixed your old -one so often, it looks like a crazy quilt." - -"And what have you there?" - -"That's a pair of shoes for you, Tom; and here is some cloth to make -you a pair of pants. Your mother has patched the old ones so often, -they look like the map of United States." - -What's the matter with the country? We have been dumping into the -whisky hole the money that ought to have been spent for flour, beef and -calico, and we haven't the hole filled up yet. - -A man comes along and says: "Are you a drunkard?" - -"Yes, I'm a drunkard." - -"Where are you going?" - -"I am going to hell." - -"Why?" - -"Because the Good Book says: 'No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of -God,' so I am going to hell." - -Another man comes along and I say: "Are you a church member?" - -"Yes, I am a church member." - -"Where are you going?" - -"I am going to heaven." - -"Did you vote for the saloon?" - -"Yes." - -"Then you shall go to hell." - -Say, if the man that drinks the whisky goes to hell, the man that votes -for the saloon that sold the whisky to him will go to hell. If the man -that drinks the whisky goes to hell, and the man that sold the whisky -to the men that drank it, goes to heaven, then the poor drunkard will -have the right to stand on the brink of eternal damnation and put his -arms around the pillar of justice, shake his fist in the face of the -Almighty and say, "Unjust! Unjust!" If you vote for the dirty business -you ought to go to hell as sure as you live, and I would like to fire -the furnace while you are there. - -Some fellow says, "Drive the saloon out and the buildings will be -empty." Which would you rather have, empty buildings or empty jails, -penitentiaries and insane asylums? You drink the stuff and what have -you to say? You that vote for it, and you that sell it? Look at them -painted on the canvas of your recollection. - - -The Gin Mill - -What is the matter with this grand old country? I heard my friend, -George Stuart, tell how he imagined that he walked up to a mill and -said: - -"Hello, there, what kind of a mill are you?" - -"A sawmill." - -"And what do you make?" - -"We make boards out of logs." - -"Is the finished product worth more than the raw material?" - -"Yes." - -"We will make laws for you. We must have lumber for houses." - -He goes up to another mill and says: - -"Hey, what kind of a mill are you?" - -"A grist mill." - -"What do you make?" - -"Flour and meal out of wheat and corn." - -"Is the finished product worth more than the raw material?" - -"Yes." - -"Then come on. We will make laws for you. We will protect you." - -He goes up to another mill and says: - -"What kind of a mill are you?" - -"A paper mill." - -"What do you make paper out of?" - -"Straw and rags." - -"Well, we will make laws for you. We must have paper on which to write -notes and mortgages." - -He goes up to another mill and says: - -"Hey, what kind of a mill are you?" - -"A gin mill." - -"I don't like the looks nor the smell of you. A gin mill; what do you -make? What kind of a mill are you?" - -"A gin mill." - -"What is your raw material?" - -"The boys of America." - -The gin mills of this country must have 2,000,000 boys or shut up shop. -Say, walk down your streets, count the homes and every fifth home has -to furnish a boy for a drunkard. Have you furnished yours? No. Then I -have to furnish two to make up. - -"What is your raw material?" - -"American boys." - -"Then I will pick up the boys and give them to you." - -A man says, "Hold on, not that boy, he is mine." - -Then I will say to you what a saloon-keeper said to me when I -protested, "I am not interested in boys; to hell with your boys." - -"Say, saloon gin mill, what is your finished product?" - -"Bleary-eyed, low-down, staggering men and the scum of God's dirt." - -Go to the jails, go to the insane asylums and the penitentiaries, and -the homes for feeble-minded. There you will find the finished product -for their dirty business. I tell you it is the worst business this side -of hell, and you know it. - -Listen! Here is an extract from the _Saturday Evening Post_ of November -9, 1907, taken from a paper read by a brewer. You will say that a man -didn't say it: "It appears from these facts that the success of our -business lies in the creation of appetite among the boys. Men who have -formed the habit scarcely ever reform, but they, like others, will die, -and unless there are recruits made to take their places, our coffers -will be empty, and I recommend to you that money spent in the creation -of appetite will return in dollars to your tills after the habit is -formed." - -What is your raw material, saloons? American boys. Say, I would not -give one boy for all the distilleries and saloons this side of hell. -And they have to have 2,000,000 boys every generation. And then you -tell me you are a man when you will vote for an institution like that. -What do you want to do, pay taxes in money or in boys? - -I feel like an old fellow in Tennessee who made his living by catching -rattlesnakes. He caught one with fourteen rattles and put it in a box -with a glass top. One day when he was sawing wood his little five-year -old boy, Jim, took the lid off and the rattler wriggled out and struck -him in the cheek. He ran to his father and said, "The rattler has bit -me." The father ran and chopped the rattler to pieces, and with his -jackknife he cut a chunk from the boy's cheek and then sucked and -sucked at the wound to draw out the poison. He looked at little Jim, -watched the pupils of his eyes dilate and watched him swell to three -times his normal size, watched his lips become parched and cracked, and -eyes roll, and little Jim gasped and died. - -The father took him in his arms, carried him over by the side of the -rattler, got on his knees and said, "O God, I would not give little Jim -for all the rattlers that ever crawled over the Blue Ridge mountains." - -And I would not give one boy for every dirty dollar you get from the -hell-soaked liquor business or from every brewery and distillery this -side of hell. - -In a Northwest city a preacher sat at his breakfast table one Sunday -morning. The doorbell rang; he answered it; and there stood a little -boy, twelve years of age. He was on crutches, right leg off at the -knee, shivering, and he said, "Please, sir, will you come up to the -jail and talk and pray with papa? He murdered mamma. Papa was good and -kind, but whisky did it, and I have to support my three little sisters. -I sell newspapers and black boots. Will you go up and talk and pray -with papa? And will you come home and be with us when they bring him -back? The governor says we can have his body after they hang him." - -The preacher hurried to the jail and talked and prayed with the man. He -had no knowledge of what he had done. He said, "I don't blame the law, -but it breaks my heart to think that my children must be left in a cold -and heartless world. Oh, sir, whisky did it." - -The preacher was at the little hut when up drove the undertaker's wagon -and they carried out the pine coffin. They led the little boy up to -the coffin, he leaned over and kissed his father and sobbed, and said -to his sister, "Come on, sister, kiss papa's cheeks before they grow -cold." And the little hungry, ragged, whisky orphans hurried to the -coffin, shrieking in agony. Police, whose hearts were adamant, buried -their faces in their hands and rushed from the house, and the preacher -fell on his knees and lifted his clenched fist and tear-stained face -and took an oath before God, and before the whisky orphans, that he -would fight the cursed business until the undertaker carried him out in -a coffin. - - -A Chance for Manhood - -You men have a chance to show your manhood. Then in the name of your -pure mother, in the name of your manhood, in the name of your wife and -the poor innocent children that climb up on your lap and put their arms -around your neck, in the name of all that is good and noble, fight -the curse. Shall you men, who hold in your hands the ballot, and in -that ballot hold the destiny of womanhood and childhood and manhood, -shall you, the sovereign power, refuse to rally in the name of the -defenseless men and women and native land? No. - -I want every man to say, "God, you can count on me to protect my wife, -my home, my mother and my children and the manhood of America." - -By the mercy of God, which has given to you the unshaken and unshakable -confidence of her you love, I beseech you, make a fight for the women -who wait until the saloons spew out their husbands and their sons, -and send them home maudlin, brutish, devilish, stinking, blear-eyed, -bloated-faced drunkards. - -You say you can't prohibit men from drinking. Why, if Jesus Christ were -here today some of you would keep on in sin just the same. But the law -can be enforced against whisky just the same as it can be enforced -against anything else, if you have honest officials to enforce it. Of -course it doesn't prohibit. There isn't a law on the books of the state -that prohibits. We have laws against murder. Do they prohibit? We have -laws against burglary. Do they prohibit? We have laws against arson, -rape, but they do not prohibit. Would you introduce a bill to repeal -all the laws that do not prohibit? Any law will prohibit to a certain -extent if honest officials enforce it. But no law will absolutely -prohibit. We can make a law against liquor prohibit as much as any law -prohibits. - -Or would you introduce a bill saying, if you pay $1,000 a year you can -kill any one you don't like; or by paying $500 a year you can attack -any girl you want to; or by paying $100 a year you can steal anything -that suits you? That's what you do with the dirtiest, rottenest gang -this side of hell. You say for so much a year you can have a license -to make staggering, reeling, drunken sots, murderers and thieves and -vagabonds. You say, "Bill, you're too hard on the whisky." I don't -agree. Not on your life. There was a fellow going along the pike and -a farmer's dog ran snapping at him. He tried to drive it back with a -pitchfork he carried, and failing to do so he pinned it to the ground -with the prongs. Out came the farmer: "Hey, why don't you use the other -end of that fork?" He answered, "Why didn't the dog come at me with the -other end?" - - -Personal Liberty - -Personal liberty is not personal license. I dare not exercise personal -liberty if it infringes on the liberty of others. Our forefathers did -not fight and die for personal license but for personal liberty bounded -by laws. Personal liberty is the liberty of a murderer, a burglar, a -seducer, or a wolf that wants to remain in a sheep fold, or the weasel -in a hen roost. You have no right to vote for an institution that is -going to drag your sons and daughters to hell. - -If you were the only persons in this city you would have a perfect -right to drive your horse down the street at breakneck speed; you would -have a right to make a race track out of the streets for your auto; you -could build a slaughter house in the public square; you could build a -glue factory in the public square. But when the population increases -from one to 600,000 you can't do it. You say, "Why can't I run my auto? -I own it. Why can't I run my horse? I own it. Why can't I build the -slaughter house? I own the lot." Yes, but there are 600,000 people here -now and other people have rights. - -So law stands between you and personal liberty, you miserable dog. -You can't build a slaughter house in your front yard, because the law -says you can't. As long as I am standing here on this platform I have -personal liberty. I can swing my arms at will. But the minute any one -else steps on the platform my personal liberty ceases. It stops just -one inch from the other fellow's nose. - -When you come staggering home, cussing right and left and spewing -and spitting, your wife suffers, your children suffer. Don't think -that you are the only one that suffers. A man that goes to the -penitentiary makes his wife and children suffer just as much as he -does. You're placing a shame on your wife and children. If you're a -dirty, low-down, filthy, drunken, whisky-soaked bum you'll affect all -with whom you come in contact. If you're a God-fearing man you will -influence all with whom you come in contact. You can't live by yourself. - -I occasionally hear a man say, "It's nobody's business how I -live." Then I say he is the most dirty, low-down, whisky-soaked, -beer-guzzling, bull-necked, foul-mouthed hypocrite that ever had a -brain rotten enough to conceive such a statement and lips vile enough -to utter it. You say, "If I am satisfied with my life why do you want -to interfere with my business?" - -If I heard a man beating his wife and heard her shrieks and the -children's cries and my wife would tell me to go and see what was -the matter, and I went in and found a great, big, broad-shouldered, -whisky-soaked, hog-jowled, weasel-eyed brute dragging a little woman -around by the hair, and two children in the corner unconscious from his -kicks and the others yelling in abject terror, and he said, "What are -you coming in to interfere with my personal liberty for? Isn't this my -wife, didn't I pay for the license to wed her?" You ought, or you're a -bigamist. "Aren't these my children; didn't I pay the doctor to bring -them into the world?" You ought to, or you're a thief. "If I want to -beat them, what is that your business, aren't they mine?" Would I -apologize? Never! I'd knock seven kinds of pork out of that old hog. - - -The Moderate Drinker - -I remember when I was secretary of the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago, I had -the saloon route. I had to go around and give tickets inviting men to -come to the Y. M. C. A. services. And one day I was told to count the -men going into a certain saloon. Not the ones already in, but just -those going in. In sixty-two minutes I could count just 1,004 men going -in there. I went in then and met a fellow who used to be my side-kicker -out in Iowa, and he threw down a mint julep while I stood there, and I -asked him what he was doing. - -"Oh, just come down to the theater," he said, "and came over for a -drink between acts." - -"Why, you are three sheets in the wind now," I said, and then an old -drunken bum, with a little threadbare coat, a straw hat, no vest, pants -torn, toes sticking out through his torn shoes, and several weeks' -growth of beard on his face, came in and said to the bartender: "For -God's sake, can't you give an old bum a drink of whisky to warm up on?" -and the bartender poured him out a big glass and he gulped it down. He -pulled his hat down and slouched out. - -I said to my friend, "George, do you see that old drunken bum, down -and out? There was a time when he was just like you. No drunkard ever -intended to be a drunkard. Every drunkard intended to be a moderate -drinker." - -"Oh, you're unduly excited over my welfare," he said. "I never expect -to get that far." - -"Neither did that bum," I answered. I was standing on another corner -less than eight months afterward and I saw a bum coming along with head -down, his eyes bloodshot, his face bloated, and he panhandled me for a -flapjack before I recognized him. It was George. He had lost his job -and was on the toboggan slide hitting it for hell. I say if sin weren't -so deceitful it wouldn't be so attractive. Every added drink makes it -harder. - -Some just live for booze. Some say, "I need it. It keeps me warm in -winter." Another says, "It keeps me cool in summer." Well, if it keeps -you warm in winter and cool in summer, why is it that out of those -who freeze to death and are sun-struck the greater part of them are -booze-hoisters? Every one takes it for the alcohol there is in it. Take -that out and you would as soon drink dish water. - -I can buy a can of good beef extract and dip the point of my knife -in the can and get more nourishment on the point of that knife than -in 800 gallons of the best beer. If the brewers of this land today -were making their beer in Germany, ninety per cent of them would be -in jail. The extract on the point of the knife represents one and -three-quarter pounds of good beefsteak. Just think, you have to make a -swill barrel out of your bellies and a sewer if you want to get that -much nourishment out of beer and run 800 gallons through. Oh, go ahead, -if you want to, but I'll try to help you just the same. - -Every man has blood corpuscles and their object is to take the -impurities out of your system. Perspiration is for the same thing. -Every time you work or I preach the impurities come out. Every time -you sweat there is a destroying power going on inside. The blood goes -through the heart every seventeen seconds. Oh, we have a marvelous -system. In some spots there are 4,000 pores to the square inch and -a grain of sand will cover 150 of them. I can strip you and cover -you with shellac and you'll be dead in forty-eight hours. Oh, we are -fearfully and wonderfully made. - - -What Booze Does to the System - -Alcohol knocks the blood corpuscles out of business so that it takes -eight to ten to do what one ought to do. There's a man who drinks. -Here's a fellow who drives a beer wagon. Look how pussy he is. He's -full of rotten tissue. He says he's healthy. Smell his breath. You -punch your finger in that healthy flesh he talks about and the dent -will be there a half an hour afterwards. You look like you don't -believe it. Try it when you go to bed tonight. Pneumonia has a first -mortgage on a booze-hoister. - -Take a fellow with good, healthy muscles, and you punch them and -they bound out like a rubber band. The first thing about a crushed -strawberry stomach is a crushed strawberry nose. Nature lets the public -on the outside know what is going on inside. If I could just take the -stomach of a moderate drinker and turn it wrong side out for you, it -would be all the temperance lecture you would need. You know what -alcohol does to the white of an egg. It will cook it in a few minutes. -Well, alcohol does the same thing to the nerves as to the white of an -egg. That's why some men can't walk. They stagger because their nerves -are partly paralyzed. - -The liver is the largest organ of the body. It takes all of the blood -in the body and purifies it and takes out the poisons and passes them -on to the gall and from there they go to the intestines and act as oil -does on machinery. When a man drinks the liver becomes covered with hob -nails, and then refuses to do the work, and the poisons stay in the -blood. Then the victim begins to turn yellow. He has the jaundice. The -kidneys take what is left and purify that. The booze that a man drinks -turns them hard. - -That's what booze is doing for you. Isn't it time you went red hot -after the enemy? I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to put a carpet -on your floor, pull the pillows out of the window, give you and your -children and wife good clothes. I'm trying to get you to save your -money instead of buying a machine for the saloon-keeper while you have -to foot it. - -By the grace of God I have strength enough to pass the open saloon, but -some of you can't, so I owe it to you to help you. - -I've stood for more sneers and scoffs and insults and had my life -threatened from one end of the land to the other by this God-forsaken -gang of thugs and cutthroats because I have come out uncompromisingly -against them. I've taken more dirty, vile insults from this low-down -bunch than from any one on earth, but there is no one that will reach -down lower, or reach higher up or wider, to help you out of the pits of -drunkenness than I. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -"Give Attendance to Reading" - - There are some so-called Christian homes today with books on the - shelves of the library that have no more business there than a - rattler crawling about on the floor, or poison within the child's - reach.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -"I never heard Billy Sunday use an ungrammatical sentence," remarked -one observer. "He uses a great deal of slang, and many colloquialisms, -but not a single error in grammar could I detect. Some of his passages -are really beautiful English." - -Sunday has made diligent effort to supplement his lack of education. -He received the equivalent of a high-school training in boyhood, which -is far more than Lincoln ever had. Nevertheless he has not had the -training of the average educated man, much less of a normal minister -of the gospel. He is conscious of his limitations: and has diligently -endeavored to make up for them. When coaching the Northwestern -University baseball team in the winter of '87 and '88 he attended -classes at the University. He has read a great deal and to this day -continues his studies. Of course his acquaintance with literature is -superficial: but his use of it shows how earnestly he has read up on -history and literature and the sciences. He makes better use of his -knowledge of the physical sciences, and of historical allusions, than -most men drilled in them for years. He displays a proneness for what he -himself would call "high-brow stuff," and his disproportionate display -of his "book learning" reveals his conscious effort to supply what does -not come to him naturally. - -Sunday has an eclectic mind. He knows a good thing when he sees it. He -is quick to incorporate into his discourses happenings or illustrations -wherever found. Moody also was accustomed to do this: he circulated -among his friends interleaved Bibles to secure keen comments on -Scripture passages. All preachers draw on the storehouses of the past: -the Church Fathers speak every Sunday in the pulpits of Christendom. -Nobody originates all that he says. "We are the heirs of all the ages." - -At the opening of every one of his campaigns Sunday repeatedly -announces that he has drawn his sermon material from wherever he could -find it, and that he makes no claim to originality. So the qualified -critic can detect, in addition to some sermon outlines which were -bequests from Dr. Chapman, epigrams from Sam Jones, flashes from -Talmage, passages from George Stuart, paragraphs from the religious -press, apothegms from the great commentators. It is no news to say -that Sunday's material is not all original; he avows this himself. -In his gleanings he has had help from various associates. Elijah P. -Brown's hand can be traced in his sermons: the creator of the "Ram's -Horn" proverbs surely is responsible for Sunday's penchant for throwing -stones at the devil. - -Sunday is not an original thinker. He has founded no school of -Scriptural interpretation. He has not given any new exposition of Bible -passages, nor has he developed any fresh lines of thought. Nobody hears -anything new from him. In every one of his audience there are probably -many persons who have a more scholarly acquaintance with the Bible and -with Christian literature. - -Temperamentally a conservative, Sunday has taken the truth taught him -by his earliest teachers and has adapted and paraphrased and modernized -it. In the crucible of his intense personality this truth has become -Sundayized. His discourses may have a variety of origin, but they all -sound like Billy Sunday when he delivers them. - -A toilsome, painstaking worker, he has made elaborate notes of all his -sermons, and these he takes with him in leather-bound black books to -the platform and follows more or less closely as he speaks. No other -man than himself could use these rough notes. Often he interjects into -one sermon parts of another. He has about a hundred discourses at his -command at present, and his supply is constantly growing. - -The early copies of Sunday's sermons were taken down more or less -correctly in shorthand, and these have been reproduced in every city -where he has gone: consequently they lack the tang and flavor of his -present deliverances. - -He is alert to glean from all sources. In conversation one morning -in Scranton I told him how on the previous day a lawyer friend had -characterized a preacher with whom I had been talking by saying, -"How much like a preacher he looks, and how little like a man." That -afternoon Sunday used this in his sermon and twiddled it under his -fingers for a minute or two, paraphrasing it in characteristic Sunday -fashion. Doubtless it is now part of his permanent oratorical stock in -trade. - -The absolute unconventionality of the man makes all this possible. He -is not afraid of the most shocking presentation of truth. Thus when -speaking at the University of Pennsylvania, he alluded to a professor -who had criticized the doctrine of hell, saying, "That man will not be -in hell five minutes before he knows better." Of course that thrust -caught the students. A more discreet and diplomatic person than Sunday -would not have dared to say this. - -The gospel preached by Sunday is the same that the Church has been -teaching for hundreds of years. He knows no modifications. He is -fiercely antagonistic to "modern" scholarship. He sits in God's -judgment seat in almost every sermon and frequently sends men to hell -by name. - -All this may be deplorable, but it is Sunday. The Bible which he uses -is an interpreted and annotated edition by one of the most conservative -of Bible teachers: this suits Sunday, for he is not of the temperament -to be hospitable to new truths that may break forth from the living -word. - -This state of mind leads him to be extravagant and intolerant in his -statements. His hearers are patient with all of this because the body -of his teachings is that held by all evangelical Christians. If he -were less cock-sure he would not be Billy Sunday; the great mass of -mankind want a religion of authority. - -After all, truth is intolerant. - -Although lacking technical literary training Sunday is not only a -master of living English and of terse, strong, vivid and gripping -phrase, but he is also capable of extraordinary flights of eloquence, -when he uses the chastest and most appropriate language. He has held -multitudes spell-bound with such passages as these: - - -God's Token of Love - -"Down in Jacksonville, Florida, a man, Judge Owen, quarreled with -his betrothed and to try to forget, he went off and worked in a -yellow-fever hospital. Finally he caught the disease and had succumbed -to it. He had passed the critical stage of the disease, but he was -dying. One day his sweetheart met the physician on the street and asked -about the judge. 'He's sick,' he told her. - -"'How bad?' she asked. - -"'Well, he's passed the critical stage, but he is dying,' the doctor -told her. - -"'But I don't understand,' she said, 'if he's passed the critical stage -why isn't he getting well?' - -"'He's dying, of undying love for you, not the fever,' the doctor told -her. She asked him to come with her to a florist and he went and there -she purchased some smilax and intertwined lilacs and wrote on a card, -'With my love,' and signed her given name. - -"The doctor went back to the hospital and his patient was tossing in -fitful slumber. He laid the flowers on his breast and he awoke and -saw the flowers and buried his head in them. 'Thanks for the flowers, -doctor,' he said, but the doctor said, 'They are not from me.' - -"'Then who are they from?' - -"'Guess!' - -"'I can't; tell me.' - -"'I think you'll find the name on the card,' the doctor told him, and -he looked and read the card, 'With my love.' - -"'Tell me,' he cried, 'did she write that of her free will or did you -beg her to do it?' The doctor told him she had begged to do it herself. - -"Then you ought to have seen him. The next day he was sitting up. The -next day he ate some gruel. The next day he was in a chair. The next -day he could hobble on crutches. The next day he threw one of them -away. The next day he threw the cane away and the next day he could -walk pretty well. On the ninth day there was a quiet wedding in the -annex of the hospital. You laugh; but listen: This old world is like -a hospital. Here are the wards for the libertines. Here are the wards -for the drunkards. Here are the wards for the blasphemers. Everywhere I -look I see scarred humanity. - -"Nineteen hundred years ago God looked over the battlements of heaven -and he picked a basket of flowers, and then one day he dropped a baby -into the manger at Bethlehem. 'For God so loved the world that he gave -his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish -but have everlasting life.' What more can he do? - -"But God didn't spare him. They crucified him, but he burst the bonds -of death and the Holy Spirit came down. They banished John to the isle -of Patmos and there he wrote the words: 'Behold, I stand at the door -and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door I shall come in -to him and sup with him and he with me.'" - - -The Sinking Ship - -"Years ago there was a ship on the Atlantic and a storm arose. The ship -sprung a leak and in spite of all the men could do they could not pump -out the water fast enough. The captain called the men to him and told -them that he had taken observations and bearings and said unless the -leak was stopped in ten hours the boat would be at the bottom of the -sea. 'I want a man who will volunteer his life to stay the intake. -It's in the second hold and about the size of a man's arm and some one -can place his arm in the hole and it will hold back the water until we -can get it pumped out enough.' - -"Not a man stirred. They said they would go back to the pumps and they -did. They worked hard and when a man dropped they would drag him away -and revive him and bring him back. The captain called them again and -told them it was no use unless it was changed. They would be at the -bottom before ten hours unless some one volunteered and in less time -than that if a storm arose. Then one stepped back. 'What! My boy!' - -"'Yes, father, I'll go.' - -"He sent some endearing words to his mother, took one last look at -the sky and kissed his father and bade the sailors good-bye, and went -below. He found the leak and placed his arm in it and packed rags -around it and the men went back to the pumps. When day broke they saw -the body floating and swaying in the water, but the arm was still in -the hole. And the vessel sailed into port safe. There on the coast -today stands a monument to perpetuate the deed. - -"Nineteen hundred years ago this old world sprung a leak. God asked for -volunteers to stop it, and all of the angels and seraphim stood back, -Noah, Abraham, Elijah, Isaiah, David, Jeremiah, Solomon, none would -go, and then forth stepped his Son and said: 'Father, I'll go,' and -descended, and died on the cross; but - - "'Up from the grave he arose, - With a mighty triumph o'er his foes. - He arose a victor from the dark domain - And he lives forever with his saints to reign. - Hallelujah, Christ arose!' - -He burst the bonds of death, and the gates of heaven, while the angels -sang and would crown him yet. 'Let me stand between God and the -people,' and there he stands today, the Mediator, with the salvation, -full, free, perfect, and eternal in one hand and the sword of -inflexible justice in the other. The time will come when he'll come -with his angels; some day he will withdraw his offer of salvation. - -"Come and accept my Christ! Who'll come and get under the blood with -me?" - - -"What If It Had Been My Boy?" - -"'Say, papa, can I go with you?' asked a little boy of his father. -'Yes, son, come on,' said the father, as he threw the axe over his -shoulder and accompanied by a friend, went to the woods and felled a -tree. - -"The little fellow said: 'Say, papa, can I go and play in the water -at the lagoon?' 'Yes, but be careful and don't get into deep water; -keep close to the bank.' The little fellow was playing, digging wells, -picking up stones and shells and talking to himself, when pretty soon -the father heard him cry, 'Hurry, papa, hurry.' - -"The father leaped to his feet, grabbed the axe and ran to the lagoon -and saw the boy floundering in deep water, hands outstretched, a look -of horror on his face as he cried, 'Hurry, papa; hurry; the alligator -has got me.' The hideous amphibious monster had been hibernating and -had come out, lean, lank, hungry, voracious, and seized the boy. - -"The father leaped into the lagoon and was just about to sink the axe -through the head of the monster when he turned and swished the water -with his huge tail like the screw of an ocean steamer, and the little -fellow cried out: 'Hurry, papa; hurry, hurry, hur---- ' The water -choked him. The blood-flecked foam told the story. The father went and -got men and they plunged in and felt around and all they ever carried -home to his mother was just two handfuls of crushed bones. - -"When I read that, for days I could not eat, for nights I could not -sleep. I said, 'Oh, God, what if that had been my boy?' - -"There are influences worse than an alligator and they are ripping and -tearing to shreds your virtue, your morality. Young men are held by -intemperance, others by vice, drunkards crying to the Church, 'Hurry, -faster,' and the church members sit on the bank playing cards, sit -there drinking beer and reading novels. 'Hurry.' They are splitting -hairs over fool things, criticizing me or somebody else, instead of -trying to keep sinners out of hell, and they are crying to the Church, -'Faster! Faster! Faster!' 'Lord, is it I?' - -"How many will say, 'God, I want to be nearer to you than I have ever -been before. I want to renew my vows. I want to get under the cross.' -How many will say it? - -"Who'll yield his heart to Christ? Who'll take his stand for the Lord? -Who'll come out clean-cut for God?" - - -A Dream of Heaven - -"Some years ago, after I had been romping and playing with the -children, I grew tired and lay down, and half awake and half asleep, I -had a dream. - -"I dreamed I was in a far-off land; it was not Persia, but all the -glitter and gaudy raiment were there; it was not India, although her -coral strands were there; it was not Ceylon, although all the beauties -of that island of paradise were there; it was not Italy, although the -soft dreamy haze of the blue Italian skies shone above me. I looked for -weeds and briars, thorns and thistles and brambles and found none. I -saw the sun in all its regal splendor and I said to the people, 'When -will the sun set and it grow dark?' - -"They all laughed and said: 'It never grows dark in this land; there is -no night here.' - -"I looked at the people, their faces wreathed in a simple halo of -glory, attired in holiday clothing. I said: 'When will the working men -go by clad in overalls? and where are the brawny men who work and toil -over the anvil?' - -"They said, 'We toil not, neither do we spin; there remaineth a rest -for the people of God.' - -"I strolled out in the suburbs. I said, 'Where are the graveyards, the -grave-diggers? Where do you bury your dead?' - -"They said, 'We never die here.' - -"I looked out and saw the towers and spires; I looked at them, but I -did not see any tombstones, mausoleums, green or flower-covered graves. -I said, 'Where, where are the hearses that carry your dead? Where are -the undertakers that embalm the dead?' - -"They said, 'We never die in this land.' - -"I said, 'Where are the hospitals where they take the sick? Where is -the minster, and where are the nurses to give the gentle touch, the -panacea?' - -"They said, 'We never grow sick in this land.' - -"I said, 'Where are the homes of want and squalor? Where live the poor?' - -"They said, 'There is no penury; none die here; none ever cry for bread -in this land.' I was bewildered. I strolled along and heard the ripple -of the waters as the waves broke against the jeweled beach. I saw boats -with oars dipped with silver, bows of pure gold. I saw multitudes -that no man could number. We all jumped down through the violets and -varicolored flowers, the air pulsing with bird song, and I cried, - -"'Are--all--here?' And they echoed, - -"'All--are--here.' - -"And we went leaping and shouting and vied with bower and spire, and -they all caroled and sung my welcome, and we all bounded and leaped and -shouted with glee, 'Home--Home--Home.'" - - -The Battle With Death - -"Just one thing divides you people. You are either across the line of -safety, or you are outside the kingdom of God. Old or young, rich or -poor, high or low, ignorant or educated, white or colored, each of you -is upon one side or upon the other. - -"The young man who talked to Jesus didn't let an infidel persuade him, -and neither should you. - -"The time will come when his head will lie on his pillow and his -fevered head will toss from side to side. - -"The time will come when there will be a rap on the door. - -"'Who are you?' - -"'Death.' - -"'I didn't send for you. Why do you come here?' - -"'Nobody sends for me. I choose my own time. If I waited for people to -send for me I would never come.' - -"'But don't come in now, Death.' - -"'I am coming in. I have waited for a long time. I have held a mortgage -on you for fifty years, and I've come to foreclose.' - -"'But, ah, Death, I'm not ready.' - -"'Hush! Hush! I've come to take you. You must come.' - -"'Death! Death! Go get my pocketbook, there! Go get my bankbook! Go -get the key to my safety deposit box! Take my gold watch, my jewelry, -my lands, my home, everything I've got, I'll give all to you if you'll -only go.' - -[Illustration: "BUT DEATH SAYS, 'I'VE COME FOR YOU'"] - -"But Death says, 'I've come for you. I don't want your money or your -land or anything that you have. You must come with me.' - -"'Death! Death! Don't blow that icy breath upon me. Don't crowd me -against the wall!' - -"'You must come! You have a week--you have five days--you -have one day--you have twelve hours--you have one hour--you -have thirty minutes--you have ten minutes--you have one -minute--you have thirty seconds-- you have ten seconds! -I'll count them--one--two--three--four--five--six--ha! -ha!--seven--eight--nine--ten!' - -"He's gone. Telephone for the undertaker. Carry him to the graveyard. -Lay him beside his mother. She died saying, 'I'm sweeping through the -gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb.' He died shrieking, 'Don't blow -that cold breath in my face! Don't crowd me against the wall!' Oh! God, -don't let that old infidel keep you out of the kingdom of God. - -"Who'll come into the kingdom of God? Come quick--quick--quick!" - - -"Christ or Nothing" - -"'And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do, -that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' No man can be saved -without Jesus Christ. There's no way to God unless you come through -Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ or nothing. - -"At the close of the Battle of Gettysburg the country roundabout was -overrun by Federals or Confederates, wounded or ill, and the people -helped both alike. Relief corps were organized in all the little -towns. In one of them--I think it was York--a man who had headed the -committee, resigned as chairman and told his clerk not to send any -more soldiers to him. There came a Union soldier with a blood-stained -bandage and with crutches that he had made for himself, and asked to -see this man. 'I am no longer chairman of the committee,' said the man, -'and I cannot help you, for if I were to make any exception to the -rule, I would be overrun with applicants.' - -"'But,' said the soldier, 'I don't want to ask you for anything. I only -want to give you a letter. It is from your son, who is dead. I was with -him, when he died. When he was wounded I got him a canteen of water -and propped him up against a tree and held his hand when he wrote. I -know where he lies.' The father took the letter, and he read it. It -said, 'Treat this soldier kindly for my sake.' Then it told how he had -helped the writer--the dying boy. The father said, 'You must come with -me to his mother.' She saw them coming and cried out, 'Have you any -news of my boy?' The father said, 'Here is a letter--read it.' She read -it and shrieked. They took the wounded soldier into their home, 'Won't -you stay with us and be our son? You were his friend, you were with him -at the last, you look like him, your voice reminds us of him. When you -speak and we turn our faces away, we can almost think he is here. Let -us adopt you. Won't you do it?' He heard their plea, and he was touched -and he stayed. So heaven will hear your prayer if it is in the name of -Christ. - -"When I go in the name of Jesus Christ, God will stop making worlds to -hear me. - -"Lord, teach us how to pray." - - -Calvary - -"There comes Judas, leading the devil's crowd, the churchly gang. -Don't forget that Jesus was crucified by church members whose sins he -rebuked. Judas said, 'The fellow that I kiss, that's Jesus.' Look at -the snake on his sanctimonious countenance. He said, 'Hail, Master,' -and he kissed him. - -"Jesus said, 'Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?' - -"And they staggered back. 'Whom seek ye?' - -"'We are all looking for Jesus of Nazareth.' - -"'All right, I am he.' They staggered again, and Judas led them on. - -"They rushed up and seized Jesus Christ. When starting for Calvary they -put a cross on his back. He was tired and he staggered and stumbled, -then fell, but he climbed up and a fellow smote him and said, 'Ha, ha,' -and the young fellow spat upon him. They cursed him and damned him. -What for? Because he came to open up a plan of redemption to keep you -and me out of hell; and yet you live a life of disgrace. On he went -and along came a colored man named Simon and they put the cross on -his back and he went dragging it for Jesus. The colored race has borne -many a burden in the advancement of civilization, but a grander burden -has never been on the back of black or white, than when Simon bore the -Master's cross. - -[Illustration: BILLY JR., MR. AND MRS. SUNDAY AND PAUL.] - -"On they went and seized him, and I can see his arms as they pounded -the nails through his hands and his feet. Another fellow digs a hole, -and I can hear the cross as it 'chugs' in the hole, and they lift him -between heaven and earth. Then the disciples forsook him and fled. Left -him all alone. How many will go with Jesus to the last ditch? Thousands -will die for him, but there is another set that will not. - -"The disciples followed him to the garden, but forsook him at the cross. - -"If we had been there we might have seen the hilltops and the tree-tops -filled and covered with angels, and houses crowded. As Jesus hung on -the cross and cried, 'I thirst,' a Jew ran and dipped a sponge in -wormwood and gall and vinegar and put it on a reed and put it up to -his lips. Then Jesus cried, 'My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' There -he hung, feeling the burden of your guilt, you booze-fighter, you -libertine, you dead-beat. 'My God, hast thou forsaken me?' he cried, -and I imagine that the archangel cried, "Oh, Jesus, if you want me to -come and sweep the howling, blood-thirsty mob into hell, lift your head -and look me in the face and I will come.' - -"But Jesus gritted his teeth and struggled on, and the archangel again -cried, 'Oh, Jesus, if you want me to come, tear your right hand loose -from the cross and wave it, and I will come.' But Jesus just clenched -his fist over the nails. What for? To keep you out of hell. Then tell -me why you are indifferent. And soon he cried, 'It is finished.' - -"The Holy Spirit plucked the olive branch of peace back through the -gates of heaven from the cross and winged his way and cried, 'Peace! -Peace has been made by his death on the cross.' That is what he had to -do. That was his duty." - - -The World for God - -"A heathen woman named Panathea was famous for her great beauty, and -King Cyrus wanted her for his harem. He sent his representatives to her -and offered her money and jewels to come, but she repulsed them and -spurned their advances. Again he sent them, this time with offers still -more generous and tempting; but again she sent them away with scorn. -A third time they were sent, and a third time she said, 'Nay.' Then -King Cyrus went in person to see her, and he doubled and trebled and -quadrupled the offers his men had made, but still she would not go. She -told him that she was a wife, and that she was true to her husband. - -"He said, 'Panathea, where dwellest thou?' - -"'In the arms and on the breast of my husband,' she said. - -"'Take her away,' said Cyrus. 'She is of no use to me.' Then he put her -husband in command of the charioteers and sent him into battle at the -head of the troops. Panathea knew what this meant--that her husband -had been sent in that he might be killed. She waited while the battle -raged, and when the field was cleared she shouted his name and searched -for him and finally found him wounded and dying. She knelt and clasped -him in her arms, and as they kissed, his lamp of life went out forever. -King Cyrus heard of the man's death, and came to the field. Panathea -saw him coming, careening on his camel like a ship in a storm. She -called, 'Oh, husband! He comes--he shall not have me. I was true to -you in life, and will be true to you in death!' And she drew her dead -husband's poniard from its sheath, drove it into her own breast and -fell dead across the body. - -"King Cyrus came up and dismounted. He removed his turban and knelt by -the dead husband and wife, and thanked God that he had found in his -kingdom one true and virtuous woman that his money could not buy, nor -his power intimidate. - -"Oh, preachers, the problem of this century is the problem of the -first century. We must win the world for God and we will win the world -for God just as soon as we have men and women who will be faithful to -God and will not lie and will not sell out to the devil." - - -A Word Picture - -"Every day at noon, while Ingersoll was lecturing, Hastings would go -to old Farwell Hall and answer Ingersoll's statements of the night -before. One night Ingersoll painted one of those wonderful word -pictures for which he was justly famous. He was a master of the use of -words. Men and women would applaud and cheer and wave their hats and -handkerchiefs, and the waves of sound would rise and fall like great -waves of the sea. As two men were going home from his lecture, one of -them said to the other: 'Bob certainly cleaned 'em up tonight.' The -other man said: 'There's one thing he didn't clean up. He didn't clean -up the religion of my old mother.' - -"This is the word picture Ingersoll painted: - -"'I would rather have been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes; I -would rather have lived in a hut, with a vine growing over the door -and the grapes growing and ripening in the autumn sun; I would rather -have been that peasant, with my wife by my side and my children upon -my knees twining their arms of affection about me; I would rather have -been that poor French peasant and gone down at least to the eternal -promiscuity of the dust, followed by those who loved me; I would a -thousand times rather have been that French peasant than that imperial -incarnation of force and murder (Napoleon); and so I would ten thousand -times.' - -"What was that? Simply a word picture. It was only the trick of an -orator. - -"Let me paint for you a picture, and see if it doesn't make you feel -like leaping and shouting hallelujahs. - -"Infidelity has never won a drunkard from his cups. It has never -redeemed a fallen woman from her unchastity. It has never built a -hospital for the crushed and sick. It has never dried tears. It has -never built a mission for the rescue of the down-and-out. It wouldn't -take a ream, or a quire, or a sheet, or even a line of paper to write -down what infidelity has done to better and gladden the world. - -"What has infidelity done to benefit the world? What has it ever done -to help humanity in any way? It never built a school, it never built -a church, it never built an asylum or a home for the poor. It never -did anything for the good of man. I challenge the combined forces of -unbelief. They have failed utterly. - -"Well may Christianity stand today and point to its hospitals, its -churches and its schools with their towers and the spires pointing to -the source of their inspiration and say: 'These are the works that I -do.' - -"I would rather have been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes; I -would rather have lived in a hut, with a vine growing over the door -and grapes growing and ripening in the autumn sun; I would rather have -been that peasant, with my wife and children by my side and the open -Bible on my knees, at peace with the world and at peace with God; I -would rather have been that poor peasant and gone down at least in the -promiscuity of the dust, with the certainty that my name was written in -the Lamb's book of life than to have been that brilliant infidel whose -tricks of oratory charmed thousands and sent souls to hell." - - -The Faithful Pilot - -"Some years ago a harbor pilot in Boston, who had held a commission for -sixty-five years (you know the harbor pilots and the ocean pilots are -different). For sixty-five years he had guided ships in and out of the -Boston harbor, but his time to die had come. Presently the watchers at -his bedside saw that he was trying to sit up, and they aided him. 'I -see a light,' he said. - -"'Is it the Minot light?' they asked him. - -"'No, that is first white and then red; this one is all white all -the time,' and he fell back. After a few moments he struggled to rise -again. 'I see a light,' he gasped. - -"'Is it the Highland light?' - -"'No, that one is red and then black; this one is white all the time.' -And he fell back again and they thought certainly he was gone, but he -came back again as if from the skies and they saw his lips moving. 'I -see a light.' - -"'Is it the Boston light; the last as you pass out?' they asked. - -"'No, that one is red all the time; this one is white all the time.' -And his hands trembled and he reached out his feeble arms. His face -lighted up with a halo of glory. 'I see a light,' he gasped, 'and it is -the light of glory. Let the anchor drop.' - - "'And he anchored his soul in the haven of rest, - To sail the wild seas no more: - Tho' the tempest may beat o'er the wild stormy deep, - In Jesus I'm safe evermore.' - -"That's where you ought to be. Will you come?" - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -Acrobatic Preaching - - If nine-tenths of you were as weak physically as you are spiritually, - you couldn't walk.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -If, as has been often said, inspiration is chiefly perspiration, then -there is no doubting the inspiration of Rev. William A. Sunday, D.D. -Beyond question he is the most vigorous speaker on the public platform -today. One editor estimates that he travels a mile over his platform -in every sermon he delivers. There is no other man to liken him to: -only an athlete in the pink of condition could endure the gruelling -exertions to which he subjects himself every day of his campaigns. The -stranger who sees him for the first time is certain that he is on the -very edge of a complete collapse; but as that same remark has been made -for years past, it is to be hoped that the physical instrument may be -equal to its task for a long time to come. - -People understand with their eyes as well as with their ears; -and Sunday preaches to both. The intensity of his physical -exertions--gestures is hardly an adequate word--certainly enhances the -effect of the preacher's earnestness. No actor on the dramatic stage -works so hard. Such passion as dominates Sunday cannot be simulated; it -is the soul pouring itself out through every pore of the body. - -Some of the platform activities of Sunday make spectators gasp. He -races to and fro across the platform. Like a jack knife he fairly -doubles up in emphasis. One hand smites the other. His foot stamps -the floor as if to destroy it. Once I saw him bring his clenched fist -down so hard on the seat of a chair that I feared the blood would flow -and the bones be broken. No posture is too extreme for this restless -gymnast. Yet it all seems natural. Like his speech, it is an integral -part of the man. Every muscle of his body preaches in accord with his -voice. - -Be it whispered, men like this unconventional sort of earnestness. -Whenever they are given a chance, most men are prone to break the -trammels of sober usage. I never yet have met a layman who has been -through a Billy Sunday campaign who had a single word of criticism of -the platform gymnastics of the evangelist. Their reasoning is something -like this: On the stage, where men undertake to represent a character -or a truth, they use all arts and spare themselves not at all. Why -should not a man go to greater lengths when dealing with living -realities of the utmost importance? - -[Illustration: SUNDAY IS FOR AN INSTANT DOWN ON ALL FOURS.] - -Sunday is a physical sermon. In a unique sense he glorifies God with -his body. Only a physique kept in tune by clean living and right usage -could respond to the terrific and unceasing demands which Sunday makes -upon it. When in a sermon he alludes to the man who acts no better than -a four-footed brute, Sunday is for an instant down on all fours on -the platform and you see that brute. As he pictures a man praying he -sinks to his knees for a single moment. When he talks of the death-bed -penitent as a man waiting to be pumped full of embalming fluid, he -cannot help going through the motions of pumping in the fluid. He -remarks that death-bed repentance is "burning the candle of life in the -service of the devil, and then blowing the smoke in God's face"--and -the last phrase is accompanied by "pfouff!" In a dramatic description -of the marathon he pictures the athlete falling prostrate at the goal -and--thud!--there lies the evangelist prone on the platform. Only -a skilled baseball player, with a long drill in sliding to bases, -could thus fling himself to the floor without serious injury. On many -occasions he strips off his coat and talks in his shirt sleeves. It -seems impossible for him to stand up behind the pulpit and talk only -with his mouth. - -The fact is, Sunday is a born actor. He knows how to portray truth by a -vocal personality. When he describes the traveler playing with a pearl -at sea, he tosses an imaginary gem into the air so that the spectators -hold their breath lest the ship should lurch and the jewel be lost. -Words without gesture could never attain this triumph of oratory. - -A hint of Sunday's state of mind which drives him to such earnestness -and intensity in labor is found in quotations like the following: - -"You will agree with me, in closing, that I'm not a crank; at least I -try not to be. I have not preached about my first, second, third or -hundredth blessing. I have not talked about baptism or immersion. I -told you that while I was here my creed would be: 'With Christ you are -saved; without him you are lost.' Are you saved? Are you lost? Going to -heaven? Going to hell? I have tried to build every sermon right around -those questions; and also to steer clear of anything else, but I want -to say to you in closing, that it is the inspiration of my life, the -secret of my earnestness. I never preach a sermon but that I think it -may be the last one some fellow will hear or the last I shall ever be -privileged to preach. It is an inspiration to me that some day He will -come. - - "'It may be at morn, when the day is awaking, - When darkness through sunlight and shadow is breaking, - That Jesus will come, in the fullness of glory, - To receive from the world his own. - - "'Oh joy, Oh delight, to go without dying, - No sickness, no sadness, no sorrow, no crying! - Caught up with the Lord in the clouds of glory - When he comes to receive from the world his own.'" - -[Illustration: A CARICATURE OF BILLY SUNDAY'S EMPHATIC WAY OF -PREACHING.] - -"Go straight on and break the lion's neck and turn it into a beehive, -out of which you will some day take the best and sweetest honey ever -tasted, for the flavor of a dead lion in the honey beats that of clover -and buckwheat all to pieces. Be a man, therefore, by going straight on -to breathe the air that has in it the smoke of battle. - -"Don't spend much time in looking for an easy chair, with a soft -cushion on it, if you would write your name high in the hall of fame -where the names of real men are found. The man who is willing to be -carried over all rough places might as well have wooden legs. 'He is -not worthy of the honeycomb who shuns the hive because the bees have -stings.' The true value of life lies in the preciousness of striving. -No tears are ever shed for the chick that dies in its shell. - - "'Did you tackle the trouble that came your way - With a resolute heart and cheerful? - Or hide your face from the light of day - With a craven soul and fearful? - Oh, a trouble is a ton, or a trouble is an ounce, - Or a trouble is what you make it, - And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts-- - But only--How did you take it?'" - -"This poem is by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the negro poet: - - "'The Lord had a job for me, but I had so much to do, - I said: "You get somebody else--or, wait till I get through. - I don't know how the Lord came out, but he seemed to get along-- - But I felt kinda sneakin' like, 'cause I know'd I done him wrong-- - One day I needed the Lord, needed him myself--needed him right - away-- - And he never answered me at all, but I could hear him say-- - Down in my accusin' heart--"Nigger, I'se got too much to do, - You get somebody else, or wait till I get through." - Now when the Lord he have a job for me, I never tries to shirk; - I drops what I have on hand and does the good Lord's work; - And my affairs can run along, or wait till I get through, - Nobody else can do the job that God's marked out for you.'" - -"I will tell you many young people are good in the beginning, but they -are like the fellow that was killed by falling off a skyscraper--they -stop too quick. They go one day like a six-cylinder automobile with -her carbureters working; the next day they stroll along like a fellow -walking through a graveyard reading the epitaphs on the tombstones. It -is the false ideals that strew the shores with wrecks, eagerness to -achieve success in realms we can not reach that breeds half the ills -that curse today. One hundred years from tonight what difference will -it make whether you are rich or poor; whether learned or illiterate. - - "'It matters little where I was born, - Whether my parents were rich or poor; - Whether they shrunk from the cold world's scorn, - Or lived in pride of wealth secure. - But whether I live an honest man, - And hold my integrity firm in my clutch; - I tell you--my neighbor--as plain as I can, - That matters much.' - -"The engineer is bigger than the locomotive, because he runs it. - -"Do your best and you will never wear out shoe leather looking for -a job. Do your best, and you will never become blind reading 'Help -Wanted' ads in a newspaper. Be like the fellow that went to college and -tacked the letter V up over his door in his room. He was asked what -that stood for, and he said valedictorian, and he went out carrying the -valedictory with him. - - "'If I were a cobbler, best of all cobblers I would be. - If I were a tinker, no tinker beside should mend an old tea - kettle for me.'" - -In dealing with the unreality of many preachers, Sunday pictures a -minister as going to the store to buy groceries for his wife, but using -his pulpit manner, his pulpit tone of voice and his pulpit phraseology. -This is so true to life that it convulses every congregation that hears -it. In these few minutes of mimicry the evangelist does more to argue -for reality and genuineness and unprofessionalism on the part of the -clergy than could be accomplished by an hour's lecture. - -Another of his famous passages is his portrayal of the society woman -nursing a pug dog. You see the woman and you see the dog, and you love -neither one. Likewise, Sunday mimics the skin-flint hypocrite in a way -to make the man represented loathe himself. - -This suggests a second fact about Sunday's preaching. He often makes -people laugh, but rarely makes them cry. His sense of humor is stronger -than his sense of pathos. Now tears and hysterics are supposed to be -part of the stock in trade of the professional evangelist. Not so with -Sunday. He makes sin absurd and foolish as well as wicked; and he -makes the sinner ashamed of himself. He has recovered for the Church -the use of that powerful weapon, the barb of ridicule. There are more -instruments of warfare in the gospel armory than the average preacher -commonly uses. Sunday endeavors to employ them all, and his favorites -seem to be humor, satire and scorn. - -As a physical performance the preaching to crowds of from ten to -twenty-five thousand persons every day is phenomenal. Sunday has not a -beautiful voice like many great orators. It is husky and seems strained -and yet it is able to penetrate every corner of his great tabernacles. -Nor is he possessed of the oratorical manner, "the grand air" of the -rhetorician. Mostly he is direct, informal and colloquial in his -utterances. But he is so dead in earnest that after every address he -must make an entire change of raiment--and, like most baseball players, -and members of the sporting fraternities, he is fond of good clothes, -even to the point of foppishness. He carries about a dozen different -suits with him and I question whether there is a single Prince Albert -or "preacher's coat" in the whole outfit. - -A very human figure is Billy Sunday on the platform. During the -preliminaries he enjoys the music, the responses of the delegations, -and any of the informalities that are common accessories of his -meetings. When he begins to speak he is an autocrat and will brook no -disturbance. He is less concerned about hurting the feelings of some -fidgety, restless usher or auditor than he is about the comfort of the -great congregation and its opportunity to hear his message. - -Any notion that Sunday loves the limelight is wide of the mark. The -fact is, he shuns the public gaze. It really makes him nervous to be -pointed out and stared at. That is one reason why he does not go to a -hotel, but hires a furnished house for himself and his associates. Here -they "camp out" for the period of the campaign, and enjoy something -like the family life of every-day American folk. Their hospitable table -puts on no more frills than that of the ordinary home. The same cook -has accompanied the party for months; and when a family's religion so -commends itself to the cook, it is likely to grade "A No. 1 Hard," like -Minnesota wheat. - -"Ma," as the whole party call Mrs. Sunday, is responsible for the -home, as well as for many meetings. Primarily, though, she looks -after "Daddy." Sunday is the type of man who is quite helpless with -respect to a dozen matters which a watchful wife attends to. He needs -considerable looking after, and all his friends, from the newspaper men -to the policeman on duty at the house, conspire to take care of him. - -The Pittsburgh authorities assigned a couple of plain clothes men -to safeguard Sunday; of course he "got them" early, as he gets most -everybody he comes into touch with. So these men took care of Sunday as -if he were the famous "millionaire baby" of Washington and Newport. Not -a sense of official duty, but affectionate personal solicitude animated -those two men who rode in the automobile with us from the house to the -Tabernacle. - -This sort of thing is one of the most illuminating phases of the -Sunday campaign. Those who come closest to the man believe most in -his religion. As one of the newspaper men covering the meetings said -to me, "The newspaper boys have all 'hit the trail.'" Then he proved -his religion by offering to do the most fraternal services for me. -From Mrs. Sunday, though, I learned that there was one bright reporter -who had worked on aspects of the revival who had not gone forward. He -avoided the meetings, and evaded the personal interviews of the Sunday -party. The evangelist's wife was as solicitous over that one young -man's spiritual welfare as if he had been one of her own four children. - -Ten of the policemen stationed at the Tabernacle went forward the night -before I arrived in Pittsburgh. I was told that twenty others were -waiting to "hit the trail" in a group, taking their families with them. - -The personal side of Sunday is wholesome and satisfactory. He is a -simple, modest chap, marked by the ways of the Middle West. Between -meetings he goes to bed, and there friends sometimes visit him. Met -thus intimately, behind the scenes, one would expect from him an -unrestrained display of personality, even a measure of egotism. Surely, -it is sometimes to be permitted a man to recount his achievements. -Never a boast did I hear from Sunday. Instead, he seemed absurdly -self-distrustful. These are his times for gathering, and he wanted me -to tell him about Bible lands! - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -"The Old-Time Religion" - - I am an old-fashioned preacher of the old-time religion, that has - warmed this cold world's heart for two thousand years.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Modern to the last minute Sunday's methods may be, but his message is -unmistakably the "old-time religion." He believes his beliefs without -a question. There is no twilight zone in his intellectual processes; -no mental reservation in his preaching. He is sure that man is lost -without Christ, and that only by the acceptance of the Saviour can -fallen humanity find salvation. He is as sure of hell as of heaven, and -for all modernized varieties of religion he has only vials of scorn. - -In no single particular is Sunday's work more valuable than in its -revelation of the power of positive conviction to attract and convert -multitudes. The world wants faith. "Intolerant," cry the scholars of -Sunday; but the hungry myriads accept him as their spiritual guide to -peace, and joy, and righteousness. The world wants a religion with -salvation in it; speculation does not interest the average man who -seeks deliverance from sin in himself and in the world. He does not -hope to be evoluted into holiness; he wants to be redeemed. - -"Modernists" sputter and fume and rail at Sunday and his work: but they -cannot deny that he leads men and women into new lives of holiness, -happiness and helpfulness. Churches are enlarged and righteousness is -promoted, all by the old, blood-stained way of the Cross. The revivals -which have followed the preaching of Evangelist Sunday are supplemental -to the Book of the Acts. His theology is summed up in the words Peter -used in referring to Jesus: "There is none other Name under heaven -given among men whereby we must be saved." - -One of Sunday's favorite sayings is: "I don't know any more about -theology than a jack-rabbit does about ping-pong, but I'm on the way to -glory." That really does not fully express the evangelist's point. He -was arguing that "theology bears the same relation to Christianity that -botany does to flowers, or astronomy to the stars. Botany is rewritten, -but the flowers remain the same. Theology changes (I have no objection -to your new theology when it tries to make the truths of Christianity -clearer), but Christianity abides. Nobody is kept out of heaven because -he does not understand theology. It isn't theology that saves, but -Christ; it is not the sawdust trail that saves, but Christ in the -motive that makes you hit the trail. - -"I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to cover. I believe -that the man who magnifies the word of God in his preaching is the -man whom God will honor. Why do such names stand out on the pages of -history as Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Martin Luther? Because of -their fearless denunciation of all sin, and because they preach Jesus -Christ without fear or favor. - -"But somebody says a revival is abnormal. You lie! Do you mean to tell -me that the godless, card-playing conditions of the Church are normal? -I say they are not, but it is the abnormal state. It is the sin-eaten, -apathetic condition of the Church that is abnormal. It is the 'Dutch -lunch' and beer party, card parties and the like, that are abnormal. I -say that they lie when they say that a revival is an abnormal condition -in the Church. - -"What we need is the good old-time kind of revival that will cause you -to love your neighbors, and quit talking about them. A revival that -will make you pay your debts, and have family prayers. Get that kind -and then you will see that a revival means a very different condition -from what people believe it does. - -"Christianity means a lot more than church membership. Many an old -skin-flint is not fit for the balm of Gilead until you give him a -fly blister and get after him with a currycomb. There are too many -Sunday-school teachers who are godless card-players, beer, wine and -champagne drinkers. No wonder the kids are going to the devil. No -wonder your children grow up like cattle when you have no form of -prayer in the home." - - -THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SUNDAY - -What does converted mean? It means completely changed. Converted is not -synonymous with reformed. Reforms are from without--conversion from -within. Conversion is a complete surrender to Jesus. It's a willingness -to do what he wants you to do. Unless you have made a complete -surrender and are doing his will it will avail you nothing if you've -reformed a thousand times and have your name on fifty church records. - -Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in your heart and confess him with -your mouth and you will be saved. God is good. The plan of salvation -is presented to you in two parts. Believe in your heart and confess -with your mouth. Many of you here probably do believe. Why don't you -confess? Now own up. The truth is that you have a yellow streak. Own -up, business men, and business women, and all of you others. Isn't -it so? Haven't you got a little saffron? Brave old Elijah ran like a -scared deer when he heard old Jezebel had said she would have his head, -and he beat it. And he ran to Beersheba and lay down under a juniper -tree and cried to the Lord to let him die. The Lord answered his -prayer, but not in the way he expected. If he had let him die he would -have died with nothing but the wind moaning through the trees as his -funeral dirge. But the Lord had something better for Elijah. He had a -chariot of fire and it swooped down and carried him into glory without -his ever seeing death. - -So he says he has something better for you--salvation if he can get you -to see it. You've kept your church membership locked up. You've smiled -at a smutty story. When God and the Church were scoffed at you never -peeped, and when asked to stand up here you've sneaked out the back -way and beat it. You're afraid and God despises a coward--a mutt. You -cannot be converted by thinking so and sitting still. - -[Illustration: EVERY MUSCLE IN HIS BODY PREACHES IN ACCORD WITH HIS -VOICE.] - -Maybe you're a drunkard, an adulterer, a prostitute, a liar; won't -admit you are lost; are proud. Maybe you're even proud you're not -proud, and Jesus has a time of it. - -Jesus said: "Come to me," not to the Church; to me, not to a creed; to -me, not to a preacher; to me, not to an evangelist; to me, not to a -priest; to me, not to a pope; "Come to me and I will give you rest." -Faith in Jesus Christ saves you, not faith in the Church. - -You can join church, pay your share of the preacher's salary, attend -the services, teach Sunday school, return thanks and do everything that -would apparently stamp you as a Christian--even pray--but you won't -ever be a Christian until you do what God tells you to do. - -That's the road, and that's the only one mapped out for you and for me. -God treats all alike. He doesn't furnish one plan for the banker and -another for the janitor who sweeps out the bank. He has the same plan -for one that he has for another. It's the law--you may not approve of -it, but that doesn't make any difference. - - -Salvation a Personal Matter - -The first thing to remember about being saved is that salvation is a -personal matter. "Seek ye the Lord"--that means every one must seek for -himself. It won't do for the parent to seek for the children; it won't -do for the children to seek for the parent. If you were sick all the -medicine I might take wouldn't do you any good. Salvation is a personal -matter that no one else can do for you; you must attend to it yourself. - -Some persons have lived manly or womanly lives, and they lack but one -thing--open confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some men think that -they must come to him in a certain way--that they must be stirred by -emotion or something like that. - -Some people have a deeper conviction of sin before they are converted -than after they are converted. With some it is the other way. Some know -when they are converted and others don't. - -Some people are emotional. Some are demonstrative. Some will cry -easily. Some are cold and can't be moved to emotion. A man jumped up -in a meeting and asked whether he could be saved when he hadn't shed a -tear in forty years. Even as he spoke he began to shed tears. It's all -a matter of how you're constituted. I am vehement, and I serve God with -the same vehemence that I served the devil when I went down the line. - -Some of you say that in order to accept Jesus you must have different -surroundings. You think you could do it better in some other place. You -can be saved where you are as well as any place on earth. I say, "My -watch doesn't run. It needs new surroundings. I'll put it in this other -pocket, or I'll put it here, or here on these flowers." It doesn't need -new surroundings. It needs a new mainspring; and that's what the sinner -needs. You need a new heart, not a new suit. - -What can I do to keep out of hell? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ -and thou shalt be saved." - -The Philippian jailer was converted. He had put the disciples into -the stocks when they came to the prison, but after his conversion he -stooped down and washed the blood from their stripes. - -Now, leave God out of the proposition for a minute. Never mind about -the new birth--that's his business. Jesus Christ became a man, bone -of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He died on the cross for us, so that -we might escape the penalty pronounced on us. Now, never mind about -anything but our part in salvation. Here it is: "Believe on the Lord -Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." - -You say, "Mr. Sunday, the Church is full of hypocrites." So's hell. I -say to you if you don't want to go to hell and live with that whole -bunch forever, come into the Church, where you won't have to associate -with them very long. There are no hypocrites in heaven. - -You say, "Mr. Sunday, I can be a Christian and go to heaven without -joining a church." Yes, and you can go to Europe without getting on -board a steamer. The swimming's good--but the sharks are laying for -fellows who take that route. I don't believe you. If a man is truly -saved he will hunt for a church right away. - -You say, "It's so mysterious. I don't understand." You'll be surprised -to find out how little you know. You plant a seed in the ground--that's -your part. You don't understand how it grows. How God makes that seed -grow is mysterious to you. - -Some people think that they can't be converted unless they go down on -their knees in the straw at a camp-meeting, unless they pray all hours -of the night, and all nights of the week, while some old brother storms -heaven in prayer. Some think a man must lose sleep, must come down the -aisle with a haggard look, and he must froth at the mouth and dance and -shout. Some get it that way, and they don't think that the work I do is -genuine unless conversions are made in the same way that they have got -religion. - -I want you to see what God put in black and white; that there can be a -sound, thorough conversion in an instant; that man can be converted as -quietly as the coming of day and never backslide. I do not find fault -with the way other people get religion. What I want and preach is the -fact that a man can be converted without any fuss. - -If a man wants to shout and clap his hands in joy over his wife's -conversion, or if a wife wants to cry when her husband is converted, I -am not going to turn the hose on them, or put them in a strait-jacket. -When a man turns to God truly in conversion, I don't care what form his -conversion takes. I wasn't converted that way, but I do not rush around -and say, with gall and bitterness, that you are not saved because you -did not get religion the way I did. If we all got religion in the same -way, the devil might go to sleep with a regular Rip Van Winkle snooze -and still be on the job. - -Look at Nicodemus. You could never get a man with the temperament of -Nicodemus near a camp meeting, to kneel down in the straw, or to shout -and sing. He was a quiet, thoughtful, honest, sincere and cautious man. -He wanted to know the truth and he was willing to walk in the light -when he found it. - -Look at the man at the pool of Bethesda. He was a big sinner and was -in a lot of trouble which his sins had made for him. He had been in -that condition for a long time. It didn't take him three minutes to say -"Yes," when the Lord spoke to him. See how quietly he was converted. - - -"And He Arose and Followed Him" - -Matthew stood in the presence of Christ and he realized what it would -be to be without Christ, to be without hope, and it brought him to a -quick decision. "And he arose and followed him." - -How long did that conversion take? How long did it take him to accept -Christ after he had made up his mind? And you tell me you can't make -an instant decision to please God? The decision of Matthew proves -that you can. While he was sitting at his desk he was not a disciple. -The instant he arose he was. That move changed his attitude toward -God. Then he ceased to do evil and commenced to do good. You can be -converted just as quickly as Matthew was. - -God says: "Let the wicked man forsake his way." The instant that is -done, no matter if the man has been a life-long sinner, he is safe. -There is no need of struggling for hours--or for days--do it now. Who -are you struggling with? Not God. God's mind was made up long before -the foundations of the earth were laid. The plan of salvation was made -long before there was any sin in the world. Electricity existed long -before there was any car wheel for it to drive. "Let the wicked man -forsake his way." When? Within a month, within a week, within a day, -within an hour? No! Now! The instant you yield, God's plan of salvation -is thrown into gear. You will be saved before you know it, like a child -being born. - -Rising and following Christ switched Matthew from the broad to the -narrow way. He must have counted the cost as he would have balanced his -cash book. He put one side against the other. The life he was living -led to all chance of gain. On the other side there was Jesus, and Jesus -outweighs all else. He saw the balance turn as the tide of a battle -turns and then it ended with his decision. The sinner died and the -disciple was born. - -I believe that the reason the story of Matthew was written was to show -how a man could be converted quickly and quietly. It didn't take him -five or ten years to begin to do something--he got busy right away. - -You don't believe in quick conversions? There have been a dozen men of -modern times who have been powers for God whose conversion was as quiet -as Matthew's. Charles G. Finney never went to a camp meeting. He was -out in the woods alone, praying, when he was converted. Sam Jones, a -mighty man of God, was converted at the bedside of his dying father. -Moody accepted Christ while waiting on a customer in a boot and shoe -store. Dr. Chapman was converted as a boy in a Sunday school. All the -other boys in the class had accepted Christ, and only Wilbur remained. -The teacher turned to him and said, "And how about you, Wilbur?" He -said, "I will," and he turned to Christ and has been one of his most -powerful evangelists for many years. Gipsy Smith was converted in his -father's tent. Torrey was an agnostic, and in comparing agnosticism, -infidelity and Christianity, he found the scale tipped toward Christ. -Luther was converted as he crawled up a flight of stairs in Rome. - -Seemingly the men who have moved the world for Christ have been -converted in a quiet manner. The way to judge a tree is by its fruit. -Judge a tree of quiet conversion in this way. - -Another lesson. When conversion compels people to forsake their -previous calling, God gives them a better job. Luke said, "He left -all." Little did he dream that his influence would be world-reaching -and eternity-covering. His position as tax-collector seemed like a big -job, but it was picking up pins compared to the job God gave him. Some -of you may be holding back for fear of being put out of your job. If -you do right God will see that you do not suffer. He has given plenty -of promises, and if you plant your feet on them you can defy the -poor-house. Trust in the Lord means that God will feed you. Following -Christ you may discover a gold mine of ability that you never dreamed -of possessing. There was a saloon-keeper, converted in a meeting at New -Castle, who won hundreds of people to Christ by his testimony and his -preaching. - -You do not need to be in the church before the voice comes to you; you -don't need to be reading the Bible; you don't need to be rich or poor -or learned. Wherever Christ comes follow. You may be converted while -engaged in your daily business. Men cannot put up a wall and keep Jesus -away. The still small voice will find you. - - -At the Cross-roads - -Right where the two roads through life diverge God has put Calvary. -There he put up a cross, the stumbling block over which the love of God -said, "I'll touch the heart of man with the thought of father and son." -He thought that would win the world to him, but for nineteen hundred -years men have climbed the Mount of Calvary and trampled into the earth -the tenderest teachings of God. - -You are on the devil's side. How are you going to cross over? - -So you cross the line and God won't issue any extradition papers. Some -of you want to cross. If you believe, then say so, and step across. -I'll bet there are hundreds that are on the edge of the line and many -are standing straddling it. But that won't save you. You believe in -your heart--confess him with your mouth. With his heart man believes -and with his mouth he confesses. Then confess and receive salvation -full, free, perfect and external. God will not grant any extradition -papers. Get over the old line. A man isn't a soldier because he wears -a uniform, or carries a gun, or carries a canteen. He is a soldier -when he makes a definite enlistment. All of the others can be bought -without enlisting. When a man becomes a soldier he goes out on muster -day and takes an oath to defend his country. It's the oath that makes -him a soldier. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more -than going to a garage makes you an automobile, but public definite -enlistment for Christ makes you a Christian. - -"Oh," a woman said to me out in Iowa, "Mr. Sunday, I don't think I have -to confess with my mouth." I said: "You're putting up your thought -against God's." - -M-o-u-t-h doesn't spell intellect. It spells mouth and you must confess -with your mouth. The mouth is the biggest part about most people, -anyhow. - -What must I do? - -Philosophy doesn't answer it. Infidelity doesn't answer it. First, -"believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Believe -on the Lord. Lord--that's his kingly name. That's the name he reigns -under. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus." It takes that kind of a -confession. Give me a Saviour with a sympathetic eye to watch me so I -shall not slander. Give me a Saviour with a strong arm to catch me if I -stumble. Give me a Saviour that will hear my slightest moan. - -Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Christ is his -resurrection name. He is sitting at the right hand of the Father -interceding for us. - -Because of his divinity he understands God's side of it and because of -his humanity he understands our side of it. Who is better qualified to -be the mediator? He's a mediator. What is that? A lawyer is a mediator -between the jury and the defendant. A retail merchant is a mediator -between the wholesale dealer and the consumer. Therefore, Jesus Christ -is the Mediator between God and man. Believe on the Lord. He's ruling -today. Believe on the Lord Jesus. He died to save us. Believe on the -Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Mediator. - -Her majesty, Queen Victoria, was traveling in Scotland when a storm -came up and she took refuge in a little hut of a Highlander. She stayed -there for an hour and when she went the good wife said to her husband, -"We'll tie a ribbon on that chair because her majesty has sat on it and -no one else will ever sit on it." A friend of mine was there later and -was going to sit in the chair when the man cried: "Nae, nae, mon. Dinna -sit there. Her majesty spent an hour with us once and she sat on that -chair and we tied a ribbon on it and no one else will ever sit on it." -They were honored that her majesty had spent the hour with them. It -brought unspeakable joy to them. - -It's great that Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of my heart, not -for an hour, but here to sway his power forever and ever. - - -"He Died for Me" - -In the war there was a band of guerillas--Quantrell's band--that had -been ordered to be shot on sight. They had burned a town in Iowa and -they had been caught. One long ditch was dug and they were lined up in -front of it and blindfolded and tied, and just as the firing squad was -ready to present arms a young man dashed through the bushes and cried, -"Stop!" He told the commander of the firing squad that he was as guilty -as any of the others, but he had escaped and had come of his own free -will, and pointed to one man in the line and asked to take his place. -"I'm single," he said, "while he has a wife and babies." The commander -of that firing squad was an usher in one of the cities in which I held -meetings, and he told me how the young fellow was blindfolded and bound -and the guns rang out and he fell dead. - -[Illustration: "YOU OLD SKEPTIC, WE ARE COUNTING TIME ON YOU."] - -[Illustration: "JOHN, THE DRUNKARD, MARCHING UP TO THE BUTCHER'S SHOP."] - -Time went on and one day a man came upon another in a graveyard in -Missouri weeping and shaping the grave into form. The first man asked -who was buried there and the other said, "The best friend I ever had." -Then he told how he had not gone far away but had come back and got the -body of his friend after he had been shot and buried it; so he knew -he had the right body. And he had brought a withered bouquet all the -way from his home to put on the grave. He was poor then and could not -afford anything costly, but he had placed a slab of wood on the pliable -earth with these words on it: "He died for me." - -Major Whittle stood by the grave some time later and saw the same -monument. If you go there now you will see something different. The man -became rich and today there is a marble monument fifteen feet high and -on it this inscription: - - SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF - WILLIE LEE - HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE - HE DIED FOR ME - -Sacred to the memory of Jesus Christ. He took our place on the cross -and gave his life that we might live, and go to heaven and reign with -him. - -"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess him with thy mouth, and thou -shalt be saved and thy house." - -It is a great salvation that can reach down into the quagmire of filth, -pull a young man out and send him out to hunt his mother and fill her -days with sunshine. It is a great salvation, for it saves from great -sin. - -The way to salvation is not Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Vassar or -Wellesley. Environment and culture can't put you into heaven without -you accept Jesus Christ. - -It's great. I want to tell you that the way to heaven is a -blood-stained way. No man has ever reached it without Jesus Christ and -he never will. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -"Hitting the Sawdust Trail" - - Come and accept my Christ.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Pioneers are necessarily unconventional. America has done more than -transform a wilderness into a nation: in the process she has created -new forms of life and of speech. Back from the frontier has come a -new, terse, vigorous and pictorial language. Much of it has found its -way into the dictionaries. The newer West uses the word "trail"--first -employed to designate the traces left by traveling Indians--to -designate a path. The lumbermen commonly call the woods roads "trails." - -Imagine a lumberman lost in the big woods. He has wandered, bewildered, -for days. Death stares him in the face. Then, spent and affrighted, he -comes to a trail. And the trail leads to life; it is the way home. - -There we have the origin of the expression "Hitting the sawdust -trail," used in Mr. Sunday's meetings as a term similar to the older -stereotyped phrases: "Going forward"; "Seeking the altar." The more -conventional method, used by the other evangelists, is to ask for a -show of hands. - -Out in the Puget Sound country, where the sawdust aisles and the -rough tabernacle made an especial appeal to the woodsmen, the phrase -"Hitting the sawdust trail" came into use in Mr. Sunday's meetings. The -figure was luminous. For was not this the trail that led the lost to -salvation, the way home to the Father's house? - -The metaphor appealed to the American public, which relishes all -that savors of our people's most primitive life. Besides, the novel -designation serves well the taste of a nation which is singularly -reticent concerning its finer feelings, and delights to cloak its -loftiest sentiments beneath slang phrases. The person who rails at -"hitting the trail" as an irreverent phrase has something to learn -about the mind of Americans. Tens of thousands of persons have -enshrined the homely phrase in the sanctuary of their deepest spiritual -experience. - -The scene itself, when Mr. Sunday calls for converts to come forward -and take his hand, in token of their purpose to accept and follow -Christ, is simply beyond words. Human speech cannot do justice to the -picture. For good reason. This is one of those crises in human life -the portrayal of which makes the highest form of literature. A Victor -Hugo could find a dozen novels in each night's experience in the Sunday -Tabernacle. - -This is an hour of bared souls. The great transaction between man -and his Maker is under way. The streams of life are here changing -their course. Character and destiny are being altered. The old Roman -"Sacramentum," when the soldiers gave allegiance with uplifted hand, -crying, "This for me! This for me!" could not have been more impressive -than one of these great outpourings of human life up the sawdust aisle -to the pulpit, to grasp the preacher's hand, in declaration that -henceforth their all would be dedicated to the Christ of Calvary. - -The greatness of the scene is at first incomprehensible. There are no -parallels for it in all the history of Protestantism. This unschooled -American commoner, who could not pass the entrance examinations of any -theological seminary in the land, has publicly grasped the hands of -approximately a quarter of a million persons, who by that token have -said, in the presence of the great congregation, that they thereby -vowed allegiance to their Saviour and Lord. Moody, Whitefield, Finney, -have left no such record of converts as this. - -A dramatic imagination is needed to perceive even a fragment of what is -meant by this army of Christian recruits. The magnitude of the host is -scarcely revealed by the statement that these converts more than equal -the number of inhabitants of the states of Delaware or Arizona at the -last census, and far surpass those of Nevada and Wyoming. Imagine a -state made up wholly of zealous disciples of Christ! Of the one hundred -largest cities in the United States there are only nineteen with more -inhabitants than the total number of persons who have "hit the trail" -at the Sunday meetings. - -Break up that vast host into its component parts. Each is an individual -whose experience is as real and distinctive as if there never had been -another human soul to come face to face with God. To one the act means -a clean break with a life of open sin. To another it implies a restored -home and a return to respectability. To this young person it signifies -entrance upon a life of Christian service; to that one a separation -from all old associations. Some must give up unworthy callings. Other -must heal old feuds and make restitution for ancient wrongs. One young -woman in accepting Christ knows that she must reject the man she had -meant to marry. To many men it implies a severance of old political -relations. Far and wide and deep this sawdust trail runs; and the -record is written in the sweat of agonizing souls and in the red of -human blood. - -The consequences of conversion stagger the imagination: this process is -still the greatest social force of the age. - -Little wonder that persons of discernment journey long distances to -attend a Sunday meeting, and to witness this appeal for converts to -"hit the trail." I traveled several hundred miles to see it for the -first time, and would go across the continent to see it again. For -this is vital religion. If a wedding casts its dramatic spell upon -the imagination; if a political election stirs the sluggish deeps of -the popular mind; if a battle calls for newspaper "extras"; if an -execution arrests popular attention by its element of the mystery of -life becoming death--then, by so much and more, this critical, decisive -moment in the lives of living men and women grips the mind by its -intense human interest. What issues, for time and eternity, are being -determined by this step! The great romance is enacted daily at the -Sunday meetings. - -For these converts are intent upon the most sacred experience that -ever comes to mortal. Through what soul struggles they have passed, -what renunciations they have made, what futures they front, only God -and heaven's hosts know. The crowd dimly senses all this. There is -an instinctive appreciation of the dramatic in the multitude. So the -evangelist's appeal is followed by an added tenseness, a straining of -necks and a general rising to behold the expected procession. - -A more simple and unecclesiastical setting for this tremendous scene -could scarcely be devised. The plain board platform, about six feet -high, and fifteen feet long, is covered by a carpet. Its only furniture -is a second-hand walnut pulpit, directly under the huge sounding board; -and one plain wooden chair, "a kitchen chair," a housewife would call -it. Then the invitation is given for all who want to come out on the -side of Christ to come forward and grasp Sunday's hand. - -See them come! From all parts of the vast building they press forward. -Nearly everyone is taking this step before the eyes of friends, -neighbors, work-fellows. It calls for courage, for this is a life -enlistment. Behold the young men crowding toward the platform, where -the helpers form them into a swiftly moving line--dozens and scores of -boys and men in the first flush of manhood. Occasionally an old person -is in the line; oftener it is a boy or girl. There goes a mother with -her son. - -How differently the converts act. Some have streaming eyes. Others -wear faces radiant with the light of a new hope. Still others have the -tense, set features of gladiators entering the arena. For minute after -minute the procession continues. When a well-known person goes forward, -the crowd cheers. - -As I have studied Mr. Sunday in the act of taking the hands of -converts--one memorable night more than five hundred at the rate of -fifty-seven a minute--the symbolism of his hand has appealed to my -imagination. - -Surprisingly small and straight and surprisingly strong it is. Baseball -battles have left no scars upon it. The lines are strong and deep and -clear. The hand is "in condition"; no flabbiness about it. There are no -rings on either of Mr. Sunday's hands, except a plain gold wedding ring -on the left third finger. - -No outstretched hand of military commander ever pointed such a host -to so great a battle. Is there anywhere a royal hand, wielding a -scepter over a nation, which has symbolized so much vital influence -as this short, firm hand of a typical American commoner? The soldier -sent on a desperate mission asked Wellington for "one grasp of your -conquering hand." A conquering hand, a helping hand, an uplifting hand, -an upward-pointing hand, is this which once won fame by handling a -baseball. - -Conceive of the vast variety of hands that have been reached up to -grasp this one, and what those hands have since done for the world's -betterment! Two hundred thousand dedicated right hands, still a-tingle -with the touch of this inviting hand of the preacher of the gospel! The -picture of Sunday's right hand belongs in the archives of contemporary -religious history. - -No stage manager could ever set so great a scene as this. The -vastness of it--sixteen or seventeen thousand eyes all centered on -one ordinary-looking American on a high green-carpeted platform, a -veritable "sea of faces"--is not more impressive than the details which -an observer picks out. - -The multitudes are of the sort who thronged the Galilean; plain people, -home-keeping women, seldom seen in public places; mechanics, clerks, -the great American commonalty. Again and again one is impressed from -some fresh angle with the democracy of it all; this man somehow -appeals to that popular sense wherein all special tastes and interests -merge. - -The _débâcle_ is a sight beyond words. The ice of conventionality -breaks up, and the tide of human feeling floods forth. From every part -of the great tabernacle--from the front seats, where you have been -studying the personalities, and from the distant rear, where all the -faces merge into an impersonal mass--persons begin to stream forward. -See how they come. The moment is electric. Everybody is on the _qui -vive_. - -The first to take the evangelist's hand is a young colored boy. The -girl who follows may be a stenographer. Young men are a large part of -the recruits; here come a dozen fine-looking members of an athletic -club in a body, while the crowd cheers; evidently somebody has been -doing personal work there. - -Contrasts are too common to mention. There is a delicate lady's -kid-gloved hand reached up to that of the evangelist; the next is the -grimy, calloused hand of a blue-shirted miner. The average is of young -men and women, the choice and the mighty members of a community. Is the -world to find a new moral or religious leader in the person of some -one of these bright-faced youth who tonight have made this sign of -dedication? - -And here comes an old man, with a strong face; evidently a personality -of force. Twice the evangelist pats the head bowed before him, in -pleasure over this aged recruit. He seems reluctant to let the old man -go; but, see the children crowd behind him, and no convert can have -more than a handclasp and a word. - -All around the platform the crowd resembles a hive of bees just before -swarming. Stir, motion, animation seem to create a scene of confusion. -But there is order and purpose in it all. The occupants of the front -seats are being moved out to make way for the converts, who are there -to be talked with, and to sign the cards that are to be turned over to -the local pastors. - -Personal workers are getting into action. See the ministers streaming -down into the fray! There goes the Young Men's Christian Association -secretary, and the Salvation Army soldiers, and the members of the -choir, wearing Christian Endeavor and Bible class badges. This is -religion in action. Can these church members ever again lapse into dead -conventionality? - -Meanwhile, Rodeheaver, the chorister, leans upon the piano and softly -leads the great choir in "Almost Persuaded." The musical invitation -continues while the work goes on in front. It is undisturbed by an -occasional appeal from the evangelist. The song quickly changes to -"Oh, Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" and then, as the volume of -penitents increases, into "I Am Coming Home" and "Ring the Bells of -Heaven, There is Joy Today!" All this is psychological; it fosters the -mood which the sermon has created. Music mellows as many hearts as -spoken words. - -All the while Sunday is shaking hands. At first he leans far over, -for the platform is more than six feet high. Sometimes it seems as if -he will lose his balance. To reach down he stands on his left foot, -with his right leg extended straight behind him, the foot higher than -his head. No one posture is retained long. Often he dips down with a -swinging circular motion, like a pitcher about to throw a ball. Never -was man more lavish of his vital energy than this one. His face is -white and tense and drawn; work such as this makes terrific draughts on -a man's nerve force. - -As the converts increase, he lifts a trapdoor in the platform, which -permits him to stand three feet nearer the people. Still they come, -often each led by some personal worker. I saw a Scandinavian led -forward in one meeting; ten minutes later I saw him bringing his wife -up the trail. Some of the faces are radiant with a new joy. Others are -set at a nervous tension. Some jaws are grim and working, revealing the -inner conflict which has resulted in this step. - -A collarless, ragged, weak-faced slave of dissipation is next in line -to a beautiful girl in the dew of her youth. An old, white-wooled -negro, leaning on a staff, is led forward. Then a little child. Here -are veritably all sorts and conditions of people. - -[Illustration: A COLLARLESS, WEAK-FACED SLAVE OF DISSIPATION IS NEXT IN -LINE TO A BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE DEW OF HER YOUTH] - -In the particular session I am describing, a big delegation of railroad -men is present, and the evangelist keeps turning to them, with an -occasional "Come on, Erie!" The memories of his own days as a railroad -brakeman are evidently working within him, and he seizes a green -lantern and waves it. "A clear track ahead!" Toward these men he is -most urgent, beckoning them also with a white railroad flag which he -has taken from the decorations. When the master mechanic "hits the -trail" there is cheering from the crowd, and Sunday himself shows a -delight that was exhibited over none of the society folk who came -forward. - -Rare and remarkable as are these scenes in religious history, they -occur nightly in the Sunday tabernacle. Two hundred, three hundred, -five hundred, one thousand converts are common. - -Anybody interested in life and in the phenomena of religion will find -this occasion the most interesting scene at present to be witnessed in -the whole world. As for the novelist, this is the human soul bared, and -beyond the compass of his highest art. - -For life is at its apex when, in new resolution, a mortal spirit makes -compact with the Almighty. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -The Service of Society - - A lot of people think a man needs a new grandfather, sanitation, and a - new shirt, when what he needs is a new heart.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Some day a learned university professor, with a string of titles after -his name, will startle the world by breaking away from the present -conventionalism in sociology, and will conduct elaborate laboratory -experiments in human betterment on the field of a Billy Sunday -campaign. His conclusion will surely be that the most potent force for -the service of society--the shortest, surest way of bettering the human -race--is by the fresh, clear, sincere and insistent preaching of the -Gospel of Jesus Christ. - -Of course, the New Testament has been teaching that for nearly twenty -centuries, but the world has not yet comprehended the practicability of -the program. Your learned professor may prove, by literally thousands -of incidents, that honesty, chastity, brotherliness, and idealism -have been more definitely promoted by revivals of religion than by -legislative or educational programs. All that the social reformers of -our day desire may be most quickly secured by straight-out preaching -of the Gospel. The shortcut to a better social order is by way of -converted men and women. And when a modern scholar comes to demonstrate -this he will draw largely upon the aftermath of the Sunday campaigns -for his contemporaneous evidence. - -If there is one phrase which, better than another, can describe a -Billy Sunday campaign it is "restitution and righteousness." In season -and out, the evangelist insists upon a changed life as the first -consequence of conversion. His message runs on this wise: - -"You ought to live so that every one who comes near you will know that -you are a Christian. Do you? Does your milkman know that you are a -Christian? Does the man who brings your laundry know that you belong -to church? Does the man who hauls away your ashes know that you are -a Christian? Does your newsboy know that you have religion? Does the -butcher know that you are on your way to heaven? Some of you buy meat -on Saturday night, and have him deliver it Sunday morning, just to save -a little ice, and then you wonder why he doesn't go to church. - -[Illustration: "DOES YOUR NEWSBOY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE RELIGION?"] - -"If you had to get into heaven on the testimony of your washer-woman, -could you make it? If your getting into heaven depended on what your -dressmaker knows about your religion, would you land? If your husband -had to gain admittance to heaven on the testimony of his stenographer, -could he do it? If his salvation depended on what his clerks tell about -him, would he get there? A man ought to be as religious in business as -he is in church. He ought to be as religious in buying and selling as -he is in praying. - -"There are so many church members who are not even known in their own -neighborhood as Christians. Out in Iowa where a meeting was held, -a man made up his mind that he would try to get an old sinner into -the Kingdom, and after chasing him around for three days he finally -cornered him. Then he talked to that old fellow for two hours, and then -the old scoundrel stroked his whiskers, and what do you think he said? -'Why, I've been a member of the church down there for fourteen years.' -Just think of it! A member of the church fourteen years, and a man had -to chase him three days, and talk with him two hours to find it out. - -"You have let Jesus in? Yes, but you have put him in the spare-room. -You don't want him in the rooms where you live. Take him down into the -living-room. Take him into the dining-room. Take him into the parlor. -Take him into the kitchen. Live with him. Make him one of the family." - -Then follows a Sundayesque description of how Jesus would find beer in -the refrigerator and throw it out; how he would find cards on the table -and throw them out; how he would find nasty music on the piano and -throw it out; how he would find cigarettes and throw them out. - -"If you haven't Jesus in the rooms you live in, it's because you don't -want him," he says. "You're afraid of one of two things: you're afraid -because of the things he'll throw out if he comes in, or you're afraid -because of the things he'll bring with him if he comes in." - -Here is how a great newspaper, the Philadelphia _North American_, -characterizes the ethical and political effectiveness of Mr. Sunday: - - Billy Sunday, derided by many as a sensational evangelist, has created - a political revolution in Allegheny County. What years of reform work - could not do he has wrought in a few short weeks. Old line "practical" - politicians, the men who did the dirty work for the political gang, - are now zealous for temperance, righteousness and religion. - - Judges on the bench, grand dames of society, millionaire business - men, in common with the great host of undistinguished men and women - in homes, mills, offices, and shops, have been fired by this amazing - prophet with burning zeal for practical religion. - - An unexpected, unpredicted and unprecedented social force has been - unleashed in our midst. Not to reckon with this is to be blind to - the phase of Sunday's work which bulks larger than his picturesque - vocabulary or his acrobatic earnestness. - -In the presence of this man's work all attempts to classify religious -activities as either "evangelistic" or "social service" fall into -confusion. - -Sunday could claim for himself that he's an evangelist, and an -evangelist only. He repudiates a Christian program that is merely -palliative or ameliorative. To his thinking the Church has more -fundamental business than running soup kitchens or gymnasiums or oyster -suppers. All his peerless powers of ridicule are frequently turned upon -the frail and lonely oyster in the tureen of a money-making church -supper. - -Nevertheless, the results of Sunday's preaching are primarily social -and ethical. He is a veritable besom of righteousness sweeping -through a community. The wife who neglects her cooking, mending and -home-making; the employer who does not deal squarely with his workers; -the rich man who rents his property for low purposes or is tied up in -crooked business in any wise; the workman who is not on "his job"; the -gossip and the slanderer; the idle creatures of fashion; the Christian -who is not a good person to live with, the selfish, the sour, the -unbrotherly--all these find themselves under the devastating harrow -of this flaming preacher's biting, burning, excoriating condemnation. -"A scourge for morality" is the way one minister described him; he is -that, and far more. - -After the whole field of philanthropy and reform have been traversed it -still remains true that the fundamental reform of all is the cleaning -up of the lives and the lifting up of the ideals of the people. That -is indisputably what Sunday does. He sweetens life and promotes a -wholesome, friendly, helpful and cheerful state of mind on the part of -those whom he influences. - -Assuredly it is basic betterment to cause men to quit their drunkenness -and lechery and profanity. All the white-slave or social-evil -commissions that have ever met have done less to put a passion for -purity into the minds of men and women than this one man's preaching -has done. The safest communities in the country for young men and young -women are those which have been through a Billy Sunday revival. - -One cannot cease to exult at the fashion in which the evangelist makes -the Gospel synonymous with clean living. All the considerations that -weigh to lead persons to go forward to grasp the evangelist's hand, -also operate to make them partisans of purity and probity. - -Put into three terse phrases, Sunday's whole message is: "Quit your -meanness. Confess Christ. Get busy for him among men." There are no -finely spun spiritual sophistries in Sunday's preaching. He sometimes -speaks quite rudely of that conception of a "higher spiritual life" -which draws Christians apart from the world in a self-complacent -consciousness of superiority. - -His is not a mystical, meditative faith. It is dynamic, practical, -immediate. According to his ever-recurring reasoning, if one is not -passing on the fruits of religion to somebody else--if one is not -hitting hard blows at the devil or really doing definite tasks for God -and the other man--then one has not the real brand of Christianity. -Sunday's preaching has hands, with "punch" to them, as well as lift; -and feet, with "kick" in them, as well as ministry. - -Like a colliery mined on many levels, Sunday's preaching reaches -all classes. Everybody can appreciate the social service value of -converting a gutter bum and making him a self-supporting workman. Is -it any less social service to convert a man--I cite an actual instance -from Pittsburgh--who had lately lost a twelve-thousand-dollar-a-year -position through dissipation, and so thoroughly to help him find -himself that before the meetings were over he was back in his old -office, once more drawing one thousand dollars a month? - -To a student of these campaigns, it seems as if business has sensed, -better than the preachers, the economic waste of sin. - -A careful and discriminating thinker, the Rev. Joseph H. Odell, D.D., -formerly pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Scranton, wrote an -estimate of Billy Sunday and his work for _The Outlook_, in which he -explains why his church, which had been opposed to the coming of the -evangelist, reversed its vote: - - Testimony, direct and cumulative, reached the ears of the same refined - and reverent men and women. The young business men, even those from - the great universities, paused to consider. The testimony that - changed the attitudes of the Church came from judges, lawyers, heads - of corporations and well-known society leaders in their respective - communities. The testimony was phenomenally concurrent in this: that, - while it did not endorse the revivalist's methods, or accept his - theological system, or condone his roughness and rudeness, it proved - that the preaching produced results. - - "Produced results!" Every one understood the phrase; in the - business world it is talismanic. As the result of the Billy Sunday - campaigns--anywhere and everywhere--drunkards became sober, thieves - became honest, multitudes of people engaged themselves in the study - of the Bible, thousands confessed their faith in Jesus Christ as the - Saviour of the world, and all the quiescent righteousness of the - community grew brave and belligerent against vice, intemperance, - gambling, and political dishonesty. - - During the last week of February I went to Pittsburgh for the purpose - of eliciting interest in the candidacy of J. Benjamin Dimmick for - the nomination of United States Senator. Billy Sunday had closed his - Pittsburgh campaign a few days earlier. My task was easy. A group of - practical politicians met Mr. Dimmick at dinner. They were the men - who had worked the wards of Allegheny County on behalf of Penrose - and the liquor interests for years. Together they were worth many - thousands of votes to any candidate; in fact, they were the political - balance of power in that county. They knew everything that men could - know about the ballot, and some things that no man should know. - Solidly, resolutely, and passionately they repudiated Penrose. "No one - can get our endorsement in Allegheny County, even for the office of - dog-catcher, who is not anti-booze and anti-Penrose," they asserted. - When asked the secret of their crusader-like zeal against the alliance - of liquor and politics, they frankly ascribed it to Billy Sunday; they - had been born again--no idle phrase with them--in the vast whale-back - tabernacle under the preaching of the baseball evangelist. - -Billy Sunday deals with the very springs of action; he seeks to help -men get right back to the furthermost motives of the mind. "If you're -born again, you won't live knowingly in sin. This does not mean that a -Christian cannot sin, but that he does not want to sin." This truth the -evangelist illustrates by the difference between a hog and a sheep. The -sheep may fall into the mud, but it hates it and scrambles out. A hog -loves the mud and wallows in it. - -Nobody can measure the results of the social forces which this -simple-thinking evangelist sets to work. His own figure of the dwarf -who could switch on the electric lights in a room as easily as a -giant, comes to mind. He has sent into Christian work men who can do -a kind of service impossible to Sunday himself. Thus, one of Sunday's -converts out in Wichita, two years ago, was Henry J. Allen, editor of -_The Beacon_ and Progressive candidate for governor. Mr. Allen became -a member of one of the celebrated "Gospel Teams," which, since the -Sunday meetings, have been touring Kansas and neighboring states and -have won more than eleven thousand converts. It was in a meeting held -by this band that William Allen White, the famous editor, author and -publisher, took a definite stand for Christ and Christian work. One of -the most interesting facts about Sunday's work is this one that the -three greatest editors in the State of Kansas today are his direct -or indirect converts. An "endless chain" letter would be easier to -overtake than the effects of a Sunday revival campaign. - -In the face of the mass of testimony of this sort is it any wonder -that business men deem a Sunday campaign worth all it costs, merely -as an ethical movement? The quickest and cheapest way to improve -morals and the morale of a city is by a revival of religion. Thus -it is illuminating to learn that there were 650 fewer inmates in -the Allegheny County jail, during the period of the Sunday revival -meetings, than during the same time in the preceding year. - -From Pittsburgh also comes the remarkable story that the Cambria -Steel Company, one of the largest steel concerns in the country, has -established a religious department in connection with its plant, and -placed a regularly ordained minister in charge of it. This as an avowed -result of the Sunday campaign. - -The Rev. Dr. Maitland Alexander, D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian -Church of Pittsburgh, is sponsor for this news, and he also -declares that nine department stores of Pittsburgh are now holding -prayer-meetings every morning at eight o'clock. These two statements -are taken from Dr. Alexander's address to a body of ministers in New -York City. He is reported to have said also: - - Billy Sunday succeeded in moving the city of Pittsburgh from one - end to the other. That, to my mind, was the greatest result of the - meetings. It is easy to talk about religion now in Pittsburgh. Men - especially are thinking of it as never before, and the great majority - are no longer in the middle of the road. They are on one side or the - other. I never knew a man who could speak to men with such telling - effect as Billy Sunday. I covet his ability to make men listen to him. - - It was necessary in my own church, which when packed, holds 3200 - persons, to hold special meetings for different groups, such as - lawyers, doctors, bankers, etc., and they were always crowded. In the - big tabernacle, which was built for the campaign and holds more than - 20,000 persons, the men from the big steel shops, after the second - week, came in bodies of from one to three thousand, in many cases - headed by their leading officers. - -Dr. Alexander said that up to the time of this address the Sunday -campaign had added 419 members to his own church. - -One of the striking consequences of the Sunday campaign in Scranton -was the development of the "Garage Bible Class." This was originally -a Wilkes-Barre poker club. As the story was told by Mr. William -Atherton, a Wilkes-Barre attorney, to the same New York meeting that -Dr. Alexander addressed, the Garage Bible Class was originally a group -of wealthy men meeting at different homes every week for a poker game. -One man bet a friend fifteen dollars that he wouldn't go to hear Billy -Sunday. One by one, however, the men found themselves unable to resist -the lure of the Tabernacle. As a result the poker club was abandoned, -and in a garage belonging to one of the men they organized a Bible -class which now has about a hundred members. They have adopted a rule -that no Christian shall be added to their ranks. They make their own -Christians out of the unconverted. - -From this episode one gets some conception of the tug and pull of -the Sunday Tabernacle. The temptation to attend becomes well nigh -irresistible. All the streams of the community life flow toward the -great edifice where the baseball evangelist enunciates his simple -message. A writer in _The Churchman_ said, following the Pittsburgh -campaign: - - This evangelist made religion a subject of ordinary conversation. - People talked about their souls as freely as about their breakfast. - He went into the homes of the rich, dropped his wildness of speech, - and made society women cry with shame and contrition. One's eternal - welfare became the topic of the dinner table, not only in the slums - but in the houses of fashion. It sounds incredible, and it is not a - fact to be grasped by the mere reading of it, but the citizens of - Pittsburgh forgot to be ashamed to mention prayer and forgiveness of - sin; the name of Christ began to be used with simpleness and readiness - and reverence by men who, two months ago, employed it only as a - by-word. City politicians came forward in the meeting and asked for - prayer. The daily newspapers gave more space to salvation than they - did to scandal, not for one day, but for day after day and week after - week. As a mere spectacle of a whole modern city enthralled by the - Gospel it was astonishing, unbelievable, unprecedented, prodigious. - -Because he preaches both to employers and to employed, Sunday is able -to apply the healing salt of the gospel at the point of contact between -the two. From Columbus it is reported that a number of business men -voluntarily increased the wages of their helpers, especially the women, -because of the evangelist's utterances. - -A horse jockey out West reached the core of the matter when he said to -a friend of mine concerning Billy Sunday, "He sets people to thinking -about other people." There you have the genesis and genius and goal of -social service. No other force that operates among men is equal to the -inspirations and inhibitions of the Christian religion in the minds of -individuals. The greatest service that can be done to any community is -to set a considerable proportion of its people to endeavoring honestly -to live out the ideals of Jesus Christ. - -It is simply impossible to enumerate anything like a representative -number of incidents of the community value of Billy Sunday's work. They -come from every angle and in the most unexpected ways. A banker, who -is not a member of any church, showed me the other day a letter he had -received from a man who had defrauded him out of a small sum of money -years before. The banker had never known anything about the matter -and did not recall the man's name. What did amaze him, and set him to -showing the letter to all of his friends, was this man's restitution, -accompanied by an outspoken testimony to his new discipleship to Jesus -Christ, upon which he had entered at the inspiration of Billy Sunday. - -The imagination is stirred by a contemplation of what these individual -cases of regeneration imply. Consider the homes reunited; consider the -happy firesides that once were the scene of misery; measure, if you -can, the new joy that has come to tens of thousands of lives in the -knowledge that they have given themselves unreservedly to the service -of Jesus Christ. - -The dramatic, human side of it strikes one ever and anon. I chanced -to see a young man "hit the trail" at Scranton whose outreachings I -had later opportunity to follow. The young man is the only son of his -parents and the hope of two converging family lines. Grandparents -and parents, uncles and aunts, have pinned all of their expectations -on this one young man. He was a youth of parts and of force and a -personality in the community. When, on the night of which I write, he -came forward up the "sawdust trail" to grasp the evangelist's hand, -his aged grandfather and his mother wept tears of joy. The grandfather -himself also "hit the trail" at the Scranton meetings and has since -spent his time largely in Christian work. It is impossible to say how -this young man's future might have spelled sorrow or joy for the family -circle that had concentrated their hopes on him. But now it is clear -that his conversion has brought to them all a boon such as money could -not have bought nor kings conferred. - -One of the countless instances that may be gleaned in any field of -Sunday's sowing was related to me the other evening by a business man, -who, like others, became a protagonist of Sunday by going through one -of his campaigns. In his city there was a cultivated, middle-aged -German, a well-known citizen, who was an avowed atheist. He openly -scoffed at religion. He was unable, however, to resist the allurement -of the Sunday meetings, and he went with his wife one night merely to -"see the show." That one sermon broke down the philosophy of years, and -the atheist and his wife became converts of Billy Sunday. His three -sons followed suit, so that the family of five adults were led into the -Christian life by this evangelist untaught of the schools. One of the -sons is now a member of the State Y. M. C. A. Committee. - -A western business man, who is interested in the Young Men's Christian -Association, told me that one cold, rainy winter's day he happened -into the Association Building in Youngstown, Ohio. He found a crowd of -men streaming into a meeting, and because the day was so unpropitious, -he asked the character of the gathering. He was told that it was the -regular meeting of the Christian Workers' Band, gathered to report -on the week's activities. The men had been converted to Christ, or -to Christian work, by Billy Sunday, and their meeting had continued -ever since, although it was more than a year since the evangelist's -presence in Youngstown. Said my friend, "That room was crowded. One -after another the men got up and told what definite Christian work they -had been doing in the previous seven days. The record was wonderful. -They had been holding all sorts of meetings in all sorts of places, -and had been doing a variety of personal work besides, so that there -were a number of converts to be reported at this meeting I attended." -To have set that force in operation so that it would continue to work -with undiminished zeal after twelve months of routine existence, was a -greater achievement than to preach one of the Billy Sunday sermons. - -There is a sufficient body of evidence to show that the work of Billy -Sunday does not end when the evangelist leaves the community. He has -created a vogue for religion and for righteousness. The crowd spirit -has been called forth to the service of the Master. Young people and -old have been given a new and overmastering interest in life. They have -something definite to do for the world and a definite crowd with which -to ally themselves. - -One result has been a tremendous growth of Bible classes for men -and women and a manifestation of the crusader spirit which makes -itself felt in cleaned-up communities and in overthrown corruption in -politics. So far as the Billy Sunday campaigns may be said to have a -badge, it is the little red and white bull's eye of the Organized Adult -Bible Classes. - -Six months after the Scranton campaign five thousand persons attended -a "Trail Hitters'" picnic, where the day's events were scheduled under -two headings, "athletic" and "prayer." When wholesome recreation comes -thus to be permeated with the spirit of clean and simple devotion -something like an ideal state of society has come to pass for at least -one group of people. - -In more ways than the one meant by his critics, Sunday's work is -sensational. What could be more striking than the visit on Sunday, -October 25, 1914, of approximately a thousand trail-hitters from -Scranton to the churches of Philadelphia, to help prepare them for -their approaching Sunday campaign? Special trains were necessary to -bring this great detachment of men the distance of three hundred miles. -They went forth in bands of four, being distributed among the churches -of the city, to hold morning and evening services, and in the afternoon -conducting neighborhood mass meetings. These men were by no means all -trained speakers, but they were witness-bearers; and their testimony -could scarcely fail to produce a powerful influence upon the whole -city. That, on a large scale, is what Sunday converts are doing in a -multitude of places. - -To close this chapter as it began, the truth stands out that Billy -Sunday has set a host of people to thinking that this world's problems -are to be solved, and its betterment secured, not by any new-fangled -methods, but along the old and tested line of transforming individual -characters through the redeeming power of the crucified Son of God. -Salvation is surest social service. - -The great evangelist's sermons are filled with the life stories of the -men and women he has saved. The following is only one of many: - -"I was at one time in a town in Nebraska and the people kept telling -me about one man. 'There is one man here, if you can get him he is good -for one hundred men for Christ.' I said: 'Who is he?' - -"'John Champenoy. He is the miller.' I said to Mr. Preston, who was -then a minister: 'Have you been to see him?' 'No.' I asked another -minister if he had been to see the fellow and he said no. I asked the -United Presbyterian preacher (they have a college out there), and he -said no, he hadn't been around to see him. - -"I said: 'Well, I guess I'll go around to see him.' I found the fellow -seated in a chair teetered back against the wall, smoking. I said: 'Is -this Mr. Champenoy?' 'Yes, sir, that's my name.' He got up and took -me by the hand. I said: 'My name is Sunday; I'm down at the church -preaching. A good many have been talking to me about you and I came -down to see you and ask you to give your heart to God.' He looked at -me, walked to the cupboard, opened the door, took out a half-pint flask -of whisky and threw it out on a pile of stones. - -"He then turned around, took me by the hand, and as the tears rolled -down his cheeks he said: 'I have lived in this town nineteen years and -you are the first man that has ever asked me to be a Christian.' - -"He said: 'They point their finger at me and call me an old drunkard. -They don't want my wife around with their wives because her husband is -a drunkard. Their children won't play with our babies. They go by my -house to Sunday school and church, but they never ask us to go. They -pass us by. I never go near the church. I am a member of the lodge. I -am a Mason and I went to the church eleven years ago when a member of -the lodge died, but I've never been back and I said I never would go.' - -"I said: 'You don't want to treat the Church that way. God isn't to -blame, is he?' - -"'No.' - -"'The Church isn't to blame, is it?' - -"'No.' - -"'Christ isn't to blame?' - -"'No.' - -"'You wouldn't think much of me if I would walk up and slap your wife -because you kept a dog I didn't like, would you? Then don't slap God in -the face because there are some hypocrites in the Church that you don't -like and who are treating you badly. God is all right. He never treated -you badly. Come up and hear me preach, will you, John?' - -"'Yes, I'll come tonight.' - -"I said: 'All right, the Lord bless you and I will pray for you.' He -came; the seats were all filled and they crowded him down the side -aisle. I can see him now standing there, with his hat in his hand, -leaning against the wall looking at me. He never took his eyes off me. -When I got through and gave the invitation he never waited for them to -let him out. He walked over the backs of the seats, took his stand for -Jesus Christ, and in less than a week seventy-eight men followed him -into the kingdom of God. They elected that man chairman of the civic -federation and he cleaned the town up for Jesus Christ and has led the -hosts of righteousness from then until now. Men do care to talk about -Jesus Christ and about their souls. 'No man cares for my soul.' That's -what's the trouble. They are anxious and waiting for some one to come." - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -Giving the Devil His Due - - I know there is a devil for two reasons; first, the Bible declares it; - and second I have done business with him.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -The Prince of Darkness was no more real to Martin Luther, when he flung -his ink-well at the devil, than he is to Billy Sunday. He seems never -long out of the evangelist's thought. Sunday regards him as his most -personal and individual foe. Scarcely a day passes that he does not -direct his attention publicly to the devil. He addresses him and defies -him, and he cites Satan as a sufficient explanation for most of the -world's afflictions. - -There are many delicate shadings and degrees and differentiations in -theology--but Billy Sunday does not know them. He never speaks in -semitones, nor thinks in a nebulous way. His mind and his word are at -one with his baseball skill--a swift, straight passage between two -points. With him men are either sheep or goats; there are no hybrids. -Their destination is heaven or hell, and their master is God or the -devil. - -He believes in the devil firmly, picturesquely; and fights him without -fear. His characterizations of the devil are hair-raising. As a matter -of fact it is far easier for the average man, close down to the ruck -and red realities of life, to believe in the devil, whose work he well -knows, than it is for the cloistered man of books. The mass of the -people think in the same sort of strong, large, elemental terms as -Billy Sunday. The niceties of language do not bother them; they are the -makers and users of that fluid speech called slang. - -William A. Sunday is an elemental. Sophistication would spoil him. He -is dead sure of a few truths of first magnitude. He believes without -reservation or qualification in the Christ who saved him and reversed -his life's direction. Upon this theme he has preached to millions. Also -he is sure that there is a devil, and he rather delights in telling old -Satan out loud what he thinks of him. Meanness, in Satan, sinner or -saint, he hates and says so in the language of the street, which the -common people understand. He usually perturbs some fastidious folk who -think that literary culture and religion are essentially interwoven. - -Excoriation of the devil is not Sunday's masterpiece. He reaches his -height in exaltation of Jesus Christ. He is surer of his Lord than he -is of the devil. It is his bed-rock belief that Jesus can save anybody, -from the gutter bum to the soul-calloused, wealthy man of the world, -and make them both new creatures. With heart tenderness and really -yearning love he holds aloft the Crucified as the world's only hope. -That is why his gospel breaks hearts of stone and makes Bible-studying, -praying church workers out of strange assortments of humanity. - -The following passages will show how familiarly and frequently Sunday -treats of the devil: - - -"DEVIL" PASSAGES - -The devil isn't anybody's fool. You can bank on that. Plenty of folks -will tell you there isn't any devil--that he is just a figure of -speech; a poetic personification of the sin in our natures. People -who say that--and especially all the time-serving, hypocritical -ministers who say it--are liars. They are calling the Holy Bible a -lie. I'll believe the Bible before I'll believe a lot of time-serving, -societyfied, tea-drinking, smirking preachers. No, sir! You take God's -word for it, there is a devil, and a big one, too. - -Oh, but the devil is a smooth guy! He always was, and he is now. He is -right on his job all the time, winter and summer. Just as he appeared -to Christ in the wilderness, he is right in this tabernacle now, -trying to make you sinners indifferent to Christ's sacrifice for your -salvation. When the invitation is given, and you start to get up, and -then settle back into your seat, and say, "I guess I don't want to give -way to a temporary impulse," that's the real, genuine, blazing-eyed, -cloven-hoofed, forked-tailed old devil, hanging to your coat tail. He -knows all your weaknesses, and how to appeal to them. - -He knows about you and how you have spent sixty dollars in the last -two years for tobacco, to make your home and the streets filthy, and -that you haven't bought your wife a new dress in two years, because you -"can't afford it"; and he knows about you, and the time and money you -spend on fool hats and card parties, doing what you call "getting into -society," while your husband is being driven away from home by badly -cooked meals, and your children are running on the streets, learning to -be hoodlums. - -And he knows about you, too, sir, and what you get when you go back -of the drug-store prescription counter to "buy medicine for your sick -baby." And he knows about you and the lie you told about the girl -across the street, because she is sweeter and truer than you are, and -the boys go to see her and keep away from you, you miserable thrower of -slime, dug out of your own heart of envy--yes, indeed, the devil knows -all about you. - -When the revival comes along and the Church of God gets busy, you will -always find the devil gets busy, too. Whenever you find somebody that -don't believe in the devil you can bank on it that he has a devil -in him bigger than a woodchuck. When the Holy Spirit descended at -Pentecost the devil didn't do a thing but go around and say that these -fellows were drunk, and Peter got up and made him mad by saying that it -was too early in the day. It was but the third hour. They had sense in -those days; it was unreasonable to find them drunk at the third hour of -the day. But now the fools sit up all night to booze. - -When you rush forward in God's work, the devil begins to rush against -you. There was a rustic farmer walking through Lincoln Park and he saw -the sign, "Beware of pickpockets." - -"What do they want to put up a fool sign like that? Everybody looks -honest to me." He reached for his watch to see what time it was and -found it was gone. The pickpockets always get in the pockets of those -who think there are no pickpockets around. Whenever you believe there -is a devil around, you can keep him out, but if you say there isn't, -he'll get you sure. - -The Bible says there is a devil; you say there is no devil. Who knows -the most, God or you? Jesus met a real foe, a personal devil. Reject it -or deny it as you may. If there is no devil, why do you cuss instead of -pray? Why do you lie instead of telling the truth? Why don't you kiss -your wife instead of cursing her? You have just got the devil in you, -that is all. - -The devil is no fool; he is onto his job. The devil has been practicing -for six thousand years and he has never had appendicitis, rheumatism -or tonsilitis. If you get to playing tag with the devil he'll beat you -every clip. - -If I knew that all the devils in hell and all the devils in Pittsburgh -were sitting out in the pews and sneering and jeering at me I'd shoot -God's truth into their carcasses anyway, and I propose to keep firing -away at the devils until by and by they come crawling out of their -holes and swear that they were never in them, but their old hides would -assay for lead and tan for chair bottoms. - -Men in general think very little of the devil and his devices, yet he -is the most formidable enemy the human race has to contend with. There -is only one attitude to have toward him, and that is to hit him. Don't -pick up a sentence and smooth it and polish it and sugar-coat it, but -shy it at him with all the rough corners on. - -The devil has more sense than lots of little preachers. - -Jesus said: "It is written." He didn't get up and quote Byron and -Shakespeare. You get up and quote that stuff, and the devil will give -you the ha! ha! until you're gray-haired. Give him the Word of God, and -he will take the count mighty quick. "It is written, thou shall not -tempt the Lord thy God." - -Don't you ever think for a minute that the devil isn't on the job all -the time. He has been rehearsing for thousands of years, and when you -fool around in his back yard he will pat you on the back and tell you -that you are "IT." - -I'll fight the devil in my own way and I don't want people to growl -that I am not doing it right. - -The devil comes to me sometimes. Don't think that because I am a -preacher the devil doesn't bother me any. The devil comes around -regularly, and I put on the gloves and get busy right away. - -I owe God everything; I owe the devil nothing except the best fight I -can put up against him. - -I assault the devil's stronghold and I expect no quarter and I give him -none. - -[Illustration: "I AM AGAINST EVERYTHING THAT THE DEVIL IS IN FAVOR OF"] - -I am in favor of everything the devil is against, and I am against -everything the devil is in favor of--the dance, the booze, the brewery, -my friends that have cards in their homes. I am against everything that -the devil is in favor of, and I favor everything the devil is against, -no matter what it is. If you know which side the devil is on, put me -down on the other side any time. - -Hell is the highest reward that the devil can offer you for being a -servant of his. - -The devil's got a lot more sense than some of you preachers I know, -and a lot of you old skeptics, who quote Shakespeare and Carlyle and -Emerson and everybody and everything rather than the Bible. - -When you hear a preacher say that he doesn't believe there is a devil, -you can just bet your hat that he never preaches repentance. The men -who do any preaching on repentance know there is a devil, for they hear -him roar. - -I drive the same kind of nails all orthodox preachers do. The only -difference is that they use a tack hammer and I use a sledge. - -The preacher of today who is a humanitarian question point is preaching -to empty benches. - -I do not want to believe and preach a lie. I would rather believe -and preach a truth, no matter how unpleasant it is, than to believe -and preach a pleasant lie. I believe there is a hell. If I didn't I -wouldn't have the audacity to stand up here and preach to you. If -there ever comes a time when I don't believe in hell I will leave the -platform before I will ever preach a sermon with that unbelief in -my heart. I would rather believe and preach a truth, no matter how -unpleasant, than to believe and preach a lie simply for the friendship -and favor of some people. - -The man that preaches the truth is your friend. I have no desire to be -any more broad or liberal than Jesus, not a whit, and nobody has any -right, either, and claim to be a preacher. Is a man cruel that tells -you the truth? The man that tells you there is no hell is the cruel -man, and the man that tells you there is a hell is your friend. So it's -a kindness to point out the danger. God's ministers have no business to -hold back the truth. - -I don't believe you can remember when you heard a sermon on hell. -Well, you'll hear about hell while I am here. God Almighty put hell -in the Bible and any preacher that sidesteps it because there are -people sitting in the pews who don't like it, ought to get out of the -pulpit. He is simply trimming his sails to catch a passing breeze of -popularity. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -Critics and Criticism - - Some preachers need the cushions of their chairs upholstered oftener - than they need their shoes half-soled.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -It is only when the bull's eye is hit that the bell rings. The preacher -who never gets a roar out of the forces of unrighteousness may well -question whether he is shooting straight. One of the most significant -tributes to the Evangelist Sunday is the storm of criticism which rages -about his head. It is clear that at least he and his message are not a -negligible quantity. - -This book certainly holds no brief for the impeccability and -invulnerability of Billy Sunday. Yet we cannot be blind to the fact he -has created more commotion in the camp of evil than any other preacher -of his generation. Christians are bound to say "We love him for the -enemies he has made." He hits harder at all the forces that hurt -humanity and hinder godliness than any other living warrior of God. - -The forces of evil pay Billy Sunday the compliment of an elaborately -organized and abundantly financed assault upon him. He is usually -preceded and followed in his campaigns by systematic attacks which aim -to undermine and discredit him. A weekly paper, issued in Chicago, -appears to be devoted wholly to the disparaging of Billy Sunday. - -In rather startling juxtaposition to that statement is the other that -many ministers have publicly attacked Sunday. This is clearly within -their right. He is a public issue and fairly in controversy. As he -claims the right of free speech for himself he cannot deny it to -others. Some of his critics among the clergy object to evangelism in -general, some to his particular methods, some to his forms of speech, -some to his theology; but nobody apparently objects to his results. - -During the past year there has arisen a tendency to abate this storm of -clerical criticism, for it has been found that it is primarily serving -the enemies of the Church. Whatever Billy Sunday's shortcomings, he is -unquestionably an ally of the Kingdom of Heaven and an enemy of sin. -His motives and his achievements are both aligned on the side of Christ -and his Church. A host of ministers of fine judgment who are grieved by -some of the evangelist's forms of speech and some of his methods, have -yet withheld their voices from criticism because they do not want to -fire upon the Kingdom's warriors from the rear. Sunday gets results for -God; therefore, reason they, why should we attack him? - -There is another side to this shield of criticism. There is no -religious leader of our day who has such a host of ardent defenders -and supporters as Billy Sunday. The enthusiasm of myriads for this man -is second only to their devotion to Christ. Wherever he goes he leaves -behind him a militant body of protagonists. He is championed valiantly -and fearlessly. - -So vigorous is this spirit which follows in the wake of a Sunday -campaign that in a certain large city where the ministers of one -denomination had publicly issued a statement disapproving of Mr. -Sunday, their denomination has since suffered seriously in public -estimation. - -Some anonymous supporter of Billy Sunday has issued a pamphlet made -up exclusively of quotations from Scripture justifying Sunday and his -message. He quotes such pertinent words as these: - - And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of - speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. - - For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, - and him crucified. - - And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. - - And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's - wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; - - That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the - power of God. - - For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with - wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none - effect. - - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but - unto us which are saved it is the power of God. - - For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will - bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. - - Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this - world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? - - For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, - it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that - believe. - - For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: - - But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and - unto the Greeks foolishness; - - But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power - of God, and the wisdom of God. - - Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of - God is stronger than men. - - For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after - the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: - - But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the - wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the - things which are mighty; - - And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God - chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that - are. - -A great marvel is that this unconventional preacher has enlisted among -his supporters a host of intellectual and spiritual leaders of our -time. The churches of the country, broadly speaking, are for him, and -so are their pastors. This might be attributed to partisanship, for -certainly Sunday is promoting the work of the Church; but what is to -be said when Provost Edgar F. Smith of the University of Pennsylvania -comes out in an unqualified endorsement of the man and his work; or -such an acute lawyer and distinguished churchman as George Wharton -Pepper of Philadelphia, well known in the councils of the Protestant -Episcopal Church, gives his hearty approval to Sunday? - -Consider the letter which Secretary of State Bryan wrote to Sunday -after hearing him at the Pittsburgh Tabernacle: - - -THE SECRETARY OF STATE. - - Washington, January 12, 1914. - - MY DEAR SUNDAY: Having about four hours in Pittsburgh last night, - my wife and I attended your meeting and so we heard and felt the - powerful sermon which you delivered. We noted the attention of that - vast audience and watched the people, men and women, old and young, - who thronged about you in response to your appeal. Mrs. Bryan had - never heard you, and I had heard only a short afternoon address. Last - night you were at your best. I cannot conceive of your surpassing that - effort in effectiveness. - - Do not allow yourself to be disturbed by criticism. God is giving you - souls for your hire and that is a sufficient answer. Christ called - attention to the fact that both he and John the Baptist had to meet - criticism because they were so much unlike in manner. No man can - do good without making enemies, but yours as a rule will be among - those who do not hear you. Go on, and may the Heavenly Father use - you for many years to come, as he has for many years past, and bring - multitudes to know Christ as he presented himself when he said, "I am - the way, the truth and the life." - - Am sorry we could not see you personally, but we left because we found - that we were discovered. Some insisted upon shaking hands and I was - afraid I might become a cause of disturbance. Mrs. Bryan joins me in - regards to Mrs. Sunday and yourself. - - Yours truly, - W. J. BRYAN. - -One need be surprised at nothing in connection with such a personality -as Billy Sunday, yet surely there is no precedent for this resolution, -adopted by the Pittsburgh City Council, while he was in that city: - - WHEREAS, The Rev. William A. Sunday and his party have been in the - city of Pittsburgh for the past eight weeks, conducting evangelistic - services, and the Council of the city being convinced of the immense - good which has been accomplished through his work for morality, good - citizenship and religion, therefore be it - - _Resolved_, That the Council of the city of Pittsburgh express its - utmost confidence in Mr. Sunday and all of the members of his party; - and be it further - - _Resolved_, That it does hereby express to them its appreciation of - all the work that has been done, and extends to Mr. Sunday its most - cordial wishes for his future success. - -While the adverse critics are doing all in their power to discredit him -as he goes from place to place, Sunday's friends also are not idle. In -Scranton, for instance, before the campaign opened, men in nearly all -walks of life received letters from men in corresponding callings in -Pittsburgh bearing tribute to Billy Sunday. Thus, bankers would inclose -in their correspondence from Pittsburgh an earnest recommendation of -Sunday and a suggestion that the bankers of Scranton stand squarely to -his support. The local Scranton plumber heard from a plumbers' supply -house; labor union men heard from their fellows in Pittsburgh; lawyers -and doctors, and a host of business men, had letters from personal -friends in Pittsburgh, telling what Sunday had done for that community, -and in many cases bearing personal testimony to what his message had -meant to the writers. - -This is nearer to effective organization than the Christian forces of -the country commonly get. This form of propaganda did not bulk large in -the public eye, but it created a splendid undercurrent of sentiment; -for Banker Jones could say: "I have it straight from Banker Smith of -Pittsburgh, whom I know to be a level-headed man, that Sunday is all -right, and that he does nothing but good for the city." - -Still more novel than this was the expedition sent by a great daily -newspaper to hear the evangelist in Scranton. There is no parallel -in the history of Christian work for the deputation of more than -two hundred pastors who went to Scranton from Philadelphia. These -went entirely at the charges of the Philadelphia _North American_, -being carried in special trains. The railroad company recognized the -significance of this unusual occasion, and both ways the train broke -records for speed. - -While in the city of Scranton the ministers were the guests of the -Scranton churches. They had special space reserved for them in the -Tabernacle and their presence drew the greatest crowds that were -experienced during the Scranton campaign. Of course thousands were -turned away. Nobody who saw and heard it will ever forget the way that -solid block of Philadelphia pastors stood up and sang in mighty chorus -"I Love to Tell the Story." - -Between sessions these Philadelphia ministers were visiting their -brethren in Scranton, learning in most detailed fashion what the -effects of the Sunday campaign had been. Whenever they gathered in -public assemblies they sounded the refrain, which grew in significance -from day to day: "I Love to Tell the Story." Billy Sunday fired the -evangelistic purpose of these pastors. - -When this unique excursion was ended, and the company had de-trained at -the Reading Terminal, the ministers, without pre-arrangement, gathered -in a body in the train shed and lifted their voices in the refrain "I -Love to Tell the Story," while hundreds and thousands of hurrying city -folk, attracted by the unwonted music, gathered to learn what this -could possibly mean. - -A new militancy was put into the preaching of these clergymen by their -Scranton visit; and many of them later reported that the largest -congregations of all their ministerial experience were those which -gathered to hear them report on the Sunday evangelistic campaign. Not a -few of the preachers had to repeat their Billy Sunday sermons. Needless -to say, an enthusiastic and urgent invitation to Sunday to come to -Philadelphia to conduct a campaign, followed this demonstration on the -part of the daily newspaper. - -That there is a strategic value in rallying all the churches about -one man was demonstrated by the Methodists of Philadelphia on this -occasion. Bishop Joseph F. Berry had heartily indorsed the project, -and had urged all of the Methodist pastors who could possibly do so -to accept the _North American's_ invitation. The Methodist delegation -was an enthusiastic unit. When they returned to Philadelphia a special -issue of the local Methodist paper was issued, and in this thirty-two -articles appeared, each written by an aroused pastor who had been -a member of the delegation. Incidentally, all of the city papers, -as well as the religious press of a very wide region, reported this -extraordinary pilgrimage of more than two hundred pastors to a distant -city to hear an evangelist preach the gospel. A reflex of this was the -return visit, some months later, of a thousand "trail-hitters" to speak -in Philadelphia pulpits. - -Before leaving the subject of the criticism of Sunday, pro and con, it -should be insisted that no public man or institution should be free -from the corrective power of public opinion, openly expressed. This is -one of the wholesome agencies of democracy. Mr. Sunday himself is not -slow to express his candid opinion of the Church, the ministry, and of -society at large. It would be a sad day for him should all critical -judgment upon his work give way to unreasoning adulation. - -The best rule to follow in observing the evangelist's ministry is, -"Never judge unfinished work." Only a completed campaign should pass -in review before the critics; only the whole substance of the man's -message; only the entire effect of his work upon the public. Partial -judgments are sure to be incorrect judgments. - -Billy Sunday succeeds in making clear to all his hearers--indeed he -impresses them so deeply that the whole city talks of little else for -weeks--that God has dealings with every man; and that God cares enough -about man to provide for him a way of escape from the terrible reality -of sin, that way being Jesus Christ. - -When a preacher succeeds in lodging that conviction in the minds of -the multitudes, he is heaven's messenger. Whether he speak in Choctaw, -Yiddish, Bostonese or in the slang of Chicago, is too trivial a matter -to discuss. We do not inspect the wardrobe or the vocabulary of the -hero who rides before the flood, urging the people to safety in the -hills. - - -PLAIN SPEECH FROM SUNDAY HIMSELF - -The hour is come; come for something else. It has come for plainness of -speech on the part of the preacher. If you have anything to antagonize, -out with it; specify sins and sinners. You can always count on a decent -public to right a wrong, and any public that won't right a wrong is a -good one to get out of. - -Charles Finney went to Europe to preach, and in London a famous -free-thinker's wife went to hear him. The free-thinker's wife noticed a -great change in him; he was more kind, more affectionate, more affable, -less abusive and she said, "I know what is the matter with you; you -have been to hear that man from America preach." And he said, "Wife, -that is an insult; that man Finney don't preach; he just makes plain -what the other fellows preach." Now the foremost preacher of his day -was Paul. What he preached of his day was not so much idealism as -practicality; not so much theology, homiletics, exegesis or didactics, -but a manner of life. I tell you there was no small fuss about his way -of teaching. When Paul was on the job the devil was awake. There is a -kind of preaching that will never arouse the devil. - -"He that believeth not is condemned already." He that has not believed -in Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, is condemned where he -sits. - -Too much of the preaching of today is too nice; too pretty; too -dainty; it does not kill. Too many sermons are just given for literary -excellence of the production. They get a nice adjective or noun, or -pronoun--you cannot be saved by grammar. A little bit of grammar is all -right, but don't be a big fool and sit around and criticize because the -preacher gets a word wrong--if you do that your head is filled with -buck oysters and sawdust, if that is all that you can use it for. - -They've been crying peace. There is no peace. Some people won't come -to hear me because they are afraid to hear the truth. They want -deodorized, disinfected sermons. They are afraid to be stuck over the -edge of the pit and get a smell of the brimstone. You can't get rid of -sin as long as you treat it as a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake. -You can't brush sin away with a feather duster. Go ask the drunkard -who has been made sober whether he likes "Bill." Go ask the girl who -was dragged from the quagmire of shame and restored to her mother's -arms whether she likes "Bill." Go ask the happy housewife who gets the -pay envelope every Saturday night instead of its going to the filthy -saloon-keeper whether she's for "Bill." Some people say, "Oh, he's -sensational." Nothing would be more sensational than if some of you -were suddenly to become decent. I would rather be a guide-post than a -tombstone. - -I repeat that everybody who is decent or wants to be decent, will -admire you when you preach the truth, although you riddle them when -you do it. The hour is come, my friend. The hour is come to believe in -a revival. Some people do not believe in revivals; neither does the -devil; so you are like your daddy. - -I can see those disciples praying, and talking and having a big time. -There are many fool short-sighted ministers who are satisfied if they -can only draw a large crowd. Some are as crazy after sensations as the -yellowest newspaper that ever came off the press. That's the reason we -have these sermons on "The Hobble Skirt" and "The Merry Widow Hat" and -other such nonsensical tommyrot. If there were not so many March-hare -sort of fellows breaking into pulpits you would have to sweat more and -work harder. There are some of you that have the devil in you. Maybe -you don't treat your wife square. Maybe you cheat in your weights. Get -rid of the devil. What does it matter if you pack a church to the roof -if nothing happens to turn the devil pale? What is the use of putting -chairs in the aisles and out the doors? - -The object of the Church is to cast out devils. - -The devil has more sense than lots of little preachers. I have been -unfortunate enough to know D.D.'s and LL.D.'s sitting around whittling -down the doctrine of the personality of the devil to as fine a point -as they know how. You are a fool to listen to them. The devil is no -fool, he is no four-flusher. He said to Christ: "If you are a God, act -like it; if you are a man, and believe the Scriptures, act as one who -believes." - -John the Baptist wasn't that kind of a preacher. Jesus Christ -wasn't that kind of a preacher. The apostles weren't that kind of -preachers--except old Judas. John the Baptist opened the Bible right -in the middle and preached the word of God just as he found it, and -he didn't care whether the people liked it or not. That wasn't his -business. I tell you, John the Baptist stirred up the devil. If any -minister doesn't believe in a personal devil it's because he has never -preached a sermon on repentance, or he'd have heard him roar. Yes, sir. -If there's anything that will make the devil roar it is a sermon on -repentance. - -You can preach sociology, or psychology, or any other kind of ology, -but if you leave Jesus Christ out of it you hit the toboggan slide to -hell. - -I'll preach against any minister who is preaching false doctrines. I -don't give a rap who he is. I'll turn my guns loose against him, and -don't you forget that. Any man who is preaching false doctrines to the -people and vomiting out false doctrines to them will hear from me. I -want to say that the responsibility for no revivals in our cities and -towns has got to be laid at the doors of the ministry. Preachers sit -fighting their sham battles of different denominations, through their -cussedness, inquiring into fol-da-rol and tommyrot, and there sits -in the pews of the church that miserable old scoundrel who rents his -property out for a saloon and is going to hell; and that other old -scoundrel who rents his houses for houses of ill fame and is living -directly on the proceeds of prostitution, and he doesn't preach against -it. He is afraid he will turn the men against him. He is afraid of his -job. They are a lot of backsliders and the whole bunch will go to hell -together. They are afraid to come out against it. - -I'll tell you what's the matter. Listen to me. The Church of -God has lost the spirit of concern today largely because of the -ministry--that's what's the matter with them. I'll allow no man or -woman to go beyond me in paying tribute to culture. I don't mean this -miserable "dog" business, shaking hands with two fingers. The less -brains some people have the harder they try to show you that they have -some, or think they have. I allow no man to go beyond me in paying -tribute to real, genuine culture, a tribute to intellectual greatness; -but when a man stands in the pulpit to preach he has got to be a man of -God. He has got to speak with the passion for souls. If you sleep in -the time of a revival God Almighty will wake you up. - -There are lots of preachers who don't know Jesus. They know about him, -but they don't know him. Experience will do more than forty million -theories. I can experiment with religion just the same as I can with -water. No two knew Him exactly alike, but all loved Him. All would have -something to say. - -Now for you preachers. When a man prays "Thy Kingdom Come" he will read -the Bible to find out the way to make it come. The preacher who prays -"Thy Kingdom Come" will not get all his reading from the new books or -from the magazines. He will not try to please the highbrows and in -pleasing them miss the masses. He will not try to tickle the palates -of the giraffes and then let the sheep starve. He will put his cookies -on the lower shelf. He will preach in a language that the commonest -laborer can understand. - -One of the prolific sources of unbelief and backsliding today is -a bottle-fed church, where the whole membership lets the preacher -do the studying of the Bible for them. He will go to the pulpit -with his mind full of his sermon and they will come to the church -with their minds filled with society and last night's card-playing, -beer-and-wine-drinking and novel-reading party and will sit there half -asleep. Many a preacher reminds me of a great big nursing bottle, and -there are two hundred or three hundred rubber tubes, with nipples on -the end, running into the mouths of two hundred or three hundred or -four hundred great big old babies with whiskers and breeches on, and -hair pins stuck in their heads and rats in their hair, sitting there, -and they suck and draw from the preacher. Some old sister gets the -"Amusement" nipple in her mouth and it sours her stomach, and up go her -heels and she yells. Then the preacher has to go around and sing psalms -to that big two-hundred-and-fifty-pound baby and get her good-natured -so that she will go back to church some day. - -By and by some old whisky-voting church member gets the "Temperance" -nipple in his mouth and it sours his stomach and up go his heels and -he lets out a yell, throws his hands across his abdominal region, and -the preacher says, "Whatever is the matter? If I hit you any place but -the heart or the head I apologize." The preacher has to be wet nurse to -about two hundred and fifty big babies that haven't grown an inch since -they came into the church. - -One reason why some preachers are not able to bring many sinners -to repentance is because they preach of a God so impotent that he -can only throw down card houses when all the signs are right! They -decline to magnify his power for fear they will overdo it! And if they -accidentally make a strong assertion as to his power, they immediately -neutralize it by "as it were," or "in a measure, perhaps!" - -[Illustration: "WE'VE GOT A BUNCH OF PREACHERS BREAKING THEIR NECKS TO -PLEASE A LOT OF OLD SOCIETY DAMES"] - -You make a man feel as though God was stuck on him and you'll be a -thirty-third degree sort of a preacher with that fellow. - -If some preachers were as true to their trust as John the Baptist, -they might be turned out to grass, but they'd lay up treasures for -themselves in heaven. - -Clergymen will find their authority for out-of-the-ordinary methods in -the lowering of a paralytic through a roof, as told of in the Bible. If -that isn't sensationalism, then trot some out. - -If God could convert the preachers the world would be saved. Most of -them are a lot of evolutionary hot-air merchants. - -We've got churches, lots of them. We've got preachers, seminaries, and -they are turning out preachers and putting them into little theological -molds and keeping them there until they get cold enough to practice -preaching. - -The reason some ministers are not more interested in their work is -because they fail to realize that theirs is a God-given mission. - -We've got a bunch of preachers breaking their necks to please a lot of -old society dames. - -Some ministers say, "If you don't repent, you'll die and go to a place, -the name of which I can't pronounce." I can. You'll go to hell. - -There is not a preacher on earth that can preach a better gospel than -"Bill." I'm willing to die for the Church. I'm giving my life for the -Church. - -Your preachers would fight for Christ if some of you fossilated, -antiquated old hypocrites didn't snort and snarl and whine. - -A godless cowboy once went to a brown-stone church--with a high-toned -preacher--I am a half-way house between the brown-stone church and the -Salvation Army. They are both needed and so is the half-way house. -Well, this fellow went to one of these brown-stone churches and after -the preacher had finished the cowboy thought he had to go up and -compliment the preacher, as he saw others doing, and so he sauntered -down the aisle with his sombrero under his arm, his breeches stuck in -his boots, a bandana handkerchief around his neck, his gun and bowie -knife in his belt, and he walked over and said: "Hanged if I didn't -fight shy of you fellows--but I'll tell you I sat here and listened to -you for an hour and you monkeyed less with religion than any fellow I -ever heard in my life." They have taken away the Lord and don't know -where to find him. - -You must remember that Jesus tells us to shine for God. The trouble -with some people and preachers is that they try to shine rather than -letting their light shine. Some preachers put such a big capital "I" -in front of the cross that the sinner can't see Jesus. They want the -glory. They would rather be a comet than stars of Bethlehem. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -A Clean Man on Social Sins - - There are a good many things worse than living and dying an old maid, - and one of them is marrying the wrong man.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Sunday's trumpet gives no uncertain sound on plain, every-day -righteousness. He is like an Old Testament prophet in his passion for -clean conduct. No phase of his work is more notable than the zeal for -right living which he leaves behind him. His converts become partisans -of purity. - -Sunday's own mind is clean. He does not, as is sometimes the case, make -his pleas for purity a real ministry of evil. In the guise of promoting -purity he does not pander to pruriency. As outspoken as the Bible upon -social sin, he yet leaves an impression so chaste that no father would -hesitate to take his boy to the big men's meeting which Sunday holds in -every campaign; and every woman who has once heard him talk to women -would be glad to have her daughter hear him also. - -The verdict of all Christians who have studied conditions in a -community after one of the Sunday campaigns is that Sunday has been -like a thunder storm that has cleared the moral atmosphere. Life is -sweeter and safer and more beautiful for boys and girls after this man -has dealt plainly with social sins and temptations. Of course, it is -more important to clean up a neighborhood's mind than its streets. - -Even in cold print one may feel somewhat of the power of the man's -message on "The Moral Leper." - - -A PLAIN TALK TO MEN - -"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in -the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the -sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these things God will -bring thee into judgment." - -"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that -shall he also reap." - -In other words, do just as you please; lie if you want to, steal if you -want to. God won't stop you, but he will hold you responsible in the -end. Do just as you please until the end comes and the undertaker comes -along and pumps the embalming fluid into you and then you are all in. - -No one is living in ignorance of what will become of him if he does not -go right and trot square. He knows there is a heaven for the saved and -a hell for the damned, and that's all there is to it. - -Many men start out on a life of pleasure. Please remember two things. -First, pleasure soon has an end, and, second, there is a day of -judgment coming and you'll get what's coming to you. God gives every -man a square deal. - -If a man stood up and told me he was going to preach on the things I am -this afternoon, I'd want him to answer me several questions, and if he -could do that I'd tell him to go ahead. - -First--Are you kindly disposed toward me? - -Second--Are you doing this to help me? - -Third--Do you know what you're talking about? - -Fourth--Do you practice what you preach? - -That's fair. Well, for the first. God knows I am kindly disposed toward -you. Second, God knows I would do anything in my power to help you be a -better man. I want to make it easier for you to be square, and harder -for you to go to hell. Third, I know what I'm talking about, for I -have the Bible to back me up in parts and the statements of eminent -physicians in other parts. And fourth, "Do I practice what I preach?" I -will defy and challenge any man or woman on earth, and I'll look any -man in the eye and challenge him, in the twenty-seven years I have -been a professing Christian, to show anything against me. If I don't -live what I preach, gentlemen, I'll leave the pulpit and never walk -back here again. I live as I preach and I defy the dirty dogs who have -insulted me and my wife and spread black-hearted lies and vilifications. - -I was born and bred on a farm and at the age of eleven I held my place -with men in the harvest field. When I was only nine years old I milked -ten cows every morning. I know what hard knocks are. I have seen the -seamy side of life. I have crawled out of the sewers and squalor and -want. I have struggled ever since I was six years old, an orphan son of -a dead soldier, up to this pulpit this afternoon. I know what it is to -go to bed with an honest dollar in my overalls pocket, when the Goddess -of Liberty became a Jenny Lind and the eagle on the other side became a -nightingale and they'd sing a poor, homeless orphan boy to sleep. I'm -not here to explode hot air and theories to you. - -Some men here in town, if their wives asked them if they were coming -down here, would say: "Oh no, I don't want to go anywhere I can't take -you, dear." The dirty old dogs, they've been many a place they wouldn't -take their wife and they wouldn't even let her know they were there. - -If sin weren't so deceitful it wouldn't be so attractive. The effects -get stronger and stronger while you get weaker and weaker all the time, -and there is less chance of breaking away. - -Many think a Christian has to be a sort of dish-rag proposition, a -wishy-washy, sissified sort of a galoot that lets everybody make a -doormat out of him. Let me tell you the manliest man is the man who -will acknowledge Jesus Christ. - - -Christian Character - -Christianity is the capital on which you build your character. Don't -you let the devil fool you. You never become a man until you become a -Christian. Christianity is the capital on which you do business. It's -your character that gets you anything. Your reputation is what people -say about you, but your character is what God and your wife and the -angels know about you. Many have reputations of being good, but their -characters would make a black mark on a piece of coal or tarred paper. - -I was over in Terre Haute, Indiana, not long ago, and I was in a bank -there admiring the beauty of it when the vice-president, Mr. McCormick, -a friend of mine, said: "Bill, you haven't seen the vault yet," and -he opened up the vaults there, carefully contrived against burglars, -and let me in. There were three, and I wandered from one to another. -No one watched me. I could have filled my pockets with gold or silver, -but no one watched me. Why did they trust me? Because they knew I was -preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and living up to it. That's why -they trusted me. There was a time in my life when a man wouldn't trust -me with a yellow dog on a corner fifteen minutes. - -Before I was converted I could go five rounds so fast you couldn't see -me for the dust, and I'm still pretty handy with my dukes and I can -still deliver the goods with all express charges prepaid. Before I was -converted I could run one hundred yards in ten seconds and circle the -bases in fourteen seconds, and I could run just as fast after I was -converted. So you don't have to be a dish-rag proposition at all. - -When a person's acts affect only himself they can be left to the -conscience of the individual, but when they affect others the law steps -in. When a child has diphtheria, you are not allowed personal liberty; -you are quarantined, because your personal liberty could endanger -others if exercised. So you haven't any right to live in sin. You say -you'll do it anyhow. All right, you'll go to hell, too. Adam and Eve -said they would eat the apple anyhow, and the world became a graveyard, -and here's the result today. - -I look out into the world and see a man living in sin. I argue with -him, I plead with him. I cry out warning words. I brand that man with a -black brand, whose iniquities are responsible for the fall of others. - -No man lives to himself alone. I hurt or help others by my life. When -you go to hell you're going to drag some one else down with you and if -you go to heaven you're going to take some one else with you. You say -you hate sin. Of course you do if you have self-respect. But you never -saw anyone who hates sin worse than I do, or loves a sinner more than -I. I'm fighting for the sinners. I'm fighting to save your soul, just -as a doctor fights to save your life from a disease. I'm your friend, -and you'll find that I'll not compromise one bit with sin. I'll do -anything to help you. No man will argue that sin is a good thing. Not -a one who does not believe that the community would be better off if -there was no sin. I preach against vice to show you that it will make -your girl an outcast and your boy a drunkard. I'm fighting everything -that will lead to this and if I have to be your enemy to fight it, God -pity you, for I'm going to fight. People do not fight sin until it -becomes a vice. - -You say you're not afraid of sin. You ought to be, for your children. -It doesn't take boys long to get on the wrong track, and while you -are scratching gravel to make one lap, your boy makes ten. We've got -kids who have not yet sprouted long breeches who know more about sin -and vice than Methuselah. There are little frizzled-top sissies not -yet sprouting long dresses who know more about vice than did their -great-grandmothers when they were seventy-five years old. The girl who -drinks will abandon her virtue. What did Methuselah know about smoking -cigarettes? I know there are some sissy fellows out there who object to -my talking plain and know you shirk from talking plain. - -If any one ever tells you that you can't be virtuous and enjoy good -health, I brand him as a low, infamous, black-hearted liar. - -Ask any afflicted man you see on the street. If you could only reveal -the heart of every one of them! In most you would find despair and -disease. - -How little he thinks when he is nursing that lust that he is nursing a -demon which, like a vampire, will suck his blood and wreck his life and -blacken and blight his existence. And if any little children are born -to him, they will be weak anemics without the proper blood in their -veins to support them. Our young men ought to be taught that no sum -they can leave to a charitable institution can blot out the deeds of an -ignominious life. You don't have to look far for the reason why so many -young men fail; why they go through life weak, ambitionless, useless. - - -Common Sense - -Let's be common folks together today. Let's be men, and talk sense. - -As a rule a man wants something better for his children than he has -had for himself. My father died before I was born and I lived with my -grandfather. He smoked, but he didn't want me to. He chewed, but he -didn't want me to. He drank, but he didn't want me to. He cussed, but -he didn't want me to. He made wine that would make a man fight his own -mother after he had drunk it. I remember how I used to find the bottles -and suck the wine through a straw or an onion top. - -One day a neighbor was in and my grandfather asked him for a chew. He -went to hand it back, and I wanted some. He said I couldn't have it. I -said I wanted it anyhow, and he picked me up and turned me across his -knee and gave me a crack that made me see stars as big as moons. - -If there is a father that hits the booze, he doesn't want his son to. -If he is keeping some one on the side, he doesn't want his son to. In -other words, you would not want your son to live like you if you are -not living right. - -An old general was at the bedside of his dying daughter. He didn't -believe in the Bible and his daughter said, "What shall I do? You -don't believe in the Bible. Mamma does. If I obey one I'm going against -the other." The old general put his arms around his daughter and said: -"Follow your mother's way; it is the safest." Man wants his children to -have that which is sure. - -I have sometimes imagined that young fellow in Luke xv. He came to -his father and said, "Dig up. I'm tired of this and want to see the -world." His father didn't know what he meant. "Come across with the -mazuma, come clean, divvy. I want the coin, see?" Finally the father -tumbled, and he said, "I got you," and he divided up his share and gave -it to the young man. Then he goes down to Babylon and starts out on a -sporting life. He meets the young blood and the gay dame. I can imagine -that young fellow the first time he swore. If his mother had been near -he would have looked at her and blushed rose red. But he thought he had -to cuss to be a man. - -No man can be a good husband, no man can be a good father, no man can -be a respectable citizen, no man can be a gentleman, and swear. You can -hang out a sign of gentleman, but when you cuss you might as well take -it in. - -There are three things which will ruin any town and give it a bad -name--open licensed saloons; a dirty, cussing, swearing gang of -blacklegs on the street; and vile story tellers. Let a town be known -for these three things, and these alone, and you could never start a -boom half big enough to get one man there. - -Old men, young men, boys, swear. What do you cuss for? It doesn't do -you any good, gains you nothing in business or society; it loses you -the esteem of men. God said more about cussing than anything. God said, -"Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear -false witness," but God said more about cussing than them all; and men -are still cussing. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in -vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in -vain." - - -No Excuse for Swearing - -I can see how you can get out of anything but cussing. I can see how -a man could be placed in such a position that he would kill and be -exonerated by the law of God and man, if he killed to protect his life, -or the life of another. - -I can see how a man could be forced to steal if he stole to keep his -wife from starving. - -Up in Chicago several years ago there was a long-continued strike and -the last division of the union treasury had given each man twenty-five -cents. A man went into the railroad yards and got a bag of coal from -one of the cars. They pinched him and he came up before a judge. He -told the judge that he had only the twenty-five cents of the last -division and he spent that for food. His wife and two children were at -home starving and he had no fire. He stole the coal to cook their food. -The judge thundered, "Get out of this room and get home and build that -fire as quickly as you can." - -Say, boys, if I was on a jury and you could prove to me that a father -had stolen a loaf of bread to keep his wife from starving you could -keep me in the room until the ants took me out through the keyhole -before I'd stick him. That may not be law, I don't know; but you'll -find there is a big streak of human nature in Bill. - -There isn't a fellow in this crowd but what would be disgusted if his -wife or sister would cuss and hit the booze like he does. If she would -put fifteen or twenty beers under her belt, he'd go whining around a -divorce court for a divorce right away and say he couldn't live with -her. Why, you dirty dog, she has to live with you. - -I heard of a fellow whose wife thought she would show him how he -sounded around the house and give him a dose of his own medicine. So -one morning he came down and asked for his breakfast. "Why you old -blankety, blank, blank, bald-headed, blankety, blankety, blank, you can -get your own breakfast." He was horrified, but every time he tried to -say anything she would bring out a bunch of lurid oaths until finally -he said, "Wife, if you'll cut out that cussing I'll never swear again." - -I have sometimes tried to imagine myself in Damascus on review day, and -have seen a man riding on a horse richly caparisoned with trappings -of gold and silver, and he himself clothed in garments of the finest -fabrics, and the most costly, though with a face so sad and melancholy -that it would cause the beholder to turn and look a second and third -time. But he was a leper. And a man unaccustomed to such scenes might -be heard to make a remark like this: "How unequally God seems to divide -his favors! There is a man who rides and others walk; he is clothed in -costly garments; they are almost naked while he is well fed," and they -contrast the difference between the man on the horse and the others. If -we only knew the breaking hearts of the people we envy we would pity -them from the bottom of our souls. - -I was being driven through a suburb of Chicago by a real estate man who -wanted to sell me a lot. He was telling me who lived here and who lived -there, and what an honor it would be for me and my children to possess -a home there. We were driving past a house that must have cost $100,000 -and he said: "That house is owned by Mr. So-and-So. He is one of our -multi-millionaires, and he and his wife have been known to live in that -house for months and never speak to each other. They each have separate -apartments, each has a separate retinue of servants, each a dining-room -and sleeping apartments, and months come and go by and they never speak -to each other." My thoughts hurried back to the little flat we called -our home, where we had lived for seventeen years. I have paid rent -enough to pay for it. There wasn't much in it; I could load it in two -furniture vans, maybe three, counting the piano, but I would not trade -the happiness and the joy and the love of that little flat if I had to -take that palatial home and the sorrow and the things that went with -it. - - -Family Skeletons - -Suppose you were driving along the street and a man who was intimately -acquainted with the skeletons that are in every family, should tell you -the secrets of them all, of that boy who has broken his father's heart -by being a drunkard, a blackleg gambler, and that girl who has gone -astray, and that wife who is a common drunkard, made so by society, and -the father himself who is also a sinner. - -Leprosy is exceedingly loathsome, and as I study its pathology I am -not surprised that God used it as a type of sin. A man who is able -to understand this disease, its beginning and its progress, might -be approached by a man who was thus afflicted and might say to him, -"Hurry! hurry! Show yourself to the priest for the cleansing of the -Mosaic law." - -"Why?" says the man addressed. "What is the trouble?" The other man -would say, "Do hurry and show yourself to the priest." But the man -says, "That is only a fester, only a water blister, only a pimple, -nothing more. I say there is no occasion to be alarmed. You are unduly -agitated and excited for my welfare." - -Those sores are only few now, but it spreads, and it is first upon the -hand, then upon the arm, and from the arm it goes on until it lays hold -of every nerve, artery, vein with its slimy coil, and continues until -the disintegration of the parts takes place and they drop off, and -then it is too late. But the man who was concerned saw the beginning -of that, not only the end, but the beginning. He looked yonder and saw -the end too. If you saw a blaze you would cry, "Fire!" Why? Because you -know that if let alone it will consume the building. - -That is the reason why you hurry when you get evidence of the -disease. So I say to you, young man, don't you go with that godless, -good-for-nothing gang that blaspheme and sneer at religion, that bunch -of character assassins; they will make of your body a doormat to -wipe their feet upon. Don't go with that bunch. I heard you swear, I -heard you sneer at religion. Stop, or you will become a staggering, -muttering, bleary-eyed, foul-mouthed down-and-outer, on your way to -hell. I say to you stop, or you will go reeling down to hell, breaking -your wife's heart and wrecking your children's lives. And what have you -got to show for it? What have you got to show for it? God pity you for -all you got to show for selling your soul to the devil. You are a fool. -You are a fool. Take it from "Bill," you are a fool. - -Don't you go, my boy; don't you laugh at that smutty story with a -double meaning. Don't go with that gang. But you say to me, "Mr. -Sunday, you are unduly excited for my welfare. I know you smell liquor -on my breath, but I never expect to become a drunkard. I never expect -to become an outcast." Well, you are a fool. You are a fool. No man -ever intended to become a drunkard. Every drunkard started out to be -simply a moderate drinker. The fellow that tells me that he can leave -it alone when he wants to lies. It is a lie. If you can, why don't you -leave it alone? You will never let it alone. If you could, you would. -My boy, hear me, I have walked along the shores of time and have seen -them strewn with the wrecks of those who have drifted in from the seas -of lust and passion and are fit only for danger signals to warn the -coming race. You can't leave it alone or if you can, the time will come -when it will get you. Take it from me. - -My mother told me never to buy calico by lamplight, because you can't -tell whether the colors will stand or run in the wash. Never ask a girl -to be your wife when she's got her best bib and tucker on. Call on her -and leave at ten o'clock and leave your glove on the piano, and go -back the next morning about nine o'clock after your glove and ring the -doorbell, and if she comes to the door with her hair done up in curl -papers and a slipper on one foot and a shoe on the other foot, and that -untied, and a Mother Hubbard on, take to the woods as fast as you can -go. Never mind the glove, let the old man have that if he can wear it. -But if she comes to the door nice and neat in a neat working house -dress, with her sleeves rolled up and her hair neatly done up, and a -ribbon or a flower stuck in it, grab her quick. - -Henry Clay Trumbull told me years ago that he was in Europe and in -London he went to a theater to see a man who was going to give an -exhibition of wild animals and serpents. He had a royal Bengal tiger -and a Numidian lion, and he introduced a beast that seems to be least -able of being tamed either by kindness or brutality, a black panther. -He made him go through the various motions, and after a while a wire -screen was put down in front of the stage between the audience and -the performer, and to the weird strains of an oriental band the man -approached from the left of the stage and a serpent from the right. -The eyes of the serpent and the man met and the serpent quailed before -the man. Man was master there. At his command the serpent went through -various contortions, and the man stepped to the front of the stage and -the serpent wound himself round and round and round the man, until -the man and serpent seemed as one. His tongue shot out, his eyes -dilated. The man gave a call, but the audience thought that part of the -performance, and that horrified audience sat there and heard bone after -bone in that man's body crack and break as the reptile tightened its -grasp upon his body, and saw his body crushed before he could be saved. - -He had bought that snake when it was only four feet long and he had -watered and nursed it until it was thirty-five feet. At first he could -have killed it; at last it killed him. - - -Nursing Bad Habits - -Are you nursing a habit today? Is it drink? Are you nursing and feeding -that which will wreck your life and wreck you upon the shores of -passion, notwithstanding all the wrecks you have seen of those who have -gone down the line? - -I never got such a good idea of leprosy as I did by reading that -wonderful book of the nineteenth century by General Lew Wallace, "Ben -Hur." You remember the banishment of Ben Hur and the disintegration of -that family life and estate, and the return of Ben Hur from his exile. -He goes past his old home. The blinds are closed and drawn and all is -deserted. He lies down upon the doorstep and falls asleep. His mother -and sister have been in the leper colony and are dying of leprosy and -only waiting the time when they will be covered with the remains of -others who have come there. So they have come to the city to get bread -and secure water, and they see their son and brother lying on the -doorstep of their old home. They dare not awaken him for fear anguish -at learning of their fate would be more than he could bear. They dare -not touch him because it is against the law, so they creep close to him -and put their leprous lips against his sandal-covered feet. They then -go back again with the bread and water for which they had come. - -Presently Ben Hur awakens and rubs his eyes and sees great excitement. -(This part of the story is mine.) Along comes a blear-eyed, old, -whisky-soaked degenerate and Ben Hur asks him what is the trouble, what -is the excitement about, and he says: "A couple of lepers have been -cleansed, but there is nothing to that, just some occult power, it's -all a fake." Ben Hur goes farther on and hears about this wonder, and -they say it is nothing; nothing, some long-haired evangelist who says -his name is Jesus Christ; it's all a fake. Then Ben Hur goes farther -and discovers that it is Jesus of Nazareth and that he has cleansed Ben -Hur's own mother and sister. He hears the story and acknowledges the -Nazarene. - - -The Leprosy of Sin - -The lepers had to cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" in those days to warn the -people. They were compelled by law to do that: also they were compelled -by law to go on the side of the street toward which the wind was -blowing lest the breeze bring the germs of their body to the clean -and infect them with the disease. And the victim of this disease was -compelled to live in a lonely part of the city, waiting until his -teeth began to drop out, his eyes to drop from their sockets, and his -fingers to drop from his hands, then he was compelled to go out in the -tombs, the dying among the dead, there to live until at last he was -gathered to the remains of the dead. That was the law that governed the -leper in those days. All others shrank from him; he went forth alone. -Alone! No man of all he loved or knew, was with him; he went forth on -his way, alone, sick at heart, to die alone. - -Leprosy is infectious. And so is sin. Sin begins in so-called innocent -flirtation. The old, god-forsaken scoundrel of a libertine, who looks -upon every woman as legitimate prey for his lust, will contaminate a -community; one drunkard, staggering and maundering and muttering his -way down to perdition, will debauch a town. - -Some men ought to be hurled out of society; they ought to be kicked -out of lodges; they ought to be kicked out of churches, and out of -politics, and every other place where decent men live or associate. And -I want to lift the burden tonight from the heads of the unoffending -womanhood and hurl it on the heads of offending manhood. - -Rid the world of those despicable beasts who live off the earnings of -the unfortunate girl who is merchandising herself for gain. In some -sections they make a business of it. I say commercialized vice is hell. -I do not believe any more in a segregated district for immoral women -than I would in having a section for thieves to live in where you could -hire one any day or night in the week to steal for you. There are two -things which have got to be driven out or they'll drive us out, and -they are open licensed saloons and protected vice. - -Society needs a new division of anathemas. You hurl the burden on the -head of the girl; and the double-dyed scoundrel that caused her ruin -is received in society with open arms, while the girl is left to hang -her head and spend her life in shame. Some men are so rotten and vile -that they ought to be disinfected and take a bath in carbolic acid and -formaldehyde. Shut the lodge door in the face of every man that you -know to be a moral leper; don't let him hide behind his uniform and his -badge when you know him to be so rotten that the devil would duck up an -alley rather than meet him face to face. Kick him out of church. Kick -him out of society. - -You don't live your life alone. Your life affects others. Some girls -will walk the streets and pick up every Tom, Dick and Harry that will -come across with the price of an ice-cream soda or a joy ride. - -So with the boy. He will sit at your table and drink beer, and I want -to tell you if you are low-down enough to serve beer and wine in your -home, when you serve it you are as low down as the saloon-keeper, and -I don't care whether you do it for society or for anything else. If -you serve liquor or drink you are as low down as the saloon-keeper in -my opinion. So the boy who had not grit enough to turn down his glass -at the banquet and refuse to drink is now a blear-eyed, staggering -drunkard, reeling to hell. He couldn't stand the sneers of the crowd. -Many a fellow started out to play cards for beans, and tonight he -would stake his soul for a show-down. The hole in the gambling table -is not very big; it is about big enough to shove a dollar through; but -it is big enough to shove your wife through; big enough to shove your -happiness through; your home through; your salary, your character; -just big enough to shove everything that is dear to you in this world -through. - -Listen to me. Bad as it is to be afflicted with physical leprosy, -moral leprosy is ten thousand times worse. I don't care if you are -the richest man in the town, the biggest taxpayer in the county, the -biggest politician in the district, or in the state. I don't care a rap -if you carry the political vote of Pennsylvania in your vest pocket, -and if you can change the vote from Democratic to Republican in the -convention--if after your worldly career is closed my text would make -you a fitting epitaph for your tombstone and obituary notice in the -papers, then what difference would it make what you had done--"he -was a leper." He was a great politician--but "He was a leper." What -difference would it make? - -I'll tell you, I was never more interested in my life than in reading -the story of an old Confederate colonel who was a stickler for martial -discipline. One day he had a trifling case of insubordination. He -ordered his men to halt, and he had the offender shot. They dug the -grave and he gave the command to march, and they had stopped just three -minutes by the clock. At the close of the war they made him chief of -police of a Southern city, and he was so vile and corrupt that the -people arose and ordered his dismissal. Then a great earthquake swept -over the city, and the people rushed from their homes and thousands of -people crowded the streets and there was great excitement. Some asked, -"Where is the colonel?" and they said, "You will find him in one of two -or three places." So they searched and found him in a den of infamy. He -was so drunk that he didn't realize the danger he was in. They led him -out, then put him upon a snow white-horse, put his spurs on his boots -and his regimentals on; they pinned a star on his breast and put a -cockade on his hat, and said to him: "Colonel, we command you as mayor -of the city to quell this riot. You have supreme authority." - -He rode out among the people to quell the riot, dug his spurs into the -white side of the horse and the crimson flowed out, and he rode in and -out among the surging mass of humanity. - -He rode out among the people with commands here, torrents of obscenity -there, and in twenty-five minutes the stillness of death reigned in -city squares, so marvelously did they fear him, so wonderful was his -power over men. He then rode out, dismounted, took off his cockade, -tore the star from his breast and threw it down, threw off his -regimentals, took off his sword; then he staggered back to the house of -infamy, where three months later he died, away from his wife, away from -virtue, away from morality, his name synonymous with all that is vile. -What difference did it make that he had power over men when you might -sum up his life in the words, "But he was a leper." What difference did -it make? - -I pity the boy or girl from the depths of my soul, who if you ask are -you willing to be a Christian, will answer: "Mr. Sunday, I would like -to be, but if I tell that at home my brothers will abuse me, my mother -will sneer at me, my father will curse me. If I were, I would have no -encouragement to stand and fight the battle." I pity from the depths of -my soul that boy or girl, the boy who has a father like that; the girl -that has a mother like that, who have a joint like that for a home. - -Unclean! Suppose every young man who is a moral leper were impelled by -some uncontrollable impulse over which he had no power to make public -revelations of his sins! Down the street he comes in his auto and you -speak to him from the curbstone and he will say: "Unclean! Unclean!" -Yonder he comes walking down the street. Suppose that to every man and -woman he meets he is impelled and compelled to make revelation of the -fact that he is a leper. - -Leprosy is an infectious disease; it is the germ of sin. If there is an -evil in you the evil will dwell in others. When we do wrong we inspire -others--and your lives scatter disease when you come in contact with -others. If there is sin in the father there will be sin in the boy; -if there is sin in the mother, there will be sin in the daughter; if -there is sin in the sister, there will be sin in the brother; by your -influence you will spread it. If you live the wrong way you will drag -somebody else to perdition with you as you go, and kindred ties will -facilitate it. - -Supposing all your hearts were open. Supposing we had glass doors to -our hearts, and we could walk down the street and look in and see where -you have been, and with whom you have been and what you have been -doing. A good many of you would want stained-glass windows and heavy -tapestry to cover them. - - -"But the Lord Looketh on the Heart" - -Suppose I could put a screen behind me, pull a string or push a button, -and produce on that screen a view of the hearts of the people. I would -say: "Here is Mr. and Mrs. A's life, as it is, and here, as the people -think it is. Here is what he really is. Here is where he has been. Here -is how much booze he drinks. Here is how much he lost last year at -horse races." But these are the things that society does not take note -of. Society takes no note of the flirtation on the street. It waits -until the girl has lost her virtue and then it slams the door in her -face. It takes no note of that young man drinking at a banquet table; -it waits until he becomes a bleary-eyed drunkard and then it will slam -the door in his face. It will take no note of the young fellow that -plays cards for a prize; it waits until he becomes a blackleg gambler -and then it slams the door in his face. - -God says, "Look out in the beginning for that thing." Society takes -no note of the beginning. It waits until it becomes vice, and then it -organizes Civic Righteousness clubs. Get back to the beginning and -do your work there. God has planned to save this world through the -preaching of men and women, and God reaches down to save men; he pulls -them out of the grog shops and puts them on the water wagon. - -I never could imagine an angel coming down from heaven and preaching to -men and women to save them. God never planned to save this world with -the preaching of angels. When Jesus Christ died on the cross he died -to redeem those whose nature he took. An angel wouldn't know what he -was up against. Some one would say: "Good Angel, were you ever drunk?" -"No!" "Good Angel, did you ever swear?" "Oh, no!" "Good Angel, did you -ever try to put up a stove-pipe in the fall?" "Oh, no!" "Did you ever -stub your toe while walking the floor with the baby at three A. M?" -"Oh, no!" - -"Well, then, Mr. Angel, you don't know. You say there is great mercy -with God, but you are not tempted." - -No. God planned to save the world by saving men and women and letting -them tell the story. - -The servant of Naaman entered the hut of the prophet Elisha and found -him sitting on a high stool writing with a quill pen on papyrus. The -servant bowed low and said, "The great and mighty Naaman, captain -of the hosts of the king of Syria, awaits thee. Unfortunately he is -a leper and cannot enter your august presence. He has heard of the -miraculous cures that you have wrought and he hopes to become the -recipient of your power." The old prophet of God replied: - -"Tell him to dip seven times in the Jordan--beat it, beat it, beat it." -The servant came out to Naaman, who was sitting on his horse. - -"Well, is he at home?" - -"He's at home, but he is a queer duck." - -Naaman thought that Elisha would come out and pat the sores and say -incantations, like an Indian medicine man. Naaman was wroth, like many -a fool today. God reveals to the sinner the plan of salvation and, -instead of thanking God for salvation and doing what God wants him to -do, he condemns God and everybody else for bothering him. - -Now here is a man who wants to be a Christian. What will he do? Will -he go ask some old saloon-keeper? Will he go ask some of these old -brewers? Will he ask some of the fellows of the town? Will he ask the -County Liquor Dealers' Association? Where will he go? To the preacher, -of course. He is the man to go to when you want to be a Christian. Go -to a doctor when you are sick, to a blacksmith when your horse is to be -shod, but go to the preacher when you want your heart set right. - -So Naaman goes into the muddy water and the water begins to lubricate -those old sores, and it begins to itch, and he says, "Gee whizz," like -many a young fellow today who goes to a church and just gets religion -enough to make him feel miserable. An old fellow in Iowa came to me and -said, "Bill, I have been to hear you every night and you have done me -a lot of good. I used to cuss my old woman every day and I ain't cussed -her for a week. I'm getting a little better." - - -The Joy of Religion - -The trouble with many men is that they have got just enough religion -to make them miserable. If there is no joy in religion, you have got a -leak in your religion. Some haven't religion enough to pay their debts. -Would that I might have a hook and for every debt that you left unpaid -I might jerk off a piece of clothing. If I did some of you fellows -would have not anything on but a celluloid collar and a pair of socks. - -Some of you have not got religion enough to have family prayer. Some -of you people haven't got religion enough to take the beer bottles out -of your cellar and throw them in the alley. You haven't got religion -enough to tell that proprietor of the red light, "No, you can't rent my -house after the first of June;" to tell the saloon-keeper, "You can't -rent my house when your lease runs out"; and I want to tell you that -the man that rents his property to a saloon-keeper is as low-down as -the saloon-keeper. The trouble with you is that you are so taken up -with business, with politics, with making money, with your lodges, and -each and every one is so dependent on the other, that you are scared -to death to come out and live clean cut for God Almighty. You have not -fully surrendered yourself to God. - -The matter with a lot of you people is that your religion is not -complete. You have not yielded yourself to God and gone out for God -and God's truth. Why, I am almost afraid to make some folks laugh for -fear that I will be arrested for breaking a costly piece of antique -bric-à-brac. You would think that if some people laughed it would break -their faces. To see some people you would think that the essential of -orthodox Christianity is to have a face so long you could eat oatmeal -out of the end of a gas pipe. Sister, that is not religion; I want to -tell you that the happy, smiling, sunny-faced religion will win more -people to Jesus Christ than the miserable old grim-faced kind will in -ten years. I pity anyone who can't laugh. There must be something wrong -with their religion or their liver. The devil can't laugh. - -So I can see Naaman as he goes into the water and dips seven times, and -lo! his flesh becomes again as a little child's. When? When he did what -God told him to do. - -I have seen men come down the aisle by the thousands, men who have -drank whisky enough to sink a ship. I have seen fallen women come to -the front by scores and hundreds, and I have seen them go away cleansed -by the power of God. When? When they did just what God told them to do. - -I wish to God the Church were as afraid of imperfection as it is of -perfection. - -I saw a woman that for twenty-seven years had been proprietor of -a disorderly house, and I saw her come down the aisle, close her -doors, turn the girls out of her house and live for God. I saw enough -converted in one town where there were four disorderly houses to close -their doors; they were empty; the girls had all fled home to their -mothers. - -Out in Iowa a fellow came to me and spread a napkin on the platform--a -napkin as big as a tablecloth. He said: "I want a lot of shavings and -sawdust." - -"What for?" - -"I'll tell you; I want enough to make a sofa pillow. Right here is -where I knelt down and was converted and my wife and four children, and -my neighbors. I would like to have enough to make a sofa pillow to have -something in my home to help me think of God. I don't want to forget -God, or that I was saved. Can you give me enough?" - -I said, "Yes, indeed, and if you want enough to make a mattress, all -right, take it; and if you want enough of the tent to make a pair of -breeches for each of the boys, why take your scissors and cut it right -out, if it will help you to keep your mind on God." - -That is why I like to have people come down to the front and publicly -acknowledge God. I like to have a man have a definite experience in -religion--something to remember. - - -A PLAIN TALK TO WOMEN - -And I say to you, young girl, don't go with that godless, God-forsaken, -sneering young man that walks the streets smoking cigarettes. He would -not walk the streets with you if you smoked cigarettes. But you say you -will marry him and reform him; he would not marry you to reform you. -Don't go to that dance. Don't you know that it is the most damnable, -low-down institution on the face of God's earth, that it causes more -ruin than anything this side of hell? Don't you go with that young man; -don't you go to that dance. That is why we have so many whip-poor-will -widows around the country: they married some of these mutts to reform -them, and instead of doing that the undertaker got them. I say, young -girl, don't go to that dance; it has proven to be the moral graveyard -that has caused more ruination than anything that was ever spewed out -of the mouth of hell. Don't go with that young fellow for a joy ride at -midnight. - -Girls, when some young fellow comes up and asks you the greatest -question that you will ever be asked or called upon to answer, next -to the salvation of your own soul, what will you say? "Oh, this is so -sudden!" That is all a bluff; you have been waiting for it all the time. - -But, girls, never mind now, get down to facts. When he asks you the -greatest question, the most important one that any girl is ever asked, -next to the salvation of her soul, just say, "Sit down and let me ask -you three questions. I want to ask you these three questions and if -I am satisfied with your answer, it will determine my answer to your -question. 'Did you believe me to be virtuous when you came here to ask -me to be your wife?'" "Oh, yes, I believed you to be virtuous. That's -the reason I came here. You are like violets dipped in dew." The -second question: "Have you as a young man lived as you demand of me as -a girl that I should have lived?" The third question: "If I, as a girl, -had lived and done as you, as a young man, and you knew it, would you -ask me to marry you?" - -They will line up and nine times out of ten they will take the count. -You can line them up, and I know what I am talking about, and I defy -any man on God's earth successfully to contradict me. I have the -goods. The average young man is more particular about the company he -keeps than the average girl. I'll tell you. If he meets somebody on -the street whom he doesn't want to meet he will duck into the first -open doorway and avoid the publicity of meeting her, for fear she -might smile or give an indication that she had seen him somewhere -and sometime before that. Yet our so-called best girls keep company -with young men whose character would make a black mark on a piece of -anthracite. Their characters are foul and rotten and damnable. - -I like to see a girl who has a good head, and can choose right because -it is right, never minding the criticism. Choose the good and be -careful of good company and good conduct, and keep company with a -good young fellow. Don't go with the fellow whose reputation is bad. -Everybody knows it is bad, and if you are seen with him you will lose -your reputation as well, although your virtue is intact; and they might -as well take you to the graveyard and bury you, when your reputation is -gone. When a man like that asks you to go with him, say to him that if -he will live the way you want him to you will go with him. If he would -take a stand like that there wouldn't be so many wrecks. If our women -and girls would take higher stands and say, "No, no, we will not keep -company with you unless you live the way I want you to," there would -be better men. A lot of you women hold yourselves too cheaply. You are -scared to death for fear you will be what the world irreverently calls -"an old maid." - - -Hospitality - -You remember the prophet Elisha and his journey to the school of -prophets up to Mount Carmel. There was a woman who noticed the actions -and conduct of the man of God and she said to her husband, "Let us -build a little room and place therein a bed, and bowl and pitcher, that -he may make it his home." - -The suggestion evidently met with the approval of the husband, because -ever afterward the man of God enjoyed this hospitality. I sometimes -thought she might have been a new woman of the olden times, because no -mention is made of the husband. You never hear of some old lobsters -unless they are fortunate enough to marry a woman who does things and -their name is always mentioned in connection with what the wife does. - -You know there are homes in which the advent of one, two and possibly -three children is considered a curse instead of a blessing. God, in -his providence, has often denied the honor of maternity to some women. -But there are married women who shrink from maternity, not because of -ill health, but simply because they love ease, because they love fine -garments and ability to flirt like a butterfly at some social function. - -Crimes have been and are being committed; hands are stained with blood; -and that very crime has made France the charnel house of the world. -And America, we of our boasted intelligence and wealth, we are fast -approaching the same doom, until or unless it behooves somebody with -grit and courage to preach against the prevailing sins and run the risk -of incurring the displeasure of people who divert public attention from -their own vileness rather than condemn themselves for the way they are -living. They say the man who is preaching against it is vulgar, rather -than the man who did it. - -I am sure there is not an angel in heaven that would not be glad to -come to earth and be honored with motherhood if God would grant her -that privilege. What a grand thing it must be, at the end of your -earthly career, to look back upon a noble and godly life, knowing you -did all you could to help leave this old world to God and made your -contributions in tears and in prayers and taught your offspring to be -God-fearing, so that when you went you would continue to produce your -noble character in your children. - - -Maternity Out of Fashion - -Society has just about put maternity out of fashion. When you stop to -consider the average society woman I do not think maternity has lost -anything. The humbler children are raised by their mothers instead of -being turned over to a governess. - -[Illustration: "SOCIETY HAS JUST ABOUT PUT MATERNITY OUT OF FASHION"] - -There are too many girls who marry for other causes than love. I think -ambition, indulgence and laziness lead more girls to the altar than -love--girls not actuated by love, but simply willing to pay the price -of wifehood to wear fine clothes. They are not moved by the noble -desires of manhood or womanhood. - -Some girls marry for novelty and some girls marry for a home. Some fool -mothers encourage girls to marry for ease so they can go to the matinee -and buzz around. Some fool girls marry for money and some girls marry -for society, because by connecting their name with a certain family's -they go up a rung in the social ladder, and some girls marry young -bucks to reform them--and they are the biggest fools in the bunch, -because the bucks would not marry the girls to reform them. - -You mothers are worse fools to encourage your daughter to marry some -old lobster because his father has money and when he dies, maybe your -daughter can have good clothes and ride in an auto instead of hoofing -it. Look at the girls on the auction block today. Look at the awful -battle the average stenographer and average clerk has to fight. You -cannot work for six dollars a week and wear fine duds and be on the -square as much as you are without having the people suspicious. - -In a letter to Miss Borson, President Roosevelt said: "The man or woman -who avoids marriage and has a heart so cold as to know no passion and a -brain so shallow as to dislike having children is, in fact, a criminal." - -Is it well with thee? Is it well with your husband? "The best man in -the world," you answer. Very well; is it well with the child? I think -its responsibilities are equal, if they don't outweigh its privileges, -and when God is in the heart of the child, I don't wonder that that -home is a haven of peace and rest. - -I have no motive in preaching except the interest I have in the moral -welfare of the people. There is not money enough to hire me to preach. -I tell you, ladies, we have to do something more than wipe our eyes, -and blow our nose, and say "Come to Jesus." Go out and shell the woods -and make them let you know why they don't "come to Jesus." - -I believe the time will come when sex hygiene will form part of the -high-school curriculum. I would rather have my children taught sex -hygiene than Greek and Latin. A lot of the high-school curriculum is -mere fad. I think the time will come when our girls will be taught in -classes with some graduated woman physician for an instructor. - -Women live on a higher plane, morally, than men. No woman was ever -ruined that some brute of a man did not take the initiative. Women have -kept themselves purer than men. I believe a good woman is the best -thing this side of heaven and a bad woman the worst thing this side of -hell. I think woman rises higher and sinks lower than man. I think she -is the most degraded on earth or the purest on earth. - -Our homes are on the level with women. Towns are on the level with -homes. What women are our homes will be; and what the town is, the men -will be, so you hold the destiny of the nation. - -I believe there is something unfinished in the make-up of a girl who -does not have religion. The average girl today no longer looks forward -to motherhood as the crowning glory of womanhood. She is turning her -home into a gambling shop and a social beer-and-champagne-drinking -joint, and her society is made up of poker players, champagne, -wine and beer drinkers, grass-widowers and jilted jades and -slander-mongers--that comprises the society of many a girl today. She -is becoming a matinee-gadder and fudge-eater. - - -The Girl Who Flirts - -I wish I could make a girl that flirts see herself as others see her. -If you make eyes at a man on the street he will pay you back. It -doesn't mean that you are pretty. It means that if you don't care any -more for yourself than that why should he? The average man will take a -girl at her personal estimate of herself. - -It takes a whole lot of nerve for a fellow to look a girl in the face -and say, "Will you be my wife and partner, and help me fight the battle -during life?" but I think it means a whole lot more to the girl who -has to answer and fight that question. But the fool girl loafs around -and waits to be chosen and takes the first chance she gets and seems -to think that if they get made one, the laws of man can make them two -again. - -The divorce laws are damnable. America is first in many things that I -love, but there are many things that are a disgrace. We lead the world -in crime; and lead the world in divorce--we who boast of our culture. - -Many a girl has found out after she is married that it would have -been a good deal easier to die an old maid than to have said "yes," -and become the wife of some cigarette-smoking, cursing, damnable -libertine. They will launch the matrimonial boat and put the oars in -and try it once for luck, anyway, and so we have many women praying for -unconverted husbands. - -[Illustration: "WHO WILL LEAD THE WAY?"] - -[Illustration: "HA! HA! OLD DEVIL, I'VE GOT YOU BEAT!"] - -I preached like this in a town once and the next day I heard of about -five engagements that were broken. I can give you advice now, but if -the knot is tied, the thing is done. - -I am a Roman Catholic on divorce. There are a whole lot of things worse -than living and dying an old maid and one of them is marrying the wrong -man. So don't be one to do that. - -Now, girls, don't simper and look silly when you speak about love. -There is nothing silly about it, although some folks are silly because -they are in love. Love is the noblest and purest gift of God to man and -womankind. Don't let your actions advertise "Man Wanted, Quick." That -is about the surest way not to get a man. You might get a thing with -breeches on, but he is no man. - -Many a woman is an old maid because she wanted to do her share of the -courting. Don't get excited and want to hurry things along. If a man -begins to act as though he is after you, the surest way to get him is -just to make him feel you don't want him, unless you drive him off by -appearing too indifferent. - -And, girls, don't worry if you think you are not going to get a chance -to marry. Some of the noblest men in the world have been bachelors and -some of the noblest women old maids. And, woman, for God's sake, when -you do get married, don't transfer the love God gave you to bestow on a -little child to a Spitz dog or a brindle pup. - - -The Task of Womanhood - -All great women are satisfied with their common sphere in life and -think it is enough to fill the lot God gave them in this world as wife -and mother. I tell you the devil and women can damn this world, and -Jesus and women can save this old world. It remains with womanhood -today to lift our social life to a higher plane. - -Mothers, be more careful of your boys and girls. Explain these evils -that contaminate our social life today. I have had women say to me, -"Mr. Sunday, don't you think there is danger of talking too much to -them when they are so young?" Not much; just as soon as a girl is able -to know the pure from the impure she should be taught. Oh, mothers, -mothers, you don't know what your girl is being led to by this false -and mock modesty. - -Don't teach your girls that the only thing in the world is to marry. -Why, some girls marry infidels because they were not taught to say "I -would not do it." A girl is a big fool to marry an infidel. God says, -"Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers." - -I believe there is a race yet to appear which will be as far superior -in morals to us as we are superior to the morals in the days of Julius -Cæsar; but that race will never appear until God-fearing young men -marry God-fearing girls and the offspring are God-fearing. - -Culture will never save the world. If these miserable human vampires -who feed and fatten upon the virtue of womanhood can get off with -impunity; nay, more, be feasted and petted and coddled by society, we -might as well back-pedal out and sink in shame, for we can never see to -the heights nor command the respect of the great and good. - -What paved the way for the downfall of the mightiest dynasties--proud -and haughty Greece and imperial Rome? The downfall of their womanhood. -The virtue of womanhood is the rampart wall of American civilization. -Break that down and with the stones thereof you can pave your way to -the hottest hell, and reeking vice and corruption. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -"Help Those Women" - - If the womanhood of America had been no better than its manhood, the - devil would have had the country fenced in long ago.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -The average American is somewhat of a sentimentalist. "Home, Sweet -Home," is an American song. No people, except possibly the Irish, -respond more readily to the note of "Mother" than the Americans. No -other nation honors womanhood so greatly. We are really a chivalrous -people. - -In this respect, as in so many others, Sunday is true to type. His -sermons abound with passages which express the best American sentiment -toward womanhood. It is good for succeeding generations that such words -as the following should be uttered in the ears of tens and hundreds -of thousands of young people, and reprinted in scores and hundreds of -newspapers. - - -"MOTHER" - -The story of Moses is one of the most beautiful and fascinating in all -the world. It takes a hold on us and never for an instant does it lose -its interest, for it is so graphically told that once heard it is never -forgotten. - -I have often imagined the anxiety with which that child was born, for -he came into the world with the sentence of death hanging over him, -for Pharaoh had decreed that the male children should die. The mother -defied even the command of the king and determined that the child -should live, and right from the beginning the battle of right against -might was fought at the cradle. - -Moses' mother was a slave. She had to work in the brickyards or labor -in the field, but God was on her side and she won, as the mother -always wins with God on her side. Before going to work she had to -choose some hiding place for her child, and she put his little sister, -Miriam, on guard while she kept herself from being seen by the soldiers -of Pharaoh, who were seeking everywhere to murder the Jewish male -children. For three months she kept him hidden, possibly finding a -new hiding place every few days. It is hard to imagine anything more -difficult than to hide a healthy, growing baby, and he was hidden for -three months. Now he was grown larger and more full of life and a more -secure hiding place had to be found, and I can imagine this mother -giving up her rest and sleep to prepare an ark for the saving of her -child. - -I believe the plan must have been formulated in heaven. I have often -thought God must have been as much interested in that work as was -the mother of Moses, for you can't make me believe that an event so -important as that, and so far-reaching in its results, ever happened -by luck or chance. Possibly God whispered the plan to the mother when -she went to him in prayer and in her grief because she was afraid the -sword of Pharaoh would murder her child. And how carefully the material -out of which the ark was made had to be selected! I think every twig -was carefully scrutinized in order that nothing poor might get into its -composition, and the weaving of that ark, the mother's heart, her soul, -her prayers, her tears, were interwoven. - -Oh, if you mothers would exercise as much care over the company your -children keep, over the books they read and the places they go, there -would not be so many girls feeding the red-light district, nor so many -boys growing up to lead criminal lives. And with what thanksgiving she -must have poured out her heart when at last the work was done and the -ark was ready to carry its precious cargo, more precious than if it was -to hold the crown jewels of Egypt. And I can imagine the last night -that baby was in the home. Probably some of you can remember when the -last night came when baby was alive; you can remember the last night -the coffin stayed, and the next day the pall-bearers and the hearse -came. The others may have slept soundly, but there was no sleep for -you, and I can imagine there was no sleep for Moses' mother. - - "There are whips and tops and pieces of string - And shoes that no little feet ever wear; - There are bits of ribbon and broken wings - And tresses of golden hair. - - "There are dainty jackets that never are worn - There are toys and models of ships; - There are books and pictures all faded and torn - And marked by finger tips - Of dimpled hands that have fallen to dust-- - Yet we strive to think that the Lord is just. - - "Yet a feeling of bitterness fills our soul; - Sometimes we try to pray, - That the Reaper has spared so many flowers - And taken ours away. - And we sometimes doubt if the Lord can know - How our riven hearts did love them so. - - "But we think of our dear ones dead, - Our children who never grow old, - And how they are waiting and watching for us - In the city with streets of gold; - And how they are safe through all the years - From sickness and want and war. - We thank the great God, with falling tears, - For the things in the cabinet drawer." - - -A Mother's Watchfulness - -Others in the house might have slept, but not a moment could she spare -of the precious time allotted her with her little one, and all through -the night she must have prayed that God would shield and protect her -baby and bless the work she had done and the step she was about to take. - -Some people often say to me: "I wonder what the angels do; how they -employ their time?" I think I know what some of them did that night. -You can bet they were not out to some bridge-whist party. They guarded -that house so carefully that not a soldier of old Pharaoh ever crossed -the threshold. They saw to it that not one of them harmed that baby. - -At dawn the mother must have kissed him good-bye, placed him in the -ark and hid him among the reeds and rushes, and with an aching heart -and tear-dimmed eyes turned back again to the field and back to the -brickyards to labor and wait to see what God would do. She had done -her prayerful best, and when you have done that you can bank on God -to give the needed help. If we only believed that with God all things -are possible no matter how improbable, what unexpected answers the -Lord would give to our prayers! She knew God would help her some way, -but I don't think she ever dreamed that God would help her by sending -Pharaoh's daughter to care for the child. It was no harder for God to -send the princess than it was to get the mother to prepare the ark. -What was impossible from her standpoint was easy for God. - -Pharaoh's daughter came down to the water to bathe, and the ark was -discovered, just as God wanted it to be, and one of her maids was sent -to fetch it. You often wonder what the angels are doing. I think some -of the angels herded the crocodiles on the other side of the Nile to -keep them from finding Moses and eating him up. You can bank on it, all -heaven was interested to see that not one hair of that baby's head was -injured. There weren't devils enough in hell to pull one hair out of -its head. The ark was brought and with feminine curiosity the daughter -of Pharaoh had to look into it to see what was there, and when they -removed the cover, there was lying a strong, healthy baby boy, kicking -up his heels and sucking his thumbs, as probably most of us did when -we were boys, and probably as you did when you were a girl. The baby -looks up and weeps, and those tears blotted out all that was against it -and gave it a chance for its life. I don't know, but I think an angel -stood there and pinched it to make it cry, for it cried at the right -time. Just as God plans. God always does things at the right time. Give -God a chance; he may be a little slow at times, but he will always get -around in time. - -The tears of that baby were the jewels with which Israel was ransomed -from Egyptian bondage. The princess had a woman's heart and when a -woman's heart and a baby's tears meet, something happens that gives the -devil cold feet. Perhaps the princess had a baby that had died, and the -sight of Moses may have torn the wound open and made it bleed afresh. -But she had a woman's heart, and that made her forget she was the -daughter of Pharaoh and she was determined to give protection to that -baby. Faithful Miriam (the Lord be praised for Miriam) saw the heart of -the princess reflected in her face. Miriam had studied faces so much -that she could read the princess' heart as plainly as if written in an -open book, and she said to her: "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew -women to nurse the child for you?" and the princess said, "Go." - -I see her little feet and legs fly as she runs down the hot, dusty -road, and her mother must have seen her coming a mile away, and she -ran to meet her own baby put back in her arms. And she was being paid -Egyptian gold to take care of her own baby. See how the Lord does -things? "Now you take this child and nurse it for me and I will pay you -your wages." It was a joke on Pharaoh's daughter, paying Moses' mother -for doing what she wanted to do more than anything else--nurse her own -baby. - -How quickly the mother was paid for these long hours of anxiety and -alarm and grief, and if the angels know what is going on what a -hilarious time there must have been in heaven when they saw Moses and -Miriam back at home, under the protection of the daughter of Pharaoh. I -imagine she dropped on her knees and poured out her heart to God, who -had helped her so gloriously. She must have said: "Well, Lord, I knew -you would help me. I knew you would take care of my baby when I made -the ark and put him in it and put it in the water, but I never dreamed -that you would put him back into my arms to take care of, so I would -not have to work and slave in the field and make brick and be tortured -almost to death for fear that the soldiers of Pharaoh would find my -baby and kill him. I never thought you would soften the stony heart of -Pharaoh and make him pay me for what I would rather do than anything -else in this world." I expect to meet Moses' mother in heaven, and I am -going to ask her how much old Pharaoh had to pay her for that job. I -think that's one of the best jokes, that old sinner having to pay the -mother to take care of her own baby. But I tell you, if you give God a -chance, he will fill your heart to overflowing. Just give him a chance. - - -A Mother's Bravery - -This mother had remarkable pluck. Everything was against her but she -would not give up. Her heart never failed. She made as brave a fight as -any man ever made at the sound of the cannon or the roar of musketry. - - "The bravest battle that was ever fought, - Shall I tell you where and when? - On the maps of the world you'll find it not-- - 'Twas fought by the mothers of men. - - "Nay, not with cannon or battle shot, - With sword or noble pen, - Nay, not with the eloquent word or thought, - From the mouths of wonderful men. - - "But deep in the walled-up woman's heart-- - Of women that would not yield. - But, bravely, silently bore their part-- - Lo, there is the battle-field. - - "No marshaling troops, no bivouac song, - No banner to gleam and wave; - But oh, these battles they last so long-- - From babyhood to the grave." - -Mothers are always brave when the safety of their children is concerned. - -[Illustration: "DON'T GIVE A PUG-NOSED BULLDOG THE LOVE A BABY OUGHT TO -BE GETTING."] - -This incident happened out West. A mother was working in a garden -and the little one was sitting under a tree in the yard playing. The -mother heard the child scream; she ran, and a huge snake was wrapping -its coils about the baby, and as its head swung around she leaped and -grabbed it by the neck and tore it from her baby and hurled it against -a tree. - -Fathers often give up. The old man often goes to boozing, becomes -dissipated, takes a dose of poison and commits suicide; but the mother -will stand by the home and keep the little band together if she has to -manicure her finger nails over a washboard to do it. If men had half as -much grit as the women there would be different stories written about -a good many homes. Look at her work! It is the greatest in the world; -in its far-reaching importance it is transcendently above everything -in the universe--her task in molding hearts and lives and shaping -character. If you want to find greatness don't go to the throne, go to -the cradle; and the nearer you get to the cradle the nearer you get to -greatness. Now, when Jesus wanted to give his disciples an impressive -object lesson he called in a college professor, did he? Not much. He -brought in a little child and said: "Except ye become as one of these, -ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of God." The work is so important -that God will not trust anybody with it but a mother. The launching of -a boy or a girl to live for Christ is greater work than the launching -of a battleship. - -Moses was a chosen vessel of the Lord and God wanted him to get the -right kind of a start, so he gave him a good mother. There wasn't a -college professor in all Egypt that God would trust with that baby! so -he put the child back in its mother's arms. He knew the best one on -earth to trust with that baby was its own mother. When God sends us -great men he wants to have them get the right kind of a start. So he -sees to it that they have a good mother. Most any old stick will do -for a daddy. God is particular about the mothers. - - -Good Mothers Needed - -And so the great need of this country, or any other country, is good -mothers, and I believe we have more good mothers in America than any -other nation on earth. If Washington's mother had been like a Happy -Hooligan's mother, Washington would have been a Happy Hooligan. - -Somebody has said: "God could not be everywhere, so he gave us -mothers." Now there may be poetry in it, but it's true "that the hand -that rocks the cradle rules the world," and if every cradle was rocked -by a good mother, the world would be full of good men, as sure as you -breathe. If every boy and every girl today had a good mother, the -saloons and disreputable houses would go out of business tomorrow. - -A young man one time joined a church and the preacher asked him: "What -was it I said that induced you to be a Christian?" - -Said the young man: "Nothing that I ever heard you say, but it is the -way my mother lived." I tell you an ounce of example outweighs forty -million tons of theory and speculation. If the mothers would live as -they should, we preachers would have little to do. Keep the devil out -of the boys and girls and he will get out of the world. The old sinners -will die off if we keep the young ones clean. - -The biggest place in the world is that which is being filled by the -people who are closely in touch with youth. Being a king, an emperor or -a president is mighty small potatoes compared to being a mother or the -teacher of children, whether in a public school or in a Sunday school, -and they fill places so great that there isn't an angel in heaven that -wouldn't be glad to give a bushel of diamonds to boot to come down here -and take their places. Commanding an army is little more than sweeping -a street or pounding an anvil compared with the training of a boy or -girl. The mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings -that Egypt ever had. To teach a child to love truth and hate a lie, to -love purity and hate vice, is greater than inventing a flying machine -that will take you to the moon before breakfast. Unconsciously you set -in motion influences that will damn or bless the old universe and bring -new worlds out of chaos and transform them for God. - - -God's Hall of Fame - -A man sent a friend of mine some crystals and said: "One of these -crystals as large as a pin point will give a distinguishable green hue -to sixteen hogsheads of water." Think of it! Power enough in an atom to -tincture sixteen hogsheads of water. There is power in a word or act to -blight a boy and, through him, curse a community. There is power enough -in a word to tincture the life of that child so that it will become a -power to lift the world to Jesus Christ. The mothers will put in motion -influences that will either touch heaven or hell. Talk about greatness! - -Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, then read the -mothers' names in God's hall of fame, and see what they have been in -this world. Wait until you see God's hall of fame; you will see women -bent over the washtub. - -I want to tell you women that fooling away your time hugging and -kissing a poodle dog, caressing a "Spitz," drinking society brandy-mash -and a cocktail, and playing cards, is mighty small business compared to -molding the life of a child. - -Tell me, where did Moses get his faith? From his mother. Where did -Moses get his backbone to say: "I won't be called the son of Pharaoh's -daughter?" He got it from his mother. Where did Moses get the nerve to -say, "Excuse me, please," to the pleasures of Egypt? He got it from his -mother. You can bank on it he didn't inhale it from his dad. Many a boy -would have turned out better if his old dad had died before the kid -was born. You tell your boy to keep out of bad company. Sometimes when -he walks down the street with his father he's in the worst company in -town. His dad smokes, drinks and chews. Moses got it from his mother. -He was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, but that didn't give him the -swelled head. - -When God wants to throw a world out into space, he is not concerned -about it. The first mile that world takes settles its course for -eternity. When God throws a child out into the world he is mighty -anxious that it gets a good start. The Catholics are right when they -say: "Give us the children until they are ten years old and we don't -care who has them after that." The Catholics are not losing any sleep -about losing men and women from their church membership. It is the -only church that has ever shown us the only sensible way to reach the -masses--that is, by getting hold of the children. That's the only way -on God's earth that you will ever solve the problem of reaching the -masses. You get the boys and girls started right, and the devil will -hang a crape on his door, bank his fires, and hell will be for rent -before the Fourth of July. - -A friend of mine has a little girl that she was compelled to take to -the hospital for an operation. They thought she would be frightened, -but she said: "I don't care if mama will be there and hold my hand." -They prepared her for the operation, led her into the room, put her on -the table, put the cone over her face and saturated it with ether, and -she said: "Now, mama, take me by the hand and hold it and I'll not be -afraid." And the mother stood there and held her hand. The operation -was performed, and when she regained consciousness, they said: "Bessie, -weren't you afraid when they put you on the table?" She said: "No, mama -stood there and held my hand. I wasn't afraid." - -There is a mighty power in a mother's hand. There's more power in a -woman's hand than there is in a king's scepter. - -And there is a mighty power in a mother's kiss--inspiration, courage, -hope, ambition, in a mother's kiss. One kiss made Benjamin West a -painter, and the memory of it clung to him through life. One kiss will -drive away the fear in the dark and make the little one brave. It will -give strength where there is weakness. - -I was in a town one day and saw a mother out with her boy, and he had -great steel braces on both legs, to his hips, and when I got near -enough to them I learned by their conversation that that wasn't the -first time the mother had had him out for a walk. She had him out -exercising him so he would get the use of his limbs. He was struggling -and she smiled and said: "You are doing finely today; better than -you did yesterday." And she stooped and kissed him, and the kiss of -encouragement made him work all the harder, and she said: "You are -doing nobly, son." And he said: "Mama, I'm going to run; look at me." -And he started, and one of his toes caught on the steel brace on the -other leg and he stumbled, but she caught him and kissed him, and said: -"That was fine, son; how well you did it!" Now, he did it because his -mother had encouraged him with a kiss. He didn't do it to show off. -There is nothing that will help and inspire life like a mother's kiss. - - "If we knew the baby fingers pressed against the window pane, - Would be cold and still tomorrow, never trouble us again, - Would the bright eyes of our darling catch the frown upon our brow? - - "Let us gather up the sunbeams lying all around our path, - Let us keep the wheat and roses, casting out the thorns and chaff! - We shall find our sweetest comforts in the blessings of today, - With a patient hand removing all the briars from our way." - - -A Mother's Song - -There is power in a mother's song, too. It's the best music the world -has ever heard. The best music in the world is like biscuits--it's the -kind mother makes. There is no brass band or pipe organ that can hold a -candle to mother's song. Calve, Melba, Nordica, Eames, SchumannHeinck, -they are cheap skates, compared to mother. They can't sing at all. -They don't know the rudiments of the kind of music mother sings. The -kind she sings gets tangled up in your heart strings. There would be a -disappointment in the music of heaven to me if there were no mothers -there to sing. The song of an angel or a seraph would not have much -charm for me. What would you care for an angel's song if there were no -mother's song? - -The song of a mother is sweeter than that ever sung by minstrel or -written by poet. Talk about sonnets! You ought to hear the mother sing -when her babe is on her breast, when her heart is filled with emotion. -Her voice may not please an artist, but it will please any one who -has a heart in him. The songs that have moved the world are not the -songs written by the great masters. The best music, in my judgment, -is not the faultless rendition of these high-priced opera singers. -There is nothing in art that can put into melody the happiness which -associations and memories bring. I think when we reach heaven it will -be found that some of the best songs we will sing there will be those -we learned at mother's knee. - - -A Mother's Love - -There is power in a mother's love. A mother's love must be like God's -love. How God could ever tell the world that he loved it without a -mother's help has often puzzled me. If the devils in hell ever turned -pale, it was the day mother's love flamed up for the first time in a -woman's heart. If the devil ever got "cold feet" it was that day, in my -judgment. - -You know a mother has to love her babe before it is born. Like God, -she has to go into the shadows of the valley of death to bring it into -the world, and she will love her child, suffer for it, and it can grow -up and become vile and yet she will love it. Nothing will make her -blame it, and I think, women, that one of the awful things in hell -will be that there will be no mother's love there. Nothing but black, -bottomless, endless, eternal hate in hell--no mother's love. - - "And though he creep through the vilest caves of sin, - And crouch perhaps, with bleared and bloodshot eyes, - Under the hangman's rope--a mother's lips - Will kiss him in his last bed of disgrace, - And love him e'en for what she hoped of him." - -I thank God for what mother's love has done for the world. - -Oh, there is power in a mother's trust. Surely as Moses was put in -his mother's arms by the princess, so God put the babes in your arms, -as a charge from him to raise and care for. Every child is put in a -mother's arms as a trust from God, and she has to answer to God for the -way she deals with that child. No mother on God's earth has any right -to raise her children for pleasure. She has no right to send them to -dancing school and haunts of sin. You have no right to do those things -that will curse your children. That babe is put in your arms to train -for the Lord. No mother has any more right to raise her children for -pleasure than I have to pick your pockets or throw red pepper in your -eyes. She has no more right to do that than a bank cashier has to rifle -the vaults and take the savings of the people. One of the worst sins -you can commit is to be unfaithful to your trust. - - -A Mother's Responsibility - -"Take this child and nurse it for me." That is all the business you -have with it. That is a jewel that belongs to God and he gives it to -you to polish for him so he can set it in a crown. Who knows but that -Judas became the godless, good-for-nothing wretch he was because he had -a godless, good-for-nothing mother? Do you know? I don't. What is more -to blame for the crowded prisons than mothers? Who is more to blame for -the crowded disreputable houses than you are, who let your children -gad the streets, with every Tom, Dick and Harry, or keep company with -some little jack rabbit whose character would make a black mark on a -piece of tar paper? I have talked with men in prisons who have damned -their mothers to my face. Why? They blame their mothers for their being -where they are. - -"Take the child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages." -God pays in joy that is fireproof, famine-proof and devil-proof. He -will pay you, don't you worry. So get your name on God's pay-roll. -"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages." -If you haven't been doing that, then get your name on God's pay-roll. - -"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages." -Then your responsibility! It is so great that I don't see how any -woman can fail to be a Christian and serve God. What do you think God -will do if the mother fails? I stagger under it. What, if through your -unfaithfulness, your boy becomes a curse and your daughter a blight? -What, if through your neglect, that boy becomes a Judas when he might -have been a John or Paul? - -Down in Cincinnati some years ago a mother went to the zoological -garden and stood leaning over the bear pit, watching the bears and -dropping crumbs and peanuts to them. In her arms she held her babe, a -year and three months old. She was so interested in the bears that the -baby wriggled itself out of her arms and fell into the bear pit, and -she watched those huge monsters rip it to shreds. What a veritable hell -it will be through all her life to know that her little one was lost -through her own carelessness and neglect! - -"Take this child and raise it for me, and I will pay you your wages." -Will you promise and covenant with God, and with me, and with one -another, that from now on you will try, with God's help, to do better -than you ever have done to raise your children for God? - -[Illustration: "THE IDEAL MOTHER IS THE PRODUCT OF A CIVILIZATION THAT -ROSE FROM THE MANGER OF BETHLEHEM."] - -"I once read the story of an angel who stole out of heaven and came to -this world one bright, sunshiny day; roamed through field, forest, city -and hamlet, and as the sun went down plumed his wings for the return -flight. The angel said: "Now that my visit is over, before I return -I must gather some mementos of my trip." He looked at the beautiful -flowers in the garden and said: "How lovely and fragrant," and plucked -the rarest roses, made a bouquet, and said: "I see nothing more -beautiful and fragrant than these flowers." The angel looked farther -and saw a bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked child, and said: "That baby is -prettier than the flowers; I will take that, too," and looking behind -to the cradle, he saw a mother's love pouring out over her babe like -a gushing spring, and the angel said: "The mother's love is the most -beautiful thing I have seen! I will take that, too." - -And with these three treasures the heavenly messenger winged his flight -to the pearly gates, saying: "Before I go I must examine the mementos -of my trip to the earth." He looked at the flowers; they had withered. -He looked at the baby's smile, and it had faded. He looked at the -mother's love, and it shone in all its pristine beauty. Then he threw -away the withered flowers, cast aside the faded smile, and with the -mother's love pressed to his breast, swept through the gates into the -city, shouting that the only thing he had found that would retain its -fragrance from earth to heaven was a mother's love. - -"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages." - -When Napoleon Bonaparte was asked, "What do you regard as the greatest -need of France?" he replied, "Mothers, mothers, mothers." You women -can make a hell of a home or a heaven of a home. Don't turn your old -Gatling-gun tongue loose and rip everybody up and rip your husbands up -and send them out of their homes. If I were going to investigate your -piety I would ask the girl who works for you. - -This talk about the land of the free is discounted when the children -look like a rummage sale in a second-hand store; with uncombed hair, -ripped pants, buttons off, stockings hanging down. It doesn't take the -wisdom of truth to see that mother is too busy with her social duties, -clubs, etc., to pay much attention to the kids. - - -Mothers of Great Men - -The mother of Nero was a murderess, and it is no wonder that he fiddled -while Rome burned. The mother of Patrick Henry was eloquent, and that -is the reason why every school boy and girl knows, "Give me liberty or -give me death." Coleridge's mother taught him Biblical stories from the -old Dutch tile of the fireplace. In the home authority is needed today -more than at any time in the history of this nation. I have met upon -the arena of the conflict every form of man and beast imaginable to -meet, and I am convinced that neither law nor gospel can make a nation -without home authority and home example. Those two things are needed. -The boy who has a wholesome home and surroundings and a judicious -control included does not often find his way into the reformatory. - -Susanna Wesley was the mother of nineteen children, and she held them -for God. When asked how she did it she replied, "By getting hold of -their hearts in their youth, and never losing my grip." - -If it had not been for the expostulations of the mother of George -Washington, George Washington would have become a midshipman in the -British navy, and the name of that capital yonder would have been some -other. John Randolph said in the House of Representatives, "If it had -not been for my godly mother, I, John Randolph, would have been an -infidel." Gray, who wrote the "Elegy in a Country Churchyard," said -he was one of a large family of children that had the misfortune to -survive their mother. And I believe the ideal mother is the product of -a civilization that rose from the manger of Bethlehem. - -I am sure there is not an angel in heaven that would not be glad to -come to earth and be honored with motherhood if God would grant that -privilege. What a grand thing it must be, at the end of your earthly -career, to look back upon a noble and godly life, knowing you did -all you could to help leave this old world to God, and made your -contributions in tears and in prayers and taught your offspring to be -God-fearing, so that when you went you would continue to produce your -noble character in your children. - -I believe in blood; I believe in good blood, bad blood, honest blood, -and thieving blood; in heroic blood and cowardly blood; in virtuous -blood, in licentious blood, in drinking blood and in sober blood. The -lips of the Hapsburgs tell of licentiousness; those of the Stuarts tell -of cruelty, bigotry and sensuality, from Mary, queen of Scots, down to -Charles the First and Charles the Second, James the First--who showed -the world what your fool of a Scotchman can be when he is a fool--down -to King James the Second. - -Scotch blood stands for stubbornness. They are full of -stick-to-it-iveness. I know, Mrs. Sunday is full-blooded Scotch. -English blood speaks of reverence for the English. That is shown by the -fact that England spent $50,000,000 recently to put a crown on George's -head. Danish blood tells of love of the sea. Welsh blood tells of -religious fervor and zeal for God. Jewish blood tells of love of money, -from the days of Abraham down until now. - -You may have read this story: Down in New York was a woman who said to -her drunken son: "Let's go down to the police court and have the judge -send you over to the island for a few weeks. Maybe you'll straighten -up then and I can have some respect for you again." Down they went to -the police court and appeared before the judge. He asked who would make -the charge and the mother sprang forward with the words on her lips. -Then she stopped short, turned to her son and throwing her arms about -his neck cried out: "I can't! I can't! He is my son, I love him and I -can't." Then she fell at his feet dead. As dearly as she had loved her -drunken, bloated, loafing son she couldn't stand in judgment. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -Standing on the Rock - - If a doctor didn't know any more about Materia Medica than the - average church member knows about the Bible, he'd be arrested for - malpractice.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -A publisher remarked to me that a Billy Sunday campaign did not -create a demand for religious books in general. With rather an air of -fault-finding he said, "You can't sell anything but Bibles to that -Billy Sunday crowd." - -That remark is illuminating. Billy Sunday does not create a cult: he -simply sends people back to the Bibles of their mothers. His converts -do not become disciples of any particular school of interpretation: the -Bible and the hymn book are their only armory. It cannot be gainsaid -that it is better to read the Bible than to read books about the Bible. -The work of Billy Sunday is not done with a convert until he has -inspired that person to a love and loyalty for the old Book. - - - THE STORY OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT - - BIBLE VERSION - - 5. And the people spake against God and against Moses, Wherefore have - ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is - no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light - bread. - - 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the - people; and much people of Israel died. - - 7. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for - we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord - that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the - people. - - 8. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it - upon a pole: and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, - when he looketh upon it, shall live. - - 9. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole and it - came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the - serpent of brass he lived. - - - SUNDAY'S VERSION - - The Jews were in Egyptian bondage for years. God said he would release - them, but he hadn't come. But God never forgets. So he came and chose - Moses to lead them, and when Moses got them out in the wilderness they - began to knock and said, "Who is this Moses anyway? We don't know him. - Were there not enough graves in Egypt?" and they said they didn't like - the white bread they were getting and wanted the onions and the leeks - and the garlic and melons of Egypt, and they found fault. And God sent - the serpents and was going to kill them all, but Moses interceded and - said, "Now see here, God." But the Lord said, "Get out of the way, - Moses, and let me kill them all." But Moses said, "Hold on there, - Lord. That bunch would have the laugh on you if you did that. They'd - say you brought them out here and the commissary stores ran out and - you couldn't feed them, so you just killed them all." So God said, - "All right, for your sake, Moses, I won't," and he said, "Moses, you - go and set up a brazen serpent in the wilderness and that will be the - one thing that will save them if they are bitten. They must look or - die." - -Such passages as this show the uncompromising loyalty of Sunday to the -Bible: - -"Here is a book, God's Word, that I will put up against all the books -of all the ages. You can't improve on the Bible. You can take all -the histories of all the nations of all the ages and cut out of them -all that is ennobling, all that is inspiring, and compile that into -a common book, but you cannot produce a work that will touch the hem -of the garment of the Book I hold in my hand. It is said, 'Why cannot -we improve on the Bible? We have advanced everything else.' No, sir. -'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not.' And so -this old Book, which is the Word of God, the Word of Jesus Christ, is -the book I intend to preach by everywhere. The religion that has -withstood the sophistry and the criticism of the ages, the sarcasm -of Voltaire, the irony of Hume, the blasphemy of Ingersoll, the -astronomer's telescope, the archæologist's spade and the physician's -scalpel--they have all tried to prove the Bible false, but the old Book -is too tough for the tooth of time, and she stands triumphant over the -grave of all that have railed upon her. God Almighty is still on the -job. Some people act as though they had sent for the undertaker to come -to embalm God and bury him. But it is the truth; it is not an accident -that places the Christian nations in the forefront of the world's -battles. It is something more than race, color, climate, that causes -the difference between the people that dwell on the banks of the Congo -and those in this valley. The scale of civilization always ascends the -line of religion; the highest civilization always goes hand in hand -with the purest religion." - -Rigid as he is in literal interpretation of the Bible, Sunday is -celebrated for his paraphrases of favorite passages, a recasting of the -familiar form of words into the speech of the day. Some of these "slang -versions" of the old Book make one gasp; but generally the evangelist -gets the innermost meaning of the Book itself. He is not an interpreter -of the Bible but a popularizer of it. He does not expound the Scripture -as much as he pounds in the Scripture. The Bible and its place in the -life of the Christian are often on the Evangelist's lips. - -Here, for instance, is his interpretation of the story of David and -Goliath: - -"All of the sons of Jesse except David went off to war; they left -David at home because he was only a kid. After a while David's ma got -worried. She wondered what had become of his brothers, because they -hadn't telephoned to her or sent word. So she said to David, 'Dave, you -go down there and see whether they are all right.' - -"So David pikes off to where the war is, and the first morning he was -there out comes this big Goliath, a big, strapping fellow about eleven -feet tall, who commenced to shoot off his mouth as to what he was going -to do. - -"'Who's that big stiff putting up that game of talk?' asked David of -his brothers. - -"'Oh, he's the whole works; he's the head cheese of the Philistines. He -does that little stunt every day.' - -"'Say,' said David, 'you guys make me sick. Why don't some of you -go out and soak that guy? You let him get away with that stuff.' He -decided to go out and tell Goliath where to head in. - -"So Saul said, 'You'd better take my armor and sword.' David put them -on, but he felt like a fellow with a hand-me-down suit about four times -too big for him, so he took them off and went down to the brook and -picked up a half dozen stones. He put one of them in his sling, threw -it, and soaked Goliath in the coco between the lamps, and he went down -for the count. David drew his sword and chopped off his block, and the -rest of the gang beat it." - - -SUNDAY UTTERANCES ON THE BIBLE - -The Bible is the Word of God. Nothing has ever been more clearly -established in the world today, and God blesses every people and -nation that reverence it. It has stood the test of time. No book has -so endured through the ages. No book has been so hated. Everything the -cunning of man, philosophy, brutality, could contrive has been done, -but it has withstood them all. - -There is no book which has such a circulation today. Bibles are -dropping from the press like the leaves in autumn. There are -200,000,000 copies. It is read by all nations. It has been translated -into five hundred languages and dialects. - -No book ever came by luck or chance. Every book owes its existence -to some being or beings, and within the range and scope of human -intelligence there are but three things--good, bad, and God. All that -originates in intellect, all which the intellect can comprehend, must -come from one of the three. This book, the Bible, could not possibly -be the product of evil, wicked, godless, corrupt, vile men, for it -pronounces the heaviest penalties against sin. Like produces like, and -if bad men were writing the Bible they never would have pronounced -condemnation and punishment against wrong-doing. The holy men of old, -we are told, "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Men do not -attribute these beautiful and matchless and well-arranged sentences to -human intelligence alone, but we are told that men spake as they were -inspired by the Holy Ghost. The only being left, to whom you, or I, or -any sensible person could ascribe the origin of the Bible, is God. - -[Illustration: BITING, BLISTERING, BLASTING CONDEMNATION OF SIN. THIS -RARE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THE TREMENDOUS EARNESTNESS OF MR. SUNDAY AND THE -ENERGY, ZEAL AND FIRE HE PUTS INTO HIS MESSAGE WHICH HAS WARMED THIS -COLD WORLD MORE THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER APOSTLE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THIS -GENERATION.] - -Men have been thrown to beasts and burned to death for having a Bible -in their possession. There have been wars over the Bible; cities have -been destroyed. Nothing ever brought such persecution as the Bible. -Everything vile, dirty, rotten and iniquitous has been brought to bear -against it because it reveals man's cussedness. But it's here, and its -power and influence are greater today than ever. - -Saloons, bawdy houses, gambling hells, every rake, every white-slaver, -every panderer and everything evil has been against it, but it is the -word of God, and millions of people know it. - -This being true, it is of the highest importance that you should think -of the truths in it. I'll bet my life that there are hundreds of you -that haven't read ten pages of the Bible in ten years. Some of you -never open it except at a birth, a marriage or a death, and then just -to keep your family records straight. That's a disgrace and an insult. -I repeat it, it's a disgrace and an insult. Don't blame God if you wind -up in hell, after God warned you, because you didn't take time to read -it and think about it. - -It is the only book that tells us of a God that we can love, a heaven -to win, a hell to shun and a Saviour that can save. Why did God give us -the Bible? So that we might believe in Christ. No other book tells us -this. It tells us why the Bible was written, that we might believe and -be saved. You don't read a railroad guide to learn to raise buckwheat. -You don't read a cook book to learn to shoe horses. You don't read an -arithmetic to learn the history of the United States. A geography does -not tell you about how to make buckwheat cakes. No, you read a railroad -guide to learn about the trains, a cook book to learn to make buckwheat -cakes, an arithmetic for arithmetic and a geography for geography. If -you want to get out of a book what the author put in it, find out why -it was written. That's the way to get good out of a book. Read it. - -It was written that you might read and believe that Jesus is the Son -of God. The Bible wasn't intended for a history or a cook book. It was -intended to keep me from going to hell. - -The greatest good can be had from anything by using it for the purpose -for which it was intended. A loaf of bread and a brick may look alike, -but try and exchange them and see. You build a house with brick, but -you can't eat it. The purpose of a time table is to give the time of -trains, the junctions, the different railroads. A man that has been -over the road knows more about it than a man who has never been over -it. A man who has made the journey of life guided by the Bible knows -more about it than any high-browed lobster who has never lived a word -of it. Then whom are you going to believe, the man who has tried it or -the man who knows nothing about it? - -The Bible was not intended for a science any more than a crowbar is -intended for a toothpick. The Bible was written to tell men that they -might live, and it's true today. - -One man says: "I do not believe in the Bible because of its -inconsistencies." I say the greatest inconsistency is in your life--not -in the Bible! I bring up before you the memory of some evil deed, and -you immediately begin to find fault with the Bible! Go to a man and -talk business or politics and he talks sense. Go to a woman and talk -society, clubs or dress, and she talks sense. Talk religion to them, -and they will talk nonsense! - -I want to say that I believe that the Bible is the Word of God from -cover to cover. Not because I understand its philosophy, speculation, -or theory. I cannot; wouldn't attempt it; and I would be a fool if I -tried. I believe it because it is from the mouth of God; the mouth of -God has spoken it. - -There is only one way to have the doubts destroyed. Read the Bible -and obey it. You say you can't understand it. There's an A, B, C in -religion, just as in everything else. When you go to school you learn -the A, B, C's and pretty soon can understand something you thought you -never could when you started out. So in religion. Begin with the simple -things and go on and you'll understand. That's what it was written for, -that you might read and believe and be saved. I'm willing to stand here -and take the hand of any man or woman if you are willing to come and -begin with the knowledge you have. - -In South Africa there are diamond mines and the fact has been heralded -to every corner of the world. But only those that dig for them get -the diamonds. So it is with the Bible. Dig and you'll find gold and -salvation. You have to dig out the truths. - -Years ago in Sing Sing prison there was a convict by the name of Jerry -McCauley and one day an old pal of his came back to the prison and told -him how he had been saved, and quoted a verse of Scripture. McCauley -didn't know where to find the verse in the Bible, so he started in at -the first and read through until he came to it. It was away over in -the ninth chapter of Hebrews. But he found Jesus Christ while he was -reading it. He lived a godly life until the day he died. - -Supposing a man should come to you and say, "The title to your property -is no good and if some one contests it you will lose?" Would you laugh -and go on about your business? No, sir! You would go to the court -house and if you could find it in only one book there, the book in the -recorder's office, you'd search and find it, and if the recorder said -the deed was all right you could laugh at whatever any one else said. - -There is only one book in the world that tells me about my soul. It -says if you believe you're saved, if you don't you are damned. God said -it and it's all true. Every man who believes in the Bible shall live -forever. The Bible says heaven or hell, so why do you resist? - -No words are put in the Bible for effect. The Bible talks to us so we -can understand. God could use language that no one could understand. -But we can not understand all by simply hearing and reading. When we -see we will know. - - "I stood one day beside a blacksmith's door, - And heard the anvil beat and the bellows chime; - Looking in, I saw upon the floor - Old hammers worn out with beating years and years of time. - - "'How many anvils have you had?' said I, - 'To wear and batter all these hammers so?' - 'Just one,' said he, then said with twinkling eye, - 'The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.' - - "So methought, the anvils of God's word-- - Of Jesus' sacrifice--have been beat upon-- - The noise of falling blows was heard-- - The anvil is unharmed--the hammers are all gone." - -Julian the apostate was a hammer. Gone! Voltaire, Renan, hammers. Gone! -In Germany, Goethe, Strauss, Schleiermacher--gone. In England, Mill, -Hume, Hobbes, Darwin, Huxley and Spencer--the anvil remains; the hammer -is gone. In America, Thomas Paine, Parker, Ingersoll, gone. The anvil -remains. - -Listen. In France a hundred years ago or more they were printing -and circulating infidel literature at the expense of $4,500,000 a -year. What was the result? God was denied, the Bible sneered at and -ridiculed, and between 1792 and 1795 one million twenty thousand and -fifty-one hundred people were brought to death. The Word of God stood -unshaken amidst it all. Josh Billings said: "I would rather be an -idiot than an infidel; because if I am an infidel I made myself so, but -if I am an idiot somebody else did it." Oh, the wreckers' lights on the -dangerous coasts that try to allure and drag us away from God have all -gone out, but God's words shine on. - -The vital truths of the Bible are more believed in the world today -than at any other time. When a man becomes so intelligent that he can -not accept the Bible, too progressive to be a Christian, that man's -influence for good, in society, in business or as a companion, is at -an end. Some think that being a doubter is an evidence of superior -intellect. No! - -I've never found a dozen men in my life who disbelieved in the Bible -but what they were hugging some secret sin. When you are willing to -give up that pet sin you will find it easy to believe in the Bible. - -It explains to me why Saul of Tarsus, the murderer, was changed to -Paul, the apostle. It explains to me why David Livingstone left his -Highland home to go to darkest Africa. It explains to me why the Earl -of Shaftesbury was made from a drunkard into a power for God in London -for sixty-five years. It explains why missionaries leave home and -friends to go into unknown lands and preach Jesus Christ, and perhaps -to die at the hands of the natives. - -I can see in this book God revealed to man and when I do and accept, I -am satisfied. It is just what you need to be satisfied. God knows your -every need. - -This explains to me why Jesus Christ has such influence on men and -women in the world today. No man ever had such influence to teach men -and women virtue and goodness as Christ. This influence has been in the -world from 2,000 years ago to the present time. The human heart is to -Jesus like a great piano. First he plays the sad melodies of repentance -and then the joyful hallelujahs. - -The Bible has promises running all through it and God wants you to -appropriate them for your use. They are like a bank note. They are of -no value unless used. You might starve to death if you have money in -your pockets, but won't use it. So the promises may not do you any -good because you will not use them. The Bible is a galaxy of promises -like the Milky Way in the heavens. - -When you are in trouble, instead of going to your Bible, you let them -grow, and they grow faster than Jonah's gourd vine. You're afraid to -step out on the promises. - -There are many exceedingly great and precious promises in the Bible. -Here is one: - -"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father -may be glorified in the Son." - -If some of you would receive such a promise from John D. Rockefeller or -Andrew Carnegie, you'd sit up all night writing out checks to be cashed -in the morning. And yet you let the Bible lie on the table. - -But the infidel says: "Mr. Sunday, why are there so many intelligent -people in the world that don't believe the Bible?" - -Do you wonder that it was an infidel who started the question: "Is life -worth living?" Do you wonder that it was some fool woman, an infidel -woman, that first started the question: "Is marriage a failure?" A -fool, infidel woman. Christians do not ask such fool questions. Would -you be surprised to be reminded that infidel writers and speakers have -always and do always advocate and condone and excuse suicide? Do you -know that in infidelity the gospel is suicide? That is their theory and -I don't blame them, and the sooner they leave the world the better the -world will be. - -The great men of the ages are on the side of the Bible. A good many -infidels talk as though the great minds of the world were arrayed -against Christianity and the Bible. Great statesmen, inventors, -painters, poets, artists, musicians, have lifted up their hearts in -prayer. Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was a Christian; -Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, was a Christian; Cyrus -McCormick, who first invented the self-binder, was a Christian; Morse, -who invented the telegraph, and the first message that ever flashed -over the wire was from Deuteronomy--'What hath God wrought'. Edison, -although a doubter in some things, said that there was evidence enough -in chemistry to prove the existence of a God, if there was no evidence -besides that. George Washington was a Christian. Abraham Lincoln was -a Christian, and with Bishop Simpson knelt on his knees in the White -House, praying God to give victory to the Army of the Blue. John Hay, -the brightest Secretary of State that ever managed the affairs of -state, in my judgment, was a Christian. William Jennings Bryan, a man -as clean as a hound's tooth; Garfield, McKinley, Grover Cleveland, -Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson--all Christians. - -The poets drew their inspiration from the Bible. Dante's "Inferno," -Milton's "Paradise Lost," two of the greatest works ever written, -were inspired by the Word of God. Lord Byron, although a profligate, -drew his inspiration from the Word of God. Shakespeare's works abound -with quotations from the Bible. John G. Whittier, Longfellow, Michael -Angelo, who painted "The Last Judgment," Raphael, who painted the -"Madonna of the Chair," Da Vinci, who painted "The Last Supper," -all dipped their brushes in the light of heaven and painted for -eternity. The great men of the world of all ages, of science, art, or -statesmanship, have all believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. - -Twenty-seven years ago, with the Holy Spirit for my guide, I entered -this wonderful temple that we call Christianity. I entered through the -portico of Genesis and walked down through the Old Testament's art -gallery, where I saw the portraits of Joseph, Jacob, Daniel, Moses, -Isaiah, Solomon and David hanging on the wall; I entered the music room -of the Psalms and the Spirit of God struck the keyboard of my nature -until it seemed to me that every reed and pipe in God's great organ of -nature responded to the harp of David, and the charm of King Solomon in -his moods. - -I walked into the business house of Proverbs. - -I walked into the observatory of the prophets and there saw -photographs of various sizes, some pointing to far-off stars or -events--all concentrated upon one great Star which was to rise as an -atonement for sin. - -Then I went into the audience room of the King of Kings, and got a -vision from four different points--from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. -I went into the correspondence room, and saw Peter, James, Paul and -Jude, penning their epistles to the world. I went into the Acts of the -Apostles and saw the Holy Spirit forming the Holy Church, and then I -walked into the throne room and saw a door at the foot of a tower and, -going up, I saw One standing there, fair as the morning, Jesus Christ, -the Son of God, and I found this truest friend that man ever knew; when -all were false I found him true. - -In teaching me the way of life, the Bible has taught me the way to -live, it taught me how to die. - -So that is why I am here, sober and a Christian, instead of a -booze-hoisting infidel. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -Making a Joyful Noise - - Don't look as if your religion hurt you.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -"He hath put a new song in my mouth." That is real religion which sets -the saints to singing. Gloomy Christians are a poor advertisement of -the Gospel. There is nothing of gloom about a Billy Sunday revival. - -Shrewd students of the campaigns have often remarked that there are -so few tears and so much laughter at the evangelist's services. There -is scarcely one of Sunday's sermons in which he does not make the -congregation laugh. All of his work is attuned to the note of vitality, -robustness and happiness. Concerning the long-faced Christian Sunday -says: - -"Some people couldn't have faces any longer if they thought God was -dead. They ought to pray to stop looking so sour. If they smile it -looks like it hurts them, and you're always glad when they stop -smiling. If Paul and Silas had had such long faces as some church -members have on them when they went into the Philippian jail, the -jailer would never have been saved. There never was a greater mistake -than to suppose that God wants you to be long-faced when you put on -your good clothes. You'd better not fast at all if you give the devil -all the benefit. God wants people to be happy. - -"The matter with a lot of you people is that your religion is not -complete. You have not yielded yourself to God and gone out for God -and God's truth. Why, I am almost afraid to make some folks laugh for -fear that I will be arrested for breaking a costly piece of antique -bric-à-brac. You would think that if some people laughed it would break -their faces. I want to tell you that the happy, smiling, sunny-faced -religion will win more people to Jesus Christ than the miserable old -grim-faced kind will in ten years. I pity any one who can't laugh. -There must be something wrong with their religion or their liver. The -devil can't laugh. - - "'Oh, laugh and the world laughs with you, - Weep and you weep alone; - 'Tis easy enough to be pleasant - When life moves along like a song; - But the man worth while is the man who can smile - When everything goes dead wrong.' - -"Don't look as if religion hurt you. Don't look as if you had on a -number two shoe when you ought to be wearing a number five. I see some -women who look as if they had the toothache. That won't win anyone for -Christ. Look pleasant. Look as if religion made you happy, when you had -it. - -"Then there is music. When you get to heaven you'll find that not all -have been preached there. They have been sung there. God pity us when -music is not for the glory of God. Some of you will sing for money and -for honor, but you won't sing in the church. Much of the church music -today is all poppycock and nonsense. Some of these high-priced sopranos -get up in church and do a little diaphragm wiggle and make a noise like -a horse neighing. I don't wonder the people in the congregation have a -hard time of it." - -So Sunday sets the city to singing. His sermons are framed in -music--and not music that is a performance by some soloist, but music -that ministers to his message. His gospel is sung as well as preached. -The singing is as essential a part of the service as the sermon. -Everybody likes good music, especially of a popular sort. Sunday sees -that this taste is gratified. - -The Tabernacle music in itself is enough to draw the great throngs -which nightly crowd the building. The choir furnishes not only the -melodies but also a rare spectacle. This splendid regiment of helpers -seated back of the speaker affects both the eyes and the ears of the -audiences. Without his choirs Sunday could scarcely conduct his great -campaigns. These helpers are all volunteers, and their steadfast -loyalty throughout weeks of strenuous meetings in all kinds of weather -is a Christian service of the first order. - -[Illustration: "SOME OF THESE HIGH-PRICED SOPRANOS GET UP IN CHURCH AND -MAKE A NOISE LIKE A HORSE NEIGHING."] - -True, membership in a Sunday choir is in itself an avocation, a social -and religious interest that enriches the lives of the choir members. -They "belong" to something big and popular. They have new themes for -conversation. New acquaintances are made. The associations first formed -in the Sunday choir have in many cases continued as the most sacred -relations of life. The brightest spot in the monotony of many a young -person's life has been his or her membership in the Billy Sunday choir. - -The choir also has the advantage of a musical drill and experience -which could be secured in no other fashion. All the advantages of -trained leadership are given in return for the volunteer service. -Incidentally, the choir members know that they are serving their -churches and their communities in a deep and far-reaching fashion. - -Many visitors to the Sunday Tabernacle are surprised to find that the -music is of such fine quality. There is less "religious rag-time" than -is commonly associated with the idea of revival meetings. More than a -fair half of the music sung is that which holds an established place in -the hymnody of all churches. - -There is more to the music of a campaign than the volume of singing -by the choir, with an occasional solo by the chorister or some chosen -person. A variety of ingenious devices are employed to heighten the -impression of the music. Thus a common antiphonal effect is obtained -by having the choir sing one line of a hymn and the last ten rows of -persons in the rear of the Tabernacle sing the answering line. The old -hymn "For You I am Praying" is used with electrical effect in this -fashion. Part singing is employed in ways that are possible only to -such a large chorus as the musical director of the Sunday campaigns has -at his command. - -A genius for mutuality characterizes the Sunday song services. The -audiences are given a share in the music. Not only are they requested -to join in the singing, but they are permitted to choose their favorite -hymns, and frequently the choir is called upon to listen while the -audience sings. - -Various delegations are permitted to sing hymns of their own choice. -Diversity, and variety and vim seem to be the objective of the musical -part of the program. From half an hour to an hour of this varied music -introduces each service. When the evangelist himself is ready to -preach, the crowd has been worked up into a glow and fervor that make -it receptive to his message. - -If some stickler for ritual and stateliness objects that these services -are entirely too informal, and too much like a political campaign, the -partisan of Mr. Sunday will heartily assent. These are great American -crowds in their every-day humor. These evangelistic meetings are not -regular church services. It has already been made plain that there is -no "dim religious light" about the Sunday Tabernacle meetings. - -It is a tribute to the comprehensiveness of the Sunday method that they -bring together the most representative gatherings imaginable every -day under the unadorned rafters of the big wooden shell called the -Tabernacle. Shrewdly, the evangelist has made sure of the democratic -quality of his congregation. He has succeeded in having the gospel sing -its way into the affection and interest of every-day folk. - -It is no valid objection to the Sunday music that it is so thoroughly -entertaining. The Tabernacle crowds sing, not as a religious duty, -but for the sheer joy of singing. One of the commonest remarks heard -amid the crowd is "I never expect to hear such singing again till I -get to Heaven." It is real Christian ministry to put the melodies of -the Gospel into the memories of the multitudes, and to brighten with -the songs of salvation the gray days of the burden-bearers of the -world. Boys and men on the street whistle Gospel songs. The echoes -of Tabernacle music may be heard long after Mr. Sunday has gone from -a community in ten thousand kitchens and in the shops and factories -and stores of the community. This is the strategy of "the expulsive -power of a new affection." These meetings give to Christians a new and -jubilant affirmation, instead of a mere defense for their faith. The -campaign music carries the campaign message farther than the voice of -any man could ever penetrate. - -Upon the place of music in the Christian life Sunday says: "For sixteen -years there had been no songs in Jerusalem. It must have been a great -loss to the Jews, for everywhere we read we find them singing. They -sang all the way to the Red Sea, they sang when Jesus was born, they -sang at the Last Supper and when Jesus was arisen. - -"Song has always been inseparably associated with the advancement of -God's word. You'll find when religion is at low ebb the song will -cease. Many of the great revivals have been almost entirely song. -The great Welsh revival was mostly song. In the movements of Martin -Luther, Wesley, Moody and Torrey you will find abundance of song. When -a church congregation gets at such low ebb that they can't sing and -have to hire a professional choir to sing for them, they haven't got -much religion. And some of those choir members are so stuck up they -won't sing in a chorus. If I had a bunch like that they'd quit or I -would. - -"Take the twenty-fourth Psalm, 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates,' and -the thirty-third Psalm. They were written by David to be sung in the -temple. - -"I can imagine his singing them now. They were David's own experiences. -Look at them. Now you hear an old lobster get up to give an experience, -'Forty years ago I started forth--.' The same old stereotyped form. - -"There's many a life today which has no song. The most popular song for -most of you would be, - - "'Where is that joy which once I knew, - When first I loved the Lord?'" - -Right behind you where you left it when you went to that card party; -right where you left it when you began to go to the theater; right -where you left it when you side-stepped and backslid; right where you -left it when you began paying one hundred dollars for a dress and gave -twenty-five cents to the Lord; right where you left it when you began -to gossip." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -The Prophet and His Own Time - - There wouldn't be so many non-church goers if there were not so many - non-going churches.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -A prophet to his own generation is Billy Sunday. In the speech of -today he arraigns the sins of today and seeks to satisfy the needs of -today. A man singularly free and fearless, he applies the Gospel to -the conditions of the present moment. Knowing life on various levels, -he preaches with a definiteness and an appropriateness that echo the -prophet Nathan's "Thou art the man." By the very structure of Billy -Sunday's mentality it is made difficult for him to be abstract. He has -to deal definitely with concrete sins. - -Now a pastor would find it difficult to approach, in the ruthless and -reckless fashion of Billy Sunday, the shortcomings of his members and -neighbors. He has to live with his congregation, year in and year out; -but the evangelist is as irresponsible as John the Baptist on the banks -of the Jordan. He has no affiliations to consider and no consequences -to fear, except the Kingdom's welfare. His only concern is for the -truth and applicability of his message. He is perfectly heedless about -offending hearers. Those well-meaning persons who would compare Billy -Sunday with the average pastor should bear this in mind. - -A rare gift of satire and scorn and invective and ridicule has been -given to Sunday. He has been equipped with powerful weapons which are -too often missing from the armory of the average Gospel soldier. His -aptitude for puncturing sham is almost without a peer in contemporary -life. Few orators in any field have his art of heaping up adjectives to -a towering height that overwhelms their objective. - -Nor does the Church escape Sunday's plain dealing. He treats vigorously -her shortcomings and her imperfections. Usually, the persons who hear -the first half dozen or dozen sermons in one of his campaigns are -shocked by the reckless way in which the evangelist handles the Church -and church members. - -Others, forewarned, perceive the psychology of it. It is clear that -in Sunday's thinking the purity of the Church is all-important. -Complacency with any degree of corruption or inefficiency on her part -he would regard as sin. So he unsparingly belabors the Church and her -ministry for all the good that they have left undone and all amiss that -they have done. - -The net result of this is that the evangelist leaves on the minds of -the multitudes, to whom the Church has been a negligible quantity, a -tremendous impression of her pre-eminent importance. It is true that -sometimes, after a Sunday campaign, a few ministers have to leave their -churches, because of the new spirit of efficiency and spirituality -which he has imparted. They have simply been unable to measure up to -the new opportunity. On the whole, however, it is clear that he imparts -a new sense of dignity and a new field of leadership to the ministers -of the Gospel in the communities he has served. Testimony on this point -seems to be conclusive. - -Given prophets of today, with the conviction that both Church and -social life should square with the teaching of Jesus Christ, and you -have revolutionary possibilities for any community. Fair samples of -Sunday's treatment of the Church and of society are these: - -"There is but one voice from the faithful preacher about the -Church--that is she is sick. But we say it in such painless, delicate -terms; we work with such tender massage, that she seems to enjoy her -invalidism. I'm coming with my scalpel to cut into the old sores -and ulcers and drive them out. I feel the pulse and say it's pus -temperature. The temperature's high. I'm trying to remove from the -Church the putrefying abscess which is boring into its vitals. About -four out of every five who have their names on our church records are -doing absolutely nothing to bring anybody to Christ and the Church is -not a whit better for their having lived in it. Christians are making a -great deal of Lent. I believe in Lent. I'll tell you what kind, though. -I believe in a Lent that is kept 365 days in the year for Jesus Christ. -That is the kind I like to see. Some people will go to hell sure if -they die out of the Lenten season. I hate to see a man get enough -religion in forty days to last him and then live like the devil the -rest of the year. If you can reform for forty days you can reform for -the year. - -"The Jewish Church ran up against this snag and was wrecked. The Roman -Catholic Church ran up against it and split. All of the churches today -are fast approaching the same doom. - -"The dangers to the Church, as I see them, are assimilation with the -world, the neglect of the poor, substitution of forms for godliness; -and all summed up mean a fashionable church with religion left out. -Formerly Methodists used to attend class meetings. Now these are -abandoned in many churches. Formerly shouts of praise were heard. Now -such holy demonstration is considered undignified. Once in a while -some good, godly sister forgets herself and pipes out in a falsetto, -apologetic sort of a key: 'Amen, Brother Sunday.' I don't expect any -of those ossified, petrified, dyed-in-the-wool, stamped-on-the-cork -Presbyterians or Episcopalians to shout, 'Amen,' but it would do you -good and loosen you up. It won't hurt you a bit. You are hidebound. -I think about half the professing Christians amount to nothing as a -spiritual force. They have a kind regard for religion, but as for -evangelical service, as for a cheerful spirit of self-denial, as for -prevailing prayer, willingness to strike hard blows against the devil, -they are almost a failure. I read the other day of a shell which had -been invented which is hurled on a ship and when it explodes it puts -all on board asleep. I sometimes think one of these shells has hit the -Church. - -"What are some people going to do about the Judgment? Some are just -in life for the money they get out of it. They will tell you north -is south if they think they can get a dollar by it. They float -get-rich-quick schemes and anything for money. I haven't a word to say -about a man who has earned his money honestly, uses it to provide for -his family and spends the surplus for good. You know there is a bunch -of mutts that sit around on stools and whittle and spit and cuss and -damn and say that every man who has an honest dollar ought to divide -it with them, while others get out and get busy and work and sweat and -toil and prepare to leave something for their wives and families when -they die, and spend the rest for good. - -"Old Commodore Vanderbilt had a fortune of over $200,000,000, and one -day when he was ill he sent for Dr. Deems. He asked him to sing for him -that old song: - - 'Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, - Come, ye wounded, sick and sore.' - -The old commodore tossed from side to side, looked around at the -evidence of his wealth, and he said: 'That's what I am, poor and -needy.' Who? Commodore Vanderbilt poor and needy with his $200,000,000? -The foundation of that fabulous fortune was laid by him when he poled -a yawl from New York to Staten Island and picked up pennies for doing -it. The foundation of the immense Astor fortune was laid by John Jacob -Astor when he went out and bought fur and hides from trappers and put -the money in New York real estate. The next day in the street one man -said to another: 'Have you heard the news? Commodore Vanderbilt is -dead.' 'How much did he leave?' 'He left it all.' - -"Naked you came into this world, and naked you will crawl out of it. -You brought nothing into the world and you will take nothing out, and -if you have put the pack screws on the poor and piled up a pile of gold -as big as a house you can't take it with you. It wouldn't do you any -good if you could, because it would melt." - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -Those Billy Sunday Prayers - - I never preach a sermon until I have soaked it in prayer.--BILLY - SUNDAY. - - -Concerning the prayers of Sunday there is little to be said except to -quote samples of them and let the reader judge for himself. - -That they are unconventional no one will deny; many have gone farther -and have said that they are almost sacrilegious. The charge has often -been made that the evangelist addresses his prayers to the crowd -instead of to God. No one criticism has oftener been made of Mr. Sunday -by sensitive and thoughtful ministers of the Gospel, than that his -public prayers seem to be lacking in fundamental reverence. - -The defender of Sunday rejoins, "He talks to Jesus as familiarly as -he talks to one of his associates." Really, though, there is deep -difference. His fellow-workers are only fellow-workers, but of the -Lord, "Holy and reverend is his name." Many of the warmest admirers of -the evangelist do not attempt to defend all of his prayers. - -Probably Sunday does not know that in all the Oriental, and some -European, languages there is a special form of speech reserved for -royalty; and that it would be an affront to address a king by the same -term as the commoner. The outward signs of this mental attitude of -reverence in prayer are unquestionably lacking in Sunday. - -His usual procedure is to begin to pray at the end of a sermon, without -any interval or any prefatory remarks, such as "Let us pray." For an -instant, the crowd does not realize that he is praying. He closes his -eyes and says, "Now Jesus, you know," and so forth, just as he would -say to the chorister, "Rody, what is the name of that delegation?" -Indeed, I have heard him interject just this inquiry into a prayer. Or -he will mention "that Bible class over to my right, near the platform." -He will use the same colloquial figures of speech in a prayer--baseball -phrases, for instance--that he does in his sermons. Sometimes it is -really difficult to tell whether he is addressing the Lord or the -audience. - -More direct familiar, childish petitions were never addressed to the -Deity than are heard at the Sunday meetings. They run so counter to -all religious conceptions of a reverential approach to the throne of -grace that one marvels at the charity of the ministers in letting him -go unrebuked. But they say "It's Billy," and so it is. That is the -way the man prays in private, for I have heard him in his own room, -before starting out to preach; and in entirely the same intimate, -unconventional fashion he asks the help of Jesus in his preaching and -in the meetings. But to the prayers themselves: - - "O God, help this old world. May the men who have been drunkards be - made better; may the men who beat their wives and curse their children - come to Jesus; may the children who have feared to hear the footsteps - of their father, rejoice again when they see the parent coming up - the steps of the home. Bring the Church up to help the work. Bless - them, Lord. Bless the preachers: bless the officials of the Church - and bless everyone in them. Save the men in the mines. Save the poor - breaker boys as they toil day by day in dangers; save them for their - mothers and fathers and bring them to Jesus. Bless the policemen, the - newspapermen and the men, women and children; the men and girls from - the plants, factories, stores and streets. Go into the stores every - morning and have prayer meetings so that the clerks may hear the Word - of God before they get behind the counters and sell goods to the trade. - - "Visit this city, O Lord, its schools and scholars, and bless the - school board. Bless the city officials. Go down into the city hall - and bless the mayor, directors and all the rest. We thank thee that - the storm has passed. We believe that we will learn a lesson of how - helpless we are before thee. How chesty we are when the sun shines and - the day is clear, but, oh! how helpless when the breath of God comes - and the snowflakes start to fall; when the floods come we get on our - knees and wring our hands and ask mercy from thee. Oh, help us, O Lord. - - "When the people get to hell--I hope that nobody will ever go there - and I am trying my best to save them--they will know that they are - there because they lived against God. I am not here to injure them; - I am not here to wreck homes; I am here to tell them of the blessing - you send down when they are with you. We pray for the thousands and - thousands that will be saved." - - "Thank you, Jesus. I came to you twenty-seven years ago for salvation - and I got salvation. Thank the Lord I can look in the face of every - man and woman of God everywhere and say that for all those years I - have lived in salvation. Not that I take any credit to myself for - that; it was nothing inherent in me; it was the power of God that - saved me and kept me. - - "O Lord, sweep over this town and save the business men of this - community, the young men and women. O God, save us all from - the cesspools of hell and corruption. Help me, Lord, as I hurl - consternation into the ranks of that miserable, God-forsaken crew who - are feeding, fattening and gormandizing on the people! Get everybody - interested in honesty and decency and sobriety and make them fight to - the last ditch for God. There are too many cowards, four-flushers in - the Church." - - "O Jesus, we thank God that you came into this old world to save - sinners. Keep us, Lord. Hear us, O God, ere we stumble on in darkness. - Lead the hundreds here to thy throne. Help the professing Christians - who have not done as they should in the past, to come down this - trail and take a more determined stand for thee. Help the official - boards, the trustees of our churches, to show the way to hundreds by - themselves confessing sin. Help them to say, 'O Lord, I haven't been - square with thee. It is possible for me to improve my business and I - can certainly improve my service to thee. I know and I believe in God - and I believe in hell and heaven.' Lead them down the trail, Lord." - - "O Lord, there are a lot of people who step up to the collection plate - at church and fan. And Lord, there are always people sitting in the - grandstand and calling the batter a mutt. He can't hit a thing or he - can't get it over the base, or he's an ice wagon on the bases, they - say. O Lord, give us some coachers out at this Tabernacle so that - people can be brought home to you. Some of them are dying on second - and third base, Lord, and we don't want that. Lord, have the people - play the game of life right up to the limit so that home runs may be - scored. There are some people, Lord, who say, 'Yes, I have heard Billy - at the Tabernacle and oh, it is so disgusting: really it's awful the - way he talks.' Lord, if there weren't some grouches and the like in - the city I'd be lost. We had a grand meeting last night, Lord, when - the crowd come down from Dicksonville (or what was that place, Rody?), - Dickson City, Lord, that's right. It was a great crowd. There's an - undercurrent of religion sweeping through here, Lord, and we are - getting along fine. - - "There are some dandy folks in Scranton, lots of good men and women - that are with us in this campaign, and Lord, we want you to help make - this a wonderful campaign. It has been wonderful so far. Lord, it's - great to see them pouring in here night after night. God, you have the - people of the homes tell their maids to go to the meeting at the Y. W. - C. A. Thursday afternoon, and God, let us have a crowd of the children - here Saturday. Rody is going to talk to them, Lord. He can't preach - and I can't sing, but the children will have a big time with him, - Lord. Lord, I won't try to stop people from roasting and scoring me. I - would not know what to do if I didn't get some cracks from people now - and then." - - "Well, Jesus, I don't know how to talk as I would like to talk. I - am at a loss as to just what to say tonight. Father, if you hadn't - provided salvation, we'd all be pretty badly off. Knowing the kind - of life I live and the kind of lives other people live, I know you - are very patient and kind, but if you can do for men and women what - you did for me, I wish it would happen. I wouldn't dare stand up and - say that I didn't believe in you. I'd be afraid you'd knock me in the - head. I'd be afraid you'd paralyze me or take away my mind. I'm afraid - you'd do that. There are hundreds here tonight who don't know you as - their Saviour. The Bible class believes you are Jesus of Nazareth, - but they don't know you as their personal Saviour. And these other - delegations, Lord, help them all to come down. Well, well, well, it's - wonderful--'I find no fault in Him.' Amen." - - "Oh, devil, why do you hit us when we are down? Old boy, I know that - you have no time for me and I guess you have about learned that I have - no time for you. I will never apologize to you for anything I have - done against you. If I have ever said anything that does not hurt you, - tell me about it and I will take it out of my sermon." - - "We thank thee, Jesus, for that manifestation of thy power in one of - the big factories of the city. Lord, we are told that of eighty men - who used to go to a saloon for their lunch seventy-nine go there no - more. All these men heard the 'booze' sermon. Lord, they are working - on the one man who is standing out and they'll get him, too. The - saloon-keeper is standing with arms akimbo behind the bar, but his old - customers give the place the go-by. Thank you, Jesus." - - "Well, Jesus, I've been back in Capernaum tonight. I've been with - you when you cast the devil out of that man. They all said, 'We know - you're helping us, but you're hurting the hog business.' I've been - with you when you got in the boat. And Jesus arose and said to the - sea: 'Peace, be still.' - - "Ah, look at her. Bless her heart. There comes that poor, crying woman. - - "Say, Jesus, here are men who have been drunkards. They have been in - our prayers. They have been in our sermons. If I could just touch Him. - He's here." - - "Well, thank you, Lord. It's all true. I expect this sermon has - caused many men and women to look into their hearts. Perhaps they are - powerless, helpless for the Church. O God, what it will mean to people - in the cause of Christ all over this city! We appreciate their kind - words, but we wish they would do more. - - "O God, may some deacons, elders, vestrymen, come out for God this - afternoon. May they come down these aisles and publicly acknowledge - themselves for God. Help them, then, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen." - - "Now, Lord, I'm not here to have a good time. I am here to show what - you are doing for these people and to tell them that you are willing - to save them and to bear their burdens if they will give their hearts - to you." - - "Well, Jesus, I'm not up in heaven yet. I don't want to go, not yet. - I know it's an awful pretty place, Lord. I know you'll look after me - when I get there. But, Jesus, I'd like to stay here a long time yet. I - don't want to leave Nell and the children. I like the little bungalow - we have out at the lake. I know you'll have a prettier one up there. - If you'll let me, Jesus, I'd like to stay here, and I'll work harder - for you if I can. I know I'll go there, Jesus, and I know there's lots - of men and women here in this Tabernacle tonight who won't go. - - "Solomon found it was all vanity and vexation of spirit. They're - living that way today, Jesus. I say that to you here tonight, banker; - to you, Commercial Club; to you, men from the stockyards. If you - want to live right, choose Jesus as your Saviour, for man's highest - happiness is his obedience to Jesus Christ. And now, while we're all - still, who'll come down and say 'I'm looking above the world?' Solomon - said it was all vanity. Why certainly, you poor fool. He knew. But I'm - glad you saw the light, Solomon, and spread out your wings." - - "O Lord, bend over the battlements of glory and hear the cry of old - Pittsburgh. O Lord, do you hear us? Lord, save tens of thousands of - souls in this old city. Lord, everybody is helping. Lord, they are - keeping their churches closed so tight that a burglar couldn't get in - with a jimmy. Lord, the angels will shout to glory and the old devil - will say, 'What did they shut up the churches of Pittsburgh for, when - they have so many good preachers, and build a Tabernacle and bring a - man on here to take the people away from me? O Lord, we'll win this - whisky-soaked, vice-ridden old city of Pittsburgh and lay it at your - feet and purify it until it is like paraffine." - -Sunday's sermon on prayer is entitled, - - -"TEACH US TO PRAY" - -We live and develop physically by exercise. We are saved by faith, but -we must work out our salvation by doing the things God wills. The more -we do for God, the more God will do through us. Faith will increase by -experience. - -If you are a stranger to prayer you are a stranger to the greatest -source of power known to human beings. If we cared for our physical -life in the same lackadaisical way that we care for our spiritual, we -would be as weak physically as we are spiritually. You go week in and -week out without prayer. I want to be a giant for God. You don't even -sing; you let the choir do it. You go to prayer-meeting and offer no -testimony. - -You are a stranger to the great privilege that is offered to human -beings. Some of the greatest blessings that people enjoy come from -prayer. In earnest prayer you think as the Lord directs, and lose -yourself in him. - -Some people say: "It's no use to pray. The Lord knows everything, -anyway." That's true. He does. He is not limited, as I am limited. He -knows everything and has known it since before the world was. We don't -know everybody who is going to be converted at this revival, but that -doesn't relieve us of our duty. We don't know, and we must do the work -he has commanded us to do. - -Others say: "But I don't get what I pray for." Well, there's a cause -for everything. Get at the cause and you'll be all right. If you are -sick and send for the doctor, he pays no attention to the disease, -but looks at what produced it. If you have a headache, don't rub your -forehead. In Matthew it is written, "Ask and it shall be given you; -seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." If -your prayers are not answered you are not right with God. If you have -no faith, if your motive is wrong, then your prayers will be in vain. -Many times when people pray they are selfish. They are not gripping -the word. I believe that when many a wife prays for the conversion -of her husband it isn't because she really desires the salvation of -his soul, but because she thinks if he were converted things would be -easier for her personally. Pray for your neighbors as well as your own -family. The pastor of one church does not pray for the congregation of -another denomination. I'm not saying anything against denominations. -I believe in them. I believe they are of God. Denominations represent -different temperaments. A man with warm emotions would not make a good -Episcopalian, but he would make a crackerjack Methodist. Oh, the curse -of selfishness! The Church is dying for religion, for religion pure -and undefiled. Pure religion and undefiled is visiting the widow and -the fatherless and doing the will of God without so much thought of -yourself. I tell you, a lot of people are going to be fooled the Day of -Judgment. - -Isaiah says the hand of God is not shortened and his ear is not deaf. -No, his hand is not shortened so that it cannot save. He has provided -agencies by which we can be saved. If he had made no provision for your -salvation, then the trouble would be with God; but he has, so if you go -to hell the trouble will be with you. - -In Ezekiel we read that men have taken idols into their hearts and put -stumbling-blocks before their faces. God is not going to hear you if -you place clothes, money, pride of relationship before him. You know -there is sin in your life. Many people know there is sin in their -lives, yet ask God to bless them. They ought first to get down on their -knees and pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner." - -Some people are too contemptibly stingy for God to hear them. God won't -hear you if you stop your ears to the cries of the poor. You drag along -here for three weeks and raise a paltry sum that a circus would take -out of town in two hours. When they give things to the poor they rip -off the buttons and the fine braid. Some people pick out old clothes -that the moths have made into sieves and give them to the poor and -think they are charitable. That isn't charity, no sir; it's charity -when you'll give something you'll miss. It's charity when you feel it -to give. - -And when you stand praying, forgive if you have aught against anyone. -It's no use to pray if you have a mean, miserable disposition, if you -are grouchy, if you quarrel in your home or with your neighbors. - -It's no use to pray for a blessing when you have a fuss on with your -neighbors. It doesn't do you any good. You go to a sewing society -meeting to make mosquito netting for the Eskimo and blankets for the -Hottentots, and instead you sit and chew the rag and rip some woman up -the back. The spirit of God flees from strife and discord. - -People say: "She is a good woman, but a worldly Christian." What? -Might as well speak of a heavenly devil. Might as well expect a mummy -to speak and bear children as that kind to move the world Godward. -Prayer draws you nearer to God. - - -Learning of Christ - -"Teach us to pray," implies that I want to be taught. It's a great -privilege to be taught by Jesus. A friend of mine was preaching out -in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and had to go to a hospital in Chicago for an -operation, and I was asked to go and preach in his place. Alexander was -leading the singing, and one night Charles called a little girl out of -the audience to sing. She didn't look over four or five years of age, -though she might have been a little older. I thought, "What's the use? -Her little voice can never be heard over this crowd." But Charlie stood -her up in a chair by the pulpit and she threw back her head and out -rolled some of the sweetest music I have ever heard. It was wonderful. -I sat there and the tears streamed down my cheeks. That little girl was -the daughter of a Northwestern engineer and he took her to Chicago when -her mother was away. Some one took her to Patti. Patti took the little -girl to one of her suite of rooms and told her to stand there and sing. -Then she went to the other end of the suite and sat down on a divan and -listened. The song moved her to tears. She ran and hugged and kissed -the little girl and sat her down on the divan and said to her: "Now you -sit here and I'll go over there and sing." She took up her position -where the child had stood, and she lifted her magnificent voice and -she sang "Home, Sweet Home" and "The Last Rose of Summer"--sang them -for that little girl! And Patti used to get a thousand dollars for a -song, too. She always knew how many songs she was to sing, for she had -a check before she went on the platform. It was a great privilege the -little daughter of that Northwestern engineer had, but it's a greater -privilege to learn from Jesus Christ how to pray. - -A friend of mine told me he went to hear Paganini, and the great -violinist broke one of the strings of his instrument, then another, -then another, until he had only one left, and on that one he played -so wonderfully that his audience burst into terrific applause. It was -a privilege to hear that, but it's a greater privilege to have Jesus -teach you to pray. - -Let us take a few examples from the life of Christ. In Mark we learn -that he rose up early in the morning and went out to a solitary place -and prayed. He began every day with prayer. You never get up without -dressing. You never forget to wash your face and comb your hair. -You always think of breakfast. You feed your physical body. Why do -you starve your spiritual body? If nine-tenths of you were as weak -physically as you are spiritually, you couldn't walk. - -When I was assistant secretary of the Y. M. C. A. at Chicago, John G. -Paton came home from the New Hebrides and was lecturing and collecting -money. He was raising money to buy a sea-going steam yacht, for his -work took him from island to island and he had to use a row-boat, and -sometimes it was dangerous when the weather was bad, so he wanted the -yacht. We had him for a week, and it was my privilege to go to lunch -with him. We would go out to a restaurant at noon and he would talk to -us. Sometimes there would be as many as fifteen or twenty preachers in -the crowd, and now and then some of us were so interested in what he -told us of the work for Jesus in those far-away islands that we forgot -to eat. I remember that he said one day: "All that I am I owe to my -Christian father and mother. My father was one of the most prayerful -men I ever knew. Often in the daytime he would slip into his closet, -and he would drop a handkerchief outside the door, and when we children -saw the white sentinel we knew that father was talking with his God and -would go quietly away. It is largely because of the life and influence -of that same saintly father that I am preaching to the cannibals -in the South Seas." It is an insult to God and a disgrace to allow -children to grow up without throwing Christian influences around them. -Seven-tenths of professing Christians have no family prayers and do not -read the Bible. It is no wonder boys and girls are going to hell. It is -no wonder the damnable ball-rooms are wrecking the virtue of our girls. - -In the fourteenth chapter of Matthew it is told that when Jesus had -sent the multitudes away he went up into the mountain and was there -alone with God. Jesus Christ never forgot to thank God for answering -his prayers. Jesus asked him to help him feed the multitude, and he -didn't neglect to thank him for it. Next time you pray don't ask God -for anything. Just try to think of all the things you have to be -thankful for, and tell him about them. - - -Pride Hinders Prayer - -Pride keeps us from proper prayer. Being chesty and big-headed is -responsible for more failures than anything else in this world. It has -spoiled many a preacher, just as it has spoiled many an employee. Some -fellows get a job and in about two weeks they think they know more -about the business than the boss does. They think he is all wrong. It -never occurs to them that it took some brains and some knowledge to -build that business up and keep it running till they got there. - -Here's two things to guard against. Don't get chesty over success, or -discouraged over a seeming defeat. - -"And when he prayed he said: 'Lazarus, come forth'; and he that was -dead came forth." If we prayed right we would raise men from sin and -bring them forth into the light of righteousness. - -"And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered." Ladies, -do you want to look pretty? If some of you women would spend less on -dope and cold cream and get down on your knees and pray, God would make -you prettier. Why, I can look into your faces and tell what sort of -lives you live. If you are devoting your time and thoughts to society, -your countenances will show it. If you pray, I can see that. - -Every man who has helped to light up the dark places of the world has -been a praying man. I never preach a sermon until I've soaked it in -prayer. Never. Then I never forget to thank God for helping me when I -preach. I don't care whether you read your prayers out of a book or -whether you just say them, so long as you mean them. A man can read -his prayers and go to heaven, or he may just say his prayers and go to -hell. We've got to face conditions. When I read I find that all the -saintly men who have done things from Pentecost until today, have known -how to pray. It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church -to give up prayer. One of the biggest farces today is the average -prayer-meeting. - - -Praying in Secret - -Matthew says, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and -when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret; -and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." - -Two men came to the Temple to pray--the first was the Pharisee. He was -nice and smooth, and his attitude was nice and smooth. He prayed: "God, -I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, -adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I -give tithes of all I possess," and he went out. I can imagine a lot -of people sitting around the church and saying: "That is my idea of -religion; that is it. I am no sensationalist; I don't want anything -vulgar, no slang." Why don't you use a little, bud, so that something -will come your way? And it will come as straight as two and two make -four. - -Services rendered in such opposite directions cannot meet with the same -results. If two men were on the top of a tall building and one should -jump and one come down the fire escape they couldn't expect to meet -with the same degree of safety. The Pharisee said, "Thank God, I am not -as other men are," and the publican said, "God be merciful to me, a -sinner." The first man went to his house the same as when he came out -of it. "God be merciful to me, a sinner." That man was justified. I am -justified in my faith in Jesus Christ. I am no longer a sinner. I am -justified as though I had never sinned by faith in the Son of God. That -man went down to his house justified. - - -Praying in Humility - -How many people pray in a real sense? How many people pray in humility -and truth? Some men pray for humility when it is pride they want. Many -a man gets down on his knees and says: "Our Father, who art in heaven, -hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come--" That is not so; they don't -want God's kingdom to come. It is not so with half the people that -pray. I say to you when you pray in the church pew and say that, it -don't count a snap of my finger if you don't live it. You pray, "Thy -kingdom come," and then you go out and do something to prevent that -kingdom from coming. No man can get down and pray "Thy kingdom come," -and have a beer wagon back up to his door and put beer in the ice box. -No man can get down on his knees and pray "Thy kingdom come," and look -through the bottom of a beer glass. God won't stand for it. If you -wanted God's will done you would do God's will, even if it took every -drop of blood in your body to do it. - -"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When you say this in -your pew on Sunday it means nothing unless you live it on Monday. You -say "Thy kingdom come," and then go out and do the very thing that -will prevent God's kingdom from coming. Your prayers or anything you -do in the church on Sunday mean nothing if you don't do the same thing -in business on Monday. I don't care how loud your wind-jamming in -prayer-meeting may be if you go out and skin somebody in a horse deal -the next day. - -The man who truly prays, "Thy kingdom come," cannot take his heart out -of his prayer when he is out of the church. The man who truly prays -"Thy kingdom come," will not be shrinking his measures at the store; -the load of coal he sends to you won't be half slate. The man who -truly prays "Thy kingdom come" won't cut off his yardstick when he -measures you a piece of calico. It will not take the pure-food law to -keep a man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come" from putting chalk in -the flour, sand in the sugar, brick dust in red pepper, ground peanut -shells in breakfast food. - -The man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come" cannot pass a saloon and -not ask himself the question, "What can I do to get rid of that thing -that is blighting the lives of thousands of young men, that is wrecking -homes, and that is dragging men and women down to hell?" You cannot -pray "Thy kingdom come," and then rush to the polls and vote for the -thing that is preventing that kingdom from coming. You cannot pray "Thy -kingdom come" and then go and do the things that make the devil laugh. -For the man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come" it would be impossible -to have one kind of religion on his knees and another when he is behind -the counter; it would be impossible to have one kind of religion in the -pew and another in politics. When a man truly prays "Thy kingdom come" -he means it in everything or in nothing. - -A lot of church members are praying wrong. You should pray first, "God -be merciful to me a sinner," and then "Thy kingdom come." - -Saying a prayer is one thing: doing God's will is another. Both should -be synonymous. Angels are angels because they do God's will. When they -refuse to do God's will they become devils. - -Many a man prays when he gets in a hole. Many a man prays when he is up -against it. Many a man prays in the time of trouble, but when he can -stick his thumbs in his armholes and take a pair of scissors and cut -his coupons off, then it is "Good-bye, God; I'll see you later." Many -a man will make promises to God in his extremity, but forget them in -his prosperity. Many a man will make promises to God when the hearse is -backed up to the door to carry the baby out, but will soon forget the -promises made in the days of adversity. Many a man will make promises -when lying on his back, thinking he is going to die, and load up just -the same when he is on his feet. - - -Men of Prayer - -Every man and every woman that God has used to halt this sin-cursed -world and set it going Godward has been a Christian of prayer. -Martin Luther arose from his bed and prayed all night, and when the -break of day came he called his wife and said to her, "It has come." -History records that on that very day King Charles granted religious -toleration, a thing for which Luther had prayed. - -John Knox, whom his queen feared more than any other man, was in such -agony of prayer that he ran out into the street and fell on his face -and cried, "O God, give me Scotland or I'll die." And God gave him -Scotland and not only that, he threw England in for good measure. - -When Jonathan Edwards was about to preach his greatest sermon on -"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," he prayed for days; and when he -stood before the congregation and preached it, men caught at the seats -in their terror, and some fell to the floor; and the people cried out -in their fear, "Mr. Edwards, tell us how we can be saved!" - -The critical period of American history was between 1784 and 1789. -There was no common coinage, no common defense. When the colonies sent -men to a constitutional convention, Benjamin Franklin, rising with the -weight of his four score years, asked that the convention open with -prayer, and George Washington there sealed the bargain with God. In -that winter in Valley Forge, Washington led his men in prayer and he -got down on his knees to do it. - -When the battle of Gettysburg was on, Lincoln, old Abe Lincoln, was on -his knees with God; yes, he was on his knees from five o'clock in the -afternoon till four o'clock in the morning, and Bishop Simpson was with -him. - -"And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do, -that the Father may be glorified in the Son." No man can ever be saved -without Jesus Christ. There's no way to God unless you come through -Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ or nothing. - -"Lord, teach us to pray." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -The Revival on Trial - - One spark of fire can do more to prove the power of powder than a - whole library written on the subject.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -What Evangelist Sunday says to his congregations is sometimes less -significant than what he helps his congregation to say to the world. -Let us take a sample meeting in the Pittsburgh campaign, with the -tremendous deliverance which it made upon the subject of revivals and -conversions. - -A "sea of faces" is a petrified phrase, which means nothing to most -readers. Anybody who will stand on the platform behind Billy Sunday at -one of his great tabernacles understands it. More than twenty thousand -faces, all turned expectantly toward one man, confront you. The faces -rather than the hair predominate. There are no hats in sight. - -Like the billows along the shore, which may be observed in detail, -the nearer reaches of this human sea are individualized. What a -Madonna-face yonder girl has! See the muscles of that young man's jaw -working, in the intensity of his interest. The old man who is straining -forward, so as not to miss a word, has put a black and calloused hand -behind his ear. That gray-haired woman with the lorgnette and rolls -of false hair started out with the full consciousness that she was a -"somebody": watch her wilt and become merely a tired, heart-hungry old -woman. And the rows and rows of undistinguished commonplace people, -just like the crowds we meet daily in the street cars. - -Somehow, though, each seems here engaged in an individual transaction. -A revival meeting accents personality. Twenty or thirty rows down the -big congregation begins to blurr in appearance, and individual faces -are merged in the mass. The host, which is but an agglomeration of -individuals, is impressive. The "sea of faces" is more affecting than -old ocean's expanse. - -Where else may one so see "the people"; or fundamental human nature so -expressing itself? One compares these crowds with the lesser throngs -that followed Jesus when he walked the earth, and recalls that "greater -works than these shall they do." There is a sermon in every aspect of -the Billy Sunday meetings. - -Curiously, people will reveal more of themselves, be more candid -concerning their inner experiences, in a crowd than when taken one -by one. Thus this congregation is a rare laboratory. Tonight the -evangelist is going to make an experiment upon revivals and their value. - -It is common to object to revivals and to revivalists. Billy Sunday's -reply to this is simply unanswerable: he appeals to the people -themselves for evidence. By a show of hands--and he conducts this -experiment in practically every community he visits--he gives a -convincing demonstration that it is by special evangelistic efforts -that most Christians have entered the Church of Christ. By the same -method, he shows that youth is the time to make the great decision. - -When this question is put to a test a dramatic moment, the significance -of which the multitude quickly grasps, ensues. On this occasion there -are more than twenty thousand persons within the Tabernacle. First the -evangelist asks the confessed Christians to rise. The great bulk of -the congregation stands on its feet. Then he asks for those who were -converted in special meetings, revivals of some sort or other, to raise -their hands. From three-fourths to four-fifths of the persons standing -lift their hands in token that they were converted during revivals. - -Then--each time elaborating his question so that there may be no -misunderstanding--Sunday asks those who were converted before they were -twenty to indicate it. Here again the majority is so large as to be -simply overwhelming. It almost seems that the whole body of Christians -had become such before they attained their legal majority. - -Of the few hundreds that are left standing, Sunday asks in turn for -those who were converted before they were thirty, those who were -converted before they were forty, before they were fifty, before they -were sixty. When it comes to this point of age the scene is thrilling -in its significance. Usually there are only one or two persons standing -who have entered the Christian life after reaching fifty years of age. - -The conclusion is irresistible. Unless a person accepts Christ in youth -the chances are enormously against his ever accepting Him subsequently. -The demonstration is an impressive vindication of revivals, and of the -importance of an early decision for Christ. - -After such a showing as this, everybody is willing to listen to a -sermon upon revivals and their place in the economy of the Kingdom of -Heaven. - - -"THE NEED OF REVIVALS" - -Somebody asks: "What is a revival?" Revival is a purely philosophical, -common-sense result of the wise use of divinely appointed means, -just the same as water will put out a fire; the same as food will -appease your hunger; just the same as water will slake your thirst; -it is a philosophical common-sense use of divinely appointed means to -accomplish that end. A revival is just as much horse sense as that. - -A revival is not material; it does not depend upon material means. It -is a false idea that there is something peculiar in it, that it cannot -be judged by ordinary rules, causes and effects. That is nonsense. -Above your head there is an electric light; that is effect. What is the -cause? Why, the dynamo. Religion can be judged on the same basis of -cause and effect. If you do a thing, results always come. The results -come to the farmer. He has his crops. That is the result. He has to -plow and plant and take care of his farm before the crops come. - -Religion needs a baptism of horse sense. That is just pure horse sense. -I believe there is no doctrine more dangerous to the Church today -than to convey the impression that a revival is something peculiar in -itself and cannot be judged by the same rules of causes and effect as -other things. If you preach that to the farmers--if you go to a farmer -and say "God is a sovereign," that is true; if you say "God will give -you crops only when it pleases him and it is no use for you to plow -your ground and plant your crops in the spring," that is all wrong, -and if you preach that doctrine and expect the farmers to believe it, -this country will starve to death in two years. The churches have been -preaching some false doctrines and religion has died out. - -[Illustration: "You Sit in Your Pews so Easy that You Become Mildewed"] - -Some people think that religion is a good deal like a storm. They -sit around and fold their arms, and that is what is the matter. You -sit in your pews so easy that you become mildewed. Such results will -be sure to follow if you are persuaded that religion is something -mysterious and has no natural connection between the means and the -end. It has a natural connection of common sense and I believe that -when divinely appointed means are used spiritual blessing will accrue -to the individuals and the community in greater numbers than temporal -blessings. You can have spiritual blessings as regularly as the farmer -can have corn, wheat, oats, or you can have potatoes and onions and -cabbage in your garden. I believe that spiritual results will follow -more surely than temporal blessings. I don't believe all this tommyrot -of false doctrines. You might as well sit around beneath the shade -and fan yourself and say "Ain't it hot?" as to expect God to give you -a crop if you don't plow the ground and plant the seed. Until the -Church resorts to the use of divinely appointed means it won't get the -blessing. - - -What a Revival Does - -What is a revival? Now listen to me. A revival does two things. First, -it returns the Church from her backsliding and second, it causes the -conversion of men and women; and it always includes the conviction of -sin on the part of the Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast -over the Church today! - -I suppose the people here are pretty fair representatives of the -Church of God, and if everybody did what you do there would never be a -revival. Suppose I did no more than you do, then no people would ever -be converted through my efforts; I would fold my arms and rust out. A -revival helps to bring the unsaved to Jesus Christ. - -God Almighty never intended that the devil should triumph over the -Church. He never intended that the saloons should walk rough-shod over -Christianity. And if you think that anybody is going to frighten me, -you don't know me yet. - -When is a revival needed? When the individuals are careless and -unconcerned. If the Church were down on her face in prayer they would -be more concerned with the fellow outside. The Church has degenerated -into a third-rate amusement joint, with religion left out. - -When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern keep the -people asleep. It is as much the duty of the Church to awaken and work -and labor for the men and women of this city as it is the duty of the -fire department to rush out when the call sounds. What would you think -of the fire department if it slept while the town burned? You would -condemn them, and I will condemn you if you sleep and let men and women -go to hell. It is just as much your business to be awake. The Church of -God is asleep today; it is turned into a dormitory, and has taken the -devil's opiates. - -[Illustration: "I NEVER LOOK AT A CHILD OR AN OLDER PERSON WITHOUT -THINKING, 'THERE IS A CASKET OF LOCKED-UP POSSIBILITIES. ONLY THE KEY -OF SALVATION IS NEEDED TO OPEN IT.'"] - -[Illustration: "SAMSON WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT COULD TAKE THE JAWBONE OF -AN ASS AND LAY DEAD A THOUSAND PHILISTINES."] - -When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness of the wicked -grieves and distresses the Christian. Sometimes people don't seem to -mind the sins of other people. Don't seem to mind while boys and girls -walk the streets of their city and know more of evil than gray-haired -men. You are asleep. - -When is a revival needed? When the Christians have lost the spirit of -prayer. - -When is a revival needed? When you feel the want of revival and feel -the need of it. Men have had this feeling, ministers have had it until -they thought they would die unless a revival would come to awaken their -people, their students, their deacons and their Sunday-school workers, -unless they would fall down on their faces and renounce the world and -the works and deceits of the devil. When the Church of God draws its -patrons from the theaters the theaters will close up, or else take the -dirty, rotten plays off the stage. - -When the Church of God stops voting for the saloon, the saloon will go -to hell. When the members stop having cards in their homes, there won't -be so many black-legged gamblers in the world. This is the truth. You -can't sit around and fold your arms and let God run this business; you -have been doing that too long here. When may a revival be expected? -When Christians confess their sins one to another. Sometimes they -confess in a general way, but they have no earnestness; they get up and -do it in eloquent language, but that doesn't do it. It is when they -break down and cry and pour out their hearts to God in grief, when the -flood-gates open, then I want to tell you the devil will have cold -feet. - - -Revival Demands Sacrifice - -When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness of the wicked -grieves and distresses the Church. When you are willing to make a -sacrifice for the revival; when you are willing to sacrifice your -feelings. You say, "Oh, well, Mr. Sunday hurt my feelings." Then don't -spread them all over his tabernacle for men to walk on. I despise -a touchy man or woman. Make a sacrifice of your feelings; make a -sacrifice of your business, of your time, of your money; you are -willing to give to help to advance God's cause, for God's cause has to -have money the same as a railroad or a steamship company. When you give -your influence and stand up and let people know you stand for Jesus -Christ and it has your indorsement and time and money. Somebody has got -to get on the firing line. Somebody had to go on the firing line and -become bullet meat for $13 a month to overcome slavery. Somebody has -to be willing to make a sacrifice. They must be willing to get out and -hustle and do things for God. - -When may a revival be expected? A revival may be expected when -Christian people confess and ask forgiveness for their sins. When -you are willing that God shall promote and use whatever means or -instruments or individuals or methods he is pleased to use to promote -them. Yes. The trouble is he cannot promote a revival if you are -sitting on the judgment of the methods and means that God is employing -to promote a revival. The God Almighty may use any method or means -or individual that he pleases in order to promote a revival. You are -not running it. Let God have his way. You can tell whether you need a -revival. You can tell if you will have one and why you have got one. If -God should ask you sisters and preachers in an audible voice, "Are you -willing that I should promote a revival by using any methods or means -or individual language that I choose to use to promote it?" what would -be your answer? Yes. Then don't growl if I use some things that you -don't like. You have no business to. How can you promote a revival? -Break up your fallow ground, the ground that produces nothing but -weeds, briars, tin cans and brick-bats. Fallow ground is ground that -never had a glow in it. Detroit had a mayor, Pingree, when Detroit had -thousands and thousands of acres of fallow ground. This was taken over -by the municipal government and planted with potatoes with which they -fed the poor of the city. - -There are individuals who have never done anything for Jesus Christ, -and I have no doubt there are preachers as well, who have never done -anything for the God Almighty. There are acres and acres of fallow -ground lying right here that have never been touched. Look over your -past life, look over your present life and future and take up the -individual sins and with pencil and paper write them down. A general -confession will never do. You have committed your sins, one by one, and -you will have to confess them one by one. This thing of saying, "God, I -am a sinner," won't do. - -"God, I am a gossiper in my neighborhood. God, I have been in my -ice-box while I am here listening to Mr. Sunday." Confess your sins. - -How can you promote a revival? You women, if you found that your -husband was giving his love and attention to some other woman and if -you saw that some other woman was encroaching on his mind and heart, -and was usurping your place and was pushing you out of the place, -wouldn't you grieve? Don't you think that God grieves when you push -him out of your life? You don't treat God square. You business men -don't treat God fair. You let a thousand things come in and take the -place that God Almighty had. No wonder you are careless. You blame God -for things you have no right to blame him for. He is not to blame for -anything. You judge God. The spirit loves the Bible; the devil loves -the flesh. - -If you don't do your part, don't blame God. How many times have you -blamed God when you are the liar yourself. You are wont to blame him -for the instances of unbelief that have come into your life. When -should we promote a revival? When there is a neglect of prayer? When -your prayers affect God? You never think of going out on the street -without dressing. You would be pinched before you went a block. You -never think of going without breakfast, do you? I bet there are -multitudes that have come here without reading the Bible or praying for -this meeting. - -You can measure your desire for salvation by means of the amount of -self-denial you are willing to practice for Jesus Christ. You have -sinned before the Church, before the world, before God. - -Don't the Lord have a hard time? Own up, now. - - -Persecution a Godsend - -There are a lot of people in church, doubtless, who have denied -themselves--self-denial for comfort and convenience. There are a lot -of people here who never make any sacrifices for Jesus Christ. They -will not suffer any reproaches for Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I love -to suffer reproaches for Christ." The Bible says, "Woe unto you when -all men shall speak well of you." "Blessed are you when your enemies -persecute you." That is one trouble in the churches of God today. -They are not willing to suffer reproach for God's sake. It would be -a godsend if the Church would suffer persecution today; she hasn't -suffered it for hundreds of years. She is growing rich and lagging -behind. Going back. - -Pride! How many times have you found yourself exercising pride? How -many times have you attempted pride of wealth? Proud because you were -related to some of the old families that settled in the Colonies in -1776. That don't get you anything; not at all. I have got as much -to be proud of as to lineage as anyone; my great-grandfather was in -the Revolutionary War, lost a leg at Brandywine; and my father was a -soldier in the Civil War. - -Envy! Envy of those that have more talent than you. Envious because -someone can own a limousine Packard and you have to ride a Brush -runabout; envious because some women can wear a sealskin coat and you a -nearseal. - -Then there is your grumbling and fault-finding. When speaking of people -behind their backs, telling their faults, whether real or imaginary, -and that is slander. When you sit around and rip people up behind their -backs at your old sewing societies, when you rip and tear and discuss -your neighbors and turn the affair into a sort of a great big gossiping -society, with your fault-finding, grumbling and growling. There is a -big difference between levity and happiness, and pleasure, and all that -sort of thing. - -Make up your mind that God has given himself up for you. I would like -to see something come thundering along that I would have more interest -in than I have in the cause of God Almighty! God has a right to the -first place. God is first, remember that. - -Multitudes of people are willing to do anything that doesn't require -any self-denial on their part. - -I am not a member of any lodge, and never expect to be, but if I were a -member of a lodge and there were a prayer-meeting and a lodge-meeting -coming on Wednesday night, I would be at the prayer-meeting instead of -at the lodge-meeting. I am not against the lodges; they do some good -work in the world, but that doesn't save anyone for God. God is first -and the lodge-meeting is second. God is first and society second. God -is first and business is second. "In the beginning, God!" That is the -way the Bible starts out and it ought to be the way with every living -being. "In the beginning, God." Seek you first God and everything else -shall be added unto you. Christianity is addition; sin is subtraction. -Christianity is peace, joy, salvation, heaven. Sin takes away peace, -happiness, sobriety, and it takes away health. You are robbing God -of the time that you misspend. You are robbing God when you spend -time doing something that don't amount to anything, when you might -do something for Christ. You are robbing God when you go to foolish -amusements, when you sit around reading trashy novels instead of the -Word of God. - -"Oh, Lord, revive thy work!" - -I have only two minutes more and then I am through. Bad temper. Abuse -your wife and abuse your children; abuse your husband; turn your old -gatling-gun tongue loose. A lady came to me and said, "Mr. Sunday, I -know I have a bad temper, but I am over with it in a minute." So is the -shotgun, but it blows everything to pieces. - -And, finally, you abuse the telephone girl because she doesn't connect -you in a minute. Bad temper. I say you abuse your wife, you go cussing -around if supper isn't ready on time; cussing because the coffee isn't -hot; you dig your fork into a hunk of beefsteak and put it on your -plate and then you say: "Where did you get this, in the harness shop? -Take it out and make a hinge for the door." Then you go to your store, -or office, and smile and everybody thinks you are an angel about to -sprout wings and fly to the imperial realm above. Bad temper! You growl -at your children; you snap and snarl around the house until they have -to go to the neighbors to see a smile. They never get a kind word--no -wonder so many of them go to the devil quick. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -An Army with Banners - - The man who is right with God will not be wrong with anything that is - good.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -The oldest problem of the Christian Church, and the latest problem of -democracy, is how to reach the great mass of the people. Frequently the -charge is made that the Church merely skims the surface of society, -and that the great uncaring masses of the people lie untouched beneath -it. Commonly, a revival reaches only a short distance outside the -circumference of church circles. The wonder and greatness of the Billy -Sunday campaigns consist in the fact that they reach to the uttermost -rim of a community, to its greatest height and its lowest depth. There -can be no question that he stirs a city as not even the fiercest -political campaign stirs it. Sunday touches life on all levels, -bringing his message to bear upon the society woman in her parlor and -the humblest day laborer in the trench. - -This does not come to pass by any mere chance. Organized activity -achieves it. The method which produces the greatest results is what is -called the Delegation Idea, whereby detachments of persons from various -trades, callings and organizations and communities attend in a body -upon the services of the Sunday Tabernacle. - -By pre-arrangement, seats are reserved every night for these visiting -delegations. Sometimes there will be as many as a dozen delegations -present in one evening. As the campaign progresses towards its -conclusion real difficulty is experienced in finding open dates for -all the delegations that apply. At the outset, Mr. Sunday's assistants -have to "work up" these delegations. Later, the delegations themselves -besiege the workers. - -In variety the delegations range from a regiment of Boy Scouts to a -post of old soldiers; from the miners of a specified colliery to the -bankers of the city; from the telephone girls to the members of a -woman's club; from an athletic club to a Bible class. - -Not only the community in which the meetings are being held furnish -these delegations, but the surrounding territory is drawn upon. It -is by no means an unknown thing for a single delegation, numbering -a thousand or fifteen hundred men, to come a distance of fifteen or -twenty-five miles to attend a Sunday Tabernacle service. Almost every -evening there are lines of special cars waiting for these deputations -who have come from afar, with their banners and their badges and their -bands, all bent upon hearing and being heard at the Tabernacle. - -The crowd spirit is appealed to by this method. The every-day instinct -of loyalty to one's craft or crowd is aroused. Each delegation -feels its own identity and solidarity, and wants to make as good -a showing as possible. There is considerable wholesome emulation -among the delegations representing the same craft or community. Of -course, the work of making ready the delegation furnishes a topic -for what is literally "shop talk" among working men; and naturally -each group zealously watches the effect of its appearance upon the -great congregation. Delegations get a very good idea of what their -neighbors think of them by the amount of applause with which they are -greeted. Thus when the whole force of a daily newspaper appears in -the Tabernacle its readers cheer vociferously. Every delegation goes -equipped with its own battle cry, and prepared to make as favorable a -showing as possible. - -All this is wholesome for the community life. It fosters loyalty in -the varied groups that go to make up our society. Any shop is the -better for its workers, led by their heads of departments and by their -employers, having gone in a solid phalanx to a Tabernacle meeting. -Every incident of that experience becomes an unfailing source of -conversation for long days and weeks to follow. - -[Illustration: THE TABERNACLE AT SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, TYPICAL OF -THE AUDITORIUMS THAT ARE ERECTED WHEREVER CAMPAIGNS ARE CONDUCTED. -TO DEADEN SOUND THE FLOOR IS COVERED WITH SAWDUST, WHENCE THE NAME -"SAWDUST TRAIL." TO PREVENT THE POSSIBILITY OF A PANIC, NO BOARD IS -FASTENED WITH MORE THAN TWO NAILS, AND THERE IS A DOOR AT THE END OF -EVERY AISLE.] - -Naturally, too, each delegation, delighted with the showing it has -made at the Tabernacle, and with the part it has borne in the meeting, -becomes one more group of partisans for the Billy Sunday campaign. Men -who would not go alone to the Tabernacle, cannot in loyalty well refuse -to stand by their own crowd. So it comes to pass that the delegation -idea penetrates every level and every section of the community. A -shrewder scheme for reaching the last man could scarcely be devised. -Thousands who are impervious to religious appeals quickly respond to -the request that they stand by their shop-mates and associates. - -Participation in the meetings makes the people themselves feel the -importance of their own part. They are not merely a crowd coming to be -talked at; they share in the meetings. The newspapers comment upon them -even as upon the sermon. All are uplifted by the glow of geniality and -camaraderie which pervades the Tabernacle. For the songs and slogans -and banners of the delegations greatly help to swell the interest of -the meetings. - -All this is wholesome, democratic and typically American. This -good-natured crowd does not become unreal or artificial simply because -it is facing the fundamental verities of the human soul. - -Outspokenness in loyalty, a characteristic of Sunday converts, -expresses itself through many channels. Taught by the delegation idea, -as well as by the sermon, the importance of standing up to be counted, -the friends and converts of the evangelist are always ready for the -great parade which usually is held toward the close of the campaign. -The simple basis for this street demonstration is found in the old -Scripture, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." The idea of the Roman -imperial triumph survives in the Billy Sunday parade. It is a testimony -to the multitudes of the loyalty of Christians to the Gospel. - -Beyond all question, a tremendous impression is made upon a city by -the thousands of marching men whom the evangelist first leads and then -reviews. A street parade is a visualization of the forces of the -Church in a community. Many a man of the street, who might be unmoved -by many arguments, however powerful, cannot escape the impression -of the might of the massed multitudes of men who march through the -streets, thousands strong. Some twenty thousand men were in the Sunday -parade at Scranton. Nobody who witnessed them, be he never so heedless -a scoffer, could again speak slightingly of the Church. Religion loses -whatever traits of femininity it may have possessed, before the Sunday -campaign is over. - -Those most practical of men, the politicians, are quick to take -cognizance of this new power that has arisen in the community's life. -They know that every one of these men not only has a vote, but is a -center of influence for the things in which he believes. - -The heartening effect of such a great demonstration as this upon the -obscure, lonely and discouraged saints is beyond calculation. - -The great hosts of the Billy Sunday campaign are returning to first -principles by taking religion out into the highways and making it -talked about, even as the Founder of the Church created a commotion -in the highways of Capernaum and Jerusalem. These marching men are a -sermon one or two miles long. The impression made upon youth is not to -be registered by any means in the possession of men. Every Christian -the world around must be grateful to this evangelist and his associates -for giving the sort of demonstration, which cannot be misunderstood by -the world at large, of the virility and the immensity of the hosts of -heaven on earth. - -Many of the utterances of Billy Sunday are attuned to this note of -valiant witness-bearing for Christ. - - -"SPIRITUAL POWER" - -Samson didn't realize that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from -him; he walked out and shook himself as aforetime; he weighed as much; -he was as strong physically; his mind was as active, but although he -possessed all that, there was one thing that was necessary to make him -as he had been: "He wist not that the Spirit of the Lord had left him." - -A man may have a fine physique; he may have strength; he may have -greatness; he may have a beautiful home; and a church may be -magnificent and faultless in its equipment; the preacher may be able to -reason; the choir may rival the angels in music; but if you have not -the Spirit of the Lord you are, as Paul says, as sounding brass and -tinkling cymbals, and the church is merely four walls with a roof over -it. - -Nothing in the world can be substituted for the Spirit of God; no -wealth, culture nor anything in the world. By power we do not mean -numbers; there never has been a time when there were more members in -the Church than today; yet we haven't kept progress in the number -of members in the Church with the increased number of people in the -nation. Our nation has grown to over 90,000,000 of people, but we are -not correspondingly keeping pace with the number of church members. -God's Church has not increased correspondingly in power as it has in -numbers; while increasing in numbers it has not increased in spiritual -power. I am giving you facts, not fancies. We are not dealing with -theories. I am not saying anything against the Church; you never had a -man come into this community who would fight harder for the Church of -God Almighty than I would. I am talking about her sins and the things -that sap her power--and by power I do not mean numbers. If you had an -army of 100,000 and increased it another 100,000 it ought to be doubled -in power. - - -Derelicts in the Church - -In the Church of God today you know there are a lot of people who are -nothing but derelicts and nothing but driftwood. - -By power I do not mean wealth. We are the richest people on the -earth; nineteen-twentieths of all the wealth or all the money in -the United States today is in the hands of professing Christians, -Catholic and Protestant. That ought to mean that it is in God's hands; -but it doesn't. They are robbing God. I was in a church in Iowa that -had three members who were worth $200,000 each and they paid their -preacher the measly salary of $600 a year, and I will be hornswaggled -if they did not owe him $400 then. If I ever skinned any old fellows -I did those old stingy coots. A man who doesn't pay to the church is -as big a swindler as a man who doesn't pay his grocery bill and he is -dead-beating his way to hell. You let somebody else pay your bills, you -old dead-beat. God hasn't any more use today for a dead-beat in the -church than he has for the man who doesn't pay his grocery bill--not a -bit! - -By power I do not mean culture. There never was a time when the -people of America were better informed than they are today; they have -newspapers, telephones, telegraphs, rural delivery, fast trains. You -can leave home and in five days you are in Europe. If something happens -in China or Japan tonight you can read it before you go to bed. The -islands of the sea are our neighbors. - -A stranger once asked: "What is the most powerful and influential -church in this town?" - -"That big stone Presbyterian church on the hill." - -"How many members has it?" - -"I don't know, my wife is a member." - -"How many Sunday-school members?" - -"I don't know; my children go." - -"How many go to prayer-meetings?" - -"I don't know; I have never been there." - -"How many go to communion?" - -"I don't know, I never go; my wife goes." - -Then the stranger said: "Will you please tell me why you said it was -the most powerful and influential church in the community?" - -"Yes, sir; it is the only church in the town that has three -millionaires in the church." That was why he thought it was a great -church. The Church in America would die of dry rot and sink forty-nine -fathoms in hell if all members were multi-millionaires and college -graduates. That ought not to be a barrier to spiritual power. By power -I do not mean influence. - -I'd hate to have to walk back nineteen hundred years to Pentecost. -There were 120 at Pentecost who saved 3,000 souls. - -Some of the most powerful churches I have ever worked with were not the -churches that had the largest number or the richest members. Out in a -town in Iowa there were three women who used to pray all night every -Thursday night, one of them a colored woman. People used to come under -her windows at night and listen to her pray. She murdered the king's -English five times in every sentence, but oh, she knew God. They had -500 names on their list for prayer and when the meetings closed they -had checked off 397 of them. Every Friday I would be called over the -telephone or receive a letter or meet those women and they would tell -me what assurances God gave them as to who would be saved. I have never -met three women that were stronger in faith than those three. That town -was Fairfield, Iowa, one of the brightest, cleanest, snappiest little -towns I ever went into. - - -The Meaning of Power - -Samson wist not the Spirit of the Lord had departed. So might we have -money, so might we have members, so might we have increase in culture; -but we have not increased in power. I mean spiritual power; power to -bring things to pass by way of reform. What do I mean by power? I have -told you what I did not mean. - -By power I mean when the power of God comes upon you and enables you to -do what you could not do without that power. That comes to you through -confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time when -the Church had more spiritual power than she has today; there never was -a time when she had more members than she has today; there never was -a time when she had more money than she has today; more culture; but -there was a time when she had more spiritual power than today. - -And when she had more spiritual power she was a separate institution. -She was not living for the devil as she is today. And the Church had -not become a clearing house for the forces of evil. We are told that at -Pentecost tongues of fire came upon the expectant worshipers. - -I don't mean this gabby stuff they have got today that they call the -things of the spirit; I don't mean that jabbering and froth and foaming -at the mouth when you can't understand a word they say. Try the Spirit, -whether it be of God, and in all ages when the Church has stood for -something she has had power. - -So few of us dream of the tremendous power at our command. At the -World's Fair at Chicago the door to one of the great buildings was -without doorknob or latch, for these were not needed. There was a great -mat at the entrance, and as you stepped upon it your weight would cause -an electrical connection to be made and the great doors would swing -open. I take this old Book and stand upon it, and all the wonders of -life and eternity are opened to me. The power of the Holy Spirit is at -my command. - - -Church Needs Great Awakening - -Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the -world to Christ. We need a Pentecost today. The Church needs a great -awakening. Now, I'll not stand anyone's saying anything against the -Church as an institution; but I will rebuke its sins and point out its -shortcomings. Nobody who loves the Church can be silent when so much -needs to be said. I love the Church. I want to explode that old adage -that "Love is blind"; I tell you, love has an eagle's eyes. - -Lots of churches are wrong in their financial policy. It is a wrong -that the churches have to resort to tricks that would shame the devil -in order to filch a quarter out of a fellow's pocket to help pay the -preacher's back salary. There is hardly a church in this country that -couldn't have abundant funds if the people would only give of their -means as they are commanded by God. - -Then, too often you put the wrong men in places of authority in -the church. You elect some old fellow who would look better in a -penitentiary suit, just because he had a "drag" somewhere. We must quit -putting such men in church offices. - -When I was a boy I was taught how to put glass knobs on the feet of a -chair and charge the chair with electricity. So long as I didn't touch -anything but the chair I was all right, but if I touched the wall or -something else I got a shock. The power passed through and from me. -As Christians we cannot come into touch with defiling things without -suffering a loss of spiritual power. You can't go to the dance and the -card party and the cheap-skate show without losing power. Yes, you can -do those things and be a church member. But you can be a church member -without being a Christian. There's a difference. - -I read in the Bible that Lot first pitched his tents near Sodom. Next I -read that Lot moved right into Sodom, and lived there for twenty years. -He lost his power there, too. When God warned him to get out of the -city he went and told his sons and daughters, but they wouldn't heed -him. He had lost his power over them. He warned his sons-in-law, but -they wouldn't heed him. He even lost power over his own wife, for he -told her not to look back as they fled, and she rubbered. - -If you have lost spiritual power it is because you have disobeyed some -clear command of God. Maybe you're stingy. God requires tithes. He -commands you to give one tenth of your income to him, and maybe you -don't do it. It may be your temper. It may be that you have neglected -to read the Bible and haven't prayed as you should. - -The Church is a failure because she is compromising with the men -that sit in the seats and own saloons whom she never rebukes; she -is compromising with the men who rent their property for disorderly -houses, and whom she never rebukes. They are living off the products -of shame and if they buy food and clothes for their wives and children -from such money, they, too, are living off this product of shame. We -have lost our power because we have compromised. - -When I played baseball I used to attend every theater in the country. -Since I was converted I have not darkened a theater's door, except to -preach the Gospel. We've lost our power because we've lost our faith. - -Our leading members are leaders in nothing but card parties and -society; they are not leaders in spiritual things. A man comes to me -and says, "Mrs. So-and-So is one of my leading members." - -I ask: "Does she get to prayer-meetings?" - -"No." - -"Does she visit the sick?" - -"No." - -"Does she put her arms around some poor sinner and try to save her for -Christ?" - -"No." - -And I find she is a leader in nothing but society, card parties, dances -and bridge-whist clubs. I don't call that kind a leading woman in the -church; she is the devil's bell-wether. That is true. I tell you people -what I call your leading woman: She is the one who gets down on her -knees and prays; she is the one that can wrap her arms around a sinner -and lead her to Christ; that is a leading church member. You have it -doped out wrong. - -Did Martin Luther trim his sails to the breeze of his day? If he had, -you would never have had a Reformation. I will tell you why we have -lost our power; I have told you what I don't mean by power. - - -Lost Power - -We have lost our power because we have failed to insist on the -separation of the Church from the world. The Church is a separate body -of men and women; we are to be in the world, but not of the world. She -is all right in the world, all wrong when the world is in her, and the -trouble with the Church today is that she has sprung a leak. The flood -tides of the world have been swept in until even her pews are engulfed, -yes, even the choir loft is almost submerged. We have become but a -third-rate amusement bureau. The world has got to see a clean-cut line -of demarkation between the Church and the world. So I believe. - -If there's anything the Church of God needs it's to climb the stairs -and get in an upper room. - -Come out from the things of the world. When you hand out a pickle -and a bunch of celery for the cause of good, then will my Father not -be glorified; nor will he be glorified when you sell oyster soup at -twenty-five cents a dish, when one lone oyster chases around the dish -to find his brother. It doesn't require much power to do that, for two -dollars would hire a girl to dish up ice-cream. That does not get you -spiritual power. - -There is deep heart hungering in the Church today for the old-time -Pentecostal power. - -Now, I do not know that the Spirit will ever come to us as he came -to Pentecost, for you must remember that he came to usher in the new -dispensation, or the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. It is true he was -present in the Old Testament. He was in Abraham and Moses. - -You'll have power when there is nothing questionable in your life. - -You'll have power when you testify in a more positive manner. - -Do as the disciples did, believe and receive the Holy Spirit by -waiting. The Holy Spirit is ours. He is the promise of Jesus from the -Father as a gift to the prayers of the Son. God can no more fill you -with the Spirit if you are not right, willing and waiting to receive -Him, than he can send the sunshine into your house if you have the -blinds and shutters all closed. You can pray till you are black in -the face and bald-headed, but you're wasting your time unless you -agree with God. There can be no wedding unless two parties are agreed. -If the girl says "No," that ends it. Don't think you are walking with -God just because your name is on a church record. Walk in the path of -righteousness even if it leads to a coffin and the graveyard. - -Jesus gave his disciples power to perform miracles. That same power can -be delegated to you and me today. He always spoke of the Holy Spirit in -the future. He was not there. He didn't have to be. They had Jesus, but -the Church needs him today. It needs a baptism of the Holy Ghost. There -are no substitutes. You can organize, prepare, hire the best singers -and preachers in the universe, but you'll get no power. No matter what -Scriptural knowledge he may have, no matter if he prays so that it -reaches the stars, no matter if his sermons sway the congregation with -their word pictures, no matter if the singers warble faultlessly and to -beat the band--the preacher and the singers will produce no more effect -than the beating of a drum or the running of a music box. The preacher -who murders the king's English four times to every sentence and has the -Holy Ghost will get the revival. - -The Church today needs power. It has plenty of wealth, culture and -numbers. There is no substitute for the Holy Spirit and you cannot have -power without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is ours by the promise -of Christ. To receive him we must give up all sin and walk in the path -of righteousness even if it carries us to our graves or across the seas -as a missionary. Give up everything the Lord forbids even if it is as -important to you as your hand or your eye. - -[Illustration: Facsimile of Page One of Circular Handed to Every - Convert. - - Dear Friend: - - You have by this act of coming forward publicly acknowledged your faith - in Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. No one could possibly be more - rejoiced that you have done this, or be more anxious for you to succeed - and get the most joy out of the Christian life, than I. Therefore, I - ask you to read carefully this little tract. Paste it in your Bible and - read it frequently. - - W. Sunday. - - _2 Tim:2:15_ - - - WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN - - "A Christian is any man, woman or child who comes to God as a lost - sinner, accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, - surrenders to Him as their Lord and Master, confesses Him as such - before the world, and strives to please Him in everything day by day." - - Have =you= come to God realizing that you are a lost sinner? Have - =you= accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as =your= personal Saviour; that - is, do =you= believe with all your heart that God laid all =your= - iniquity on Him? (Isa. 53:5-6) and that =He= bore the penalty of - =your= sins (1 Peter 2:24), and that =your= sins are forgiven because - Jesus died in =your= stead? - - Have =you= surrendered to Him as your Lord and Master? That is, are - =you= willing to do His will even when it conflicts with your desire? - - Have =you= confessed to Him as your Saviour and Master before the - world? - - Is it =your= purpose to strive to please Him in everything day by day? - - If you can sincerely answer "YES" to the foregoing questions, then you - may know on the authority of God's Word that =you= are NOW a child of - God (John 1:12), that you have NOW eternal life (John 3:36); that is - to say, if you have done =your= part (i.e., believe that Christ died - in your place, and receive Him as your Saviour and Master) God has - done HIS part and imparted to you His own nature (II Peter 1:4). - - - HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE - - Now that you are a child of God =your= growth depends upon =yourself=. - - It is impossible for you to become a useful Christian unless you - are willing to do the things which are absolutely essential to your - spiritual growth. To this end the following suggestions will be found - to be of vital importance: - - =1. STUDY THE BIBLE=: Set aside at least fifteen minutes a day for - Bible Study. Let God talk to you fifteen minutes a day through His - Word. Talk to God fifteen minutes a day in prayer. Talk for God - fifteen minutes a day. - - "As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may - grow thereby."--1 Peter 2:2. - - The word of God is food for the soul. - - Commit to memory one verse of Scripture each day. - - Join a Bible class. (Psa. 119:11.) - - =2. PRAY MUCH=: Praying is talking to God. Talk to Him about - everything--your perplexities, joys, sorrows, sins, mistakes, friends, - enemies. - - "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication - with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6. - - =3. WIN SOMEONE FOR CHRIST=: For spiritual growth you need not only - food (Bible study) but exercise. Work for Christ. The only work Christ - ever set for Christians is to win others. - - "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." - Mark 16:15. - - "When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him - not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to - save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his - blood will I require at thine hand."--Ezek. 3:18. - - 4. =SHUN EVIL COMPANIONS=: Avoid bad people, bad books, bad thoughts. - Read the First Psalm. - - "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what - fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion - hath light with darkness--what part hath he that believeth with an - infidel--wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith - the Lord."--II Cor. 6:14-17. - - Try to win the wicked for God, but do not choose them for your - companions. - - 5. =JOIN SOME CHURCH=: Be faithful in your attendance at the Sabbath - and mid-week services. - - "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of - some is."--Heb. 10:25. - - Co-operate with your pastor. God has appointed the pastor to be a - shepherd over the church and you should give him due reverence and - seek to assist him in his plans for the welfare of the church. - - 6. =GIVE TO THE SUPPORT OF THE LORD'S WORK=: Give as the Lord hath - prospered you.--I Cor. 16:2. - - "Give not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful - giver."--I Cor. 9:7. - - 7. =DO NOT BECOME DISCOURAGED=: Expect temptations, discouragement and - persecution; the Christian life is warfare. - - "Yea and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer - persecution."--II Tim. 3:12. - - The eternal God is thy refuge. We have the promises that all things, - even strange and hard unaccountable obstacles, work together for our - good. Many of God's brightest saints were once as weak as you are, - passed through dark tunnels and the hottest fire, and yet their lives - were enriched by their experiences, and the world made better because - of their having lived in it. - - Read often the following passages of Scripture: Romans 8:18; James - 1:12; I Corinthians 10:13.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -A Life Enlistment - - When a man, after starting to be a Christian, looks back, it is only a - question of time until he goes back.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Professor William James, the philosopher, contended that there was a -scientific value to the stories of Christian conversions; that these -properly belonged among the data of religion, to be weighed by the -man of science. Harold Begbie's notable book, "Twice-Born Men," was -recognized by Professor James as a contribution to the science of -religion; for it was simply a collection of the stories of men whose -lives had been transformed by the gospel which the Salvation Army -had carried to them. A whole library of such books as "Twice-Born -Men" could be written concerning the converts of Billy Sunday. His -converts not only "right-about-face" but they keep marching in the new -direction. Their enlistment is for life. - -This point is one of the most critical in the whole realm of the -discussion of revivals. Times without number it has been charged that -the converts of evangelists lose their religion as quickly as they got -it. A perfectly fair question to ask concerning these Billy Sunday -campaigns is, "Are they temporary attacks of religious hysteria, mere -effervescent moods of spiritual exaltation, which are dissipated by the -first contact with life's realities?" - -Here is opportunity for the acid test. Billy Sunday has been conducting -revival meetings long enough to enable an investigator to go back over -his trail and trace his results. After years have passed, are there -still evidences of the presence and work of the evangelist? To this -only one answer can be made. The most skeptical and antagonistic person -cannot fail to find hundreds and thousands of Billy Sunday converts in -the churches of the towns where the evangelist has conducted meetings -during the past twenty years. - -Not all of the converts have held fast; we cannot forget that one -of the Twelve was a complete renegade, and that the others were for -a time weak in the faith. Alas, this condition is true of Christian -converts, however made. The terrible record revealed in each year's -church statistics, of members who are missing--entirely lost to the -knowledge of the Church--is enough to restrain every pastor from making -uncharitable remarks upon the recruits won by an evangelist. The fact -to be stressed at this present moment is that Billy Sunday converts are -to be found in all departments of church work, in the ministry itself, -and on the foreign field. - -One reason for the conservation of the results of the Sunday campaigns -is that all the powers of the evangelist and his organization are -exerted to lead those who have confessed Christ in the tabernacles to -become members of the church of their choice, at the earliest possible -date. Sunday says candidly that converts cannot expect to grow in -grace and usefulness outside the organized Church of Christ. Thus -it comes about that before a Sunday campaign closes, and for months -afterwards, the church papers report wholesale accessions to the local -congregations of all denominations. Three thousand new church members -were added in a single Sunday in the city of Scranton. - -What these campaigns mean in the way of rehabilitating individual -churches is illustrated by what a Scranton pastor said to me toward -the close of the Sunday campaign: "You know my church burned down a -short time ago. We have been planning to rebuild. Now, however, we -shall have to rebuild to twice the size of our old church, and we have -enough new members already to make sure that our financial problem will -be a simple one." In other words, the coming of the evangelist had -turned into a triumph and a new starting point for this congregation -what might have otherwise been a time of discouragement and temporary -defeat. - -For a moment the reader should take the viewpoint of the pastors who -have been struggling along faithfully, year after year, at best getting -but a few score of new members each year. Then Billy Sunday appears. -The entire atmosphere and outlook of the church is transformed within -a few days. Optimism reigns. Lax church members become Christian -workers, and enthusiasm for the kingdom pervades the entire membership. -The churches of the community find themselves bound together in a new -solidarity of fellowship and service. - -Then, to crown all, into the church membership come literally -hundreds of men and women, mostly young, and all burning with the -convert's ardent zeal to do service for the Master. Can anybody but -a pastor conceive the thrill that must have come to the minister of -a Wilkes-Barre church which added one thousand new members to its -existing roll, as a result of the Billy Sunday campaign in that city? - -Six months after the Sunday meetings in Scranton I visited Carbondale, -a small town sixteen miles distant from Scranton, and talked with -two of the resident pastors. There are four Protestant churches in -Carbondale, which have already received a thousand new members within -five months. All these converts are either the direct result of -Billy Sunday's preaching, or else the converts of converts. Out of a -Protestant population of nine thousand persons, the Carbondale churches -have received one-ninth into their membership within six months. These -bare figures do not express the greater total of Christian service and -enthusiasm which permeates the community as an abiding legacy of the -Billy Sunday campaign. These converts consider that they have been -saved to serve. - -Asked to fix a period after which he would expect a reaction from the -Sunday meetings, a critic would probably say about one year. On this -point we learn that when the evangelist visited the city of Scranton, -which is within an hour's ride of Wilkes-Barre, he found that the -influence of the meetings which he had held a year previously in -Wilkes-Barre were perhaps the most potent single factor in preparing -the people of Scranton for his coming. Night after night Wilkes-Barre -sent delegations of scores and hundreds over to the Scranton -Tabernacle. Investigators from afar who came to look into the Scranton -meetings were advised to go to the neighboring city to ascertain what -were the effects of the campaign after a year. The result was always -convincing. - -When the evangelist was in Pittsburgh, McKeesport, where he had been -six years before, sent many delegations to hear him and on one occasion -fifteen hundred persons made the journey from McKeesport to Pittsburgh -to testify to the lasting benefits which their city had received from -the evangelist's visit. - -Usually some organization of the "trail-hitters" is effected after the -evangelist's departure. These are bands for personal Christian work. -The most remarkable of them all is reported from Wichita, Kansas, where -the aftermath of the Sunday meetings has become so formidable as to -suggest a new and general method of Christian service by laymen. - -The Sunday converts organized themselves into "Gospel Teams," who -announce that they are ready to go anywhere and conduct religious -meetings, especially for men. They offer to pay their own expenses, -although frequently the communities inviting them refuse to permit -this. Sometimes these Gospel Teams travel by automobiles or street cars -and sometimes they make long railway journeys. - -The men have so multiplied themselves that there are now more than -three hundred Gospel Teams in this work and they have formed "The -National Federation of Gospel Teams" of which Claude Stanley of Wichita -is president and West Goodwin of Cherryvale, Kansas, is secretary. - -Up to date, the tremendous total of eleven thousand conversions is -reported by these unsalaried, self-supporting gospel workers, who -joyously acclaim Billy Sunday as their leader. They represent his -teachings and his spirit in action. - -The most celebrated of these gospel teams is "The Business Men's Team" -of Wichita, an interdenominational group. It comprises such men as -Henry Allen, the editor of the Wichita _Beacon_ and one of the foremost -public men of the state; the president of the Inter-urban Railway; the -president of the Kansas Mutual Bank, and other eminent business men. -This team has visited eleven states in its work, all without a penny of -cost to the Church, and with results exceeding those achieved by many -great and expensive organizations. - -The Billy Sunday converts not only stick but they multiply themselves -and become effective servants of the Church and the kingdom. - -Nobody is left to conjecture as to the sort of counsel that Mr. Sunday -gives his converts. Every man, woman and child who "hits the trail" is -handed a leaflet, telling him how to make a success of the Christian -life. - -A trumpet call to Christian service by every confessed disciple of -Jesus Christ is sounded by the evangelist. The following is an appeal -of this sort: - - -"SHARP-SHOOTERS" - -The twentieth century has witnessed two apparently contradictory facts: -The decline of the Church and the growth of religious hunger in the -masses. The world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries -passed through a period of questioning and doubts, during which -everything in heaven and earth was put into a crucible and melted down -into constituent elements. During that period many laymen and preachers -lost their moorings. - -The definite challenging note was lost out of the life of the ministry. -The preacher today is oftentimes a human interrogation point, preaching -to empty pews. The hurrying, busy crowd in the street is saying to -the preacher and the Church, "When you have something definite to say -about the issues of life, heaven, hell and salvation, we will listen; -till then we have no time for you." I believe we are on the eve of -a great national revival. The mission of the Church is to carry the -gospel of Christ to the world. - -I believe that lack of efficient personal work is one of the curses -of the Church today. The people of the Church are like squirrels in a -cage. Lots of activity, but accomplishing nothing. It doesn't require a -Christian life to sell oyster soup or run a bazaar or a rummage sale. - -Last year many churches reported no new members on confession of faith. -Why these meager results with this tremendous expenditure of energy -and money? Why are so few people coming into the kingdom? I will tell -you what is the matter--there is not a definite effort put forth to -persuade a definite person to receive a definite Saviour at a definite -time, and that definite time is now. - -I tell you the Church of the future must have personal work and prayer. -The trouble with some churches is that they think the preacher is a -sort of ecclesiastical locomotive, who will snort and puff and pull the -whole bunch through to glory. - -A politician will work harder to get a vote than the Church of God will -work to have men brought to Christ. Watch some of the preachers go down -the aisles. They drag along as if they had grindstones tied to their -feet. - -No political campaign is won by any stump speaker or any spell-binder -on the platform. It is won by a man-to-man canvass. - - -The Value of Personal Work - -The children of this generation are wiser than the children of light. -You can learn something from the world about how to do things. Personal -work is the simplest and most effective form of work we can engage in. -Andrew wins Peter. Peter wins three thousand at Pentecost. A man went -into a boot and shoe store and talked to the clerk about Jesus Christ. -He won the clerk to Christ. Do you know who that young man was? It -was Dwight L. Moody, and he went out and won multitudes to Christ. -The name of the man who won him was Kimball, and Kimball will get as -much reward as Moody. Kimball worked to win Moody and Moody worked and -won the multitude. Andrew wins Peter and Peter wins three thousand at -Pentecost. That is the way God works today. Charles G. Finney, after -learning the name of any man or woman, would invariably ask: "Are you -a Christian?" There isn't any one here who hasn't drag enough to win -somebody to Christ. - -Personal work is a difficult form of work; more difficult than -preaching, singing, attending conventions, giving your goods to feed -the poor. The devil will let you have an easy time until God asks you -to do personal work. It is all right while you sing in the choir, but -just as soon as you get out and work for God the devil will be on your -back and you will see all the flimsy excuses you can offer for not -working for the Lord. If you want to play into the hands of the devil -begin to offer your excuses. - -There are many people who want to win somebody for Jesus and they are -waiting to be told how to do it. I believe there are hundreds and -thousands of people who are willing to work and who know something -must be done, but they are waiting for help; I mean men and women of -ordinary ability. Many people are sick and tired and disgusted with -just professing religion; they are tired of trotting to church and -trotting home again. They sit in a pew and listen to a sermon; they are -tired of that, not speaking to anybody and not engaging in personal -work; they are getting tired of it and the church is dying because of -it. A lot should wake up and go to the rescue and win souls for Jesus -Christ. - -I want to say to the deacons, stewards, vestrymen, prudential -committees, that they should work, and the place to begin is at your -own home. Sit down and write the names of five or ten friends, and -many of them members of your own church, and two or three of those not -members of any church; yet you mingle with these people in the club, -in business, in your home in a friendly way. You meet them every week, -some of them every day, and you never speak to them on the subject of -religion; you never bring it to their attention at all; you should -be up and doing something for God and God's truth. There are always -opportunities for a Christian to work for God. There is always a chance -to speak to some one about God. Where you find one that won't care, -you'll find one thousand that will. - - -My Father's Business - -Be out and out for God. Have a heart-to-heart talk with some people and -win them to Christ. The first recorded words of Jesus are these: "Wist -ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" - -The trouble is we are too lackadaisical in religion, indifferent and -dead and lifeless. That is the spirit of the committees today in the -Church. I think the multitude in the Church will have to get converted -themselves before they can lead any one else to Christ. It is my firm -conviction, after many years of experience in the work, that half the -people in the Church have never been converted, have never been born -again. I take up a bottle of water, uncork it and take a drink. That -is experimental. One sip of water can convince me more of its power to -slake thirst than 40,000 books written on the subject. You know quinine -is bitter because you have experimented; you know fire will burn -because you have experimented; you know ice will freeze; it is cold; -you have experimented. - -A man must experience religion to know God. All you know of God is what -you read in some book or what you heard somebody else talk about; you -haven't lived so that you could learn first-handed, so most of your -religion is second-handed. There is too much second-hand stuff in the -Church. It is your privilege to know and to have salvation. Jesus said -to Peter: "When you are converted strengthen your brethren." You are -not in a position to help anybody else unless you have been helped -yourself. - -So many church members know nothing about the Bible. A preacher will -take a text from the Bible and get as far from it as the East is from -the West. A young preacher just out of the seminary said: "Must I -confine myself in my preaching to the Bible?" Just like a shrimp who -would say, "Must I confine my roaming to the Atlantic Ocean?" Imagine -a little minnow saying: "Must I confine myself to the Atlantic Ocean?" -"Must I confine myself to the Bible?" Just as if his intellect would -exhaust it in two or three sermons. - -We have cut loose from the Bible, and any man who is living contrary -to the Bible is a sinner, whether he feels like a sinner or not. Every -man who is living contrary to the laws is a criminal, whether he feels -like it or not. A man who breaks the law of God is a sinner, and is on -the road to hell, whether he feels like it or like a saint. Jesus came -into the world to reveal God to man, and man reveals him to man. The -only revelation we have of Jesus is through the Bible. You have got to -know Jesus to know God; that's how I get through there. There is no -revelation for God to make of himself greater than he has made through -Jesus Christ. It is not possible for the human intellect to have a -greater conception of God. Every man needs Christ. Jesus is the Saviour -that he needs and he has got to know the Bible to show what it is that -makes Jesus the Saviour. He needs a Saviour and now is the time to -accept the Saviour and be saved. That's what the Bible says. Whatever -the Bible says, write "finish" after it and stop. - - -Feeding the Spiritual Life - -Then you need the Holy Spirit. Without him you cannot do anything. -The spirit of God works through clean hands. There are too many dirty -hands, too many dirty people trying to preach a clean gospel. I have -known men that have preached the truth and God has honored the truth, -although their lives were not as they should be. But God honored the -truth and not the people who preached the truth. But if they had been -Christians themselves then God would have honored them more, because he -would have honored them and the truth. - -Prayer. Three-fourths of the church members have no family prayer. They -let spiritual life starve. That is the reason the pews are full of -driftwood; that is the reason that religion is but a mirage to many. - -Pray God to give you power. Pray God to give you power to carry on his -work after you have become converted. I don't preach a sermon that I -don't pray God for help, and I never finish a sermon that I don't thank -God that I have preached it. Then I say: "Lord, you take care of the -seed I have sown in that sermon." I think the Church needs a baptism of -good, pure "horse sense." - -Pure hearts. If I have any iniquity in my heart the Lord will not -come in. We need a wise head. We need horse sense in preaching. We -need horse sense in what we do. I think God is constantly looking for -a company of men and women that are constantly alive. There are too -many dead ones. He needs men and women that are always at it, not only -during the revival; we need to be full of faith; dead in earnest, never -give up, a bulldog tenacity and stick-to-it-iveness for the cause of -God Almighty. - - -The Dignity of Personal Work - -If it is beneath your dignity to do personal work then you are above -your Master. If you are not willing to do what he did, then don't call -him your Lord. The servant is not greater than the owner of the house. -The chauffeur is not greater than the owner of the automobile. The -servant on the railroad is not greater than the owners of the road. -Certainly they are not greater than our Lord Jesus Christ. - -It requires an effort to win souls to Christ. There is no harder work -and none brings greater results than winning souls. - -You'll need courage. It is hard to do personal work and the devil will -try to oppose you. You'll seek excuses to try to get out of it. Many -people who attend the meetings regularly now will begin to stay at home -when asked to do personal work. It will surprise you to see them lie to -get out of doing personal work. - -We need enthusiasm for God. If there is any place on God's earth -that needs a baptism of enthusiasm, it is the church and the -prayer-meetings. It is not popular in some communities and in some -churches to be enthusiastic for God. You'll never accomplish anything -without pure enthusiasm, and don't be afraid of being a religious -enthusiast. Religion is too cold. Formality is choking it in the pews. - -There is nothing accomplished in war, politics or religion, without -enthusiasm. Admiral Decatur once gave this toast: "My country: May she -always be right, but right or wrong, my country!" That's enthusiasm. - -Perseverance is needed to conquer in this old life. Perseverance is -contagious, not an epidemic. Religion is contagious. Roman soldiers -shortened their swords and added to their kingdom. You shorten the -distance between you and the sinner and you'll add to the kingdom of -God. The trouble is you have been trying to reach them with a ten-foot -pole. Drop your dignity and formality and walk up to them; take them by -the hand. You are too dignified. You sit in your fine homes and see the -town going to hell. - -We need carefulness to win souls. The way to win souls is to be careful -what you say. Study the disposition of the person with whom you talk. - -We need tact. Personal work is the department of the church efficient -to deal with the individual and not the masses. It is analogous to -the sharpshooter in the army so dreaded by the opposing forces. The -sharpshooter picks out the pivotal individual instead of shooting at -the mass. The preacher shoots with a siege gun at long range. You can -go to the individual and dispose of his difficulties. I shoot out there -two or three hundred feet and you sit right beside people. If I were a -physician and you were sick I'd not prescribe _en masse_, I'd go down -and see you individually. I'd try to find out what was the matter and -prescribe what you needed. All medicine is good for something, but not -for everything. - -We need sympathy. One of the noblest traits of the human character is -sympathy. It levels mountains, warms the broken heart and melts the -iceberg. Have sympathy with the sinner. Not with sin, but the fact that -he is one. God hates sin and the devil. He will not compromise. Have -sympathy with the girl who sins, but not with the sin that ruined her. -Get down on the ground where the others are. You are away up there -saved, but you must get down and help the sinner. - - -Five Classes of People - -There are five classes of people and this classification will touch -every man and woman, whether in Scranton, New York or London. - -First, those who can not attend church, and you will always find some. -Some are sick, shut in; some have to work in hotels and restaurants; -the maids in your house have to get your meals, the railroad men have -to go out, the furnaces must be kept going in the steel works. - -Second, those who can attend and who do not attend church. There are -millions of people that can and don't attend church. Some fellows never -darken the church door until they die, and they carry their old carcass -in to have a large funeral. It is no compliment to any man, and it is -an insult to manhood, and disgrace to the individual, that he never -darkens the church door. But he darkens the door of the grog shop any -day. - -Third, those who can and do attend church and who are not moved by the -preaching. There are lots of people who come out of curiosity. - -Fourth, those who can go to church and those who do go to church and -are moved by the preaching and convicted but not converted. Every man -that hears the truth is convicted. Talk to those men about Jesus -Christ. Get them to take their stand for righteousness. - -Fifth, those who can and do go to church and are convicted by the -preaching and converted. They need strengthening. They are converted -now, but they need the benefit of your experience. You say, "Where -will I find these people to talk to them?" Where won't you find them? -Where can you find a place where they are not? You will only find one -place where they are not and that is in the cemetery. Right in your -neighborhood, right in your block, how many are Christians? Is your -husband a Christian? Are your children Christians? If they are, let -them alone and get after somebody else's husband and children. Don't -sit down and thank God that your husband and children are Christians. -Suppose I were to say: "My family, my George, my Nell, my Paul, my -Helen are Christians!" We are all Christians, let the rest of the world -go to the devil. There is too much of that spirit in the Church today. - -Go from house to house. Go to the people in your block, in your place -of business. Have you said anything to the telephone girl when you -called her up? You are quick enough to jump on her when she gives you -the wrong number. Have you said anything to the delivery boy--to the -butcher? Have you asked the milkman? Have you said anything to the -newsboy who throws your paper on the doorstep at night? Have you called -them up at the newspaper office? Have you said anything to the girl -who waits on you at the store; to the servant who brings your dinner -in at home; to the woman who scrubs your floors? Where will you find -them?--where won't you find them? - - -The Privilege of Personal Work - -Personal work is a great privilege. Not that God needs us, but that we -need him. Jesus Christ worked. "I must do the works of Him that sent -me." So must you. He didn't send me to work and you to loaf. Honor the -God that gives you the privilege to do what he wants. Jesus worked. - -Please God and see how it will delight your soul. If you'll win a soul -you will have a blessing that the average church member knows nothing -about. They are absolute strangers to the higher Christian life. We -need an aroused church. An anxious church makes anxious sinners. - -If all the Methodist preachers would each save a soul a month there -would be 460,000 souls saved in a year. If all the Baptist preachers -would each save a soul a month there would be 426,000 souls saved in a -year. If all the other evangelical preachers would save a soul a month -there would be 1,425,000 souls saved a year. Over 7,000 Protestant -churches recently made report of no accessions on confession of faith. -Christ said to preach the gospel to all the world and that means every -creature in the world. - -[Illustration: "MY GOD, I'VE GOT TWO BOYS DOWN THERE!"] - -Listen to this: There are 13,000,000 young men in this country between -the ages of sixteen and thirty years; 12,000,000 are not members of -any church, Protestant or Catholic; 5,000,000 of them go to church -occasionally; 7,000,000 never darken a church door from one year's -end to another. They fill the saloons and the houses of ill fame, the -haunts of vice and corruption, and yet most young men have been touched -by some Sunday-school influences; but you don't win them for God and -they go into the world never won for God. - -[Illustration: "YOU OLD HYPOCRITE!"] - -[Illustration: "IT'S UP TO YOU."] - -I want to tell you if you want to solve the problem for the future get -hold of the young men now. Get them for God now. Save your boys and -girls. Save the young man and woman and you launch a life-boat. - -At the Iroquois fire in Chicago six hundred people were burned to -death. One young woman about seventeen years of age fought through the -crowd, but her hair was singed from her head, her clothes were burned, -her face blistered. She got on a street car to go to her home in Oak -Park. She was wringing her hands and crying hysterically, and a woman -said to her: "Why, you ought to be thankful you escaped with your life." - -"I escaped--but I didn't save anybody; there are hundreds that died. To -think that I escaped and didn't save anybody." - -In Pennsylvania there was once a mine explosion, and the people were -rushing there to help. Up came an old miner seventy or eighty years of -age, tired, tottering and exhausted. He threw off his vest, his coat -and hat and picked up a pick and shovel. Some of them stopped him and -said: "What is the matter? You are too old; let some of the younger -ones do that. Stand back." - -The old fellow said: "My God, I've got two boys down there!" - -So you see it seems to make all the difference when you've got some boy -down there. - -Who is wise? You say Andrew Carnegie, the millionaire, is wise, the -mayor, the judge, the governor, the educator, the superintendent of -schools, the principal of the high school, the people who don't worry -or don't live for pleasure, the inventor. But what does the Lord say? -The Lord says, "He who winneth souls is wise." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -"A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ" - - I'd rather undertake to save ten drunkards than one old financial - Shylock--it would be easier.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Sympathetic observers comment in distressed tones upon the physical -exhaustion of Sunday after every one of his addresses. He speaks with -such intensity and vigor that he is completely spent by every effort. -To one who does not know that he has worked at this terrific pace for -near a score of years it seems as if the evangelist is on the verge of -a complete collapse. He certainly seems to speak "as a dying man to -dying men." The uttermost ounce of his energy is offered up to each -audience. Billy Sunday is an unsparing worker. - -For a month or six weeks of every year he gives himself to rest. -The remainder of the year he is under a strain more intense than -that of a great political campaign. Even his Monday rest day, which -is supposed to be devoted to recuperation, is oftener than not -given to holding special meetings in some other city than the one -wherein he is campaigning. Speaking twice or oftener every day, to -audiences averaging many thousands, is a tax upon one's nerve force -and vitality beyond all computation. In addition to this, Sunday -has his administrative work, with its many perplexities and grave -responsibilities. - -Withal, the evangelist, like every other man pre-eminent in his -calling, suffers a great loneliness; he has few intimates who can -lead his mind apart from his work. What says Kipling, in his "Song of -Diego Valdez," the lord high admiral of Spain, who pined in vain for -the comradeship of his old companions, but who, in the aloneness of -eminence, mourned his solitary state? - - "They sold Diego Valdez - To bondage of great deeds." - -The computable aggregate of Sunday's work is almost unbelievable. -His associates say that his converts number more than a quarter of a -million persons. That is a greater total than the whole membership of -the entire Christian Church, decades after the resurrection of our -Lord. Imagine a city of a quarter of a million inhabitants, every one -of whom was a zealous disciple of Jesus Christ. What a procession these -"trail-hitters" would make could they all be gathered into one great -campaign parade! - -Of course these converts are not all trophies of Billy Sunday's -preaching power. He has not won them alone. He has merely stood in the -forefront, as the agent of the Church, with vast co-operative forces -behind him. Nevertheless, he has been the occasion and the instrument -for this huge accomplishment in the Church's conquest. - -When it comes to counting up the aggregate size of Sunday's audiences, -one is tempted not to believe his own figures, for the total runs up -into the millions, and even the tens of millions. Probably no living -man has spoken to so great numbers of human beings as Billy Sunday. - -More eloquent than any comment upon the magnitude and number of his -meetings is the following summary of his campaigns gathered from -various sources. Sunday himself does not keep records of his work. His -motto seems to be, "Forgetting those things which are behind." - -In 1904-5 Billy Sunday visited various cities of Illinois, where -conversions ranged in numbers from 650 to 1,800; in Iowa, where -conversions ranged from 400 to 1,000; and in a few other towns. In -1905-6 numerous campaigns in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota produced -converts ranging from 550 to 2,400, the highest number being reached -in Burlington, Iowa. In 1906-7 the converts numbered over 12,000, -with a maximum of 3,000 in Kewanee, Illinois. In 1907-8 campaigns in -Illinois and Iowa, and one in Sharon, Pennsylvania, reported over -24,000 converts in all, with a maximum of 6,700 in Decatur, Illinois. -In 1908-9 the total number of converts reached over 18,000, with 5,300 -in Spokane, Washington, and 4,700 in Springfield, Illinois. In 1908-9 -campaigns in various cities reported a total of 35,000 converts, with -6,600 in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, 5,900 in Youngstown, Ohio, and 5,000 -in Danville, Illinois. In 1911-12 campaigns in cities of Ohio, in -Erie, Pennsylvania, and in Wichita, Kansas, reported a total of 36,000 -converts, with 7,600 in Toledo, and 6,800 in Springfield. In 1912-13 -campaigns in other Ohio and Pennsylvania cities and in Fargo, North -Dakota; South Bend, Indiana; and Wheeling, West Virginia, brought -81,000 converts, with a minimum in Fargo of 4,000, and a maximum of -18,000 in Columbus. - -_The Lutheran Observer_ gives the following table of statistics for -eighteen of the largest cities in which campaigns have been conducted: - - Population Conversions - Pittsburgh, Pa 533,905 26,601 - Steubenville, Ohio 22,391 7,888 - Columbus, Ohio 181,511 18,137 - McKeesport, Pa 42,694 10,022 - Toledo, Ohio 168,497 7,686 - Wheeling, W. Va 41,641 8,300 - Springfield, Ohio 46,921 6,804 - Newcastle, Pa 36,280 6,683 - Erie, Pa 66,525 5,312 - Portsmouth, Ohio 23,481 5,224 - Canton, Ohio 50,217 5,640 - Youngstown, Ohio 79,066 5,915 - South Bend, Ind 53,684 6,398 - Wilkes-Barre, Pa 67,105 16,584 - Beaver Falls, Pa 12,191 6,000 - Lima, Ohio 30,508 5,659 - East Liverpool, Ohio 20,387 6,354 - Johnstown, Pa 55,482 11,829 - ------ ------- - Total 167,036 - -Included in the 18,000 converts in Columbus were the chief of police -and all the policemen who had been detailed to duty at the tabernacle. -A notable work was also done in the penitentiary. - -Wilkes-Barre's 16,000 conversions bore an extraordinary relation to the -population of the city, which is but 67,105. The sheriff was among the -Wilkes-Barre converts and he has since proved his faith by his works in -prosecuting law-breakers. - -The statistics show that there were 6,000 converts at South Bend, -Indiana, in the spring of 1913, but they do not reveal the fact that -immediately afterwards there was inaugurated an era of civic reform -which cleaned up the city for the first time in fifteen years, and -elected as mayor one of the Billy Sunday converts. - -Prior to the Sunday campaign in Steubenville, Ohio, September and -October, 1913 (where the converts numbered 8,000), the town had gone -"wet" by 1,400 majority, after the meetings it went "dry" by 300 -majority. - -Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with a campaign held November and December, -1913, reported 12,000 conversions, and a Billy Sunday Anti-saloon -League of 10,000 men. The fame of the Pittsburgh campaign, January and -February, 1914, is in all the churches; 27,000 converts were reported. - -Mrs. Sunday is my authority for these and the following details of -recent meetings: - -The Scranton campaign (March and April, 1914) was unusual in several -respects. It not only reported 18,000 converts, but it also held the -greatest industrial parade, under distinctively Christian auspices, -that the country has ever seen. In preparation for the Sunday meetings -10,000 adults were enlisted in Bible classes, and this number grew -steadily during and after the campaign. - -In May and June of 1914 the evangelist worked in Huntingdon, West -Virginia, where the conversions were 6,500. From there he went to -Colorado Springs and a total of 4,500 persons "hit the trail." The -Colorado Springs meetings were unusual in that the attendants were from -all parts of the country, and so the revival fire was carried far. -The organization of adult Bible classes followed the Colorado Springs -campaign. This promises to be one of the distinctive features of Billy -Sunday's meetings. - -In reading such a compiled record as the foregoing, it is to be -remembered that in all things that affect spiritual values the only -true record is that which is kept in another world. Enough has been -shown, however, to make clear that Sunday practices what he preaches -when he urges Christians to whole-hearted service. - - -SUNDAY'S "CONSECRATION" SERMON - -"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye -present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, -which is your reasonable service." - -The armies of God are never made up of drafted men and women, ordered -into service whether willing or not. God never owned a slave. God -doesn't want you to do anything that you can't do without protest. This -is not a call to hard duty, but an invitation to the enjoyment of a -privilege. It is not a call to hired labor to take the hoe and go into -the field, but the appeal of a loving father to his children to partake -of all he has to give. - -If there is nothing in you that will respond to God's appeal when you -think of his mercies, I don't think much of you. The impelling motive -of my text is gratitude, not fear. It looks to Calvary, not to Sinai. -We are being entreated, not threatened. That's the amazing thing to me. -To think that God would entreat us--would stand to entreat us! He is -giving me a chance to show I love him. - -If you are not ready to offer it in gratitude, God doesn't want you to -serve him through fear, but because you realize his love for you, and -appreciate and respond to it. - -A business man who loves his wife will never be too busy to do -something for her, never too busy to stop sometimes to think of -how good she has been and what she has done for him. If men would -only think of the things God has done for them there would be less -card-playing, less thought of dinners and of concerts and other -diversions of the world. God wants us to sit down and think over his -goodness to us. The man who doesn't isn't worth a nickel a punch. Has -God done anything for us as a nation, has he done anything for us as -individuals, that commands our gratitude? - -Astronomers have counted three hundred and eighty million stars, and -they have barely commenced. Why, you might as well try to count those -countless stars as to try to count God's mercies. You might as well try -to count the drops of water in the sea or the grains of sand upon the -shore. If we only think, we shall say with David: "According to Thy -tender mercies." - - -God's Mercies - -An old lady said one morning that she would try to count all God's -mercies for that one day, but at noon she was becoming confused, and at -three o'clock she threw up her hands and said: "They come three times -too fast for me to count." - -Just think of the things we have to be thankful for! A visitor to an -insane asylum was walking through the grounds and as he passed one of -the buildings he heard a voice from a barred window high up in the wall -and it said: "Stranger, did you ever thank God for your reason?" He had -never thought of that before, but he says that he has thought of it -every day since. Did you ever think that thousands of people who were -just as good as you are, are beating their heads against the walls of -padded cells? Did you ever think what a blessed thing it is that you -are sane and you go about among men and follow your daily duties, and -go home to be greeted by your wife and have your children climb about -you? - -Did you ever thank God for your eyes? Did you ever thank him that you -can see the sunrise and the sunset and can see the flowers and the -trees and look upon the storm? Did you ever thank God that you have two -good eyes while so many others less fortunate than you must grope their -way in blindness to the coffin? - -Did you ever thank God for hearing? That you can hear music and the -voices of friends and dear ones? That you can leave your home and -business, and come here and hear the songs and the preaching of the -word of God? Did you ever think what it would mean to be deaf? - -Did you ever thank God for the blessing of taste? Some people can't -tell whether they are eating sawdust and shavings or strawberries and -ice cream. Think of the good things we enjoy! Others have tastes so -vicious that they find it almost impossible to eat. God might have made -our food taste like quinine. - -Did you ever thank God that you can sleep? If not, you ought to be -kept awake for a month. Think of the thousands who suffer from pain or -insomnia so that they can sleep only under opiates. Did you ever wake -up in the morning and thank God that you have had a good night's rest? -If you haven't, God ought to keep you awake for a week, then you'd know -you've had reason to be thankful. - -Did you ever thank God for the doctors and nurses and hospitals? For -the surgeon who comes with scalpel to save your life or relieve your -sufferings? If it had not been for them you'd be under the grass. For -the nurse who watches over you that you may be restored to health? - -Did you ever thank God for the bread you eat, while so many others are -hungry? Did you ever thank him for the enemy that has been baffled, for -the lie against you that has failed? - -Out in Elgin, Illinois, I was taken driving by a friend, and he said -that he wanted me to go with him to see a man. He took me to see a man -who was lying in bed, with arms most pitifully wasted by suffering. The -poor fellow said he had been in bed for thirty-two years, but he wasn't -worrying about that. He said he was so sorry for the well people who -didn't know Jesus. I went out thanking God that I could walk. If your -hearts are not made of stone or adamant they will melt with gratitude -when you think of the many mercies, the tender mercies, of God. - -[Illustration: BILLY SUNDAY AND HIS STAFF AT SCRANTON. FROM LEFT TO -RIGHT: (STANDING) F. R. SEIBERT, A. G. GILL: (SITTING) B. D. ACKLEY, -MISS FRANCES MILLER, MISS GRACE SAXE, MR. SUNDAY.] - - -The Living Sacrifice - -"Brethren"--that's what God calls his true followers. No speaking from -the loft. If there's any lesson we need to learn it is that of being -"brethren." - -Sinners are not called "brethren" in the Bible. God commands sinners. -They are in rebellion. He entreats Christians. When Lincoln called for -volunteers he addressed men as "citizens of the United States," not as -foreigners. - -The man who is appreciative of God's mercies will not have much mercy -on himself. Don't stand up and say: "I'll do what Jesus bids me to -do, and go where he bids me to go," then go to bed. Present your -bodies--not mine--not those of your wives; you must present your own. -Present your bodies; not your neighbor's; not your children's; it is -their duty to do that. Do you trust God enough to let him do what he -wants to do? - -Henry Varley said to Moody, when that great American was in England, -that God is waiting to show this world what one man could do for him. -Moody said: "Varley, by the grace of God I'll be that man"; and God -took hold of Moody and shook the world with him. God would shake the -world with us today if only we would present our bodies as a living -sacrifice to him, as Moody did. Are you willing to present yourself? I -am tired of a church of five hundred or seven hundred members without -power enough to bring one soul to Christ. - -At the opening of the Civil War many a man was willing that the country -should be saved by able-bodied male relatives of his wife, who made -themselves bullet-men, but he didn't go himself. God isn't asking for -other men's bodies. He's asking for yours. If you would all give to God -what rightfully belongs to him, I tell you he would create a commotion -on earth and in hell. If God had the feet of some of you he would point -your toes in different ways from those you have been going for many -years. If he had your feet he would never head you into a booze joint. -If he had your feet he would never send you into a ball-room. If he -had the feet of some of you he would make you wear out shoe leather -lugging back what you've taken that doesn't belong to you. If God had -your feet he would take you to prayer-meeting. I'm afraid the preacher -would have nervous prostration, for he hasn't seen some of you there in -years. If God had your feet you'd find it harder to follow the devil. -Some of you preachers have your children going to dancing school and I -hear some of you go to dances. He would make your daily walk conform to -the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount. - -Some people work only with their mouths. God wants that part that's on -the ground. Some soldiers sit around and smell the coffee and watch the -bacon frying. - -If God had your hands he would make you let go a lot of things you hold -on to with a death-like grip. If you don't let go of some of the things -you hold so tightly they will drag you down to hell. He would have you -let go some of the things you pay taxes on, but don't own, and he would -make you let go of money to pay taxes on some that you do own. Some -people are so busy muck-raking that they will lose a crown of glory -hereafter. If God had your hands, how many countless tears you would -wash away. A friend of mine bought a typewriter, and when he tried -to use it his fingers seemed to be all sticks, but now he can write -forty-five words a minute. Let God have your hands and he will make -them do things that would make the angels wonder and applaud. - - -A Glass of Champagne - -A young man went down to Thomasville, Alabama, and while there was -invited to a dress ball--or rather an undress ball, if what I have read -about such affairs properly describes the uniforms. A young lady--a -young lady with eyes like the dove and with beautiful tresses--came -up to him and said to the young man, "Won't you pledge a glass of -champagne with me?" - -The young man thanked her, but said: "No, I don't drink." - -"Not with me?" she said, and smiled; and he repeated his answer, "No." - -Then she said: "If I had thought you would refuse me I would not have -asked you and exposed myself to the embarrassment of a refusal. I did -not suppose you would think me bold for speaking to you in this way, -and I thought you might be lonely." - -A little later she came back to him and repeated her invitation. Again -he said: "No." - -Others came up and laughed. He took it and hesitated. She smiled at him -and he gave in and drank the champagne, then drank another glass and -another, until he was flushed with it. Then he danced. - -At two o'clock the next morning a man with a linen duster over his -other clothes walked back upon the railroad-station platform, waiting -for a train for the North; and as he walked he would exclaim, "Oh God!" -and would pull a pint flask from his pocket and drink. "My God," he -would say, "what will mother say?" Four months later in his home in -Vermont, with his weeping parents by him and with four strong men to -hold him down, he died of delirium tremens. - -The Epworth League's motto is: "Look up, lift up." But you'll never -lift much up unless God has hold of your hands. Unless he has, you will -never put your hands deep in your pocket, up to the elbows, and bring -them up full of money for his cause. A man who was about to be baptized -took out his watch and laid it aside; then he took out his knife and -bankbook and laid them aside. - -"Better give me your pocketbook to put aside for you," said the -minister. - -"No," said the man, "I want it to be baptized, too." - -There's no such thing as a bargain-counter religion. Pure and undefiled -religion will do more when God has something besides pennies to work -with. God doesn't run any excursions to heaven. You must pay the -full fare. Your religion is worth just what it cost you. If you get -religion and then lie down and go to sleep, your joints will get stiff -as Rip Van Winkle's did, and you'll never win the religious marathon. - - -Denying One's Self - -A man said to his wife that he had heard the preacher say that religion -is worth just what it costs, and that he had determined to give more -for religion and to deny himself as well. "What will you give up?" -she asked. He said that he would give up coffee--for he dearly loved -coffee--used to drink several cups at every meal, the very best. She -said that she would give up something, too--that she would give up -tea. Then their daughter said she would give up some of her little -pleasures, and the father turned to his son Tom, who was shoveling -mashed potatoes, covered with chicken gravy, into his mouth. He said, -"I'll give up salt mackerel. I never did like the stuff, anyway." - -There are too many salt-mackerel people like that in the pews of our -churches today. They will take something that they don't like, and that -nobody else will have, and give it to the Lord. That isn't enough for -God. He wants the best we have. - -God wants your body with blood in it. Cain's altar was bigger than -Abel's, but it had nothing valuable on it, while Abel's had real blood. -God rejected Cain's and accepted Abel's. God turns down the man who -merely lives a moral life and does not accept the religion of Jesus -Christ. You must come with Jesus' blood. How thankful you are depends -on how much you are willing to sacrifice. - -I don't believe that the most honored angel in heaven has such a chance -as we have. Angels can't suffer. They can't make sacrifices. They can -claim that they love God, but we can prove it. - -What would you think of a soldier if when he was ordered "Present -arms," he would answer, "Tomorrow"; if he would say, "When the man -next to me does"; if he would say, "When I get a new uniform"? -"Present"--that means now. It is in the present tense. God wants us to -make a present of our bodies to him--because we love him. - -A little girl showed a man some presents she had received and he asked -her, "How long may you keep them?" - -"How long?" she answered. "Why, they were given to me. They are mine!" - -Many a man gives his boy a colt or a calf, then when it has grown to a -horse or a cow he sells it and pockets the money. Some of you fellows -need to do a little thinking along that line. When we give our bodies, -they ought to be His for keeps. - - -Thinking for God - -If when you make a present you do not mean to give it outright, you are -not honest. "Will a man rob God?" You bet he will--a heap quicker than -he will rob any one else. - -Your body, that takes the head as well as hands. God wants brains as -well as bones and muscles. We ought to do our best thinking for God. -God is in the greatest business there is, and he wants the best help -he can get. Some of you old deacons and elders make me sick. If you -used such methods in business as you do in the work of the Church -the sheriff's sale flag would soon be hanging outside your door. I -don't ask any of you business men to curtail any of your business -activities, but I do ask that you give more of your energy to the -things of religion. You want to use good business methods in religion. -The Republicans and the Democrats and the Socialists use good business -methods in politics. The farmer who hasn't any sense is still plowing -with a forked stick. The farmer who has sense uses a modern plow. Use -common sense. - -Bishop Taylor promised God that he would do as much hard thinking and -planning for him as he would do for another man for money. He did it. -So did Wesley and Whitefield and Savonarola, and look what they did for -God! If there is any better way of doing God's business than there was -one hundred years ago, for God's sake do it! He's entitled to the best -there is. This thing of just ringing the church bell to get people to -come in is about played out. In business, if they have a machine that -is out of date and doesn't produce good results, it goes onto the scrap -heap. If a man can produce a machine that can enlarge the product or -better it, that machine is adopted at once. But in religion we have the -same old flint-lock guns, smooth-bore; the same old dips and tallow -candles; the same old stage coaches over corduroy roads; and if a -protest is made some of you will roll your eyes as if you had on a hair -shirt, and say: "Surely this is not the Lord's set time for work." I -tell you any time is God's time. Now is God's time. It was God's time -to teach us about electricity long before Franklin discovered it, but -nobody had sense enough to learn. - -It was God's time to give us the electric light long before Edison -invented it, but nobody had sense enough to understand it. It was God's -set time to give us the steam engine long before Watts watched the -kettle boil and saw it puff the lid off, but nobody had sense enough to -grasp the idea. - -If God Almighty only had possession of your mouths, he'd stop your -lying. If he had your mouths he'd stop your knocking. If he had your -mouths, he'd stop your misrepresentations. If he had your mouths, he'd -stop your swearing. If he had your mouths, he'd stop your back-biting. -If he had your mouths, he'd stop your slanders. There would be no -criticizing, no white lies, no black lies, no social lies, no talking -behind backs. - -If God had your mouths, so much money wouldn't go up in tobacco smoke -or out in tobacco spit. If God had your mouths, there would be no -thousands of dollars a year spent for whisky, beer and wine. You -wouldn't give so much to the devil and you would give more to the -Church. Many of you church pillars wouldn't be so noisy in politics -and so quiet in religion. So many of you fellows wouldn't yell like -Comanche Indians at a ratification meeting and sit like a bump on a log -in prayer-meeting. - -If God had our eyes he'd bring the millennium. His eyes run to and fro -through the world seeking for men to serve him; and if he had our eyes, -how our eyes would run to and fro looking for ways to help bring men -to Christ. How hard it would be for sinners to get away. We would be -looking for drunkards, and the prostitutes and down-and-outs, to lift -and save them. How many sorrowful hearts we would find and soothe, how -many griefs we would alleviate! Great God! How little you are doing. -Don't you feel ashamed? Aren't you looking for a knot-hole to crawl -through? If God had our eyes how many would stop looking at a lot of -things that make us proud and unclean and selfish and critical and -unchristian. - - -What God Asks - -God wants you to give your body. Are you afraid to give it to him? -Are you afraid of the doctor when you are sick? Your body--that thing -that sits out there in the seat, that thing that sits up there in the -choir and sings, that thing that sits there and writes editorials, that -body which can show Jesus Christ to fallen sons of Adam better than -any angel--that's what God wants. God wants you to bring it to him and -say: "Take it, God, it's yours." If he had your body, dissipation, -overeating and undersleeping would stop, for the body is holy ground. -We dare not abuse it. - -A friend of mine paid $10,000 for a horse. He put him in a stable and -there the animal had care-takers attending him day and night, who -rubbed him down, and watched his feet to take care that they should not -be injured, and put mosquito netting on the windows, and cooled him -with electric fans, and sprinkled his oats and his hay. They wanted to -keep him in shape, for he was worth $10,000 and they wanted him for the -race-track. Give your body to God, and the devil will be welcome to -anything he can find. - -God wants your body as a living sacrifice, not a dead one. There are -too many dead ones. A time was when God was satisfied with a dead -sacrifice. Under old Jewish law a dead sheep would do. He wants my -body now when I'm alive and not when I am dead and the undertaker is -waiting to carry it out to the cemetery. The day of that dispensation -is past, and now he wants you, a living sacrifice, a real sacrifice. -A traveling man who wants to make his wife a present, and sits up all -night in the train instead of taking a berth for three dollars and uses -the three dollars to buy a present for his wife, makes a real sacrifice -for her. There never was a victory without sacrifice. Socrates advanced -the doctrine of immortality and died with a cup of poisoned hemlock. -Jesus Christ paid with a crown of thorns. Abraham Lincoln paid with a -bullet in his body. If you mean to give yourself as a sacrifice to God, -get out and work for him. Ask men to come to him. - -[Illustration: "NO MORE OF YOU OLD DEACONS COMING DOWN THE AISLES -STROKING YOUR WHISKERS"] - -"A holy sacrifice." Some men shy at that word "holy" like a horse at an -automobile. Holy vessels were set apart for use in the worship of God. -To be holy is to be set apart for God's use--that's all. To be holy -isn't to be long-faced and never smile. - -"Acceptable unto the Lord." If that were true then this old desert -would blossom like Eden. If that were taken as our watchword, what -a stampede of short yardsticks, shrunken measures, light weights, -adulterated foods, etc., there would be! - -What a stopping of the hitting up of booze! There would be no more -living in sin and keeping somebody on the side, no more of you old -deacons coming down the aisles stroking your whiskers and renting your -buildings for houses of ill fame, and newspapers would stop carrying -ads for whisky and beer. - -[Illustration: "CLOSE THAT WINDOW, PLEASE."] - -[Illustration: "BREAK AWAY FROM THE OLD BUNCH OF THE DAMNED."] - - -Reasonable Service - -"Your reasonable service." God never asks anything unreasonable. He is -never exacting. He only asks rights when he asks you to forsake sin. A -man must be an idiot if he does not see that man is unreasonable when -unrighteous. God never made a law to govern you that you wouldn't have -made if you had known as much as God knows. You don't know that much -and never can, so the only sensible thing to do is to obey God's laws. -Faith never asks explanation. - -God asks some things that are hard, but never any that are -unreasonable. I beseech you, brethren. It was hard for Abraham to take -his son up on the mountain and prepare to offer him up as a sacrifice -to God, but God had a reason. Abraham understands tonight, and Abraham -is satisfied. It was hard for Joseph to be torn from his own people and -to be sold into Egypt and to be lied about by that miserable woman, -torn from his mother and father, but God had a reason. Joseph knows -tonight, and Joseph is satisfied. It was hard for Moses to lead the -Jews from Egypt, following the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by -night and make that crossing of the Red Sea, only to have God call him -up to Mount Pisgah and show him the Promised Land and say: "Moses, you -can't go in." It was hard, but God had a reason. Moses understands -tonight, and Moses is satisfied. It was hard for Job to lose his -children and all that he possessed and to be afflicted with boils, and -to be so miserable that only his wife remained with him. But God had a -reason. Job understands tonight, and Job is satisfied. - -It was a hard thing God asked of Saul of Tarsus--to bear witness to -him at Rome and Ephesus, to face those jeering heathen, to suffer -imprisonment and be beaten with forty stripes save one, and finally to -put his head on the block and have it severed by the order of old Nero, -but God had a reason. Paul understands tonight, and Paul is satisfied. -It was a hard thing God asked of Jesus--to leave the songs of the -angels and the presence of the redeemed and glorified and come down to -earth and be born amid the malodors of a stable, and be forced to flee -from post to post, and dispute with the learned doctors in the temple -at twelve years of age and confute them, and to still the storm and -the troubled waters, and to say to the blind, "Be whole," and finally -to be betrayed by one of his own followers and to be murdered through -a conspiracy of Jews and Gentiles; but now he sits on the throne with -the Father, awaiting the time to judge the world. Jesus understands and -Jesus is satisfied. - -It was a hard thing for me when God told me to leave home and go out -into the world to preach the gospel and be vilified and libeled and -have my life threatened and be denounced, but when my time comes, when -I have preached my last sermon, and I can go home to God and the Lamb, -he'll say, "Bill, this was the reason." I'll know what it all meant, -and I'll say "I'm satisfied, God, I'm satisfied." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -A Wonderful Day at a Great University - - The higher you climb the plainer you are seen.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Billy Sunday has had many great days in his life--mountain-top -experiences of triumphant service; exalted occasions when it would seem -that the climax of his ministry had been reached. Doubtless, though, -the greatest day of his crowded life was the thirtieth of March, 1914, -which he spent with the students of the University of Pennsylvania at -Philadelphia. - -The interest not alone of a great university but also of a great city -was concentrated upon him on this occasion. An imposing group of -discriminating folk took the opportunity to judge the much discussed -evangelist and his work. In this respect, the day may be said to -have proved a turning point in the public career of the evangelist. -It silenced much of the widespread criticism which had been directed -toward him up to this time; and it won for him the encomiums of a host -of intellectual leaders. - -What Sunday's own impressions of that day were may be understood from -the prayer he offered at the close of the night meeting. - - Oh, Jesus, isn't this a fine bunch? Did you ever look down on a - finer crowd? I don't believe there is a mother who is any prouder of - this lot of boys than I am tonight. I have never preached to a more - appreciative crowd, and if I never preach another sermon, I am willing - to go home to glory tonight, knowing that I have helped save the boys - at the University of Pennsylvania. Help them to put aside temptations, - and to follow in the paths in which Doctor Smith is trying to guide - their feet. - -Back of the visit of the evangelist to the University lies a story, -and a great principle. The latter is that materialism has no message -for the human soul or character. The authorities of the University, in -common with a wide public, had been deeply disturbed over the suicide -of several students during the winter of 1913-14. Sensational stories, -largely unwarranted, in the daily press had reported an epidemic of -suicides, due to infidelity. - -Underneath all this "yellow" portrayal of conditions lay the truth, -realized by nobody more clearly than by the University head, Provost -Edgar Fahs Smith, that the character of young manhood needs to be -fortified by spiritual ideals. In his rôle of religious leader of the -University, and counselor to the young men, Provost Smith had heard -confessions of personal problems which had wrung his soul. None knew -better than he that it takes more than culture to help a man win the -battle of life. Looking in every direction for succor in this deepest -of all problems, the sight of Billy Sunday at Scranton indicated a -possible ray of hope. - -Led by Thomas S. Evans, the secretary of the Christian Association -of the University, a deputation of student leaders went to Scranton, -heard the evangelist, and conveyed to him an invitation to spend a day -with the University. The call of the need of young men in particular -is irresistible to Sunday, and he gladly accepted the invitation for a -day in Philadelphia--going, it may be added parenthetically, entirely -at his own expense, and insisting that the offering made be devoted to -University Christian Association work. - -There is a thorough organization of the Christian work of the -University; so careful plans were laid for the visit of the evangelist. -The meetings were made the subject of student prayer groups, and all -that forethought could do to secure the smooth running of the day's -services was carefully attended to. Students were to be admitted by -their registration cards, and a few hundred other guests, mostly -ministers and persons identified with the University, were given -special admission cards. - -There is no such rush for grand opera tickets in Philadelphia as was -experienced for these coveted cards of admission to the Billy Sunday -meetings at the University. The noon meeting and the night meetings -were exclusively for men, but in the afternoon a few score favored -women were admitted. The result was that in these three services -the evangelist talked to representatives of the best life of the -conservative old city of Philadelphia. He never before had faced so -much concentrated culture as was represented that day within the walls -of the great gymnasium. - -This improvised auditorium could be made to hold about three thousand -persons, especially when the hearers were students, and skilful in -crowding and utilizing every inch of space, such as window sills and -rafters. The line of ticket holders that gathered before the opening -of the doors itself preached a sermon to the whole city. As one of the -Philadelphia newspapers remarked, in the title it gave to a section -of its whole page of Billy Sunday pictures, "Wouldn't think they -were striving for admittance to a religious service, would you?" The -newspapers, by pen and camera, chronicled this Billy Sunday day at the -University as the city's most important news for that issue. - -The evangelist's chorister, Homer Rodeheaver, led the introductory -service of music. He set the college boys to singing and whistling -familiar gospel hymns, and Mrs. De Armond's "If Your Heart Keeps -Right"--a refrain which was heard for many weeks afterward in -University corridors and campus. - -From the first the students, than whom there are no more critical -hearers alive, were won by Billy Sunday. Provost Smith, who has the -men's hearts, introduced him in this happy fashion: - -"Billy Sunday is a friend of men. He is a friend of yours and a friend -of mine, and that's why we are glad to have him here today to tell us -about his other friend, Jesus Christ. His is the spirit of friendship, -and we are glad to extend to him our fellowship while we have the -opportunity." - -The three addresses given on that day were "What Shall I Do with -Jesus?" "Real Manhood," and "Hot-cakes off the Griddle." - -These fragments of the three addresses culled from the newspaper -reports give the flavor of the messages heard by the students: - -"What shall I do with Jesus?" - -"This question is just as pertinent to the world today as it was to -Pilate," he said. "Pilate had many things to encourage and discourage -him, but no man ever sought to do anything without meeting difficulties. - -"Pilate should have been influenced by his wife's dream," the speaker -continued, whimsically suggesting that he didn't care what sort of -wife Pilate had. "She may have been one of those miserable, pliable, -plastic, two-faced, two-by-four, lick-spittle, toot-my-own-horn sort of -women, but Pilate should have heeded her warning and set Jesus free," -he asserted. - -"Pilate had the personality of Jesus before him and should have been -influenced by this. He had also heard of the miracles of Jesus, even if -he had never seen them. - -"Why, Jesus was cussed and discussed from one end of the land to the -other. All he had to do was to say 'Come forth,' and the graves opened -like chestnut burrs in the fall," he added. - -"I have no use for the fellow that sneers and mocks at Jesus Christ. If -the world is against Christ, I am against the world, with every tooth, -nail, bit of skin, hair follicle, muscular molecule, articulation -joint"--here the evangelist paused for breath before adding--"yes, and -even my vermiform appendix. - -"But Pilate was just one of those rat-hole, pin-headed, pliable, -standpat, free-lunch, pie-counter politicians. He was the direct result -of the machine gang in Jewish politics, and he was afraid that if he -released Christ he would lose his job. - -"Say, boys," he demanded, leaning so far over the platform it seemed -he must have fallen, "are you fellows willing to slap Jesus Christ in -the face in order to have some one come up and slap you on the back and -say you are a good fellow and a dead-game sport? That is the surest -way to lose out in life. I am giving you the experience of a life that -knows. - -"Pilate had his chance and he missed it. His name rings down through -the ages in scorn and contempt because he had not the courage to stand -up for his convictions and Jesus Christ. Aren't you boys doing the same -thing? You are convinced that Jesus Christ is the son of God, but you -are afraid of the horse-laugh the boys will give you. - -"God will have nothing to do with you unless you are willing to keep -clean," he said. "Some people think they are not good enough to go to -heaven and not bad enough to go to hell, and that God is too good to -send them to hell, so they fix up a little religion of their own. God -isn't keeping any half-way house for any one. The man who believes in -that will change his theology before he has been in hell five minutes. - -"There's just one enemy that keeps every one from accepting Christ, and -that is your stubborn, miserable will power. You are not men enough to -come clean for Jesus. - -"I don't care whether you have brains enough to fill a hogshead or -little enough to fill a thimble, you are up against this proposition: -You must begin to measure Christ by the rules of God instead of the -rules of men. Put him in the God class instead of in the man class; -judge Christ by his task and the work he performed, and see if he was -only a man." - -The University of Pennsylvania would be turning out bigger men -than Jesus Christ, he said, if Christ were not the son of God. The -conditions and the opportunities are so much greater in these days, -he showed, that a real superman should be the product of our day if -education, society, business, politics and these varied interests could -produce such a thing. - -"Jesus Christ is just as well known today as old Cleopatra, the -flat-nosed enchantress of the Nile, was known hundreds and hundreds of -years ago. - -"Don't swell up like a poisoned pup and say that 'it doesn't meet with -my stupendous intellectual conception of what God intended should be -understood.' God should have waited until you were born and then called -you into counsel, I suppose. Say, fellows, I don't like to think that -there are any four-flushing, excess-baggage, lackadaisical fools like -that alive today, but there are a few. - -"On the square, now, if you want to find a man of reason, would you go -down in the red-light district, where women are selling their honor -for money, or through the beer halls or fan-tan joints? You don't find -intellect there," he continued. - -In contrast to these places, the evangelist described with remarkable -accuracy and emotion the scenes surrounding the death of President -McKinley and the burial ceremony at Canton, Ohio; how the great men -of the nation, all Christian men, passed by the flag-covered casket -and paid their silent tribute to the man who had died with Christian -confidence expressed in his last words. - -"When I came out of that court-house at Canton, I said: 'Thank God, I'm -in good company, for the greatest men of my nation are on the side of -Jesus Christ,'" he added. From the farthest corner of the auditorium -there came a fervent "Amen," which found many repetitions in the brief -silence that followed. - -Mr. Sunday reached a powerful climax when he described the -possibilities of the Judgment Day, and the efforts of the evil one to -lead into the dark, abysmal depths souls of men who have been popular -in the world. To those who have accepted Christ, the Saviour will -appear on that day as an advocate at the heavenly throne, he argued, -and the saved ones can turn to the devil and say: - -[Illustration: BILLY SUNDAY AND HIS FAMILY AT HOME, MOUNT HOOD, WINONA -LAKE, INDIANA.] - -"'Beat it, you old skin-flint. I have you skinned to a frazzle. -I have taken Jesus Christ and he's going to stand by me through all -eternity.' - -"Wherein does Jesus Christ fail to come up to your standard and the -highest conception of the greatest God-like spirit? Show me one flaw -in his character. I challenge any infidel on earth to make good his -claims that Christ was an ordinary man. The name of Jesus Christ, the -son of God, is greater than any. It is the name that unhorsed Saul of -Tarsus, and it is holding 500,000,000 of people by its majestic spell -and enduring power. - -"If you can't understand what this means, just take a walk out into -some cemetery some day and look at the tombstones. You'll find that -the name of the man who had a political drag twenty-five years ago is -absolutely forgotten," continued the challenge. - -"Do you fellows know what sacrifice means?" suddenly asked the speaker. -"Some of your fathers are making sacrifices and wearing old clothes -just to keep you here in school. He wants you to have an education -because he can't even handle the multiplication table. - -"If Jesus Christ should enter this gymnasium we would all fall to our -knees. We have that much reverence in our hearts for him. I would run -down and meet him, and would tell him how much I love him and that I am -willing to go wherever he would have me go." - -In closing, the evangelist told the story of a man who recklessly -tossed a valuable pearl high into the air, reaching over the side of -a ship to catch it as it fell. Time and again he was successful, but -finally the ship swerved to one side and the gem disappeared beneath -the waves. - -"Boys, that man lost everything just to gain the plaudits of the crowd. -Are you doing the same thing? - -"That is the condition of thousands of people beneath the Stars and -Stripes today--losing everything just to hear the clamor of the people, -and get a little pat on the back for doing something the mob likes." - -Mr. Sunday suddenly abandoned his dramatic attitude, and lowered his -voice. There was an instantaneous bowing of heads, although he had -given no suggestion of a prayer. It seemed proper at that time, and one -of the evangelist's heart-to-heart talks with Christ, asking a blessing -on the Christian workers of the University, and an earnest effort, on -the part of every student, to live a Christian life, accompanied the -great audience as it filed from the gymnasium. - - -Real Manhood - -"Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man," the Bible verse -reads, and Mr. Sunday promptly added: "Don't be a mutt! Don't be a -four-flusher--a mere cipher on the sea of human enterprise. - -"God is a respecter of character, even if he isn't a respecter of -persons," continued the speaker. "Abraham towers out, like a mountain -above a molehill, and beside him some of our modern gimlet-eyed, -heel-worn fellows shrink like Edward Hyde in Doctor Jekyll's clothes. - -"When those fellows over in Babylon offered booze to Daniel, although -he was only seventeen years old, he said, 'Nothing doing.' He told -them where to head in. Moses pushed aside the greatest scepter of any -kingdom and did what his heart told him was right. 'Be thou strong and -show thyself a man.' - -"David was a man of lofty purposes and his life was influenced by those -that had preceded him. It wasn't an accident that made David a king. -The big job is always looking for big men. A round peg will not fit -into a square hole, even if he is a university professor. - -"The young buck who inherits a big fortune without working for it," -continued Mr. Sunday, "is going down the line so fast you can't see -him for the fog. The man who has real, rich, red blood in his veins, -instead of pink tea and ice water, when the lions of opposition roar, -thinks it is only a call for dinner in the dining car, and he goes -ahead and does things. - -"There are some going around disguised as men who ought to be -arrested," the evangelist interposed. "To know some men is an -invitation to do right; to know others is an invitation to know dirty -booze and to blot the family escutcheon, insult your mothers and -sisters. The size of the man depends on his mind, not on his muscle. -There is lots of bulk but little brains in some men. - -"It's a sad day for a young man when Bill Taft's overcoat wouldn't make -him a vest," he added, amid shouts of laughter, in which even staid, -stern-faced professors joined with the students. - -"Too many fellows look like men from across the street, but when you -get close to them they shrivel up. - -"It makes a difference what kind of an example you follow. If Thomas -Edison should say to his boy, 'Be an inventor,' the boy would know what -he meant, but if some red-nosed, beer-soaked old reprobate should tell -his boy to 'be a man,' the boy would be all in. Lots of fellows today -turn out bad because their fathers' talk and walk do not agree. - -"The best thing that can happen to a young man," said Mr. Sunday, -"is to come under the influence of a real man. Every one has a hero, -whether it be on the foot-ball field or in the classroom, and if every -one would lead right today, there would be no going astray tomorrow. - -"There are some men in this world that when they are around you turn -up your collar, feel chills running up and down your back and when you -look at the thermometer, you find the temperature is about 60 degrees -below zero." - -Then followed the evangelist's famous story of how David killed -Goliath, considerably tempered to suit the culture of his audience. He -told how David boldly asked who the "big lobster was," and why he was -"strutting around as if he was the whole cheese, the head guy of the -opposition party. - -"David put down the sword that Saul had given him, for he felt like a -fellow in a hand-me-down suit two sizes too large. He picked up one of -his little pebbles, slung it across the river and hit poor old Goliath -on the koko." - -"Some fellows are working so hard to become angels they forget to be -men. If you will study your Bible you will find that the men of old -were subject to the same temptations as the men of today, but they -didn't let their temptations get the best of them. - -"If your manhood is buried in doubt and cheap booze, dig it out. You -have to sign your own Declaration of Independence and fight your own -Revolutionary wars before you can celebrate the Fourth of July over the -things that try to keep you down. - -"The best time for a man to sow his wild oats is between the age of -eighty-five and ninety years. A six-ply drunk is about as good a -passport into commercial life as a record for housebreaking, and the -youth who goes to the mat with a half-pint of red-eye in his stomach, -will be as beneficial to humanity as a one-legged man in a hurdle race." - -"If I knew, when the undertaker pumps that pink stuff into me and -embalms me, that the end of all had come, I would still be glad I lived -a Christian life, because it meant a life of decency," he said. "I -would rather go through the world without knowing the multiplication -table than never to know the love of Christ. I don't underestimate the -value of an education, boys, but just try living on oatmeal porridge. -Get your education, but don't lose sight of Jesus." - -"Once you have made your plan, cling to it. Be a man, even in -situations of great danger. The man whose diet is swill will be at home -with the hogs in any pen. He's bound to have bristles sticking through -his skin. If Abraham Lincoln had read about Alkali Ike, or Three -Fingered Pete, do you think he would ever have been President? While -other young men were waking up with booze-headaches, he was pulling up -his old-fashioned galluses and saying, 'I'm going to be a man.' - -"And one morning the world awoke, rubbed its sleepy eyes and looked -around for a man for a certain place. It found Abraham Lincoln and -raised him from obscurity to the highest pinnacle of popular favor. He -was a man and his example should be a guiding influence in the life of -every American citizen." - -Booze, evil women, licentious practices, cigarettes--all these came -under the ban of Mr. Sunday's system of Christian living. He spared no -words; he called a spade a spade and looked at modern affairs without -colored glasses. - -"You can't find a drunkard who ever intended to be a drunkard," argued -Mr. Sunday. "He just intended to be a moderate drinker. He was up -against a hard game, a game you can't beat." - -He asserted that he could get more nourishment from a little bit of -beef extract, placed on the edge of a knife blade, than can be obtained -from 800 gallons of the best beer brewed. - -Talking about riches, he suggested that King Solomon, with his wealth, -could have hired Andrew Carnegie as a chauffeur or J. Pierpont Morgan -to cut the lawns around his palace. "Money isn't all there is in this -world, but neither is beer," he said. "I don't want to see you students -get the booze habit, just because we are licensing men at so much per -year to make you staggering, reeling, drunken sots, murderers, thieves -and vagabonds." - -The double standard of living was bitterly attacked by the revivalist, -who said one of the crying needs of America was the recognition of a -single standard of living. - -"It makes no difference to God whether the sinner wears a plug hat -and pair of suspenders or a petticoat and a willow plume. No man who -deliberately drugs a girl and sends her into a life of shame ought to -be permitted in good society. He ought to be shot at sunrise." This -sentiment evoked a tremendous round of applause, and cries of "Amen!" -and "Good, Bill!" were not infrequent. - -"The avenging God is on his trail and the man who wrecks women's lives -is going to crack brimstone on the hottest stone in hell, praise God," -the speaker continued. "If we are to conciliate this unthinkable and -unspeakable practice of vampires feeding on women's virtue, we might as -well back-pedal in the progress of the nations. The virtue of womanhood -is the rampart of our civilization and we must not let it be betrayed." - -When the invitation was given after the night meeting, for men -who wanted to dedicate themselves to cleaner, nobler manhood to -rise, nearly the entire body, visibly moved by the words of the -preacher, rose to its feet. Then, with a daring which prim and -conservative Philadelphia had not thought possible in this citadel -of intellectuality and conventionality, Sunday gave the invitation -to the students who would begin a new life by confessing Christ to -come forward. Accounts vary as to the number who went up and grasped -the evangelist's hand. All reporters seemed to be carried away by the -thrill of the occasion. Many reported that hundreds went forward. The -most conservative report was that 175 young men took this open stand of -confession of Jesus Christ. - -The University weekly, _Old Penn_, in its issue of the following -Saturday summarized the Billy Sunday visit in pages of contributions. -These three paragraphs are the sober judgment of those best informed -from the University standpoint: - - The results of Mr. Sunday's visit within the University have - been nothing short of marvelous. The Provost has been receiving - congratulations from trustees, business men, lawyers, members of the - faculty and prominent undergraduates. Several whole fraternities have - taken action leading to higher living in every line. Drink has been - completely excluded from class banquets. Students are joining the - churches, and religion has been the paramount topic of conversation - throughout the entire University. - - Under the leadership of the University Christian Association, - the church leaders of Philadelphia of all denominations have been - canvassing their own students in the University and have found most - hearty response to everything that has to do with good living. The - effect is really that of a religious crusade, and the result is of - that permanent sort which expresses itself in righteousness of life. - At the close of the night meeting on Monday, about 1,000 students - arose to their feet in answer to Mr. Sunday's invitation to live the - Christian life in earnest, or to join for the first time the Christian - way of life. Those who have called upon the students who took this - stand have found that it was genuine, and not in any sense due to a - mere emotional movement. Mr. Sunday's appeal seems to be almost wholly - to the will and conscience, but it is entirely based upon the movement - of the Holy Spirit of God. - - No one who has ever addressed the students of the University of - Pennsylvania on vital religion has ever approached the success which - was attained by Mr. Sunday in reaching the students, and without doubt - this visit is only the opening up of a marvelous opportunity for Mr. - Sunday to reach the students of the entire country, especially those - of our great cosmopolitan universities. - -The editor of _Old Penn_ asked opinions from members of the faculty and -undergraduate body. Dean Edward C. Kirk, M.D., D.D.S., of the Dental -Department, said in his appraisal of the Sunday visit: - - If, as according to some of the critics, the impression that he has - made is but temporary and the enthusiasm which he has created is only - a momentary impulse, even so, the success of his accomplishment lies - in the fact that he has produced results where others have failed to - make a beginning. The University ought to have the uplifting force not - only of a Billy Sunday, but a Billy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and - every other day in the week. - -Of the students who testified in print, one, a prominent senior, wrote: - - - Mr. Sunday awoke in me a realization of my evil practices and sins - so forcefully that I am going to make a determined effort to give - them up and to make amends for the past. From my many conversations - with fellow-students I find that this is what Mr. Sunday did. If he - did not directly cause the student to come forward and take a stand, - every student at least was aroused to think about this all-important - question in a light that he had not seriously considered it in before. - The undergraduate body, as a whole, is glad that Mr. Sunday came to - Philadelphia. - -A Christian worker from the Law School gave his opinion as follows: - - I have been connected with the University of Pennsylvania for six - years, and for the greater part of this time have been in close - touch with the work of the Christian Association. The influence of - the Association seems to be increasing constantly, but Billy Sunday - accomplished in one day what the Association would be proud to have - accomplished in one year. To my mind, Mr. Sunday's visit marks the - beginning of a new epoch--the Renaissance of religious work of the - University. - -That is the sort of thing that occupied pages of the official -publication of the University, following the evangelist's visit. This -day's work attracted the attention not only of Philadelphia newspapers, -but the religious press throughout the country quite generally -commented upon it. Dr. Mosley H. Williams graphically reviewed it in -the _Congregationalist_. - - The University of Pennsylvania, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, - is the fourth in age of American universities, antedated only by - Harvard, Yale, and Princeton by one year. It is located in a city of - a million and three-quarters people. It now enrolls 6,632 students, - representing every state in the Union, and fifty-nine foreign - countries. There are 250 from Europe and Asia, and 150 from Latin - America; so that in the cosmopolitanism of its make-up, probably no - American university equals it. Its Young Men's Christian Association - employs twenty-seven secretaries, its Bible classes on week days - gather 650 students, and every Fraternity House has its own Bible - Class. But attendance upon daily prayers is not obligatory, and less - than a hundred, on an average, are seen at those services. - - Into this cosmopolitan University Billy Sunday came like a cyclone. - After preaching in Scranton three times on the Sabbath, to audiences - aggregating 30,000 people, he traveled all night, reached Philadelphia - Monday morning, took an automobile spin to the baseball park, where he - was a famous player twenty years ago, and preached three times in the - University of Pennsylvania gymnasium, which was seated with chairs, - and accommodated 3,000 hearers. - - There were three services--noon, afternoon and evening. Tickets were - issued, red, white and blue, each good for one service, and that one - exclusively. Not a person was admitted without a ticket. The long - lines reached squares away, and the police kept the people moving in - order. - - What does such a spectacle mean in a great old university, in a great - city? Such a student body knows slang, and athleticism, and all sorts - of side plays. No doubt there was plenty of criticism and questioning; - but a spectator who had his eyes and ears and mind open, would say, - that in getting a response to the religious appeal, Billy Sunday's - Monday in the University of Pennsylvania scored high. - - This effort for quickening religious interests in the University was - not a spasmodic effort for one day; there had been the most careful - preparations beforehand, in consultation with leading ministers of all - denominations in the city, to seek out students of every denomination. - Lists were carefully made and cards put in the hands of ministers and - Christian workers, with the understanding that all the young men of - the University should be visited in a friendly and Christian spirit by - representatives of various churches. The results, of course, remain to - be seen, but after this effort, no student need say, "No man cares for - my soul." - -The conclusion of the whole matter, of course, is that the old-time -religion, the gospel of our fathers and our mothers, is still the -deepest need of all sorts and conditions of men. The religion that -saved the outcast in the gutter is adequate to redeem the man in the -university. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -The Christian's Daily Helper - - Too much of the work of the Church today is like a squirrel in a - cage--lots of activity, but no progress.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -In the course of one of his campaigns, Sunday sweeps the arc of the -great Christian doctrines. While he stresses ever and again the -practical duties of the Christian life, yet he makes clear that the -reliance of the Christian for all that he hopes to attain in character -and in service is upon the promised Helper sent by our Lord, the -ever-present Holy Spirit. One of the evangelist's greatest sermons is -upon this theme, and no transcript of his essential message would be -complete without it. - - -"THE HOLY SPIRIT" - -The personality, the divinity and the attributes of the Holy Ghost -afford one of the most inspiring, one of the most beneficial examples -in our spiritual life. We are told that when the Holy Spirit came at -Pentecost, he came as the rushing of a mighty wind and overurging -expectancy. When Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, of John, out -from the expanse of heaven was seen to float the Spirit of God like a -snowflake, and they heard a sound as of whirring wings, and the Holy -Spirit in the form of a dove hovered over the dripping locks of Christ. -Neither your eyes nor mine will ever behold such a scene; neither will -our ears ever hear such a sound again. You cannot dissect or weigh the -Holy Spirit, nor analyze him as a chemist may analyze material matter -in his laboratory, but we can all feel the pulsing of the breath of his -eternal love. - -The Holy Spirit is a personality; as much a personality as Christ, or -you or I. "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will -guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself." He is to -us what Jesus was when he was on earth. Jesus always speaks of the Holy -Spirit in the future tense. He said, "It is expedient that I go away; -if I go not away the Spirit will not come. It is expedient for you that -I go away, but when I am gone, then I will send Him unto you who is -from the Father." So we are living today in the beneficence of the Holy -Spirit. - - -No Universal Salvation - -I do not believe in this twentieth-century theory of the universal -fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. We are all made of one -blood--that is true, physically speaking; we are all related. I am -talking about the spiritual, not the physical. You are not a child of -God unless you are a Christian; then you are a child of God--if you are -a Christian. - -Samson with the Holy Spirit upon him could take the jawbone of an ass -and lay dead a thousand Philistines. Samson without the Holy Spirit was -as weak as a new-born babe, and they poked his eyes out and cut off his -locks. And so with the Church and her members. Without the Holy Spirit -you are as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, simply four walls and -a roof, and a pipe organ and a preacher to do a little stunt on Sunday -morning and evening. I tell you, Christian people, that with the Holy -Spirit there is no power on earth or in hell that can stand before the -Church of Jesus Christ. And the damnable, hell-born, whisky-soaked, -hog-jowled, rum-soaked moral assassins have damned this community long -enough. Now it is time it was broken up and it is time to do something. - -There are three classes in the Church, as I have looked at it from my -standpoint. The first are those in the Church personally who want to be -saved, but they are not concerned about other people. They do not give -any help to other people; they don't lie awake at night praying for -other people that they may be brought to the Lord. - -The second class are going to depend upon human wisdom. There is no -such thing as latent power, expressed or implied--power is just as -distinctive in an individual as the electricity in these lights. If -these globes are without a current they would be nothing but glass -bulbs, fit for nothing but the scrap heap. Without the Holy Spirit you -are as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, and a third-rate amusement -parlor, with religion left out. - -The third class are church members not from might and honor and power, -but from the Spirit. - -While at Pentecost one sermon saved 3,000 people, now it takes 3,000 -sermons to get one old buttermilk-eyed, whisky-soaked blasphemer. - - -Happiest Nation on Earth - -We have our churches, our joss houses, our tabernacles; we have got the -wisdom of the orientals, the ginger, vim, tabasco sauce, peppering of -the twentieth century; we have got all of that, and I do not believe -that there are any people beneath the sun who are better fed, better -paid, better clothed, better housed, or any happier than we are beneath -the stars and stripes--no nation on earth. There are lots of things -that could be eliminated to make us better than we are today. We are -the happiest people in God's world. - -Out in Iowa, a fellow said to me: "Mr. Sunday, we ought to be better -organized." Just think of that, we ought to be better organized. Now -listen to me, my friends! Listen to me! There is so much machinery in -the churches today that you can hear it squeak. - -Drop into a young people's meeting. The leader will say in a weak, -effeminate, apologetic, minor sort of way, that there was a splendid -topic this evening but he had not had much time for preparation. It -is superfluous for him to say that; you could have told that. He goes -along and tells how happy he is to have you there to take part this -evening, making this meeting interesting. Some one gets up and reads -a poem from the _Christian Endeavor World_ and then they sing No. 38. -They get up and sing: - - "Oh, to be nothing--nothing, - Only to lie at His feet." - -We used to sing that song, but I found out that people took it so -literally that I cut it out. - -Then a long pause, and some one says, "Let us sing No. 52." So they get -up and then some one starts, - - "Throw out the life line, - Throw out the life line." - -They haven't got strength enough to put up a clothesline. Another long -pause, and then you hear, "Have all taken part that feel free to do so? -We have a few minutes left. So let us sing No. 23." Then another long -pause. "I hear the organ prelude; it is time for us to close, now let -us all repeat together, 'The Lord keep watch between me and thee, while -we are absent one from another.'" - -I tell you God has got a hard job on his hands. Ever hear anything like -that? - - -Ambassadors of God - -Believe that God Almighty can do something. Don't whine around as -though God were a corpse, ready for the undertaker. God is still on -the job. The Holy Spirit is needed to bring man into spiritual touch -with God; to make man realize that he is a joint representative -of God on earth today. Do you ever realize that you are God's -representative--God's ambassador? - -And as we are God's ambassadors why should we fear what the devil may -do? Can it be that you fail to realize his power? Or are you so blind -to the spiritual that you can't see that you need God's help? Let me -ask you one question: Are you ready to surrender to him? A man said -to me: "It was a mighty little thing to drive Adam and Eve out of the -Garden of Eden because they ate an apple." It wasn't the fruit. It was -the principle, whether man should bow to God or God bow to man. That -act was an act of disobedience. You may say it was a mighty little -thing for England to go to war with us because we threw some tea into -Boston harbor. We didn't go to war over the tea. We said: "You can't -brew tea in the East India Company and pour it down our throats." It -was the principle we went to war about, not the price of tea, and we -fought it out. Are you ready to surrender? You, who are in rebellion -against God? You, who are in rebellion against the authority of God's -government? Are you ready to do his will? - -A good many people suppose that when they have accepted Jesus Christ -as their Saviour and joined the Church that is all there is to the -Christian life. As well might a student who has just matriculated -imagine that he has finished his education. Nobody has reached a stage -in the Christian life from which he cannot go further unless he is -in the coffin--and then it's all over. To accept Christ, to join the -Church, is only to begin. It is the starting of the race, not the -reaching of the goal. There are constant and increasing blessings if -you are willing to pay the price. - -I don't care when or where you became a church member, if the -Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, is not with you, you are a failure. - -This power of the Spirit is meant for all who are Christians. It is a -great blessing for the Presbyterian elder as well as for the preacher. -I know some Methodist stewards who need it. Deacons would "deak" better -if they had it. It is a great blessing for the deacon and the members -of the prudential committee, and it is just as great a blessing for the -man in the pew who holds no office. To hear some people talk you would -think that the Holy Spirit is only for preachers. God sets no double -standard for the Christian life. There's nothing in the Bible to show -that the people may live differently from the man in the pulpit. - - -Holy Spirit a Person - -I once heard a doctor of divinity pray for the Holy Spirit, and he -said: "Send it upon us now." He was wrong, doubly wrong. The Holy -Spirit is not an impersonal thing. He is a person, not an "it." And the -Holy Spirit has always been here since the days of Pentecost. He does -not come and go. He is right here in the world and his power is at the -command of all who will put themselves into position to use it. - -A university professor was greeted by a friend of mine who took him -by the hand, and said: "What do you think of the Holy Spirit?" The -professor answered that he regarded the Holy Spirit as an influence for -good, a sort of emanation from God. My friend talked to him and tried -to show him his mistake, and a few months later he met him again. "What -do you think of the Holy Spirit now?" he asked. The professor answered: -"Well, I know that the Holy Spirit is a person. Since I talked with -you and have come to that conviction, I have succeeded in bringing -sixty-three students to Christ." - -A great many people think the Holy Spirit comes and goes again, and -quote from the Acts, where it says that Peter was filled with the Holy -Spirit. Well, if you will find that Peter had been doing things right -along, that showed he had been filled with the Holy Spirit all the -time. Acts, second chapter and fourth verse, we read: "And they were -all filled with the Holy Spirit." You have no right, nor have I, to -say that the Holy Spirit ever left any one. We have no right to seek -to find Scripture to bolster up some little theory of our own. We must -take the Word of God for it, just as we find it written there. Now, at -Pentecost, Peter had said: "Repent, and be baptized for the remission -of sins." Then he promised them that the Holy Spirit would come and -fill them. Now we have the fulfilment of the promise. - -Who were filled with the Holy Spirit? Peter and James and John? No--the -people. That is the record of the filling with the Holy Spirit of the -three thousand who were converted at Pentecost, not the filling of -Peter and James and John. - -If the Spirit remains forever, why doesn't his power always show -itself? Why haven't you as much power with God as the one hundred and -twenty had at Pentecost? There are too many frauds, too much trash in -the Church. It is because the people are not true to God. They are -disobeying him. They are not right with him yet. - -I don't know just how the Holy Spirit will come, but Jesus said we -should do even greater works than he did. What are you doing? You are -not doing such works now. - - -The Last Dispensation - -We find the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. When the prophets spoke -they were moved by him. God seems to have spoken to man in three -distinct dispensations. Once it was through the covenant with Abraham, -then it was through Moses and under the Mosaic dispensation, and -finally it is through his own son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came -into the world, proved that he is the Son of God, suffered, died and -was buried, rose again, and sent his Holy Comforter. This is the last -dispensation. There is no evidence that after the Holy Spirit once -came, he ever left the world. He is here now, ready to help you to -overcome your pride, and your diffidence that has kept you from doing -personal work, and is willing and ready to lead you into a closer -relationship with Jesus. - -But you say, some are elected and some are not. On that point I agree -with Henry Ward Beecher. He said: "The elect are those who will and the -non-elect are those who won't." - -But you go in for culture--"culchah." If you are too cultured to be -a Christian, God pity you. You may call it culture. I have another -name for it. Is there anything about Christianity that is necessarily -uncultured? I think the best culture in the world is among the -followers of Jesus Christ. - -But you say: "Ignorance is a bar to some." No sir. Billy Bray, the -Cornish miner, was an illiterate man. He was asked if he could read -writing, and he answered: "No, I can't even read readin'." Yet Billy -Bray did a wonderful work for God in Wales and England. Ignorance is -no bar to religion, or to usefulness for Jesus. - -Some time ago, over in England, a man died in the poor house. He had -had a little property, just a few acres of land, and it hadn't been -enough to support him. After he died the new owner dug a well on it, -and at a depth of sixty-five feet he found a vein of copper so rich -that it meant a little fortune. If the man who died had only known of -that vein, he need not have lived in poverty. There are many who are -just as ignorant of the great riches within their reach. Lots of people -hold checks on the bank of heaven, and haven't faith enough to present -them at the window to have them cashed. - - -"Little Things" - -You may say, "I have failed in something, but it is a little thing." -Oh, these little things! Bugs are little things, but they cost this -country $800,000,000 in one year. Birds are little enemies of the bugs, -and birds are little things, and if it weren't for the birds we would -starve in two years. If there's anything that makes me mad it is to see -a farmer grab a shotgun and kill a chicken hawk. That hawk is worth a -lot more than some old hen you couldn't cook tender if you boiled it -for two days. That chicken hawk has killed all the gophers, mice and -snakes it could get its claws on and it has come to demand from the -farmer the toll that is rightfully due to it, for what it has done to -rid the land of pests. - -Why is it that with all our universities and colleges we haven't -produced a book like the Bible? It was written long ago by people who -lived in a little country no bigger than some of our states. The reason -was that God was behind the writers. The book was inspired. - -When good old Dr. Backus, of Hamilton College, lay dying the doctor -whispered to Mrs. Backus, saying, "Dr. Backus is dying." The old -man heard and looked up with a smile on his face and asked: "Did I -understand you to say that I am dying?" - -Sadly the doctor said: "Yes, I'm sorry, you have no more than half an -hour to live." - -Dr. Backus smiled again. "Then it will soon be over," he said. "Take -me out of bed and put me on my knees. I want to die praying for the -students of Hamilton College." They lifted him out and he knelt down -and covered his face with his transparent hands, and prayed "Oh, God, -save the students of Hamilton College." - -For a time he continued to pray, then the doctor said, "He is getting -weaker." They lifted him back upon the bed, and his face was whiter -than the pillows. Still his lips moved. "Oh, God, save----" Then the -light of life went out, and he finished the prayer in the presence of -Jesus. What did his dying prayer do? Why, almost the entire student -body of Hamilton College accepted Jesus Christ. - -If you haven't the power of the Spirit you have done something wrong. I -don't know what it is--it's none of my business. It's between you and -God. It is only my duty to call upon you to confess and get right with -him. - -A man went to a friend of mine and said: "I don't know what is wrong -with me. I teach a Sunday-school class of young men, and I have tried -to bring them to Jesus, and I have failed. Can you tell me why?" - -"Yes," was the answer. "There's something wrong with you. You've done -something wrong." - -The man hesitated, but finally he said, "You're right. Years ago I was -cashier in a big business house, and one time the books balanced and -there was some money left over. I took that money and I have kept it. -That was twelve years ago. Here is the money in this envelope." - -"Take it back to the owner," said my friend. "It's not yours, and it's -not mine." - -"But I can't do that," said the man. "I am making a salary of $22,000 -a year now, and I have a wife and daughters, and my firm will never -employ a dishonest man." - -"Well, that's your business," said my friend. "I have advised you, and -that's all I can do; but God will never forgive you until you've given -that money back." - -The man sank into a chair and covered his eyes for a while. Then he got -up and said, "I'll do it." He took a Chesapeake and Ohio train and went -to Philadelphia, and went to a great merchant prince in whose employ he -had been, and told his story. The merchant prince shut and locked the -door. "Let us pray," he said. They knelt together, the great merchant's -arm about his visitor; and when they got up the great merchant said: -"Go in peace. God bless you." - -[Illustration: "I'VE WALKED SIXTY MILES TO LOOK UPON HER FACE AGAIN"] - -On the next Sunday the man who had confessed took the Bible on his -knee as he sat before his class and said to them: "Young men, I often -wondered why I couldn't win any of you to Christ. My life was wrong, -and I've repented and made it right." That man won his entire class -for Christ, and they joined Dr. McKibben's church at Walnut Hills, -Cincinnati, Ohio. - -If you would get right with God what would be the result? Why, you -would save your city. - - -The Fame of a Christian - -Some time ago the funeral of a famous woman was held in London. Edward, -who was king then, came with his consort, Alexandra, to look upon her -face, and dukes and duchesses and members of the nobility came. Then -the doors were opened and the populace came in by thousands. Down the -aisle came a woman whose face and dress bore the marks of poverty. By -one hand she led a child, and in her arms she carried another. As she -reached the coffin she set down the child she was carrying and bent her -head upon the glass above the quiet face in the coffin, and her old -fascinator fell down upon it. - -"Come," said a policeman, "you must move on." - -But the woman stood by the coffin. "I'll not move on," she said, "for I -have a right here." - -The policeman said, "You must move on. It's orders;" but the woman -said, "No, I've walked sixty miles to look upon her face again. She -saved my two boys from being drunkards." The woman in the coffin was -Mrs. Booth, wife of the great leader of the Salvation Army. - -I'd rather have some reclaimed drunkard, or some poor girl redeemed -from sin and shame, stand by my coffin and rain down tears of gratitude -upon it, than to have a monument of gold studded with precious stones, -that would pierce the skies. - -"If ye love me keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he -shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -A Victorious Sermon - - If you fall into sin and you're a sheep you'll get out; if you're a - hog you'll stay there, just like a sheep and a hog when they fall into - the mud.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -On the walls of Sir Walter Scott's home at Abbottsford hangs the -claymore of the redoubtable Rob Roy, one of the most interesting -objects in that absorbing library of the great novelist. A peculiar -interest attaches to the instruments of great achievement, as the -scimitar of Saladin, or the sword of Richard the Lion-Hearted, or the -rifle of Daniel Boone. Something of this same sort of interest clings -to a particular form of words that has wrought wondrously. Apart -altogether from its contents, Sunday's sermon on "The Unpardonable -Sin" is of peculiar interest to the reader. This is the message -that has penetrated through the indifference and skepticism and -self-righteousness and shameless sin of thousands of men and women. -Many thousands of persons have, under the impulse of these words, -abandoned their old lives and crowded forward up the sawdust trail to -grasp the preacher's hand, as a sign that they would henceforth serve -the Lord Christ. - -"The Unpardonable Sin" is a good sample of Sunday's sermons. It -shows the character of the man's mind, and that quality of sound -reasonableness which we call "common sense." There are no excesses, no -abnormalities, no wrenchings of Scripture in this terrific utterance. - - -"THE UNPARDONABLE SIN" - -"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be -forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not -be forgiven unto men. - -"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be -forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall -not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to -come." - -I'd like to know where anybody ever found any authority for a belief in -future probation. Jesus Christ was either human or he was divine. And -if he was only human then I am not obligated to obey his word any more -than I am that of any other philosopher. - -The Pharisees charged Jesus with being in league with the devil. They -said to him, "You have a devil." They grew bolder in their denunciation -and said: "You do what you do through Beelzebub, the prince of devils." -Jesus said: "How is that so? If what I do I do through the devil, -explain why it is I am overthrowing the works of the devil. If I am a -devil and if what I do is through the devil, then I wouldn't be working -to hurt the works of the devil. I would not be doing what I am doing to -destroy the works of the devil, but I would be working to destroy the -works of God." - -From that day forth they dared not ask him any questions. - -I know there are various opinions held by men as to what they believe -constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost. There are those who think -it could have been committed only by those who heard Jesus Christ speak -and saw him in the flesh. If that be true then neither you nor I are -in danger, for neither has ever seen Jesus in the flesh nor heard him. -Another class think that it has been committed since the days of Jesus, -but at extremely rare intervals; and still a third class think they -have committed it and they spend their lives in gloom and dread and are -perfectly useless to themselves and the community. - -And yet I haven't the slightest doubt but that there are thousands -that come under the head of my message, who are never gloomy, never -depressed, never downcast; their conscience is at ease, their spirits -are light and gay, they eat three meals a day and sleep as sound as a -babe at night; nothing seems to disturb them, life is all pleasure and -song. - - -What It Is - -If you will lay aside any preconceived ideas or opinions which you -may have had or still have as to what you imagine, think or believe -constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost, or the unpardonable sin, -and if you will listen to me, for I have read every sermon I could ever -get my hands upon the subject, and have listened to every man I have -ever had an opportunity to hear preach, and have read everything the -Bible has taught on the subject. - -I do not say that my views on the subject are infallible, but I have -wept and prayed and studied over it, and if time will permit and my -strength will allow and your patience endure, I will try and ask and -answer a few questions. What is it? Why will God not forgive it? - -It is not swearing. If swearing were the unpardonable sin, lots of -men in heaven would have to go to hell and there are multitudes on -earth on their way to heaven who would have to go to hell. It is -not drunkenness. There are multitudes in heaven that have crept and -crawled out of the quagmires of filth and the cesspools of iniquity and -drunkenness. Some of the brightest lights that ever blazed for God have -been men that God saved from drunkenness. - -It's not adultery. Jesus said to the woman committing adultery and -caught in the very act: "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more." - -It isn't theft. He said to Zaccheus, "This day is salvation come upon -thy house." Zaccheus had been a thief. - -It's not murder. Men's hands have been red with blood and God has -forgiven them. The Apostle Paul's hands were red with blood. - -What is it? To me it is plain and simple. It is constant and continual, -and final rejection of Jesus Christ as your Saviour. God's offer of -mercy and salvation comes to you and you say, "No," and you push it -aside. I do know that there is such a thing as the last call to every -man or woman. God says that his spirit will not always strive with man, -and when a man or woman says "No" as God's spirit strives for the last -time it forever seals your doom. - -It is no special form of sin, no one act. It might be swearing, it -might be theft. Any one becomes unpardonable if God keeps calling on -you to forsake that sin and you keep on refusing to forsake it, and if -you don't then he will withdraw and let you alone and that sin will -become unpardonable, for God won't ask you again to forsake it. - -It is no one glaring act, but the constant repetition of the same -thing. There will come a time when you commit that sin once too often. - -It is a known law of mind that truth resisted loses its power on the -mind that resists it. You hear a truth the first time and reject it. -The next time the truth won't seem so strong and will be easier to -resist. God throws a truth in your face. You reject it. He throws -again; you reject again. Finally God will stop throwing the truth at -you and you will have committed the unpardonable sin. - - "There is a line by us unseen; - It crosses every path; - It is God's boundary between - His patience and his wrath. - - "To cross that limit is to die, - To die as if by stealth. - It may not dim your eye, - Nor pale the glow of health, - - "Your conscience may be still at ease; - Your spirits light and gay; - That which pleases still may please, - And care be thrown away; - - "But on that forehead God hath set - Indelibly a mark, - Unseen by man; for man as yet - Is blind and in the dark. - - "Indeed, the doomed one's path below - May bloom as Edens bloom; - He does not, will not know, - Nor believe that he is doomed." - -Over in Scotland there are men who earn their living by gathering the -eggs of birds, laid upon ledges on rocks away below the cliff top. They -fasten a rope to a tree, also to themselves, then swing back and forth -and in upon the ledge of rock. When a man was doing that same thing -years ago, the rope beneath his arms became untied, and the protruding -rock caused the rope to hang many feet beyond his reach. - -The man waited for help to come, but none came. Darkness came, the -light dawned, and he gave himself up to the fate of starvation, which -he felt inevitably awaiting him, when a breeze freshened and the -dangling rope began to vibrate. As the wind increased in velocity it -increased the vibration of the rope and as it would bend in, he said: -"If I miss it, I die; if I seize it, it's my only chance," and with -a prayer to God as the rope bent in, he leaped out of the chasm and -seized it and made his way hand over hand to the top, and when he -reached it his hair was as white as the driven snow. - -There is one cord that swings through this old world today--the Holy -Spirit. With every invitation it swings farther away. We are living in -the last dispensation, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and God is -speaking to the world through the Holy Spirit today. - - -Resisting the Truth - -By every known law of the mind, conversion must be effected by the -influence of the truth on the mind. Every time you resist the truth -the next time you hear it, it loses its force on your mind. And every -time you hear a truth and withstand it, then you become stronger in -your power to resist the truth. We all know this, that each resistance -strengthens you against the truth. When a man hears the truth and he -resists it, the truth grows weaker and he grows stronger to resist it. - -No matter what Jesus Christ did the Jews refused to believe. He had -performed wonderful deeds but they wouldn't believe, so when Lazarus -was dead, he said: "Lazarus, come forth," and then turned to the Jews -and said: "Isn't that evidence enough that I am the Son of God?" and -they cried: "Away with him." One day he was walking down the hot dusty -road and he met a funeral procession. The mourners were bearing the -body of a young man and his mother was weeping. He told them to place -the coffin on the ground and said: - -"Young man arise," and he arose. Then he asked the Pharisees: "Is that -not proof enough that I am the Son of God, that I make the dead to -arise?" and they cried: "Away with him." So no matter what Jesus did, -the Jews refused to believe him. No matter what Jesus Christ says or -does today, you'll refuse to accept, and continue to rush pell-mell to -eternal damnation. - - -"Too Late" - -Jesus Christ gives you just as much evidence today. Down in Indiana, my -friend, Mrs. Robinson, was preaching. I don't remember the town, but I -think it was Kokomo, and I remember the incident, and the last day she -tried to get the leader of society there to give her heart to God. She -preached and then went down in the aisle and talked to her. Then she -went back to the platform and made her appeal from there. Again she -went to the girl, but she still refused. As Mrs. Robinson turned to go -she saw her borrow a pencil from her escort and write something in the -back of a hymn book. - -A few years afterward Mrs. Robinson went back to the town and was -told the girl was dying. They told her the physicians had just held a -consultation and said she could not live until night. Mrs. Robinson -hurried to her home. The girl looked up, recognized her and said: "I -didn't send for you. You came on your own account, and you're too -late." To every appeal she would reply: "You're too late." Finally she -said: "Go look in the hymn book in the church." - -They hurried to the church and looked over the hymn books and found in -the back of one her name and address and these words, "I'll run the -risk; I'll take my chance." That was the last call to her. Not any one -sin is the unpardonable sin, but it may be that constant repetition, -over and over again until God will say: "Take it and go to hell." - -Who can commit it? I used to think that only the vile, the profane were -the people who could commit it. - -Whom did Jesus warn? The Pharisees. And who were they? The best men, -morally, in Jerusalem. - -Who can commit it? Any man or woman who says "No" to Jesus Christ. You -may even defend the Bible. You may be the best man or woman, morally, -in the world. Your name may be synonymous with virtue and purity, but -let God try to get into your heart, let him try to get you to walk down -the aisle and publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ, and your heart and -lips are sealed like a bank vault, and God hasn't been able to pull you -to your feet. And God won't keep on begging you to do it. - -Something may say to you, "I ought to be a Christian." This is the -dispensation of the Holy Spirit. God spoke in three dispensations. -First, through the old Mosaic law. Then Jesus Christ came upon this -earth and lived and the Jews and Gentiles conspired to kill him. Then -the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost and God is speaking through the -Holy Spirit today. The Holy Spirit is pressing you to be a Christian. -It takes the combined efforts of the Trinity to keep you out of -hell--God the Father to provide the plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit -to convict, Jesus Christ to redeem you through his blood, and your -acceptance and repentance to save you. Sin is no trifle. - - -Representative of the Trinity - -The only representative of the Trinity in the world today is the Holy -Ghost. Jesus has been here, but he is not here now--that is, in flesh -and blood. The Holy Ghost is here now. When he leaves the world, -good-bye. - -There was an old saint of God, now in glory. He was holding meetings -one time and a young man came down the aisle and went so far as to -ask him to pray for him. He said: "Let's settle it now," but the -young man refused and told him to pray for him. Years afterwards, in -Philadelphia, the old saint was in a hotel waiting for his card to -be taken up to the man he wanted to see. He looked in the bar-room -door. There was a young man ordering a drink. The two saw each other's -reflections in the French plate behind the bar, and the young man came -out and said: "How do you do?" The old man spoke to him. - -The young fellow said: "I suppose you don't remember me?" and the old -saint had to admit that he did not. - -The young fellow asked him if he remembered the meeting eleven years -before in New York when a young man came down the aisle and asked him -to pray for him. He said he was the young man. The old saint said: -"From what I have just seen I would suppose that you did not settle it." - -The young fellow said: "I did not and I never expect to. I believe -there is a hell and I'm going there as fast as I can go." - -The old man begged him to keep still, but he said: "It is true. If -Jesus Christ would come through that door now I would spit in his -face." - -The old man said: "Don't talk that way. I would not stand to have you -talk about my wife that way, and I will not stand it to have you talk -about Christ that way." The young fellow said it was all true. The old -fellow said: "Maybe it is all true, but I do not like to hear it." The -young fellow said it was true, and that if he had a Bible he would tear -it up. With a string of oaths he went to the bar, took two or three -drinks and went out the door. - -Sometimes it may be utter, absolute indifference. Some can hear any -sermon and any song and not be moved. I'll venture that some of you -have not been convicted of sin for twenty-five years. Back yonder the -Spirit of God convicted you and you didn't yield. The first place I -ever preached, in the little town of Garner, in Hancock county, Iowa, a -man came down the aisle. I said, "Who's that?" and someone told me that -he was one of the richest men in the county. I asked him what I had -said to help him, and he said nothing. Then he told me that twenty-one -years ago he had gone to Chicago and sold his stock four hours before -he had to catch a train. Moody was in town and with a friend he had -gone and stood inside the door, listening to the sermon. When Moody -gave the invitation he handed his coat and hat to his friend and said -he was going down to give Moody his hand. The friend told him not to do -it, that he would miss his train, and then the railroad pass would be -no good after that day. He said he could afford to pay his way home. - -His friend told him not to go up there amid all the excitement, but to -wait and settle it at home. He said he had waited thirty-five years and -hadn't settled it at home, but the friend persisted against his going -forward and giving his heart to God. Finally the time passed and they -had to catch the train and the man hadn't gone forward. He told me that -he had never had a desire to give his heart to God until that time, -twenty-one years later, when he heard me preach. The Spirit called him -when he heard Moody, and then the Spirit did not call him again until -twenty-one years later, when he heard me. - -I have never said and I never will say that all unbelievers died in -agony. Man ordinarily dies as he has lived. If you have lived in -unbelief, ninety-nine cases out of one hundred you'll die that way. If -Christianity is a good thing to die with it is a good thing to live -with. - - -Death-bed Confessions - -I don't go much on these death-bed confessions. A death-bed confession -is like burning a candle at both ends and then blowing the smoke in the -face of Jesus. A death-bed confession is like drinking the cup of life -and then offering the dregs to Christ. I think it is one of the most -contemptible, miserable, low-down, unmanly and unwomanly things that -you can do, to keep your life in your own control until the last moment -and then try to creep into the kingdom on account of the long-suffering -and mercy of Jesus Christ. I don't say that none is genuine. But there -is only one on record in the Bible, and that was the first time the -dying thief had ever heard of Christ, and he accepted at once. So your -case is not analogous to this. You have wagon loads of sermons dumped -into you, but it's a mighty hard thing to accept in the last moment. If -you've lived without conviction, your friends ought not to get mad when -the preacher preaches your funeral sermon, if he doesn't put you in the -front row in heaven, with a harp in your hands and a crown on your head. - -God can forgive sins but you have got to comply with his requirements. -He is not willing that any shall perish, but he has a right to tell me -and you what to do to be saved. - -A doctor had been a practitioner for sixty years and he was asked -how many Godless men he had seen show any trace of concern on their -death-bed. He said he had kept track of three hundred and only three -had shown any real concern. That is appalling to me. You ordinarily die -as you have lived. - -A minister was called to a house of shame to be with a dying girl in -her last moments. He prayed and then looked at her face and saw no -signs of hope of repentance. He was led to pray again and this time he -was led to put in a verse of scripture, Isaiah 1:18: "Come now and let -us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, -they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they -shall be as wool." - -"Is that what the Bible says?" the girl asked. He said it was. "Would -you let me see it?" and the minister pointed it out to her. - -"Would you pray again and put in that verse?" the girl asked and as he -started she called, "Stop! Let me put my finger on that verse." The -minister prayed and when he looked again, he saw hope and pardon and -peace in the girl's face. "I'm so glad God made that 'scarlet,'" she -said, "for that means me." - -All manner of sins God will forgive. Then tell me why you will not come -when God says, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto -men." Great heavens! I can't understand how you sit still. - -But a man says: "Bill, will He forgive a murderer? My hands are red -with blood, although no one knows it." Didn't I say he forgave Paul? - - -A Forgiving God - -A friend of mine was preaching in Lansing, Michigan, one time, and -in the middle section of the church there was a man who made him so -nervous he couldn't watch him and preach. Nothing seemed to attract him -until he said, "Supposing there were a murderer here tonight, God would -forgive him if he accepted Christ," and the man grabbed the chair in -front of him at the word murderer and sat rigid throughout the sermon, -never taking his eyes from my friend. At the end of the meeting my -friend went down to him and asked him what was the matter, telling him -that he had made him so nervous he could hardly preach. The man said: -"I'm a murderer. I escaped through a technicality and I'm supporting -the widow and children, but I am a murderer." My friend brought him to -Jesus Christ and now that man is a power in the Church. All manner of -sins God says he will forgive. - -Some say: "Mr. Sunday, why is it that so few aged sinners are converts?" - -Infidels when asked this, seize upon it as a plan of attack. When God -begins to show his power, then the devil and all of the demons of hell -get busy. That's the best evidence in the world that these meetings are -doing good, when that bunch of knockers gets busy. Infidels sneer and -say: "How does it happen that when a man's mind has developed through -age and experience and contact with the world, and he has passed the -period of youthful enthusiasm, how does it happen that so few of them -are converted?" - -Religion makes its appeal to your sensibility, not to your intellect. -The way into the kingdom of heaven is heart first, not head first. God -is not an explanation; God is a revelation. - -A grain of corn is a revelation, but you can't explain it. You know -that if you put the vegetable kingdom in the mineral kingdom the -vegetable will be born again, but you can't explain it. Some of the -greatest things are revelations. Therefore, instead of being an -argument against religion, it is an argument for it. - -Don't you know that sixteen out of twenty who are converted are -converted before they are twenty years old? Don't you know that -eighteen out of thirty who are converted are converted before they are -thirty years old? Don't you know that? - -What does that prove? It proves that if you are not converted before -you are thirty years old the chances are about 100,000 to one that you -never will be converted. - - -Power of Revivals - -Most people are converted at special revival services. I want to -hurl this in the teeth, cram it down the throats of those who sneer -at revival efforts--preachers included. Almost nine-tenths of the -Christians at this meeting were converted at a revival. What does that -show? It shows that if you are thirty and have not been converted, the -chances are that if you are not converted at this revival you never -will be converted. - -If it weren't for revivals, just think of what hell would be like. Then -think of any low-down, God-forsaken, dirty gang knocking a revival. - -God says: "You can spurn my love and trample the blood under your -feet, but if you seek my pardon I will forgive you." You might have -been indifferent to the appeals of the minister, you might have been a -thief, or an adulterer, or a blasphemer, or a scoffer, and all that, -but God says: "I will forgive you." You might have been indifferent to -the tears of poor wife and children and friends, but if you will seek -God he will forgive you. - -But when He came down and revealed himself as the Son of God through -the Holy Spirit, if you sneer and say it is not true, your sin may -become unpardonable. If you don't settle it here you never will settle -it anywhere else. - -I will close with a word of comfort and a word of warning. If you have -a desire to be a Christian it is proof that the devil hasn't got you -yet. That is the comfort. Now for the warning: If you have that desire -thank God for it and yield to it. You may never have another chance. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -Eternity! Eternity! - - I tell you a lot of people are going to be fooled on the Day of - Judgment.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Only a man to whom has been given eloquence and a dramatic instinct -can drive home to the average mind the realities of eternity and its -relation to right living in this world and time. Under the title "What -Shall the End Be?" Sunday has widely circulated his message upon this -theme: - - -"WHAT SHALL THE END BE?" - -No book ever came by luck or chance. Every book owes its existence -to some being or beings, and within the range and scope of human -intelligence there are but three things--good, bad and God. All that -originates in intellect; all which the intellect can comprehend, must -come from one of the three. This book, the Bible, could not possibly -be the product of evil, wicked, godless, corrupt, vile men, for it -pronounces the heaviest penalties against sin. Like produces like, and -if bad men were writing the Bible they never would have pronounced -condemnation and punishment against wrong-doing. So that is pushed -aside. - -The holy men of old, we are told, spake as they were moved by the -Holy Ghost. Men do not attribute these beautiful and matchless and -well-arranged sentences to human intelligence alone, but we are told -that men spake as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. - -The only being left, to whom you, or I or any sensible person could -ascribe the origin of the Bible, is God, for here is a book, the -excellence of which rises above other books, like mountains above -molehills--a book whose brilliancy and life-giving power exceed the -accumulated knowledge and combined efforts of men, as the sun exceeds -the lamp, which is but a base imitation of the sun's glory. Here is -a book that tells me where I came from and where I am going, a book -without which I would not know of my origin or destiny, except as I -might glean it from the dim outlines of reason or nature, either or -both of which would be unsatisfactory to me. Here is a book that tells -me what to do and what not to do. - - -Men Believe in God - -Most men believe in God. Now and then you find a man who doesn't, and -he's a fool, for "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." -Most men have sense. Occasionally you will find a fool, or an infidel, -who doesn't believe in God. Most men believe in a God that will reward -the right and punish the wrong; therefore it is clear what attitude you -ought to assume toward my message tonight, for the message I bring to -you is not from human reason or intelligence, but from God's Book. - -"What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Now -listen, and I will try to help you. Israel's condition was desperate. -Peter told them that if they continued to break God's law, they would -merit his wrath. I can imagine him crying out in the words of Jeremiah: -"What will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?" I hear him cry in the -words of Solomon: "The way of the transgressor is hard." That seems to -have moved him, and I can hear him cry in the words of my text: "What -shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" - -There are those who did obey. Peter knew what their end would -be--blessings here and eternal life hereafter--but he said, "What shall -the end be of them that obey not?" - -A man said, "I cannot be a Christian. I cannot obey God." That is not -true. That would make God out a demon and a wretch. God says if you -are not a Christian you will be doomed. If God asked mankind to do -something, and he knew when he asked them that they could not do it, -and he told them he would damn them if they didn't do it, it would make -God out a demon and a wretch, and I will not allow you or any other man -to stand up and insult my God. You can be a Christian if you want to, -and it is your cussedness that you are unwilling to give up that keeps -you away from God. - -Supposing I should go on top of a building and say to my little baby -boy, "Fly up to me." If he could talk, he would say, "I can't." And -supposing I would say, "But you can; if you don't, I'll whip you to -death." When I asked him to do it, I knew he couldn't, yet I told him I -would whip him to death if he didn't, and in saying that I would, as an -earthly father, be just as reasonable as God would be if he should ask -you to do something you couldn't do, and though he knew when he asked -you that you couldn't do it, nevertheless would damn you if you didn't -do it. - -Don't tell God you can't. Just say you don't want to be a Christian, -that's the way to be a man. Just say, "I don't want to be decent; I -don't want to quit cussing; I don't want to quit booze-fighting; I -don't want to quit lying; I don't want to quit committing adultery. -If I should be a Christian I would have to quit all these things, -and I don't want to do it." Tell God you are not man enough to be a -Christian. Don't try to saddle it off on the Lord. You don't want to do -it, that's all; that's the trouble with you. - - -At the Cross - -A man in a town in Ohio came and handed one of the ministers a letter, -and he said, "I want you to read that when you get home." When the -minister got home he opened it and it read like this: - -"I was at the meeting last night, and somehow or other, the words -'What shall the end be?' got hold of me, and troubled me. I went to -bed, but couldn't sleep. I got up and went to my library. I took down -my books on infidelity and searched them through and searched through -the writings of Voltaire, and Darwin, and Spencer, and Strauss, and -Huxley, and Tyndall, and through the lectures of Ingersoll, but none of -them could answer the cry and longing of my heart, and I turn to you. -Is there help? Where will I find it?" And that man found it where every -man ever has, or ever will find it, down at the Cross of Jesus Christ, -and I have been praying God that might be the experience of many a man -and woman in this Tabernacle. - -Ever since God saved my soul and sent me out to preach, I have prayed -him to enable me to pronounce two words, and put into those words all -they will mean to you; if they ever become a reality, God pity you. One -word is "Lost," and the other is "Eternity." - -Ten thousand years from now we will all be somewhere. Ten thousand -times ten thousand times ten thousand years, the eternity has just -begun. Increase the multiple and you will only increase the truth. If -God should commission a bird to carry this earth, particle by particle, -to yonder planet, making a round trip once in a thousand years, and -if, after the bird had performed that task God should prolong its -life, and it would carry the world back, particle by particle, making -a round trip once in a thousand years, and put everything back as it -was originally, after it had accomplished its task, you would have been -five minutes in eternity; and yet you sit there with just a heart-beat -between you and the judgment of God. I have been praying that God would -enable me to pronounce those two words and put in them all they will -mean to you, that I might startle you from your lethargy. I prayed God, -too, that he might give me some new figure of speech tonight, that he -might impress my mind, that I, in turn, might impress your mind in such -a manner that I could startle you from your indifference and sin, until -you would rush to Jesus. - - -The Judgment of God - -What is your life? A hand's breadth--yes, a hair's breadth--yes, one -single heart-beat, and you are gone, and yet you sit with the judgment -of God hovering over you. "What shall the end be?" - -I never met any man or woman in my life who disbelieved in Christianity -but could not be classified under one of these two headings. - -First--They who, because of an utter disregard of God's claims upon -their lives, have, by and through that disregard, become poltroons, -marplots or degenerate scoundrels, and have thrown themselves beyond -the pale of God's mercy. - -Second--Men and women with splendid, noble and magnificent abilities, -which they have allowed to become absorbed in other matters, and they -do not give to the subjects of religion so much as passing attention. -They have the audacity to claim for themselves an intellectual -superiority to those who believe the Bible, which they sneeringly term -'that superstition.' But, listen! I will challenge you. If you will -bring to religion or to the divinity of Jesus, or the salvation of your -soul, the same honest inquiry you demand of yourself in other matters, -you will know God is God; you will know the Bible is the Word of God, -and you will know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You will know -that you are a sinner on the road to hell, and you will turn from your -sins. But you don't give to religion, you don't demand of yourself, -the same amount of research that you would demand of yourself if you -were going to buy a piece of property, to find out whether or not the -title was perfect. You wouldn't buy it if you didn't know the title was -without a flaw, and yet you will pass the Bible by and claim you have -more sense than the person who does investigate and finds out, accepts -and is saved. - - -Glad Tidings to All - -What is the Gospel that the people ought to obey it? It is good news, -glad tidings of salvation, through Jesus Christ. - -Oh, but somebody says, do you call the news of that book that I am on -the road to hell, good news? No, sir; that in itself is not good news, -but since it is the truth, the sooner you find out the better it will -be for you. - -Supposing you are wandering, lost in a swamp, and a man would come to -you and say: "You are lost." That wouldn't help you. But supposing the -man said: "You are lost; I am a guide; I know the way out. If you put -yourself in my care, I will lead you back to your home, back to your -loved ones." That would meet your condition. - -Now God doesn't tell you that you are lost, and on the road to hell, -and then leave you, but he tells you that you are on the road to hell, -and he says, "I have sent a guide, my Son, to lead you out, and to lead -you back to peace and salvation." That's good news, that God is kind -enough to tell you that you are lost, and on the road to hell, and that -he sends a guide, who, if you will submit, will lead you out of your -condition and lead you to peace and salvation. That's gospel; that's -good news that tells a man that he needn't go to hell unless he wants -to. - -When the Israelites were bitten by the serpents in the wilderness, -wasn't it good news for them to know that Moses had raised up a brazen -serpent and bid them all to look and be healed? - -When the flood came, wasn't it good news for Noah to know that he would -be saved in the ark? - -When the city of Jericho was going to fall, wasn't it good news to -Rahab. She had been kind and had hid two of God's servants who were -being pursued as spies. They were running across the housetops to -get away to the wall to drop down, and Rahab covered them, on top of -her house, with grass and corn, and when the men came they could not -find them. After the men had gone, Rahab gave them cord and lowered -them down the wall, and God said to her, "Because you did that for my -servants, I will save you and your household when I take the city of -Jericho. What I want you to do is to hang a scarlet line out of your -window and I will save all that are under your roof." Wasn't it good -news to her to know that she and all her household would be saved by -hanging a scarlet line out of the window? Never has such news been -published. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his -people from their sins." It was good news, but never has such news -reached the world as that man need not go to hell, for God has provided -redemption for them that will accept of it and be saved. - -[Illustration: REV. L. K. PEACOCK, ONE OF MR. SUNDAY'S ASSISTANTS, -PREACHING IN A MACHINE SHOP IN ONE OF THE NOONDAY MEETINGS THAT FORM AN -IMPORTANT PART OF ALL CAMPAIGNS.] - -Supposing a man owed you $5,000 and he had nothing to pay it with. You -would seize him and put him in jail, and supposing while there, your -own son would come and say: "Father, how much does he owe you?" "Five -thousand dollars." And your son would pay it and the man would be -released. - -Ah, my friends, hear me! We were all mortgaged to God, had nothing with -which to pay, and inflexible justice seized upon us and put us in the -prison of condemnation. God took pity on us. He looked around to find -some one to pay our debts. Jesus Christ stepped forward and said: "I'll -go; I'll become bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh." God gave -man the Mosaic law. Man broke the law. - -If a Jew violated the law he was compelled to bring a turtle dove, or -pigeon, or heifer, or bullock to the high priest for a sacrifice, and -the shedding of its blood made atonement for his sins. Once a year the -high priest would kill the sacrifice, putting it on the altar. That -made atonement for the sins of the people during the year. Then they -would put their hand on the head of the scape-goat, and lead it out -into the wilderness. - - -The Atonement of Christ - -Jesus Christ came into the world, born of a woman. When he shed his -blood, he made atonement for our sins. God says, "If you will accept -Jesus Christ as your Saviour, I will put it to your credit as though -you kept the law." And it's Jesus Christ or hell for every man or woman -on God Almighty's dirt. There is no other way whereby you can be saved. -It's good news that you don't have to go to hell, unless you want to. - -When the North German Lloyd steamer, the _Elbe_, went down in the -North Sea, years and years ago, only nineteen of her passengers and -crew were saved. Among them was a county commissioner who lived in -Cleveland, Ohio, and when he reached the little English town he sent -a cablegram to his wife, in which he said, "The _Elbe_ is lost; I -am saved." She crumpled that cablegram, ran down the street to her -neighbors, and as she ran she waved it above her head and cried, "He's -saved! He's saved!" That cablegram is framed, and hangs upon the walls -of their beautiful Euclid Avenue home. It was good news to her that he -whom she loved was saved. - -Good news I bring you. Good news I bring you, people. You need not go -to hell if you will accept the Christ that I preach to you. - -"What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel?" And the -gospel of God is, "Repent or you will go to hell." "What shall the end -be of them that obey not the gospel?" What is the gospel, and what is -it to obey the gospel? We have seen that it is good news; now what is -it to obey? What was it for Israel to obey? Look at the brazen serpent -on the pole. What was it for Noah to obey? Build the ark and get into -it. What was it for Rahab to obey? Hang a scarlet line out of the -window, and God would pass her by when he took the city of Jericho. All -that was obeying. It was believing God's message and obeying. - -Ah! I see a man. He walks to the banks of the Seine, in Paris, to end -his life. He walked to the bank four times, but he didn't plunge in. -He filled a cup with poison, three times raised it to his lips, but he -did not drink. He cocked the pistol, put it against his temple. He did -that twice, but he didn't pull the trigger. He heard the story of Jesus -Christ and dropped on his knees, and William Cowper wrote: - - "God moves in a mysterious way, - His wonders to perform; - He plants his footsteps in the sea, - And rides upon the storm. - - "There is a fountain filled with blood, - Drawn from Immanuel's veins; - And sinners plunged beneath that flood, - Lose all their guilty strains." - -So that's what you found, is it, Cowper? - -I go to Bridgeport, Connecticut. I rap at a humble home and walk into -the presence of Fanny J. Crosby, the blind hymn-writer. She has written -over six thousand hymns. She never saw the light of day, was born -blind, and I say to her, "Oh, Miss Crosby, tell me that I may tell the -people what you have found by trusting in the finished work of Jesus -Christ? You have sat in darkness for ninety-four years; tell me, Miss -Crosby." And that face lights up like a halo of glory; those sightless -eyes flash, and she cries: - - "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; - Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!" - - "Pass me not, O gentle Saviour, - Hear my humble cry!" - - "Jesus keep me near the cross, - There's a precious fountain." - - "Once I was blind, but now I can see, - The light of the world is Jesus." - - "And I shall see Him, face to face, - And tell the story, Saved by Grace." - -I go to Wesley as he walks along the banks of a stream, while the storm -raged, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared. The birds were -driven, in fright, from their refuge in the boughs of the trees. A -little bird took refuge in his coat. Wesley held it tenderly, walked -home, put it in a cage, kept it until morning, carried it out, opened -the door and watched it as it circled around and shot off for its -mountain home. He returned to his house and wrote: - - "Jesus, lover of my soul, - Let me to thy bosom fly." - -What have you found by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ? - - -God's Word - -It is said of Napoleon that one day he was riding in review before his -troops, when the horse upon which he sat became unmanageable, seized -the bit in his teeth, dashed down the road and the life of the famous -warrior was in danger. A private, at the risk of his life, leaped out -and seized the runaway horse, while Napoleon, out of gratitude, raised -in the stirrups, saluted and said, "Thank you, captain." The man said, -"Captain of what, sir?" "Captain of my Life Guards, sir," said he. - -[Illustration: "CAPTAIN OF MY LIFE GUARDS, SIR"] - -The man stepped over to where the Life Guards were in consultation -and they ordered him back into the ranks. He refused to go and issued -orders to the officer by saying, "I am Captain of the Guards." Thinking -him insane, they ordered his arrest and were dragging him away, when -Napoleon rode up and the man said, "I am Captain of the Guards because -the Emperor said so." And Napoleon arose and said, "Yes, Captain of my -Life Guards. Loose him, sir; loose him." - -I am a Christian because God says so, and I did what he told me to do, -and I stand on God's Word and if that book goes down, I'll go down with -it. If God goes down, I'll go with him, and if there were any other -kind of God, except that God, I would have been shipwrecked long ago. -Twenty-seven years ago in Chicago I piled all I had, my reputation, my -character, my wife, children, home; I staked my soul, everything I had, -on the God of that Bible, and the Christ of that Bible, and I won. - -"What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Hear -me! There are three incomprehensibilities to me. Don't think there are -only three things I don't know, or don't you think that I think there -are only three things I don't know. I say, there are three things that -I cannot comprehend. - - -Eternity and Space - -First--Eternity; that something away off yonder, somewhere. You will -think it will end. It leads on, on, on and on. I can take a billion, -I can subtract a million; I can take a million or a billion, or a -quadrillion, or a septillion of years from eternity, and I haven't -as much as disturbed its original terms. Minds trained to deal with -intricate problems will go reeling back in their utter inability to -comprehend eternity. - -And there is space. When you go out tonight, look up at the moon, -240,000 miles away. Walking forty miles a day, I could reach the moon -in seventeen years, but the moon is one of our near neighbors. Ah, you -saw the sun today, 92,900,000 miles away. I couldn't walk to the sun. -If I could charter a fast train, going fifty miles an hour, it would -take the train two hundred and fifteen years to reach the sun. - -In the early morn you will see a star, near the -sun--Mercury--91,000,000 miles away; travels around the sun once in -eighty-eight days, going at the speed of 110,000 miles an hour, as it -swings in its orbit. - -Next is Venus; she is beautiful; 160,000,000 miles away, travels around -the sun once in 224 days, going at the rate of 79,000 miles an hour, as -she swings in her orbit. - -Then comes the earth, the planet upon which we live, and as you sit -there, this old earth travels around the sun once in 365 days, or one -calendar year, going at the speed of 68,000 miles an hour, and as you -sit there and I stand here, this old planet is swinging in her orbit -68,000 miles an hour, and she is whirling on her axis nineteen miles a -second. By force of gravity we are held from falling into illimitable -space. - -Yonder is Mars, 260,000,000 miles away. Travels around the sun once in -687 days, or about two years, going at the speed of 49,000 miles an -hour. Who knows but that it is inhabited by a race unsullied by sin, -untouched by death? - -Yonder another, old Jupiter, champion of the skies, sashed and belted -around with vapors of light. Jupiter, 480,000,000 miles away, travels -around the sun once in twelve years, going at the speed of 30,000 miles -an hour. I need something faster than an express train, going fifty -miles an hour, or a cyclone, going one hundred miles an hour. If I -could charter a Pullman palace car and couple it to a ray of light, -which travels at the speed of 192,000 miles a second--if I could attach -my Pullman palace car to a ray of light, I could go to Jupiter and get -back tomorrow morning for breakfast at nine o'clock, but Jupiter is one -of our near neighbors. - -Yonder is old Saturn, 885,000,000 miles away. Travels around the sun -once in twenty years, going at the speed of 21,000 miles an hour. - -Away yonder, I catch a faint glimmer of another stupendous world, -as it swings in its tireless and prodigious journey. Old Uranus, -1,780,000,000 miles away. Travels around the sun once in eighty-four -years, going at the speed of two hundred and fifty miles an hour. - -As the distance of the planets from the sun increases, their velocity -in their orbit correspondingly decreases. - -I say is that all? I hurry to Chicago and take the Northwestern. I rush -out to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, I climb into the Yerkes observatory, -and I turn the most ponderous telescope in the world to the skies, and -away out on the frontier of the universe, on the very outer rim of the -world, I catch a faint glimmer of Neptune, 2,790,000,000 miles away. -Travels around the sun once in one hundred and sixty-four years, going -at the speed of two hundred and ten miles an hour. If I could step on -the deck of a battleship and aim a 13-inch gun, and that projectile -will travel 1,500 miles in a minute, it would take it three hundred and -sixty years to reach that planet. - -Away out yonder is Alpha Centauri. If I would attach my palace car to -a ray of light and go at the speed of 192,000 miles a second, it would -take me three years to reach that planet. An express train, going -thirty miles an hour, would be 80,000,000 years pulling into Union -depot at Alpha Centauri. - -Yonder, the Polar or the North star. Traveling at a rate of speed of -192,000 miles a second, it would take me forty-five years to reach that -planet. And if I would go to the depot and buy a railroad ticket to the -North star, and pay three cents a mile, it would cost me $720,000,000 -for railroad fare to go to that planet. - -"Oh, God, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" And the fool, the -fool, the fool hath said in his heart, "There is no God." I'm not an -infidel, because I am no fool. "The Heavens declare the glory of God -and the firmament showeth his handiwork." I don't believe an infidel -ever looked through a telescope or studied astronomy. - -"What is man, that thou are mindful of him?" These are days when it -is "Big man, little God." These are days when it is gigantic "I," and -pigmy "God." These are days when it is "Ponderous man, infinitesimal -God." - -There are 1,400,000,000 people on earth. You are one of that number, -so am I. None of us amount to much. What do you or I amount to out of -1,400,000,000 people? If I could take an auger and bore a hole in the -top of the sun, I could pour into the sun 1,400,000,000 worlds the -size of the planet upon which we live, and there would be room in the -sun for more. Then think of the world, and God made that world, the -God that you cuss, the God that wants to keep you out of hell, the God -whose Son you have trampled beneath your feet. - -If you take 1,400,000,000, multiply it by 1,400,000, multiply that by -1,000,000, multiply that by millions, multiply that by infinity, that's -God. If you take 1,400,000,000, subtract 1,400,000, subtract millions, -subtract, subtract, subtract, subtract on down, that's you. If ever -a man appears like a consummate ass and an idiot, it's when he says -he don't believe in a God or tries to tell God his plan of redemption -don't appeal to him. - - -God's Infinite Love - -And the third: The third is the love of God to a lost and sin-cursed -world and man's indifference to God's love. How he has trampled God's -love beneath his feet, I don't understand. I don't understand why you -have grown gray-haired, and are not a Christian. I don't understand -why you know right from wrong, and still are not a Christian. I don't -understand it. Listen! What is it to obey the Gospel? The Gospel is -good news, and to obey it is to believe in Jesus. What is it not to -obey? What was the end of those who weren't in the ark with Noah? They -found a watery grave. What was the end of those who didn't look at -the brazen serpent in the wilderness? They died. What was the end of -those who were not with Rahab when she hung out the scarlet line? They -perished. - -When a man starts on a journey he has one object in view--the end. A -journey is well, if it ends well. We are all on a journey to eternity. -What will be the end? My text doesn't talk about the present. Your -present is, or may be, an enviable position in church, club life, or -commercial life, lodge, politics; your presence may be sought after to -grace every social gathering. God doesn't care about that. What shall -the end be? When all that is gone, when pleasures pass away, and -sorrow and weeping and wailing take their place, what shall the end be? - -[Illustration: SNOWBALLING IN JUNE. BILLY SUNDAY AND PARTY ON PIKE'S -PEAK.] - -Some people deny that their suffering in the other world will be -eternal fire. Do you think your scoffs can extinguish the flames of -hell? Do you think you can annihilate hell because you don't believe in -it? We have a few people who say, "Matter is non-existent," but that -doesn't do away with the fact that matter is existent, just because we -have some people who haven't sense enough to see it. You say, "I don't -believe there is a hell." Well, there is, whether you believe it or -not. You say, "I don't believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Well, -he is, whether you believe it or not. Some people say, "I don't believe -there is a heaven." There is, whether you believe it or not. You say, -"I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God." Well, it is, and your -disbelief does not change the fact, and the sooner you wake up to that -the better for you. I might say that I don't believe George Washington -ever lived. I never saw him, but it wouldn't do away with the fact that -he did live, and George Washington lies buried on the banks of the -Potomac. You say you don't believe there is a hell, but that doesn't do -away with the fact that there is a hell. - -What difference does it make whether the fire in hell is literal, or -the fittest emblem God could employ to describe to us the terrible -punishment? Do you believe the streets of heaven are paved with literal -gold? Do you believe that? When we talk about gold we all have high -and exalted ideas. How do you know but that God said "streets of gold" -in order to convey to us the highest ideal our minds could conceive of -beauty? It doesn't make any difference whether the gold on the streets -in heaven is literal or not. What difference does it make whether the -fire in hell is literal or not? When we talk about fire everybody -shrinks from it. Suppose God used that term as figurative to convey to -you the terror of hell. You are a fool to test the reality of it. It -must be an awful place if God loved us well enough to give Jesus to -keep us out of there. I don't want to go there. - - -Preparing for Eternity - -I said to a fellow one time, "Don't you think that possibly there is a -hell?" - -He said, "Well, yes, possibly there may be a hell." - -I said, "It's pretty good sense, then, to get ready for the maybe." -Well, just suppose there is a hell. It's good sense to get ready, -then, even for the "maybe." I don't look like a man that would die -very quickly, do I? I have just as good a physique as you ever gazed -at. I wouldn't trade with any man I know. A lot of you fellows are -stronger than I, but I have as good a physique as ever you looked at. -I have been preaching at this pace for fourteen years, and I've stood -it, although I begin to feel myself failing a little bit. But I don't -look like a man who would die quickly, do I? But I may die, and on that -possibility I carry thousands of dollars of life insurance. I don't -believe that any man does right to himself, his wife or his children -if he doesn't provide for them with life insurance, so when he is gone -they will not be thrown upon the charity of the world. And next to -my faith, if I should die tonight, that which would give me the most -comfort would be the knowledge that I have in a safe deposit vault in -Chicago life insurance papers, paid up to date, and my wife could cash -in and she and the babies could listen to the wolves howl for a good -many years. I don't expect to die soon, but I may die, and on that -"may" I carry thousands of dollars in life insurance. - -I take a train to go home, I don't expect the train to be wrecked, but -it may be wrecked, and on that "maybe" I carry $10,000 a year in an -accident policy. It may go in the ditch. That's good sense to get ready -for the "maybe." Are you a business man? Do you carry insurance on your -stock? Yes. On the building? Yes. Do you expect it to burn? No, sir. -But it may burn, so you are ready for it. Every ship is compelled, by -law, to carry life-preservers and life-boats equal to the passenger -capacity. They don't expect the ship to sink, but it may sink and they -are ready for the "may." All right. There may be a hell. I'm ready; -where do you get off at? I have you beat any way you can look at it. - -Suppose there is no hell? Suppose that when we die that ends it? I -don't believe it does. I believe there is a hell and I believe there is -a heaven, and just the kind of a heaven and hell that book says. But -suppose there is no hell? Suppose death is eternal sleep? I believe the -Bible; I believe its teachings; I have the best of you in this life. I -will live longer, be happier, and have lost nothing by believing and -obeying the Bible, even if there is no hell. But suppose there is a -hell? Then I'm saved and you are the fool. I have you beat again. - -"What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" What -will some do? Some will be stoical, some will whimper, some will turn -for human sympathy. Let God answer the question. You would quarrel with -me. "A lake of fire" and "a furnace of fire." "In hell he lifted up -his eyes, being in torment." "Eternal damnation." "The smoke of their -torment ascendeth forever and ever." Let God answer the question. "What -shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Will you -say, "God, I didn't have time enough"? "Behold! Now is the accepted -time." Will you say, "God, I had no light?" But "light is come into the -world, and men love darkness rather than light." - -I stand on the shores of eternity and cry out, "Eternity! Eternity! How -long, how long art thou?" Back comes the answer, "How long?" - - "How long sometimes a day appears and weeks, how long are they? - They move as if the months and years would never pass away; - But months and years are passing by, and soon must all be gone, - Day by day, as the moments fly, eternity comes on. - All these must have an end; eternity has none, - It will always have as long to run as when it first begun." - -"What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" - -When Voltaire, the famous infidel, lay dying, he summoned the physician -and said, "Doctor, I will give you all I have to save my life six -months." - -The doctor said, "You can't live six hours." - -Then said Voltaire, "I'll go to hell and you'll go with me." - - -A Leap in the Dark - -Hobbes, the famous English infidel, said: "I am taking a leap into the -night." - -When King Charles IX, who gave the order for the massacre of St. -Bartholomew's day, when blood ran like water and 130,000 fell dead, -when King Charles lay dying, he cried out, "O God, how will it end? -Blood, blood, rivers of blood. I am lost!" And with a shriek he leaped -into hell. - -King Philip of Spain said; "I wish to God I had never lived," and then -in a sober thought he said: "Yes, I wish I had, but that I had lived in -the fear and love of God." - -Wesley said, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in His likeness." - -Florence A. Foster said, "Mother, the hilltops are covered with angels; -they beckon me homeward; I bid you good-bye." - -Frances E. Willard cried, "How beautiful to die and be with God." - -Moody cried: "Earth recedes, heaven opens, God is calling me. This is -to be my coronation day." - -Going to the World's Fair in Chicago, a special train on the Grand -Trunk, going forty miles an hour, dashed around a curve at Battle -Creek, and headed in on a sidetrack where a freight train stood. The -rear brakeman had forgotten to close the switch and the train rounded -the curve, dashed into the open switch and struck the freight train -loaded with iron, and there was an awful wreck. The cars telescoped -and the flames rushed out. Pinioned in the wreck, with steel girders -bent around her, was a woman who lived in New York. Her name was Mrs. -Van Dusen. She removed her diamond ear-rings, took her gold watch -and chain from about her neck, slipped her rings from her fingers -and handing out her purse gave her husband's address, and then said: -"Gentlemen, stand back! I am a Christian and I will die like a -Christian." - -They leaped to their task. They tore like demons to liberate her and -she started to sing, - - "My heavenly home is bright and fair. - I'm going to die no more." - -Strong men, who had looked into the cannon's mouth, fainted. She cried -out, above the roar of the wind and the shrieks of the dying men, "Oh, -men, don't imperil your lives for me. I am a Christian and I will -die like a Christian! Stand back, men," and then she began to sing, -"Nearer, My God, to Thee." - - -"The End Thereof" - -"There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are -the ways of death." Moses may have made some mistakes, but I want to -tell you Moses never made a mistake when he wrote these words: "Their -rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being the judges." -He never made a mistake when he wrote these words. I say to you, you -are going to live on and on until the constellations of the heavens are -snuffed out. You are going to live on and on until the rocks crumble -into dust through age. You are going to live on and on and on, until -the mountain peaks are incinerated and blown by the breath of God to -the four corners of infinity. "What shall the end be?" Listen! Listen! - -I used to live in Pennsylvania and of the many wonderful things for -which this wonderful state has been noted, not the least is the fact -that most always she has had godly men for governors, and one of -the most magnificent examples of godly piety that ever honored this -state was Governor Pollock. When he was governor, a young man, in -a drunken brawl, shot a companion. He was tried and sentenced to be -executed. They circulated a petition, brought it to Harrisburg to the -governor, and the committee that waited upon the governor, among them -some of his own friends, pleaded with him to commute the sentence to -life imprisonment. Governor Pollock listened to their pleadings and -said, "Gentlemen, I can't do it. The law must take its course." Then -the ministers--Catholic and Protestant--brought a petition, and among -the committee was the governor's own pastor. He approached him in -earnestness, put a hand on either shoulder, begged, prayed to God to -give him wisdom to grant the request. Governor Pollock listened to -their petition, tears streamed down his cheeks and he said, "Gentlemen, -I can't do it. I can't; I can't." - -At last the boy's mother came. Her eyes were red, her cheeks sunken, -her lips ashen, her hair disheveled, her clothing unkempt, her body -tottering from the loss of food and sleep. Broken-hearted, she reeled, -staggered and dragged herself into the presence of the governor. She -pleaded for her boy. She said, "Oh, governor, let me die. Oh, governor, -let him go; let me behind the bars. Oh, governor, I beg of you to let -my boy go; don't, don't hang him!" And Governor Pollock listened. She -staggered to his side, put her arms around him. He took her arms from -his shoulder, held her at arms' length, looked into her face and said -to her: "Mother, mother, I can't do it, I can't," and he ran from her -presence. She screamed and fell to the floor and they carried her out. - -Governor Pollock said to his secretary, "John, if I can't pardon him -I can tell him how to die." He went to the cell, opened God's Word, -prayed, talked of Jesus. Heaven bent near, the angels waited, and then -on lightning wing sped back to glory with the glad tidings that a soul -was born again. And the governor left, wishing him well for the ordeal. -Shortly after he had gone, the prisoner said to the watchman, "Who was -that man that talked and prayed with me?" He said, "Great God, man, -don't you know? That was Governor Pollock." He threw his hands to his -head and cried: "My God! My God! The governor here and I didn't know -it? Why didn't you tell me that was the governor and I would have -thrown my arms about him, buried my fingers in his flesh and would have -said, 'Governor, I'll not let you go unless you pardon me; I'll not -let you go.'" A few days later, when he stood at the scaffold, feet -strapped, hands tied, noose about his neck, black cap and shroud on, -just before the trap was sprung he cried, "My God! The governor there -and I--" He shot down. - -You can't stand before God in the Judgment and say, "Jesus, were you -down there in the tabernacle? In my home? In my lodge? Did you want to -save me?" Behold! Behold! A greater than the governor is here. Jesus -Christ, the Son of God, and he waits to be gracious. - -"What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - -Our Long Home - - Don't let God hang a "For Rent" sign on the mansion that has been - prepared for you in heaven.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Vivid, literal and comforting, is Sunday's portrayal of the Christian's -long home. He is one of the few preachers who depict heaven so that -it ministers to earth. Countless thousands of Christians have been -comforted by his realistic pictures of "the land that is fairer than -day." - - -"HEAVEN" - -What do I want most of all? A man in Chicago said to me one day, "If I -could have all I wanted of any one thing I would take money." He would -be a fool, and so would you if you would make a similar choice. There's -lots of things money can't do. Money can't buy life; money can't buy -health. Andrew Carnegie says, "Anyone who can assure men ten years of -life can name his price." - -If you should meet with an accident which would require a surgical -operation or your life would be despaired of, there is not a man here -but would gladly part with all the money he has if that would give him -the assurance that he could live twelve months longer. - -If you had all the money in the world you couldn't go to the graveyard -and put those loved ones back in your arms and have them sit once more -in the family circle and hear their voices and listen to their prattle. - -[Illustration: "HA! HA! OLD SKEPTIC, I'VE GOT YOU BEAT."] - -A steamer tied up at her wharf, having just returned from an -expedition, and as the people walked down the plank their friends met -them to congratulate them on their success or encourage them through -their defeat. Down came a man I used to know in Fargo, S. D. Friends -rushed up and said, "Why, we hear that you were very fortunate." - -"Yes, wife and I left here six months ago with hardly anything. Now we -have $350,000 in gold dust in the hold of the ship." - -Then somebody looked around and said, "Mr. L----, where is your little -boy?" - -The tears rolled down his cheeks and he said, "We left him buried on -the banks of the Yukon beneath the snow and ice, and we would gladly -part with all the gold, if we only had our boy." - -But all the wealth of the Klondike could not open the grave and put -that child back in their arms. Money can't buy the peace of God that -passeth understanding. Money can't take the sin out of your life. - -Is there any particular kind of life you would like? If you could live -one hundred years you wouldn't want to die, would you? I wouldn't. I -think there is always something the matter with a fellow that wants to -die. I want to stay as long as God will let me stay, but when God's -time comes for me to go I'm ready, any hour of the day or night. God -can waken me at midnight or in the morning and I'm ready to respond. -But if I could live a million years I'd like to stay. I don't want to -die. I'm having a good time. God made this world for us to have a good -time in. It's nothing but sin that has damned the world and brought -it to misery and corruption. God wants you to have a good time. Well, -then, how can I get this life that you want and everybody wants, -eternal life? - -If you are ill the most natural thing for you to do is to go for your -doctor. You say, "I don't want to die. Can you help me?" - -He looks at you and says, "I have a hundred patients on my hands, all -asking the same thing. Not one of them wants to die. They ask me to use -my skill and bring to bear all I have learned, but I can't fight back -death. I can prescribe for your malady, but I can't prevent death." - -"I, Too, Must Die" - -Well, go to your philosopher. He it is that reasons out the problems -and mysteries of life by the application of reason. Say to him, "Good -philosopher, I have come to you for help. I want to live forever and -you say that you have the touch-stone of philosophy and that you can -describe and solve. Can you help me?" - -He says to you, "Young man, my hair and my beard have grown longer and -as white as snow, my eyes are dim, my brows are wrinkled, my form bent -with the weight of years, my bones are brittle and I am just as far -from the solution of that mystery and problem as when I started. I, -too, sir, must soon die and sleep beneath the sod." - -In my imagination I have stood by the bedside of the dying -Pullman-palace-car magnate, George M. Pullman, whose will was probated -at $25,000,000, and I have said, "Oh, Mr. Pullman, you will not die, -you can bribe death." And I see the pupils of his eyes dilate, his -breast heaves, he gasps--and is no more. The undertaker comes and -makes an incision in his left arm, pumps in the embalming fluid, -beneath whose mysterious power he turns as rigid as ice, and as white -as alabaster, and they put his embalmed body in the rosewood coffin, -trimmed with silver and gold, and then they put that in a hermetically -sealed casket. - -The grave-diggers go to Graceland Cemetery, on the shore of Lake -Michigan, and dig his grave in the old family lot, nine feet wide, and -they put in there Portland cement four and a half feet thick, while it -is yet soft, pliable and plastic. A set of workmen drop down into the -grave a steel cage with steel bars one inch apart. They bring his body, -in the hermetically sealed casket all wrapped about with cloth, and -they lower it into the steel cage, and a set of workmen put steel bars -across the top and another put concrete and a solid wall of masonry -and they bring it up within eighteen inches of the surface; they put -back the black loamy soil, then they roll back the sod and with a -whisk broom and dust pan they sweep up the dirt, and you would never -know that there sleeps the Pullman-palace-car magnate, waiting for the -trumpet of Gabriel to sound; for the powers of God will snap his steel, -cemented sarcophagus as though it were made of a shell and he will -stand before God as any other man. - -What does your money amount to? What does your wealth amount to? - -I summon the three electrical wizards of the world to my bedside and -I say, "Gentlemen, I want to live and I have sent for you to come," -and they say to me, "Mr. Sunday, we will flash messages across the sea -without wires; we can illuminate the homes and streets of your city and -drive your trolley cars and we can kill men with electricity, but we -can't prolong life." - -And I summon the great Queen Elizabeth, queen of an empire upon which -the sun never sets. Three thousand dresses hung in her wardrobe. Her -jewels were measured by the peck. Dukes, kings, earls fought for her -smiles. I stand by her bedside and I hear her cry "All my possessions -for one moment of time!" - -I go to Alexander the Great, who won his first battle when he was -eighteen, and was King of Macedonia when he was twenty. He sat down on -the shore of the Ægean sea, wrapped the drapery of his couch about him -and lay down to eternal sleep, the conqueror of all the known world, -when he was thirty-five years of age. - -I go to Napoleon Bonaparte. Victor Hugo called him the archangel of -war. He arose in the air of the nineteenth century like a meteor. His -sun rose at Austerlitz; it set at Waterloo. He leaped over the slain of -his countrymen to be first consul; and then he vaulted to the throne -of the emperor of France. But it was the cruel wanton achievement of -insatiate and unsanctified ambition and it led to the barren St. Helena -isle. As the storm beat upon the rock, once more he fought at the head -of his troops at Austerlitz, at Mt. Tabor, and the Pyramids. Once more -he cried, "I'm still the head of the army," and he fell back, and the -greatest warrior the world has known since the days of Joshua, was no -more. Tonight on the banks of the Seine he lies in his magnificent -tomb, with his marshals sleeping where he can summon them, and the -battle flags he made famous draped around him, and from the four -corners of the earth students and travelers turn aside to do homage to -the great military genius. - -I want to show you the absolute and utter futility of pinning your hope -to a lot of fool things that will damn your soul to hell. There is -only one way: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even -so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him -should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world -that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him -should not perish, but have everlasting life." Search the annals of -time and the pages of history and where do you find promises like that? -Only upon the pages of the Bible do you find them. - -You want to live and so do I. You want eternal life and so do I, and -I want you to have it. The next question I want to ask is, how can -you get it? You have seen things that won't give it to you. How can -you get it? All you have tonight or ever will have you will come into -possession of in one of three ways--honestly, dishonestly, or as a -gift. Honestly: You will work and sweat and therefore give an honest -equivalent for what you get. Dishonestly: You will steal. Third, as a -gift, you will inherit it. And eternal life must come to you in one of -these three ways. - - -No Substitute for Religion - -A great many people believe in a high moral standard. They deal -honestly in business and are charitable, but if you think that is going -to save you, you are the most mistaken man on God's earth, and you will -be the biggest disappointed being that ever lived. You can't hire a -substitute in religion. You can't do some deed of kindness or act of -philanthropy and substitute that for the necessity of repentance and -faith in Jesus Christ. Lots of people will acknowledge their sin in -the world, struggle on without Jesus Christ, and do their best to live -honorable, upright lives. Your morality will make you a better man or -woman, but it will never save your soul in the world. - -Supposing you had an apple tree that produced sour apples and you -wanted to change the nature of it, and you would ask the advice of -people. One would say prune it, and you would buy a pruning hook and -cut off the superfluous limbs. You gather the apples and they are still -sour. Another man says to fertilize it, and you fertilize it and still -it doesn't change the nature of it. Another man says spray it to kill -the caterpillars, but the apples are sour just the same. Another man -says introduce a graft of another variety. - -When I was a little boy, one day my grandfather said to me: "Willie, -come on," and he took a ladder, and beeswax, a big jackknife, a saw and -some cloth, and we went into the valley. He leaned the ladder against a -sour crab-apple tree, climbed up and sawed off some of the limbs, split -them and shoved in them some little pear sprouts as big as my finger -and twice as long, and around them he tied a string and put in some -beeswax. I said, "Grandpa, what are you doing?" He said, "I'm grafting -pear sprouts into the sour crab." I said, "What will grow, crab apples -or pears?" He said, "Pears; I don't know that I'll ever live to eat the -pear--I hope I may--but I know you will." I lived to see those sprouts -which were no longer than my finger grow as large as any limb and I -climbed the tree and picked and ate the pears. He introduced a graft of -another variety and that changed the nature of the tree. - -And so you can't change yourself with books. That which is flesh is -flesh, no matter whether it is cultivated flesh, or ignorant flesh or -common, ordinary flesh. That which is flesh is flesh, and all your -lodges, all your money on God Almighty's earth can never change your -nature. Never. That's got to come by and through repentance and faith -in Jesus Christ. That's the only way you will ever get it changed. We -have more people with fool ways trying to get into heaven, and there's -only one way to do and that is by and through repentance and faith in -Jesus Christ. - -Here are two men. One man born with hereditary tendencies toward bad, a -bad father, a bad mother and bad grandparents. He has bad blood in his -veins and he turns as naturally to sin as a duck to water. There he is, -down and out, a booze fighter and the off-scouring scum of the earth. -I go to him in his squalor and want and unhappiness, and say to him: -"God has included all that sin that he may have mercy on all. All have -sinned and come short of the glory of God. Will you accept Jesus Christ -as your Saviour?" - -"Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," and that man -says to me, "No, I don't want your Christ as my Saviour." - -Here is a man with hereditary tendencies toward good, a good father, -a good mother, good grandparents, lived in a good neighborhood, was -taught to go to Sunday school and has grown up to be a good, earnest, -upright, virtuous, responsible business man; his name is synonymous -with all that is pure and kind, and true. His name is as good as a -government bond at any bank for a reasonable amount. Everybody respects -him. He is generous, charitable and kind. I go to your high-toned, -cultured, respectable man and say to him: "God hath included all under -sin that he might have mercy upon all. All have sinned and come short -of the glory of God. Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast -out. Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Will you give me -your hand?" He says: "No, sir; I don't want your Christ." - -What's the difference between those two men? Absolutely none. They are -both lost. Both are going to hell. God hasn't one way of saving the -one and another way of saving the other fellow. God will save that man -if he accepts Christ and he will do the same for the other fellow. That -man is a sinner and this man is a sinner. That man is lower in sin than -this man, but they both say, "No" to Jesus Christ and they are both -lost or God is a liar. - -You don't like it? I don't care a rap whether you do or not. You'll -take it or go to hell. Stop doing what you think will save you and do -what God says will save you. - - -Morality Not Enough - -Morality doesn't save anybody. Your culture doesn't save you. I don't -care who you are or how good you are, if you reject Jesus Christ you -are doomed. God hasn't one plan of salvation for the millionaire and -another for the hobo. He has the same plan for everybody. God isn't -going to ask you whether you like it or not, either. He isn't going to -ask you your opinion of his plan. There it is and we'll have to take it -as God gives it. - -You come across a lot of fools who say there are hypocrites in the -Church. What difference does that make? Are you the first person that -has found that out and are you fool enough to go to hell because they -are going to hell? If you are, don't come to me and expect me to think -you have any sense. Not at all. Not for a minute. - -A good many people attend church because it adds a little bit to their -respectability. That is proof positive to me that the Gospel is a good -thing. This is a day when good things are counterfeited. You never saw -anybody counterfeiting brown paper. No, it isn't worth it. You have -seen them counterfeiting Christians? Yes. You have seen counterfeit -money? Yes. You never saw a counterfeit infidel. They counterfeit -religion. Certainly. A hypocrite is a counterfeit. - -But there is one class of these people that I haven't very much respect -for. They are so good, so very good, that they are absolutely good for -nothing. A woman came to me and said: "Mr. Sunday, I haven't sinned in -ten years." - -I said: "You lie, I think." - -Well, a man says: "Look here, there must be something in morality, -because so many people trust in it." Would vice become virtue because -more people follow it? Simply because more people follow it doesn't -make a wrong right; not at all. - - -The Way of Salvation - -There was an old Spaniard, Ponce de Leon, who searched through the -glades of Florida. He thought away out there in the midst of the -tropical vegetation was a fountain of perpetual youth, which, if he -could only find and dip beneath its water would smooth the wrinkles -from his brow and make his gray hair turn like the raven's wing. Did -he ever find it? No, it never existed. It was all imagination. And -there are people today searching for something that doesn't exist. -Salvation doesn't exist in morality, in reformation, in paying your -debts. It doesn't exist in being true to your marriage vows. It is only -by repentance and faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and some -of you fellows have searched for it until you are gray-haired, and you -will never find it because it only exists in one place--repentance and -faith in Jesus Christ. - -Supposing I had in one hand a number of kernels of wheat and a number -of diamonds equal in number and size to the kernels of wheat. I would -say: "Take your choice." Nine of ten would take the diamonds. I would -say: "Diamonds are worth more than wheat." So they are now, but you -take those diamonds, they will never grow, never add. But I can take a -handful of wheat, sow it, and, fecundated by the rays of the sun and -the moisture, it will grow and in a few years I have what's worth all -the diamonds in the world, for wheat contains the power of - -life; wheat can reproduce and diamonds can't; they're not life. A -diamond is simply a piece of charcoal changed by the mysterious process -of nature, but it has no life. Wheat has life. Wheat can grow. You can -take a moral man; he may shine and glisten and sparkle like a diamond. -He may outshine in his beauty the Christian man. But he will never be -anything else. His morality can never grow. It has no life, but the -man who is a Christian has life. He has eternal life. Your morality is -a fine thing until death comes, then it's lost and you are lost. Your -diamond is a fine thing to carry until it's lost, and of what value is -it then? Of what value is your morality when your soul is lost? - -[Illustration: "JUDAS BOUGHT A TICKET TO HELL WITH THIRTY PIECES OF -SILVER AND IT WASN'T A ROUND TRIP EITHER."] - -Supposing I go out in the spring and I see two farmers, living across -the road from each other. One man plows his field and then harrows and -puts on the roller, gets it all fine and then plants the corn or drills -in the oats. I come back in the fall and that man has gathered his crop -into the barn and the granaries and has hay stacked around the barn. - -The other fellow is plowing and puts the roller on and gets his ground -in good shape. I come back in the fall and he is still doing the same -thing. I say, "What are you doing?" He says: "Well, I believe in a high -state of cultivation." I say: "Look at your neighbor, see what he has." -"A barn full of grain." "Yes." "More stock." "Yes." But he says: "Look -at the weeds. You don't see any weeds like that on my place. Why, he -had to burn the weeds before he could find the potatoes to dig them. -The weeds were as big as the corn." I said: "I'll agree with you that -he has raised some weeds, but he has raised corn as well." What is -that ground worth without seed in it? No more than your life is worth -without having Jesus Christ in it. You will starve to death if you -don't put seed in the ground. Plowing the ground without putting in the -seed doesn't amount to a snap of the finger. - - -Rewards of Merit - -When I was a little boy out in Iowa, at the end of the term of school -it was customary for the teachers to give us little cards, with a -hand in one corner holding a scroll, and in that scroll was a place -to write the name: "Willie Sunday, good boy." Willie Sunday never got -hump-shouldered lugging them home, I can tell you. I never carried off -the champion long-distance belt for verse-quoting, either. If you ever -saw an American kid, I was one. - -[Illustration: "I FEEL SORRY FOR THE LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY BOYS WITH -LONG CURLY HAIR AND WHITE STOCKINGS"] - -I feel sorry for the little Lord Fauntleroy boys with long curly hair -and white stockings. Yank 'em off and let them go barefoot. - -A friend of mine told me he was one time being driven along the banks -of the Hudson and they went past a beautiful farm, and there sitting -on the fence in front of a tree, in which was fastened a mirror about -twelve inches square, sat a bird of paradise that was looking into the -mirror, adjusting his plumage and admiring himself, and the farmer who -had driven my friends out said that every time he passed those birds -were doing that. - -I thought, "Well, that reminds me of a whole lot of fools I'm fortunate -enough to meet everywhere. They sit before the mirror of culture, and -their mirror of money, and their mirror of superior education and -attainments; they are married into some old families. What does God -care about that?" I suppose some of you spent a whole lot of money to -plant a family tree, but I warrant you keep to the back the limbs on -which some of your ancestors were hanged for stealing horses. - -You are mistaken in God's plan of salvation. Some people seem to think -God is like a great big bookkeeper in heaven and that he has a whole -lot of angels as assistants. Every time you do a good thing he writes -it down on one page and every time you do a bad deed he writes it down -on the opposite page, and when you die he draws a line and adds them -up. If you have done more good things than bad, you go to heaven; more -bad things than good, go to hell. You would be dumfounded how many -people have sense about other things that haven't any sense about -religion. As though that was God's plan of redemption. Your admission -into heaven depends upon your acceptance of Jesus Christ; reject him -and God says you will be damned. - -Back in the time of Noah, I have no doubt there were a lot of good -folks. There was Noah. God says: "Look here, Noah, I'm going to drown -this world with a flood and I want you to go to work and make an -ark." And Noah started to make it according to God's instructions -and he pounded, and sawed, and drove nails and worked for 120 years, -and I have often imagined the comments of the gang in an automobile -going by. They say: "Look at the old fool Noah building an ark. Does -he ever expect God's going to get water enough to flood that?" Along -comes another crowd and one says: "That Noah bunch is getting daffy -on religion. I think we'd better take them before the commission and -pass upon their sanity." Along comes another crowd and they say: "Well, -there's that Noah crowd. I guess we won't invite them to our card party -after Lent is over." They said: "Why, they're too religious. We'll just -let them alone." - -Noah paid no heed to their criticism, but went on working until he got -through. God gave the crowd a chance, but they didn't heed. It started -to rain and it rained and rained until the rivers and creeks leaped -their banks and the lowlands were flooded. Then the people began to -move to the hilltops. The water began to creep up the hills. Then I -can see the people hurrying off to lumber yards to buy lumber to build -little rafts of their own, for they began to see that Noah wasn't such -a fool after all. The hilltops became inundated and it crept to the -mountains and the mountains became submerged. Until the flood came that -crowd was just as well off as Noah, but when the flood struck them -Noah was saved and they were lost, because Noah trusted God and they -trusted in themselves. You moral men, you may be just as well off as -the Christian until death knocks you down, then you are lost, because -you trust in your morality. The Christian is saved because he trusts in -Jesus. Do you see where you lose out? - -"Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin." You must -accept the atonement Christ made by shedding his blood or God will slam -the gate of heaven in your face. - -Some people, you know, want to wash their sins and they whitewash them, -but God wants them white, and there's a lot of difference between being -"white-washed" and "washed white." - -Supposing I was at one of your banks this morning and they gave me $25 -in gold. Supposing I would put fifty of your reputable citizens on this -platform and they would all substantiate what I say, and supposing -I would be authorized by bank to say that they would give every man -and woman that stands in line in front of the bank at 9 o'clock in -the morning, $25 in gold. If I could stand up there and make that -announcement in this city with confidence in my word, people would line -the streets and string away back on the hills, waiting for the bank to -open. - -I can stand here and tell you that God offers you salvation through -repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and that you must accept it or be -lost, and you will stand up and argue the question, as though your -argument can change God's plan. You never can do it. Not only has God -promised you salvation on the grounds of your acceptance of Jesus -Christ as your Saviour, but he has promised to give you a home in which -to spend eternity. Listen! "In my Father's house are many mansions; if -it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." -Some people say heaven is a state or condition. I don't believe it. It -might possibly be better to be in a heavenly state than in a heavenly -place. It might be better to be in hell in a heavenly state than to -be in heaven in a hellish state. That may be true. Heaven is as much -a place as the home to which you are going when I dismiss the meeting -is a place. "I go to prepare a place for you." Heaven is a place where -there are going to be some fine folks. Abraham will be there and I'm -going up to see him. Noah, Moses, Joseph, Jacob, Isaiah, Daniel, -Jeremiah the weeping prophet, Paul, John, Peter, James, Samuel, Martin -Luther, Spurgeon, Calvin, Moody. Oh, heaven is a place where there will -be grand and noble people, and all who believe in Jesus will be there. - -Suppose instead of turning off the gas at bedtime I blew it out. Then -when Nell and I awoke choking, instead of opening the window and -turning off the gas I got a bottle of cologne and sprinkled ourselves. -The fool principle of trying to overcome the poison of gas with -perfumery wouldn't work. The next day there would be a coroner's jury -in the house. Your principle of trying to overcome sin by morality -won't work either. - -I'm going to meet David and I'll say: "David, I'm not a U. P., but I -wish you'd sing the twenty-third psalm for me." - - -A Place of Noble People - -The booze fighter won't be in heaven; he is here. The skeptic won't be -there; he is here. There'll be nobody to run booze joints or gambling -hells in heaven. Heaven will be a place of grand and noble people, who -love Jesus. The beloved wife will meet her husband. Mother, you will -meet your babe again that you have been separated from for months or -years. Heaven will be free from everything that curses and damns this -old world here. Wouldn't this be a grand old world if it weren't for a -lot of things in it? Can you conceive anything being grander than this -world if it hadn't a lot of things in it? The only thing that makes it -a decent place to live in is the religion of Jesus Christ. There isn't -a man that would live in it if you took religion out. Your mills would -rot on their foundations if there were no Christian people of influence -here. - -There will be no sickness in heaven, no pain, no sin, no poverty, no -want, no death, no grinding toil. "There remaineth therefore a rest to -the people of God." I tell you there are a good many poor men and women -that never have any rest. They have had to get up early in the morning -and work all day, but in heaven there remaineth a rest for the people -of God. Weary women that start out early to their daily toil, you won't -have to get out and toil all day. No toil in heaven, no sickness. "God -shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." You will not be standing -watching with a heart filled with expectation, and doubt, and hope. -No watching the undertaker screw the coffin lid over your loved one, -or watching the pall-bearers carrying out the coffin and hearing the -preacher say, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." None of that in heaven. -Heaven--that is a place He has gone to prepare for those who will do -his will and keep his commandments and turn from their sin. Isn't it -great? - -Everything will be perfect in heaven. Down here we only know in -part, but there we will know as we are known. It is a city that hath -foundation. Here we have no continuing state. Look at your beautiful -homes. You admire them. The next time you go up your avenues and -streets look at the homes. But they are going to rot on their -foundations. Every one of them. Where are you tonight, old Eternal -City of Rome on your seven hills? Where are you? Only a memory of your -glory. Where have they all gone? The homes will crumble. - -"Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him." That is a -complete biography of Enoch. - -Elijah was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire and Elisha took up -the mantle of the prophet Elijah and smote the Jordan and went back to -the seminary where Elijah had taught and told the people there. They -would not believe him, and they looked for Elijah, but they found him -not. Centuries later it was the privilege of Peter, James and John in -the company of Jesus Christ, on the Mount of Transfiguration, to look -into the face of that same Elijah who centuries before had walked the -hilltops and slain four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal. - - -"A Place for You" - -Stephen, as they stoned him to death, with his face lighted up saw -Jesus standing on the right of God the Father, the place which he -had designated before his crucifixion would be his abiding place -until the fulfilment of the time of the Gentiles in the world. Among -the last declarations of Jesus is, "In my Father's house are many -mansions." What a comfort to the bereaved and afflicted. Not only had -God provided salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as a gift from -God's outstretched hand, but he provided a home in which you can spend -eternity. He has provided a home for you. Surely, surely, friends, -from the beginning of the history of man, from the time Enoch walked -with God and was not, until John on the island of Patmos saw the new -Jerusalem let down by God out of heaven, we have ample proof that -heaven is a place. Although we cannot see it with the natural eyes, -it is a place, the dwelling place of God and of the angels and of the -redeemed through faith in the Son of God. - -He says, "I go to prepare a place for you." - -People sometimes ask me, "Who do you think will die first, Mr. Sunday, -you or your wife, or your children or your mother?" I don't know. I -think I will. I never expect to be an old man, I work too hard. I burn -up more energy preaching in an hour than any other man will burn up in -ten or twelve hours. I never expect to live to be an old man. I don't -expect to, but I know this much, if my wife or my babies should go -first this old world would be a dark place for me and I would be glad -when God summoned me to leave it; and if I left first I know they would -be glad when God called them home. If I go first, I know after I go up -and take Jesus by the hand and say, "Jesus, thank you. I'm glad you -honored me with the privilege of preaching your Gospel; I wish I could -have done it better, but I did my best, and now, Jesus, if you don't -care, I'd like to hang around the gate and be the first to welcome -my wife and the babies when they come. Do you care, Jesus, if I sit -there?" And he will say, "No, you can sit right there, Bill, if you -want to; it's all right." I'll say, "Thank you, Lord." - -If they would go first, I think after they would go up and thank Jesus -that they are home, they would say, "Jesus, I wish you would hurry up -and bring papa home. He doesn't want to stay down there because we are -up here." They would go around and put their grips away in their room, -wherever it is, and then they would say, "Can we sit here, Jesus?" -"Yes, that's all right." - -I don't know where I'll live when I get to heaven. I don't know whether -I'll live on a main street or an avenue or a boulevard. I don't know -where I'll live when I get to heaven. I don't know whether it will be -in the back alley or where, but I'll just be glad to get there. I'll -be thankful for the mansion wherever God provides it. I never like -to think about heaven as a great, big tenement house, where they put -hundreds of people under one roof, as we do in Chicago or other big -cities. "In my Father's house are many mansions." And so it will be up -in heaven, and I'll be glad, awfully glad, and I tell you I think if -my wife and children go first, the children might be off some place -playing, but wife would be right there, and I would meet her and say, -"Why, wife, where are the children?" She would say, "Why, they are -playing on the banks of the river." (We are told about the river that -flows from the throne of God.) We would walk down and I would say, -"Hello, Helen! Hey, George. Hey, Willsky; bring the baby; come on." And -they would come tearing as they do now. - -I would say, "Now, children, run away and play a little while. I -haven't seen mother for a long time and we have lots of things to talk -about," and I think we would walk away and sit down under a tree and I -would put my head in her lap as I do now when my head is tired, and I -would say, "Wife, a whole lot of folks down there in our neighborhood -in Chicago have died; have they come to heaven?" - - -The Missing - -"Well, I don't know. Who has died?" - -"Mr. S. Is he here?" - -"I haven't seen him." - -"No? His will probated five million. Bradstreet and Dun rated him AaG. -Isn't he here?" - -"I haven't seen him." - -"Is Mr. J. here?" - -"I haven't seen him." - -"Haven't seen him, wife? That's funny. He left years before I did. Is -Mrs. N. here?" - -"No." - -"You know they lived on River street. Her husband paid $8,000 for a lot -and $60,000 for a house. He paid $2,000 for a bathroom. Mosaic floor -and the finest of fixtures. You know, wife, she always came to church -late and would drive up in her carriage, and she would sweep down the -aisle and you would think all the perfume of Arabia had floated in, -and she had diamonds in her ears as big as pebbles. Is she here?" - -"I haven't seen her." - -"Well! Well! Well! Is Aunty Griffith here?" - -"Yes; aunty lives next to us." - -"I knew she would be here. God bless her heart! She had two big -lazy, drunken louts of boys that didn't care for her, and the church -supported her for sixteen years to my knowledge and they put her in the -home for old people. Hello, yonder she comes. How are you, Aunty?" - -She will say, "How are you, William?" - -"I'm first rate." - -"Mon, ye look natural just the same." - -"Yes." - -"And when did ye leave Chicago, Wally?" - -"Last night, Aunty." - -"I'm awfully glad to see you, and, Wally, I live right next door to -you, mon." - -"Good, Aunty, I knew God would let you in. My, where's mother, wife?" - -"She's here." - -"I know she's here; I wish she would come. Helen, is that mother coming -down the hill?" - -"Yes." - -I would say, "Have you seen Fred, or Rody, or Peacock, or Ackley, or -any of them?" - -"Yes. They live right around near us." - -"George, you run down and tell Fred I've come, will you? Hunt up Rody, -and Peacock and Ackley and Fred, and see if you can find Frances around -there and tell them I've just come in." And they would come and I would -say, "How are you? Glad to see you. Feeling first-rate." - -And, oh, what a time we'll have in heaven. In heaven they never mar -the hillsides with spades, for they dig no graves. In heaven they -never telephone for the doctor, for nobody gets sick. In heaven no -one carries handkerchiefs, for nobody cries. In heaven they never -telephone for the undertaker, for nobody dies. In heaven you will never -see a funeral procession going down the street, nor crêpe hanging -from the doorknob. In heaven, none of the things that enter your home -here will enter there. Sickness won't get in; death won't get in, nor -sorrow, because "Former things are passed away," all things have become -new. In heaven the flowers never fade, the winter winds and blasts -never blow. The rivers never congeal, never freeze, for it never gets -cold. No, sir. - -Say, don't let God be compelled to hang a "For Rent" sign in the window -of the mansion he has prepared for you. I would walk around with him -and I'd say, "Whose mansion is that, Jesus?" - -"Why, I had that for one of the rich men, but he passed it up." - -"Who's that one for?" - -"That was for a doctor, but he did not take it." - -"That was for one of the school teachers, but she didn't come." - -"Who is that one for, Jesus?" - -"That was for a society man, but he didn't want it." - -"Who is that one for?" - -"That was for a booze fighter, but he wouldn't pass up the business." - -Don't let God hang a "For Rent" sign in the mansion that he has -prepared for you. Just send up word and say, "Jesus, I've changed -my mind; just put my name down for that, will you? I'm coming. I'm -coming." "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I -would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII - -Glorying in the Cross - - It's Jesus Christ or nothing.--BILLY SUNDAY. - - -Pauline in more than one characteristic is Billy Sunday. But in none so -much as in his devotion to the cross of Jesus Christ. His life motto -may well be Paul's, "I am resolved to know nothing among you, save -Jesus Christ and him crucified." His preaching is entirely founded -on the message that "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all -sin." There are no modern theories of the atonement in his utterances. -To the learned of the world, as to the Greeks of old, the Cross may -seem foolishness, but Sunday knows and preaches it as the power of -God unto salvation. As his closing and most characteristic message -to the readers of this book we commend his sermon on "Christ and him -crucified." - - -"ATONEMENT" - -"For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer -sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the -flesh"--Paul argued in his letter to the Hebrews--"how much more shall -the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself -without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the -living God." - -No more of this turtle-dove business, no more offering the blood of -bullocks and heifers to cleanse from sin. - -The atoning blood of Jesus Christ--that is the thing about which -all else centers. I believe that more logical, illogical, idiotic, -religious and irreligious arguments have been fought over this than all -others. Now and then when a man gets a new idea of it he goes out and -starts a new denomination. He has a perfect right to do this under -the thirteenth amendment, but he doesn't stop here. He makes war on -all of the other denominations that do not interpret as he does. Our -denominations have multiplied by this method until it would give one -brain fever to try to count them all. - -The atoning blood! And as I think it over I am reminded of a man who -goes to England and advertises that he will throw pictures on the -screen of the Atlantic coast of America. So he gets a crowd and throws -pictures on the screen of high bluffs and rocky coasts and waves -dashing against them until a man comes out of the audience and brands -him a liar and says that he is obtaining money under false pretense, -as he has seen America and the Atlantic coast and what the other man -is showing is not America at all. The men almost come to blows and -then the other man says that if the people will come tomorrow he will -show them real pictures of the coast. So the audience comes back to -see what he will show, and he flashes on the screen pictures of a low -coast line, with palmetto trees and banana trees and tropical foliage -and he apologizes to the audience, but says these are the pictures of -America. The first man calls him a liar and the people don't know which -to believe. What was the matter with them? - -They were both right and they were both wrong, paradoxical as it may -seem. They were both right as far as they went, but neither went far -enough. The first showed the coast line from New England to Cape -Hatteras, while the second showed the coast line from Hatteras to -Yucatan. They neither could show it all in one panoramic view, for it -is so varied it could not be taken in one picture. God never intended -to give you a picture of the world in one panoramic view. From the time -of Adam and Eve down to the time Jesus Christ hung on the cross he was -unfolding his views. When I see Moses leading the people out of bondage -where they for years had bared their backs to the taskmaster's lash; -when I see the lowing herds and the high priest standing before the -altar severing the jugular vein of the rams and the bullocks on until -Christ cried out from the cross, "It is finished," God was preparing -the picture for the consummation of it in the atoning blood of Jesus -Christ. - -A sinner has no standing with God. He forfeits his standing when he -commits sin and the only way he can get back is to repent and accept -the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. - -I have sometimes thought that Adam and Eve didn't understand as fully -as we do when the Lord said, "Eat and you shall surely die." They -had never seen any one die. They might have thought it simply meant -a separation from God. But no sooner had they eaten and seen their -nakedness than they sought to cover themselves, and it is the same -today. When man sees himself in his sins, uncovered, he tries to cover -himself in philosophy or some fake. But God looked through the fig -leaves and the foliage and God walked out in the field and slew the -beasts and took their skins and wrapped them around Adam and Eve, and -from that day to this when a man has been a sinner and has covered -himself it has been by and through faith in the shed blood of Jesus -Christ. Every Jew covered his sins and received pardon through the -blood of the rams and bullocks and the doves. - -An old infidel said to me once, "But I don't believe in atonement by -blood. It doesn't come up to my ideas of what is right." - -I said, "To perdition with your ideas of what is right. Do you think -God is coming down here to consult you with your great intellect and -wonderful brain, and find out what you think is right before he does -it?" My, but you make me sick. You think that because you don't believe -it that it isn't true. - -I have read a great deal--not everything, mind you, for a man would -go crazy if he tried to read everything--but I have read a great -deal that has been written against the atonement from the infidel -standpoint--Voltaire, Huxley, Spencer, Diderot, Bradlaugh, Paine, on -down to Bob Ingersoll--and I have never found an argument that would -stand the test of common sense and common reasoning. And if anyone -tells me he has tossed on the scrap heap the plan of atonement by blood -I say, "What have you to offer that is better?" and until he can show -me something that is better I'll nail my hopes to the cross. - - -Suffering for the Guilty - -You say you don't believe in the innocent suffering for the guilty. -Then I say to you, you haven't seen life as I have seen it up and down -the country. The innocent suffer with the guilty, by the guilty and for -the guilty. Look at that old mother waiting with trembling heart for -the son she has brought into the world. And see him come staggering -in and reeling and staggering to bed while his mother prays and weeps -and soaks the pillow with her tears over her godless boy. Who suffers -most? The mother or that godless, maudlin bum? You have only to be the -mother of a boy like that to know who suffers most. Then you won't say -anything about the plan of redemption and of Jesus Christ suffering for -the guilty. - -Look at that young wife, waiting for the man whose name she bears, and -whose face is woven in the fiber of her heart, the man she loves. She -waits for him in fright and when he comes, reeking from the stench of -the breaking of his marriage vows, from the arms of infamy, who suffers -most? That poor, dirty, triple extract of vice and sin? You have only -to be the wife of a husband like that to know whether the innocent -suffers for the guilty or not. I have the sympathy of those who know -right now. - -This happened in Chicago in a police court. A letter was introduced as -evidence for a criminal there for vagrancy. It read, "I hope you won't -have to hunt long to find work. Tom is sick and baby is sick. Lucy has -no shoes and we have no money for the doctor or to buy any clothes. I -manage to make a little taking in washing, but we are living in one -room in a basement. I hope you won't have to look long for work," and -so on, just the kind of a letter a wife would write to her husband. -And before it was finished men cried and policemen with hearts of -adamant were crying and fled from the room. The judge wiped the tears -from his eyes and said: "You see, no man lives to himself alone. If he -sins others suffer. I have no alternative. I sympathize with them, as -does every one of you, but I have no alternative. I must send this man -to Bridewell." Who suffers most, that woman manicuring her nails over -a washboard to keep the little brood together or that drunken bum in -Bridewell getting his just deserts from his acts? You have only to be -the wife of a man like that to know whether or not the innocent suffer -with the guilty. - -So when you don't like the plan of redemption because the innocent -suffer with the guilty, I say you don't know what is going on. It's the -plan of life everywhere. - -From the fall of Adam and Eve till now it has always been the rule that -the innocent suffer with the guilty. It's the plan of all and unless -you are an idiot, an imbecile and a jackass, and gross flatterer at -that, you'll see it. - - -Jesus' Atoning Blood - -Jesus gave his life on the cross for any who will believe. We're not -redeemed by silver or gold. Jesus paid for it with his blood. When some -one tells you that your religion is a bloody religion and the Bible -is a bloody book, tell them yes, Christianity is a bloody religion, -the gospel is a bloody gospel, the Bible is a bloody book, the plan of -redemption is bloody. It is. You take the blood of Jesus Christ out of -Christianity and that book isn't worth the paper it is written on. It -would be worth no more than your body with the blood taken out. Take -the blood of Jesus Christ out and it would be a meaningless jargon and -jumble of words. - -If it weren't for the atoning blood you might as well rip the roofs off -the churches and burn them down. They aren't worth anything. But as -long as the blood is on the mercy seat the sinner can return, and by -no other way. There is nothing else. It stands for the redemption. You -are not redeemed by silver or gold, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. -Though a man says to read good books, do good deeds, live a good life -and you'll be saved, you'll be damned. That's what you will. All the -books in the world won't keep you out of hell without the atoning blood -of Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ or nothing for every sinner on God's -earth. - -[Illustration: "SAY, BOSS, WHY DIDN'T YOU CHUCK THAT NICKEL IN THE -SEWER?"] - -Without it not a sinner will ever be saved. Jesus has paid for your -sins with his blood. The doctrine of universal salvation is a lie. I -wish every one would be saved, but they won't. You will never be saved -if you reject the blood. - -I remember when I was in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago I was going down -Madison Street and had just crossed Dearborn Street when I saw a -newsboy with a young sparrow in his hand. I said: "Let that little bird -go." - -He said, "Aw, g'wan with you, you big mutt." - -I said, "I'll give you a penny for it," and he answered, "Not on your -tintype." - -"I'll give you a nickel for it," and he answered, "Boss, I'm from -Missouri; come across with the dough." - -I offered it to him, but he said, "Give it to that guy there," and I -gave it to the boy he indicated and took the sparrow. - -I held it for a moment and then it fluttered and struggled and finally -reached the window ledge in a second story across the street. And -other birds fluttered around over my head and seemed to say in bird -language, "Thank you, Bill." - -The kid looked at me in wonder and said: "Say, boss, why didn't you -chuck that nickel in the sewer?" - -I told him that he was just like that bird. He was in the grip of the -devil, and the devil was too strong for him just as he was too strong -for the sparrow, and just as I could do with the sparrow what I wanted -to after I had paid for it because it was mine. God paid a price for -him far greater than I had for the sparrow, for he had paid it with the -blood of his Son and he wanted to set him free. - - -No Argument Against Sin - -So, my friend, if I had paid for some property from you with a price, -I could command you, and if you wouldn't give it to me I could go into -court and make you yield. Why do you want to be a sinner and refuse to -yield? You are withholding from God what he paid for on the cross. When -you refuse you are not giving God a square deal. - -I'll tell you another. It stands for God's hatred of sin. Sin is -something you can't deny. You can't argue against sin. A skilful -man can frame an argument against the validity of religion, but he -can't frame an argument against sin. I'll tell you something that may -surprise you. If I hadn't had four years of instruction in the Bible -from Genesis to Revelation, before I saw Bob Ingersoll's book, and I -don't want to take any credit from that big intelligent brain of his, I -would be preaching infidelity instead of Christianity. Thank the Lord I -saw the Bible first. I have taken his lectures and placed them by the -side of the Bible, and said, "You didn't say it from your knowledge of -the Bible." And I have never considered him honest, for he could not -have been so wise in other things and such a fool about the plan of -redemption. So I say I don't think he was entirely honest. - -But you can't argue against the existence of sin, simply because it is -an open fact, the word of God. You can argue against Jesus being the -Son of God. You can argue about there being a heaven and a hell, but -you can't argue against sin. It is in the world and men and women are -blighted and mildewed by it. - -Some years ago I turned a corner in Chicago and stood in front of -a police station. As I stood there a patrol dashed up and three -women were taken from some drunken debauch, and they were dirty -and blear-eyed, and as they were taken out they started a flood of -profanity that seemed to turn the very air blue. I said, "There is -sin." And as I stood there up dashed another patrol and out of it they -took four men, drunken and ragged and bloated, and I said, "There is -sin." You can't argue against the fact of sin. It is in the world and -blights men and women. But Jesus came to the world to save all who -accept him. - - -"How Long, O God?" - -It was out in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago. "What is your name and what -do you want?" I asked. - -"I'm from Cork, Ireland," said he, "and my name is James O'Toole. Here -is a letter of introduction." I read it and it said he was a good -Christian young man and an energetic young fellow. - -I said, "Well, Jim, my name is Mr. Sunday. I'll tell you where there -are some good Christian boarding houses and you let me know which one -you pick out." He told me afterwards that he had one on the North -Side. I sent him an invitation to a meeting to be held at the Y. M. -C. A., and he had it when he and some companions went bathing in Lake -Michigan. He dived from the pier just as the water receded unexpectedly -and he struck the bottom and broke his neck. He was taken to the morgue -and the police found my letter in his clothes, and told me to come and -claim it or it would be sent to a medical college. I went and they had -the body on a slab, but I told them I would send a cablegram to his -folks and asked them to hold it. They put it in a glass case and turned -on the cold air, by which they freeze bodies by chemical processes, -as they freeze ice, and said they would save it for two months, and if -I wanted it longer they would stretch the rules a little and keep it -three. - -I was just thinking of what sorrow that cablegram would cause his old -mother in Cork when they brought in the body of a woman. She would have -been a fit model of Phidias, she had such symmetry of form. Her fingers -were manicured. She was dressed in the height of fashion and her hands -were covered with jewels and as I looked at her, the water trickling -down her face, I saw the mute evidence of illicit affection. I did -not say lust, I did not say passion, I did not say brute instincts. I -said, "Sin." Sin had caused her to throw herself from that bridge and -seek repose in a suicide's grave. And as I looked, from the saloon, -the fan-tan rooms, the gambling hells, the opium dens, the red lights, -there arose one endless cry of "How long, O God, how long shall hell -prevail?" - -You can't argue against sin. It's here. Then listen to me as I try to -help you. - -When the Standard Oil Company was trying to refine petroleum there was -a substance that they couldn't dispose of. It was a dark, black, sticky -substance and they couldn't bury it, couldn't burn it because it made -such a stench; they couldn't run it in the river because it killed the -fish, so they offered a big reward to any chemist who would solve the -problem. Chemists took it and worked long over the problem, and one day -there walked into the office of John D. Rockefeller, a chemist and laid -down a pure white substance which we since know as paraffine. - -You can be as black as that substance and yet Jesus Christ can make you -white as snow. "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white -as snow." - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. - -Base ball, base-ball and baseball have been variously used throughout -the original, these have been standardised to baseball. Other -variations in hyphenation have been standardised, but variations in -punctuation and spelling remain. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_ and bold thus =bold=. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Billy" Sunday, by William Ellis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "BILLY" SUNDAY *** - -***** This file should be named 50586-8.txt or 50586-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/5/8/50586/ - -Produced by Richard Hulse, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: "Billy" Sunday - The Man and His Message - -Author: William Ellis - -Release Date: December 1, 2015 [EBook #50586] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "BILLY" SUNDAY *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Hulse, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Reverend William Ashley Sunday</span>, D.D.</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span></p> - - - -<div class="box spaced"> - <h1>"BILLY" SUNDAY<br /> - - <span class="u"><small>THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE</small></span></h1> - - <p class="sub-title">WITH HIS OWN WORDS<br /> - WHICH HAVE WON<br /> - THOUSANDS FOR CHRIST</p> - - <p class="center"><span class="xs">BY</span><br /> - WILLIAM T. ELLIS, LL.D.<br /> - <span class="xs">AUTHOR OF "MEN AND MISSIONS"</span></p> - - <p class="center spaced"><small><b><i>Authorized Edition</i></b></small></p> - - <p class="center"><span class="smcap xs">Philadelphia</span><br /> - THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.<br /> - <span class="smcap xs">Publishers</span></p> -</div> - - - <p class="center space-above"> -<span class="smcap"><small>Copyright, 1914, by</small></span><br /> -L. T. MYERS<br /> -</p> - -<p class="center">CAUTION</p> - -<p><small>The entire contents of this book are protected by the -stringent new copyright law, and all persons are warned -not to attempt to reproduce the text, in whole or in part, -or any of the illustrations</small>.</p> - -<div class="box spaced"> -<p class="center">Authorized by Mr. Sunday</p> - - -<p>This work contains the heart of -Mr. Sunday's gospel message -arranged by subjects, and is -published by special agreement -with him for the use of copyright -material and photographs, -which could be used only by -his permission.</p> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="A_WORD_FROM_THE_AUTHOR" id="A_WORD_FROM_THE_AUTHOR">A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR</a></h2> - - -<p>Because he is the most conspicuous Christian leader in -America today; because he has done an entirely unique -and far-reaching work of evangelism; and because his words -have a message for all men, I have written, at the request -of the publishers, this narrative concerning Rev. William A. -Sunday, D.D.</p> - -<p>The final appraisal of the man and his ministry cannot, -of course, be made while he is alive. "Never judge unfinished -work." This book has endeavored to deal candidly, -though sympathetically, with its subject. Mr. Sunday has -not seen either the manuscript or proofs. He has, however, -authorized the use of the messages which he is accustomed -to deliver in his meetings, and which comprise more than -half the contents of the volume.</p> - -<p>The author's hope is that those of us who are just -plain "folks" will find the book interesting and helpful. He -has no doubt that professional Christian workers will -get many suggestions from the story of Mr. Sunday's -methods.</p> - -<p>I would acknowledge the assistance of Miss Helen Cramp -and the Rev. Ernest Bawden in collating and preparing -for publication Mr. Sunday's utterances.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span class="smcap">William T. Ellis.</span> </p> -<p> -<span class="smcap">Swarthmore, Pa.</span><br /> -</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a><br /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> - - - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="right"><span class="xs">PAGE</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Preface</td><td align="right">5</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Contents</td><td align="right">7</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> -One of God's Tools</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">God's Man Sent in God's Time—Sunday's Converts—Religion -and the Common People—A Great City Shaken -by the Gospel—Popular Interest in Vital Religion—Sunday -a Distinctively American Type</td><td class="tdrb">15</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> - -Up from the Soil</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday's Sympathy with Every-day Folk—Early Life—The -Soldiers' Orphanage—The Old Farm—Earning a Living—The -School of Experience—First Baseball Ventures</td><td class="tdrb"> 22</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> - -A Base-Ball "Star"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Fame as a Baseball Player—Eagerness to "Take a Chance"—Record -Run on the Day Following his Conversion—The -Parting of the Ways </td><td class="tdrb"> 33</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> - -A Curbstone Recruit</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Mrs. Clark and the Pacific Garden Mission—Sunday's Own -Story of his Conversion—Winning the Game of Life </td><td class="tdrb"> 39</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> - -Playing the New Game</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">The Individuality of the Man—His Marriage—Mrs. Sunday's -Influence—Work in the Y. M. C. A.—A Father -Disowned—Redeeming a Son—The Gambler—A Living -Testimony—Professional Evangelistic Work </td><td class="tdrb"> 45<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> - -A Shut Door—and an Open One</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday Thrown Upon His Own Resources by Dr. Chapman's -Return to Philadelphia—Call to Garner, Iowa—"This -is the Lord's Doings" </td><td class="tdrb"> 57</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> - -Campaigning for Christ</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Splendid Organization of a Sunday Campaign—Church Co-operation—The -Power of Christian Publicity—District -Prayer Meetings—Sunday's Army of Workers—The -Sunday Tabernacle—The Evangelist's Own Compensation—Personnel -of the Sunday Party </td><td class="tdrb"> 61</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> - -"Speech—Seasoned with Salt"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Vivid Language of the Common People—"Rubbing the -Fur the Wrong Way"—"Delivering the Goods"—Shakings -from the Sunday Salt-cellar </td><td class="tdrb"> 69</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> - -Battling with Booze</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">An Effective Foe of the Liquor Business—"Dry" Victories -Following Sunday Campaigns—"De Brewer's Big -Hosses"—The Famous "Booze" Sermon—Interest in -Manhood—Does the Saloon Help Business?—The Parent -of Crimes—The Economic Side—Tragedies Born of -Drink—More Economics—The American Mongoose—The -Saloon a Coward—God's Worst Enemy—What -Will a Dollar Buy?—The Gin Mill—A Chance for Manhood—Personal -Liberty—The Moderate Drinker—What -Booze Does to the System </td><td class="tdrb"> 80<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> - -"Give Attendance to Reading"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday's Reverence for "Book Learning"—No Claim to -Originality—Some Sources of His Sermons—God's -Token of Love—The Sinking Ship—"What If It Had -Been My Boy?"—A Dream of Heaven—The Battle -with Death—"Christ or Nothing"—Calvary—The -World for God—A Word Picture—The Faithful Pilot </td><td class="tdrb"> 121</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> - -Acrobatic Preaching</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Platform Gymnastics—The Athlete in the Preacher—Sunday's -Sense of Humor Stronger than His Sense of -Pathos—His Voice and Manner—Personal Side of -Sunday </td><td class="tdrb"> 138</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> - -"The Old-Time Religion"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday's Power of Positive Conviction—His Ideas of Theology—The -Need of Old-time Revival—The Gospel According -to Sunday—Salvation a Personal Matter—"And -He Arose and Followed Him"—At the Cross-roads—"He -Died for Me" </td><td class="tdrb"> 146</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> - -"Hitting the Sawdust Trail"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Origin of the Phrase, "The Sawdust Trail"—Impressive -Scenes as Converts by the Hundred Stream Forward—Vital -Religion—Mr. Sunday's Hand—All Sorts and Conditions -of People </td><td class="tdrb"> 158<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> - -The Service of Society</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Social and Ethical Results of Sunday's Preaching—The Potent -Force of the Gospel—Religion in Every-day Life—Testimony -of Rev. Joseph H. Odell, D.D.—Testimony -of Rev. Maitland Alexander, D.D.—The "Garage Bible -Class"—Making Religion a Subject of Ordinary Conversation—Lasting -Results—A Life Story </td><td class="tdrb"> 167</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> - -Giving the Devil His Due</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday's Sense of the Reality of the Devil—Excoriation -of the Devil—"Devil" Passages from Sermons </td><td class="tdrb"> 182</td></tr> - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> - -Critics and Criticism</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Storm of Criticism a Tribute—Preaching "Christ Crucified"—Recognition -from Secretary Bryan—Pilgrimage of -Philadelphia Clergymen—Heaven's Messenger—Plain -Speech from Sunday Himself </td><td class="tdrb"> 188</td></tr> - - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a><br /> - -A Clean Man on Social Sins</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Clean-mindedness of the Man—A Plain Talk to Men—Christian -Character—Common Sense—No Excuse for -Swearing—Family Skeletons—Nursing Bad Habits—The -Leprosy of Sin—"But the Lord Looketh on the -Heart"—The Joy of Religion—A Plain Talk to -Women—Hospitality—Maternity Out of Fashion—The -Girl Who Flirts—The Task of Womanhood </td><td class="tdrb"> 202<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a><br /> - -"Help Those Women"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Sunday's Honor of Womanhood—The Sermon on "Mother"—A -Mother's Watchfulness—A Mother's Bravery—Good -Mothers Needed—God's Hall of Fame—A Mother's -Song—A Mother's Love—A Mother's Responsibility—Mothers -of Great Men </td><td class="tdrb"> 231</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a><br /> - -Standing on the Rock</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">The Old-Fashioned Loyalty of the Evangelist to the Bible—Some -of His Utterances on the Bible </td><td class="tdrb"> 249</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a><br /> - -Making a Joyful Noise</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">No Gloom in a Sunday Revival—The Value of a Laugh—The -Value of Music—The Tabernacle Music—The Campaign -Choirs—A Revival of Song </td><td class="tdrb"> 261</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a><br /> - -The Prophet and His Own Time</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">The Evangelist's Arraignment of the Sins of Today—His -Treatment of the Church and Society </td><td class="tdrb"> 267</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a><br /> - -Those Billy Sunday Prayers</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Unconventionality of the Prayers—Specimen Prayers—"Teach -Us to Pray"—Learning of Christ—Pride -Hinders Prayer—Praying in Secret—Praying in Humility—Men -of Prayer </td><td class="tdrb"> 271</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a><br /> - -The Revival on Trial</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">The Sea of Faces—Laboratory Tests—"The Need of -Revivals"—What a Revival Does—Revival Demands -Sacrifice—Persecution a Godsend </td><td class="tdrb"> 288<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a><br /> - -An Army With Banners</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Unique Plans for Reaching the Masses of the People—Visiting -Delegations—Parade at Close of Campaign—"Spiritual -Power"—Derelicts in the Church—The -Meaning of Power—Church Needs Great Awakening—Lost -Power </td><td class="tdrb"> 299</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a><br /> - -A Life Enlistment</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Some Notable Instances of the Lasting Results of Sunday -Revivals—"Gospel Teams"—Sermon on "Sharp-Shooters"—The -Value of Personal Work—"My Father's -Business"—Feeding the Spiritual Life—The Dignity of -Personal Work—Five Classes of People </td><td class="tdrb"> 311</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</a><br /> - -"A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ"</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Astounding Number of Conversions—Statistics of Campaigns -in Various Cities—Sunday's "Consecration" -Sermon—God's Mercies—The Living Sacrifice—A Glass -of Champagne—Denying One's Self—Thinking for -God—What God Asks </td><td class="tdrb"> 326</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</a><br /> - -A Wonderful Day at a Great University</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Visit to University of Pennsylvania—"What Shall I Do -With Jesus?"—"Real Manhood"—"Hot-cakes Off the -Griddle"—Comment of <cite>Old Penn</cite>—Opinions of Students—Comment -of Religious Press </td><td class="tdrb"> 343</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a><br /> - -The Christian's Daily Helper</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">"The Holy Spirit"—No Universal Salvation—Happiest -Nation on Earth—Ambassadors of God—Holy Spirit -a Person—The Last Dispensation—"Little Things"—The -Fame of a Christian </td><td class="tdrb"> 359<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</a><br /> - -A Victorious Sermon</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">Conquests by the Sermon on "The Unpardonable Sin"—What -It Is—Resisting the Truth—"Too Late"—Representative -of the Trinity—Death-bed Confessions—A -Forgiving God—Power of Revivals </td><td class="tdrb"> 370</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</a><br /> - -Eternity! Eternity!</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">"What Shall the End Be?"—Men Believe in God—At the -Cross—The Judgment of God—Glad Tidings to All—The -Atonement of Christ—God's Word—Eternity and -Space—God's Infinite Love—Preparing for Eternity—A -Leap in the Dark—"The End Thereof" </td><td class="tdrb"> 383</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</a><br /> - -Our Long Home</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">"Heaven"—"I, Too, Must Die"—No Substitute for Religion—Morality -Not Enough—The Way of Salvation—Rewards -of Merit—A Place of Noble People—"A Place -for You"—The Missing </td><td class="tdrb"> 404</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</a><br /> - -Glorying in the Cross</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdjh">"Atonement"—Suffering for the Guilty—Jesus' Atoning -Blood—No Argument Against Sin—"There is Sin"—"How -Long, O God?" </td><td class="tdrb"> 424</td></tr> -</table></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span></p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /><div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> - -<small>One of God's Tools</small></h2> -<blockquote> -<p>I want to be a giant for God.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p> -</blockquote> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Heaven</span> often plays jokes on earth's worldly-wise. -After the consensus of experience and sagacity has -settled upon a certain course and type, lo, all the -profundity of the sages is blown away as a speck of dust -and we have, say, a shockingly unconventional John the -Baptist, who does not follow the prescribed rules in dress, -training, methods or message. John the Baptist was God's -laugh at the rabbis and the Pharisees.</p> - -<p>In an over-ecclesiastical age, when churchly authority -had reached the limit, a poor monk, child of a miner's hut, -without influence or favor, was called to break the power of -the popes, and to make empires and reshape history, flinging -his shadow far down the centuries. Martin Luther was God's -laugh at ecclesiasticism.</p> - -<p>While the brains and aristocracy and professional -statesmanship of America struggled in vain with the nation's -greatest crisis, God reached down close to the soil of the raw -and ignored Middle West, and picked up a gaunt and untutored -specimen of the common people—a man who reeked -of the earth until the earth closed over him—and so saved the -Union and freed a race, through ungainly Abraham Lincoln. -Thus again Heaven laughed at exalted procedure and -conventionality.</p> - -<p>In our own day, with its blatant worldly wisdom, with -its flaunting prosperity, with its fashionable churchliness, -with its flood of "advanced" theology overwhelming the -pulpit, God needed a prophet, to call his people back to -simple faith and righteousness. A nation imperiled by -luxury, greed, love of pleasure and unbelief cried aloud for -a deliverer. Surely this crisis required a great man, learned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -in all the ways of the world, equipped with the best preparation -of American and foreign universities and theological -seminaries, a man trained in ecclesiastical leadership, and -approved and honored by the courts of the Church? So -worldly wisdom decreed. But God laughed—and produced, -to the scandal of the correct and conventional, Billy Sunday, -a common man from the common people, who, like Lincoln, -so wears the signs and savor of the soil that fastidious folk, -to whom sweat is vulgar and to whom calloused hands are -"bad form," quite lose their suavity and poise in calling -him "unrefined."</p> - -<p>That he is God's tool is the first and last word about -Billy Sunday. He is a "phenomenon" only as God is -forever doing phenomenal things, and upsetting men's -best-laid plans. He is simply a tool of God. For a special -work he is the special instrument. God called, and he -answered. All the many owlish attempts to "explain" -Billy Sunday on psychological and sociological grounds fall -flat when they ignore the fact that he is merely a handy -man for the Lord's present use.</p> - -<p>God is still, as ever, confounding all human wisdom by -snatching the condemned baby of a Hebrew slave out of -Egypt's river to become a nation's deliverer; by calling a -shepherd boy from his sheep to be Israel's greatest warrior -and king; and by sending his only-begotten Son to earth by -way of a manger, and training him in a workingman's home -and a village carpenter shop. "My ways are not your ways," -is a remark of God, which he seems fond of repeating and -illustrating.</p> - -<p>There is no other explanation of Billy Sunday needed, -or possible, than that he is God's man sent in God's time. -And if God chooses the weak and foolish things of earth to -confound the mighty, is not that but another one of his -inscrutable ways of showing that he is God?</p> - -<p>Why are we so confident that Billy Sunday is the Lord's -own man, when so many learned critics have declared the -contrary? Simply because he has led more persons to make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -a public confession of discipleship to Jesus Christ than any -other man for a century past. Making Christians is, from -all angles, the greatest work in the world. Approximately -two hundred and fifty thousand persons, in the past twenty-five -years, have taken Sunday's hand, in token that henceforth -their lives belong to the Saviour.</p> - -<p>That amazing statement is too big to be grasped at -once. It requires thinking over. The huge total of dry -figures needs to be broken up into its component parts of -living human beings. Tens of thousands of those men were -husbands—hundreds of whom had been separated from their -wives and children by sin. Now, in reunited homes, whole -families bless the memory of the man of God who gave them -back husbands and fathers. Other tens of thousands were -sons, over many of whom parents had long prayed and -agonized. It would be hard to convince these mothers, -whose sons have been given back to clean living and to -Christian service, that there is anything seriously wrong with -Mr. Sunday's language, methods or theology. Business -men who find that a Sunday revival means the paying up -of the bad bills of old customers are ready to approve on -this evidence a man whose work restores integrity in commercial -relations.</p> - -<p>Every conceivable type of humanity is included in that -total of a quarter of a million of Sunday converts. The -college professor, the prosperous business man, the eminent -politician, the farmer, the lawyer, the editor, the doctor, the -author, the athlete, the "man about town," the criminal, -the drunkard, the society woman, the college student, the -workingman, the school boy and girl: the whole gamut of -life is covered by the stream of humanity that has "hit -the sawdust trail"—a phrase which has chilled the marrow -of every theological seminary in the land. But the trail -leads home to the Father's House.</p> - -<p>One must reach into the dictionary for big, strong words -in characterizing the uniqueness of Billy Sunday's work. -So I say that another aspect of his success is fairly astound<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span>ing. -He, above all others in our time, has broken through -the thick wall of indifference which separates the Church -from the world. Church folk commonly avoid the subject -of this great fixed gulf. We do not like to face the fact that -the mass of mankind does not bother its head about conventional -religious matters. Even the majority of church-goers -are blankly uninterested in the general affairs of -religion. Sad to tell, our bishops and board secretaries and -distinguished preachers are really only local celebrities. -Their names mean nothing in newspaper offices or to newspaper -readers: there are not six clergymen in the United -States with a really national reputation. Each in his own -circle, of locality or denomination, may be Somebody with a -big S. But the world goes on unheeding. Great ecclesiastical -movements and meetings are entirely unrecorded by the -secular press. The Church's problem of problems is how -to smash, or even to crack, the partition which shuts off the -world from the Church.</p> - -<p>Billy Sunday has done that. He has set all sorts and -conditions of men to talking about religion. Go to the -lowest dive in New York's "Tenderloin" or in San Francisco's -"Barbary Coast," and mention the name "Billy Sunday," -and everybody will recognize it, and be ready to discuss the -man and his message. Stand before a session of the American -Philosophical Society and pronounce the words "Billy -Sunday" and every one of the learned savants present will -be able to talk about the man, even though few of them know -who won last season's baseball championship or who is the -world's champion prize-fighter.</p> - -<p>This is a feat of first magnitude. All levels of society -have been made aware of Billy Sunday and his gospel. -When the evangelist went to New York for an evening -address, early in the year 1914, the throngs were so great -that the police were overwhelmed by the surging thousands. -Even Mr. Sunday himself could not obtain admittance to -the meeting for more than half an hour. Andrew Carnegie -could not get into the hall that bears his name. Probably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -a greater number of persons tried to hear this evangelist -that night than were gathered in all the churches of greater -New York combined on the preceding Sunday night. To -turn thousands of persons away from his meetings is a -common experience of Mr. Sunday. More than ten thousand, -mostly men, tried in vain to get into the overcrowded Scranton -tabernacle at a single session. Every thoughtful man -or woman must be interested in the man who thus can make -religion interesting to the common people.</p> - -<p>The despair of the present-day Church is the modern -urban center. Our generation had not seen a great city -shaken by the gospel until Billy Sunday went to Pittsburgh. -That he did it is the unanimous report of press and preachers -and business men. Literally that whole city was stirred to -its most sluggish depths by the Sunday campaign. No -baseball series or political campaign ever moved the community -so deeply. Everywhere one went the talk was of -Billy Sunday and his meetings. From the bell boys in the -hotels to the millionaires in the Duquesne Club, from the -workmen in the mills and the girls in the stores, to the -women in exclusive gatherings, Sunday was the staple of -conversation.</p> - -<p>Day by day, all the newspapers in the city gave whole -pages to the Sunday meetings. The sermons were reported -entire. No other topic ever had received such full attention -for so long a time at the hands of the press as the Sunday -campaign. These issues of the papers were subscribed for -by persons in all parts of the land. Men and women were -converted who never heard the sound of the evangelist's -voice. This series of Pittsburgh meetings, more than anything -else in his experience, impressed the power of Sunday -upon the metropolitan centers of the nation at large; the -country folk had long before learned of him.</p> - -<p>Any tabulation of Mr. Sunday's influence must give a -high place to the fact that he has made good press "copy": -he has put religion on the front pages of the dailies; and has -made it a present issue with the millions. Under modern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -conditions, no man can hope to evangelize America who has -not also access to the columns of the newspapers. Within -the memory of living men, no other man or agency has -brought religion so powerfully and consecutively into the -press as William A. Sunday, whom some of his scholarly -critics have called "illiterate."</p> - -<p>All of which proves the popular interest in vital, contemporaneous -religion. Men's ears are dulled by the "shop -talk" of the pulpit. They are weary of the worn platitudes -of professional piety. Nobody cares for the language of -Canaan, in which many ministers, with reverence for the -dead past, have tried to enswathe the living truths of the -Gospel, as if they were mummies. In the colloquial tongue of -the common people, Jesus first proclaimed his gospel, and -"the common people heard him gladly," although many of -the learned and aristocratic ecclesiastics of his day were -scandalized by his free and popular way of putting things, -by his "common" stories, and by his disregard for the -precedents of the schools. Whatever else may be said -about Billy Sunday's much-discussed forms of speech, this -point is clear, and denied by nobody: he makes himself -and his message clearly understood by all classes of people. -However much one may disagree with him, nobody fails -to catch his meaning. He harnesses the common words of -the street up to the chariot of divine truth. Every-day folk, -the uncritical, unscholarly crowd of us, find no fault with -the fact that Sunday uses the same sort of terms that we -do. In fresh, vigorous, gripping style, he makes his message -unmistakable.</p> - -<p>College students like him as much as do the farmers -and mechanics. In a single day's work at the University -of Pennsylvania, when thousands of students crowded his -meetings, and gave reverent, absorbed attention to his -message, several hundred of them openly dedicated their -lives to Christ, and in token thereof publicly grasped his -hand. Dr. John R. Mott, the world's greatest student -leader, once said to me, in commenting upon Sunday:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -"You cannot fool a great body of students. They get a -man's measure. If he is genuine, they know it, and if he is -not, they quickly find it out. Their devotion to Mr. Sunday -is very significant."</p> - - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_021fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">God likes a Little Humor, as Evidenced by the Fact that He -made the Monkey, the Parrot—and Some of You People.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>This man, who meets life on all levels, and proves that -the gospel message is for no one particular class, is a distinctively -American type. Somebody has said that the circus -is the most democratic of American institutions: it brings -all sorts and conditions of people together on a common -plane and for a common purpose. The Sunday evangelistic -meetings are more democratic than a circus. They are a -singular exhibit of American life—perhaps the most distinctive -gathering to be found in our land today. His -appeal is to the great mass of the people. The housekeepers -who seldom venture away from their homes, the mechanics -who do not go to church, the "men about town" who -profess a cynical disdain for religion, the "down and outs," -the millionaires, the society women, the business and professional -men, the young fellows who feel "too big" to go -to Sunday school—all these, and scores of other types, -may be found night after night in the barn-like wooden -tabernacles which are always erected for the Sunday meetings. -Our common American life seems to meet and merge -in this baseball evangelist, who once erected tents for -another evangelist, and now has to have special auditoriums -built to hold his own crowds; and who has risen from a log -cabin to a place of national power and honor. Nowhere -else but in America could one find such an unconventional -figure as Billy Sunday.</p> - -<p>Succeeding chapters will tell in some detail the story of -the man and his work; and in most of them the man will -speak his own messages. But for explanation of his power -and his work it can only be said, as of old, "There was a -man sent from God, whose name was"—Billy Sunday.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> - -<small>Up from the Soil</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If you want to drive the devil out of the world, hit him with a cradle -instead of a crutch.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Sunday</span> must be accepted as a man of the American -type before he can be understood. He is of the -average, every-day American sort. He is one of the -"folks." He has more points of resemblance to the common -people than he has of difference from them. His -mind is their mind. The keenness of the average American -is his in an increased degree. He has the saving sense of -humor which has marked this western people. The extravagances -and recklessnesses of his speech would be incredible -to a Britisher; but we Americans understand them. They -are of a piece with our minds.</p> - -<p>Like the type, Sunday is not over-fastidious. He is -not made of a special porcelain clay, but of the same red soil -as the rest of us. He knows the barn-yards of the farm -better than the drawing-rooms of the rich. The normal, -every-day Americanism of this son of the Middle West, -whom the nation knows as "Billy Sunday," is to be insisted -upon if he is to be understood.</p> - -<p>Early apprenticed to hardship and labor, he has a -sympathy with the life of the toiling people which mere -imagination cannot give. His knowledge of the American -crowd is sure and complete because he is one of them. -He understands the life of every-day folk because that has -always been his life. While he has obvious natural ability, -sharpened on the grindstone of varied experience, his -perceptions and his viewpoints are altogether those of the -normal American. As he has seen something of life on -many levels, and knows city ways as well as country usages, -he has never lost his bearings as to what sort of people<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -make up the bulk of this country. To them his sermons -are addressed. Because he strikes this medium level of -common conduct and thought, it is easy for those in all the -ranges of American life to comprehend him.</p> - -<p>"Horse-sense," that fundamental American virtue, is -Sunday's to an eminent degree. A modern American -philosopher defines this quality of mind as "an instinctive -something that tells us when the clock strikes twelve." -Because he is "rich in saving common sense," Sunday -understands the people and trusts them to understand him. -His most earnest defenders from the beginning of his public -life have been the rank and file of the common people. -His critics have come from the extreme edges of society—the -scholar, or the man whose business is hurt by righteousness.</p> - -<p>The life of William A. Sunday covers the period of -American history since the Civil War. He never saw his -father, for he was born the third son of pioneer parents on -November 19, 1862, four months after his father had -enlisted as a private in Company E, Twenty-third Iowa -Infantry Volunteers.</p> - -<p>There is nothing remarkable to record as to the family. -They were one with the type of the middle-western Americans -who wrested that empire from the wilderness, and -counted poverty honorable. In those mutually helpful, -splendidly independent days, Democracy came to its -flower, and the American type was born.</p> - -<p>Real patriotism is always purchased at a high price; -none pay more dearly for war-time loyalty than the -women who send their husbands and sons to the front. -Mrs. Sunday bade her husband answer the call of his -country as only a brave woman could do, and sent him -forth to the service and sacrifices which soon ended in an -unmarked grave. Four months after she had bidden farewell -to her husband, she bade welcome to his son. To this -third child she gave the name of her absent soldier husband.</p> - -<p>The mother's dreams of the returning soldier's delight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -in his namesake child were soon shattered by the tidings -that Private William Sunday had died of disease contracted -in service, at Patterson, Missouri, on December -22, 1862, a little more than a month after the birth of the -boy who was to lift his name out of the obscurity of the -hosts of those who gave "the last full measure of devotion" -to their nation.</p> - -<p>Then the mother was called upon to take up that -heaviest of all burdens of patriotism—the rearing of an -orphan family in a home of dire poverty. The three children -in the Sunday home out at Ames, Iowa—Roy, Edward -and William—were unwitting participants in another aspect -of war, the lot of soldiers' orphans. For years, Mrs. Sunday, -who at this writing is still living and rejoicing in the successes -of her son, was able to keep her little family together under -the roof of the two-roomed log cabin which they called home. -In those early days their grandfather, Squire Corey, was -of unmeasured help in providing for and training the three -orphan boys.</p> - -<p>Experience is a school teacher who carries a rod, as -Sunday could well testify. He learned life's fundamental -lessons in the school of poverty and toil. To the part which -his mother played in shaping his life and ideals he has borne -eloquent tribute on many platforms. When the youngest -son was twelve years old, he and his older brother were sent -off to the Soldiers' Orphanage at Glenwood, Iowa. Later -they were transferred to the Davenport Orphanage, which -they left in June of 1876, making two years spent in the -orphanages. Concerning this experience Sunday himself -speaks:</p> - -<p>"I was bred and born (not in old Kentucky, although -my grandfather was a Kentuckian), but in old Iowa. I -am a rube of the rubes. I am a hayseed of the hayseeds, and -the malodors of the barnyard are on me yet, and it beats -Pinaud and Colgate, too. I have greased my hair with -goose grease and blacked my boots with stove blacking. -I have wiped my old proboscis with a gunny-sack towel;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -I have drunk coffee out of my saucer, and I have eaten with -my knife; I have said 'done it,' when I should have said -'did it,' and I 'have saw' when I should 'have seen,' and I -expect to go to heaven just the same. I have crept and -crawled out from the university of poverty and hard knocks, -and have taken postgraduate courses.</p> - -<p>"My father went to the war four months before I was -born, in Company E, Twenty-third Iowa. I have butted -and fought and struggled since I was six years old. That's -one reason why I wear that little red, white and blue button. -I know all about the dark and seamy side of life, and if -ever a man fought hard, I have fought hard for everything -I have ever gained.</p> - -<p>"The wolf scratched at the cabin door and finally -mother said: 'Boys, I am going to send you to the Soldiers' -Orphans' Home.' At Ames, Iowa, we had to wait for the -train, and we went to a little hotel, and they came about -one o'clock and said: 'Get ready for the train.'</p> - -<p>"I looked into mother's face. Her eyes were red, her -hair was disheveled. I said: 'What's the matter, mother?' -All the time Ed and I slept mother had been praying. We -went to the train; she put one arm about me and the other -about Ed and sobbed as if her heart would break. People -walked by and looked at us, but they didn't say a word.</p> - -<p>"Why? They didn't know, and if they had they -wouldn't have cared. Mother knew; she knew that for -years she wouldn't see her boys. We got into the train -and said, 'Good-bye, mother,' as the train pulled out. We -reached Council Bluffs. It was cold and we turned up our -coats and shivered. We saw the hotel and went up and asked -the woman for something to eat. She said: 'What's your -name?'</p> - -<p>"'My name is William Sunday, and this is my brother -Ed.'</p> - -<p>"'Where are you going?'</p> - -<p>"'Going to the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Glenwood.'</p> - -<p>"She wiped her tears and said: 'My husband was a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -soldier and he never came back. He wouldn't turn any -one away and I wouldn't turn you boys away.' She drew -her arms about us and said: 'Come on in.' She gave us -our breakfast and our dinner, too. There wasn't any train -going out on the 'Q' until afternoon. We saw a freight -train standing there, so we climbed into the caboose.</p> - - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_026.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"> "<span class="smcap">Where's Your Money or Ticket?</span>"</div> -</div> -<p>"The conductor came along and said: 'Where's your -money or ticket?'</p> - -<p>"'Ain't got -any.'</p> - -<p>"'I'll have to -put you off.'</p> - -<p>"We commenced -to cry. -My brother handed -him a letter of introduction -to the -superintendent of -the orphans' home. -The conductor read -it, and handed it -back as the tears -rolled down his -cheeks. Then he -said: 'Just sit -still, boys. It won't cost a cent to ride on my train.'</p> - -<p>"It's only twenty miles from Council Bluffs to Glenwood, -and as we rounded the curve the conductor said: -'There it is on the hill.'</p> - -<p>"I want to say to you that one of the brightest pictures -that hangs upon the walls of my memory is the recollection -of the days when as a little boy, out in the log cabin on the -frontier of Iowa, I knelt by mother's side.</p> - -<p>"I went back to the old farm some years ago. The -scenes had changed about the place. Faces I had known -and loved had long since turned to dust. Fingers that used -to turn the pages of the Bible were obliterated and the old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -trees beneath which we boys used to play and swing had been -felled by the woodman's axe. I stood and thought. The -man became a child again and the long weary nights of sin -and of hardships became as though they never had been.</p> - -<p>"Once more with my gun on my shoulder and my favorite -dog trailing at my heels I walked through the pathless -wood and sat on the old familiar logs and stumps, and as I -sat and listened to the wild, weird harmonies of nature, -a vision of the past opened. The squirrel from the limb of -the tree barked defiantly and I threw myself into an interrogation -point, and when the gun cracked, the squirrel fell -at my feet. I grabbed him and ran home to throw him down -and receive compliments for my skill as a marksman. And -I saw the tapestry of the evening fall. I heard the lowing -herds and saw them wind slowly o'er the lea and I listened -to the tinkling bells that lulled the distant fowl. Once more -I heard the shouts of childish glee. Once more I climbed -the haystack for the hen's eggs. Once more we crossed the -threshold and sat at our frugal meal. Once more mother -drew the trundle bed out from under the larger one, and we -boys, kneeling down, shut our eyes and clasping our little -hands, said: 'Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the -Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I -pray thee, Lord, my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus' -sake, Amen.'</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Backward, turn backward, O time in thy flight,</div> -<div class="verse">Make me a child again, just for tonight,</div> -<div class="verse">Mother, come back from that echoless shore,</div> -<div class="verse">Take me again to your heart as of yore.</div> -<div class="verse">Into the old cradle I'm longing to creep,</div> -<div class="verse">Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"I stood beneath the old oak tree and it seemed to carry -on a conversation with me. It seemed to say:</p> - -<p>"'Hello Bill. Is that you?'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, it's I, old tree.'</p> - -<p>"'Well, you've got a bald spot on the top of your head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span></p> - -<p>"'Yes, I know, old tree.'</p> - -<p>"'Won't you climb up and sit on my limbs as you -used to?'</p> - -<p>"'No, I haven't got time now. I'd like to, though, -awfully well.'</p> - -<p>"'Don't go, Bill. Don't you remember the old swing -you made?'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, I remember; but I've got to go.'</p> - -<p>"'Say Bill, don't you remember when you tried to play -George Washington and the cherry tree and almost cut me -down? That's the scar you made, but it's almost covered -over now.'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, I remember all, but I haven't time to stay.'</p> - -<p>"'Are you comin' back, Bill?'</p> - -<p>"'I don't know, but I'll never forget you.'</p> - -<p>"Then the old apple tree seemed to call me and I said: -'I haven't time to wait, old apple tree.'</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'I want to go back to the orchard,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">The orchard that used to be mine,</div> -<div class="verse">The apples are reddening and filling</div> -<div class="verse indent2">The air with their wine.</div> -<div class="verse">I want to run on through the pasture</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And let down the dusty old bars,</div> -<div class="verse">I want to find you there still waiting,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Your eyes like the twin stars.</div> -<div class="verse">Oh, nights, you are weary and dreary,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And days, there is something you lack;</div> -<div class="verse">To the farm in the valley,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">I want to go back.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"I tell it to you with shame, I stretched the elastic -bands of my mother's love until I thought they would break. -I went far into the dark and the wrong until I ceased to -hear her prayers or her pleadings. I forgot her face, and -I went so far that it seemed to me that one more step and the -elastic bands of her love would break and I would be lost. -But, thank God, friends, I never took that last step. Little -by little I yielded to the tender memories and recollections<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -of my mother; little by little I was drawn away from the -yawning abyss, and twenty-seven years ago, one dark and -stormy night in Chicago, I groped my way out of darkness -into the arms of Jesus Christ and I fell on my knees and -cried 'God be merciful to me a sinner!'"</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_028fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Billy Sunday and "Pop" Anson, Former Captain of the Famous Chicago "White Sox" Baseball Team, -on the Golf Links.</span></div> -</div> - - -<p>Of formal education the boy Sunday had but little. -He went to school intermittently, like most of his playmates, -but he did get into the high school, although he was never -graduated. Early in life he began to work for his living, -even before he went off to the Soldiers' Orphanage. Concerning -these periods of early toil he himself has spoken as -follows:</p> - -<p>"When I was about fourteen years old, I made application -for the position of janitor in a school.</p> - -<p>"I used to get up at two o'clock, and there were fourteen -stoves and coal had to be carried for all them. I had -to keep the fire up and keep up my studies and sweep the -floors. I got twenty-five dollars a month salary. Well, -one day I got a check for my salary and I went right down -to the bank to get it cashed. Right in front of me was -another fellow with a check to be cashed, and he shoved his -in, and I came along and shoved my check in, and he handed -me out forty dollars. My check called for twenty-five -dollars. I called on a friend of mine who was a lawyer in -Kansas City and told him. I said: 'Frank, what do you -think, Jay King handed me forty dollars and my check only -called for twenty-five dollars.' He said, 'Bill, if I had your -luck, I would buy a lottery ticket.' But I said, 'The -fifteen dollars is not mine.' He said, 'Don't be a chump. -If you were shy ten dollars and you went back you would -not get it, and if they hand out fifteen dollars, don't be a -fool, keep it.'</p> - -<p>"Well, he had some drag with me and influenced me. -I was fool enough to keep it, and I took it and bought a suit -of clothes. I can see that suit now; it was a kind of brown, -with a little green in it and I thought I was the goods, I -want to tell you, when I got those store clothes on. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -was the first suit of store clothes I had ever had, and I -bought that suit and I had twenty-five dollars left after -I did it.</p> - -<p>"Years afterwards I said, 'I ought to be a Christian,' -and I got on my knees to pray, and the Lord seemed to touch -me on the back and say, 'Bill, you owe that Farmers' Bank -fifteen dollars with interest,' and I said, 'Lord, the bank -don't know that I got that fifteen dollars,' and the Lord -said 'I know it'; so I struggled along for years, probably -like some of you, trying to be decent and honest and right -some wrong that was in my life, and every time I got down -to pray the Lord would say, 'Fifteen dollars with interest, -Nevada County, Iowa; fifteen dollars, Bill.' So years -afterwards I sent that money back, enclosed a check, wrote -a letter and acknowledged it, and I have the peace of God -from that day to this, and I have never swindled anyone -out of a dollar."</p> - -<p>There are other kinds of education besides those which -award students a sheepskin at the end of a stated term. -Sunday has no sheepskin—neither has he the sheep quality -which marks the machine-made product of any form of -training. His school has been a diversity of work, where -he came face to face with the actualities of life. He early -had to shift for himself. He learned the priceless lesson of -how to work, regardless of what the particular task might -be, whether it was scrubbing floors (and he was an expert -scrubber of floors!), or preaching a sermon to twenty thousand -persons. He had a long hard drill in working under -authority: that is why he is able to exercise authority like -a major-general. Because personally he has experienced, -with all of the sensitiveness of an American small boy, the -bitter injustice of over-work and under-pay under an oppressive -task-master, he is a voice for the toilers of the world. In -this same diversified school of industry he learned the lesson -of thoroughness which is now echoed by every spike in his -tabernacle and every gesture in his sermons. Such a one -as he could not have come from a conventional educational<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -course. It needed this hard school to make such a hardy -man.</p> - -<p>It was while a youth in Marshalltown, Iowa, playing -baseball on the lots, that Sunday came to his own. Captain -A. C. Anson, the famous leader of the Chicago "White -Sox," chanced to see the youth of twenty, whose phenomenal -base-running had made him a local celebrity. It is no new -experience for Sunday to be a center of public interest. -He has known this since boyhood. The local baseball -"hero" is as big a figure in the eyes of his own particular -circle as ever a great evangelist gets to be in the view of -the world. Because his ears early became accustomed to -the huzzahs of the crowd, Sunday's head has not been turned -by much of the foolish adulation which has been his since -he became an evangelist.</p> - -<p>A level head, a quick eye, and a body which is such a -finely trained instrument that it can meet all drafts upon -it, is part of Sunday's inheritance from his life on the baseball -diamond.</p> - -<p>Most successful baseball players enter the major -leagues by a succession of steps. With Sunday it was quite -otherwise. Because he fell under the personal eye of "Pop" -Anson he was borne directly from the fields of Marshalltown, -Iowa, to the great park of the Chicago team. That -was in 1883, when Sunday was not yet twenty-one years of -age. His mind was still formative—a quality it retains to this -day—and his entrance into the larger field of baseball -trained him to think in broad terms. It widened his horizon -and made him reasonably indifferent to the comments -of the crowds.</p> - -<p>A better equipment for the work he is doing could not -have been found; for above all else Sunday "plays ball." -While others discuss methods and bewail conditions he keeps -the game going. Such a volume of criticism as no other -evangelist, within the memory of living men, has ever -received, has fallen harmless from his head, because he has -not turned aside to argue with the umpire, but has "played -ball."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span></p> - -<p>There is no call for tears or heroics over the early -experiences of Sunday. His life was normal; no different -from that of tens of thousands of other American boys. He -himself was in no wise a phenomenon. He was possessed of -no special abilities or inclinations. He came to his preaching -gift only after years of experience in Christian work. It is -clear that a Divine Providence utilized the very ordinariness -of his life and training to make him an ambassador to the -common people.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> - -<small>A Base-Ball "Star"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Don't get chesty over success.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Sometimes</span> the preacher tells his people what a great -journalist he might have been, or what a successful -business man, had he not entered the ministry; but -usually his hearers never would have suspected it if he had -not told them. Billy Sunday's eminence as a baseball -player is not a shadow cast backward from his present pre-eminence. -His success as a preacher has gained luster from -his distinction as a baseball player, while his fame as a baseball -player has been kept alive by his work as an evangelist.</p> - -<p>All the world of baseball enthusiasts, a generation ago, -knew Billy Sunday, the speediest base-runner and the most -daring base-stealer in the whole fraternity. Wherever he -goes today veteran devotees of the national game recall -times they saw him play; and sporting periodicals and -sporting pages of newspapers have been filled with reminiscences -from baseball "fans," of the triumphs of the -evangelist on the diamond.</p> - -<p>A side light on the reality of his religion while engaged -in professional baseball is thrown by the fact that sporting -writers always speak of him with pride and loyalty, and his -old baseball associates who still survive, go frequently to -hear him preach. The baseball world thinks that he reflects -distinction on the game.</p> - -<p>Now baseball in Marshalltown and baseball in Chicago -had not exactly the same standards. The recruit had to be -drilled. He struck out the first thirteen times he went to -bat. He never became a superior batter, but he could -always throw straight and hard. At first he was inclined -to take too many chances and his judgment was rather -unsafe. One baseball writer has said that "Sunday<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -probably caused more wide throws than any other player -the game has ever known, because of his specialty of going -down to first like a streak of greased electricity. When he -hit the ball infielders yelled 'hurry it up.' The result was -that they often threw them away." He was the acknowledged -champion sprinter of the National League. This once -led to a match race with Arlie Latham, who held like honors -in the American League. Sunday won by fifteen feet.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_034.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">His Slides Were Adventures Beloved -of the "Fans"</span></div> -</div> - -<p>Sunday was the sort of figure the bleachers liked. He -was always eager—sometimes too eager—to "take a chance." -What was a one-base hit for another man was usually good -for two bases for -him. His slides and -stolen bases were -adventures beloved -of the "fans"—the -spice of the game. -He also was apt in -retort to the comments -from the -bleachers, but always -good-natured. -The crowds liked -him, even as did his -team mates.</p> - -<p>Sunday was a man's man, and so continues to this day. -His tabernacle audiences resemble baseball crowds in the -proportion of men present, more nearly than any other -meetings of a religious nature that are regularly being held. -Sunday spent five years on the old Chicago team, mostly -playing right or center field. He was the first man in the -history of baseball to circle the bases in fourteen seconds. -He could run a hundred yards from a standing start in ten -seconds flat. Speed had always been his one distinction. -As a lad of thirteen, in the Fourth of July games at Ames, -he won a prize of three dollars in a foot-race, a feat -which he recalls with pleasure.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span></p> - -<p>Speed is a phase of baseball that, being clear to all -eyes, appeals to the bleachers. So it came about that -Sunday was soon a baseball "hero," analogous to "Ty" -Cobb or "Home-Run" Baker, or Christy Mathewson of -our own day. He himself tells the story of one famous -play, on the day after his conversion:</p> - -<p>"That afternoon we played the old Detroit club. We -were neck and neck for the championship. That club had -Thompson, Richardson, Rowe, Dunlap, Hanlon and Bennett, -and they could play ball.</p> - -<p>"I was playing right field. Mike Kelly was catching -and John G. Clarkson was pitching. He was as fine a -pitcher as ever crawled into a uniform. There are some -pitchers today, O'Toole, Bender, Wood, Mathewson, Johnson, -Marquard, but I do not believe any one of them stood -in the class with Clarkson.</p> - -<p>"Cigarettes put him on the bum. When he'd taken a -bath the water would be stained with nicotine.</p> - -<p>"We had two men out and they had a man on second -and one on third and Bennett, their old catcher, was at bat. -Charley had three balls and two strikes on him. Charley -couldn't hit a high ball: but he could kill them when they -went about his knee.</p> - -<p>"I hollered to Clarkson and said: 'One more and we -got 'em.'</p> - -<p>"You know every pitcher puts a hole in the ground -where he puts his foot when he is pitching. John stuck his -foot in the hole and he went clean to the ground. Oh, he -could make 'em dance. He could throw overhanded, and -the ball would go down and up like that. He is the only -man on earth I have seen do that. That ball would go by -so fast that the batter could feel the thermometer drop two -degrees as she whizzed by. John went clean down, and as -he went to throw the ball his right foot slipped and the ball -went low instead of high.</p> - -<p>"I saw Charley swing hard and heard the bat hit the -ball with a terrific boom. Bennett had smashed the ball -on the nose. I saw the ball rise in the air and knew that it -was going clear over my head.</p> - -<p>"I could judge within ten feet of where the ball would -light. I turned my back to the ball and ran.</p> - -<p>"The field was crowded with people and I yelled, -'Stand back!' and that crowd opened as the Red Sea -opened for the rod of Moses. I ran on, and as I ran I made -a prayer; it wasn't theological, either, I tell you that. I -said, 'God, if you ever helped mortal man, help me to get -that ball, and you haven't very much time to make up -your mind, either.' I ran and jumped over the bench and -stopped.</p> - -<p>"I thought I was close enough to catch it. I looked -back and saw it was going over my head and I jumped and -shoved out my left hand and the ball hit it and stuck. At -the rate I was going the momentum carried me on and I -fell under the feet of a team of horses. I jumped up with the -ball in my hand. Up came Tom Johnson. Tom used to -be mayor of Cleveland. He's dead now.</p> - -<p>"'Here is $10, Bill. Buy yourself the best hat in -Chicago. That catch won me $1,500. Tomorrow go and -buy yourself the best suit of clothes you can find in Chicago.'</p> - -<p>"An old Methodist minister said to me a few years -ago, 'Why, William, you didn't take the $10, did you?' -I said, 'You bet your life I did.'"</p> - -<p>After his five years with the Chicago baseball team, -Sunday played upon the Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia -teams, his prestige so growing with the years that after he -had been eight years in baseball, he declined a contract -at five hundred dollars a month, in order to enter Christian -work.</p> - -<p>For most of his baseball career Sunday was an out-and-out -Christian. He had been converted in 1887, after -four years of membership on the Chicago team. He had -worked at his religion; his team mates knew his Christianity -for the real thing. On Sundays, because of his eminence as -a baseball player, he was in great demand for Y. M. C. A.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a><br /><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -talks. The sporting papers all alluded frequently to his -religious interests and activities. Because of his Christian -scruples he refused to play baseball on Sunday. During -the four years of his experience as a Christian member of -the baseball profession it might have been clear to anybody -who cared to study the situation carefully that the young -man's interest in religion was steadily deepening and that -he was headed toward some form of avowedly Christian -service.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_037fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright by Goodwin & Co., N. Y.</i></div><br /> -<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday in National League Uniform.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>"I had a three-year contract with Philadelphia. I -said to God, 'Now if you want me to quit playing ball and -go into evangelistic work, then you get me my release,' -and so I left it with God to get my release before the 25th -day of March and would take that as an evidence that -he wanted me to quit playing ball.</p> - -<p>"On the 17th day of March, St. Patrick's day—I shall -never forget it—I was leading a meeting and received a -letter from Colonel Rogers, president of the Philadelphia -club, stating I could have my release.</p> - -<p>"In came Jim Hart, of the Cincinnati team, and up on -the platform and pulled out a contract for $3,500. A -player only plays seven months, and he threw the check -down for $500, the first month's salary in advance. He -said, 'Bill, sign up!' But I said, 'No!' I told him that I -told God if he wanted me to quit playing ball to get my -release before the 25th day of March and I would quit.</p> - -<p>"There I was up against it. I went around to some of -my friends and some said, 'Take it!' Others said, 'Stick -to your promise.' I asked my father-in-law about it, and -he said, 'You are a blank fool if you don't take it.' I went -home and went to bed, but could not sleep, and prayed that -night until five o'clock, when I seemed to get the thing -straight and said, 'No, sir, I will not do it.'</p> - -<p>"I went to work for the Y. M. C. A. and had a very -hard time of it. It was during those hard times that I -hardly had enough to pay my house rent, but I stuck to -my promise."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span></p> - -<p>It was in March of 1891 that Sunday made the decision -which marked the parting of the ways for him. He abandoned -baseball forever as a profession, although not as an -interest, and entered upon definite religious work. He -accepted a position in the Chicago Y. M. C. A. as a subordinate -secretary at $83.33 per month—and sometimes this -was six months overdue.</p> - -<p>The stuff of which the young man's moral character -was made is revealed by the fact that he deliberately rejected -a $500-a-month baseball contract in order to serve Christ -at a personal sacrifice. This incident reveals the real -temper of Sunday, and is to be borne in mind when discussion -is raised concerning the large offerings which are made -to him now in his successful evangelistic work. That act -was not the deed of a money-loving man. If it does not -spell consecration, it is difficult to define what it does mean.</p> - -<p>Doubtless there were many who thought this ending -of a conspicuous baseball career an anti-climax, even as -the flight of Moses into the wilderness of Sinai apparently -spelled defeat. Out of such defeats and sacrifices as these -grow the victories that best serve the world and most honor -God.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> - -<small>A Curbstone Recruit</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>You've got to sign your own Declaration of Independence before you can -celebrate your Fourth of July victory.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Nobody</span> this side of heaven can tell to whom the -credit belongs for any great life or great work. -But we may be reasonably sure that the unsung -and unknown women of the earth have a large part in every -achievement worth while.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Clark, saintly wife of Colonel Clark, the devoted -founder of the Pacific Garden Rescue Mission in Chicago, is -one of that host of women who, like the few who followed -Jesus in his earthly ministry, have served in lowly, inconspicuous -ways, doing small tasks from a great love. Night -after night, with a consecration which never flagged, she -labored in the gospel for a motley crowd of men and -women, mostly society's flotsam and jetsam, many of -whom found this hospitable building the last fort this side -of destruction.</p> - -<p>A single visit to a down-town rescue mission is romantic, -picturesque and somewhat of an adventure—a sort of -sanctified slumming trip. Far different is it to spend night -after night, regardless of weather or personal feelings, in -coming to close grips with sin-sodden men and women, -many of them the devil's refuse. A sickening share of the -number are merely seeking shelter or lodging or food: sin's -wages are not sufficient to live upon, and they turn to the -mercy of Christianity for succor. Never to be cast down by -unworthiness or ingratitude, to keep a heart of hope in -face of successive failures, and to rejoice with a shepherd's -joy over the one rescued—this is the spirit of the consecrated -rescue-mission worker.</p> - -<p>Such a woman was Mrs. Clark, the spiritual mother to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -multitude of redeemed men. Of all the trophies which she -has laid at the feet of her Lord, the redemption of Billy -Sunday seems to human eyes the brightest. For it was this -woman who persuaded him to accept Christ as his Saviour: -he whose hand has led perhaps a quarter of a million persons -to the foot of the Cross was himself led thither by this saintly -woman.</p> - -<p>When we contemplate the relation of that one humble -rescue mission in Chicago, the monument of a business -man's consecration to Christ, to the scores of Sunday Tabernacles -over the land; and when we connect the streams of -penitents on the "sawdust trail" with that one young man -of twenty-five going forward up the aisle of the rude mission -room, we realize afresh that God uses many workers to -carry on his one work; and that though Paul may plant and -Apollos water, it is God alone who giveth the increase.</p> - -<p>It was one evening in the fall of 1887 that Sunday, with -five of his baseball team mates, sat on the curbstone of -Van Buren Street and listened to the music and testimonies -of a band of workers from the Pacific Garden Rescue -Mission. The deeps of sentiment inherited from a Christian -mother, and the memories of a Christian home, were stirred -in the breast of one of the men; and Sunday accepted the -invitation of a worker to visit the mission. Moved by the -vital testimonies which he heard, he went again and again; -and at length, after conversation and prayer with Mrs. -Clark, he made the great decision which committed him to -the Christian life.</p> - -<p>Sunday's own story of his conversion is one of the most -thrilling of all the evangelist's messages. It is a human -document, a leaf in that great book of Christian evidences -which God is still writing day by day.</p> - -<p>"Twenty-seven years ago I walked down a street in -Chicago in company with some ball players who were famous -in this world—some of them are dead now—and we went -into a saloon. It was Sunday afternoon and we got tanked -up and then went and sat down on a corner. I never go by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -that street without thanking God for saving me. It was a -vacant lot at that time. We sat down on a curbing. Across -the street a company of men and women were playing on -instruments—horns, flutes and slide trombones—and the -others were singing the gospel hymns that I used to hear -my mother sing back in the log cabin in Iowa and back in -the old church where I used to go to Sunday school.</p> - -<p>"And God painted on the canvas of my recollection -and memory a vivid picture of the scenes of other days and -other faces.</p> - -<p>"Many have long since turned to dust. I sobbed and -sobbed and a young man stepped out and said, 'We are -going down to the Pacific Garden Mission. Won't you come -down to the mission? I am sure you will enjoy it. You -can hear drunkards tell how they have been saved and girls -tell how they have been saved from the red-light district.'</p> - -<p>"I arose and said to the boys, 'I'm through. I am going -to Jesus Christ. We've come to the parting of the ways,' -and I turned my back on them. Some of them laughed and -some of them mocked me; one of them gave me encouragement; -others never said a word.</p> - -<p>"Twenty-seven years ago I turned and left that little -group on the corner of State and Madison Streets and walked -to the little mission and fell on my knees and staggered out -of sin and into the arms of the Saviour.</p> - -<p>"The next day I had to get out to the ball park and -practice. Every morning at ten o'clock we had to be out -there. I never slept that night. I was afraid of the horse-laugh -that gang would give me because I had taken my stand -for Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>"I walked down to the old ball grounds. I will never -forget it. I slipped my key into the wicket gate and the -first man to meet me after I got inside was Mike Kelly.</p> - -<p>"Up came Mike Kelly; he said, 'Bill, I'm proud of -you! Religion is not my long suit, but I'll help you all I -can.' Up came Anson, the best ball player that ever played -the game; Pfeffer, Clarkson, Flint, Jimmy McCormick, -Burns, Williamson and Dalrymple. There wasn't a fellow -in that gang who knocked; every fellow had a word of -encouragement for me.</p> - -<p>"Mike Kelly was sold to Boston for $10,000. Mike got -half of the purchase price. He came up to me and showed -me a check for $5,000. John L. Sullivan, the champion -fighter, went around with a subscription paper and the boys -raised over $12,000 to buy Mike a house.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_042.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Bill, I'm Proud of You!</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"They gave Mike a deed to the house and they had -$1,500 left and gave him a certificate of deposit for that.</p> - -<p>"His salary for -playing with Boston -was $4,700 a year. -At the end of that -season Mike had -spent the $5,000 purchase -price and the -$4,700 he received -as salary and the -$1,500 they gave -him and had a -mortgage on the -house. And when -he died in Pennsylvania -they went -around with a subscription to get money enough to put -him in the ground, and each club, twelve in all, in the two -leagues gave a month a year to his wife. Mike sat here -on the corner with me twenty-seven years ago, when I said, -'Good-bye, boys, I'm going to Jesus Christ.'</p> - -<p>"A. G. Spalding signed up a team to go around the -world. I was the second he asked to sign a contract and -Captain Anson was the first. I was sliding to second base -one day. I always slid head first, and hit a stone and cut -a ligament loose in my knee.</p> - -<p>"I got Dr. Magruder, who attended Garfield when he -was shot, and he said:</p> - -<p>"'William, if you don't go on that trip I will give you -a good leg.' I obeyed and have as good a leg today as I -ever had. They offered to wait for me at Honolulu and -Australia. Spalding said, 'Meet us in England, and play -with us through England, Scotland and Wales.' I didn't go.</p> - -<p>"Ed Williamson, our old short-stop, a fellow weighing -225 pounds, was the most active big man you ever saw. -He went with them, and while they were on the ship crossing -the English channel a storm arose and the captain thought -the ship would go down. Williamson tied two life-preservers -on himself and one on his wife and dropped on his knees -and prayed and promised God to be true. God spoke and -the waves were stilled. They came back to the United -States and Ed came back to Chicago and started a saloon -on Dearborn Street. I would go through there giving -tickets for the Y. M. C. A. meetings and would talk with -them and he would cry like a baby.</p> - -<p>"I would get down and pray for him, and would talk -with him. When he died they put him on the table and -cut him open and took out his liver and it was so big it would -not go in a candy bucket. Kidneys had shriveled until -they were like two stones.</p> - -<p>"Ed Williamson sat there on the street corner with me, -drunk, twenty-seven years ago when I said, 'Good-bye, I'm -going to Jesus Christ.'</p> - -<p>"Frank Flint, our old catcher, who caught for nineteen -years, drew $3,200 a year on an average. He caught before -they had chest protectors, masks and gloves. He caught -bare-handed. Every bone in the ball of his hand was broken. -You never saw such a hand as Frank had. Every bone in -his face was broken, and his nose and cheek bones, and the -shoulder and ribs had all been broken. He got to drinking, -his home was broken up and he went to the dogs.</p> - -<p>"I've seen old Frank Flint sleeping on a table in a -stale beer joint and I've turned my pockets inside out and -said, 'You're welcome to it, old pal.' He drank on and on, -and one day in winter he staggered out of a stale beer joint<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -and stood on a corner, and was seized with a fit of coughing. -The blood streamed out of his nose, mouth and eyes. Down -the street came a wealthy woman. She took one look and -said, 'My God, is it you, Frank?' and his wife came up and -kissed him.</p> - -<p>"She called two policemen and a cab and started with -him to her boarding house. They broke all speed regulations. -She called five of the best physicians and they -listened to the beating of his heart, one, two, three, four, -five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and the -doctors said, 'He will be dead in about four hours.' She -told them to tell him what they had told her. She said, -'Frank, the end is near,' and he said, 'Send for Bill.'</p> - -<p>"They telephoned me and I came. He said, 'There's -nothing in the life of years ago I care for now. I can hear -the bleachers cheer when I make a hit that wins the game. -But there is nothing that can help me out now; and if the -umpire calls me out now, won't you say a few words over me, -Bill?' He struggled as he had years ago on the diamond, -when he tried to reach home, but the great Umpire of the -universe yelled, 'You're out!' and waved him to the club -house, and the great gladiator of the diamond was no more.</p> - -<p>"He sat on the street corner with me, drunk, twenty-seven -years ago in Chicago, when I said, 'Good-bye, boys, -I'm through.'</p> - -<p>"Did they win the game of life or did Bill?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span></p> -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_044fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"> "<span class="smcap">First—Are You Kindly Disposed Toward Me?</span>"</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a><br /><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> - -<small>Playing the New Game</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>It is not necessary to be in a big place to do big things.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">If</span> Billy Sunday had not been an athlete he would not -today be the physical marvel in the pulpit that he is; -if he had not been reared in the ranks of the plain people -he would not have possessed the vocabulary and insight into -life which are essential parts of his equipment; if he had -not served a long apprenticeship to toil he would not display -his present pitiless industry; if he had not been a cog in the -machinery of organized baseball, with wide travel and much -experience of men, he would not be able to perfect the amazing -organization of Sunday evangelistic campaigns; if he -had not been a member and elder of a Presbyterian church -he could not have resisted the religious vagaries which lead -so many evangelists and immature Christian workers astray; -if he had not been trained in three years of Y. M. C. A. -service he would not today be the flaming and insistent -protagonist of personal work that he now is; if he had not -been converted definitely and consciously and quickly in -a rescue mission he could not now preach his gospel of -immediate conversion.</p> - -<p>All of which is but another way of saying that Sunday -was trained in God's school. God prepared the man for -the work he was preparing for him. Only by such uncommon -training could this unique messenger of the gospel be produced. -A college course doubtless would have submerged -Sunday into the level of the commonplace. A theological -seminary would have denatured him. Evidently Sunday -has learned the lesson of the value of individuality; he prizes -it, preaches about it, and practices it. He probably does not -know what "<i lang="la">sui generis</i>" means, but he is it. Over and -over again he urges that instead of railing at what we have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> -not enjoyed, we should magnify what we already possess. -The shepherd's rod of Moses, rightly wielded, may be mightier -than a king's scepter.</p> - -<p>As we approach the development of the unique work of -Billy Sunday, which is without a parallel in the history of -evangelism, we must reckon with those forces which -developed his personality and trace the steps which led him -into his present imperial activity. For he has gone forward -a step at a time.</p> - -<p>He followed the wise rule of the rescue mission, that -the saved should say so. At the very beginning he began -to bear testimony to his new faith. Wherever opportunity -offered he spoke a good word for Jesus Christ. In many -towns and cities his testimony was heard in those early -days; and there was not a follower of the baseball game who -did not know that Billy Sunday was a Christian.</p> - -<p>The convert who does not join a church is likely soon -to be in a bad way; so Sunday early united with the Jefferson -Park Presbyterian Church, Chicago. He went into religious -activity with all the ardor that he displayed on the -baseball field. He attended the Christian Endeavor -society, prayer-meeting and the mid-week church service. -This is significant; for it is usually the church members who -are faithful at the mid-week prayer-meetings who are the -vital force in a congregation.</p> - -<p>Other rewards than spiritual awaited Sunday at the -prayer-meeting; for there he met Helen A. Thompson, the -young woman who subsequently became his wife. Between -the meeting and the marriage altar there were various -obstacles to be overcome. Another suitor was in the way, -and besides, Miss Thompson's father did not take kindly -to the idea of a professional baseball player as a possible -son-in-law, for he had old-fashioned Scotch notions of things. -"Love conquers all," and in September, 1888, the young -couple were married, taking their wedding trip by going -on circuit with the baseball team.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sunday's influence upon her husband has been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -extraordinary. It is a factor to be largely considered in -any estimate of the man. He is a devoted husband, of the -American type, and with his ardent loyalty to his wife has -complete confidence in her judgment. She is his man of -affairs. Her Scotch heritage has endowed her with the -prudent qualities of that race, and she is the business manager -of Mr. Sunday's campaigns. She it is who holds her -generous, careless husband down to a realization of the -practicalities of life.</p> - -<p>He makes no important decisions without consulting -her, and she travels with him nearly all of the time, attending -his meetings and watching over his work and his personal -well-being like a mother. In addition Mrs. Sunday does -yeoman service in the evangelistic campaigns.</p> - -<p>The helplessness of the evangelist without his wife -is almost ludicrous: he dislikes to settle any question, -whether it be an acceptance of an invitation from a city or -the employment of an additional worker, without Mrs. -Sunday's counsel. Frequently he turns vexed problems -over to her, and abides implicitly by her decision, without -looking into the matter himself at all.</p> - -<p>Four children—Helen, George, William and Paul—have -been born to the Sundays, two of whom are themselves -married. The modest Sunday home is in Winona Lake, -Indiana. When Mrs. Sunday is absent with her husband, -the two younger children are left in the care of a trusted -helper. The evangelist himself is home for only a short -period each summer.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sunday was the deciding factor in determining -her husband to abandon baseball for distinctively religious -work. A woman of real Scotch piety, in the time of decision -she chose the better part. Her husband had been addressing -Y. M. C. A. meetings, Sunday-schools and Christian -Endeavor societies. He was undeniably a poor speaker. -No prophet could have foreseen the present master of platform -art in the stammering, stumbling young man whose -only excuse for addressing public meetings was the eagerness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -of men to hear the celebrated baseball player's story. His -speech was merely his testimony, such as is required of all -mission converts.</p> - -<p>If Sunday could not talk well on his feet he could handle -individual men. His aptness in dealing with men led the -Chicago Young Men's Christian Association to offer him -an assistant secretaryship in the department of religious -work. It is significant that the baseball player went into -the Y. M. C. A. not as a physical director but in the distinctively -spiritual sphere. He refused an invitation to become -physical director; for his religious zeal from the first outshone -his physical prowess.</p> - -<p>Those three years of work in the Chicago Association -bulk large in the development of the evangelist. They -were not all spent in dealing with the unconverted, by -any means. Sunday's tasks included the securing of -speakers for noon-day prayer-meetings, the conducting of -office routine, the raising of money, the distribution of -literature, the visiting of saloons and other places to which -invitations should be carried, and the following up of persons -who had displayed an interest in the meetings. Much -of it was sanctified drudgery: but it was all drill for destiny. -The young man saw at close range and with particular -detail what sin could do to men; and he also learned the -power of the Gospel to make sinners over.</p> - -<p>The evangelist often alludes to those days of personal -work in Chicago. Such stories as the following have been -heard by thousands.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Father Disowned</p> - -<p>"While I was in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago I was standing -on the corner one night and a man came along with his -toes sticking out and a ragged suit on and a slouch hat and -asked me for a dime to get something to eat. I told him I -wouldn't give him a dime because he would go and get a -drink. He said, 'You wouldn't let me starve, would you?' -I told him no, but that I wouldn't give him the money. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -asked him to come to the Y. M. C. A. with me and stay until -after the meeting and I would take him out and get him a -good supper and a bed. He wanted me to do it right away -before going to the Y. M. C. A., but I told him that I was -working for someone until ten o'clock. So he came up to -the meeting and stayed through the meeting and was very -much interested. I saw that he used excellent language -and questioned him and found that he was a man who had -been Adjutant General of one of the Central States and had -at one time been the editor of two of the biggest newspapers.</p> - -<p>"I went with him after the meeting and got him a -supper and a bed and went to some friends and we got his -clothes. I asked him if he had any relatives and he said he -had one son who was a bank cashier but that he had disowned -him and his picture was taken from the family album and -his name was never spoken in the house, all because he was -now down and out, on account of booze.</p> - -<p>"I wrote to the boy and said, 'I've found your father. -Send me some money to help him.'</p> - -<p>"He wrote back and said for me never to mention his -father's name to him again, that it wasn't ever spoken -around the house and that his father was forgotten.</p> - -<p>"I replied: 'You miserable, low-down wretch. You -can't disown your father and refuse to help him because he -is down and out. Send me some money or I will publish -the story in all of the papers.' He sent me five dollars and -that's all I ever got from him. I took care of the old man -all winter and in the spring I went to a relief society in -Chicago and got him a ticket to his home and put him on the -train and that was the last I ever saw of him."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Redeeming a Son</p> - -<p>"I stood on the street one Sunday night giving out -tickets inviting men to the men's meeting in Farwell Hall. -Along came a young fellow, I should judge he was thirty, -who looked prematurely old, and he said, 'Pard, will you -give me a dime?'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span></p> - -<p>"I said, 'No, sir.'</p> - -<p>"'I want to get somethin' to eat.'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'You look to me as though you were a booze-fighter.'</p> - -<p>"'I am.'</p> - -<p>"'I'll not give you money, but I'll get your supper.'</p> - -<p>"He said, 'Come on. I haven't eaten for two days.'</p> - -<p>"'My time is not my own until ten o'clock. You go -upstairs until then and I'll buy you a good supper and get -you a good, warm, clean bed in which to sleep, but I'll not -give you the money.'</p> - -<p>"He said, 'Thank you, I'll go.' He stayed for the -meeting. I saw he was moved, and after the meeting I -stood by his side. He wept and I talked to him about -Jesus Christ, and he told me this story:</p> - -<p>"There were three boys in the family. They lived in -Boston. The father died, the will was probated, he was -given his portion, took it, started out drinking and gambling. -At last he reached Denver, his money was gone, and he got -a position as fireman in the Denver and Rio Grande switchyards. -His mother kept writing to him, but he told me -that he never read the letters. He said that when he saw -the postmark and the writing he threw the letter into the -firebox, but one day, he couldn't tell why, he opened the -letter and it read:</p> - -<p>"'Dear——: I haven't heard from you directly, but -I am sure that you must need a mother's care in the far-off -West, and unless you answer this in a reasonable time I'm -going to Denver to see you.' And she went on pleading, -as only a mother could, and closed it: 'Your loving mother.'</p> - -<p>"He said, 'I threw the letter in the fire and paid no more -heed to it. One day about two weeks later I saw a woman -coming down the track and I said to the engineer: "That -looks like my mother." She drew near, and I said: "Yes, -that's mother." What do you think I did?'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'Why you climbed out of your engine, kissed -her and asked God to forgive you.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span></p> - -<p>"He said, 'I did nothing of the kind. I was so low-down, -I wouldn't even speak to my mother. She followed -me up and down the switchyard and even followed me to my -boarding house. I went upstairs, changed my clothes, -came down, and she said, "Frank, stay and talk with me." -I pushed by her and went out and spent the night in sin. I -came back in the morning, changed my clothes and went -to work. For four days she followed me up and down the -switchyards and then she said, "Frank, you have broken my -heart, and I am going -away tomorrow."</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_051.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Frank, Kiss Me Good-bye!</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"'I happened -to be near the depot -with the engine when -she got on the train -and she raised the -window and said, -"Frank, kiss me -good-bye." I stood -talking with some of -my drinking and -gambling friends and -one man said, -"Frank Adsitt, you -are a fool to treat -your mother like -that. Kiss her -good-bye." I jerked from him and turned back. I -heard the conductor call "All aboard." I heard the bell -on the engine ring and the train started out, and I heard -my mother cry, "Oh, Frank, if you won't kiss me good-bye, -for God's sake turn and look at me!"</p> - -<p>"'Mr. Sunday, when the train on the Burlington Railroad -pulled out of Denver, I stood with my back to my -mother. That's been nine years ago and I have never seen -nor heard from her.'</p> - -<p>"I led him to Jesus. I got him a position in the old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -Exposition building on the lake front. He gave me the -money he didn't need for board and washing. I kept his -money for months. He came to me one day and asked -for it.</p> - -<p>"He used to come to the noon meetings every day. -Finally I missed him, and I didn't see him again until in -June, 1893, during the World's Fair he walked into the Y. M. -C. A. I said, 'Why, Frank, how do you do?'</p> - -<p>"He said, 'How do you know me?'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'I have never forgotten you; how is your -mother?'</p> - -<p>"He smiled, then his face quickly changed to sadness, -and he said, 'She is across the street in the Brevoort House. -I am taking her to California to fill her last days with -sunshine.'</p> - -<p>"Three months later, out in Pasadena, she called him -to her bedside, drew him down, kissed him, and said, 'Good-bye; -I can die happy because I know my boy is a Christian.'"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Gambler</p> - -<p>"I have reached down into the slime, and have been -privileged to help tens of thousands out of the mire of sin—and -I believe that most of them will be saved, too. I've -helped men in all walks of life. When I was in Chicago -I helped a man and got him a position, and so was able to -restore him to his wife and children. One night a fellow -came to me and told me that the man was playing faro -bank down on Clark Street. I said: 'Why that can -hardly be—I took dinner with him only a few hours ago.'</p> - -<p>"But my informant had told me the truth, so I put on -my coat and went down LaSalle Street and past the New -York Life Building and along up the stairway to the gambling -room. I went past the big doorkeeper, and I found a -lot of men in there, playing keno and faro bank and roulette -and stud and draw poker. I saw my man there, just playing -a hand. In a moment he walked over to the bar and -ordered a Rhine wine and seltzer.</p> - -<p>[Illustration: <span class="smcap">The Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, where Billy Sunday was Converted.</span>]</p> -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_052fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, where Billy Sunday was Converted.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>"I walked over and touched him on the shoulder, and -he looked and turned pale. I said, 'Come out of this. -Come with me.' He said, 'Here's my money,' and pulled -$144 from his pocket and handed it to me. 'I don't want -your money.' He refused at first, and it was one o'clock -in the morning before I got him away from there. I took -him home and talked to him, then I sent down into Ohio -for an old uncle of his, for he had forged notes amounting -to $2,000 or so, and we had to get him out of trouble. We -got him all fixed up and we got him a job selling relief maps, -and he made $5,000 a year.</p> - -<p>"I didn't hear from him for a long time; then one day -Jailor Whitman called me up and told me that Tom Barrett, -an old ball player I knew well, wanted me to come up and -see a man who had been sentenced to the penitentiary. I -went down to the jail and the prisoner was my friend. I -asked him what was the matter, and he said that he and some -other fellows had framed up a plan to stick up a jewelry -store. He was caught and the others got away. He wouldn't -snitch, and so he was going down to Joliet on an indeterminate -sentence of from one to fourteen years. He said: -'You are the only man that will help me. Will you do it?'</p> - -<p>"I said: 'I won't help you, I won't spend so much as a -postage stamp on you if you are going to play me dirt -again!' He promised to do better as soon as he got out, -and I wrote a letter to my friend, Andy Russell, chairman -of the board of pardons. He took up the case and we got -my friend's sentence cut down to a maximum of five years.</p> - -<p>"Time passed again, and one day he came in dressed -fit to kill. He had on an $80 overcoat, a $50 suit, a $4 -necktie, a pair of patent leather shoes that cost $15, shirt -buttons as big as hickory nuts and diamond cuff buttons. -He walked up to my desk in the Y. M. C. A. and pulled out -a roll of bills. There were a lot of them—yellow fellows. -I noticed that there was one for $500. There was over -$4,500 in the roll. He said: 'I won it last night at faro -bank.' He asked me to go out to dinner with him and I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -went. We had everything on the bill of fare, from soup to -nuts, and the check was $7.60 apiece for two suppers. I've -never had such a dinner since.</p> - -<p>"We talked things over. He said he was making -money hand over fist—that he could make more in a week -than I could in a year. I was working at the Y. M. C. A. -for $83 a month, and then not getting it, and baseball -managers were making me tempting offers of good money -to go back into the game at $500 to $1,000 a month to -finish the season. But I wouldn't do it. Nobody called me -a grafter then. 'Well,' I said to my friend, 'old man, -you may have more at the end of the year than I've got—maybe -I won't have carfare—but I'll be ahead of you.'</p> - -<p>"Where is he now? Down at Joliet, where there is a -big walled institution and where the stripes on your clothes -run crossways."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Living Testimony</p> - -<p>"I had a friend who was a brilliant young fellow. He -covered the Chino-Japanese war for a New York paper. -He was on his way home when he was shipwrecked, and -the captain and he were on an island living on roots for -a week and then they signaled a steamer and got started -home. He got word from the New York <cite>Tribune</cite> and they -told him to go to Frisco, so he went, and they told him to -come across the arid country and write up the prospects -of irrigation. And as he walked across those plains, he -thought of how they would blossom if they were only -irrigated. Then he thought of how his life was like that -desert, with nothing in it but waste.</p> - -<p>"He got to Chicago and got a job on the <cite>Times</cite> and lost -it on account of drunkenness, and couldn't get another on -account of having no recommendation. So he walked out -one winter night and took his reporter's book, addressed it -to his father, and wrote something like this: 'I've made a -miserable failure of this life. I've disgraced you and sent -mother to a premature grave. If you care to look for me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -you'll find my body in the Chicago River.' He tossed aside -the book and it fell on the snow.</p> - -<p>"He leaped to the rail of the bridge, but a policeman -who had been watching him sprang and caught him. He -begged him to let him leap, but the policeman wouldn't -do it and got his story from him. Then the policeman said, -'Well, I don't know whether you're stringing me or not, -but if half of what you say is true you can make a big thing -out of life. I'm not much on religion, but I'll show you a -place where they will keep you,' and he took him to the -Pacific Garden Mission at 100 East Van Buren Street, -which for 13,000 nights has had its doors open every night.</p> - -<p>"He went in and sat down by a bum. He read some -of the mottos, like 'When did you write to mother last?' -and they began to work on him and he asked the bum -what graft they got out of this. The bum flared right up -and said there was no graft, that Mrs. Clark had just -mortgaged her home for $3,000 to pay back rent. Then -he told him he could sleep right there and go down in the -morning and get something to eat free, and if he could -not land a bed by next night he could come back to one of -the benches. Then my friend got up and told him the -story of Jesus Christ, and the young man went down and -accepted Christ. He was so full of gold bromide cures -that he tingled when he talked and he jingled when he -walked.</p> - -<p>"He started out to give his testimony and he was a -marvelous power. I met him some time later in an elevator -in Chicago, and he was dressed to kill with a silk lid and a -big diamond and the latest cut Prince Albert, and he said, -'Bill, that was a great day for me. I started out with not -enough clothes to make a tail for a kite or a pad for a crutch -and now look at me.' He was secretary in the firm of -Morgan & Wright, and was drawing $175 a month. He is an -expert stenographer. A newspaper in New York had written -him to take an associate editorship, but I told him not to do -it, to stay where he was and tell his story."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span></p> - -<p>The next class in the University of Experience which -Sunday entered was that of professional evangelistic work, -in association with Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D., the well-known -Presbyterian evangelist. This invitation came after -three years of service in the Chicago Y. M. C. A. Not yet -to platform speaking as his chief task was Sunday called. -Far from it. He was a sort of general roustabout for the -evangelist. His duties were multifarious. He was advance -agent, going ahead to arrange meetings, to organize choirs, -to help the local committee of arrangements with its advertising -or other preparations, and, in general, tying up all -loose ends. When tents were used he would help erect them -with his own hands; the fists that so sturdily beat pulpits -today, have often driven home tent pegs. Sunday sold the -evangelist's song books and sermons at the meetings; helped -take up the collection, and, when need arose, spoke from the -platform. The persons who wonder at the amazing efficiency -for organization displayed by Sunday overlook this -unique apprenticeship to a distinguished evangelist. He is -a "practical man" in every aspect of evangelistic campaigns, -from organizing a local committee and building the auditorium, -to handling and training the converts who come -forward.</p> - -<p>The providence of all this is clear in retrospect: but as -for Sunday himself, he was being led by a way that he knew -not.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> - -<small>A Shut Door—and an Open One</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Faith is the beginning of something of which you can't see the end but -in which you believe.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Destiny's</span> door turns on small hinges. Almost -everybody can say out of his own experience, "If -I had done this, instead of that, the whole course of -my life would have been changed." At many points in -the career of William A. Sunday we see what intrinsically -small and unrelated incidents determined his future course -in life.</p> - -<p>If he had not been sitting on that Chicago curbstone -one evening, and if the Pacific Garden Mission workers had -failed on that one occasion alone to go forth into the highways, -Billy Sunday might have been only one of the -multitude of forgotten baseball players. If he had not -gone to prayer-meeting in his new church home he would -not have met the wife who has been so largely a determining -factor in his work. If he had not joined the Y. M. C. A. -forces in Chicago he would not have become Peter Bilhorn's -friend and so Dr. Chapman's assistant.</p> - -<p>And—here we come to a very human story—if Dr. J. -Wilbur Chapman had not suddenly decided to abandon the -evangelistic field and return to the pastorate of Bethany -Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Sunday would doubtless -still be unknown to the world as a great religious -leader. The story came to me from the lips of the -evangelist himself one morning. We were discussing certain -current criticisms of his work and he showed himself -frankly bewildered as well as pained by the hostility displayed -toward him on the part of those up to whom he -looked as leaders and counselors. Off the platform Sunday -is one of the most childlike and guileless of men. He grew<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -reminiscent and confidential as he said to me: "I don't -see why they hammer me so. I have just gone on, as the -Lord opened the way, trying to do his work. I had no plan -for this sort of thing. It is all the Lord's doings. Just -look how it all began, and how wonderfully the Lord has -cared for me.</p> - -<p>"I had given up my Y. M. C. A. work, and was helping -Chapman, doing all sorts of jobs—putting up tents, -straightening out chairs after the meetings and occasionally -speaking. Then, all of a sudden, during the holidays of -1895-96, I had a telegram from Chapman saying that our -work was all off, because he had decided to return to -Bethany Church.</p> - -<p>"There I was, out of work, knowing not which way to -turn. I had a wife and two children to support. I could -not go back to baseball. I had given up my Y. M. C. A. -position. I had no money. What should I do? I laid it -before the Lord, and in a short while there came a telegram -from a little town named Garner, out in Iowa, asking me to -come out and conduct some meetings. I didn't know anybody -out there, and I don't know yet why they ever asked -me to hold meetings. But I went.</p> - -<p>"I only had eight sermons, so could not run more than -ten days, and that only by taking Saturdays off. That was -the beginning of my independent work; but from that -day to this I have never had to seek a call to do evangelistic -work. I have just gone along, entering the doors that -the Lord has opened one after another. Now I have about -a hundred sermons and invitations for more than two years -in advance. I have tried to be true to the Lord and to do -just what he wants me to do."</p> - -<p>That naïve bit of autobiography reveals the real Billy -Sunday. He has gone forward as the doors have been -providentially opened. His career has not been shrewdly -planned by himself. Nobody has been more surprised at -his success than he. Of him may be recorded the lines that -are inscribed on Emerson's tombstone in Sleepy Hollow -Cemetery, Concord:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"The passive master lent his hand</div> -<div class="verse">To the vast Soul that o'er him planned."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>From Garner, Iowa, to Philadelphia, with its most -eminent citizens on the committee of arrangements, seems a -far cry; but the path is plainly one of Providence. Sunday -has added to his addresses gleanings from many sources, -but he has not abated the simplicity of his message. The -gospel he preaches today is that which he heard in the Pacific -Garden Rescue Mission a quarter of a century ago.</p> - -<p>In childlike faith, this man of straight and unshaded -thinking has gone forward to whatever work has offered -itself. Nobody knows better than he that it is by no powers -of his own that mighty results have been achieved: "This -is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."</p> - -<p>While the Sunday meetings have swung a wide orbit -they have centered in the Middle West. That typically -American section of the country was quick to appreciate -the evangelist's character and message. He was of them, -"bone of their bone, flesh of their flesh," mind of their mind.</p> - -<p>When news of the triumphs of this evangelist's unconventionally-phrased -gospel began to be carried over the -country a few years ago, the verdict of religious leaders was, -"Billy Sunday may do for the Middle West, but the East -will not stand him." Since then, again, to the confusion -of human wisdom, his most notable work has been achieved -in the East, in the great cities of Pittsburgh and Scranton; -and at this writing the city of Philadelphia is in the midst -of preparations for a Sunday campaign; while the Baltimore -churches have also invited him to conduct meetings with -them. Billy Sunday is now a national figure—and the -foremost personality on the day's religious horizon. A -recent issue of <cite>The American Magazine</cite> carried the results -of a voting contest, "Who's the Greatest Man in America." -Only one other clergyman (Bishop Vincent, of Chautauqua) -was mentioned at all, but Billy Sunday was tied with -Andrew Carnegie and Judge Lindsey for eighth place.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></p> - -<p>To tell the stories of the Sunday campaigns in detail -would be needless repetition; with occasional exceptions -they continue to grow in scope and efficiency and results. -The record of independent campaigns extends over nearly -twenty years, and in that time the evangelist has gone on -from strength to strength.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_061fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">(<span class="capcop">clockwise from the left)</span><span class="smcap">Sunday Posing in Front of Tabernacle<br /> -Billy's Smile.<br /> -Sunday and His Youngest Son Paul.<br /> -Mr. and Mrs. Sunday in a Revival Parade.</span></div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> - -<small>Campaigning for Christ</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the world -to Christ.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">His</span> American birthright of plain common sense -stands Sunday in stead of theological training. -He is "a practical man," as mechanics say. Kipling's -poem on "The American" hits off Sunday exactly:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"He turns a keen, untroubled face</div> -<div class="verse">Home to the instant need of things."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>So a Sunday evangelistic campaign is a marvel of organization. -It spells efficiency at every turn and is a lesson to -the communities which do Christian work in haphazard, -hit-or-miss fashion. Work and faith are written large over -every series of Sunday meetings.</p> - -<p>Sunday never took a course in psychology, but he -understands the crowd mind. He knows how to deal with -multitudes. He sees clearly where the masses must come -from, and so he sets to work to bring them out of the homes -of the working people. He goes beyond the church circles -for his congregations, and makes his appeal to the popular -taste. He frankly aims to strike the average of the common -people. For he is after that host which too often the -preacher knows nothing about.</p> - -<p>People must be set to talking about religion and about -the Sunday campaign if the latter is to succeed. Indifference -is the foe of all foes to be feared by an evangelist. Even -hostile criticism really serves a religious purpose, for it -directs attention to the messenger and the message. Knowledge -of this is the reason why Sunday always devotes his -earliest sermons in a campaign to the subjects likeliest to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -create comment. These are the discourses that contain -the largest proportion of startling views and language.</p> - -<p>Part of the task of a man who would move a city for -Christ is to consolidate Christian sentiment and to create -a Church consciousness. Sunday is at great pains to get -his own "crowd" behind him. He evokes that loyalty -which alone makes organized work and war effective.</p> - -<p>So he insists that churches must unite before he will -visit a city. Also he asks that they surrender their Sunday -services, all uniting in common worship in the Tabernacle. -For these campaigns are not Billy Sunday meetings: they -are an effort toward a revival of religion on the part of the -united Christian forces of a community. If anybody thinks -the evangelist disparages the Church, he need but recall the -particular effort Sunday makes to solidify the Church folk: -that reveals his real estimate of the Church. He would no -more attempt a revival without church co-operation than a -general would besiege a city without an army. This -Christian unity which he requires first of all is a sermon in -itself.</p> - -<p>Before one has looked very deeply into the work of -Evangelist Sunday he perceives that it is no new message -the man speaks, but that it is his modernization of language -and of methods that makes possible the achieving of great -results by the old Gospel.</p> - -<p>The preacher of a generation ago would have counted -it indecorous to make use of the public press. Sunday -depends largely upon the newspapers for spreading his -message and promoting interest in the meetings. He does -not employ a press agent; he simply extends to the local -press all the facilities and co-operation in his power. He is -always accessible to the reporters and ever ready to assist -in their work in any proper fashion. He makes public -announcements frequently in his meetings of the cordial -assistance he has received from the newspapers.</p> - -<p>Without any expense to anybody and without any -scientific experience in this particular field, Sunday has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -demonstrated the power of Christian publicity. The newspapers -carry his messages all over the world. The Pittsburgh -dailies published special "Sunday Editions." They -had thousands of subscribers for the issues containing the -evangelist's sermons and many persons have been converted -by reading the newspaper accounts of the Sunday meetings. -One cherished story tells of a young man in China who had -been converted thirteen thousand miles away from the -spot where the evangelist was speaking. Sunday makes -religion "live news." Editors are glad to have copy about -him and his work, and about anything that pertains to the -campaigns. The uniform experience of the communities he -has visited is that the Church has had more publicity through -his visit than on any other occasion.</p> - -<p>After Sunday has accepted a city's invitation and a -date has been fixed for the meetings, and the time has drawn -near, he gets the Church people to organize. Before ever -a hammer has struck a blow in the building of the Sunday -Tabernacle, the people have been meeting daily in the homes -of the city for concerted prayer for the Divine favor upon -the campaign.</p> - -<p>By the Sunday system of work, every few blocks in -the city is made a center for cottage prayer-meetings. No -politician ever divided a community more carefully than do -the Sunday workers in arranging for these prayer-meetings. -Every section of the city is covered and every block and -street. By preference, the meetings are held in the homes -of the unconverted, and it is a normal experience for conversions -to be reported before ever the evangelist arrives. -In Scranton the city was divided into nine districts besides -the suburbs and these districts were again sub-divided so -that one had as many as eighty-four prayer groups. The -total proportions of this kind of work are illustrated by the -Pittsburgh figures: Between December 2 and December -26, 4,137 prayer meetings in private houses were held, having -a combined attendance of 68,360 persons. The following -table covers eight meetings, as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span></p> - - - -<div class="center small"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><th></th><th class= "thc">No. of<br /> Meetings</th><th class= "thc">Attendance</th><th class= "thc">Prayers</th><th class= "thc">Men</th><th class= "thc">Women</th></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 2</td><td align="right">562</td><td align="right">8,394</td><td align="right">3,362</td><td align="right">1,658</td><td align="right">6,736</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 5</td><td align="right">579</td><td align="right">8,909</td><td align="right">3,667</td><td align="right">1,931</td><td align="right">6,978</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 9</td><td align="right">586</td><td align="right">10,667</td><td align="right">4,271</td><td align="right">2,221</td><td align="right">8,446</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 12</td><td align="right">410</td><td align="right">6,532</td><td align="right">2,753</td><td align="right">1,410</td><td align="right">5,122</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 16</td><td align="right">705</td><td align="right">16,257</td><td align="right">5,588</td><td align="right">3,439</td><td align="right">12,617</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 19</td><td align="right">590</td><td align="right">8,580</td><td align="right">4,602</td><td align="right">2,027</td><td align="right">6,553</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 23</td><td align="right">398</td><td align="right">6,014</td><td align="right">2,347</td><td align="right">2,381</td><td align="right">3,633</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">December 26</td><td align="right">307</td><td align="right">5,388</td><td align="right">1,983</td><td align="right">1,179</td><td align="right">4,209</td></tr> -</table></div> - - -<p>When tens of thousands of earnest Christians are -meeting constantly for united prayer a spirit of expectancy -and unity is created which makes sure the success of the -revival. Incidentally, there is a welding together of Christian -forces that will abide long after the evangelist has gone. -These preliminary prayer-meetings are a revelation of the -tremendous possibilities inherent in the churches of any -community. With such a sea of prayer buoying him up -any preacher could have a revival.</p> - -<p>Sagaciously, Sunday throws all responsibility back on -the churches. While he takes command of the ship when he -arrives, yet he does all in his power to prevent the campaign -from being a one-man affair. The local committee must -underwrite the expenses; for these campaigns are not to be -financed by the gifts of the wealthy, but by the rank and file -of the church membership accepting responsibility of the -work. The guarantees are underwritten in the form of -shares and each guarantor receives a receipt for his shares -to be preserved as a memento of the campaign. True, no -guarantor ever had to pay a dollar on his Billy Sunday -campaign subscription, for the evangelist himself raises all -of the expense money in the early meetings of the series.</p> - -<p>John the Baptist was only a voice: but Billy Sunday is -a voice, plus a bewildering array of committees and assistants -and organized machinery. He has committees galore to -co-operate in his work: a drilled army of the Lord. In the -list of Scranton workers that is before me I see tabulated -an executive committee, the directors, a prayer-meeting com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span>mittee, -an entertainment committee, an usher committee, -a dinner committee, a business women's committee, a building -committee, a nursery committee, a personal workers' -committee, a decorating committee, a shop-meetings committee—and -then a whole list of churches and religious -organizations in the city as ex-officio workers!</p> - -<p>Wherever he goes Sunday erects a special tabernacle -for his meetings. There are many reasons for this. The -very building of a tabernacle dedicated to this one special -use helps create an interest in the campaign as something -new come to town. But, primarily, the evangelist's purposes -are practical. In the first place, everything has to be on -the ground floor. Converts cannot come forward from a -gallery. In addition, existing big buildings rarely have -proper acoustics. Most of all Sunday, who has a dread of -panics or accidents happening in connection with his -meetings, stresses the point that in his tabernacle people -have their feet on the ground. There is nothing to give -way with them. The sawdust and tan bark is warm, dustless, -sanitary, fireproof and noiseless. "When a crowd -gets to walking on a wooden floor," said Sunday—and then -he made a motion of sheer disgust that shows how sensitive -he is to any sort of disturbance—"it's the limit."</p> - -<p>One of his idiosyncrasies is that he must have a perfectly -still audience. He will stop in the midst of a sermon to let -a single person walk down the aisle. When auditors start -coughing he stops preaching. He never lets his crowd get -for an instant out of hand. The result is that there probably -never were so many persons gathered together in one building -at one time in such uniform quietness.</p> - -<p>The possibilities of panic in a massed multitude of -thousands are best understood by those who have had most -to do with crowds. Sunday's watchfulness against this -marks the shrewd American caution of the man. His -tabernacles, no matter whether they seat five, eight, ten, -fifteen, or twenty thousand persons, are all built under the -direction of his own helper, who has traveled with him for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -years. He knows that nothing will break down, or go -askew. His tabernacles are fairly panic-proof. Thus every -aisle, lengthwise and crosswise, ends in a door.</p> - -<p>So careful is he of the emergency that might arise for a -quick exit that no board in the whole tabernacle is fastened -with more than two nails; so that one could put his foot -through the side of the wall if there was need to get out -hurriedly. Describing the building of the choir platform -Sunday says, with a grim shutting of his jaws: "You -could run a locomotive over it and never faze it." His -own platform, on which he does amazing gymnastic stunts -at every meeting, is made to withstand all shocks. About -the walls of the tabernacle are fire extinguishers, and a squad -of firemen and policemen are on duty with every audience.</p> - -<p>There is nothing about a Sunday tabernacle to suggest -a cathedral. It is a big turtle-back barn of raw, unfinished -timber, but it has been constructed for its special purpose, -and every mechanical device is used to assist the speaker's -voice. Sunday can make twenty-five thousand persons -hear perfectly in one of his big tabernacles. A huge sounding -board, more useful than beautiful, hangs like an inverted -sugar scoop over the evangelist's platform.</p> - -<p>Behind the platform is the post office, to which the names -of converts are sent for the city pastors every day; and here -also are the telephones for the use of the press. Adjoining -the tabernacle is a nursery for babies, and an emergency -hospital with a nurse in attendance. It seems as if no -detail of efficient service has been overlooked by this practical -westerner. So well organized is everything that the collection -can be taken in an audience of eight thousand persons -within three minutes.</p> - -<p>While touching upon collections, this is as good a place -as any to raise the point of Mr. Sunday's own compensation. -He receives a free-will offering made on the last day. The -offerings taken in the early weeks are to meet the expenses -of the local committee. Mr. Sunday has nothing to do -with this. This committee also pays approximately half<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -of the expenses of his staff of workers, and it also provides -a home for the Sunday party during their sojourn. Mr. -Sunday himself pays the balance of the expenses of his -workers out of the free-will offering which he receives on the -last day. These gifts have reached large figures—forty-four -thousand dollars in the Pittsburgh campaign.</p> - -<p>There is a quality in human nature which will not -associate money with religion, and while we hear nobody -grumble at a city's paying thousands of dollars a night for -a grand opera performance; yet an evangelist who has -sweetened up an entire city, lessened the police expense, -promoted the general happiness and redeemed hundreds -of thousands of lives from open sin to godliness, is accused -of mercenariness, because those whom he has served give -him a lavish offering as he departs.</p> - -<p>Although much criticized on the subject of money, Mr. -Sunday steadfastly refuses to make answer to these strictures -or to render an accounting, insisting that this is entirely a -personal matter with him. Nobody who knows him doubts -his personal generosity or his sense of stewardship. Intimate -friends say that he tithes his income.</p> - -<p>Three important departments of the Sunday organization -are the choir, the ushers, and the personal-work secretaries. -Concerning the first more will be said in a later chapter. -The ushers are by no means ornamental functionaries. -They are a drilled regiment, each with his station of duty -and all disciplined to meet any emergency that may arise. -In addition to seating the people and taking the collection, -they have the difficult task of assisting the officers to keep -out the overflow crowds who try to press into the building -that has been filled to its legal capacity. For it is quite a -normal condition in the Sunday campaigns for thousands -of persons to try to crowd their way into the tabernacle after -the latter is full. Sometimes it takes foot-ball tactics to -keep them out.</p> - -<p>Without the assistance of the personal-work secretaries -the rush forward when the invitation is extended would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -mean a frantic mob. The recruits have to be formed -into line and directed to the pulpit where they take Mr. -Sunday's hand. Then they must be guided into the front -benches and the name and address and church preference -of each secured. While the invitation is being given personal -workers all over the building are busy gathering converts. -The magnitude of the Sunday evangelistic meetings in their -results is revealed by the necessity for systematically handling -the converts as vividly as by any other one factor.</p> - -<p>The tabernacle by no means houses all of the Sunday -campaign. There are noon shop meetings, there are noon -meetings for business women and luncheon meetings, there -are services in the schools, in the jails, in the hospitals, and -there are special afternoon parlor meetings where social -leaders hear the same message that is given to the men of -the street. In a phrase, the entire community is combed by -personal activity in order to reach everybody with the -Sunday evangelistic invitation.</p> - -<p>The personnel of the Sunday party has varied during -the years. The first assistant was Fred G. Fischer, a soloist -and choir leader who continued with the evangelist for -eight years. At present the staff numbers about a dozen -workers. Among past and present helpers have been Homer -A. Rodeheaver, the chorister; Charles Butler, the soloist; -Elijah J. Brown ("Ram's Horn" Brown); Fred. R. Seibert, -an ex-cowboy and a graduate of the Moody School, who is -the handy man of the tabernacle; Miss Frances Miller, -Miss Grace Saxe, Miss Anna MacLaren, Mrs. Rae Muirhead, -Rev. L. K. Peacock, B. D. Ackley, Albert G. Gill, Joseph -Seipe, the builder, Mrs. and Mr. Asher and Rev. I. E. -Honeywell. As the magnitude of the work increases this -force is steadily augmented, so that the evangelist must -not only be a prophet but a captain of industry.</p> - -<p>The Sunday Campaign clearly reveals that as Kipling's -old engineer, McAndrew, says,</p> - -<p> -"Ye'll understand, a man must think o' things."<br /> -</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_068fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Burning Words of Mr. Sunday that Reach the Heart.</span></div> -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> - -<small>"Speech—Seasoned with Salt"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I want to preach the gospel so plainly that men can come from the -factories and not have to bring along a dictionary.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Sunday</span> is not a shepherd, but a soldier; not a husbandman -of a vineyard, but a quarryman. The rôle -he fills more nearly approximates that of the Baptist, -or one of the Old Testament prophets, than any other -Bible character. The word of the Lord that has come to -him is not "Comfort ye! comfort ye!" but "Arouse ye! -arouse ye!" and "Repent! repent!"</p> - -<p>Evangelist Sunday's mission is not conventional, nor -may it be judged by conventional standards. He is not a -pastor; probably he would be a failure in the pastorate. -Neither would any sensible person expect pastors to -resemble Billy Sunday; for that, too, would be a calamity.</p> - -<p>Taking a reasonable view of the case, what do we find? -Here is a man whose clear work it is to attract the attention -of the heedless to the claims of the gospel, to awaken a -somnolent Church, and to call men to repentance. To do -this a man must be sensational, just as John the Baptist -was sensational—not to mention that Greater One who -drew the multitudes by his wonderful works and by his -unconventional speech.</p> - -<p>In the time of Jesus, as now, religion had become -embalmed in petrified phrases. The forms of religious -speech were set. But Christ's talk was not different from -every-day speech. The language of spirituality, which once -represented great living verities, had become so conventionalized -that it slipped easily into cant and "shop talk." -It is a fact which we scarcely like to admit that myriads -of persons who attend church regularly do not expect -really to understand what the preacher is talking about.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -They admire his "zeal" or "unction," but as for understanding -him as clearly and definitely as they understand -a neighbor talking over the back fence—that is not to be -thought of.</p> - -<p>When God called this man whom the common people -should hear gladly, he took him straight out of the walks -of common life with no other vocabulary than that of ordinary -"folks." We Americans use the most vivid language -of any people. Our words are alive, new ones being born -every hour. "Slang" we call these word pictures, and bar -them from polite speech until the crowbar of custom has -jimmied a way for them into the dictionary. And the -most productive slang factory of our time is the realm of -sports in which Sunday was trained.</p> - -<p>So he talks religion as he talked baseball. His words -smack of the street corners, the shop, the athletic field, -the crowd of men. That this speech is loose, extravagant -and undignified may be freely granted: but it is understandable. -Any kind of a fair play that will get the -runners to the home plate is good baseball; and any -speech that will puncture the shell of human nature's complacency -and indifference to religion is good preaching. -Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus was dignified, and -highly correct Pharisees despised them as vulgarians; "but -the common people heard him gladly." With such -examples before him on one side, and a Church waterlogged -with dignity on the other, Sunday has "gone the -limit" in popularized speech.</p> - -<p>Perhaps he is not as polite as is professionally proper -for a preacher. He seems to have recovered some of the -prophet's lost art of denunciation. He dares call sin by -its proper name. He excoriates the hypocrite. He cares -not for feelings of the unfaithful preacher or of the double-living -church member. As for the devil and all his lieutenants, -Sunday has for them a sizzling, blistering vocabulary -that helps men to loathe sin and all its advocates. His -uncompromising attitude is shown by this gem, culled -from one of his sermons:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p> - -<p>"They say to me, 'Bill, you rub the fur the wrong -way.' I don't; let the cats turn 'round."</p> - -<p>Again, "It isn't a good thing to have synonyms for -sin. Adultery is adultery, even though you call it affinity."</p> - -<p>Again, "Paul said he would rather speak five words -that were understood than ten thousand words in an -unknown tongue. That hits me. I want people to know -what I mean, and that's why I try to get down where they -live. What do I care if some puff-eyed, dainty little dibbly-dibbly -preacher goes tibbly-tibbling around because I use -plain Anglo-Saxon words."</p> - -<p>Two important points are to be considered in connection -with Sunday's vigorous vocabulary; the first is that -what he says does not sound as bad as it seems in cold type. -Often he is incorrectly reported. The constant contention -of his friends is that he should be heard before being criticized. -The volume of testimony of all the men who have -heard him—preachers, professors and purists—is that his -addresses which seem shocking when reported are not -shocking when heard.</p> - -<p>On the public square in Scranton a great sign was -displayed by the local committee:</p> - -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">BE FAIR!</p> -<p class="center">DON'T JUDGE BILLY SUNDAY UNTIL YOU<br /> -HAVE HEARD HIM YOURSELF.</p> -<p class="center">NO REPORT, VERBAL OR PRINTED, CAN<br /> -DO HIM PERFECT JUSTICE.</p> -</div> -<p>One Scranton business man put it this way: "Type -is cold; his sermons are hot."</p> - -<p>Sunday speaks with his eyes, with his gestures and -with every muscle of his body; and all this must be taken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -into account in weighing his words. Assuredly his message -in its totality does not shock anybody. That is why -preachers sit through his arraignment of a deficient church -and ministry and applaud him. They find in his severest -utterances a substantial volume of undoubted truth.</p> - -<p>The second point is that the most vigorous speech is -used earliest in an evangelistic campaign. That is one -way of stirring up the Church, and of attracting attention -to the meetings. Sunday goads Christians to an interest. -Apparently he purposely speaks to arouse resentment, if -no other form of interest is awakened in his hearers. The -latter part of a Sunday campaign is singularly free from -his denunciations, from his invective and from his slang. -There is a clear method in his procedure, which is always -followed in about the same course.</p> - -<p>Sunday would be the last man to expect everybody to -approve all that he says, either in form or in substance. -I don't; and I know no other thinking observer of his -meetings who does. No more do I expect him to approve -all that is said in this book. Nevertheless, there remains -the unanswerable rejoinder to all criticism of Evangelist -Sunday's utterances and message: he "delivers the goods." -He does arouse communities to an interest in religion as -no other preacher of our generation. He helps people -"get right with God." His campaigns promote righteousness, -diminish wickedness and strengthen the Church.</p> - -<p>As samples of the pungent sort of speech with which -Sunday's discourses are flavored I have selected these -shakings from his salt-cellar:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Live so that when the final summons comes you will -leave something more behind you than an epitaph on a -tombstone or an obituary in a newspaper.</p> - -<p>You can find anything in the average church today, -from a humming bird to a turkey buzzard.</p> - -<p>The Lord is not compelled to use theologians. He can -take snakes, sticks or anything else, and use them for the -advancement of his cause.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span></p> - -<p>The Lord may have to pile a coffin on your back before -he can get you to bend it.</p> - -<p>Don't throw your ticket away when the train goes into -a tunnel. It will come out the other side.</p> - -<p>The safest pilot is not the fellow that wears the biggest -hat, but the man who knows the channels.</p> - -<p>If a man goes to hell he ought to be there, or he wouldn't -be there.</p> - -<p>I am preaching for the age in which I live. I am just -recasting my vocabulary to suit the people of my age instead -of Joshua's age.</p> - -<p>The Church gives the people what they need; the theater -gives them what they want.</p> - -<p>Death-bed repentance is burning the candle of life in -the service of the devil, and then blowing the smoke into -the face of God.</p> - -<p>Your reputation is what people say about you. Your -character is what God and your wife know about you.</p> - -<p>When your heart is breaking you don't want the dancing -master or saloon-keeper. No, you want the preacher.</p> - -<p>Don't you know that every bad man in a community -strengthens the devil's mortgage?</p> - -<p>Pilate washed his hands. If he had washed his old black -heart he would have been all right.</p> - -<p>It takes a big man to see other people succeed without -raising a howl.</p> - -<p>It's everybody's business how you live.</p> - -<p>Bring your repentance down to a spot-cash basis.</p> - -<p>I believe that cards and dancing are doing more to dam -the spiritual life of the Church than the grog-shops—though -you can't accuse me of being a friend of that stinking, dirty, -rotten, hell-soaked business.</p> - -<p>If you took no more care of yourself physically than -spiritually, you'd be just as dried up physically as you are -spiritually.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span></p> - -<p>We place too much reliance upon preaching and upon -singing, and too little on the living of those who sit in the -pews.</p> - -<p>The carpet in front of the mirrors of some of you people -is worn threadbare, while at the side of your bed where you -should kneel in prayer it is as good as the day you put it -down.</p> - -<p>Some persons think they have to look like a hedgehog to -be pious.</p> - -<p>Look into the preaching Jesus did and you will find it -was aimed straight at the big sinners on the front seats.</p> - -<p>If you live wrong you can't die right.</p> - -<p>"You are weighed in the balance"—but not by Bradstreet's -or Dun's—you are weighed in God's balance.</p> - -<p>A revival gives the Church a little digitalis instead of an -opiate.</p> - -<p>It isn't the sawdust trail that brings you to Christ, it's -the Christ that is in the trail, the Christ that is in your -public confession of sins.</p> - -<p>Some sermons instead of being a bugle call for service, -are nothing more than showers of spiritual cocaine.</p> - -<p>Theology bears the same relation to Christianity that -botany does to flowers.</p> - -<p>Morality isn't the light; it is only the polish on the -candlestick.</p> - -<p>Some homes need a hickory switch a good deal more -than they do a piano.</p> - -<p>Churches don't need new members half so much as -they need the old bunch made over.</p> - -<p>God's work is too often side-tracked, while social, -business and domestic arrangements are thundering through -on the main line.</p> - -<p>A lot of people, from the way they live, make you think -they've got a ticket to heaven on a Pullman parlor car and -have ordered the porter to wake 'em up when they get there. -But they'll get side-tracked almost before they've started.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span></p> - -<p>I believe that a long step toward public morality will -have been taken when sins are called by their right names.</p> - -<p>The bars of the Church are so low that any old hog with -two or three suits of clothes and a bank roll can crawl through.</p> - -<p>You will not have power until there is nothing questionable -in your life.</p> - -<p>You can't measure manhood with a tape line around -the biceps.</p> - -<p>The social life is the reflex of the home life.</p> - -<p>There are some so-called Christian homes today with -books on the shelves of the library that have no more business -there than a rattler crawling about on the floor, or poison -within the child's reach.</p> - -<p>Home is the place we love best and grumble the most.</p> - -<p>I don't believe there are devils enough in hell to pull a -boy out of the arms of a godly mother.</p> - -<p>To train a boy in the way he should go you must go that -way yourself.</p> - -<p>The man who lives for himself alone will be the sole -mourner at his own funeral.</p> - -<p>Don't try to cover up the cussedness of your life, but -get fixed up.</p> - -<p>Wrong company soon makes everything else wrong. -An angel would never be able to get back to heaven again -if he came down here for a week and put in his time going -with company that some church members would consider -good.</p> - -<p>The devil often grinds the axe with which God hews.</p> - -<p>I wish the Church were as afraid of imperfection as it is -of perfection.</p> - -<p>Whisky is all right in its place—but its place is in hell.</p> - -<p>A pup barks more than an old dog.</p> - -<p>Character needs no epitaph. You can bury the man, -but character will beat the hearse back from the graveyard<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -and it will travel up and down the streets while you are under -the sod. It will bless or blight long after your name is -forgotten.</p> - -<p>Some people pray like a jack-rabbit eating cabbage.</p> - -<p>If you put a polecat in the parlor you know which will -change first—the polecat or the parlor?</p> - -<p>A church is not dropped down on a street corner to -decorate the corner and be the property of a certain denomination.</p> - -<p>Many preachers are like a physician—strong on diagnosis, -but weak on therapeutics.</p> - -<p>Your religion is in your will, not in your handkerchief.</p> - -<p>It won't save your soul if your wife is a Christian. You -have got to be something more than a brother-in-law to -the Church.</p> - -<p>If every black cloud had a cyclone in it, the world -would have been blown into toothpicks long ago.</p> - -<p>No man has any business to be in a bad business.</p> - -<p>When you quit living like the devil I will quit preaching -that way.</p> - -<p>You can't raise the standard of women's morals by -raising their pay envelope. It lies deeper than that.</p> - -<p>The seventh commandment is not: "Thou shalt not -commit affinity."</p> - -<p>A saloon-keeper and a good mother don't pull on the -same rope.</p> - -<p>The presumptive husband should be able to show more -than the price of a marriage license.</p> - -<p>Put the kicking straps on the old Adam, feed the angel -in you, and starve the devil.</p> - -<p>When a baby is born, what do you do with it? Put it in -a refrigerator? That's a good place for a dead chicken, and -cold meat, but a poor place for babies. Then don't put these -new converts, 'babes in Christ,' into refrigerator churches.</p></blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_077fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">I'll Fight till Hell Freezes Over.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span></p> - -<blockquote> - - -<p>Nobody can read the Bible thoughtfully, and not be -impressed with the way it upholds the manhood of man. -More chapters in the Bible are devoted to portraying the -manhood of Caleb than to the creation of the world.</p> - -<p>Home is on a level with the women; the town is on a -level with the homes.</p></blockquote> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_077.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">A Saloon-keeper and a Good Mother -Don't Pull on the Same Rope</span>"</div> -</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>You will find lots of things in Shakespeare which are -not fit for reading in a mixed audience and call that literature. -When you hear some truths here in the tabernacle -you will call it vulgar. -It makes all the difference -in the world -whether Bill Shakespeare -or Bill Sunday -said it.</p> - -<p>The more oyster -soup it takes to run a -church, the faster it -runs to the devil.</p> - -<p>The reason you -don't like the Bible, -you old sinner, is -because it knows all -about you.</p> - -<p>Bob Ingersoll -wasn't the first to find -out that Moses made -mistakes. God knew about it long before Ingersoll was -born.</p> - -<p>All that God has ever done to save this old world, has -been done through men and women of flesh and blood like -ourselves.</p> - -<p>Nearly everybody is stuck up about something. Some -people are even proud that they aren't proud.</p> - -<p>The average young man is more careful of his company -than the average girl.</p> - -<p>Going to church doesn't make a man a Christian, any -more than going to a garage makes him an automobile.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span></p> - -<p>If we people were able to have panes of glass over our -hearts, some of us would want stained glass, wouldn't we?</p> - -<p>To see some people, you would think that the essential -orthodox Christianity is to have a face so long they could -eat oatmeal out of the end of a gas pipe.</p> - -<p>God likes a little humor, as is evidenced by the fact that -he made the monkey, the parrot—and some of you people.</p> - -<p>Wouldn't this city be a great place to live in if some -people would die, get converted, or move away?</p> - -<p>The normal way to get rid of drunkards is to quit -raising drunkards—to put the business that makes drunkards -out of business.</p> - -<p>You can't shine for God on Sunday, and then be a -London fog on Monday.</p> - -<p>I don't believe that God wants any man to be a hermit. -Jesus Christ did not wear a hair shirt and sleep upon a bed -of spikes. He went among the people and preached the -Gospel.</p> - -<p>If you only believe things that you can understand you -must be an awful ignoramus.</p> - -<p>There is more power in a mother's hand than in a king's -scepter.</p> - -<p>I have no doubt that there are men looking into my -face tonight who will have "1914" carved on their tombstones.</p> - -<p>If God had no more interest in this world than some of -you church members have in Johnstown, this city would -have been in hell long ago.</p> - -<p>I hate to see a man roll up to church in a limousine and -then drop a quarter in the collection plate.</p> - -<p>Give your face to God and he will put his shine on it.</p> - -<p>No fountain under the sun can hold enough to satisfy -an immortal spirit.</p> - -<p>Jesus Christ came among the common people. Abraham -Lincoln said that God must have loved the common people: -he made so many of them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p> - -<p>Yank some of the groans out of your prayers, and shove -in some shouts.</p> - -<p>The Bible says forgive your debtors; the world says -"sue them for their dough."</p> - -<p>The race will appear as far above us as we are above the -harem when godly girls marry godly men.</p> - -<p>It is impossible for a saloon-keeper to enjoy a good red-hot -prayer-meeting.</p> - -<p>I'm no spiritual masseur or osteopath. I'm a surgeon, -and I cut deep.</p> - -<p>A prudent man won't swallow a potato bug, and then -take Paris green to kill it.</p> - -<p>If you want milk and honey on your bread, you'll have -to go into the land where there are giants.</p> - -<p>There is nothing in the world of art like the songs -mother used to sing.</p> - -<p>God pays a good mother. Mothers, get your names on -God's pay-roll.</p> - -<p>The man who can drive a hog and keep his religion -will stand without hitching.</p> - -<p>The right preaching of the Gospel will never hurt anything -good.</p> - -<p>If you would have your children turn out well, don't -turn your home into a lunch counter and lodging house.</p> - -<p>Man was a fool in the Garden of Eden, and he has taken -a good many new degrees since.</p> - -<p>The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit -the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when -the truth brings him to his knees.</p> - -<p>There would be more power in the prayers of some folks -if they would put more white money in the collection basket.</p> - -<p>What have you given the world it never possessed before -you came?</p> - -<p>Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. -Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in.</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> - -<small>Battling with "Booze"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The man who votes for the saloon is pulling on the same rope with the -devil, whether he knows it or not.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">There</span> is a tremendous military advantage in having -a definite enemy. The sermons that are aimed at -nothing generally hit it. Billy Sunday is happiest -and most successful when attacking the liquor evil. Down -among the masses of men he learned for himself the awful -malignity of strong drink, which he deems the greatest -evil of our day.</p> - -<p>So he fights it. Everybody will admit—the saloon-keeper -first of all—that Billy Sunday is the most effective -foe of the liquor business in America today. Small wonder -the brewers spend large sums of money in circulating -attacks upon him, and in going before him to every town -where he conducts meetings, spreading slanders of many -sorts.</p> - -<p>There is a ghastly humor in the success the brewers -have in enlisting the preachers to make common cause with -them in discrediting this evangelist. Shrewd men have -come quite generally to the conclusion that they will not -give aid and comfort to the enemies of righteousness whose -interests are best served by criticism of Billy Sunday. -All incidental questions aside, Sunday does the Lord's work -and is on the Lord's side. It is a pitiable spectacle to see -the Lord's servants attacking him; though it is quite understandable -why the liquor interest should spend large sums -of money in antagonizing Sunday. It would be worth a -million dollars to them any day if he could be put out of -action.</p> - -<p>Wherever Sunday goes a great temperance awakening -follows. In eleven of fifteen Illinois towns where he cam<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span>paigned -"dry" victories were won at the next election. -Fifteen hundred saloons were put out of business in a single -day in Illinois, largely as the result of his work. With -characteristic indifference to figures and tabulated results, -Sunday has kept no record of the communities which have -gone "dry" following his meetings. That consequence -is common. His recent presence in Pennsylvania is the -surest token that the Keystone State will not much -longer be the boasted Gibraltar of the liquor interests. -Even up in Pennsylvania's coal regions, with their -large foreign population, many communities are going -"dry," while individual saloons are being starved out. -Within about a year of Sunday's visit there, the -number of saloons was reduced by more than two hundred.</p> - -<p>So intense is Sunday's zest for temperance that he will -go anywhere possible to deliver a blow against the saloon. -He has toured Illinois and West Virginia in special trains, -campaigning for temperance. During the Sunday campaign -in Johnstown ten thousand men in a meeting organized -themselves into a Billy Sunday Anti-Saloon League. In -Iowa literally scores of towns and counties are reported as -having gone dry as a direct result of the Sunday meetings. -Muscatine, Ottumwa, Marshalltown, Linwood and Centerville -are communities in point. Thirteen out of fifteen towns -in Illinois visited by Sunday voted out the saloon. West -Virginia's temperance leaders utilized Sunday in a whirlwind -campaign through the state. He spoke in ten towns -in five days, traveling from point to point in a special car. -It is now history that West Virginia went dry by ninety -thousand majority. His latest work in the West has -been timed to precede elections where the temperance -question was an issue. Next to his passion for the conversion -of men and women is this consuming antagonism -to rum.</p> - -<p>More important than his own valiant blows against the -saloon is the fact that Sunday makes enemies for the liquor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -business. Practically all of his converts and friends become -enthusiastic temperance workers. In western Pennsylvania -he converted practical machine politicians to the old time -Gospel and to the temperance cause.</p> - -<p>Every campaign is full of incidents like that of the -blacksmith, a part of whose business came from a large -brewery. When this man became a Sunday convert and -a temperance "fanatic," as they termed him, the brewers' -business was withdrawn. But the loyalty which Sunday -infuses into his followers, rallied to the man's help, and such -a volume of Christian business was turned his way that his -conversion and the loss of the brewery trade turned out to -his profit.</p> - -<p>In the <cite>Outlook</cite> of August 8, 1914, Lewis Edwin -Theiss introduces a powerful article, "Industry versus -Alcohol," with this Billy Sunday story:</p> - -<p>"We were discussing Billy Sunday and the economic -effect of his work.</p> - -<p>"'The vice-president of the C—— Iron Works told -me,' said a manufacturer of railway cars, 'that his company -could have afforded to pay its employees a quarter -of a million dollars more than their wages during the period -that Billy Sunday was working among them.'</p> - -<p>'The corporation concerned is one of the great steel -companies of the country. It employs thousands of men.</p> - -<p>"'Why was that?' I asked.</p> - -<p>"'Because of the increased efficiency of the men. -They were steadier. Accidents decreased remarkably. -They produced enough extra steel to make their work worth -the quarter million additional.'</p> - -<p>"'It is interesting to find that religion has such an -effect on every-day life,' I observed.</p> - -<p>"'Religion as such had little to do with it,' replied -the car-maker, 'except that it started it. The thing that -made those men efficient was cutting out the drink. Billy -Sunday got them all on the water wagon. They became -sober and stayed sober. They could run their machines<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -with steady hands and true eyes. The men themselves -realize what a difference it makes. They are strong for -prohibition. If the people of Pittsburgh and its vicinity -could vote on the temperance question today, the saloons -would be wiped out there.'</p> - -<p>"'The manufacturers are strong for prohibition, too. -They never gave much thought to the matter before. -But this demonstration of Billy Sunday's has made us all -strong for prohibition. We <em>know</em> now that most of our -accidents are due to whisky. For years we have been -trying to find a way to secure a high degree of efficiency -among our men. We never succeeded. Along comes this -preacher and accomplishes more in a few weeks than we -have ever been able to do.</p> - -<p>"'We know now that until booze is banished we can -never have really efficient workmen. We're fools if we -don't profit by what he has shown us. Take it from me, -booze has got to go. We are not much interested in the -moral side of the matter as such. It is purely a matter of -dollars and cents. They say corporations have no souls. -From this time forth corporations are going to show -mighty little soul toward the man who drinks.'"</p> - -<p>A great parade of men marks the close of a Sunday -campaign. In Scranton the line of march was broken into -by a brewer's wagon. The driver was not content with -trying to break the line of parade, but he also hurled offensive -epithets at Sunday and his converts. Perhaps passive -endurance was the virtue called for on this occasion; but -it was certainly not the virtue practiced. For those husky -mill workers stepped out of line for a moment, bodily -overturned the brewer's wagon, and sent the beer -kegs rolling in the street, all to the tune of the Sunday -war song, "De Brewer's Big Horses Can't Run Over -Me."</p> - - -<p>This song, written by H. S. Taylor, is the most popular -one in the Sunday campaign. It is by no means a hymn of -worship, but rather a battle-cry. When thousands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a><br /><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -men lift their voices in this militant refrain, with whistles -blowing and bells ringing in the chorus, the effect is -fairly thrilling. Words and music are beneath the -consideration of the scholarly musician; but they strike -the common mind of the American who wants a battle -hymn.</p> - - -<p class="center">DE BREWER'S BIG HOSSES.<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">A</a></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, de Brewer's big hosses, comin' down de road,</div> -<div class="verse">Totin' all around ole Lucifer's load;</div> -<div class="verse">Dey step so high, an' dey step so free,</div> -<div class="verse">But dem big hosses can't run over me.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent18"><span class="smcap">Chorus.</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent6">Oh, no! boys, oh, no!</div> -<div class="verse indent6">De turnpike's free wherebber I go,</div> -<div class="verse indent6">I'm a temperance ingine, don't you see,</div> -<div class="verse indent6">And de Brewer's big hosses can't run over me.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, de licker men's actin' like dey own dis place,</div> -<div class="verse">Livin' on de sweat ob de po' man's face,</div> -<div class="verse">Dey's fat and sassy as dey can be,</div> -<div class="verse">But dem big hosses can't run over me.—<span class="smcap">Cho.</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, I'll harness dem hosses to de temp'rance cart,</div> -<div class="verse">Hit 'em wid a gad to gib 'em a start,</div> -<div class="verse">I'll teach 'em how for to haw and gee,</div> -<div class="verse">For dem big hosses can't run over me.—<span class="smcap">Cho.</span></div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<a href="images/i_084_1.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_084_thumb.jpg" alt="Musical score of the above" /></a> -</div> -<blockquote><p class="small"><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="label">A</a> - Reproduced by permission. Copyright, 1887, by Fillmore Bros. Homer A. Rodeheaver -owner. International copyright secured.</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Sunday is the Peter the Hermit of the temperance -crusade. He inflames men's passions for this righteous war. -Most critics call his sermon on "booze" his greatest achievement. -He treats the theme from all angles—economic, -social, human, and religious. When he puts a row of boys -up on the platform and offers them as one day's contribution -to the saloon's grist of manhood which must be maintained, -the result is electric; all the militant manhood of the men -before him is urged to action.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">THE FAMOUS "BOOZE" SERMON</p> - -<p>Here we have one of the strangest scenes in all the -Gospels. Two men, possessed of devils, confront Jesus, -and while the devils are crying out for Jesus to leave them, -he commands the devils to come out, and the devils obey -the command of Jesus. The devils ask permission to enter -into a herd of swine feeding on the hillside. This is the only -record we have of Jesus ever granting the petition of devils, -and he did it for the salvation of men.</p> - -<p>Then the fellows that kept the hogs went back to town -and told the peanut-brained, weasel-eyed, hog-jowled, beetle-browed, -bull-necked lobsters that owned the hogs, that -"a long-haired fanatic from Nazareth, named Jesus, has -driven the devils out of some men and the devils have gone -into the hogs, and the hogs into the sea, and the sea into the -hogs, and the whole bunch is dead."</p> - -<p>And then the fat, fussy old fellows came out to see -Jesus and said that he was hurting their business. A -fellow says to me, "I don't think Jesus Christ did a nice -thing."</p> - -<p>You don't know what you are talking about.</p> - -<p>Down in Nashville, Tennessee, I saw four wagons going -down the street, and they were loaded with stills, and kettles, -and pipes.</p> - -<p>"What's this?" I said.</p> - -<p>"United States revenue officers, and they have been in -the moonshine district and confiscated the illicit stills, and -they are taking them down to the government scrap -heap."</p> - -<p>Jesus Christ was God's revenue officer. Now the Jews -were forbidden to eat pork, but Jesus Christ came and found -that crowd buying and selling and dealing in pork, and confiscated -the whole business, and he kept within the limits -of the law when he did it. Then the fellows ran back to -those who owned the hogs to tell what had befallen them -and those hog-owners said to Jesus: "Take your helpers -and hike. You are hurting our business." And they looked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -into the sea and the hogs were bottom side up, but Jesus -said, "What is the matter?"</p> - -<p>And they answered, "Leave our hogs and go." A fellow -says it is rather a strange request for the devils to make, -to ask permission to enter into hogs. I don't know—if -I was a devil I would rather live in a good, decent hog than -in lots of men. If you will drive the hog out you won't -have to carry slop to him, so I will try to help you get rid -of the hog.</p> - -<p>And they told Jesus to leave the country. They said: -"You are hurting our business."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Interest in Manhood</p> - -<p>"Have you no interest in manhood?"</p> - -<p>"We have no interest in that; just take your disciples -and leave, for you are hurting our business."</p> - -<p>That is the attitude of the liquor traffic toward the -Church, and State, and Government, and the preacher that -has the backbone to fight the most damnable, corrupt -institution that ever wriggled out of hell and fastened itself -on the public.</p> - -<p>I am a temperance Republican down to my toes. Who -is the man that fights the whisky business in the South? -It is the Democrats! They have driven the business from -Kansas, they have driven it from Georgia, and Maine and -Mississippi and North Carolina and North Dakota and -Oklahoma and Tennessee and West Virginia. And they -have driven it out of 1,756 counties. And it is the rock-ribbed -Democratic South that is fighting the saloon. They -started this fight that is sweeping like fire over the United -States. You might as well try and dam Niagara Falls with -toothpicks as to stop the reform wave sweeping our land. -The Democratic party of Florida has put a temperance -plank in its platform and the Republican party of every -state would nail that plank in their platform if they thought -it would carry the election. It is simply a matter of decency -and manhood, irrespective of politics. It is prosperity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -against poverty, sobriety against drunkenness, honesty -against thieving, heaven against hell. Don't you want to -see men sober? Brutal, staggering men transformed into -respectable citizens? "No," said a saloon-keeper, "to hell -with men. We are interested in our business, we have no -interest in humanity."</p> - -<p>After all is said that can be said upon the liquor traffic, -its influence is degrading upon the individual, the family, -politics and business, and upon everything that you touch -in this old world. For the time has long gone by when there -is any ground for arguments as to its ill effects. All are -agreed on that point. There is just one prime reason why the -saloon has not been knocked into hell, and that is the false -statement that "the saloons are needed to help lighten the -taxes." The saloon business has never paid, and it has cost -fifty times more than the revenue derived from it.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Does the Saloon Help Business?</p> - -<p>I challenge you to show me where the saloon has ever -helped business, education, church, morals or anything we -hold dear.</p> - -<p>The wholesale and retail trade in Iowa pays every year -at least $500,000 in licenses. Then if there were no draw-back -it ought to reduce the taxation twenty-five cents per -capita. If the saloon is necessary to pay the taxes, and if -they pay $500,000 in taxes, it ought to reduce them twenty-five -cents a head. But no, the whisky business has increased -taxes $1,000,000 instead of reducing them, and I defy any -whisky man on God's dirt to show me one town that has -the saloon where the taxes are lower than where they do -not have the saloon. I defy you to show me an instance.</p> - -<p>Listen! Seventy-five per cent of our idiots come from -intemperate parents; eighty per cent of the paupers, eighty-two -per cent of the crime is committed by men under the -influence of liquor; ninety per cent of the adult criminals -are whisky-made. The Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite> kept track for -ten years and found that 53,556 murders were committed -by men under the influence of liquor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span></p> - -<p>Archbishop Ireland, the famous Roman Catholic, of -St. Paul, said of social crime today, that "seventy-five -per cent is caused by drink, and eighty per cent of the -poverty."</p> - -<p>I go to a family and it is broken up, and I say, "What -caused this?" Drink! I step up to a young man on the -scaffold and say, "What brought you here?" Drink! -Whence all the misery and sorrow and corruption? Invariably -it is drink.</p> - -<p>Five Points, in New York, was a spot as near like hell -as any spot on earth. There are five streets that run to -this point, and right in the middle was an old brewery and -the streets on either side were lined with grog shops. The -newspapers turned a searchlight on the district, and the first -thing they had to do was to buy the old brewery and turn -it into a mission.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Parent of Crimes</p> - -<p>The saloon is the sum of all villanies. It is worse than -war or pestilence. It is the crime of crimes. It is the -parent of crimes and the mother of sins. It is the appalling -source of misery and crime in the land. And to license -such an incarnate fiend of hell is the dirtiest, low-down, -damnable business on top of this old earth. There is -nothing to be compared to it.</p> - -<p>The legislature of Illinois appropriated $6,000,000 in -1908 to take care of the insane people in the state, and the -whisky business produces seventy-five per cent of the -insane. That is what you go down in your pockets for to -help support. Do away with the saloons and you will -close these institutions. The saloons make them necessary, -and they make the poverty and fill the jails and the penitentiaries. -Who has to pay the bills? The landlord who -doesn't get the rent because the money goes for whisky; -the butcher and the grocer and the charitable person who -takes pity on the children of drunkards, and the taxpayer -who supports the insane asylums and other institutions, -that the whisky business keeps full of human wrecks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span></p> - -<p>Do away with the cursed business and you will not have -to put up to support them. Who gets the money? The -saloon-keepers and the brewers, and the distillers, while -the whisky fills the land with misery, and poverty, and -wretchedness, and disease, and death, and damnation, and -it is being authorized by the will of the sovereign people.</p> - -<p>You say that "people will drink anyway." Not by my -vote. You say, "Men will murder their wives anyway." -Not by my vote. "They will steal anyway." Not by my -vote. You are the sovereign people, and what are you -going to do about it?</p> - -<p>Let me assemble before your minds the bodies of the -drunken dead, who crawl away "into the jaws of death, -into the mouth of hell," and then out of the valley of the -shadow of the drink let me call the appertaining motherhood, -and wifehood, and childhood, and let their tears rain -down upon their purple faces. Do you think that would -stop the curse of the liquor traffic? No! No!</p> - -<p>In these days when the question of saloon or no saloon -is at the fore in almost every community, one hears a good -deal about what is called "personal liberty." These are -fine, large, mouth-filling words, and they certainly do sound -first rate; but when you get right down and analyze them -in the light of common old horse-sense, you will discover -that in their application to the present controversy they -mean just about this: "Personal liberty" is for the man who, -if he has the inclination and the price, can stand up at a bar -and fill his hide so full of red liquor that he is transformed -for the time being into an irresponsible, dangerous, evil-smelling -brute. But "personal liberty" is not for his -patient, long-suffering wife, who has to endure with what -fortitude she may his blows and curses; nor is it for his -children, who, if they escape his insane rage, are yet robbed -of every known joy and privilege of childhood, and too often -grow up neglected, uncared for and vicious as the result -of their surroundings and the example before them. "Personal -liberty" is not for the sober, industrious citizen who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -from the proceeds of honest toil and orderly living, has to -pay, willingly or not, the tax bills which pile up as a direct -result of drunkenness, disorder and poverty, the items -of which are written in the records of every police court and -poor-house in the land; nor is "personal liberty" for the good -woman who goes abroad in the town only at the risk of being -shot down by some drink-crazed creature. This rant about -"personal liberty" as an argument has no leg to stand -upon.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Economic Side</p> - -<p>Now, in 1913 the corn crop was 2,373,000,000 bushels, -and it was valued at $1,660,000,000. Secretary Wilson says -that the breweries use less than two per cent; I will say that -they use two per cent. That would make 47,000,000 -bushels, and at seventy cents a bushel that would be about -$33,000,000. How many people are there in the United -States? Ninety millions. Very well, then, that is thirty-six -cents per capita. Then we sold out to the whisky -business for thirty-six cents apiece—the price of a dozen -eggs or a pound of butter. We are the cheapest gang this -side of hell if we will do that kind of business.</p> - -<p>Now listen! Last year the income of the United States -government, and the cities and towns and counties, from the -whisky business was $350,000,000. That is putting it -liberally. You say that's a lot of money. Well, last year -the workingmen spent $2,000,000,000 for drink, and it cost -$1,200,000,000 to care for the judicial machinery. In other -words, the whisky business cost us last year $3,400,000,000. -I will subtract from that the dirty $350,000,000 which we -got, and it leaves $3,050,000,000 in favor of knocking the -whisky business out on purely a money basis. And listen! -We spend $6,000,000,000 a year for our paupers and criminals, -insane, orphans, feeble-minded, etc., and eighty-two per -cent of our criminals are whisky-made, and seventy-five -per cent of the paupers are whisky-made. The average -factory hand earns $450 a year, and it costs us $1,200 a year<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -to support each of our whisky criminals. There are 326,000 -enrolled criminals in the United States and 80,000 in jails -and penitentiaries. Three-fourths were sent there because -of drink, and then they have the audacity to say the saloon -is needed for money revenue. Never was there a baser lie.</p> - -<p>"But," says the whisky fellow, "we would lose trade; -the farmer would not come to town to trade." You lie. -I am a farmer. I was born and raised on a farm and I have -the malodors of the barnyard on me today. Yes, sir. And -when you say that you insult the best class of men on God's -dirt. Say, when you put up the howl that if you don't -have the saloons the farmer won't trade—say, Mr. Whisky -Man, why do you dump money into politics and back the -legislatures into the corner and fight to the last ditch to -prevent the enactment of county local option? You know -if the farmers were given a chance they would knock the -whisky business into hell the first throw out of the box. -You are afraid. You have cold feet on the proposition. -You are afraid to give the farmer a chance. They are scared -to death of you farmers.</p> - -<p>I heard my friend ex-Governor Hanly, of Indiana, use -the following illustrations:</p> - -<p>"Oh, but," they say, "Governor, there is another danger -to the local option, because it means a loss of market to the -farmer. We are consumers of large quantities of grain in -the manufacture of our products. If you drive us out of -business you strike down that market and it will create a -money panic in this country, such as you have never seen, -if you do that." I might answer it by saying that less than -two per cent of the grain produced in this country is used for -that purpose, but I pass that by. I want to debate the merit -of the statement itself, and I think I can demonstrate in -ten minutes to any thoughtful man, to any farmer, that the -brewer who furnishes him a market for a bushel of corn is -not his benefactor, or the benefactor of any man, from an -economic standpoint. Let us see. A farmer brings to the -brewer a bushel of corn. He finds a market for it. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -gets fifty cents and goes his way, with the statement of the -brewer ringing in his ears, that the brewer is the benefactor. -But you haven't got all the factors in the problem, Mr. -Brewer, and you cannot get a correct solution of a problem -without all the factors in the problem. You take the -farmer's bushel of corn, brewer or distiller, and you brew -and distill from it four and one-half gallons of spirits. I -don't know how much he dilutes them before he puts them -on the market. Only the brewer, the distiller and God -know. The man who drinks it doesn't, but if he doesn't -dilute it at all, he puts on the market four and a half gallons -of intoxicating liquor, thirty-six pints. I am not going -to trace the thirty-six pints. It will take too long. But -I want to trace three of them and I will give you no -imaginary stories plucked from the brain of an excited -orator. I will take instances from the judicial pages of the -Supreme Court and the Circuit Court judges' reports in -Indiana and in Illinois to make my case.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Tragedies Born of Drink</p> - -<p>Several years ago in the city of Chicago a young man -of good parents, good character, one Sunday crossed the -street and entered a saloon, open against the law. He found -there boon companions. There were laughter, song and -jest and much drinking. After awhile, drunk, insanely -drunk, his money gone, he was kicked into the street. He -found his way across to his mother's home. He importuned -her for money to buy more drink. She refused him. He -seized from the sideboard a revolver and ran out into the -street and with the expressed determination of entering the -saloon and getting more drink, money or no money. His -fond mother followed him into the street. She put her hand -upon him in a loving restraint. He struck it from him in -anger, and then his sister came and added her entreaty in -vain. And then a neighbor, whom he knew, trusted and -respected, came and put his hand on him in gentleness and -friendly kindness, but in an insanity of drunken rage he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -raised the revolver and shot his friend dead in his blood -upon the street. There was a trial; he was found guilty -of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and -when the little mother heard the verdict—a frail little bit -of a woman—she threw up her hands and fell in a swoon. -In three hours she was dead.</p> - -<p>In the streets of Freeport, Illinois, a young man of good -family became involved in a controversy with a lewd -woman of the town. He went in a drunken frenzy to his -father's home, armed himself with a deadly weapon and set -out for the city in search of the woman with whom he had -quarreled. The first person he met upon the public square -in the city, in the daylight, in a place where she had a right -to be, was one of the most refined and cultured women of -Freeport. She carried in her arms her babe—motherhood -and babyhood, upon the streets of Freeport in the day time, -where they had a right to be—but this young man in his -drunken insanity mistook her for the woman he sought and -shot her dead upon the streets with her babe in her arms. -He was tried and Judge Ferand, in sentencing him to life -imprisonment said: "You are the seventh man in two years -to be sentenced for murder while intoxicated."</p> - -<p>In the city of Anderson, you remember the tragedy in -the Blake home. A young man came home intoxicated, -demanding money of his mother. She refused it. He -seized from the wood box a hatchet and killed his mother -and then robbed her. You remember he fled. The officer -of the law pursued him and brought him back. An indictment -was read to him charging him with the murder of the -mother who had given him his birth, of her who had gone -down into the valley of the shadow of death to give him life, -of her who had looked down into his blue eyes and thanked -God for his life. And he said, "I am guilty; I did it all." -And Judge McClure sentenced him to life imprisonment.</p> - -<p>Now I have followed probably three of the thirty-six -pints of the farmer's product of a bushel of corn and the -three of them have struck down seven lives, the three boys<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -who committed the murders, the three persons who were -killed and the little mother who died of a broken heart. -And now, I want to know, my farmer friend, if this has been -a good commercial transaction for you? You sold a bushel -of corn; you found a market; you got fifty cents; but a -fraction of this product struck down seven lives, all of whom -would have been consumers of your products for their life -expectancy. And do you mean to say that is a good economic -transaction to you? That disposes of the market -question until it is answered; let no man argue further.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">More Economics</p> - -<p>And say, my friends, New York City's annual drink bill -is $365,000,000 a year, $1,000,000 a day. Listen a minute. -That is four times the annual output of gold, and six times -the value of all the silver mined in the United States. And -in New York there is one saloon for every thirty families. -The money spent in New York by the working people for -drink in ten years would buy every working man in New -York a beautiful home, allowing $3,500 for house and lot. -It would take fifty persons one year to count the money in -$1 bills, and they would cover 10,000 acres of ground. That -is what the people in New York dump into the whisky hole -in one year. And then you wonder why there is poverty -and crime, and that the country is not more prosperous.</p> - -<p>The whisky gang is circulating a circular about Kansas -City, Kansas. I defy you to prove a statement in it. Kansas -City is a town of 100,000 population, and temperance went -into effect July 1, 1905. Then they had 250 saloons, -200 gambling hells and 60 houses of ill fame. The population -was largely foreign, and inquiries have come from -Germany, Sweden and Norway, asking the influence of -the enforcement of the prohibitory law.</p> - -<p>At the end of one year the president of one of the largest -banks in that city, a man who protested against the enforcement -of the prohibitory law on the ground that it would -hurt business, found that his bank deposits had increased<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -$1,700,000, and seventy-two per cent of the deposits were -from men who had never saved a cent before, and forty-two -per cent came from men who never had a dollar in the bank, -but because the saloons were driven out they had a chance -to save, and the people who objected on the grounds that -it would injure business found an increase of 209 per cent -in building operations; and, furthermore, there were three -times as many more people seeking investment, and court -expenses decreased $25,000 in one year.</p> - -<p>Who pays to feed and keep the gang you have in jail? -Why, you go down in your sock and pay for what the saloon -has dumped in there. They don't do it. Mr. Whisky Man, -why don't you go down and take a picture of wrecked and -blighted homes, and of insane asylums, with gibbering -idiots. Why don't you take a picture of that?</p> - -<p>At Kansas City, Kansas, before the saloons were closed, -they were getting ready to build an addition to the jail. -Now the doors swing idly on the hinges and there is nobody -to lock in the jails. And the commissioner of the Poor -Farm says there is a wonderful falling off of old men and -women coming to the Poor House, because their sons and -daughters are saving their money and have quit spending -it for drink. And they had to employ eighteen new school -teachers for 600 boys and girls, between the ages of twelve -and eighteen, that had never gone to school before because -they had to help a drunken father support the family. -And they have just set aside $200,000 to build a new school -house, and the bonded indebtedness was reduced $245,000 -in one year without the saloon revenue. And don't you -know another thing: In 1906, when they had the saloon, -the population, according to the directory, was 89,655. -According to the census of 1907 the population was 100,835, or -an increase of twelve per cent in one year, without the grog-shop. -In two years the bank deposits increased $3,930,000.</p> - -<p>You say, drive out the saloon and you kill business—Ha! -ha! "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."</p> - -<p>I tell you, gentlemen, the American home is the dearest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -heritage of the people, for the people, and by the people, -and when a man can go from home in the morning with the -kisses of wife and children on his lips, and come back at -night with an empty dinner bucket to a happy home, that -man is a better man, whether white or black. Whatever -takes away the comforts of home—whatever degrades that -man or woman—whatever invades the sanctity of the home, -is the deadliest foe to the home, to church, to state and school, -and the saloon is the deadliest foe to the home, the church -and the state, on top of God Almighty's dirt. And if all -the combined forces of hell should assemble in conclave, -and with them all the men on earth that hate and despise -God, and purity, and virtue—if all the scum of the earth -could mingle with the denizens of hell to try to think of the -deadliest institution to home, to church and state, I tell you, -sir, the combined hellish intelligence could not conceive of -or bring an institution that could touch the hem of the -garment of the open licensed saloon to damn the home and -manhood, and womanhood, and business and every other -good thing on God's earth.</p> - -<p>In the Island of Jamaica the rats increased so that they -destroyed the crops, and they introduced a mongoose, which -is a species of the coon. They have three breeding seasons -a year and there are twelve to fifteen in each brood, and they -are deadly enemies of the rats. The result was that the rats -disappeared and there was nothing more for the mongoose -to feed upon, so they attacked the snakes, and the frogs, -and the lizards that fed upon the insects, with the result -that the insects increased and they stripped the gardens, -eating up the onions and the lettuce and then the mongoose -attacked the sheep and the cats, and the puppies, and the -calves and the geese. Now Jamaica is spending hundreds -of thousands of dollars to get rid of the mongoose.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The American Mongoose</p> - -<p>The American mongoose is the open licensed saloon. -It eats the carpets off the floor and the clothes from off<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -your back, your money out of the bank, and it eats up -character, and it goes on until at last it leaves a stranded -wreck in the home, a skeleton of what was once brightness -and happiness.</p> - -<p>There were some men playing cards on a railroad train, -and one fellow pulled out a whisky flask and passed it about, -and when it came to the drummer he said, "No." "What," -they said, "have you got on the water wagon?" and they all -laughed at him. He said, "You can laugh if you want to, -but I was born with an appetite for drink, and for years I -have taken from five to ten glasses per day, but I was at -home in Chicago not long ago and I have a friend who has -a pawn shop there. I was in there when in came a young -fellow with ashen cheeks and a wild look on his face. He -came up trembling, threw down a little package and said, -'Give me ten cents.' And what do you think was in that -package? It was a pair of baby shoes.</p> - -<p>"My friend said, 'No, I cannot take them.'</p> - -<p>"'But,' he said, 'give me a dime. I must have a drink.'</p> - -<p>"'No, take them back home, your baby will need them.'</p> - -<p>"And the poor fellow said, 'My baby is dead, and I want -a drink.'"</p> - -<p>Boys, I don't blame you for the lump that comes up in -your throat. There is no law, divine or human, that the -saloon respects. Lincoln said, "If slavery is not wrong, -nothing is wrong." I say, if the saloon, with its train of -diseases, crime and misery, is not wrong, then nothing on -earth is wrong. If the fight is to be won we need men—men -that will fight—the Church, Catholic and Protestant, -must fight it or run away, and thank God she will not run -away, but fight to the last ditch.</p> - -<p>Who works the hardest for his money, the saloon man -or you?</p> - -<p>Who has the most money Sunday morning, the saloon -man or you?</p> - -<p>The saloon comes as near being a rat hole for a wage-earner -to dump his wages in as anything you can find.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -The only interest it pays is red eyes and foul breath, and the -loss of health. You can go in with money and you come out -with empty pockets. You go in with character and you -come out ruined. You go in with a good position and you -lose it. You lose your position in the bank, or in the cab -of the locomotive. And it pays nothing back but disease -and damnation and gives an extra dividend in delirium -tremens and a free pass to hell. And then it will let your -wife be buried in the potter's field, and your children go to -the asylum, and yet you walk out and say the saloon is a -good institution, when it is the dirtiest thing on earth. It -hasn't one leg to stand on and has nothing to commend it to -a decent man, not one thing.</p> - -<p>"But," you say, "we will regulate it by high license." -Regulate what by high license? You might as well try and -regulate a powder mill in hell. Do you want to pay taxes -in boys, or dirty money? A man that will sell out to that -dirty business I have no use for. See how absurd their arguments -are. If you drink Bourbon in a saloon that pays -$1,000 a year license, will it eat your stomach less than if -you drink it in a saloon that pays $500 license? Is it going -to have any different effect on you, whether the gang pays -$500 or $1,000 license? No. It will make no difference -whether you drink it over a mahogany counter or a pine -counter—it will have the same effect on you; it will damn -you. So there is no use talking about it.</p> - -<p>In some insane asylums, do you know what they do? -When they want to test some patient to see whether he has -recovered his reason, they have a room with a faucet in it, -and a cement floor, and they give the patient a mop and tell -him to mop up the floor. And if he has sense enough to -turn off the faucet and mop up the floor they will parole him, -but should he let the faucet run, they know that he is crazy.</p> - -<p>Well, that is what you are trying to do. You are trying -to mop it up with taxes and insane asylums and jails and -Keeley cures, and reformatories. The only thing to do is -to shut off the source of supply.</p> - -<p>A man was delivering a temperance address at a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -fair grounds and a fellow came up to him and said: "Are -you the fellow that gave a talk on temperance?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Well, I think that the managers did a dirty piece of -business to let you give a lecture on temperance. You have -hurt my business and my business is a legal one."</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_100.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Should He Let the Faucet Run, They -Know that He is Crazy</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"You are right there," said the lecturer, "they did do a -mean trick; I would complain to the officers." And he -took up a premium list and said: "By the way, I see there -is a premium of so -much offered for the -best horse and cow -and butter. What -business are you in?"</p> - -<p>"I'm in the liquor -business."</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't see -that they offer any premium -for your business. -You ought to -go down and compel -them to offer a premium -for your business -and they ought to -offer on the list $25 -for the best wrecked home, $15 for the best bloated bum -that you can show, and $10 for the finest specimen of -broken-hearted wife, and they ought to give $25 for the finest -specimens of thieves and gamblers you can trot out. You -can bring out the finest looking criminals. If you have -something that is good trot it out. You ought to come in -competition with the farmer, with his stock, and the fancy -work, and the canned fruit."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Saloon a Coward</p> - -<p>As Dr. Howard said: "I tell you that the saloon is a -coward. It hides itself behind stained-glass doors and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -opaque windows, and sneaks its customers in at a blind door, -and it keeps a sentinel to guard the door from the officers of -the law, and it marks its wares with false bills-of-lading, -and offers to ship green goods to you and marks them with -the name of wholesome articles of food so people won't -know what is being sent to you. And so vile did that business -get that the legislature of Indiana passed a law forbidding -a saloon to ship goods without being properly labeled. -And the United States Congress passed a law forbidding -them to send whisky through the mails.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_101fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">I'll Fight to the Last Ditch, this Hellish Traffic.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>I tell you it strikes in the night. It fights under cover -of darkness and assassinates the characters that it cannot -damn, and it lies about you. It attacks defenseless womanhood -and childhood. The saloon is a coward. It is a thief; -it is not an ordinary court offender that steals your money, -but it robs you of manhood and leaves you in rags and takes -away your friends, and it robs your family. It impoverishes -your children and it brings insanity and suicide. It will -take the shirt off your back and it will steal the coffin from -a dead child and yank the last crust of bread out of the hand -of the starving child; it will take the last bucket of coal out -of your cellar, and the last cent out of your pocket, and will -send you home bleary-eyed and staggering to your wife -and children. It will steal the milk from the breast of the -mother and leave her with nothing with which to feed her -infant. It will take the virtue from your daughter. It is -the dirtiest, most low-down, damnable business that ever -crawled out of the pit of hell. It is a sneak, and a thief and -a coward.</p> - -<p>It is an infidel. It has no faith in God; has no religion. -It would close every church in the land. It would hang its -beer signs on the abandoned altars. It would close every -public school. It respects the thief and it esteems the -blasphemer; it fills the prisons and the penitentiaries. It -despises heaven, hates love, scorns virtue. It tempts the -passions. Its music is the song of a siren. Its sermons -are a collection of lewd, vile stories. It wraps a mantle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -about the hope of this world and that to come. Its tables -are full of the vilest literature. It is the moral clearing house -for rot, and damnation, and poverty, and insanity, and it -wrecks homes and blights lives today.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Worst Enemy</p> - -<p>The saloon is a liar. It promises good cheer and -sends sorrow. It promises health and causes disease. It -promises prosperity and sends adversity. It promises happiness -and sends misery. Yes, it sends the husband home -with a lie on his lips to his wife; and the boy home with -a lie on his lips to his mother; and it causes the employee -to lie to his employer. It degrades. It is God's worst -enemy and the devil's best friend. It spares neither youth -nor old age. It is waiting with a dirty blanket for the -baby to crawl into the world. It lies in wait for the unborn.</p> - -<p>It cocks the highwayman's pistol. It puts the rope -in the hands of the mob. It is the anarchist of the world -and its dirty red flag is dyed with the blood of women and -children. It sent the bullet through the body of Lincoln; -it nerved the arm that sent the bullets through Garfield and -William McKinley. Yes, it is a murderer. Every plot -that was ever hatched against the government and law, was -born and bred, and crawled out of the grog-shop to damn -this country.</p> - -<p>I tell you that the curse of God Almighty is on the -saloon. Legislatures are legislating against it. Decent -society is barring it out. The fraternal brotherhoods are -knocking it out. The Masons and Odd Fellows, and the -Knights of Pythias and the A. O. U. W. are closing their -doors to the whisky sellers. They don't want you wriggling -your carcass in their lodges. Yes, sir, I tell you, the curse -of God is on it. It is on the down grade. It is headed for -hell, and, by the grace of God, I am going to give it a push, -with a whoop, for all I know how. Listen to me! I am going -to show you how we burn up our money. It costs twenty -cents to make a gallon of whisky; sold over the counter at -ten cents a glass, it will bring four dollars.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span></p> - -<p>"But," said the saloon-keeper, "Bill, you must figure -on the strychnine and the cochineal, and other stuff they -put in it, and it will bring nearer eight dollars."</p> - -<p>Yes; it increases the heart beat thirty times more in a -minute, when you consider the licorice and potash and log-wood -and other poisons that are put in. I believe one cause -for the unprecedented increase of crime is due to the poison -put in the stuff nowadays to make it go as far as they can.</p> - -<p>I am indebted to my friend, George B. Stuart, for some -of the following points:</p> - -<p>I will show you how your money is burned up. It -costs twenty cents to make a gallon of whisky, sold over -the counter at ten cents a glass, which brings four dollars. -Listen, where does it go? Who gets the twenty cents? The -farmer for his corn or rye. Who gets the rest? The United -States government for collecting revenue, and the big corporations, -and part is used to pave our streets and pay our -police. I'll show you. I'm going to show you how it is -burned up, and you don't need half sense to catch on, and -if you don't understand just keep still and nobody will -know the difference.</p> - -<p>I say, "Hey, Colonel Politics, what is the matter with -the country?"</p> - -<p>He swells up like a poisoned pup and says to me, "Bill, -why the silver bugbear. That's what is the matter with -the country."</p> - -<p>The total value of the silver produced in this country -in 1912 was $39,000,000. Hear me! In 1912 the total -value of the gold produced in this country was $93,000,000, -and we dumped thirty-six times that much in the whisky -hole and didn't fill it. What is the matter? The total -value of all the gold and silver produced in 1912 was -$132,000,000, and we dumped twenty-five times that -amount in the whisky hole and didn't fill it.</p> - -<p>What is the matter with the country, Colonel Politics? -He swells up and says, "Mr. Sunday, Standpatism, sir."</p> - -<p>I say, "You are an old windbag."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span></p> - -<p>"Oh," says another, "revision of the tariff." Another -man says, "Free trade; open the doors at the ports and let -them pour the products in and we will put the trusts on the -sidetrack."</p> - -<p>Say, you come with me to every port of entry. Listen! -In 1912 the total value of all the imports was $1,812,000,000, -and we dumped that much in the whisky hole in twelve -months and did not fill it.</p> - -<p>"Oh," says a man, "let us court South America and -Europe to sell our products. That's what is the matter; -we are not exporting enough."</p> - -<p>Last year the total value of all the exports was $2,362,000,000, -and we dumped that amount in the whisky hole in -one year and didn't fill it.</p> - -<p>One time I was down in Washington and went to the -United States treasury and said: "I wish you would let -me go where you don't let the general public." And they -took us around on the inside and we walked into a room about -twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide and as many feet high, -and I said, "What is this?"</p> - -<p>"This is the vault that contains all of the national bank -stock in the United States."</p> - -<p>I said, "How much is here?"</p> - -<p>They said, "$578,000,000."</p> - -<p>And we dumped nearly four times the value of the -national bank stock in the United States into the whisky -hole last year, and we didn't fill the hole up at that. What -is the matter? Say, whenever the day comes that all the -Catholic and Protestant churches—just when the day comes -when you will say to the whisky business: "You go to hell," -that day the whisky business will go to hell. But you sit -there, you old whisky-voting elder and deacon and vestryman, -and you wouldn't strike your hands together on the -proposition. It would stamp you an old hypocrite and you -know it.</p> - -<p>Say, hold on a bit. Have you got a silver dollar? -I am going to show you how it is burned up. We have in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -this country 250,000 saloons, and allowing fifty feet frontage -for each saloon it makes a street from New York to Chicago, -and 5,000,000 men, women and children go daily into the -saloon for drink. And marching twenty miles a day it -would take thirty days to pass this building, and marching -five abreast they would reach 590 miles. There they go; -look at them!</p> - -<p>On the first day of January, 500,000 of the young men -of our nation entered the grog-shop and began a public -career hellward, and on the 31st of December I will come -back here and summon you people, and ring the bell and -raise the curtain and say to the saloon and breweries: "On -the first day of January, I gave you 500,000 of the brain and -muscle of our land, and I want them back and have come in -the name of the home and church and school; father -mother, sister, sweetheart; give me back what I gave you. -March out."</p> - -<p>I count, and 165,000 have lost their appetites and have -become muttering, bleary-eyed drunkards, wallowing in -their own excrement, and I say, "What is it I hear, a funeral -dirge?" What is that procession? A funeral procession -3,000 miles long and 110,000 hearses in the procession. One -hundred and ten thousand men die drunkards in the land of -the free and home of the brave. Listen! In an hour twelve -men die drunkards, 300 a day and 110,000 a year. One -man will leap in front of a train, another will plunge from -the dock into a lake, another will throw his hands to his -head and life will end. Another will cry, "Mother," and -his life will go out like a burnt match.</p> - -<p>I stand in front of the jails and count the whisky -criminals. They say, "Yes, Bill, I fired the bullet." -"Yes, I backed my wife into the corner and beat her life -out. I am waiting for the scaffold; I am waiting." "I -am waiting," says another, "to slip into hell." On, on, it -goes. Say, let me summon the wifehood, and the motherhood, -and the childhood and see the tears rain down the -upturned faces. People, tears are too weak for that hellish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -business. Tears are only salty backwater that well up at -the bidding of an occult power, and I will tell you there -are 865,000 whisky orphan children in the United States, -enough in the world to belt the globe three times around, -punctured at every fifth point by a drunkard's widow.</p> - -<p>Like Hamilcar of old, who swore young Hannibal to -eternal enmity against Rome, so I propose to perpetuate -this feud against the liquor traffic until the white-winged -dove of temperance builds her nest on the dome of the Capitol -of Washington and spreads her wings of peace, sobriety and -joy over our land which I love with all my heart.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">What Will a Dollar Buy?</p> - -<p>I hold a silver dollar in my hand. Come on, we are -going to a saloon. We will go into a saloon and spend -that dollar for a quart. It takes twenty cents to make a -gallon of whisky and a dollar will buy a quart. You say to -the saloon-keeper, "Give me a quart." I will show you, if -you wait a minute, how she is burned up. Here I am John, -an old drunken bum, with a wife and six kids. (Thank -God, it's all a lie.) Come on, I will go down to a saloon -and throw down my dollar. It costs twenty cents to make -a gallon of whisky. A nickel will make a quart. My -dollar will buy a quart of booze. Who gets the nickel? -The farmer, for corn and apples. Who gets the ninety-five -cents? The United States government, the big distillers, -the big corporations. I am John, a drunken bum, and I -will spend my dollar. I have worked a week and got my -pay. I go into a grog-shop and throw down my dollar. -The saloon-keeper gets my dollar and I get a quart of booze. -Come home with me. I stagger, and reel, and spew in my -wife's presence, and she says:</p> - -<p>"Hello, John, what did you bring home?"</p> - -<p>"A quart."</p> - -<p>What will a quart do? It will burn up my happiness -and my home and fill my home with squalor and want. -So there is the dollar. The saloon-keeper has it. Here is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> -my quart. There you get the whisky end of it. Here you -get the workingman's end of the saloon.</p> - -<p>But come on; I will go to a store and spend the dollar -for a pair of shoes. I want them for my son, and he puts -them on his feet, and with the shoes to protect his feet he -goes out and earns another dollar, and my dollar becomes a -silver thread in the woof and warp of happiness and joy, -and the man that owns the building gets some, and the clerk -that sold the shoes gets some, and the merchant, and the -traveling man, and the wholesale house gets some, and the -factory, and the man that made the shoes, and the man that -tanned the hide, and the butcher that bought the calf, and -the little colored fellow that shined the shoes, and my dollar -spread itself and nobody is made worse for spending the -money.</p> - -<p>I join the Booster Club for business and prosperity. -A man said, "I will tell you what is the matter with the -country: it's over-production." You lie, it is underconsumption.</p> - -<p>Say, wife, the bread that ought to be in your stomach -to satisfy the cravings of hunger is down yonder in the -grocery store, and your husband hasn't money enough to -carry it home. The meat that ought to satisfy your hunger -hangs in the butcher shop. Your husband hasn't any money -to buy it. The cloth for a dress is lying on the shelf in the -store, but your husband hasn't the money to buy it. The -whisky gang has his money.</p> - -<p>What is the matter with our country? I would like -to do this. I would like to see every booze-fighter get on -the water wagon. I would like to summon all the drunkards -in America and say: "Boys, let's cut her out and spend the -money for flour, meat and calico; what do you say?" -Say! $500,000,000 will buy all the flour in the United -States; $500,000,000 will buy all the beef cattle, and -$500,000,000 will buy all the cotton at $50 a bale. But we -dumped more money than that in the whisky hole last year, -and we didn't fill it. Come on; I'm going to line up the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -drunkards. Everybody fall in. Come on, ready, forward, -march. Right, left, here I come with all the drunkards. -We will line up in front of a butcher shop. The butcher -says, "What do you want, a piece of neck?"</p> - -<p>"No; how much do I owe you?" "Three dollars." -"Here's your dough. Now give me a porterhouse steak -and a sirloin roast."</p> - -<p>"Where did you get all that money?"</p> - -<p>"Went to hear Bill and climbed on the water wagon."</p> - -<p>"Hello! What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Beefsteak."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Beefsteak."</p> - -<p>We empty the shop and the butcher runs to the telephone. -"Hey, Central, give me the slaughter house. -Have you got any beef, any pork, any mutton?"</p> - -<p>They strip the slaughter house, and then telephone to -Swift, and Armour, and Nelson Morris, and Cudahy, to -send down trainloads of beefsteaks.</p> - -<p>"The whole bunch has got on the water wagon."</p> - -<p>And Swift and the other big packers in Chicago say -to their salesmen: "Buy beef, pork and mutton."</p> - -<p>The farmer sees the price of cattle and sheep jump up -to three times their value. Let me take the money you -dump into the whisky hole and buy beefsteaks with it. I -will show what is the matter with America. I think the -liquor business is the dirtiest, rottenest business this side -of hell.</p> - -<p>Come on, are you ready? Fall in! We line up in front -of a grocery store.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Why, I want flour."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Flour."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Flour."</p> - -<p>"Pillsbury, Minneapolis, 'Sleepy Eye'?"</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_108fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">"Billy" and "Ma" Sunday.</span></div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span></p> - -<p>"Yes, ship in trainloads of flour; send on fast mail -schedule, with an engine in front, one behind and a Mogul -in the middle."</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?"</p> - -<p>"Why, the workingmen have stopped spending their -money for booze and have begun to buy flour."</p> - -<p>The big mills tell their men to buy wheat and the -farmers see the price jump to over $2 per bushel. What's -the matter with the country? Why, the whisky gang has -your money and you have an empty stomach, and yet you -will walk up and vote for the dirty booze.</p> - -<p>Come on, cut out the booze, boys. Get on the water -wagon; get on for the sake of your wife and babies, and -hit the booze a blow.</p> - -<p>Come on, ready, forward, march! Right, left, halt! -We are in front of a dry goods store.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Calico."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Calico."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Calico."</p> - -<p>"Calico; all right, come on." The stores are stripped.</p> - -<p>Marshall Field, Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., J. V. Farrell, -send down calico. The whole bunch has voted out the -saloons and we have such a demand for calico we don't -know what to do. And the big stores telegraph to Fall -River to ship calico, and the factories telegraph to buy -cotton, and they tell their salesmen to buy cotton, and the -cotton plantation man sees cotton jump up to $150 a bale.</p> - -<p>What is the matter? Your children are going naked and -the whisky gang has got your money. That's what's the -matter with you. Don't listen to those old whisky-soaked -politicians who say "stand pat on the saloon."</p> - -<p>Come with me. Now, remember, we have the whole -bunch of booze fighters on the water wagon, and I'm going -home now. Over there I was John, the drunken bum.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -The whisky gang got my dollar and I got the quart. Over -here I am John on the water wagon. The merchant got my -dollar and I have his meat, flour and calico, and I'm going -home now. "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like -home without booze."</p> - -<p>Wife comes out and says, "Hello, John, what have you -got?"</p> - -<p>"Two porterhouse steaks, Sally."</p> - -<p>"What's that bundle, Pa?"</p> - -<p>"Clothes to make you a new dress, Sis. Your mother -has fixed your old one so often, it looks like a crazy quilt."</p> - -<p>"And what have you there?"</p> - -<p>"That's a pair of shoes for you, Tom; and here is some -cloth to make you a pair of pants. Your mother has -patched the old ones so often, they look like the map of -United States."</p> - -<p>What's the matter with the country? We have been -dumping into the whisky hole the money that ought to have -been spent for flour, beef and calico, and we haven't the -hole filled up yet.</p> - -<p>A man comes along and says: "Are you a drunkard?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'm a drunkard."</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?"</p> - -<p>"I am going to hell."</p> - -<p>"Why?"</p> - -<p>"Because the Good Book says: 'No drunkard shall -inherit the kingdom of God,' so I am going to hell."</p> - -<p>Another man comes along and I say: "Are you a -church member?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I am a church member."</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?"</p> - -<p>"I am going to heaven."</p> - -<p>"Did you vote for the saloon?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Then you shall go to hell."</p> - -<p>Say, if the man that drinks the whisky goes to hell, -the man that votes for the saloon that sold the whisky to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -him will go to hell. If the man that drinks the whisky goes -to hell, and the man that sold the whisky to the men that -drank it, goes to heaven, then the poor drunkard will have -the right to stand on the brink of eternal damnation and put -his arms around the pillar of justice, shake his fist in the -face of the Almighty and say, "Unjust! Unjust!" If you -vote for the dirty business you ought to go to hell as sure as -you live, and I would like to fire the furnace while you are -there.</p> - -<p>Some fellow says, "Drive the saloon out and the buildings -will be empty." Which would you rather have, empty -buildings or empty jails, penitentiaries and insane asylums? -You drink the stuff and what have you to say? You that -vote for it, and you that sell it? Look at them painted on -the canvas of your recollection.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Gin Mill</p> - -<p>What is the matter with this grand old country? I -heard my friend, George Stuart, tell how he imagined that -he walked up to a mill and said:</p> - -<p>"Hello, there, what kind of a mill are you?"</p> - -<p>"A sawmill."</p> - -<p>"And what do you make?"</p> - -<p>"We make boards out of logs."</p> - -<p>"Is the finished product worth more than the raw -material?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"We will make laws for you. We must have lumber for -houses."</p> - -<p>He goes up to another mill and says:</p> - -<p>"Hey, what kind of a mill are you?"</p> - -<p>"A grist mill."</p> - -<p>"What do you make?"</p> - -<p>"Flour and meal out of wheat and corn."</p> - -<p>"Is the finished product worth more than the raw -material?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span></p> - -<p>"Then come on. We will make laws for you. We will -protect you."</p> - -<p>He goes up to another mill and says:</p> - -<p>"What kind of a mill are you?"</p> - -<p>"A paper mill."</p> - -<p>"What do you make paper out of?"</p> - -<p>"Straw and rags."</p> - -<p>"Well, we will make laws for you. We must have -paper on which to write notes and mortgages."</p> - -<p>He goes up to another mill and says:</p> - -<p>"Hey, what kind of a mill are you?"</p> - -<p>"A gin mill."</p> - -<p>"I don't like the looks nor the smell of you. A gin -mill; what do you make? What kind of a mill are you?"</p> - -<p>"A gin mill."</p> - -<p>"What is your raw material?"</p> - -<p>"The boys of America."</p> - -<p>The gin mills of this country must have 2,000,000 boys -or shut up shop. Say, walk down your streets, count the -homes and every fifth home has to furnish a boy for a -drunkard. Have you furnished yours? No. Then I -have to furnish two to make up.</p> - -<p>"What is your raw material?"</p> - -<p>"American boys."</p> - -<p>"Then I will pick up the boys and give them to you."</p> - -<p>A man says, "Hold on, not that boy, he is mine."</p> - -<p>Then I will say to you what a saloon-keeper said to me -when I protested, "I am not interested in boys; to hell -with your boys."</p> - -<p>"Say, saloon gin mill, what is your finished product?"</p> - -<p>"Bleary-eyed, low-down, staggering men and the -scum of God's dirt."</p> - -<p>Go to the jails, go to the insane asylums and the penitentiaries, -and the homes for feeble-minded. There you -will find the finished product for their dirty business. I -tell you it is the worst business this side of hell, and you -know it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span></p> - -<p>Listen! Here is an extract from the <cite>Saturday Evening -Post</cite> of November 9, 1907, taken from a paper read by a -brewer. You will say that a man didn't say it: "It appears -from these facts that the success of our business lies in the -creation of appetite among the boys. Men who have formed -the habit scarcely ever reform, but they, like others, will die, -and unless there are recruits made to take their places, our -coffers will be empty, and I recommend to you that money -spent in the creation of appetite will return in dollars to -your tills after the habit is formed."</p> - -<p>What is your raw material, saloons? American boys. -Say, I would not give one boy for all the distilleries and -saloons this side of hell. And they have to have 2,000,000 -boys every generation. And then you tell me you are a -man when you will vote for an institution like that. What -do you want to do, pay taxes in money or in boys?</p> - -<p>I feel like an old fellow in Tennessee who made his -living by catching rattlesnakes. He caught one with -fourteen rattles and put it in a box with a glass top. One -day when he was sawing wood his little five-year old boy, -Jim, took the lid off and the rattler wriggled out and struck -him in the cheek. He ran to his father and said, "The -rattler has bit me." The father ran and chopped the rattler -to pieces, and with his jackknife he cut a chunk from the -boy's cheek and then sucked and sucked at the wound to -draw out the poison. He looked at little Jim, watched the -pupils of his eyes dilate and watched him swell to three times -his normal size, watched his lips become parched and -cracked, and eyes roll, and little Jim gasped and died.</p> - -<p>The father took him in his arms, carried him over by -the side of the rattler, got on his knees and said, "O God, -I would not give little Jim for all the rattlers that ever -crawled over the Blue Ridge mountains."</p> - -<p>And I would not give one boy for every dirty dollar -you get from the hell-soaked liquor business or from every -brewery and distillery this side of hell.</p> - -<p>In a Northwest city a preacher sat at his breakfast<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -table one Sunday morning. The doorbell rang; he answered -it; and there stood a little boy, twelve years of age. He was -on crutches, right leg off at the knee, shivering, and he said, -"Please, sir, will you come up to the jail and talk and pray -with papa? He murdered mamma. Papa was good and -kind, but whisky did it, and I have to support my three little -sisters. I sell newspapers and black boots. Will you go up -and talk and pray with papa? And will you come home and -be with us when they bring him back? The governor says -we can have his body after they hang him."</p> - -<p>The preacher hurried to the jail and talked and prayed -with the man. He had no knowledge of what he had done. -He said, "I don't blame the law, but it breaks my heart to -think that my children must be left in a cold and heartless -world. Oh, sir, whisky did it."</p> - -<p>The preacher was at the little hut when up drove the -undertaker's wagon and they carried out the pine coffin. -They led the little boy up to the coffin, he leaned over and -kissed his father and sobbed, and said to his sister, "Come -on, sister, kiss papa's cheeks before they grow cold." And -the little hungry, ragged, whisky orphans hurried to the -coffin, shrieking in agony. Police, whose hearts were -adamant, buried their faces in their hands and rushed from -the house, and the preacher fell on his knees and lifted his -clenched fist and tear-stained face and took an oath before -God, and before the whisky orphans, that he would fight -the cursed business until the undertaker carried him out in -a coffin.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Chance for Manhood</p> - -<p>You men have a chance to show your manhood. Then -in the name of your pure mother, in the name of your manhood, -in the name of your wife and the poor innocent -children that climb up on your lap and put their arms around -your neck, in the name of all that is good and noble, fight -the curse. Shall you men, who hold in your hands the ballot, -and in that ballot hold the destiny of womanhood and child<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span>hood -and manhood, shall you, the sovereign power, refuse -to rally in the name of the defenseless men and women and -native land? No.</p> - -<p>I want every man to say, "God, you can count on me -to protect my wife, my home, my mother and my children -and the manhood of America."</p> - -<p>By the mercy of God, which has given to you the unshaken -and unshakable confidence of her you love, I beseech -you, make a fight for the women who wait until the saloons -spew out their husbands and their sons, and send them home -maudlin, brutish, devilish, stinking, blear-eyed, bloated-faced -drunkards.</p> - -<p>You say you can't prohibit men from drinking. Why, -if Jesus Christ were here today some of you would keep on -in sin just the same. But the law can be enforced against -whisky just the same as it can be enforced against anything -else, if you have honest officials to enforce it. Of course -it doesn't prohibit. There isn't a law on the books of the -state that prohibits. We have laws against murder. Do -they prohibit? We have laws against burglary. Do they -prohibit? We have laws against arson, rape, but they do -not prohibit. Would you introduce a bill to repeal all the -laws that do not prohibit? Any law will prohibit to a certain -extent if honest officials enforce it. But no law will absolutely -prohibit. We can make a law against liquor prohibit -as much as any law prohibits.</p> - -<p>Or would you introduce a bill saying, if you pay $1,000 -a year you can kill any one you don't like; or by paying -$500 a year you can attack any girl you want to; or by -paying $100 a year you can steal anything that suits you? -That's what you do with the dirtiest, rottenest gang this -side of hell. You say for so much a year you can have a -license to make staggering, reeling, drunken sots, murderers -and thieves and vagabonds. You say, "Bill, you're too -hard on the whisky." I don't agree. Not on your life. -There was a fellow going along the pike and a farmer's -dog ran snapping at him. He tried to drive it back with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -pitchfork he carried, and failing to do so he pinned it to the -ground with the prongs. Out came the farmer: "Hey, -why don't you use the other end of that fork?" He answered, -"Why didn't the dog come at me with the other end?"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Personal Liberty</p> - -<p>Personal liberty is not personal license. I dare not -exercise personal liberty if it infringes on the liberty of -others. Our forefathers did not fight and die for personal -license but for personal liberty bounded by laws. Personal -liberty is the liberty of a murderer, a burglar, a seducer, -or a wolf that wants to remain in a sheep fold, or the weasel -in a hen roost. You have no right to vote for an institution -that is going to drag your sons and daughters to hell.</p> - -<p>If you were the only persons in this city you would -have a perfect right to drive your horse down the street at -breakneck speed; you would have a right to make a race -track out of the streets for your auto; you could build a -slaughter house in the public square; you could build -a glue factory in the public square. But when the population -increases from one to 600,000 you can't do it. You -say, "Why can't I run my auto? I own it. Why can't -I run my horse? I own it. Why can't I build the slaughter -house? I own the lot." Yes, but there are 600,000 people -here now and other people have rights.</p> - -<p>So law stands between you and personal liberty, you -miserable dog. You can't build a slaughter house in your -front yard, because the law says you can't. As long as -I am standing here on this platform I have personal liberty. -I can swing my arms at will. But the minute any one else -steps on the platform my personal liberty ceases. It stops -just one inch from the other fellow's nose.</p> - -<p>When you come staggering home, cussing right and left -and spewing and spitting, your wife suffers, your children -suffer. Don't think that you are the only one that suffers. -A man that goes to the penitentiary makes his wife and -children suffer just as much as he does. You're placing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> -a shame on your wife and children. If you're a dirty, low-down, -filthy, drunken, whisky-soaked bum you'll affect all -with whom you come in contact. If you're a God-fearing -man you will influence all with whom you come in contact. -You can't live by yourself.</p> - -<p>I occasionally hear a man say, "It's nobody's business -how I live." Then I say he is the most dirty, low-down, -whisky-soaked, beer-guzzling, bull-necked, foul-mouthed -hypocrite that ever had a brain rotten enough to conceive -such a statement and lips vile enough to utter it. You say, -"If I am satisfied with my life why do you want to interfere -with my business?"</p> - -<p>If I heard a man beating his wife and heard her shrieks -and the children's cries and my wife would tell me to go and -see what was the matter, and I went in and found a great, -big, broad-shouldered, whisky-soaked, hog-jowled, weasel-eyed -brute dragging a little woman around by the hair, -and two children in the corner unconscious from his kicks -and the others yelling in abject terror, and he said, "What -are you coming in to interfere with my personal liberty for? -Isn't this my wife, didn't I pay for the license to wed her?" -You ought, or you're a bigamist. "Aren't these my children; -didn't I pay the doctor to bring them into the world?" -You ought to, or you're a thief. "If I want to beat them, -what is that your business, aren't they mine?" Would I -apologize? Never! I'd knock seven kinds of pork out of -that old hog.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Moderate Drinker</p> - -<p>I remember when I was secretary of the Y. M. C. A. -in Chicago, I had the saloon route. I had to go around and -give tickets inviting men to come to the Y. M. C. A. services. -And one day I was told to count the men going into a certain -saloon. Not the ones already in, but just those going in. -In sixty-two minutes I could count just 1,004 men going in -there. I went in then and met a fellow who used to be my -side-kicker out in Iowa, and he threw down a mint julep -while I stood there, and I asked him what he was doing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span></p> - -<p>"Oh, just come down to the theater," he said, "and came -over for a drink between acts."</p> - -<p>"Why, you are three sheets in the wind now," I said, -and then an old drunken bum, with a little threadbare -coat, a straw hat, no vest, pants torn, toes sticking out -through his torn shoes, and several weeks' growth of beard -on his face, came in and said to the bartender: "For God's -sake, can't you give an old bum a drink of whisky to warm -up on?" and the bartender poured him out a big glass and -he gulped it down. He pulled his hat down and slouched -out.</p> - -<p>I said to my friend, "George, do you see that old drunken -bum, down and out? There was a time when he was just -like you. No drunkard ever intended to be a drunkard. -Every drunkard intended to be a moderate drinker."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you're unduly excited over my welfare," he said. -"I never expect to get that far."</p> - -<p>"Neither did that bum," I answered. I was standing -on another corner less than eight months afterward and I -saw a bum coming along with head down, his eyes bloodshot, -his face bloated, and he panhandled me for a flapjack before -I recognized him. It was George. He had lost his job and -was on the toboggan slide hitting it for hell. I say if sin -weren't so deceitful it wouldn't be so attractive. Every -added drink makes it harder.</p> - -<p>Some just live for booze. Some say, "I need it. It -keeps me warm in winter." Another says, "It keeps me -cool in summer." Well, if it keeps you warm in winter and -cool in summer, why is it that out of those who freeze to -death and are sun-struck the greater part of them are booze-hoisters? -Every one takes it for the alcohol there is in it. -Take that out and you would as soon drink dish water.</p> - -<p>I can buy a can of good beef extract and dip the point -of my knife in the can and get more nourishment on the -point of that knife than in 800 gallons of the best beer. -If the brewers of this land today were making their beer in -Germany, ninety per cent of them would be in jail. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -extract on the point of the knife represents one and three-quarter -pounds of good beefsteak. Just think, you have -to make a swill barrel out of your bellies and a sewer if you -want to get that much nourishment out of beer and run -800 gallons through. Oh, go ahead, if you want to, but I'll -try to help you just the same.</p> - -<p>Every man has blood corpuscles and their object is to -take the impurities out of your system. Perspiration is -for the same thing. Every time you work or I preach the -impurities come out. Every time you sweat there is a -destroying power going on inside. The blood goes through -the heart every seventeen seconds. Oh, we have a marvelous -system. In some spots there are 4,000 pores to the -square inch and a grain of sand will cover 150 of them. -I can strip you and cover you with shellac and you'll be -dead in forty-eight hours. Oh, we are fearfully and wonderfully -made.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">What Booze Does to the System</p> - -<p>Alcohol knocks the blood corpuscles out of business -so that it takes eight to ten to do what one ought to do. -There's a man who drinks. Here's a fellow who drives a -beer wagon. Look how pussy he is. He's full of rotten -tissue. He says he's healthy. Smell his breath. You -punch your finger in that healthy flesh he talks about and -the dent will be there a half an hour afterwards. You look -like you don't believe it. Try it when you go to bed tonight. -Pneumonia has a first mortgage on a booze-hoister.</p> - -<p>Take a fellow with good, healthy muscles, and you -punch them and they bound out like a rubber band. The -first thing about a crushed strawberry stomach is a crushed -strawberry nose. Nature lets the public on the outside -know what is going on inside. If I could just take the -stomach of a moderate drinker and turn it wrong side out -for you, it would be all the temperance lecture you would -need. You know what alcohol does to the white of an egg. -It will cook it in a few minutes. Well, alcohol does the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -same thing to the nerves as to the white of an egg. That's -why some men can't walk. They stagger because their -nerves are partly paralyzed.</p> - -<p>The liver is the largest organ of the body. It takes -all of the blood in the body and purifies it and takes out the -poisons and passes them on to the gall and from there they -go to the intestines and act as oil does on machinery. When -a man drinks the liver becomes covered with hob nails, and -then refuses to do the work, and the poisons stay in the -blood. Then the victim begins to turn yellow. He has the -jaundice. The kidneys take what is left and purify that. -The booze that a man drinks turns them hard.</p> - -<p>That's what booze is doing for you. Isn't it time you -went red hot after the enemy? I'm trying to help you. -I'm trying to put a carpet on your floor, pull the pillows out -of the window, give you and your children and wife good -clothes. I'm trying to get you to save your money instead -of buying a machine for the saloon-keeper while you have -to foot it.</p> - -<p>By the grace of God I have strength enough to pass -the open saloon, but some of you can't, so I owe it to you to -help you.</p> - -<p>I've stood for more sneers and scoffs and insults and had -my life threatened from one end of the land to the other -by this God-forsaken gang of thugs and cutthroats because -I have come out uncompromisingly against them. I've -taken more dirty, vile insults from this low-down bunch -than from any one on earth, but there is no one that will -reach down lower, or reach higher up or wider, to help you -out of the pits of drunkenness than I.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> - -<small>"Give Attendance to Reading"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>There are some so-called Christian homes today with books on the -shelves of the library that have no more business there than a rattler crawling -about on the floor, or poison within the child's reach.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">"I never</span> heard Billy Sunday use an ungrammatical -sentence," remarked one observer. "He uses a -great deal of slang, and many colloquialisms, but not -a single error in grammar could I detect. Some of his -passages are really beautiful English."</p> - -<p>Sunday has made diligent effort to supplement his lack -of education. He received the equivalent of a high-school -training in boyhood, which is far more than Lincoln ever -had. Nevertheless he has not had the training of the -average educated man, much less of a normal minister of -the gospel. He is conscious of his limitations: and has -diligently endeavored to make up for them. When coaching -the Northwestern University baseball team in the -winter of '87 and '88 he attended classes at the University. -He has read a great deal and to this day continues his -studies. Of course his acquaintance with literature is -superficial: but his use of it shows how earnestly he has -read up on history and literature and the sciences. He -makes better use of his knowledge of the physical sciences, -and of historical allusions, than most men drilled in them -for years. He displays a proneness for what he himself -would call "high-brow stuff," and his disproportionate display -of his "book learning" reveals his conscious effort to -supply what does not come to him naturally.</p> - -<p>Sunday has an eclectic mind. He knows a good -thing when he sees it. He is quick to incorporate into -his discourses happenings or illustrations wherever found. -Moody also was accustomed to do this: he circulated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -among his friends interleaved Bibles to secure keen comments -on Scripture passages. All preachers draw on the -storehouses of the past: the Church Fathers speak every -Sunday in the pulpits of Christendom. Nobody originates -all that he says. "We are the heirs of all the ages."</p> - -<p>At the opening of every one of his campaigns Sunday -repeatedly announces that he has drawn his sermon material -from wherever he could find it, and that he makes no -claim to originality. So the qualified critic can detect, in -addition to some sermon outlines which were bequests -from Dr. Chapman, epigrams from Sam Jones, flashes -from Talmage, passages from George Stuart, paragraphs -from the religious press, apothegms from the great commentators. -It is no news to say that Sunday's material is -not all original; he avows this himself. In his gleanings he -has had help from various associates. Elijah P. Brown's -hand can be traced in his sermons: the creator of the -"Ram's Horn" proverbs surely is responsible for Sunday's -penchant for throwing stones at the devil.</p> - -<p>Sunday is not an original thinker. He has founded no -school of Scriptural interpretation. He has not given any -new exposition of Bible passages, nor has he developed any -fresh lines of thought. Nobody hears anything new from -him. In every one of his audience there are probably -many persons who have a more scholarly acquaintance -with the Bible and with Christian literature.</p> - -<p>Temperamentally a conservative, Sunday has taken -the truth taught him by his earliest teachers and has -adapted and paraphrased and modernized it. In the -crucible of his intense personality this truth has become -Sundayized. His discourses may have a variety of origin, -but they all sound like Billy Sunday when he delivers them.</p> - -<p>A toilsome, painstaking worker, he has made elaborate -notes of all his sermons, and these he takes with him in -leather-bound black books to the platform and follows more -or less closely as he speaks. No other man than himself -could use these rough notes. Often he interjects into one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> -sermon parts of another. He has about a hundred discourses -at his command at present, and his supply is constantly -growing.</p> - -<p>The early copies of Sunday's sermons were taken down -more or less correctly in shorthand, and these have been -reproduced in every city where he has gone: consequently -they lack the tang and flavor of his present deliverances.</p> - -<p>He is alert to glean from all sources. In conversation -one morning in Scranton I told him how on the previous day -a lawyer friend had characterized a preacher with whom -I had been talking by saying, "How much like a preacher he -looks, and how little like a man." That afternoon Sunday -used this in his sermon and twiddled it under his fingers -for a minute or two, paraphrasing it in characteristic Sunday -fashion. Doubtless it is now part of his permanent oratorical -stock in trade.</p> - -<p>The absolute unconventionality of the man makes all -this possible. He is not afraid of the most shocking presentation -of truth. Thus when speaking at the University -of Pennsylvania, he alluded to a professor who had criticized -the doctrine of hell, saying, "That man will not be in hell -five minutes before he knows better." Of course that -thrust caught the students. A more discreet and diplomatic -person than Sunday would not have dared to say this.</p> - -<p>The gospel preached by Sunday is the same that the -Church has been teaching for hundreds of years. He knows -no modifications. He is fiercely antagonistic to "modern" -scholarship. He sits in God's judgment seat in almost -every sermon and frequently sends men to hell by name.</p> - -<p>All this may be deplorable, but it is Sunday. The Bible -which he uses is an interpreted and annotated edition by -one of the most conservative of Bible teachers: this suits -Sunday, for he is not of the temperament to be hospitable -to new truths that may break forth from the living word.</p> - -<p>This state of mind leads him to be extravagant and -intolerant in his statements. His hearers are patient with -all of this because the body of his teachings is that held by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -all evangelical Christians. If he were less cock-sure he would -not be Billy Sunday; the great mass of mankind want a -religion of authority.</p> - -<p>After all, truth is intolerant.</p> - -<p>Although lacking technical literary training Sunday -is not only a master of living English and of terse, strong, -vivid and gripping phrase, but he is also capable of extraordinary -flights of eloquence, when he uses the chastest and -most appropriate language. He has held multitudes spell-bound -with such passages as these:</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Token of Love</p> - -<p>"Down in Jacksonville, Florida, a man, Judge Owen, -quarreled with his betrothed and to try to forget, he went -off and worked in a yellow-fever hospital. Finally he caught -the disease and had succumbed to it. He had passed the -critical stage of the disease, but he was dying. One day -his sweetheart met the physician on the street and asked -about the judge. 'He's sick,' he told her.</p> - -<p>"'How bad?' she asked.</p> - -<p>"'Well, he's passed the critical stage, but he is dying,' -the doctor told her.</p> - -<p>"'But I don't understand,' she said, 'if he's passed the -critical stage why isn't he getting well?'</p> - -<p>"'He's dying, of undying love for you, not the fever,' the -doctor told her. She asked him to come with her to a -florist and he went and there she purchased some smilax -and intertwined lilacs and wrote on a card, 'With my love,' -and signed her given name.</p> - -<p>"The doctor went back to the hospital and his patient -was tossing in fitful slumber. He laid the flowers on his -breast and he awoke and saw the flowers and buried his -head in them. 'Thanks for the flowers, doctor,' he said, -but the doctor said, 'They are not from me.'</p> - -<p>"'Then who are they from?'</p> - -<p>"'Guess!'</p> - -<p>"'I can't; tell me.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span></p> - -<p>"'I think you'll find the name on the card,' the doctor -told him, and he looked and read the card, 'With my love.'</p> - -<p>"'Tell me,' he cried, 'did she write that of her free will -or did you beg her to do it?' The doctor told him she had -begged to do it herself.</p> - -<p>"Then you ought to have seen him. The next day he -was sitting up. The next day he ate some gruel. The next -day he was in a chair. The next day he could hobble on -crutches. The next day he threw one of them away. The -next day he threw the cane away and the next day he could -walk pretty well. On the ninth day there was a quiet -wedding in the annex of the hospital. You laugh; but -listen: This old world is like a hospital. Here are the wards -for the libertines. Here are the wards for the drunkards. -Here are the wards for the blasphemers. Everywhere I -look I see scarred humanity.</p> - -<p>"Nineteen hundred years ago God looked over the -battlements of heaven and he picked a basket of flowers, -and then one day he dropped a baby into the manger at -Bethlehem. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his -only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should -not perish but have everlasting life.' What more can he do?</p> - -<p>"But God didn't spare him. They crucified him, but -he burst the bonds of death and the Holy Spirit came -down. They banished John to the isle of Patmos and there -he wrote the words: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; -if any man hear my voice and open the door I shall come -in to him and sup with him and he with me.'"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Sinking Ship</p> - -<p>"Years ago there was a ship on the Atlantic and a -storm arose. The ship sprung a leak and in spite of all the -men could do they could not pump out the water fast enough. -The captain called the men to him and told them that he -had taken observations and bearings and said unless the -leak was stopped in ten hours the boat would be at the -bottom of the sea. 'I want a man who will volunteer his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -life to stay the intake. It's in the second hold and about -the size of a man's arm and some one can place his arm in -the hole and it will hold back the water until we can get it -pumped out enough.'</p> - -<p>"Not a man stirred. They said they would go back -to the pumps and they did. They worked hard and when a -man dropped they would drag him away and revive him and -bring him back. The captain called them again and told -them it was no use unless it was changed. They would be -at the bottom before ten hours unless some one volunteered -and in less time than that if a storm arose. Then one stepped -back. 'What! My boy!'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, father, I'll go.'</p> - -<p>"He sent some endearing words to his mother, took one -last look at the sky and kissed his father and bade the sailors -good-bye, and went below. He found the leak and placed -his arm in it and packed rags around it and the men went -back to the pumps. When day broke they saw the body -floating and swaying in the water, but the arm was still in -the hole. And the vessel sailed into port safe. There on -the coast today stands a monument to perpetuate the deed.</p> - -<p>"Nineteen hundred years ago this old world sprung a -leak. God asked for volunteers to stop it, and all of the -angels and seraphim stood back, Noah, Abraham, Elijah, -Isaiah, David, Jeremiah, Solomon, none would go, and then -forth stepped his Son and said: 'Father, I'll go,' and descended, -and died on the cross; but</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Up from the grave he arose,</div> -<div class="verse">With a mighty triumph o'er his foes.</div> -<div class="verse">He arose a victor from the dark domain</div> -<div class="verse">And he lives forever with his saints to reign.</div> -<div class="verse">Hallelujah, Christ arose!'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He burst the bonds of death, and the gates of heaven, while -the angels sang and would crown him yet. 'Let me stand -between God and the people,' and there he stands today, -the Mediator, with the salvation, full, free, perfect, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -eternal in one hand and the sword of inflexible justice in the -other. The time will come when he'll come with his angels; -some day he will withdraw his offer of salvation.</p> - -<p>"Come and accept my Christ! Who'll come and get -under the blood with me?"</p> - - -<p>"What If It Had Been My Boy?"</p> - -<p>"'Say, papa, can I go with you?' asked a little boy of -his father. 'Yes, son, come on,' said the father, as he threw -the axe over his shoulder and accompanied by a friend, -went to the woods and felled a tree.</p> - -<p>"The little fellow said: 'Say, papa, can I go and play -in the water at the lagoon?' 'Yes, but be careful and don't -get into deep water; keep close to the bank.' The little -fellow was playing, digging wells, picking up stones and -shells and talking to himself, when pretty soon the father -heard him cry, 'Hurry, papa, hurry.'</p> - -<p>"The father leaped to his feet, grabbed the axe and ran -to the lagoon and saw the boy floundering in deep water, -hands outstretched, a look of horror on his face as he cried, -'Hurry, papa; hurry; the alligator has got me.' The -hideous amphibious monster had been hibernating and had -come out, lean, lank, hungry, voracious, and seized the boy.</p> - -<p>"The father leaped into the lagoon and was just about -to sink the axe through the head of the monster when he -turned and swished the water with his huge tail like the -screw of an ocean steamer, and the little fellow cried out: -'Hurry, papa; hurry, hurry, hur—— ' The water choked -him. The blood-flecked foam told the story. The father -went and got men and they plunged in and felt around and -all they ever carried home to his mother was just two -handfuls of crushed bones.</p> - -<p>"When I read that, for days I could not eat, for nights -I could not sleep. I said, 'Oh, God, what if that had been -my boy?'</p> - -<p>"There are influences worse than an alligator and they -are ripping and tearing to shreds your virtue, your morality.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> -Young men are held by intemperance, others by vice, drunkards -crying to the Church, 'Hurry, faster,' and the church -members sit on the bank playing cards, sit there drinking -beer and reading novels. 'Hurry.' They are splitting -hairs over fool things, criticizing me or somebody else, instead -of trying to keep sinners out of hell, and they are crying -to the Church, 'Faster! Faster! Faster!' 'Lord, is it I?'</p> - -<p>"How many will say, 'God, I want to be nearer to you -than I have ever been before. I want to renew my vows. -I want to get under the cross.' How many will say it?</p> - -<p>"Who'll yield his heart to Christ? Who'll take his -stand for the Lord? Who'll come out clean-cut for God?"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Dream of Heaven</p> - -<p>"Some years ago, after I had been romping and playing -with the children, I grew tired and lay down, and half awake -and half asleep, I had a dream.</p> - -<p>"I dreamed I was in a far-off land; it was not Persia, -but all the glitter and gaudy raiment were there; it was not -India, although her coral strands were there; it was not -Ceylon, although all the beauties of that island of paradise -were there; it was not Italy, although the soft dreamy haze -of the blue Italian skies shone above me. I looked for weeds -and briars, thorns and thistles and brambles and found none. -I saw the sun in all its regal splendor and I said to the -people, 'When will the sun set and it grow dark?'</p> - -<p>"They all laughed and said: 'It never grows dark in -this land; there is no night here.'</p> - -<p>"I looked at the people, their faces wreathed in a simple -halo of glory, attired in holiday clothing. I said: 'When -will the working men go by clad in overalls? and where are -the brawny men who work and toil over the anvil?'</p> - -<p>"They said, 'We toil not, neither do we spin; there -remaineth a rest for the people of God.'</p> - -<p>"I strolled out in the suburbs. I said, 'Where are the -graveyards, the grave-diggers? Where do you bury your dead?'</p> - -<p>"They said, 'We never die here.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span></p> - -<p>"I looked out and saw the towers and spires; I looked -at them, but I did not see any tombstones, mausoleums, -green or flower-covered graves. I said, 'Where, where are -the hearses that carry your dead? Where are the undertakers -that embalm the dead?'</p> - -<p>"They said, 'We never die in this land.'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'Where are the hospitals where they take the -sick? Where is the minster, and where are the nurses to -give the gentle touch, the panacea?'</p> - -<p>"They said, 'We never grow sick in this land.'</p> - -<p>"I said, 'Where are the homes of want and squalor? -Where live the poor?'</p> - -<p>"They said, 'There is no penury; none die here; -none ever cry for bread in this land.' I was bewildered. I -strolled along and heard the ripple of the waters as the waves -broke against the jeweled beach. I saw boats with oars -dipped with silver, bows of pure gold. I saw multitudes that -no man could number. We all jumped down through -the violets and varicolored flowers, the air pulsing with bird -song, and I cried,</p> - -<p>"'Are—all—here?' And they echoed,</p> - -<p>"'All—are—here.'</p> - -<p>"And we went leaping and shouting and vied with -bower and spire, and they all caroled and sung my welcome, -and we all bounded and leaped and shouted with glee, -'Home—Home—Home.'"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Battle With Death</p> - -<p>"Just one thing divides you people. You are either -across the line of safety, or you are outside the kingdom of -God. Old or young, rich or poor, high or low, ignorant or -educated, white or colored, each of you is upon one side or -upon the other.</p> - -<p>"The young man who talked to Jesus didn't let an infidel -persuade him, and neither should you.</p> - -<p>"The time will come when his head will lie on his pillow -and his fevered head will toss from side to side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span></p> - -<p>"The time will come when there will be a rap on the -door.</p> - -<p>"'Who are you?'</p> - -<p>"'Death.'</p> - -<p>"'I didn't send for you. Why do you come here?'</p> - -<p>"'Nobody sends for me. I choose my own time. If I -waited for people to send for me I would never come.'</p> - -<p>"'But don't come in now, Death.'</p> - -<p>"'I am coming in. I have waited for a long time. I -have held a mortgage on you for fifty years, and I've come -to foreclose.'</p> - -<p>"'But, ah, Death, I'm not ready.'</p> - -<p>"'Hush! Hush! -I've come to take -you. You must -come.'</p> - -<p>"'Death! -Death! Go get my -pocketbook, there! -Go get my bankbook! -Go get the key to my -safety deposit box! -Take my gold watch, -my jewelry, my lands, -my home, everything -I've got, I'll give all -to you if you'll only -go.'</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_130.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">But Death Says, 'I've Come for You'</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"But Death says, 'I've come for you. I don't want -your money or your land or anything that you have. You -must come with me.'</p> - -<p>"'Death! Death! Don't blow that icy breath upon -me. Don't crowd me against the wall!'</p> - -<p>"'You must come! You have a week—you have five -days—you have one day—you have twelve hours—you -have one hour—you have thirty minutes—you have ten -minutes—you have one minute—you have thirty seconds—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -you have ten seconds! I'll count them—one—two—three—four—five—six—ha! -ha!—seven—eight—nine—ten!'</p> - -<p>"He's gone. Telephone for the undertaker. Carry -him to the graveyard. Lay him beside his mother. She -died saying, 'I'm sweeping through the gates, washed in -the blood of the Lamb.' He died shrieking, 'Don't blow -that cold breath in my face! Don't crowd me against the -wall!' Oh! God, don't let that old infidel keep you out of -the kingdom of God.</p> - -<p>"Who'll come into the kingdom of God? Come -quick—quick—quick!"</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"Christ or Nothing"</p> - -<p>"'And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, -that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' -No man can be saved without Jesus Christ. There's no way -to God unless you come through Jesus Christ. It's Jesus -Christ or nothing.</p> - -<p>"At the close of the Battle of Gettysburg the country -roundabout was overrun by Federals or Confederates, -wounded or ill, and the people helped both alike. Relief -corps were organized in all the little towns. In one of -them—I think it was York—a man who had headed the committee, -resigned as chairman and told his clerk not to send -any more soldiers to him. There came a Union soldier with -a blood-stained bandage and with crutches that he had -made for himself, and asked to see this man. 'I am no -longer chairman of the committee,' said the man, 'and I -cannot help you, for if I were to make any exception to the -rule, I would be overrun with applicants.'</p> - -<p>"'But,' said the soldier, 'I don't want to ask you for -anything. I only want to give you a letter. It is from your -son, who is dead. I was with him, when he died. When -he was wounded I got him a canteen of water and propped -him up against a tree and held his hand when he wrote. -I know where he lies.' The father took the letter, and he -read it. It said, 'Treat this soldier kindly for my sake.'<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -Then it told how he had helped the writer—the dying boy. -The father said, 'You must come with me to his mother.' -She saw them coming and cried out, 'Have you any news of -my boy?' The father said, 'Here is a letter—read it.' -She read it and shrieked. They took the wounded soldier -into their home, 'Won't you stay with us and be our son? -You were his friend, you were with him at the last, you look -like him, your voice reminds us of him. When you speak -and we turn our faces away, we can almost think he is here. -Let us adopt you. Won't you do it?' He heard their plea, -and he was touched and he stayed. So heaven will hear -your prayer if it is in the name of Christ.</p> - -<p>"When I go in the name of Jesus Christ, God will stop -making worlds to hear me.</p> - -<p>"Lord, teach us how to pray."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Calvary</p> - -<p>"There comes Judas, leading the devil's crowd, the -churchly gang. Don't forget that Jesus was crucified by -church members whose sins he rebuked. Judas said, 'The -fellow that I kiss, that's Jesus.' Look at the snake on his -sanctimonious countenance. He said, 'Hail, Master,' and -he kissed him.</p> - -<p>"Jesus said, 'Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with -a kiss?'</p> - -<p>"And they staggered back. 'Whom seek ye?'</p> - -<p>"'We are all looking for Jesus of Nazareth.'</p> - -<p>"'All right, I am he.' They staggered again, and -Judas led them on.</p> - -<p>"They rushed up and seized Jesus Christ. When starting -for Calvary they put a cross on his back. He was tired -and he staggered and stumbled, then fell, but he climbed up -and a fellow smote him and said, 'Ha, ha,' and the young -fellow spat upon him. They cursed him and damned him. -What for? Because he came to open up a plan of redemption -to keep you and me out of hell; and yet you live a life -of disgrace. On he went and along came a colored man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -named Simon and they put the cross on his back and he -went dragging it for Jesus. The colored race has borne -many a burden in the advancement of civilization, but a -grander burden has never been on the back of black or white, -than when Simon bore the Master's cross.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_133fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Billy Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Sunday and Paul.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>"On they went and seized him, and I can see his arms -as they pounded the nails through his hands and his feet. -Another fellow digs a hole, and I can hear the cross as it -'chugs' in the hole, and they lift him between heaven and -earth. Then the disciples forsook him and fled. Left -him all alone. How many will go with Jesus to the last -ditch? Thousands will die for him, but there is another -set that will not.</p> - -<p>"The disciples followed him to the garden, but forsook -him at the cross.</p> - -<p>"If we had been there we might have seen the hilltops -and the tree-tops filled and covered with angels, and houses -crowded. As Jesus hung on the cross and cried, 'I thirst,' -a Jew ran and dipped a sponge in wormwood and gall and -vinegar and put it on a reed and put it up to his lips. Then -Jesus cried, 'My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' There -he hung, feeling the burden of your guilt, you booze-fighter, -you libertine, you dead-beat. 'My God, hast thou forsaken -me?' he cried, and I imagine that the archangel cried, "Oh, -Jesus, if you want me to come and sweep the howling, -blood-thirsty mob into hell, lift your head and look me in -the face and I will come.'</p> - -<p>"But Jesus gritted his teeth and struggled on, and the -archangel again cried, 'Oh, Jesus, if you want me to come, -tear your right hand loose from the cross and wave it, and -I will come.' But Jesus just clenched his fist over the nails. -What for? To keep you out of hell. Then tell me why -you are indifferent. And soon he cried, 'It is finished.'</p> - -<p>"The Holy Spirit plucked the olive branch of peace -back through the gates of heaven from the cross and winged -his way and cried, 'Peace! Peace has been made by his -death on the cross.' That is what he had to do. That -was his duty."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The World for God</p> - -<p>"A heathen woman named Panathea was famous for -her great beauty, and King Cyrus wanted her for his harem. -He sent his representatives to her and offered her money -and jewels to come, but she repulsed them and spurned -their advances. Again he sent them, this time with offers -still more generous and tempting; but again she sent them -away with scorn. A third time they were sent, and a third -time she said, 'Nay.' Then King Cyrus went in person to -see her, and he doubled and trebled and quadrupled the -offers his men had made, but still she would not go. She -told him that she was a wife, and that she was true to her -husband.</p> - -<p>"He said, 'Panathea, where dwellest thou?'</p> - -<p>"'In the arms and on the breast of my husband,' she -said.</p> - -<p>"'Take her away,' said Cyrus. 'She is of no use to me.' -Then he put her husband in command of the charioteers and -sent him into battle at the head of the troops. Panathea -knew what this meant—that her husband had been sent in -that he might be killed. She waited while the battle raged, -and when the field was cleared she shouted his name and -searched for him and finally found him wounded and dying. -She knelt and clasped him in her arms, and as they kissed, -his lamp of life went out forever. King Cyrus heard of the -man's death, and came to the field. Panathea saw him -coming, careening on his camel like a ship in a storm. She -called, 'Oh, husband! He comes—he shall not have me. I -was true to you in life, and will be true to you in death!' -And she drew her dead husband's poniard from its sheath, -drove it into her own breast and fell dead across the body.</p> - -<p>"King Cyrus came up and dismounted. He removed -his turban and knelt by the dead husband and wife, and -thanked God that he had found in his kingdom one true and -virtuous woman that his money could not buy, nor his -power intimidate.</p> - -<p>"Oh, preachers, the problem of this century is the pro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span>blem -of the first century. We must win the world for God -and we will win the world for God just as soon as we have -men and women who will be faithful to God and will not lie -and will not sell out to the devil."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Word Picture</p> - -<p>"Every day at noon, while Ingersoll was lecturing, -Hastings would go to old Farwell Hall and answer Ingersoll's -statements of the night before. One night Ingersoll -painted one of those wonderful word pictures for which he -was justly famous. He was a master of the use of words. -Men and women would applaud and cheer and wave their -hats and handkerchiefs, and the waves of sound would rise -and fall like great waves of the sea. As two men were -going home from his lecture, one of them said to the other: -'Bob certainly cleaned 'em up tonight.' The other man -said: 'There's one thing he didn't clean up. He didn't -clean up the religion of my old mother.'</p> - -<p>"This is the word picture Ingersoll painted:</p> - -<p>"'I would rather have been a French peasant and worn -wooden shoes; I would rather have lived in a hut, with a -vine growing over the door and the grapes growing and -ripening in the autumn sun; I would rather have been that -peasant, with my wife by my side and my children upon my -knees twining their arms of affection about me; I would -rather have been that poor French peasant and gone down -at least to the eternal promiscuity of the dust, followed by -those who loved me; I would a thousand times rather have -been that French peasant than that imperial incarnation of -force and murder (Napoleon); and so I would ten thousand -times.'</p> - -<p>"What was that? Simply a word picture. It was only -the trick of an orator.</p> - -<p>"Let me paint for you a picture, and see if it doesn't -make you feel like leaping and shouting hallelujahs.</p> - -<p>"Infidelity has never won a drunkard from his cups. -It has never redeemed a fallen woman from her unchastity.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -It has never built a hospital for the crushed and sick. It -has never dried tears. It has never built a mission for the -rescue of the down-and-out. It wouldn't take a ream, or -a quire, or a sheet, or even a line of paper to write down what -infidelity has done to better and gladden the world.</p> - -<p>"What has infidelity done to benefit the world? What -has it ever done to help humanity in any way? It never -built a school, it never built a church, it never built an -asylum or a home for the poor. It never did anything for -the good of man. I challenge the combined forces of -unbelief. They have failed utterly.</p> - -<p>"Well may Christianity stand today and point to its -hospitals, its churches and its schools with their towers -and the spires pointing to the source of their inspiration and -say: 'These are the works that I do.'</p> - -<p>"I would rather have been a French peasant and worn -wooden shoes; I would rather have lived in a hut, with a -vine growing over the door and grapes growing and ripening -in the autumn sun; I would rather have been that peasant, -with my wife and children by my side and the open Bible -on my knees, at peace with the world and at peace with -God; I would rather have been that poor peasant and gone -down at least in the promiscuity of the dust, with the -certainty that my name was written in the Lamb's book of -life than to have been that brilliant infidel whose tricks of -oratory charmed thousands and sent souls to hell."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Faithful Pilot</p> - -<p>"Some years ago a harbor pilot in Boston, who had held -a commission for sixty-five years (you know the harbor -pilots and the ocean pilots are different). For sixty-five -years he had guided ships in and out of the Boston harbor, -but his time to die had come. Presently the watchers at -his bedside saw that he was trying to sit up, and they -aided him. 'I see a light,' he said.</p> - -<p>"'Is it the Minot light?' they asked him.</p> - -<p>"'No, that is first white and then red; this one is all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -white all the time,' and he fell back. After a few moments -he struggled to rise again. 'I see a light,' he gasped.</p> - -<p>"'Is it the Highland light?'</p> - -<p>"'No, that one is red and then black; this one is white -all the time.' And he fell back again and they thought -certainly he was gone, but he came back again as if from -the skies and they saw his lips moving. 'I see a light.'</p> - -<p>"'Is it the Boston light; the last as you pass out?' -they asked.</p> - -<p>"'No, that one is red all the time; this one is white -all the time.' And his hands trembled and he reached out -his feeble arms. His face lighted up with a halo of glory. -'I see a light,' he gasped, 'and it is the light of glory. Let -the anchor drop.'</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'And he anchored his soul in the haven of rest,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">To sail the wild seas no more:</div> -<div class="verse">Tho' the tempest may beat o'er the wild stormy deep,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">In Jesus I'm safe evermore.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"That's where you ought to be. Will you come?"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> - -<small>Acrobatic Preaching</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If nine-tenths of you were as weak physically as you are spiritually, -you couldn't walk.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">If</span>, as has been often said, inspiration is chiefly perspiration, -then there is no doubting the inspiration of Rev. -William A. Sunday, D.D. Beyond question he is the -most vigorous speaker on the public platform today. One -editor estimates that he travels a mile over his platform in -every sermon he delivers. There is no other man to liken -him to: only an athlete in the pink of condition could endure -the gruelling exertions to which he subjects himself every -day of his campaigns. The stranger who sees him for the -first time is certain that he is on the very edge of a complete -collapse; but as that same remark has been made for years -past, it is to be hoped that the physical instrument may be -equal to its task for a long time to come.</p> - -<p>People understand with their eyes as well as with their -ears; and Sunday preaches to both. The intensity of his -physical exertions—gestures is hardly an adequate word—certainly -enhances the effect of the preacher's earnestness. -No actor on the dramatic stage works so hard. Such -passion as dominates Sunday cannot be simulated; it -is the soul pouring itself out through every pore of the -body.</p> - -<p>Some of the platform activities of Sunday make spectators -gasp. He races to and fro across the platform. Like -a jack knife he fairly doubles up in emphasis. One hand -smites the other. His foot stamps the floor as if to destroy -it. Once I saw him bring his clenched fist down so hard on -the seat of a chair that I feared the blood would flow and -the bones be broken. No posture is too extreme for this -restless gymnast. Yet it all seems natural. Like his speech,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -it is an integral part of the man. Every muscle of his body -preaches in accord with his voice.</p> - -<p>Be it whispered, men like this unconventional sort of -earnestness. Whenever they are given a chance, most men -are prone to break the trammels of sober usage. I never -yet have met a layman who has been through a Billy Sunday -campaign who had a single word of criticism of the platform -gymnastics of the evangelist. Their reasoning is something -like this: On the stage, where men undertake to represent -a character or a truth, they use all arts and spare themselves -not at all. Why should not a man go to greater lengths -when dealing with living -realities of the utmost importance?</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_139.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Sunday is for an Instant Down on -All Fours.</span></div> -</div> -<p>Sunday is a physical -sermon. In a unique sense -he glorifies God with his -body. Only a physique -kept in tune by clean living -and right usage could respond -to the terrific and -unceasing demands which -Sunday makes upon it. -When in a sermon he -alludes to the man who acts -no better than a four-footed brute, Sunday is for an instant -down on all fours on the platform and you see that brute. -As he pictures a man praying he sinks to his knees for a -single moment. When he talks of the death-bed penitent -as a man waiting to be pumped full of embalming fluid, he -cannot help going through the motions of pumping in the -fluid. He remarks that death-bed repentance is "burning -the candle of life in the service of the devil, and then blowing -the smoke in God's face"—and the last phrase is accompanied -by "pfouff!" In a dramatic description of the -marathon he pictures the athlete falling prostrate at the -goal and—thud!—there lies the evangelist prone on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -platform. Only a skilled baseball player, with a long drill -in sliding to bases, could thus fling himself to the floor -without serious injury. On many occasions he strips off -his coat and talks in his shirt sleeves. It seems impossible -for him to stand up behind the pulpit and talk only with his -mouth.</p> - -<p>The fact is, Sunday is a born actor. He knows how to -portray truth by a vocal personality. When he describes -the traveler playing with a pearl at sea, he tosses an imaginary -gem into the air so that the spectators hold their breath -lest the ship should lurch and the jewel be lost. Words -without gesture could never attain this triumph of oratory.</p> - -<p>A hint of Sunday's state of mind which drives him to -such earnestness and intensity in labor is found in quotations -like the following:</p> - -<p>"You will agree with me, in closing, that I'm not a -crank; at least I try not to be. I have not preached about -my first, second, third or hundredth blessing. I have not -talked about baptism or immersion. I told you that while -I was here my creed would be: 'With Christ you are saved; -without him you are lost.' Are you saved? Are you lost? -Going to heaven? Going to hell? I have tried to build -every sermon right around those questions; and also to -steer clear of anything else, but I want to say to you in -closing, that it is the inspiration of my life, the secret of my -earnestness. I never preach a sermon but that I think it may -be the last one some fellow will hear or the last I shall ever -be privileged to preach. It is an inspiration to me that some -day He will come.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'It may be at morn, when the day is awaking,</div> -<div class="verse">When darkness through sunlight and shadow is breaking,</div> -<div class="verse">That Jesus will come, in the fullness of glory,</div> -<div class="verse">To receive from the world his own.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Oh joy, Oh delight, to go without dying,</div> -<div class="verse">No sickness, no sadness, no sorrow, no crying!</div> -<div class="verse">Caught up with the Lord in the clouds of glory</div> -<div class="verse">When he comes to receive from the world his own.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_140fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">A Caricature of Billy Sunday's Emphatic Way of Preaching.</span></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span></p> - -<p>"Go straight on and break the lion's neck and turn it -into a beehive, out of which you will some day take the best -and sweetest honey ever tasted, for the flavor of a dead lion -in the honey beats that of clover and buckwheat all to -pieces. Be a man, therefore, by going straight on to breathe -the air that has in it the smoke of battle.</p> - -<p>"Don't spend much time in looking for an easy chair, -with a soft cushion on it, if you would write your name high -in the hall of fame where the names of real men are found. -The man who is willing to be carried over all rough places -might as well have wooden legs. 'He is not worthy of the -honeycomb who shuns the hive because the bees have stings.' -The true value of life lies in the preciousness of striving. -No tears are ever shed for the chick that dies in its -shell.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Did you tackle the trouble that came your way</div> -<div class="verse indent2">With a resolute heart and cheerful?</div> -<div class="verse">Or hide your face from the light of day</div> -<div class="verse indent2">With a craven soul and fearful?</div> -<div class="verse">Oh, a trouble is a ton, or a trouble is an ounce,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Or a trouble is what you make it,</div> -<div class="verse">And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">But only—How did you take it?'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"This poem is by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the negro -poet:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'The Lord had a job for me, but I had so much to do,</div> -<div class="verse">I said: "You get somebody else—or, wait till I get through.</div> -<div class="verse">I don't know how the Lord came out, but he seemed to get along—</div> -<div class="verse">But I felt kinda sneakin' like, 'cause I know'd I done him wrong—</div> -<div class="verse">One day I needed the Lord, needed him myself—needed him right away—</div> -<div class="verse">And he never answered me at all, but I could hear him say—</div> -<div class="verse">Down in my accusin' heart—"Nigger, I'se got too much to do,</div> -<div class="verse">You get somebody else, or wait till I get through."</div> -<div class="verse">Now when the Lord he have a job for me, I never tries to shirk;</div> -<div class="verse">I drops what I have on hand and does the good Lord's work;</div> -<div class="verse">And my affairs can run along, or wait till I get through,</div> -<div class="verse">Nobody else can do the job that God's marked out for you.'"</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span></p> -<p>"I will tell you many young people are good in the -beginning, but they are like the fellow that was killed by -falling off a skyscraper—they stop too quick. They go one -day like a six-cylinder automobile with her carbureters -working; the next day they stroll along like a fellow walking -through a graveyard reading the epitaphs on the tombstones. -It is the false ideals that strew the shores with -wrecks, eagerness to achieve success in realms we can not -reach that breeds half the ills that curse today. One -hundred years from tonight what difference will it make -whether you are rich or poor; whether learned or illiterate.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'It matters little where I was born,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Whether my parents were rich or poor;</div> -<div class="verse">Whether they shrunk from the cold world's scorn,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Or lived in pride of wealth secure.</div> -<div class="verse">But whether I live an honest man,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And hold my integrity firm in my clutch;</div> -<div class="verse">I tell you—my neighbor—as plain as I can,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">That matters much.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"The engineer is bigger than the locomotive, because -he runs it.</p> - -<p>"Do your best and you will never wear out shoe leather -looking for a job. Do your best, and you will never become -blind reading 'Help Wanted' ads in a newspaper. Be like the -fellow that went to college and tacked the letter V up over -his door in his room. He was asked what that stood for, -and he said valedictorian, and he went out carrying the -valedictory with him.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'If I were a cobbler, best of all cobblers I would be.</div> -<div class="verse">If I were a tinker, no tinker beside should mend an old tea kettle for me.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In dealing with the unreality of many preachers, Sunday -pictures a minister as going to the store to buy groceries -for his wife, but using his pulpit manner, his pulpit tone of -voice and his pulpit phraseology. This is so true to life -that it convulses every congregation that hears it. In these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -few minutes of mimicry the evangelist does more to argue -for reality and genuineness and unprofessionalism on the -part of the clergy than could be accomplished by an hour's -lecture.</p> - -<p>Another of his famous passages is his portrayal of the -society woman nursing a pug dog. You see the woman and -you see the dog, and you love neither one. Likewise, -Sunday mimics the skin-flint hypocrite in a way to make the -man represented loathe himself.</p> - -<p>This suggests a second fact about Sunday's preaching. -He often makes people laugh, but rarely makes them cry. -His sense of humor is stronger than his sense of pathos. -Now tears and hysterics are supposed to be part of the -stock in trade of the professional evangelist. Not so with -Sunday. He makes sin absurd and foolish as well as wicked; -and he makes the sinner ashamed of himself. He has -recovered for the Church the use of that powerful weapon, -the barb of ridicule. There are more instruments of warfare -in the gospel armory than the average preacher commonly -uses. Sunday endeavors to employ them all, and his -favorites seem to be humor, satire and scorn.</p> - -<p>As a physical performance the preaching to crowds of -from ten to twenty-five thousand persons every day is -phenomenal. Sunday has not a beautiful voice like many -great orators. It is husky and seems strained and yet it -is able to penetrate every corner of his great tabernacles. -Nor is he possessed of the oratorical manner, "the grand -air" of the rhetorician. Mostly he is direct, informal and -colloquial in his utterances. But he is so dead in earnest -that after every address he must make an entire change of -raiment—and, like most baseball players, and members -of the sporting fraternities, he is fond of good clothes, even -to the point of foppishness. He carries about a dozen different -suits with him and I question whether there is a single -Prince Albert or "preacher's coat" in the whole outfit.</p> - -<p>A very human figure is Billy Sunday on the platform. -During the preliminaries he enjoys the music, the responses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -of the delegations, and any of the informalities that are -common accessories of his meetings. When he begins to -speak he is an autocrat and will brook no disturbance. He -is less concerned about hurting the feelings of some fidgety, -restless usher or auditor than he is about the comfort of the -great congregation and its opportunity to hear his message.</p> - -<p>Any notion that Sunday loves the limelight is wide of -the mark. The fact is, he shuns the public gaze. It really -makes him nervous to be pointed out and stared at. That -is one reason why he does not go to a hotel, but hires a -furnished house for himself and his associates. Here they -"camp out" for the period of the campaign, and enjoy -something like the family life of every-day American folk. -Their hospitable table puts on no more frills than that of -the ordinary home. The same cook has accompanied the -party for months; and when a family's religion so commends -itself to the cook, it is likely to grade "A No. 1 Hard," like -Minnesota wheat.</p> - -<p>"Ma," as the whole party call Mrs. Sunday, is responsible -for the home, as well as for many meetings. Primarily, -though, she looks after "Daddy." Sunday is the type of -man who is quite helpless with respect to a dozen matters -which a watchful wife attends to. He needs considerable -looking after, and all his friends, from the newspaper men -to the policeman on duty at the house, conspire to take care -of him.</p> - -<p>The Pittsburgh authorities assigned a couple of plain -clothes men to safeguard Sunday; of course he "got them" -early, as he gets most everybody he comes into touch with. -So these men took care of Sunday as if he were the famous -"millionaire baby" of Washington and Newport. Not a -sense of official duty, but affectionate personal solicitude -animated those two men who rode in the automobile with -us from the house to the Tabernacle.</p> - -<p>This sort of thing is one of the most illuminating phases -of the Sunday campaign. Those who come closest to the -man believe most in his religion. As one of the newspaper<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -men covering the meetings said to me, "The newspaper boys -have all 'hit the trail.'" Then he proved his religion by -offering to do the most fraternal services for me. From -Mrs. Sunday, though, I learned that there was one bright -reporter who had worked on aspects of the revival who had -not gone forward. He avoided the meetings, and evaded the -personal interviews of the Sunday party. The evangelist's -wife was as solicitous over that one young man's spiritual -welfare as if he had been one of her own four children.</p> - -<p>Ten of the policemen stationed at the Tabernacle went -forward the night before I arrived in Pittsburgh. I was told -that twenty others were waiting to "hit the trail" in a group, -taking their families with them.</p> - -<p>The personal side of Sunday is wholesome and satisfactory. -He is a simple, modest chap, marked by the ways -of the Middle West. Between meetings he goes to bed, and -there friends sometimes visit him. Met thus intimately, -behind the scenes, one would expect from him an unrestrained -display of personality, even a measure of egotism. -Surely, it is sometimes to be permitted a man to recount his -achievements. Never a boast did I hear from Sunday. -Instead, he seemed absurdly self-distrustful. These are -his times for gathering, and he wanted me to tell him about -Bible lands!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> - -<small>"The Old-Time Religion"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I am an old-fashioned preacher of the old-time religion, that has warmed -this cold world's heart for two thousand years.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Modern</span> to the last minute Sunday's methods may -be, but his message is unmistakably the "old-time -religion." He believes his beliefs without a question. -There is no twilight zone in his intellectual processes; -no mental reservation in his preaching. He is sure that man -is lost without Christ, and that only by the acceptance of -the Saviour can fallen humanity find salvation. He is as sure -of hell as of heaven, and for all modernized varieties of -religion he has only vials of scorn.</p> - -<p>In no single particular is Sunday's work more valuable -than in its revelation of the power of positive conviction to -attract and convert multitudes. The world wants faith. -"Intolerant," cry the scholars of Sunday; but the hungry -myriads accept him as their spiritual guide to peace, and joy, -and righteousness. The world wants a religion with salvation -in it; speculation does not interest the average man who -seeks deliverance from sin in himself and in the world. He -does not hope to be evoluted into holiness; he wants to be -redeemed.</p> - -<p>"Modernists" sputter and fume and rail at Sunday -and his work: but they cannot deny that he leads men and -women into new lives of holiness, happiness and helpfulness. -Churches are enlarged and righteousness is promoted, all -by the old, blood-stained way of the Cross. The revivals -which have followed the preaching of Evangelist Sunday -are supplemental to the Book of the Acts. His theology is -summed up in the words Peter used in referring to Jesus: -"There is none other Name under heaven given among men -whereby we must be saved."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span></p> - -<p>One of Sunday's favorite sayings is: "I don't know any -more about theology than a jack-rabbit does about ping-pong, -but I'm on the way to glory." That really does not -fully express the evangelist's point. He was arguing that -"theology bears the same relation to Christianity that botany -does to flowers, or astronomy to the stars. Botany is rewritten, -but the flowers remain the same. Theology -changes (I have no objection to your new theology when it -tries to make the truths of Christianity clearer), but Christianity -abides. Nobody is kept out of heaven because he -does not understand theology. It isn't theology that saves, -but Christ; it is not the sawdust trail that saves, but Christ -in the motive that makes you hit the trail.</p> - -<p>"I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to -cover. I believe that the man who magnifies the word of -God in his preaching is the man whom God will honor. -Why do such names stand out on the pages of history as -Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and Martin Luther? Because -of their fearless denunciation of all sin, and because they -preach Jesus Christ without fear or favor.</p> - -<p>"But somebody says a revival is abnormal. You lie! -Do you mean to tell me that the godless, card-playing -conditions of the Church are normal? I say they are not, -but it is the abnormal state. It is the sin-eaten, apathetic -condition of the Church that is abnormal. It is the 'Dutch -lunch' and beer party, card parties and the like, that are -abnormal. I say that they lie when they say that a revival -is an abnormal condition in the Church.</p> - -<p>"What we need is the good old-time kind of revival -that will cause you to love your neighbors, and quit talking -about them. A revival that will make you pay your debts, -and have family prayers. Get that kind and then you will -see that a revival means a very different condition from -what people believe it does.</p> - -<p>"Christianity means a lot more than church membership. -Many an old skin-flint is not fit for the balm of Gilead -until you give him a fly blister and get after him with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -currycomb. There are too many Sunday-school teachers -who are godless card-players, beer, wine and champagne -drinkers. No wonder the kids are going to the devil. No -wonder your children grow up like cattle when you have no -form of prayer in the home."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SUNDAY</p> - -<p>What does converted mean? It means completely -changed. Converted is not synonymous with reformed. -Reforms are from without—conversion from within. Conversion -is a complete surrender to Jesus. It's a willingness -to do what he wants you to do. Unless you have made a -complete surrender and are doing his will it will avail you -nothing if you've reformed a thousand times and have your -name on fifty church records.</p> - -<p>Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, in your heart and -confess him with your mouth and you will be saved. God is -good. The plan of salvation is presented to you in two -parts. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. -Many of you here probably do believe. Why don't you -confess? Now own up. The truth is that you have a yellow -streak. Own up, business men, and business women, and -all of you others. Isn't it so? Haven't you got a little -saffron? Brave old Elijah ran like a scared deer when he -heard old Jezebel had said she would have his head, and he -beat it. And he ran to Beersheba and lay down under a -juniper tree and cried to the Lord to let him die. The Lord -answered his prayer, but not in the way he expected. If -he had let him die he would have died with nothing but the -wind moaning through the trees as his funeral dirge. But -the Lord had something better for Elijah. He had a chariot -of fire and it swooped down and carried him into glory -without his ever seeing death.</p> - -<p>So he says he has something better for you—salvation -if he can get you to see it. You've kept your church membership -locked up. You've smiled at a smutty story. -When God and the Church were scoffed at you never peeped,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span> -and when asked to stand up here you've sneaked out the -back way and beat it. You're afraid and God despises a -coward—a mutt. You cannot be converted by thinking so -and sitting still.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_149fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Every Muscle in His Body Preaches in Accord with His Voice.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>Maybe you're a drunkard, an adulterer, a prostitute, -a liar; won't admit you are lost; are proud. Maybe you're -even proud you're not proud, and Jesus has a time of it.</p> - -<p>Jesus said: "Come to me," not to the Church; to me, -not to a creed; to me, not to a preacher; to me, not to an -evangelist; to me, not to a priest; to me, not to a pope; -"Come to me and I will give you rest." Faith in Jesus -Christ saves you, not faith in the Church.</p> - -<p>You can join church, pay your share of the preacher's -salary, attend the services, teach Sunday school, return -thanks and do everything that would apparently stamp you -as a Christian—even pray—but you won't ever be a Christian -until you do what God tells you to do.</p> - -<p>That's the road, and that's the only one mapped out -for you and for me. God treats all alike. He doesn't -furnish one plan for the banker and another for the janitor -who sweeps out the bank. He has the same plan for one -that he has for another. It's the law—you may not -approve of it, but that doesn't make any difference.</p> - - -<p>Salvation a Personal Matter</p> - -<p>The first thing to remember about being saved is that -salvation is a personal matter. "Seek ye the Lord"—that -means every one must seek for himself. It won't do for -the parent to seek for the children; it won't do for the -children to seek for the parent. If you were sick all the -medicine I might take wouldn't do you any good. Salvation -is a personal matter that no one else can do for you; you -must attend to it yourself.</p> - -<p>Some persons have lived manly or womanly lives, and -they lack but one thing—open confession of the Lord -Jesus Christ. Some men think that they must come to -him in a certain way—that they must be stirred by emotion -or something like that.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span></p> - -<p>Some people have a deeper conviction of sin before -they are converted than after they are converted. With -some it is the other way. Some know when they are converted -and others don't.</p> - -<p>Some people are emotional. Some are demonstrative. -Some will cry easily. Some are cold and can't be moved -to emotion. A man jumped up in a meeting and asked -whether he could be saved when he hadn't shed a tear in -forty years. Even as he spoke he began to shed tears. -It's all a matter of how you're constituted. I am vehement, -and I serve God with the same vehemence that I served the -devil when I went down the line.</p> - -<p>Some of you say that in order to accept Jesus you must -have different surroundings. You think you could do it -better in some other place. You can be saved where you -are as well as any place on earth. I say, "My watch doesn't -run. It needs new surroundings. I'll put it in this other -pocket, or I'll put it here, or here on these flowers." It -doesn't need new surroundings. It needs a new mainspring; -and that's what the sinner needs. You need a new heart, -not a new suit.</p> - -<p>What can I do to keep out of hell? "Believe on the -Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."</p> - -<p>The Philippian jailer was converted. He had put the -disciples into the stocks when they came to the prison, -but after his conversion he stooped down and washed the -blood from their stripes.</p> - -<p>Now, leave God out of the proposition for a minute. -Never mind about the new birth—that's his business. -Jesus Christ became a man, bone of our bone, flesh of our -flesh. He died on the cross for us, so that we might escape -the penalty pronounced on us. Now, never mind about -anything but our part in salvation. Here it is: "Believe -on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."</p> - -<p>You say, "Mr. Sunday, the Church is full of hypocrites." -So's hell. I say to you if you don't want to go to hell and -live with that whole bunch forever, come into the Church,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -where you won't have to associate with them very long. -There are no hypocrites in heaven.</p> - -<p>You say, "Mr. Sunday, I can be a Christian and go to -heaven without joining a church." Yes, and you can go to -Europe without getting on board a steamer. The swimming's -good—but the sharks are laying for fellows who take that -route. I don't believe you. If a man is truly saved he will -hunt for a church right away.</p> - -<p>You say, "It's so mysterious. I don't understand." -You'll be surprised to find out how little you know. You -plant a seed in the ground—that's your part. You don't -understand how it grows. How God makes that seed grow -is mysterious to you.</p> - -<p>Some people think that they can't be converted unless -they go down on their knees in the straw at a camp-meeting, -unless they pray all hours of the night, and all nights of the -week, while some old brother storms heaven in prayer. -Some think a man must lose sleep, must come down the -aisle with a haggard look, and he must froth at the mouth -and dance and shout. Some get it that way, and they don't -think that the work I do is genuine unless conversions are -made in the same way that they have got religion.</p> - -<p>I want you to see what God put in black and white; -that there can be a sound, thorough conversion in an -instant; that man can be converted as quietly as the coming -of day and never backslide. I do not find fault with the -way other people get religion. What I want and preach -is the fact that a man can be converted without any fuss.</p> - -<p>If a man wants to shout and clap his hands in joy over -his wife's conversion, or if a wife wants to cry when her -husband is converted, I am not going to turn the hose on -them, or put them in a strait-jacket. When a man turns -to God truly in conversion, I don't care what form his conversion -takes. I wasn't converted that way, but I do not -rush around and say, with gall and bitterness, that you are -not saved because you did not get religion the way I did. -If we all got religion in the same way, the devil might go to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -sleep with a regular Rip Van Winkle snooze and still be on -the job.</p> - -<p>Look at Nicodemus. You could never get a man with -the temperament of Nicodemus near a camp meeting, to -kneel down in the straw, or to shout and sing. He was a -quiet, thoughtful, honest, sincere and cautious man. He -wanted to know the truth and he was willing to walk in -the light when he found it.</p> - -<p>Look at the man at the pool of Bethesda. He was a -big sinner and was in a lot of trouble which his sins had made -for him. He had been in that condition for a long time. It -didn't take him three minutes to say "Yes," when the Lord -spoke to him. See how quietly he was converted.</p> - - -<p>"And He Arose and Followed Him"</p> - -<p>Matthew stood in the presence of Christ and he realized -what it would be to be without Christ, to be without hope, -and it brought him to a quick decision. "And he arose and -followed him."</p> - -<p>How long did that conversion take? How long did it -take him to accept Christ after he had made up his mind? -And you tell me you can't make an instant decision to please -God? The decision of Matthew proves that you can. -While he was sitting at his desk he was not a disciple. The -instant he arose he was. That move changed his attitude -toward God. Then he ceased to do evil and commenced to -do good. You can be converted just as quickly as Matthew -was.</p> - -<p>God says: "Let the wicked man forsake his way." -The instant that is done, no matter if the man has been -a life-long sinner, he is safe. There is no need of struggling -for hours—or for days—do it now. Who are you struggling -with? Not God. God's mind was made up long before the -foundations of the earth were laid. The plan of salvation -was made long before there was any sin in the world. Electricity -existed long before there was any car wheel for it to -drive. "Let the wicked man forsake his way." When?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> -Within a month, within a week, within a day, within an -hour? No! Now! The instant you yield, God's plan of -salvation is thrown into gear. You will be saved before you -know it, like a child being born.</p> - -<p>Rising and following Christ switched Matthew from -the broad to the narrow way. He must have counted the -cost as he would have balanced his cash book. He put one -side against the other. The life he was living led to all -chance of gain. On the other side there was Jesus, and -Jesus outweighs all else. He saw the balance turn as the -tide of a battle turns and then it ended with his decision. -The sinner died and the disciple was born.</p> - -<p>I believe that the reason the story of Matthew was -written was to show how a man could be converted quickly -and quietly. It didn't take him five or ten years to begin -to do something—he got busy right away.</p> - -<p>You don't believe in quick conversions? There have -been a dozen men of modern times who have been powers -for God whose conversion was as quiet as Matthew's. -Charles G. Finney never went to a camp meeting. He was -out in the woods alone, praying, when he was converted. -Sam Jones, a mighty man of God, was converted at the -bedside of his dying father. Moody accepted Christ while -waiting on a customer in a boot and shoe store. Dr. Chapman -was converted as a boy in a Sunday school. All the -other boys in the class had accepted Christ, and only Wilbur -remained. The teacher turned to him and said, "And how -about you, Wilbur?" He said, "I will," and he turned -to Christ and has been one of his most powerful evangelists -for many years. Gipsy Smith was converted in his father's -tent. Torrey was an agnostic, and in comparing agnosticism, -infidelity and Christianity, he found the scale tipped toward -Christ. Luther was converted as he crawled up a flight of -stairs in Rome.</p> - -<p>Seemingly the men who have moved the world for -Christ have been converted in a quiet manner. The way -to judge a tree is by its fruit. Judge a tree of quiet conversion -in this way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span></p> - -<p>Another lesson. When conversion compels people to -forsake their previous calling, God gives them a better job. -Luke said, "He left all." Little did he dream that his -influence would be world-reaching and eternity-covering. -His position as tax-collector seemed like a big job, but it was -picking up pins compared to the job God gave him. Some -of you may be holding back for fear of being put out of your -job. If you do right God will see that you do not suffer. -He has given plenty of promises, and if you plant your feet -on them you can defy the poor-house. Trust in the Lord -means that God will feed you. Following Christ you may -discover a gold mine of ability that you never dreamed of -possessing. There was a saloon-keeper, converted in a -meeting at New Castle, who won hundreds of people to -Christ by his testimony and his preaching.</p> - -<p>You do not need to be in the church before the voice -comes to you; you don't need to be reading the Bible; -you don't need to be rich or poor or learned. Wherever -Christ comes follow. You may be converted while engaged -in your daily business. Men cannot put up a wall and keep -Jesus away. The still small voice will find you.</p> - - -<p>At the Cross-roads</p> - -<p>Right where the two roads through life diverge God -has put Calvary. There he put up a cross, the stumbling -block over which the love of God said, "I'll touch the heart -of man with the thought of father and son." He thought -that would win the world to him, but for nineteen hundred -years men have climbed the Mount of Calvary and trampled -into the earth the tenderest teachings of God.</p> - -<p>You are on the devil's side. How are you going to -cross over?</p> - -<p>So you cross the line and God won't issue any extradition -papers. Some of you want to cross. If you believe, -then say so, and step across. I'll bet there are hundreds -that are on the edge of the line and many are standing -straddling it. But that won't save you. You believe in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> -your heart—confess him with your mouth. With his heart -man believes and with his mouth he confesses. Then confess -and receive salvation full, free, perfect and external. God -will not grant any extradition papers. Get over the old -line. A man isn't a soldier because he wears a uniform, -or carries a gun, or carries a canteen. He is a soldier when -he makes a definite enlistment. All of the others can be -bought without enlisting. When a man becomes a soldier -he goes out on muster day and takes an oath to defend his -country. It's the oath that makes him a soldier. Going -to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going -to a garage makes you an automobile, but public definite -enlistment for Christ makes you a Christian.</p> - -<p>"Oh," a woman said to me out in Iowa, "Mr. Sunday, -I don't think I have to confess with my mouth." I said: -"You're putting up your thought against God's."</p> - -<p>M-o-u-t-h doesn't spell intellect. It spells mouth and -you must confess with your mouth. The mouth is the -biggest part about most people, anyhow.</p> - -<p>What must I do?</p> - -<p>Philosophy doesn't answer it. Infidelity doesn't -answer it. First, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou -shalt be saved." Believe on the Lord. Lord—that's -his kingly name. That's the name he reigns under. "Thou -shalt call his name Jesus." It takes that kind of a confession. -Give me a Saviour with a sympathetic eye to watch me so I -shall not slander. Give me a Saviour with a strong arm -to catch me if I stumble. Give me a Saviour that will -hear my slightest moan.</p> - -<p>Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Christ -is his resurrection name. He is sitting at the right hand -of the Father interceding for us.</p> - -<p>Because of his divinity he understands God's side of -it and because of his humanity he understands our side of it. -Who is better qualified to be the mediator? He's a mediator. -What is that? A lawyer is a mediator between the jury and -the defendant. A retail merchant is a mediator between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -the wholesale dealer and the consumer. Therefore, Jesus -Christ is the Mediator between God and man. Believe on -the Lord. He's ruling today. Believe on the Lord Jesus. -He died to save us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. -He's the Mediator.</p> - -<p>Her majesty, Queen Victoria, was traveling in Scotland -when a storm came up and she took refuge in a little hut of -a Highlander. She stayed there for an hour and when she -went the good wife said to her husband, "We'll tie a ribbon -on that chair because her majesty has sat on it and no one -else will ever sit on it." A friend of mine was there later and -was going to sit in the chair when the man cried: "Nae, -nae, mon. Dinna sit there. Her majesty spent an hour -with us once and she sat on that chair and we tied a ribbon -on it and no one else will ever sit on it." They were honored -that her majesty had spent the hour with them. It brought -unspeakable joy to them.</p> - -<p>It's great that Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of my -heart, not for an hour, but here to sway his power forever -and ever.</p> - - -<p>"He Died for Me"</p> - -<p>In the war there was a band of guerillas—Quantrell's -band—that had been ordered to be shot on sight. They had -burned a town in Iowa and they had been caught. One -long ditch was dug and they were lined up in front of it -and blindfolded and tied, and just as the firing squad was -ready to present arms a young man dashed through the -bushes and cried, "Stop!" He told the commander of the -firing squad that he was as guilty as any of the others, but -he had escaped and had come of his own free will, and -pointed to one man in the line and asked to take his place. -"I'm single," he said, "while he has a wife and babies." -The commander of that firing squad was an usher in one of -the cities in which I held meetings, and he told me how the -young fellow was blindfolded and bound and the guns rang -out and he fell dead.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_156fpa.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">You Old Skeptic, We are Counting Time on You.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_156fpb.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">John, the Drunkard, Marching up to the -Butcher's Shop.</span>"</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span></p> - -<p>Time went on and one day a man came upon another in -a graveyard in Missouri weeping and shaping the grave into -form. The first man asked who was buried there and the -other said, "The best friend I ever had." Then he told how -he had not gone far away but had come back and got the -body of his friend after he had been shot and buried it; -so he knew he had the right body. And he had brought a -withered bouquet all the way from his home to put on the -grave. He was poor then and could not afford anything -costly, but he had placed a slab of wood on the pliable -earth with these words on it: "He died for me."</p> - -<p>Major Whittle stood by the grave some time later and -saw the same monument. If you go there now you will see -something different. The man became rich and today there -is a marble monument fifteen feet high and on it this -inscription:</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">sacred to the memory of<br /> -WILLIE LEE<br /> -he took my place in the line<br /> -he died for me</span></p> - - -<p>Sacred to the memory of Jesus Christ. He took our -place on the cross and gave his life that we might live, and -go to heaven and reign with him.</p> - -<p>"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess him with thy -mouth, and thou shalt be saved and thy house."</p> - -<p>It is a great salvation that can reach down into the -quagmire of filth, pull a young man out and send him out -to hunt his mother and fill her days with sunshine. It is a -great salvation, for it saves from great sin.</p> - -<p>The way to salvation is not Harvard, Yale, Princeton, -Vassar or Wellesley. Environment and culture can't put -you into heaven without you accept Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>It's great. I want to tell you that the way to heaven -is a blood-stained way. No man has ever reached it without -Jesus Christ and he never will.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> - -<small>"Hitting the Sawdust Trail"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Come and accept my Christ.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Pioneers</span> are necessarily unconventional. America -has done more than transform a wilderness into a -nation: in the process she has created new forms of -life and of speech. Back from the frontier has come a new, -terse, vigorous and pictorial language. Much of it has -found its way into the dictionaries. The newer West uses -the word "trail"—first employed to designate the traces -left by traveling Indians—to designate a path. The -lumbermen commonly call the woods roads "trails."</p> - -<p>Imagine a lumberman lost in the big woods. He has -wandered, bewildered, for days. Death stares him in the -face. Then, spent and affrighted, he comes to a trail. -And the trail leads to life; it is the way home.</p> - -<p>There we have the origin of the expression "Hitting -the sawdust trail," used in Mr. Sunday's meetings as a -term similar to the older stereotyped phrases: "Going -forward"; "Seeking the altar." The more conventional -method, used by the other evangelists, is to ask for a show -of hands.</p> - -<p>Out in the Puget Sound country, where the sawdust -aisles and the rough tabernacle made an especial appeal to -the woodsmen, the phrase "Hitting the sawdust trail" -came into use in Mr. Sunday's meetings. The figure was -luminous. For was not this the trail that led the lost to -salvation, the way home to the Father's house?</p> - -<p>The metaphor appealed to the American public, which -relishes all that savors of our people's most primitive life. -Besides, the novel designation serves well the taste of a -nation which is singularly reticent concerning its finer -feelings, and delights to cloak its loftiest sentiments beneath<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> -slang phrases. The person who rails at "hitting the trail" -as an irreverent phrase has something to learn about the -mind of Americans. Tens of thousands of persons have -enshrined the homely phrase in the sanctuary of their deepest -spiritual experience.</p> - -<p>The scene itself, when Mr. Sunday calls for converts -to come forward and take his hand, in token of their purpose -to accept and follow Christ, is simply beyond words. -Human speech cannot do justice to the picture. For -good reason. This is one of those crises in human life the -portrayal of which makes the highest form of literature. -A Victor Hugo could find a dozen novels in each night's -experience in the Sunday Tabernacle.</p> - -<p>This is an hour of bared souls. The great transaction -between man and his Maker is under way. The streams of -life are here changing their course. Character and destiny -are being altered. The old Roman "Sacramentum," when -the soldiers gave allegiance with uplifted hand, crying, -"This for me! This for me!" could not have been -more impressive than one of these great outpourings of -human life up the sawdust aisle to the pulpit, to grasp the -preacher's hand, in declaration that henceforth their -all would be dedicated to the Christ of Calvary.</p> - -<p>The greatness of the scene is at first incomprehensible. -There are no parallels for it in all the history of Protestantism. -This unschooled American commoner, who could -not pass the entrance examinations of any theological -seminary in the land, has publicly grasped the hands of -approximately a quarter of a million persons, who by that -token have said, in the presence of the great congregation, -that they thereby vowed allegiance to their Saviour and -Lord. Moody, Whitefield, Finney, have left no such -record of converts as this.</p> - -<p>A dramatic imagination is needed to perceive even a -fragment of what is meant by this army of Christian -recruits. The magnitude of the host is scarcely revealed -by the statement that these converts more than equal the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> -number of inhabitants of the states of Delaware or Arizona -at the last census, and far surpass those of Nevada and -Wyoming. Imagine a state made up wholly of zealous -disciples of Christ! Of the one hundred largest cities in -the United States there are only nineteen with more inhabitants -than the total number of persons who have -"hit the trail" at the Sunday meetings.</p> - -<p>Break up that vast host into its component parts. -Each is an individual whose experience is as real and distinctive -as if there never had been another human soul -to come face to face with God. To one the act means -a clean break with a life of open sin. To another it implies -a restored home and a return to respectability. To this -young person it signifies entrance upon a life of Christian -service; to that one a separation from all old associations. -Some must give up unworthy callings. Other must heal -old feuds and make restitution for ancient wrongs. One -young woman in accepting Christ knows that she must -reject the man she had meant to marry. To many men -it implies a severance of old political relations. Far and -wide and deep this sawdust trail runs; and the record is -written in the sweat of agonizing souls and in the red of -human blood.</p> - -<p>The consequences of conversion stagger the imagination: -this process is still the greatest social force of the -age.</p> - -<p>Little wonder that persons of discernment journey -long distances to attend a Sunday meeting, and to witness -this appeal for converts to "hit the trail." I traveled -several hundred miles to see it for the first time, and -would go across the continent to see it again. For this -is vital religion. If a wedding casts its dramatic spell upon -the imagination; if a political election stirs the sluggish -deeps of the popular mind; if a battle calls for newspaper -"extras"; if an execution arrests popular attention by its -element of the mystery of life becoming death—then, by -so much and more, this critical, decisive moment in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -lives of living men and women grips the mind by its intense -human interest. What issues, for time and eternity, are -being determined by this step! The great romance is -enacted daily at the Sunday meetings.</p> - -<p>For these converts are intent upon the most sacred -experience that ever comes to mortal. Through what soul -struggles they have passed, what renunciations they have -made, what futures they front, only God and heaven's -hosts know. The crowd dimly senses all this. There is -an instinctive appreciation of the dramatic in the multitude. -So the evangelist's appeal is followed by an added -tenseness, a straining of necks and a general rising to -behold the expected procession.</p> - -<p>A more simple and unecclesiastical setting for this -tremendous scene could scarcely be devised. The plain -board platform, about six feet high, and fifteen feet long, -is covered by a carpet. Its only furniture is a second-hand -walnut pulpit, directly under the huge sounding board; -and one plain wooden chair, "a kitchen chair," a housewife -would call it. Then the invitation is given for all who -want to come out on the side of Christ to come forward -and grasp Sunday's hand.</p> - -<p>See them come! From all parts of the vast building -they press forward. Nearly everyone is taking this step -before the eyes of friends, neighbors, work-fellows. It -calls for courage, for this is a life enlistment. Behold the -young men crowding toward the platform, where the helpers -form them into a swiftly moving line—dozens and -scores of boys and men in the first flush of manhood. -Occasionally an old person is in the line; oftener it is a -boy or girl. There goes a mother with her son.</p> - -<p>How differently the converts act. Some have streaming -eyes. Others wear faces radiant with the light of a -new hope. Still others have the tense, set features of -gladiators entering the arena. For minute after minute -the procession continues. When a well-known person goes -forward, the crowd cheers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span></p> - -<p>As I have studied Mr. Sunday in the act of taking -the hands of converts—one memorable night more than -five hundred at the rate of fifty-seven a minute—the symbolism -of his hand has appealed to my imagination.</p> - -<p>Surprisingly small and straight and surprisingly strong -it is. Baseball battles have left no scars upon it. The -lines are strong and deep and clear. The hand is "in -condition"; no flabbiness about it. There are no rings -on either of Mr. Sunday's hands, except a plain gold wedding -ring on the left third finger.</p> - -<p>No outstretched hand of military commander ever -pointed such a host to so great a battle. Is there anywhere -a royal hand, wielding a scepter over a nation, which -has symbolized so much vital influence as this short, firm -hand of a typical American commoner? The soldier sent -on a desperate mission asked Wellington for "one grasp -of your conquering hand." A conquering hand, a helping -hand, an uplifting hand, an upward-pointing hand, is -this which once won fame by handling a baseball.</p> - -<p>Conceive of the vast variety of hands that have been -reached up to grasp this one, and what those hands have -since done for the world's betterment! Two hundred -thousand dedicated right hands, still a-tingle with the -touch of this inviting hand of the preacher of the gospel! -The picture of Sunday's right hand belongs in the archives -of contemporary religious history.</p> - -<p>No stage manager could ever set so great a scene as -this. The vastness of it—sixteen or seventeen thousand -eyes all centered on one ordinary-looking American on a -high green-carpeted platform, a veritable "sea of faces"—is -not more impressive than the details which an observer -picks out.</p> - -<p>The multitudes are of the sort who thronged the Galilean; -plain people, home-keeping women, seldom seen in -public places; mechanics, clerks, the great American commonalty. -Again and again one is impressed from some -fresh angle with the democracy of it all; this man some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span>how -appeals to that popular sense wherein all special tastes -and interests merge.</p> - -<p>The <i lang="fr">débâcle</i> is a sight beyond words. The ice of conventionality -breaks up, and the tide of human feeling floods -forth. From every part of the great tabernacle—from the -front seats, where you have been studying the personalities, -and from the distant rear, where all the faces merge into -an impersonal mass—persons begin to stream forward. -See how they come. The moment is electric. Everybody -is on the <i lang="la">qui vive</i>.</p> - -<p>The first to take the evangelist's hand is a young -colored boy. The girl who follows may be a stenographer. -Young men are a large part of the recruits; here come a -dozen fine-looking members of an athletic club in a body, -while the crowd cheers; evidently somebody has been doing -personal work there.</p> - -<p>Contrasts are too common to mention. There is a -delicate lady's kid-gloved hand reached up to that of the -evangelist; the next is the grimy, calloused hand of a blue-shirted -miner. The average is of young men and women, -the choice and the mighty members of a community. Is -the world to find a new moral or religious leader in the -person of some one of these bright-faced youth who tonight -have made this sign of dedication?</p> - -<p>And here comes an old man, with a strong face; evidently -a personality of force. Twice the evangelist pats -the head bowed before him, in pleasure over this aged -recruit. He seems reluctant to let the old man go; but, -see the children crowd behind him, and no convert can -have more than a handclasp and a word.</p> - -<p>All around the platform the crowd resembles a hive -of bees just before swarming. Stir, motion, animation -seem to create a scene of confusion. But there is order -and purpose in it all. The occupants of the front seats -are being moved out to make way for the converts, who -are there to be talked with, and to sign the cards that are -to be turned over to the local pastors.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span></p> - -<p>Personal workers are getting into action. See the -ministers streaming down into the fray! There goes the -Young Men's Christian Association secretary, and the -Salvation Army soldiers, and the members of the choir, -wearing Christian Endeavor and Bible class badges. This -is religion in action. Can these church members ever -again lapse into dead conventionality?</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Rodeheaver, the chorister, leans upon the -piano and softly leads the great choir in "Almost Persuaded." -The musical invitation continues while the work -goes on in front. It is undisturbed by an occasional appeal -from the evangelist. The song quickly changes to "Oh, -Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" and then, as -the volume of penitents increases, into "I Am Coming -Home" and "Ring the Bells of Heaven, There is Joy -Today!" All this is psychological; it fosters the mood -which the sermon has created. Music mellows as many -hearts as spoken words.</p> - -<p>All the while Sunday is shaking hands. At first he -leans far over, for the platform is more than six feet high. -Sometimes it seems as if he will lose his balance. To -reach down he stands on his left foot, with his right leg -extended straight behind him, the foot higher than his -head. No one posture is retained long. Often he dips -down with a swinging circular motion, like a pitcher about -to throw a ball. Never was man more lavish of his vital -energy than this one. His face is white and tense and -drawn; work such as this makes terrific draughts on a -man's nerve force.</p> - -<p>As the converts increase, he lifts a trapdoor in the -platform, which permits him to stand three feet nearer -the people. Still they come, often each led by some personal -worker. I saw a Scandinavian led forward in one -meeting; ten minutes later I saw him bringing his wife -up the trail. Some of the faces are radiant with a new -joy. Others are set at a nervous tension. Some jaws are -grim and working, revealing the inner conflict which has -resulted in this step.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span></p> - -<p>A collarless, ragged, weak-faced slave of dissipation is -next in line to a beautiful girl in the dew of her youth. -An old, white-wooled negro, leaning on a staff, is led forward. -Then a little child. Here are veritably all sorts -and conditions of people.</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_165.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">A Collarless, Weak-faced Slave of Dissipation -is next in Line to a Beautiful Girl -in the Dew of Her Youth</span></div> -</div> -<p>In the particular session I am describing, a big delegation -of railroad -men is present, and -the evangelist keeps -turning to them, -with an occasional -"Come on, Erie!" -The memories of his -own days as a railroad -brakeman are -evidently working -within him, and he -seizes a green lantern -and waves it. -"A clear track -ahead!" Toward -these men he is most -urgent, beckoning -them also with a -white railroad flag -which he has taken -from the decorations. -When the -master mechanic -"hits the trail" -there is cheering from the crowd, and Sunday himself -shows a delight that was exhibited over none of the -society folk who came forward.</p> - -<p>Rare and remarkable as are these scenes in religious -history, they occur nightly in the Sunday tabernacle. Two -hundred, three hundred, five hundred, one thousand converts -are common.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span></p> - -<p>Anybody interested in life and in the phenomena of -religion will find this occasion the most interesting scene -at present to be witnessed in the whole world. As for the -novelist, this is the human soul bared, and beyond the -compass of his highest art.</p> - -<p>For life is at its apex when, in new resolution, a mortal -spirit makes compact with the Almighty.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> - -<small>The Service of Society</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>A lot of people think a man needs a new grandfather, sanitation, and a -new shirt, when what he needs is a new heart.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Some</span> day a learned university professor, with a string -of titles after his name, will startle the world by breaking -away from the present conventionalism in sociology, -and will conduct elaborate laboratory experiments in human -betterment on the field of a Billy Sunday campaign. His -conclusion will surely be that the most potent force for the -service of society—the shortest, surest way of bettering the -human race—is by the fresh, clear, sincere and insistent -preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>Of course, the New Testament has been teaching that -for nearly twenty centuries, but the world has not yet -comprehended the practicability of the program. Your -learned professor may prove, by literally thousands of -incidents, that honesty, chastity, brotherliness, and idealism -have been more definitely promoted by revivals of religion -than by legislative or educational programs. All that -the social reformers of our day desire may be most quickly -secured by straight-out preaching of the Gospel. The shortcut -to a better social order is by way of converted men and -women. And when a modern scholar comes to demonstrate -this he will draw largely upon the aftermath of the Sunday -campaigns for his contemporaneous evidence.</p> - -<p>If there is one phrase which, better than another, can -describe a Billy Sunday campaign it is "restitution and -righteousness." In season and out, the evangelist insists -upon a changed life as the first consequence of conversion. -His message runs on this wise:</p> - -<p>"You ought to live so that every one who comes near -you will know that you are a Christian. Do you? Does<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -your milkman know that you are a Christian? Does the -man who brings your laundry know that you belong to -church? Does the man who hauls away your ashes know -that you are a Christian? Does your newsboy know that -you have religion? Does the butcher know that you are -on your way to heaven? Some of you buy meat on Saturday -night, and have him deliver it Sunday morning, just to save -a little ice, and -then you wonder -why he doesn't go -to church.</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_168.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Does Your Newsboy Know that You -Have Religion?</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"If you had to get into heaven on the testimony -of your washer-woman, -could you -make it? If your -getting into -heaven depended -on what your -dressmaker knows -about your religion, -would you -land? If your -husband had to -gain admittance -to heaven on the -testimony of his -stenographer, could he do it? If his salvation depended -on what his clerks tell about him, would he get there? A -man ought to be as religious in business as he is in church. -He ought to be as religious in buying and selling as he is -in praying.</p> - -<p>"There are so many church members who are not even -known in their own neighborhood as Christians. Out in -Iowa where a meeting was held, a man made up his mind -that he would try to get an old sinner into the Kingdom,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -and after chasing him around for three days he finally -cornered him. Then he talked to that old fellow for two -hours, and then the old scoundrel stroked his whiskers, and -what do you think he said? 'Why, I've been a member of -the church down there for fourteen years.' Just think of -it! A member of the church fourteen years, and a man had -to chase him three days, and talk with him two hours to -find it out.</p> - -<p>"You have let Jesus in? Yes, but you have put him in -the spare-room. You don't want him in the rooms where you -live. Take him down into the living-room. Take him into -the dining-room. Take him into the parlor. Take him -into the kitchen. Live with him. Make him one of the -family."</p> - -<p>Then follows a Sundayesque description of how Jesus -would find beer in the refrigerator and throw it out; how -he would find cards on the table and throw them out; how -he would find nasty music on the piano and throw it out; -how he would find cigarettes and throw them out.</p> - -<p>"If you haven't Jesus in the rooms you live in, it's -because you don't want him," he says. "You're afraid of -one of two things: you're afraid because of the things he'll -throw out if he comes in, or you're afraid because of the -things he'll bring with him if he comes in."</p> - -<p>Here is how a great newspaper, the Philadelphia <cite>North -American</cite>, characterizes the ethical and political effectiveness -of Mr. Sunday:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Billy Sunday, derided by many as a sensational -evangelist, has created a political revolution in Allegheny -County. What years of reform work could not do he has -wrought in a few short weeks. Old line "practical" politicians, -the men who did the dirty work for the political gang, -are now zealous for temperance, righteousness and religion.</p> - -<p>Judges on the bench, grand dames of society, millionaire -business men, in common with the great host of undistinguished -men and women in homes, mills, offices, and shops, -have been fired by this amazing prophet with burning zeal -for practical religion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span></p> - -<p>An unexpected, unpredicted and unprecedented social -force has been unleashed in our midst. Not to reckon with -this is to be blind to the phase of Sunday's work which bulks -larger than his picturesque vocabulary or his acrobatic -earnestness.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the presence of this man's work all attempts to -classify religious activities as either "evangelistic" or -"social service" fall into confusion.</p> - -<p>Sunday could claim for himself that he's an evangelist, -and an evangelist only. He repudiates a Christian program -that is merely palliative or ameliorative. To his thinking -the Church has more fundamental business than running -soup kitchens or gymnasiums or oyster suppers. All his -peerless powers of ridicule are frequently turned upon the -frail and lonely oyster in the tureen of a money-making -church supper.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, the results of Sunday's preaching are -primarily social and ethical. He is a veritable besom of -righteousness sweeping through a community. The wife -who neglects her cooking, mending and home-making; -the employer who does not deal squarely with his workers; -the rich man who rents his property for low purposes or is -tied up in crooked business in any wise; the workman who -is not on "his job"; the gossip and the slanderer; the idle -creatures of fashion; the Christian who is not a good person -to live with, the selfish, the sour, the unbrotherly—all these -find themselves under the devastating harrow of this flaming -preacher's biting, burning, excoriating condemnation. "A -scourge for morality" is the way one minister described -him; he is that, and far more.</p> - -<p>After the whole field of philanthropy and reform have -been traversed it still remains true that the fundamental -reform of all is the cleaning up of the lives and the lifting up -of the ideals of the people. That is indisputably what -Sunday does. He sweetens life and promotes a wholesome, -friendly, helpful and cheerful state of mind on the part of -those whom he influences.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span></p> - -<p>Assuredly it is basic betterment to cause men to quit -their drunkenness and lechery and profanity. All the white-slave -or social-evil commissions that have ever met have -done less to put a passion for purity into the minds of men -and women than this one man's preaching has done. The -safest communities in the country for young men and young -women are those which have been through a Billy Sunday -revival.</p> - -<p>One cannot cease to exult at the fashion in which the -evangelist makes the Gospel synonymous with clean living. -All the considerations that weigh to lead persons to go -forward to grasp the evangelist's hand, also operate to make -them partisans of purity and probity.</p> - -<p>Put into three terse phrases, Sunday's whole message is: -"Quit your meanness. Confess Christ. Get busy for him -among men." There are no finely spun spiritual sophistries -in Sunday's preaching. He sometimes speaks quite rudely -of that conception of a "higher spiritual life" which draws -Christians apart from the world in a self-complacent consciousness -of superiority.</p> - -<p>His is not a mystical, meditative faith. It is dynamic, -practical, immediate. According to his ever-recurring -reasoning, if one is not passing on the fruits of religion to -somebody else—if one is not hitting hard blows at the devil -or really doing definite tasks for God and the other man—then -one has not the real brand of Christianity. Sunday's -preaching has hands, with "punch" to them, as well as -lift; and feet, with "kick" in them, as well as ministry.</p> - -<p>Like a colliery mined on many levels, Sunday's preaching -reaches all classes. Everybody can appreciate the social -service value of converting a gutter bum and making him a -self-supporting workman. Is it any less social service to -convert a man—I cite an actual instance from Pittsburgh—who -had lately lost a twelve-thousand-dollar-a-year position -through dissipation, and so thoroughly to help him find himself -that before the meetings were over he was back in his -old office, once more drawing one thousand dollars a month?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span></p> - -<p>To a student of these campaigns, it seems as if business -has sensed, better than the preachers, the economic waste of -sin.</p> - -<p>A careful and discriminating thinker, the Rev. Joseph -H. Odell, D.D., formerly pastor of the Second Presbyterian -Church of Scranton, wrote an estimate of Billy Sunday and -his work for <cite>The Outlook</cite>, in which he explains why his -church, which had been opposed to the coming of the -evangelist, reversed its vote:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Testimony, direct and cumulative, reached the ears of -the same refined and reverent men and women. The young -business men, even those from the great universities, paused -to consider. The testimony that changed the attitudes of -the Church came from judges, lawyers, heads of corporations -and well-known society leaders in their respective communities. -The testimony was phenomenally concurrent in this: -that, while it did not endorse the revivalist's methods, or -accept his theological system, or condone his roughness and -rudeness, it proved that the preaching produced results.</p> - -<p>"Produced results!" Every one understood the phrase; -in the business world it is talismanic. As the result of the -Billy Sunday campaigns—anywhere and everywhere—drunkards -became sober, thieves became honest, multitudes -of people engaged themselves in the study of the Bible, -thousands confessed their faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour -of the world, and all the quiescent righteousness of the -community grew brave and belligerent against vice, intemperance, -gambling, and political dishonesty.</p> - -<p>During the last week of February I went to Pittsburgh -for the purpose of eliciting interest in the candidacy of J. Benjamin -Dimmick for the nomination of United States Senator. -Billy Sunday had closed his Pittsburgh campaign a few days -earlier. My task was easy. A group of practical politicians -met Mr. Dimmick at dinner. They were the men who had -worked the wards of Allegheny County on behalf of Penrose -and the liquor interests for years. Together they were worth -many thousands of votes to any candidate; in fact, they -were the political balance of power in that county. They -knew everything that men could know about the ballot, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -some things that no man should know. Solidly, resolutely, -and passionately they repudiated Penrose. "No one can get -our endorsement in Allegheny County, even for the office of -dog-catcher, who is not anti-booze and anti-Penrose," they -asserted. When asked the secret of their crusader-like zeal -against the alliance of liquor and politics, they frankly -ascribed it to Billy Sunday; they had been born again—no -idle phrase with them—in the vast whale-back tabernacle -under the preaching of the baseball evangelist.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Billy Sunday deals with the very springs of action; -he seeks to help men get right back to the furthermost -motives of the mind. "If you're born again, you won't -live knowingly in sin. This does not mean that a Christian -cannot sin, but that he does not want to sin." This truth -the evangelist illustrates by the difference between a hog -and a sheep. The sheep may fall into the mud, but it hates -it and scrambles out. A hog loves the mud and wallows -in it.</p> - -<p>Nobody can measure the results of the social forces -which this simple-thinking evangelist sets to work. His -own figure of the dwarf who could switch on the electric -lights in a room as easily as a giant, comes to mind. He has -sent into Christian work men who can do a kind of service -impossible to Sunday himself. Thus, one of Sunday's -converts out in Wichita, two years ago, was Henry J. -Allen, editor of <cite>The Beacon</cite> and Progressive candidate for -governor. Mr. Allen became a member of one of the -celebrated "Gospel Teams," which, since the Sunday -meetings, have been touring Kansas and neighboring states -and have won more than eleven thousand converts. It was -in a meeting held by this band that William Allen White, -the famous editor, author and publisher, took a definite -stand for Christ and Christian work. One of the most -interesting facts about Sunday's work is this one that the -three greatest editors in the State of Kansas today are his -direct or indirect converts. An "endless chain" letter -would be easier to overtake than the effects of a Sunday -revival campaign.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span></p> - -<p>In the face of the mass of testimony of this sort is it -any wonder that business men deem a Sunday campaign -worth all it costs, merely as an ethical movement? The -quickest and cheapest way to improve morals and the morale -of a city is by a revival of religion. Thus it is illuminating -to learn that there were 650 fewer inmates in the Allegheny -County jail, during the period of the Sunday revival meetings, -than during the same time in the preceding year.</p> - -<p>From Pittsburgh also comes the remarkable story that -the Cambria Steel Company, one of the largest steel concerns -in the country, has established a religious department in -connection with its plant, and placed a regularly ordained -minister in charge of it. This as an avowed result of the -Sunday campaign.</p> - -<p>The Rev. Dr. Maitland Alexander, D.D., pastor of -the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, is sponsor for -this news, and he also declares that nine department stores -of Pittsburgh are now holding prayer-meetings every morning -at eight o'clock. These two statements are taken from -Dr. Alexander's address to a body of ministers in New York -City. He is reported to have said also:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Billy Sunday succeeded in moving the city of Pittsburgh -from one end to the other. That, to my mind, -was the greatest result of the meetings. It is easy to talk -about religion now in Pittsburgh. Men especially are thinking -of it as never before, and the great majority are no longer -in the middle of the road. They are on one side or the other. -I never knew a man who could speak to men with such -telling effect as Billy Sunday. I covet his ability to make men -listen to him.</p> - -<p>It was necessary in my own church, which when packed, -holds 3200 persons, to hold special meetings for different -groups, such as lawyers, doctors, bankers, etc., and they -were always crowded. In the big tabernacle, which was built -for the campaign and holds more than 20,000 persons, the -men from the big steel shops, after the second week, came in -bodies of from one to three thousand, in many cases headed -by their leading officers.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span></p> - -<p>Dr. Alexander said that up to the time of this address -the Sunday campaign had added 419 members to his own -church.</p> - -<p>One of the striking consequences of the Sunday campaign -in Scranton was the development of the "Garage -Bible Class." This was originally a Wilkes-Barre poker -club. As the story was told by Mr. William Atherton, a -Wilkes-Barre attorney, to the same New York meeting that -Dr. Alexander addressed, the Garage Bible Class was -originally a group of wealthy men meeting at different -homes every week for a poker game. One man bet a friend -fifteen dollars that he wouldn't go to hear Billy Sunday. -One by one, however, the men found themselves unable -to resist the lure of the Tabernacle. As a result the poker -club was abandoned, and in a garage belonging to one of -the men they organized a Bible class which now has about -a hundred members. They have adopted a rule that no -Christian shall be added to their ranks. They make their -own Christians out of the unconverted.</p> - -<p>From this episode one gets some conception of the tug -and pull of the Sunday Tabernacle. The temptation to -attend becomes well nigh irresistible. All the streams of -the community life flow toward the great edifice where the -baseball evangelist enunciates his simple message. A -writer in <cite>The Churchman</cite> said, following the Pittsburgh -campaign:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>This evangelist made religion a subject of ordinary -conversation. People talked about their souls as freely as -about their breakfast. He went into the homes of the rich, -dropped his wildness of speech, and made society women cry -with shame and contrition. One's eternal welfare became -the topic of the dinner table, not only in the slums but in the -houses of fashion. It sounds incredible, and it is not a fact -to be grasped by the mere reading of it, but the citizens of -Pittsburgh forgot to be ashamed to mention prayer and -forgiveness of sin; the name of Christ began to be used with -simpleness and readiness and reverence by men who, two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> -months ago, employed it only as a by-word. City politicians -came forward in the meeting and asked for prayer. -The daily newspapers gave more space to salvation than they -did to scandal, not for one day, but for day after day and -week after week. As a mere spectacle of a whole modern -city enthralled by the Gospel it was astonishing, unbelievable, -unprecedented, prodigious.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Because he preaches both to employers and to employed, -Sunday is able to apply the healing salt of the gospel at the -point of contact between the two. From Columbus it is -reported that a number of business men voluntarily increased -the wages of their helpers, especially the women, because of -the evangelist's utterances.</p> - -<p>A horse jockey out West reached the core of the matter -when he said to a friend of mine concerning Billy Sunday, -"He sets people to thinking about other people." There -you have the genesis and genius and goal of social service. -No other force that operates among men is equal to the -inspirations and inhibitions of the Christian religion in the -minds of individuals. The greatest service that can be -done to any community is to set a considerable proportion -of its people to endeavoring honestly to live out the ideals -of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>It is simply impossible to enumerate anything like a -representative number of incidents of the community value -of Billy Sunday's work. They come from every angle and -in the most unexpected ways. A banker, who is not a -member of any church, showed me the other day a letter -he had received from a man who had defrauded him out of -a small sum of money years before. The banker had never -known anything about the matter and did not recall the -man's name. What did amaze him, and set him to showing -the letter to all of his friends, was this man's restitution, -accompanied by an outspoken testimony to his new discipleship -to Jesus Christ, upon which he had entered at the -inspiration of Billy Sunday.</p> - -<p>The imagination is stirred by a contemplation of what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> -these individual cases of regeneration imply. Consider the -homes reunited; consider the happy firesides that once were -the scene of misery; measure, if you can, the new joy that -has come to tens of thousands of lives in the knowledge -that they have given themselves unreservedly to the service -of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>The dramatic, human side of it strikes one ever and -anon. I chanced to see a young man "hit the trail" at -Scranton whose outreachings I had later opportunity to -follow. The young man is the only son of his parents and -the hope of two converging family lines. Grandparents -and parents, uncles and aunts, have pinned all of their -expectations on this one young man. He was a youth of -parts and of force and a personality in the community. -When, on the night of which I write, he came forward up the -"sawdust trail" to grasp the evangelist's hand, his aged -grandfather and his mother wept tears of joy. The grandfather -himself also "hit the trail" at the Scranton meetings -and has since spent his time largely in Christian work. It -is impossible to say how this young man's future might -have spelled sorrow or joy for the family circle that had -concentrated their hopes on him. But now it is clear that -his conversion has brought to them all a boon such as money -could not have bought nor kings conferred.</p> - -<p>One of the countless instances that may be gleaned in -any field of Sunday's sowing was related to me the other -evening by a business man, who, like others, became a -protagonist of Sunday by going through one of his campaigns. -In his city there was a cultivated, middle-aged -German, a well-known citizen, who was an avowed atheist. -He openly scoffed at religion. He was unable, however, -to resist the allurement of the Sunday meetings, and he -went with his wife one night merely to "see the show." -That one sermon broke down the philosophy of years, and -the atheist and his wife became converts of Billy Sunday. -His three sons followed suit, so that the family of five -adults were led into the Christian life by this evangelist<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -untaught of the schools. One of the sons is now a member -of the State Y. M. C. A. Committee.</p> - -<p>A western business man, who is interested in the -Young Men's Christian Association, told me that one cold, -rainy winter's day he happened into the Association Building -in Youngstown, Ohio. He found a crowd of men -streaming into a meeting, and because the day was so -unpropitious, he asked the character of the gathering. He -was told that it was the regular meeting of the Christian -Workers' Band, gathered to report on the week's activities. -The men had been converted to Christ, or to Christian -work, by Billy Sunday, and their meeting had continued -ever since, although it was more than a year since the -evangelist's presence in Youngstown. Said my friend, -"That room was crowded. One after another the men -got up and told what definite Christian work they had -been doing in the previous seven days. The record was -wonderful. They had been holding all sorts of meetings -in all sorts of places, and had been doing a variety of -personal work besides, so that there were a number of -converts to be reported at this meeting I attended." To -have set that force in operation so that it would continue -to work with undiminished zeal after twelve months of -routine existence, was a greater achievement than to -preach one of the Billy Sunday sermons.</p> - -<p>There is a sufficient body of evidence to show that the -work of Billy Sunday does not end when the evangelist -leaves the community. He has created a vogue for religion -and for righteousness. The crowd spirit has been called -forth to the service of the Master. Young people and old -have been given a new and overmastering interest in life. -They have something definite to do for the world and a -definite crowd with which to ally themselves.</p> - -<p>One result has been a tremendous growth of Bible -classes for men and women and a manifestation of the -crusader spirit which makes itself felt in cleaned-up communities -and in overthrown corruption in politics. So far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> -as the Billy Sunday campaigns may be said to have a badge, -it is the little red and white bull's eye of the Organized -Adult Bible Classes.</p> - -<p>Six months after the Scranton campaign five thousand -persons attended a "Trail Hitters'" picnic, where the day's -events were scheduled under two headings, "athletic" and -"prayer." When wholesome recreation comes thus to be -permeated with the spirit of clean and simple devotion -something like an ideal state of society has come to pass for -at least one group of people.</p> - -<p>In more ways than the one meant by his critics, Sunday's -work is sensational. What could be more striking -than the visit on Sunday, October 25, 1914, of approximately -a thousand trail-hitters from Scranton to the -churches of Philadelphia, to help prepare them for their -approaching Sunday campaign? Special trains were necessary -to bring this great detachment of men the distance -of three hundred miles. They went forth in bands of -four, being distributed among the churches of the city, to -hold morning and evening services, and in the afternoon -conducting neighborhood mass meetings. These men were -by no means all trained speakers, but they were witness-bearers; -and their testimony could scarcely fail to produce -a powerful influence upon the whole city. That, on a -large scale, is what Sunday converts are doing in a multitude -of places.</p> - -<p>To close this chapter as it began, the truth stands out -that Billy Sunday has set a host of people to thinking that -this world's problems are to be solved, and its betterment -secured, not by any new-fangled methods, but along the old -and tested line of transforming individual characters through -the redeeming power of the crucified Son of God. Salvation -is surest social service.</p> - -<p>The great evangelist's sermons are filled with the life -stories of the men and women he has saved. The following -is only one of many:</p> - -<p>"I was at one time in a town in Nebraska and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -people kept telling me about one man. 'There is one -man here, if you can get him he is good for one hundred -men for Christ.' I said: 'Who is he?'</p> - -<p>"'John Champenoy. He is the miller.' I said to Mr. -Preston, who was then a minister: 'Have you been to see -him?' 'No.' I asked another minister if he had been to -see the fellow and he said no. I asked the United Presbyterian -preacher (they have a college out there), and he said -no, he hadn't been around to see him.</p> - -<p>"I said: 'Well, I guess I'll go around to see him.' I -found the fellow seated in a chair teetered back against -the wall, smoking. I said: 'Is this Mr. Champenoy?' -'Yes, sir, that's my name.' He got up and took me by the -hand. I said: 'My name is Sunday; I'm down at the -church preaching. A good many have been talking to me -about you and I came down to see you and ask you to give -your heart to God.' He looked at me, walked to the cupboard, -opened the door, took out a half-pint flask of whisky -and threw it out on a pile of stones.</p> - -<p>"He then turned around, took me by the hand, and as -the tears rolled down his cheeks he said: 'I have lived in -this town nineteen years and you are the first man that has -ever asked me to be a Christian.'</p> - -<p>"He said: 'They point their finger at me and call me an -old drunkard. They don't want my wife around with their -wives because her husband is a drunkard. Their children -won't play with our babies. They go by my house to Sunday -school and church, but they never ask us to go. They -pass us by. I never go near the church. I am a member -of the lodge. I am a Mason and I went to the church eleven -years ago when a member of the lodge died, but I've never -been back and I said I never would go.'</p> - -<p>"I said: 'You don't want to treat the Church that way. -God isn't to blame, is he?'</p> - -<p>"'No.'</p> - -<p>"'The Church isn't to blame, is it?'</p> - -<p>"'No.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span></p> - -<p>"'Christ isn't to blame?'</p> - -<p>"'No.'</p> - -<p>"'You wouldn't think much of me if I would walk up and -slap your wife because you kept a dog I didn't like, would -you? Then don't slap God in the face because there are -some hypocrites in the Church that you don't like and who -are treating you badly. God is all right. He never treated -you badly. Come up and hear me preach, will you, John?'</p> - -<p>"'Yes, I'll come tonight.'</p> - -<p>"I said: 'All right, the Lord bless you and I will pray for -you.' He came; the seats were all filled and they crowded -him down the side aisle. I can see him now standing there, -with his hat in his hand, leaning against the wall looking at -me. He never took his eyes off me. When I got through -and gave the invitation he never waited for them to let him -out. He walked over the backs of the seats, took his stand -for Jesus Christ, and in less than a week seventy-eight men -followed him into the kingdom of God. They elected that -man chairman of the civic federation and he cleaned the -town up for Jesus Christ and has led the hosts of righteousness -from then until now. Men do care to talk about Jesus -Christ and about their souls. 'No man cares for my soul.' -That's what's the trouble. They are anxious and waiting -for some one to come."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> - -<small>Giving the Devil His Due</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I know there is a devil for two reasons; first, the Bible declares it; and -second I have done business with him.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">The</span> Prince of Darkness was no more real to Martin -Luther, when he flung his ink-well at the devil, than -he is to Billy Sunday. He seems never long out of -the evangelist's thought. Sunday regards him as his most -personal and individual foe. Scarcely a day passes that he -does not direct his attention publicly to the devil. He -addresses him and defies him, and he cites Satan as a sufficient -explanation for most of the world's afflictions.</p> - -<p>There are many delicate shadings and degrees and -differentiations in theology—but Billy Sunday does not -know them. He never speaks in semitones, nor thinks in -a nebulous way. His mind and his word are at one with his -baseball skill—a swift, straight passage between two points. -With him men are either sheep or goats; there are no -hybrids. Their destination is heaven or hell, and their -master is God or the devil.</p> - -<p>He believes in the devil firmly, picturesquely; and -fights him without fear. His characterizations of the devil -are hair-raising. As a matter of fact it is far easier for the -average man, close down to the ruck and red realities of -life, to believe in the devil, whose work he well knows, -than it is for the cloistered man of books. The mass of the -people think in the same sort of strong, large, elemental -terms as Billy Sunday. The niceties of language do not -bother them; they are the makers and users of that fluid -speech called slang.</p> - -<p>William A. Sunday is an elemental. Sophistication -would spoil him. He is dead sure of a few truths of first -magnitude. He believes without reservation or qualifica<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span>tion -in the Christ who saved him and reversed his life's -direction. Upon this theme he has preached to millions. -Also he is sure that there is a devil, and he rather delights -in telling old Satan out loud what he thinks of him. Meanness, -in Satan, sinner or saint, he hates and says so in the -language of the street, which the common people understand. -He usually perturbs some fastidious folk who think -that literary culture and religion are essentially interwoven.</p> - -<p>Excoriation of the devil is not Sunday's masterpiece. -He reaches his height in exaltation of Jesus Christ. He is -surer of his Lord than he is of the devil. It is his bed-rock -belief that Jesus can save anybody, from the gutter bum to -the soul-calloused, wealthy man of the world, and make -them both new creatures. With heart tenderness and really -yearning love he holds aloft the Crucified as the world's -only hope. That is why his gospel breaks hearts of stone -and makes Bible-studying, praying church workers out of -strange assortments of humanity.</p> - -<p>The following passages will show how familiarly and -frequently Sunday treats of the devil:</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"DEVIL" PASSAGES</p> - -<p>The devil isn't anybody's fool. You can bank on -that. Plenty of folks will tell you there isn't any devil—that -he is just a figure of speech; a poetic personification of -the sin in our natures. People who say that—and especially -all the time-serving, hypocritical ministers who say it—are -liars. They are calling the Holy Bible a lie. I'll believe -the Bible before I'll believe a lot of time-serving, societyfied, -tea-drinking, smirking preachers. No, sir! You take -God's word for it, there is a devil, and a big one, too.</p> - -<p>Oh, but the devil is a smooth guy! He always was, -and he is now. He is right on his job all the time, winter -and summer. Just as he appeared to Christ in the wilderness, -he is right in this tabernacle now, trying to make -you sinners indifferent to Christ's sacrifice for your salvation. -When the invitation is given, and you start to get<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> -up, and then settle back into your seat, and say, "I guess -I don't want to give way to a temporary impulse," that's -the real, genuine, blazing-eyed, cloven-hoofed, forked-tailed -old devil, hanging to your coat tail. He knows all your -weaknesses, and how to appeal to them.</p> - -<p>He knows about you and how you have spent sixty -dollars in the last two years for tobacco, to make your -home and the streets filthy, and that you haven't bought -your wife a new dress in two years, because you "can't -afford it"; and he knows about you, and the time and -money you spend on fool hats and card parties, doing what -you call "getting into society," while your husband is -being driven away from home by badly cooked meals, -and your children are running on the streets, learning to -be hoodlums.</p> - -<p>And he knows about you, too, sir, and what you get -when you go back of the drug-store prescription counter -to "buy medicine for your sick baby." And he knows -about you and the lie you told about the girl across the -street, because she is sweeter and truer than you are, and -the boys go to see her and keep away from you, you miserable -thrower of slime, dug out of your own heart of envy—yes, -indeed, the devil knows all about you.</p> - -<p>When the revival comes along and the Church of God -gets busy, you will always find the devil gets busy, too. -Whenever you find somebody that don't believe in the -devil you can bank on it that he has a devil in him bigger -than a woodchuck. When the Holy Spirit descended at -Pentecost the devil didn't do a thing but go around and -say that these fellows were drunk, and Peter got up and -made him mad by saying that it was too early in the day. -It was but the third hour. They had sense in those days; -it was unreasonable to find them drunk at the third hour -of the day. But now the fools sit up all night to booze.</p> - -<p>When you rush forward in God's work, the devil -begins to rush against you. There was a rustic farmer -walking through Lincoln Park and he saw the sign, "Beware -of pickpockets."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span></p> - -<p>"What do they want to put up a fool sign like that? -Everybody looks honest to me." He reached for his watch -to see what time it was and found it was gone. The pickpockets -always get in the pockets of those who think there -are no pickpockets around. Whenever you believe there -is a devil around, you can keep him out, but if you say -there isn't, he'll get you sure.</p> - -<p>The Bible says there is a devil; you say there is no -devil. Who knows the most, God or you? Jesus met a -real foe, a personal devil. Reject it or deny it as you may. -If there is no devil, why do you cuss instead of pray? -Why do you lie instead of telling the truth? Why don't -you kiss your wife instead of cursing her? You have just -got the devil in you, that is all.</p> - -<p>The devil is no fool; he is onto his job. The devil -has been practicing for six thousand years and he has never -had appendicitis, rheumatism or tonsilitis. If you get to -playing tag with the devil he'll beat you every clip.</p> - -<p>If I knew that all the devils in hell and all the devils -in Pittsburgh were sitting out in the pews and sneering -and jeering at me I'd shoot God's truth into their carcasses -anyway, and I propose to keep firing away at the devils -until by and by they come crawling out of their holes and -swear that they were never in them, but their old hides -would assay for lead and tan for chair bottoms.</p> - -<p>Men in general think very little of the devil and his -devices, yet he is the most formidable enemy the human -race has to contend with. There is only one attitude to -have toward him, and that is to hit him. Don't pick up -a sentence and smooth it and polish it and sugar-coat it, -but shy it at him with all the rough corners on.</p> - -<p>The devil has more sense than lots of little preachers.</p> - -<p>Jesus said: "It is written." He didn't get up and -quote Byron and Shakespeare. You get up and quote -that stuff, and the devil will give you the ha! ha! until -you're gray-haired. Give him the Word of God, and he -will take the count mighty quick. "It is written, thou -shall not tempt the Lord thy God."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span></p> - -<p>Don't you ever think for a minute that the devil -isn't on the job all the time. He has been rehearsing for -thousands of years, and when you fool around in his back -yard he will pat you on the back and tell you that you -are "IT."</p> - -<p>I'll fight the devil in my own way and I don't want -people to growl that I am not doing it right.</p> - -<p>The devil comes to me sometimes. Don't think that -because I am a -preacher the devil -doesn't bother me -any. The devil -comes around regularly, -and I put -on the gloves and -get busy right -away.</p> - -<p>I owe God -everything; I owe -the devil nothing -except the best -fight I can put up -against him.</p> - -<p>I assault the -devil's stronghold -and I expect no -quarter and I give -him none.</p> - - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_186.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">I am Against Everything that the Devil -is in Favor of</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>I am in favor -of everything the devil is against, and I am against everything -the devil is in favor of—the dance, the booze, the -brewery, my friends that have cards in their homes. I am -against everything that the devil is in favor of, and I favor -everything the devil is against, no matter what it is. If -you know which side the devil is on, put me down on the -other side any time.</p> - -<p>Hell is the highest reward that the devil can offer -you for being a servant of his.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span></p> - -<p>The devil's got a lot more sense than some of you -preachers I know, and a lot of you old skeptics, who quote -Shakespeare and Carlyle and Emerson and everybody and -everything rather than the Bible.</p> - -<p>When you hear a preacher say that he doesn't believe -there is a devil, you can just bet your hat that he never -preaches repentance. The men who do any preaching on -repentance know there is a devil, for they hear him roar.</p> - -<p>I drive the same kind of nails all orthodox preachers -do. The only difference is that they use a tack hammer -and I use a sledge.</p> - -<p>The preacher of today who is a humanitarian question -point is preaching to empty benches.</p> - -<p>I do not want to believe and preach a lie. I would -rather believe and preach a truth, no matter how unpleasant -it is, than to believe and preach a pleasant lie. I believe -there is a hell. If I didn't I wouldn't have the audacity -to stand up here and preach to you. If there ever comes -a time when I don't believe in hell I will leave the platform -before I will ever preach a sermon with that unbelief -in my heart. I would rather believe and preach a truth, -no matter how unpleasant, than to believe and preach a -lie simply for the friendship and favor of some people.</p> - -<p>The man that preaches the truth is your friend. I -have no desire to be any more broad or liberal than Jesus, -not a whit, and nobody has any right, either, and claim -to be a preacher. Is a man cruel that tells you the truth? -The man that tells you there is no hell is the cruel man, -and the man that tells you there is a hell is your friend. -So it's a kindness to point out the danger. God's ministers -have no business to hold back the truth.</p> - -<p>I don't believe you can remember when you heard -a sermon on hell. Well, you'll hear about hell while I am -here. God Almighty put hell in the Bible and any preacher -that sidesteps it because there are people sitting in the pews -who don't like it, ought to get out of the pulpit. He is -simply trimming his sails to catch a passing breeze of -popularity.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> - -<small>Critics and Criticism</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Some preachers need the cushions of their chairs upholstered oftener -than they need their shoes half-soled.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">It</span> is only when the bull's eye is hit that the bell rings. -The preacher who never gets a roar out of the forces -of unrighteousness may well question whether he is -shooting straight. One of the most significant tributes to -the Evangelist Sunday is the storm of criticism which rages -about his head. It is clear that at least he and his message -are not a negligible quantity.</p> - -<p>This book certainly holds no brief for the impeccability -and invulnerability of Billy Sunday. Yet we cannot be -blind to the fact he has created more commotion in the -camp of evil than any other preacher of his generation. -Christians are bound to say "We love him for the enemies -he has made." He hits harder at all the forces that hurt -humanity and hinder godliness than any other living -warrior of God.</p> - -<p>The forces of evil pay Billy Sunday the compliment of -an elaborately organized and abundantly financed assault -upon him. He is usually preceded and followed in his -campaigns by systematic attacks which aim to undermine -and discredit him. A weekly paper, issued in Chicago, -appears to be devoted wholly to the disparaging of Billy -Sunday.</p> - -<p>In rather startling juxtaposition to that statement is -the other that many ministers have publicly attacked -Sunday. This is clearly within their right. He is a public -issue and fairly in controversy. As he claims the right of -free speech for himself he cannot deny it to others. Some -of his critics among the clergy object to evangelism in -general, some to his particular methods, some to his forms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -of speech, some to his theology; but nobody apparently -objects to his results.</p> - -<p>During the past year there has arisen a tendency to -abate this storm of clerical criticism, for it has been found -that it is primarily serving the enemies of the Church. -Whatever Billy Sunday's shortcomings, he is unquestionably -an ally of the Kingdom of Heaven and an enemy of -sin. His motives and his achievements are both aligned -on the side of Christ and his Church. A host of ministers -of fine judgment who are grieved by some of the evangelist's -forms of speech and some of his methods, have yet withheld -their voices from criticism because they do not want -to fire upon the Kingdom's warriors from the rear. Sunday -gets results for God; therefore, reason they, why -should we attack him?</p> - -<p>There is another side to this shield of criticism. -There is no religious leader of our day who has such a host -of ardent defenders and supporters as Billy Sunday. The -enthusiasm of myriads for this man is second only to their -devotion to Christ. Wherever he goes he leaves behind -him a militant body of protagonists. He is championed -valiantly and fearlessly.</p> - -<p>So vigorous is this spirit which follows in the wake of a -Sunday campaign that in a certain large city where the -ministers of one denomination had publicly issued a statement -disapproving of Mr. Sunday, their denomination has -since suffered seriously in public estimation.</p> - -<p>Some anonymous supporter of Billy Sunday has issued -a pamphlet made up exclusively of quotations from Scripture -justifying Sunday and his message. He quotes such -pertinent words as these:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with -excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the -testimony of God.</p> - -<p>For I determined not to know any thing among you, save -Jesus Christ, and him crucified.</p> - -<p>And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in -much trembling.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span></p> - -<p>And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing -words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit -and of power;</p> - -<p>That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, -but in the power of God.</p> - -<p>For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the -gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ -should be made of none effect.</p> - -<p>For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish -foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of -God.</p> - -<p>For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, -and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.</p> - -<p>Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the -disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom -of this world?</p> - -<p>For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom -knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching -to save them that believe.</p> - -<p>For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after -wisdom:</p> - -<p>But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, -and unto the Greeks foolishness;</p> - -<p>But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, -Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.</p> - -<p>Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and -the weakness of God is stronger than men.</p> - -<p>For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many -wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, -are called:</p> - -<p>But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world -to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things -of the world to confound the things which are mighty;</p> - -<p>And base things of the world, and things which are -despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, -to bring to nought things that are.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A great marvel is that this unconventional preacher -has enlisted among his supporters a host of intellectual and -spiritual leaders of our time. The churches of the country,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> -broadly speaking, are for him, and so are their pastors. -This might be attributed to partisanship, for certainly -Sunday is promoting the work of the Church; but what is -to be said when Provost Edgar F. Smith of the University -of Pennsylvania comes out in an unqualified endorsement -of the man and his work; or such an acute lawyer and distinguished -churchman as George Wharton Pepper of Philadelphia, -well known in the councils of the Protestant Episcopal -Church, gives his hearty approval to Sunday?</p> - -<p>Consider the letter which Secretary of State Bryan -wrote to Sunday after hearing him at the Pittsburgh Tabernacle:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Secretary of State.</span></p> - -<p class="right"> -Washington, January 12, 1914.<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Sunday</span>: Having about four hours in Pittsburgh -last night, my wife and I attended your meeting and so -we heard and felt the powerful sermon which you delivered. -We noted the attention of that vast audience and watched -the people, men and women, old and young, who thronged -about you in response to your appeal. Mrs. Bryan had never -heard you, and I had heard only a short afternoon address. -Last night you were at your best. I cannot conceive of your -surpassing that effort in effectiveness.</p> - -<p>Do not allow yourself to be disturbed by criticism. -God is giving you souls for your hire and that is a sufficient -answer. Christ called attention to the fact that both he -and John the Baptist had to meet criticism because they were -so much unlike in manner. No man can do good without -making enemies, but yours as a rule will be among those who -do not hear you. Go on, and may the Heavenly Father -use you for many years to come, as he has for many years -past, and bring multitudes to know Christ as he presented -himself when he said, "I am the way, the truth and the life."</p> - -<p>Am sorry we could not see you personally, but we left -because we found that we were discovered. Some insisted -upon shaking hands and I was afraid I might become a -cause of disturbance. Mrs. Bryan joins me in regards to -Mrs. Sunday and yourself.</p> - -<p class="center"> -Yours truly,</p> -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">W. J. Bryan</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span></p> - -<p>One need be surprised at nothing in connection with -such a personality as Billy Sunday, yet surely there is no -precedent for this resolution, adopted by the Pittsburgh -City Council, while he was in that city:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Whereas</span>, The Rev. William A. Sunday and his party -have been in the city of Pittsburgh for the past eight weeks, -conducting evangelistic services, and the Council of the -city being convinced of the immense good which has been -accomplished through his work for morality, good citizenship -and religion, therefore be it</p> - -<p><em>Resolved</em>, That the Council of the city of Pittsburgh -express its utmost confidence in Mr. Sunday and all of the -members of his party; and be it further</p> - -<p><em>Resolved</em>, That it does hereby express to them its -appreciation of all the work that has been done, and extends -to Mr. Sunday its most cordial wishes for his future success.</p></blockquote> - -<p>While the adverse critics are doing all in their power to -discredit him as he goes from place to place, Sunday's friends -also are not idle. In Scranton, for instance, before the -campaign opened, men in nearly all walks of life received -letters from men in corresponding callings in Pittsburgh -bearing tribute to Billy Sunday. Thus, bankers would -inclose in their correspondence from Pittsburgh an earnest -recommendation of Sunday and a suggestion that the -bankers of Scranton stand squarely to his support. The -local Scranton plumber heard from a plumbers' supply -house; labor union men heard from their fellows in Pittsburgh; -lawyers and doctors, and a host of business men, had -letters from personal friends in Pittsburgh, telling what -Sunday had done for that community, and in many cases -bearing personal testimony to what his message had meant -to the writers.</p> - -<p>This is nearer to effective organization than the Christian -forces of the country commonly get. This form of -propaganda did not bulk large in the public eye, but it -created a splendid undercurrent of sentiment; for Banker<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span> -Jones could say: "I have it straight from Banker Smith of -Pittsburgh, whom I know to be a level-headed man, that -Sunday is all right, and that he does nothing but good for -the city."</p> - -<p>Still more novel than this was the expedition sent by -a great daily newspaper to hear the evangelist in Scranton. -There is no parallel in the history of Christian work for the -deputation of more than two hundred pastors who went -to Scranton from Philadelphia. These went entirely at the -charges of the Philadelphia <cite>North American</cite>, being carried -in special trains. The railroad company recognized the -significance of this unusual occasion, and both ways the -train broke records for speed.</p> - -<p>While in the city of Scranton the ministers were the -guests of the Scranton churches. They had special space -reserved for them in the Tabernacle and their presence drew -the greatest crowds that were experienced during the Scranton -campaign. Of course thousands were turned away. -Nobody who saw and heard it will ever forget the way that -solid block of Philadelphia pastors stood up and sang in -mighty chorus "I Love to Tell the Story."</p> - -<p>Between sessions these Philadelphia ministers were -visiting their brethren in Scranton, learning in most detailed -fashion what the effects of the Sunday campaign had been. -Whenever they gathered in public assemblies they sounded -the refrain, which grew in significance from day to day: -"I Love to Tell the Story." Billy Sunday fired the evangelistic -purpose of these pastors.</p> - -<p>When this unique excursion was ended, and the company -had de-trained at the Reading Terminal, the ministers, -without pre-arrangement, gathered in a body in the train -shed and lifted their voices in the refrain "I Love to Tell the -Story," while hundreds and thousands of hurrying city folk, -attracted by the unwonted music, gathered to learn what -this could possibly mean.</p> - -<p>A new militancy was put into the preaching of these -clergymen by their Scranton visit; and many of them later<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> -reported that the largest congregations of all their ministerial -experience were those which gathered to hear them report -on the Sunday evangelistic campaign. Not a few of the -preachers had to repeat their Billy Sunday sermons. Needless -to say, an enthusiastic and urgent invitation to Sunday -to come to Philadelphia to conduct a campaign, -followed this demonstration on the part of the daily newspaper.</p> - -<p>That there is a strategic value in rallying all the churches -about one man was demonstrated by the Methodists of -Philadelphia on this occasion. Bishop Joseph F. Berry had -heartily indorsed the project, and had urged all of -the Methodist pastors who could possibly do so to accept -the <cite>North American's</cite> invitation. The Methodist delegation -was an enthusiastic unit. When they returned to -Philadelphia a special issue of the local Methodist paper was -issued, and in this thirty-two articles appeared, each written -by an aroused pastor who had been a member of the -delegation. Incidentally, all of the city papers, as well as -the religious press of a very wide region, reported this -extraordinary pilgrimage of more than two hundred pastors -to a distant city to hear an evangelist preach the gospel. A -reflex of this was the return visit, some months later, of a -thousand "trail-hitters" to speak in Philadelphia pulpits.</p> - -<p>Before leaving the subject of the criticism of Sunday, -pro and con, it should be insisted that no public man or -institution should be free from the corrective power of public -opinion, openly expressed. This is one of the wholesome -agencies of democracy. Mr. Sunday himself is not -slow to express his candid opinion of the Church, the ministry, -and of society at large. It would be a sad day for him -should all critical judgment upon his work give way to unreasoning -adulation.</p> - -<p>The best rule to follow in observing the evangelist's -ministry is, "Never judge unfinished work." Only a -completed campaign should pass in review before the critics; -only the whole substance of the man's message; only the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> -entire effect of his work upon the public. Partial judgments -are sure to be incorrect judgments.</p> - -<p>Billy Sunday succeeds in making clear to all his hearers—indeed -he impresses them so deeply that the whole city talks -of little else for weeks—that God has dealings with every -man; and that God cares enough about man to provide for -him a way of escape from the terrible reality of sin, that way -being Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>When a preacher succeeds in lodging that conviction -in the minds of the multitudes, he is heaven's messenger. -Whether he speak in Choctaw, Yiddish, Bostonese or in the -slang of Chicago, is too trivial a matter to discuss. We do -not inspect the wardrobe or the vocabulary of the hero who -rides before the flood, urging the people to safety in the -hills.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">PLAIN SPEECH FROM SUNDAY HIMSELF</p> - -<p>The hour is come; come for something else. It has -come for plainness of speech on the part of the preacher. -If you have anything to antagonize, out with it; specify sins -and sinners. You can always count on a decent public to -right a wrong, and any public that won't right a wrong is -a good one to get out of.</p> - -<p>Charles Finney went to Europe to preach, and in London -a famous free-thinker's wife went to hear him. The free-thinker's -wife noticed a great change in him; he was more -kind, more affectionate, more affable, less abusive and she -said, "I know what is the matter with you; you have been -to hear that man from America preach." And he said, -"Wife, that is an insult; that man Finney don't preach; he -just makes plain what the other fellows preach." Now the -foremost preacher of his day was Paul. What he preached -of his day was not so much idealism as practicality; not -so much theology, homiletics, exegesis or didactics, but a -manner of life. I tell you there was no small fuss about his -way of teaching. When Paul was on the job the devil -was awake. There is a kind of preaching that will never -arouse the devil.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span></p> - -<p>"He that believeth not is condemned already." He -that has not believed in Jesus Christ, the only begotten son -of God, is condemned where he sits.</p> - -<p>Too much of the preaching of today is too nice; too -pretty; too dainty; it does not kill. Too many sermons -are just given for literary excellence of the production. -They get a nice adjective or noun, or pronoun—you cannot -be saved by grammar. A little bit of grammar is all right, -but don't be a big fool and sit around and criticize because -the preacher gets a word wrong—if you do that your head -is filled with buck oysters and sawdust, if that is all that you -can use it for.</p> - -<p>They've been crying peace. There is no peace. Some -people won't come to hear me because they are afraid to -hear the truth. They want deodorized, disinfected sermons. -They are afraid to be stuck over the edge of the pit and get -a smell of the brimstone. You can't get rid of sin as long -as you treat it as a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake. You -can't brush sin away with a feather duster. Go ask the -drunkard who has been made sober whether he likes "Bill." -Go ask the girl who was dragged from the quagmire of shame -and restored to her mother's arms whether she likes "Bill." -Go ask the happy housewife who gets the pay envelope every -Saturday night instead of its going to the filthy saloon-keeper -whether she's for "Bill." Some people say, "Oh, -he's sensational." Nothing would be more sensational than -if some of you were suddenly to become decent. I would -rather be a guide-post than a tombstone.</p> - -<p>I repeat that everybody who is decent or wants to be -decent, will admire you when you preach the truth, although -you riddle them when you do it. The hour is come, my -friend. The hour is come to believe in a revival. Some -people do not believe in revivals; neither does the devil; -so you are like your daddy.</p> - -<p>I can see those disciples praying, and talking and having -a big time. There are many fool short-sighted ministers -who are satisfied if they can only draw a large crowd. Some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> -are as crazy after sensations as the yellowest newspaper -that ever came off the press. That's the reason we have -these sermons on "The Hobble Skirt" and "The Merry -Widow Hat" and other such nonsensical tommyrot. If -there were not so many March-hare sort of fellows breaking -into pulpits you would have to sweat more and work harder. -There are some of you that have the devil in you. Maybe -you don't treat your wife square. Maybe you cheat in your -weights. Get rid of the devil. What does it matter if you -pack a church to the roof if nothing happens to turn the -devil pale? What is the use of putting chairs in the aisles -and out the doors?</p> - -<p>The object of the Church is to cast out devils.</p> - -<p>The devil has more sense than lots of little preachers. -I have been unfortunate enough to know D.D.'s and LL.D.'s -sitting around whittling down the doctrine of the personality -of the devil to as fine a point as they know how. You are a -fool to listen to them. The devil is no fool, he is no four-flusher. -He said to Christ: "If you are a God, act like it; -if you are a man, and believe the Scriptures, act as one who -believes."</p> - -<p>John the Baptist wasn't that kind of a preacher. Jesus -Christ wasn't that kind of a preacher. The apostles weren't -that kind of preachers—except old Judas. John the Baptist -opened the Bible right in the middle and preached the word -of God just as he found it, and he didn't care whether the -people liked it or not. That wasn't his business. I tell -you, John the Baptist stirred up the devil. If any minister -doesn't believe in a personal devil it's because he has never -preached a sermon on repentance, or he'd have heard him -roar. Yes, sir. If there's anything that will make the devil -roar it is a sermon on repentance.</p> - -<p>You can preach sociology, or psychology, or any other -kind of ology, but if you leave Jesus Christ out of it you hit -the toboggan slide to hell.</p> - -<p>I'll preach against any minister who is preaching -false doctrines. I don't give a rap who he is. I'll turn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> -my guns loose against him, and don't you forget that. Any -man who is preaching false doctrines to the people and vomiting -out false doctrines to them will hear from me. I want -to say that the responsibility for no revivals in our cities and -towns has got to be laid at the doors of the ministry. Preachers -sit fighting their sham battles of different denominations, -through their cussedness, inquiring into fol-da-rol and tommyrot, -and there sits in the pews of the church that miserable -old scoundrel who rents his property out for a saloon and -is going to hell; and that other old scoundrel who rents his -houses for houses of ill fame and is living directly on the -proceeds of prostitution, and he doesn't preach against it. -He is afraid he will turn the men against him. He is afraid -of his job. They are a lot of backsliders and the whole -bunch will go to hell together. They are afraid to come out -against it.</p> - -<p>I'll tell you what's the matter. Listen to me. The -Church of God has lost the spirit of concern today largely -because of the ministry—that's what's the matter with -them. I'll allow no man or woman to go beyond me in -paying tribute to culture. I don't mean this miserable "dog" -business, shaking hands with two fingers. The less brains -some people have the harder they try to show you that they -have some, or think they have. I allow no man to go beyond -me in paying tribute to real, genuine culture, a tribute to -intellectual greatness; but when a man stands in the pulpit -to preach he has got to be a man of God. He has got to -speak with the passion for souls. If you sleep in the time -of a revival God Almighty will wake you up.</p> - -<p>There are lots of preachers who don't know Jesus. -They know about him, but they don't know him. Experience -will do more than forty million theories. I can experiment -with religion just the same as I can with water. No -two knew Him exactly alike, but all loved Him. All would -have something to say.</p> - -<p>Now for you preachers. When a man prays "Thy -Kingdom Come" he will read the Bible to find out the way<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> -to make it come. The preacher who prays "Thy Kingdom -Come" will not get all his reading from the new books or -from the magazines. He will not try to please the highbrows -and in pleasing them miss the masses. He will not -try to tickle the palates of the giraffes and then let the sheep -starve. He will put his cookies on the lower shelf. He will -preach in a language that the commonest laborer can -understand.</p> - -<p>One of the prolific sources of unbelief and backsliding -today is a bottle-fed church, where the whole membership -lets the preacher do the studying of the Bible for them. -He will go to the pulpit with his mind full of his sermon and -they will come to the church with their minds filled with -society and last night's card-playing, beer-and-wine-drinking -and novel-reading party and will sit there half asleep. Many -a preacher reminds me of a great big nursing bottle, and there -are two hundred or three hundred rubber tubes, with nipples -on the end, running into the mouths of two hundred or three -hundred or four hundred great big old babies with whiskers -and breeches on, and hair pins stuck in their heads and rats -in their hair, sitting there, and they suck and draw from the -preacher. Some old sister gets the "Amusement" nipple in -her mouth and it sours her stomach, and up go her heels -and she yells. Then the preacher has to go around and sing -psalms to that big two-hundred-and-fifty-pound baby and -get her good-natured so that she will go back to church some -day.</p> - -<p>By and by some old whisky-voting church member -gets the "Temperance" nipple in his mouth and it sours his -stomach and up go his heels and he lets out a yell, throws -his hands across his abdominal region, and the preacher says, -"Whatever is the matter? If I hit you any place but the -heart or the head I apologize." The preacher has to be wet -nurse to about two hundred and fifty big babies that haven't -grown an inch since they came into the church.</p> - -<p>One reason why some preachers are not able to bring -many sinners to repentance is because they preach of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> -God so impotent that he can only throw down card houses -when all the signs are right! They decline to magnify his -power for fear they will overdo it! And if they accidentally -make a strong assertion as to his power, they immediately -neutralize it by "as it were," or "in a measure, perhaps!"</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_200.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">We've Got a Bunch of Preachers Breaking -Their Necks to Please a Lot of Old -Society Dames</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>You make a man feel as though God was stuck on him -and you'll be a -thirty-third degree -sort of a preacher -with that fellow.</p> - -<p>If some -preachers were as -true to their trust -as John the Baptist, -they might be -turned out to -grass, but they'd -lay up treasures -for themselves in -heaven.</p> - -<p>Clergymen will -find their authority -for out-of-the-ordinary -methods in -the lowering of a -paralytic through a -roof, as told of in -the Bible. If that -isn't sensationalism, then trot some out.</p> - -<p>If God could convert the preachers the world would be -saved. Most of them are a lot of evolutionary hot-air -merchants.</p> - -<p>We've got churches, lots of them. We've got preachers, -seminaries, and they are turning out preachers and putting -them into little theological molds and keeping them there -until they get cold enough to practice preaching.</p> - -<p>The reason some ministers are not more interested in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span> -their work is because they fail to realize that theirs is a -God-given mission.</p> - -<p>We've got a bunch of preachers breaking their necks -to please a lot of old society dames.</p> - -<p>Some ministers say, "If you don't repent, you'll die -and go to a place, the name of which I can't pronounce." -I can. You'll go to hell.</p> - -<p>There is not a preacher on earth that can preach a -better gospel than "Bill." I'm willing to die for the Church. -I'm giving my life for the Church.</p> - -<p>Your preachers would fight for Christ if some of you -fossilated, antiquated old hypocrites didn't snort and snarl -and whine.</p> - -<p>A godless cowboy once went to a brown-stone church—with -a high-toned preacher—I am a half-way house between -the brown-stone church and the Salvation Army. They -are both needed and so is the half-way house. Well, this -fellow went to one of these brown-stone churches and after -the preacher had finished the cowboy thought he had to go -up and compliment the preacher, as he saw others doing, -and so he sauntered down the aisle with his sombrero under -his arm, his breeches stuck in his boots, a bandana handkerchief -around his neck, his gun and bowie knife in his belt, -and he walked over and said: "Hanged if I didn't fight shy -of you fellows—but I'll tell you I sat here and listened to -you for an hour and you monkeyed less with religion than -any fellow I ever heard in my life." They have taken away -the Lord and don't know where to find him.</p> - -<p>You must remember that Jesus tells us to shine for God. -The trouble with some people and preachers is that they -try to shine rather than letting their light shine. Some -preachers put such a big capital "I" in front of the cross -that the sinner can't see Jesus. They want the glory. -They would rather be a comet than stars of Bethlehem.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a><br /> - -<small>A Clean Man on Social Sins</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>There are a good many things worse than living and dying an old maid, -and one of them is marrying the wrong man.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Sunday's</span> trumpet gives no uncertain sound on plain, -every-day righteousness. He is like an Old Testament -prophet in his passion for clean conduct. No -phase of his work is more notable than the zeal for right -living which he leaves behind him. His converts become -partisans of purity.</p> - -<p>Sunday's own mind is clean. He does not, as is sometimes -the case, make his pleas for purity a real ministry of -evil. In the guise of promoting purity he does not pander -to pruriency. As outspoken as the Bible upon social sin, -he yet leaves an impression so chaste that no father would -hesitate to take his boy to the big men's meeting which -Sunday holds in every campaign; and every woman who -has once heard him talk to women would be glad to have -her daughter hear him also.</p> - -<p>The verdict of all Christians who have studied conditions -in a community after one of the Sunday campaigns is -that Sunday has been like a thunder storm that has cleared -the moral atmosphere. Life is sweeter and safer and more -beautiful for boys and girls after this man has dealt plainly -with social sins and temptations. Of course, it is more -important to clean up a neighborhood's mind than its -streets.</p> - -<p>Even in cold print one may feel somewhat of the -power of the man's message on "The Moral Leper."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A PLAIN TALK TO MEN</p> - -<p>"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy -heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: -but know thou that for all these things God will bring -thee into judgment."</p> - -<p>"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever -a man soweth that shall he also reap."</p> - -<p>In other words, do just as you please; lie if you want -to, steal if you want to. God won't stop you, but he will -hold you responsible in the end. Do just as you please -until the end comes and the undertaker comes along and -pumps the embalming fluid into you and then you are -all in.</p> - -<p>No one is living in ignorance of what will become of -him if he does not go right and trot square. He knows -there is a heaven for the saved and a hell for the damned, -and that's all there is to it.</p> - -<p>Many men start out on a life of pleasure. Please -remember two things. First, pleasure soon has an end, -and, second, there is a day of judgment coming and you'll -get what's coming to you. God gives every man a -square deal.</p> - -<p>If a man stood up and told me he was going to preach -on the things I am this afternoon, I'd want him to answer -me several questions, and if he could do that I'd tell him -to go ahead.</p> - -<p>First—Are you kindly disposed toward me?</p> - -<p>Second—Are you doing this to help me?</p> - -<p>Third—Do you know what you're talking about?</p> - -<p>Fourth—Do you practice what you preach?</p> - -<p>That's fair. Well, for the first. God knows I am -kindly disposed toward you. Second, God knows I would -do anything in my power to help you be a better man. -I want to make it easier for you to be square, and harder -for you to go to hell. Third, I know what I'm talking -about, for I have the Bible to back me up in parts and the -statements of eminent physicians in other parts. And -fourth, "Do I practice what I preach?" I will defy and -challenge any man or woman on earth, and I'll look any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> -man in the eye and challenge him, in the twenty-seven -years I have been a professing Christian, to show anything -against me. If I don't live what I preach, gentlemen, I'll -leave the pulpit and never walk back here again. I live as -I preach and I defy the dirty dogs who have insulted me -and my wife and spread black-hearted lies and vilifications.</p> - -<p>I was born and bred on a farm and at the age of eleven -I held my place with men in the harvest field. When I -was only nine years old I milked ten cows every morning. -I know what hard knocks are. I have seen the seamy side -of life. I have crawled out of the sewers and squalor and -want. I have struggled ever since I was six years old, an -orphan son of a dead soldier, up to this pulpit this afternoon. -I know what it is to go to bed with an honest dollar in my -overalls pocket, when the Goddess of Liberty became a -Jenny Lind and the eagle on the other side became a nightingale -and they'd sing a poor, homeless orphan boy to sleep. -I'm not here to explode hot air and theories to you.</p> - -<p>Some men here in town, if their wives asked them if -they were coming down here, would say: "Oh no, I don't -want to go anywhere I can't take you, dear." The dirty -old dogs, they've been many a place they wouldn't take -their wife and they wouldn't even let her know they were -there.</p> - -<p>If sin weren't so deceitful it wouldn't be so attractive. -The effects get stronger and stronger while you get weaker -and weaker all the time, and there is less chance of breaking -away.</p> - -<p>Many think a Christian has to be a sort of dish-rag -proposition, a wishy-washy, sissified sort of a galoot that -lets everybody make a doormat out of him. Let me tell -you the manliest man is the man who will acknowledge -Jesus Christ.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Christian Character</p> - -<p>Christianity is the capital on which you build your -character. Don't you let the devil fool you. You never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> -become a man until you become a Christian. Christianity -is the capital on which you do business. It's your character -that gets you anything. Your reputation is what people -say about you, but your character is what God and your -wife and the angels know about you. Many have reputations -of being good, but their characters would make a -black mark on a piece of coal or tarred paper.</p> - -<p>I was over in Terre Haute, Indiana, not long ago, and -I was in a bank there admiring the beauty of it when the -vice-president, Mr. McCormick, a friend of mine, said: -"Bill, you haven't seen the vault yet," and he opened up the -vaults there, carefully contrived against burglars, and let -me in. There were three, and I wandered from one to -another. No one watched me. I could have filled my -pockets with gold or silver, but no one watched me. Why -did they trust me? Because they knew I was preaching -the gospel of Jesus Christ, and living up to it. That's why -they trusted me. There was a time in my life when a man -wouldn't trust me with a yellow dog on a corner fifteen -minutes.</p> - -<p>Before I was converted I could go five rounds so fast -you couldn't see me for the dust, and I'm still pretty handy -with my dukes and I can still deliver the goods with all -express charges prepaid. Before I was converted I could -run one hundred yards in ten seconds and circle the bases -in fourteen seconds, and I could run just as fast after I was -converted. So you don't have to be a dish-rag proposition -at all.</p> - -<p>When a person's acts affect only himself they can be -left to the conscience of the individual, but when they affect -others the law steps in. When a child has diphtheria, you -are not allowed personal liberty; you are quarantined, -because your personal liberty could endanger others if -exercised. So you haven't any right to live in sin. You say -you'll do it anyhow. All right, you'll go to hell, too. Adam -and Eve said they would eat the apple anyhow, and the -world became a graveyard, and here's the result today.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span></p> - -<p>I look out into the world and see a man living in sin. -I argue with him, I plead with him. I cry out warning words. -I brand that man with a black brand, whose iniquities are -responsible for the fall of others.</p> - -<p>No man lives to himself alone. I hurt or help others -by my life. When you go to hell you're going to drag some -one else down with you and if you go to heaven you're going -to take some one else with you. You say you hate sin. Of -course you do if you have self-respect. But you never saw -anyone who hates sin worse than I do, or loves a sinner -more than I. I'm fighting for the sinners. I'm fighting to save -your soul, just as a doctor fights to save your life from a -disease. I'm your friend, and you'll find that I'll not compromise -one bit with sin. I'll do anything to help you. -No man will argue that sin is a good thing. Not a one who -does not believe that the community would be better off if -there was no sin. I preach against vice to show you that it -will make your girl an outcast and your boy a drunkard. -I'm fighting everything that will lead to this and if I have to -be your enemy to fight it, God pity you, for I'm going to -fight. People do not fight sin until it becomes a vice.</p> - -<p>You say you're not afraid of sin. You ought to be, for -your children. It doesn't take boys long to get on the -wrong track, and while you are scratching gravel to make one -lap, your boy makes ten. We've got kids who have not yet -sprouted long breeches who know more about sin and vice -than Methuselah. There are little frizzled-top sissies not -yet sprouting long dresses who know more about vice than -did their great-grandmothers when they were seventy-five -years old. The girl who drinks will abandon her virtue. -What did Methuselah know about smoking cigarettes? I -know there are some sissy fellows out there who object to -my talking plain and know you shirk from talking plain.</p> - -<p>If any one ever tells you that you can't be virtuous and -enjoy good health, I brand him as a low, infamous, black-hearted -liar.</p> - -<p>Ask any afflicted man you see on the street. If you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> -could only reveal the heart of every one of them! In most -you would find despair and disease.</p> - -<p>How little he thinks when he is nursing that lust that -he is nursing a demon which, like a vampire, will suck his -blood and wreck his life and blacken and blight his existence. -And if any little children are born to him, they will be weak -anemics without the proper blood in their veins to support -them. Our young men ought to be taught that no sum they -can leave to a charitable institution can blot out the deeds -of an ignominious life. You don't have to look far for the -reason why so many young men fail; why they go through -life weak, ambitionless, useless.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Common Sense</p> - -<p>Let's be common folks together today. Let's be men, -and talk sense.</p> - -<p>As a rule a man wants something better for his children -than he has had for himself. My father died before I was -born and I lived with my grandfather. He smoked, but he -didn't want me to. He chewed, but he didn't want me to. -He drank, but he didn't want me to. He cussed, but he -didn't want me to. He made wine that would make a man -fight his own mother after he had drunk it. I remember how -I used to find the bottles and suck the wine through a straw -or an onion top.</p> - -<p>One day a neighbor was in and my grandfather asked -him for a chew. He went to hand it back, and I wanted -some. He said I couldn't have it. I said I wanted it anyhow, -and he picked me up and turned me across his knee -and gave me a crack that made me see stars as big as -moons.</p> - -<p>If there is a father that hits the booze, he doesn't want -his son to. If he is keeping some one on the side, he doesn't -want his son to. In other words, you would not want your -son to live like you if you are not living right.</p> - -<p>An old general was at the bedside of his dying daughter. -He didn't believe in the Bible and his daughter said, "What<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -shall I do? You don't believe in the Bible. Mamma does. -If I obey one I'm going against the other." The old general -put his arms around his daughter and said: "Follow your -mother's way; it is the safest." Man wants his children to -have that which is sure.</p> - -<p>I have sometimes imagined that young fellow in Luke -xv. He came to his father and said, "Dig up. I'm tired -of this and want to see the world." His father didn't -know what he meant. "Come across with the mazuma, come -clean, divvy. I want the coin, see?" Finally the father -tumbled, and he said, "I got you," and he divided up his -share and gave it to the young man. Then he goes down to -Babylon and starts out on a sporting life. He meets the -young blood and the gay dame. I can imagine that young -fellow the first time he swore. If his mother had been near -he would have looked at her and blushed rose red. But he -thought he had to cuss to be a man.</p> - -<p>No man can be a good husband, no man can be a good -father, no man can be a respectable citizen, no man can -be a gentleman, and swear. You can hang out a sign of -gentleman, but when you cuss you might as well take -it in.</p> - -<p>There are three things which will ruin any town and -give it a bad name—open licensed saloons; a dirty, cussing, -swearing gang of blacklegs on the street; and vile story -tellers. Let a town be known for these three things, and -these alone, and you could never start a boom half big -enough to get one man there.</p> - -<p>Old men, young men, boys, swear. What do you cuss -for? It doesn't do you any good, gains you nothing in business -or society; it loses you the esteem of men. God said -more about cussing than anything. God said, "Thou shalt -not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear -false witness," but God said more about cussing than them -all; and men are still cussing. "Thou shalt not take the -name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not -hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">No Excuse for Swearing</p> - -<p>I can see how you can get out of anything but cussing. -I can see how a man could be placed in such a position that -he would kill and be exonerated by the law of God and man, -if he killed to protect his life, or the life of another.</p> - -<p>I can see how a man could be forced to steal if he stole -to keep his wife from starving.</p> - -<p>Up in Chicago several years ago there was a long-continued -strike and the last division of the union treasury -had given each man twenty-five cents. A man went into the -railroad yards and got a bag of coal from one of the cars. -They pinched him and he came up before a judge. He told -the judge that he had only the twenty-five cents of the last -division and he spent that for food. His wife and two children -were at home starving and he had no fire. He stole the -coal to cook their food. The judge thundered, "Get out -of this room and get home and build that fire as quickly as -you can."</p> - -<p>Say, boys, if I was on a jury and you could prove to -me that a father had stolen a loaf of bread to keep his wife -from starving you could keep me in the room until the ants -took me out through the keyhole before I'd stick him. That -may not be law, I don't know; but you'll find there is a big -streak of human nature in Bill.</p> - -<p>There isn't a fellow in this crowd but what would be -disgusted if his wife or sister would cuss and hit the booze -like he does. If she would put fifteen or twenty beers under -her belt, he'd go whining around a divorce court for a divorce -right away and say he couldn't live with her. Why, you -dirty dog, she has to live with you.</p> - -<p>I heard of a fellow whose wife thought she would show -him how he sounded around the house and give him a dose -of his own medicine. So one morning he came down and -asked for his breakfast. "Why you old blankety, blank, -blank, bald-headed, blankety, blankety, blank, you can get -your own breakfast." He was horrified, but every time he -tried to say anything she would bring out a bunch of lurid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> -oaths until finally he said, "Wife, if you'll cut out that cussing -I'll never swear again."</p> - -<p>I have sometimes tried to imagine myself in Damascus -on review day, and have seen a man riding on a horse richly -caparisoned with trappings of gold and silver, and he himself -clothed in garments of the finest fabrics, and the most -costly, though with a face so sad and melancholy that it -would cause the beholder to turn and look a second and third -time. But he was a leper. And a man unaccustomed -to such scenes might be heard to make a remark like this: -"How unequally God seems to divide his favors! There is -a man who rides and others walk; he is clothed in costly -garments; they are almost naked while he is well fed," -and they contrast the difference between the man on the -horse and the others. If we only knew the breaking hearts -of the people we envy we would pity them from the bottom -of our souls.</p> - -<p>I was being driven through a suburb of Chicago by a -real estate man who wanted to sell me a lot. He was telling -me who lived here and who lived there, and what an honor -it would be for me and my children to possess a home there. -We were driving past a house that must have cost $100,000 -and he said: "That house is owned by Mr. So-and-So. He -is one of our multi-millionaires, and he and his wife have -been known to live in that house for months and never speak -to each other. They each have separate apartments, each -has a separate retinue of servants, each a dining-room and -sleeping apartments, and months come and go by and -they never speak to each other." My thoughts hurried -back to the little flat we called our home, where we -had lived for seventeen years. I have paid rent enough -to pay for it. There wasn't much in it; I could load -it in two furniture vans, maybe three, counting the -piano, but I would not trade the happiness and the joy -and the love of that little flat if I had to take that -palatial home and the sorrow and the things that went -with it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Family Skeletons</p> - -<p>Suppose you were driving along the street and a man who -was intimately acquainted with the skeletons that are in -every family, should tell you the secrets of them all, of that -boy who has broken his father's heart by being a drunkard, -a blackleg gambler, and that girl who has gone astray, and -that wife who is a common drunkard, made so by society, -and the father himself who is also a sinner.</p> - -<p>Leprosy is exceedingly loathsome, and as I study its -pathology I am not surprised that God used it as a type of -sin. A man who is able to understand this disease, its -beginning and its progress, might be approached by a man -who was thus afflicted and might say to him, "Hurry! -hurry! Show yourself to the priest for the cleansing of the -Mosaic law."</p> - -<p>"Why?" says the man addressed. "What is the -trouble?" The other man would say, "Do hurry and show -yourself to the priest." But the man says, "That is only -a fester, only a water blister, only a pimple, nothing more. -I say there is no occasion to be alarmed. You are unduly -agitated and excited for my welfare."</p> - -<p>Those sores are only few now, but it spreads, and it is -first upon the hand, then upon the arm, and from the arm -it goes on until it lays hold of every nerve, artery, vein -with its slimy coil, and continues until the disintegration -of the parts takes place and they drop off, and then it is too -late. But the man who was concerned saw the beginning -of that, not only the end, but the beginning. He looked -yonder and saw the end too. If you saw a blaze you would -cry, "Fire!" Why? Because you know that if let alone -it will consume the building.</p> - -<p>That is the reason why you hurry when you get evidence -of the disease. So I say to you, young man, don't you go -with that godless, good-for-nothing gang that blaspheme -and sneer at religion, that bunch of character assassins; they -will make of your body a doormat to wipe their feet upon. -Don't go with that bunch. I heard you swear, I heard you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> -sneer at religion. Stop, or you will become a staggering, -muttering, bleary-eyed, foul-mouthed down-and-outer, on -your way to hell. I say to you stop, or you will go reeling -down to hell, breaking your wife's heart and wrecking your -children's lives. And what have you got to show for it? -What have you got to show for it? God pity you for all -you got to show for selling your soul to the devil. You are a -fool. You are a fool. Take it from "Bill," you are a fool.</p> - -<p>Don't you go, my boy; don't you laugh at that smutty -story with a double meaning. Don't go with that gang. -But you say to me, "Mr. Sunday, you are unduly excited -for my welfare. I know you smell liquor on my breath, -but I never expect to become a drunkard. I never expect -to become an outcast." Well, you are a fool. You are a -fool. No man ever intended to become a drunkard. Every -drunkard started out to be simply a moderate drinker. -The fellow that tells me that he can leave it alone when he -wants to lies. It is a lie. If you can, why don't you leave -it alone? You will never let it alone. If you could, you -would. My boy, hear me, I have walked along the shores -of time and have seen them strewn with the wrecks of those -who have drifted in from the seas of lust and passion and are -fit only for danger signals to warn the coming race. You -can't leave it alone or if you can, the time will come when it -will get you. Take it from me.</p> - -<p>My mother told me never to buy calico by lamplight, -because you can't tell whether the colors will stand or run -in the wash. Never ask a girl to be your wife when she's -got her best bib and tucker on. Call on her and leave at -ten o'clock and leave your glove on the piano, and go back -the next morning about nine o'clock after your glove and -ring the doorbell, and if she comes to the door with her hair -done up in curl papers and a slipper on one foot and a shoe -on the other foot, and that untied, and a Mother Hubbard -on, take to the woods as fast as you can go. Never mind -the glove, let the old man have that if he can wear it. But -if she comes to the door nice and neat in a neat working<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> -house dress, with her sleeves rolled up and her hair neatly -done up, and a ribbon or a flower stuck in it, grab her quick.</p> - -<p>Henry Clay Trumbull told me years ago that he was in -Europe and in London he went to a theater to see a man who -was going to give an exhibition of wild animals and serpents. -He had a royal Bengal tiger and a Numidian lion, and he -introduced a beast that seems to be least able of being tamed -either by kindness or brutality, a black panther. He made -him go through the various motions, and after a while a -wire screen was put down in front of the stage between the -audience and the performer, and to the weird strains of an -oriental band the man approached from the left of the stage -and a serpent from the right. The eyes of the serpent and -the man met and the serpent quailed before the man. Man -was master there. At his command the serpent went through -various contortions, and the man stepped to the front of -the stage and the serpent wound himself round and round -and round the man, until the man and serpent seemed as -one. His tongue shot out, his eyes dilated. The man gave -a call, but the audience thought that part of the performance, -and that horrified audience sat there and heard bone after -bone in that man's body crack and break as the reptile -tightened its grasp upon his body, and saw his body crushed -before he could be saved.</p> - -<p>He had bought that snake when it was only four feet -long and he had watered and nursed it until it was thirty-five -feet. At first he could have killed it; at last it killed -him.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Nursing Bad Habits</p> - -<p>Are you nursing a habit today? Is it drink? Are you -nursing and feeding that which will wreck your life and wreck -you upon the shores of passion, notwithstanding all the -wrecks you have seen of those who have gone down the line?</p> - -<p>I never got such a good idea of leprosy as I did by -reading that wonderful book of the nineteenth century by -General Lew Wallace, "Ben Hur." You remember the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> -banishment of Ben Hur and the disintegration of that family -life and estate, and the return of Ben Hur from his exile. -He goes past his old home. The blinds are closed and drawn -and all is deserted. He lies down upon the doorstep and -falls asleep. His mother and sister have been in the leper -colony and are dying of leprosy and only waiting the time -when they will be covered with the remains of others who -have come there. So they have come to the city to get -bread and secure water, and they see their son and brother -lying on the doorstep of their old home. They dare not -awaken him for fear anguish at learning of their fate would be -more than he could bear. They dare not touch him because -it is against the law, so they creep close to him and put their -leprous lips against his sandal-covered feet. They then -go back again with the bread and water for which they had -come.</p> - -<p>Presently Ben Hur awakens and rubs his eyes and sees -great excitement. (This part of the story is mine.) Along -comes a blear-eyed, old, whisky-soaked degenerate and Ben -Hur asks him what is the trouble, what is the excitement -about, and he says: "A couple of lepers have been cleansed, -but there is nothing to that, just some occult power, it's all -a fake." Ben Hur goes farther on and hears about this wonder, -and they say it is nothing; nothing, some long-haired -evangelist who says his name is Jesus Christ; it's all a fake. -Then Ben Hur goes farther and discovers that it is Jesus of -Nazareth and that he has cleansed Ben Hur's own mother -and sister. He hears the story and acknowledges the -Nazarene.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Leprosy of Sin</p> - -<p>The lepers had to cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" in those -days to warn the people. They were compelled by law to do -that: also they were compelled by law to go on the side of -the street toward which the wind was blowing lest the breeze -bring the germs of their body to the clean and infect them -with the disease. And the victim of this disease was com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span>pelled -to live in a lonely part of the city, waiting until his -teeth began to drop out, his eyes to drop from their sockets, -and his fingers to drop from his hands, then he was compelled -to go out in the tombs, the dying among the dead, there to -live until at last he was gathered to the remains of the dead. -That was the law that governed the leper in those days. All -others shrank from him; he went forth alone. Alone! No -man of all he loved or knew, was with him; he went forth on -his way, alone, sick at heart, to die alone.</p> - -<p>Leprosy is infectious. And so is sin. Sin begins in -so-called innocent flirtation. The old, god-forsaken scoundrel -of a libertine, who looks upon every woman as legitimate -prey for his lust, will contaminate a community; one drunkard, -staggering and maundering and muttering his way down -to perdition, will debauch a town.</p> - -<p>Some men ought to be hurled out of society; they ought -to be kicked out of lodges; they ought to be kicked out of -churches, and out of politics, and every other place where -decent men live or associate. And I want to lift the -burden tonight from the heads of the unoffending womanhood -and hurl it on the heads of offending manhood.</p> - -<p>Rid the world of those despicable beasts who live off -the earnings of the unfortunate girl who is merchandising -herself for gain. In some sections they make a business of -it. I say commercialized vice is hell. I do not believe any -more in a segregated district for immoral women than I -would in having a section for thieves to live in where you -could hire one any day or night in the week to steal for you. -There are two things which have got to be driven out or -they'll drive us out, and they are open licensed saloons and -protected vice.</p> - -<p>Society needs a new division of anathemas. You hurl -the burden on the head of the girl; and the double-dyed -scoundrel that caused her ruin is received in society with -open arms, while the girl is left to hang her head and spend -her life in shame. Some men are so rotten and vile that they -ought to be disinfected and take a bath in carbolic acid and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -formaldehyde. Shut the lodge door in the face of every man -that you know to be a moral leper; don't let him hide -behind his uniform and his badge when you know him to be -so rotten that the devil would duck up an alley rather than -meet him face to face. Kick him out of church. Kick him -out of society.</p> - -<p>You don't live your life alone. Your life affects others. -Some girls will walk the streets and pick up every Tom, -Dick and Harry that will come across with the price of an -ice-cream soda or a joy ride.</p> - -<p>So with the boy. He will sit at your table and drink -beer, and I want to tell you if you are low-down enough to -serve beer and wine in your home, when you serve it you are -as low down as the saloon-keeper, and I don't care whether -you do it for society or for anything else. If you serve -liquor or drink you are as low down as the saloon-keeper in -my opinion. So the boy who had not grit enough to turn -down his glass at the banquet and refuse to drink is now a -blear-eyed, staggering drunkard, reeling to hell. He couldn't -stand the sneers of the crowd. Many a fellow started out -to play cards for beans, and tonight he would stake his soul -for a show-down. The hole in the gambling table is not very -big; it is about big enough to shove a dollar through; but -it is big enough to shove your wife through; big enough to -shove your happiness through; your home through; your -salary, your character; just big enough to shove everything -that is dear to you in this world through.</p> - -<p>Listen to me. Bad as it is to be afflicted with physical -leprosy, moral leprosy is ten thousand times worse. I don't -care if you are the richest man in the town, the biggest taxpayer -in the county, the biggest politician in the district, -or in the state. I don't care a rap if you carry the political -vote of Pennsylvania in your vest pocket, and if you can -change the vote from Democratic to Republican in the -convention—if after your worldly career is closed my text -would make you a fitting epitaph for your tombstone and -obituary notice in the papers, then what difference would it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> -make what you had done—"he was a leper." He was -a great politician—but "He was a leper." What difference -would it make?</p> - -<p>I'll tell you, I was never more interested in my life than -in reading the story of an old Confederate colonel who was a -stickler for martial discipline. One day he had a trifling case -of insubordination. He ordered his men to halt, and he had -the offender shot. They dug the grave and he gave the -command to march, and they had stopped just three minutes -by the clock. At the close of the war they made him chief -of police of a Southern city, and he was so vile and corrupt -that the people arose and ordered his dismissal. Then a -great earthquake swept over the city, and the people rushed -from their homes and thousands of people crowded the -streets and there was great excitement. Some asked, -"Where is the colonel?" and they said, "You will find him -in one of two or three places." So they searched and found -him in a den of infamy. He was so drunk that he didn't -realize the danger he was in. They led him out, then put -him upon a snow white-horse, put his spurs on his boots -and his regimentals on; they pinned a star on his breast -and put a cockade on his hat, and said to him: "Colonel, we -command you as mayor of the city to quell this riot. You -have supreme authority."</p> - -<p>He rode out among the people to quell the riot, dug his -spurs into the white side of the horse and the crimson flowed -out, and he rode in and out among the surging mass of -humanity.</p> - -<p>He rode out among the people with commands here, torrents -of obscenity there, and in twenty-five minutes the stillness -of death reigned in city squares, so marvelously did they -fear him, so wonderful was his power over men. He then -rode out, dismounted, took off his cockade, tore the star -from his breast and threw it down, threw off his regimentals, -took off his sword; then he staggered back to the house of -infamy, where three months later he died, away from -his wife, away from virtue, away from morality, his name<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -synonymous with all that is vile. What difference did it -make that he had power over men when you might sum up -his life in the words, "But he was a leper." What difference -did it make?</p> - -<p>I pity the boy or girl from the depths of my soul, who if -you ask are you willing to be a Christian, will answer: -"Mr. Sunday, I would like to be, but if I tell that at home my -brothers will abuse me, my mother will sneer at me, my father -will curse me. If I were, I would have no encouragement -to stand and fight the battle." I pity from the depths of -my soul that boy or girl, the boy who has a father like that; -the girl that has a mother like that, who have a joint like -that for a home.</p> - -<p>Unclean! Suppose every young man who is a moral -leper were impelled by some uncontrollable impulse over -which he had no power to make public revelations of his -sins! Down the street he comes in his auto and you speak -to him from the curbstone and he will say: "Unclean! -Unclean!" Yonder he comes walking down the street. -Suppose that to every man and woman he meets he is impelled -and compelled to make revelation of the fact that he -is a leper.</p> - -<p>Leprosy is an infectious disease; it is the germ of sin. -If there is an evil in you the evil will dwell in others. When -we do wrong we inspire others—and your lives scatter disease -when you come in contact with others. If there is sin -in the father there will be sin in the boy; if there is sin in the -mother, there will be sin in the daughter; if there is sin in -the sister, there will be sin in the brother; by your influence -you will spread it. If you live the wrong way you will drag -somebody else to perdition with you as you go, and kindred -ties will facilitate it.</p> - -<p>Supposing all your hearts were open. Supposing we -had glass doors to our hearts, and we could walk down the -street and look in and see where you have been, and with -whom you have been and what you have been doing. A -good many of you would want stained-glass windows and -heavy tapestry to cover them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"But the Lord Looketh on the Heart"</p> - -<p>Suppose I could put a screen behind me, pull a string -or push a button, and produce on that screen a view of the -hearts of the people. I would say: "Here is Mr. and Mrs. -A's life, as it is, and here, as the people think it is. Here is -what he really is. Here is where he has been. Here is how -much booze he drinks. Here is how much he lost last year -at horse races." But these are the things that society does -not take note of. Society takes no note of the flirtation on -the street. It waits until the girl has lost her virtue and then -it slams the door in her face. It takes no note of that young -man drinking at a banquet table; it waits until he becomes -a bleary-eyed drunkard and then it will slam the door in his -face. It will take no note of the young fellow that plays -cards for a prize; it waits until he becomes a blackleg -gambler and then it slams the door in his face.</p> - -<p>God says, "Look out in the beginning for that thing." -Society takes no note of the beginning. It waits until it -becomes vice, and then it organizes Civic Righteousness -clubs. Get back to the beginning and do your work there. -God has planned to save this world through the preaching -of men and women, and God reaches down to save men; he -pulls them out of the grog shops and puts them on the -water wagon.</p> - -<p>I never could imagine an angel coming down from heaven -and preaching to men and women to save them. God never -planned to save this world with the preaching of angels. -When Jesus Christ died on the cross he died to redeem those -whose nature he took. An angel wouldn't know what he -was up against. Some one would say: "Good Angel, -were you ever drunk?" "No!" "Good Angel, did you ever -swear?" "Oh, no!" "Good Angel, did you ever try to -put up a stove-pipe in the fall?" "Oh, no!" "Did you -ever stub your toe while walking the floor with the baby at -three <span class="smcap">A. M?</span>" "Oh, no!"</p> - -<p>"Well, then, Mr. Angel, you don't know. You say there -is great mercy with God, but you are not tempted."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span></p> - -<p>No. God planned to save the world by saving men and -women and letting them tell the story.</p> - -<p>The servant of Naaman entered the hut of the prophet -Elisha and found him sitting on a high stool writing with a -quill pen on papyrus. The servant bowed low and said, -"The great and mighty Naaman, captain of the hosts of -the king of Syria, awaits thee. Unfortunately he is a leper -and cannot enter your august presence. He has heard of the -miraculous cures that you have wrought and he hopes to -become the recipient of your power." The old prophet -of God replied:</p> - -<p>"Tell him to dip seven times in the Jordan—beat it, -beat it, beat it." The servant came out to Naaman, who -was sitting on his horse.</p> - -<p>"Well, is he at home?"</p> - -<p>"He's at home, but he is a queer duck."</p> - -<p>Naaman thought that Elisha would come out and -pat the sores and say incantations, like an Indian medicine -man. Naaman was wroth, like many a fool today. God -reveals to the sinner the plan of salvation and, instead of -thanking God for salvation and doing what God wants him -to do, he condemns God and everybody else for bothering -him.</p> - -<p>Now here is a man who wants to be a Christian. What -will he do? Will he go ask some old saloon-keeper? Will -he go ask some of these old brewers? Will he ask some of -the fellows of the town? Will he ask the County Liquor -Dealers' Association? Where will he go? To the preacher, -of course. He is the man to go to when you want to be a -Christian. Go to a doctor when you are sick, to a blacksmith -when your horse is to be shod, but go to the preacher -when you want your heart set right.</p> - -<p>So Naaman goes into the muddy water and the water -begins to lubricate those old sores, and it begins to itch, and -he says, "Gee whizz," like many a young fellow today who -goes to a church and just gets religion enough to make him -feel miserable. An old fellow in Iowa came to me and said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> -"Bill, I have been to hear you every night and you have -done me a lot of good. I used to cuss my old woman every -day and I ain't cussed her for a week. I'm getting a little -better."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Joy of Religion</p> - -<p>The trouble with many men is that they have got just -enough religion to make them miserable. If there is no joy -in religion, you have got a leak in your religion. Some -haven't religion enough to pay their debts. Would that I -might have a hook and for every debt that you left unpaid -I might jerk off a piece of clothing. If I did some of you -fellows would have not anything on but a celluloid collar -and a pair of socks.</p> - -<p>Some of you have not got religion enough to have -family prayer. Some of you people haven't got religion -enough to take the beer bottles out of your cellar and throw -them in the alley. You haven't got religion enough to tell -that proprietor of the red light, "No, you can't rent my -house after the first of June;" to tell the saloon-keeper, -"You can't rent my house when your lease runs out"; and -I want to tell you that the man that rents his property to a -saloon-keeper is as low-down as the saloon-keeper. The -trouble with you is that you are so taken up with business, -with politics, with making money, with your lodges, and each -and every one is so dependent on the other, that you are -scared to death to come out and live clean cut for God Almighty. -You have not fully surrendered yourself to God.</p> - -<p>The matter with a lot of you people is that your religion -is not complete. You have not yielded yourself to God and -gone out for God and God's truth. Why, I am almost -afraid to make some folks laugh for fear that I will be -arrested for breaking a costly piece of antique bric-à-brac. -You would think that if some people laughed it would break -their faces. To see some people you would think that the -essential of orthodox Christianity is to have a face so long -you could eat oatmeal out of the end of a gas pipe. Sister,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> -that is not religion; I want to tell you that the happy, -smiling, sunny-faced religion will win more people to Jesus -Christ than the miserable old grim-faced kind will in ten -years. I pity anyone who can't laugh. There must be -something wrong with their religion or their liver. The -devil can't laugh.</p> - -<p>So I can see Naaman as he goes into the water and dips -seven times, and lo! his flesh becomes again as a little child's. -When? When he did what God told him to do.</p> - -<p>I have seen men come down the aisle by the thousands, -men who have drank whisky enough to sink a ship. I have -seen fallen women come to the front by scores and hundreds, -and I have seen them go away cleansed by the power of God. -When? When they did just what God told them to do.</p> - -<p>I wish to God the Church were as afraid of imperfection -as it is of perfection.</p> - -<p>I saw a woman that for twenty-seven years had been -proprietor of a disorderly house, and I saw her come down -the aisle, close her doors, turn the girls out of her house and -live for God. I saw enough converted in one town where -there were four disorderly houses to close their doors; they -were empty; the girls had all fled home to their mothers.</p> - -<p>Out in Iowa a fellow came to me and spread a napkin -on the platform—a napkin as big as a tablecloth. He said: -"I want a lot of shavings and sawdust."</p> - -<p>"What for?"</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you; I want enough to make a sofa pillow. -Right here is where I knelt down and was converted and my -wife and four children, and my neighbors. I would like to -have enough to make a sofa pillow to have something in my -home to help me think of God. I don't want to forget God, -or that I was saved. Can you give me enough?"</p> - -<p>I said, "Yes, indeed, and if you want enough to make a -mattress, all right, take it; and if you want enough of the -tent to make a pair of breeches for each of the boys, why take -your scissors and cut it right out, if it will help you to keep -your mind on God."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span></p> - -<p>That is why I like to have people come down to the -front and publicly acknowledge God. I like to have a -man have a definite experience in religion—something to -remember.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A PLAIN TALK TO WOMEN</p> - -<p>And I say to you, young girl, don't go with that godless, -God-forsaken, sneering young man that walks the streets -smoking cigarettes. He would not walk the streets with -you if you smoked cigarettes. But you say you will marry -him and reform him; he would not marry you to reform you. -Don't go to that dance. Don't you know that it is the most -damnable, low-down institution on the face of God's earth, -that it causes more ruin than anything this side of hell? -Don't you go with that young man; don't you go to that -dance. That is why we have so many whip-poor-will widows -around the country: they married some of these mutts to -reform them, and instead of doing that the undertaker got -them. I say, young girl, don't go to that dance; it has proven -to be the moral graveyard that has caused more ruination -than anything that was ever spewed out of the mouth of -hell. Don't go with that young fellow for a joy ride at midnight.</p> - -<p>Girls, when some young fellow comes up and asks you -the greatest question that you will ever be asked or called -upon to answer, next to the salvation of your own soul, -what will you say? "Oh, this is so sudden!" That is all -a bluff; you have been waiting for it all the time.</p> - -<p>But, girls, never mind now, get down to facts. When -he asks you the greatest question, the most important one -that any girl is ever asked, next to the salvation of her soul, -just say, "Sit down and let me ask you three questions. I -want to ask you these three questions and if I am satisfied -with your answer, it will determine my answer to your question. -'Did you believe me to be virtuous when you came -here to ask me to be your wife?'" "Oh, yes, I believed you to -be virtuous. That's the reason I came here. You are like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> -violets dipped in dew." The second question: "Have you -as a young man lived as you demand of me as a girl that I -should have lived?" The third question: "If I, as a girl, -had lived and done as you, as a young man, and you knew -it, would you ask me to marry you?"</p> - -<p>They will line up and nine times out of ten they will -take the count. You can line them up, and I know what I -am talking about, and I defy any man on God's earth successfully -to contradict me. I have the goods. The average -young man is more particular about the company he keeps -than the average girl. I'll tell you. If he meets somebody -on the street whom he doesn't want to meet he will duck into -the first open doorway and avoid the publicity of meeting -her, for fear she might smile or give an indication that she -had seen him somewhere and sometime before that. Yet -our so-called best girls keep company with young men -whose character would make a black mark on a piece of -anthracite. Their characters are foul and rotten and -damnable.</p> - -<p>I like to see a girl who has a good head, and can choose -right because it is right, never minding the criticism. Choose -the good and be careful of good company and good conduct, -and keep company with a good young fellow. Don't go with -the fellow whose reputation is bad. Everybody knows it is -bad, and if you are seen with him you will lose your reputation -as well, although your virtue is intact; and they might -as well take you to the graveyard and bury you, when your -reputation is gone. When a man like that asks you to go -with him, say to him that if he will live the way you want -him to you will go with him. If he would take a stand like -that there wouldn't be so many wrecks. If our women -and girls would take higher stands and say, "No, no, we will -not keep company with you unless you live the way I want -you to," there would be better men. A lot of you women -hold yourselves too cheaply. You are scared to death for -fear you will be what the world irreverently calls "an old -maid."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Hospitality</p> - -<p>You remember the prophet Elisha and his journey -to the school of prophets up to Mount Carmel. There was -a woman who noticed the actions and conduct of the man of -God and she said to her husband, "Let us build a little room -and place therein a bed, and bowl and pitcher, that he may -make it his home."</p> - -<p>The suggestion evidently met with the approval of the -husband, because ever afterward the man of God enjoyed this -hospitality. I sometimes thought she might have been a -new woman of the olden times, because no mention is made -of the husband. You never hear of some old lobsters -unless they are fortunate enough to marry a woman who does -things and their name is always mentioned in connection -with what the wife does.</p> - -<p>You know there are homes in which the advent of one, -two and possibly three children is considered a curse instead -of a blessing. God, in his providence, has often denied the -honor of maternity to some women. But there are married -women who shrink from maternity, not because of ill health, -but simply because they love ease, because they love fine -garments and ability to flirt like a butterfly at some social -function.</p> - -<p>Crimes have been and are being committed; hands are -stained with blood; and that very crime has made France -the charnel house of the world. And America, we of our -boasted intelligence and wealth, we are fast approaching -the same doom, until or unless it behooves somebody with -grit and courage to preach against the prevailing sins and -run the risk of incurring the displeasure of people who divert -public attention from their own vileness rather than condemn -themselves for the way they are living. They say -the man who is preaching against it is vulgar, rather than -the man who did it.</p> - -<p>I am sure there is not an angel in heaven that would not -be glad to come to earth and be honored with motherhood -if God would grant her that privilege. What a grand thing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -it must be, at the end of your earthly career, to look back -upon a noble and godly life, knowing you did all you could -to help leave this old world to God and made your contributions -in tears and in prayers and taught your offspring -to be God-fearing, so that when you went you would continue -to produce your noble character in your children.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Maternity Out of Fashion</p> - -<p>Society has just about put maternity out of fashion. -When you stop to consider the average -society woman I do not think maternity -has lost anything. The humbler children -are raised by their mothers instead of being -turned over to a governess.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_226.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Society Has Just -About Put Maternity -Out of -Fashion</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>There are too many girls who marry -for other causes than love. I think ambition, -indulgence and laziness lead more -girls to the altar than love—girls not -actuated by love, but simply willing to pay -the price of wifehood to wear fine clothes. -They are not moved by the noble desires -of manhood or womanhood.</p> - -<p>Some girls marry for novelty and some -girls marry for a home. Some fool mothers -encourage girls to marry for ease so they -can go to the matinee and buzz around. -Some fool girls marry for money and some -girls marry for society, because by connecting -their name with a certain family's -they go up a rung in the social ladder, and some girls marry -young bucks to reform them—and they are the biggest fools -in the bunch, because the bucks would not marry the girls -to reform them.</p> - -<p>You mothers are worse fools to encourage your daughter -to marry some old lobster because his father has money and -when he dies, maybe your daughter can have good clothes -and ride in an auto instead of hoofing it. Look at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> -girls on the auction block today. Look at the awful battle -the average stenographer and average clerk has to fight. -You cannot work for six dollars a week and wear fine duds -and be on the square as much as you are without having the -people suspicious.</p> - -<p>In a letter to Miss Borson, President Roosevelt said: -"The man or woman who avoids marriage and has a heart -so cold as to know no passion and a brain so shallow as to -dislike having children is, in fact, a criminal."</p> - -<p>Is it well with thee? Is it well with your husband? -"The best man in the world," you answer. Very well; -is it well with the child? I think its responsibilities are equal, -if they don't outweigh its privileges, and when God is in -the heart of the child, I don't wonder that that home is a -haven of peace and rest.</p> - -<p>I have no motive in preaching except the interest I have -in the moral welfare of the people. There is not money -enough to hire me to preach. I tell you, ladies, we have to -do something more than wipe our eyes, and blow our nose, -and say "Come to Jesus." Go out and shell the woods and -make them let you know why they don't "come to Jesus."</p> - -<p>I believe the time will come when sex hygiene will form -part of the high-school curriculum. I would rather have -my children taught sex hygiene than Greek and Latin. A -lot of the high-school curriculum is mere fad. I think the -time will come when our girls will be taught in classes with -some graduated woman physician for an instructor.</p> - -<p>Women live on a higher plane, morally, than men. No -woman was ever ruined that some brute of a man did not -take the initiative. Women have kept themselves purer than -men. I believe a good woman is the best thing this side of -heaven and a bad woman the worst thing this side of hell. -I think woman rises higher and sinks lower than man. I -think she is the most degraded on earth or the purest on -earth.</p> - -<p>Our homes are on the level with women. Towns are -on the level with homes. What women are our homes will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> -be; and what the town is, the men will be, so you hold the -destiny of the nation.</p> - -<p>I believe there is something unfinished in the make-up -of a girl who does not have religion. The average girl today -no longer looks forward to motherhood as the crowning -glory of womanhood. She is turning her home into a gambling -shop and a social beer-and-champagne-drinking joint, -and her society is made up of poker players, champagne, wine -and beer drinkers, grass-widowers and jilted jades and slander-mongers—that -comprises the society of many a girl -today. She is becoming a matinee-gadder and fudge-eater.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Girl Who Flirts</p> - -<p>I wish I could make a girl that flirts see herself as others -see her. If you make eyes at a man on the street he will -pay you back. It doesn't mean that you are pretty. It -means that if you don't care any more for yourself than that -why should he? The average man will take a girl at her -personal estimate of herself.</p> - -<p>It takes a whole lot of nerve for a fellow to look a girl -in the face and say, "Will you be my wife and partner, and -help me fight the battle during life?" but I think it means a -whole lot more to the girl who has to answer and fight that -question. But the fool girl loafs around and waits to be -chosen and takes the first chance she gets and seems to think -that if they get made one, the laws of man can make them -two again.</p> - -<p>The divorce laws are damnable. America is first in -many things that I love, but there are many things that are -a disgrace. We lead the world in crime; and lead the -world in divorce—we who boast of our culture.</p> - -<p>Many a girl has found out after she is married that it -would have been a good deal easier to die an old maid than -to have said "yes," and become the wife of some cigarette-smoking, -cursing, damnable libertine. They will launch -the matrimonial boat and put the oars in and try it once for -luck, anyway, and so we have many women praying for unconverted -husbands.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_229fpa.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">Who Will Lead the Way?</span>"</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_229fpb.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">Ha! Ha! Old Devil, I've got You Beat!</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span></p> - -<p>I preached like this in a town once and the next day I -heard of about five engagements that were broken. I can -give you advice now, but if the knot is tied, the thing is done.</p> - -<p>I am a Roman Catholic on divorce. There are a whole -lot of things worse than living and dying an old maid and -one of them is marrying the wrong man. So don't be one to -do that.</p> - -<p>Now, girls, don't simper and look silly when you speak -about love. There is nothing silly about it, although some -folks are silly because they are in love. Love is the noblest -and purest gift of God to man and womankind. Don't let -your actions advertise "Man Wanted, Quick." That is -about the surest way not to get a man. You might get a -thing with breeches on, but he is no man.</p> - -<p>Many a woman is an old maid because she wanted to do -her share of the courting. Don't get excited and want to -hurry things along. If a man begins to act as though he is -after you, the surest way to get him is just to make him feel -you don't want him, unless you drive him off by appearing -too indifferent.</p> - -<p>And, girls, don't worry if you think you are not going -to get a chance to marry. Some of the noblest men in the -world have been bachelors and some of the noblest women -old maids. And, woman, for God's sake, when you do get -married, don't transfer the love God gave you to bestow on -a little child to a Spitz dog or a brindle pup.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Task of Womanhood</p> - -<p>All great women are satisfied with their common sphere -in life and think it is enough to fill the lot God gave them -in this world as wife and mother. I tell you the devil and -women can damn this world, and Jesus and women can save -this old world. It remains with womanhood today to lift -our social life to a higher plane.</p> - -<p>Mothers, be more careful of your boys and girls. Explain -these evils that contaminate our social life today. I -have had women say to me, "Mr. Sunday, don't you think<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> -there is danger of talking too much to them when they are -so young?" Not much; just as soon as a girl is able to know -the pure from the impure she should be taught. Oh, mothers, -mothers, you don't know what your girl is being led to by -this false and mock modesty.</p> - -<p>Don't teach your girls that the only thing in the world -is to marry. Why, some girls marry infidels because they -were not taught to say "I would not do it." A girl is a big -fool to marry an infidel. God says, "Be ye not unequally -yoked with unbelievers."</p> - -<p>I believe there is a race yet to appear which will be as -far superior in morals to us as we are superior to the morals -in the days of Julius Cæsar; but that race will never appear -until God-fearing young men marry God-fearing girls and -the offspring are God-fearing.</p> - -<p>Culture will never save the world. If these miserable -human vampires who feed and fatten upon the virtue of -womanhood can get off with impunity; nay, more, be -feasted and petted and coddled by society, we might as well -back-pedal out and sink in shame, for we can never see to -the heights nor command the respect of the great and good.</p> - -<p>What paved the way for the downfall of the mightiest -dynasties—proud and haughty Greece and imperial Rome? -The downfall of their womanhood. The virtue of womanhood -is the rampart wall of American civilization. Break that -down and with the stones thereof you can pave your way to -the hottest hell, and reeking vice and corruption.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a><br /> - -<small>"Help Those Women"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If the womanhood of America had been no better than its manhood, the -devil would have had the country fenced in long ago.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">The</span> average American is somewhat of a sentimentalist. -"Home, Sweet Home," is an American song. No -people, except possibly the Irish, respond more -readily to the note of "Mother" than the Americans. No -other nation honors womanhood so greatly. We are really -a chivalrous people.</p> - -<p>In this respect, as in so many others, Sunday is true -to type. His sermons abound with passages which express -the best American sentiment toward womanhood. It is -good for succeeding generations that such words as the -following should be uttered in the ears of tens and hundreds -of thousands of young people, and reprinted in scores -and hundreds of newspapers.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"MOTHER"</p> - -<p>The story of Moses is one of the most beautiful and -fascinating in all the world. It takes a hold on us and -never for an instant does it lose its interest, for it is so -graphically told that once heard it is never forgotten.</p> - -<p>I have often imagined the anxiety with which that -child was born, for he came into the world with the sentence -of death hanging over him, for Pharaoh had decreed -that the male children should die. The mother defied even -the command of the king and determined that the child -should live, and right from the beginning the battle of -right against might was fought at the cradle.</p> - -<p>Moses' mother was a slave. She had to work in the -brickyards or labor in the field, but God was on her side -and she won, as the mother always wins with God on her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> -side. Before going to work she had to choose some hiding -place for her child, and she put his little sister, Miriam, on -guard while she kept herself from being seen by the soldiers -of Pharaoh, who were seeking everywhere to murder the -Jewish male children. For three months she kept him -hidden, possibly finding a new hiding place every few days. -It is hard to imagine anything more difficult than to hide -a healthy, growing baby, and he was hidden for three -months. Now he was grown larger and more full of life -and a more secure hiding place had to be found, and I can -imagine this mother giving up her rest and sleep to prepare -an ark for the saving of her child.</p> - -<p>I believe the plan must have been formulated in -heaven. I have often thought God must have been as -much interested in that work as was the mother of Moses, -for you can't make me believe that an event so important -as that, and so far-reaching in its results, ever happened by -luck or chance. Possibly God whispered the plan to the -mother when she went to him in prayer and in her grief -because she was afraid the sword of Pharaoh would murder -her child. And how carefully the material out of which -the ark was made had to be selected! I think every twig -was carefully scrutinized in order that nothing poor might -get into its composition, and the weaving of that ark, the -mother's heart, her soul, her prayers, her tears, were interwoven.</p> - -<p>Oh, if you mothers would exercise as much care over -the company your children keep, over the books they read -and the places they go, there would not be so many girls -feeding the red-light district, nor so many boys growing up -to lead criminal lives. And with what thanksgiving she -must have poured out her heart when at last the work -was done and the ark was ready to carry its precious cargo, -more precious than if it was to hold the crown jewels of -Egypt. And I can imagine the last night that baby was -in the home. Probably some of you can remember when -the last night came when baby was alive; you can remem<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span>ber -the last night the coffin stayed, and the next day the -pall-bearers and the hearse came. The others may have -slept soundly, but there was no sleep for you, and I can -imagine there was no sleep for Moses' mother.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"There are whips and tops and pieces of string</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And shoes that no little feet ever wear;</div> -<div class="verse">There are bits of ribbon and broken wings</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And tresses of golden hair.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"There are dainty jackets that never are worn</div> -<div class="verse indent2">There are toys and models of ships;</div> -<div class="verse">There are books and pictures all faded and torn</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And marked by finger tips</div> -<div class="verse">Of dimpled hands that have fallen to dust—</div> -<div class="verse">Yet we strive to think that the Lord is just.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Yet a feeling of bitterness fills our soul;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Sometimes we try to pray,</div> -<div class="verse">That the Reaper has spared so many flowers</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And taken ours away.</div> -<div class="verse">And we sometimes doubt if the Lord can know</div> -<div class="verse">How our riven hearts did love them so.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"But we think of our dear ones dead,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Our children who never grow old,</div> -<div class="verse">And how they are waiting and watching for us</div> -<div class="verse indent2">In the city with streets of gold;</div> -<div class="verse">And how they are safe through all the years</div> -<div class="verse indent2">From sickness and want and war.</div> -<div class="verse">We thank the great God, with falling tears,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">For the things in the cabinet drawer."</div> -</div></div></div> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Mother's Watchfulness</p> - -<p>Others in the house might have slept, but not a -moment could she spare of the precious time allotted her -with her little one, and all through the night she must have -prayed that God would shield and protect her baby and -bless the work she had done and the step she was about to -take.</p> - -<p>Some people often say to me: "I wonder what the angels<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> -do; how they employ their time?" I think I know what -some of them did that night. You can bet they were not -out to some bridge-whist party. They guarded that house -so carefully that not a soldier of old Pharaoh ever crossed -the threshold. They saw to it that not one of them harmed -that baby.</p> - -<p>At dawn the mother must have kissed him good-bye, -placed him in the ark and hid him among the reeds and -rushes, and with an aching heart and tear-dimmed eyes -turned back again to the field and back to the brickyards to -labor and wait to see what God would do. She had done -her prayerful best, and when you have done that you can -bank on God to give the needed help. If we only believed -that with God all things are possible no matter how improbable, -what unexpected answers the Lord would give to our -prayers! She knew God would help her some way, but -I don't think she ever dreamed that God would help her by -sending Pharaoh's daughter to care for the child. It was -no harder for God to send the princess than it was to get -the mother to prepare the ark. What was impossible from -her standpoint was easy for God.</p> - -<p>Pharaoh's daughter came down to the water to bathe, -and the ark was discovered, just as God wanted it to be, -and one of her maids was sent to fetch it. You often wonder -what the angels are doing. I think some of the angels herded -the crocodiles on the other side of the Nile to keep them from -finding Moses and eating him up. You can bank on it, all -heaven was interested to see that not one hair of that baby's -head was injured. There weren't devils enough in hell to -pull one hair out of its head. The ark was brought and with -feminine curiosity the daughter of Pharaoh had to look into -it to see what was there, and when they removed the cover, -there was lying a strong, healthy baby boy, kicking up his -heels and sucking his thumbs, as probably most of us did -when we were boys, and probably as you did when you were -a girl. The baby looks up and weeps, and those tears blotted -out all that was against it and gave it a chance for its life.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span> -I don't know, but I think an angel stood there and pinched it -to make it cry, for it cried at the right time. Just as God -plans. God always does things at the right time. Give -God a chance; he may be a little slow at times, but he will -always get around in time.</p> - -<p>The tears of that baby were the jewels with which -Israel was ransomed from Egyptian bondage. The princess -had a woman's heart and when a woman's heart and a -baby's tears meet, something happens that gives the devil -cold feet. Perhaps the princess had a baby that had died, -and the sight of Moses may have torn the wound open -and made it bleed afresh. But she had a woman's heart, -and that made her forget she was the daughter of Pharaoh -and she was determined to give protection to that baby. -Faithful Miriam (the Lord be praised for Miriam) saw the -heart of the princess reflected in her face. Miriam had studied -faces so much that she could read the princess' heart as -plainly as if written in an open book, and she said to her: -"Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the -child for you?" and the princess said, "Go."</p> - -<p>I see her little feet and legs fly as she runs down the hot, -dusty road, and her mother must have seen her coming -a mile away, and she ran to meet her own baby put back -in her arms. And she was being paid Egyptian gold to take -care of her own baby. See how the Lord does things? "Now -you take this child and nurse it for me and I will pay you -your wages." It was a joke on Pharaoh's daughter, paying -Moses' mother for doing what she wanted to do more than -anything else—nurse her own baby.</p> - -<p>How quickly the mother was paid for these long hours -of anxiety and alarm and grief, and if the angels know what -is going on what a hilarious time there must have been in -heaven when they saw Moses and Miriam back at home, -under the protection of the daughter of Pharaoh. I imagine -she dropped on her knees and poured out her heart to God, -who had helped her so gloriously. She must have said: -"Well, Lord, I knew you would help me. I knew you would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> -take care of my baby when I made the ark and put him -in it and put it in the water, but I never dreamed that you -would put him back into my arms to take care of, so I would -not have to work and slave in the field and make brick and -be tortured almost to death for fear that the soldiers of -Pharaoh would find my baby and kill him. I never thought -you would soften the stony heart of Pharaoh and make him -pay me for what I would rather do than anything else in this -world." I expect to meet Moses' mother in heaven, and I -am going to ask her how much old Pharaoh had to pay her -for that job. I think that's one of the best jokes, that old -sinner having to pay the mother to take care of her own baby. -But I tell you, if you give God a chance, he will fill your -heart to overflowing. Just give him a chance.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Mother's Bravery</p> - -<p>This mother had remarkable pluck. Everything was -against her but she would not give up. Her heart never -failed. She made as brave a fight as any man ever made -at the sound of the cannon or the roar of musketry.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"The bravest battle that was ever fought,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Shall I tell you where and when?</div> -<div class="verse">On the maps of the world you'll find it not—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">'Twas fought by the mothers of men.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Nay, not with cannon or battle shot,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">With sword or noble pen,</div> -<div class="verse">Nay, not with the eloquent word or thought,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">From the mouths of wonderful men.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"But deep in the walled-up woman's heart—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of women that would not yield.</div> -<div class="verse">But, bravely, silently bore their part—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Lo, there is the battle-field.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"No marshaling troops, no bivouac song,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">No banner to gleam and wave;</div> -<div class="verse">But oh, these battles they last so long—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">From babyhood to the grave."</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span></p> -<p>Mothers are always brave when the safety of their -children is concerned.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_236fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Don't give a Pug-nosed Bulldog the Love a Baby ought to be Getting.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>This incident happened out West. A mother was working -in a garden and the little one was sitting under a tree in -the yard playing. The mother heard the child scream; -she ran, and a huge snake was wrapping its coils about the -baby, and as its head swung around she leaped and grabbed -it by the neck and tore it from her baby and hurled it -against a tree.</p> - -<p>Fathers often give up. The old man often goes to boozing, -becomes dissipated, takes a dose of poison and commits -suicide; but the mother will stand by the home and keep -the little band together if she has to manicure her finger nails -over a washboard to do it. If men had half as much grit -as the women there would be different stories written about -a good many homes. Look at her work! It is the greatest -in the world; in its far-reaching importance it is transcendently -above everything in the universe—her task in molding -hearts and lives and shaping character. If you want to find -greatness don't go to the throne, go to the cradle; and the -nearer you get to the cradle the nearer you get to greatness. -Now, when Jesus wanted to give his disciples an impressive -object lesson he called in a college professor, did he? Not -much. He brought in a little child and said: "Except ye -become as one of these, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom -of God." The work is so important that God will not trust -anybody with it but a mother. The launching of a boy or -a girl to live for Christ is greater work than the launching -of a battleship.</p> - -<p>Moses was a chosen vessel of the Lord and God wanted -him to get the right kind of a start, so he gave him a good -mother. There wasn't a college professor in all Egypt that -God would trust with that baby! so he put the child back -in its mother's arms. He knew the best one on earth to -trust with that baby was its own mother. When God sends -us great men he wants to have them get the right kind of a -start. So he sees to it that they have a good mother. Most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span> -any old stick will do for a daddy. God is particular about -the mothers.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Good Mothers Needed</p> - -<p>And so the great need of this country, or any other -country, is good mothers, and I believe we have more good -mothers in America than any other nation on earth. If -Washington's mother had been like a Happy Hooligan's -mother, Washington would have been a Happy Hooligan.</p> - -<p>Somebody has said: "God could not be everywhere, so -he gave us mothers." Now there may be poetry in it, but -it's true "that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," -and if every cradle was rocked by a good mother, the world -would be full of good men, as sure as you breathe. If every -boy and every girl today had a good mother, the saloons and -disreputable houses would go out of business tomorrow.</p> - -<p>A young man one time joined a church and the preacher -asked him: "What was it I said that induced you to be a -Christian?"</p> - -<p>Said the young man: "Nothing that I ever heard you -say, but it is the way my mother lived." I tell you an ounce -of example outweighs forty million tons of theory and speculation. -If the mothers would live as they should, we preachers -would have little to do. Keep the devil out of the boys -and girls and he will get out of the world. The old sinners -will die off if we keep the young ones clean.</p> - -<p>The biggest place in the world is that which is being -filled by the people who are closely in touch with youth. -Being a king, an emperor or a president is mighty small -potatoes compared to being a mother or the teacher of children, -whether in a public school or in a Sunday school, and -they fill places so great that there isn't an angel in heaven -that wouldn't be glad to give a bushel of diamonds to boot -to come down here and take their places. Commanding -an army is little more than sweeping a street or pounding -an anvil compared with the training of a boy or girl. The -mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> -that Egypt ever had. To teach a child to love truth and hate -a lie, to love purity and hate vice, is greater than inventing -a flying machine that will take you to the moon before breakfast. -Unconsciously you set in motion influences that will -damn or bless the old universe and bring new worlds out of -chaos and transform them for God.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Hall of Fame</p> - -<p>A man sent a friend of mine some crystals and said: -"One of these crystals as large as a pin point will give a -distinguishable green hue to sixteen hogsheads of water." -Think of it! Power enough in an atom to tincture sixteen -hogsheads of water. There is power in a word or act -to blight a boy and, through him, curse a community. -There is power enough in a word to tincture the life of -that child so that it will become a power to lift the world -to Jesus Christ. The mothers will put in motion influences -that will either touch heaven or hell. Talk about greatness!</p> - -<p>Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, -then read the mothers' names in God's hall of fame, and see -what they have been in this world. Wait until you see God's -hall of fame; you will see women bent over the washtub.</p> - -<p>I want to tell you women that fooling away your time -hugging and kissing a poodle dog, caressing a "Spitz," -drinking society brandy-mash and a cocktail, and playing -cards, is mighty small business compared to molding the -life of a child.</p> - -<p>Tell me, where did Moses get his faith? From his -mother. Where did Moses get his backbone to say: "I -won't be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter?" He got -it from his mother. Where did Moses get the nerve to say, -"Excuse me, please," to the pleasures of Egypt? He got -it from his mother. You can bank on it he didn't inhale it -from his dad. Many a boy would have turned out better -if his old dad had died before the kid was born. You tell -your boy to keep out of bad company. Sometimes when he -walks down the street with his father he's in the worst<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> -company in town. His dad smokes, drinks and chews. -Moses got it from his mother. He was learned in all -the wisdom of Egypt, but that didn't give him the swelled -head.</p> - -<p>When God wants to throw a world out into space, he -is not concerned about it. The first mile that world takes -settles its course for eternity. When God throws a child -out into the world he is mighty anxious that it gets a good -start. The Catholics are right when they say: "Give us -the children until they are ten years old and we don't -care who has them after that." The Catholics are not -losing any sleep about losing men and women from their -church membership. It is the only church that has ever -shown us the only sensible way to reach the masses—that is, -by getting hold of the children. That's the only way on -God's earth that you will ever solve the problem of reaching -the masses. You get the boys and girls started right, and -the devil will hang a crape on his door, bank his fires, and hell -will be for rent before the Fourth of July.</p> - -<p>A friend of mine has a little girl that she was compelled -to take to the hospital for an operation. They -thought she would be frightened, but she said: "I don't -care if mama will be there and hold my hand." They -prepared her for the operation, led her into the room, put -her on the table, put the cone over her face and saturated -it with ether, and she said: "Now, mama, take me by -the hand and hold it and I'll not be afraid." And the -mother stood there and held her hand. The operation was -performed, and when she regained consciousness, they -said: "Bessie, weren't you afraid when they put you on -the table?" She said: "No, mama stood there and held -my hand. I wasn't afraid."</p> - -<p>There is a mighty power in a mother's hand. There's -more power in a woman's hand than there is in a king's -scepter.</p> - -<p>And there is a mighty power in a mother's kiss—inspiration, -courage, hope, ambition, in a mother's kiss.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span> -One kiss made Benjamin West a painter, and the memory -of it clung to him through life. One kiss will drive away -the fear in the dark and make the little one brave. It will -give strength where there is weakness.</p> - -<p>I was in a town one day and saw a mother out with -her boy, and he had great steel braces on both legs, to his -hips, and when I got near enough to them I learned by -their conversation that that wasn't the first time the mother -had had him out for a walk. She had him out exercising -him so he would get the use of his limbs. He was struggling -and she smiled and said: "You are doing finely today; -better than you did yesterday." And she stooped and -kissed him, and the kiss of encouragement made him work -all the harder, and she said: "You are doing nobly, son." -And he said: "Mama, I'm going to run; look at me." -And he started, and one of his toes caught on the steel -brace on the other leg and he stumbled, but she caught -him and kissed him, and said: "That was fine, son; how -well you did it!" Now, he did it because his mother had -encouraged him with a kiss. He didn't do it to show -off. There is nothing that will help and inspire life like a -mother's kiss.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"If we knew the baby fingers pressed against the window pane,</div> -<div class="verse">Would be cold and still tomorrow, never trouble us again,</div> -<div class="verse">Would the bright eyes of our darling catch the frown upon our brow?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Let us gather up the sunbeams lying all around our path,</div> -<div class="verse">Let us keep the wheat and roses, casting out the thorns and chaff!</div> -<div class="verse">We shall find our sweetest comforts in the blessings of today,</div> -<div class="verse">With a patient hand removing all the briars from our way."</div> -</div></div></div> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Mother's Song</p> - -<p>There is power in a mother's song, too. It's the best -music the world has ever heard. The best music in the -world is like biscuits—it's the kind mother makes. There -is no brass band or pipe organ that can hold a candle to -mother's song. Calve, Melba, Nordica, Eames, Schumann<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span>Heinck, -they are cheap skates, compared to mother. They -can't sing at all. They don't know the rudiments of the -kind of music mother sings. The kind she sings gets -tangled up in your heart strings. There would be a disappointment -in the music of heaven to me if there were no -mothers there to sing. The song of an angel or a seraph -would not have much charm for me. What would you care -for an angel's song if there were no mother's song?</p> - -<p>The song of a mother is sweeter than that ever sung -by minstrel or written by poet. Talk about sonnets! -You ought to hear the mother sing when her babe is on her -breast, when her heart is filled with emotion. Her voice -may not please an artist, but it will please any one who -has a heart in him. The songs that have moved the world -are not the songs written by the great masters. The best -music, in my judgment, is not the faultless rendition of -these high-priced opera singers. There is nothing in art -that can put into melody the happiness which associations -and memories bring. I think when we reach heaven it -will be found that some of the best songs we will sing there -will be those we learned at mother's knee.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Mother's Love</p> - -<p>There is power in a mother's love. A mother's love -must be like God's love. How God could ever tell the -world that he loved it without a mother's help has often -puzzled me. If the devils in hell ever turned pale, it was -the day mother's love flamed up for the first time in a -woman's heart. If the devil ever got "cold feet" it was -that day, in my judgment.</p> - -<p>You know a mother has to love her babe before it is -born. Like God, she has to go into the shadows of the -valley of death to bring it into the world, and she will love -her child, suffer for it, and it can grow up and become vile -and yet she will love it. Nothing will make her blame it, -and I think, women, that one of the awful things in hell -will be that there will be no mother's love there. Nothing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> -but black, bottomless, endless, eternal hate in hell—no -mother's love.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"And though he creep through the vilest caves of sin,</div> -<div class="verse">And crouch perhaps, with bleared and bloodshot eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">Under the hangman's rope—a mother's lips</div> -<div class="verse">Will kiss him in his last bed of disgrace,</div> -<div class="verse">And love him e'en for what she hoped of him."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>I thank God for what mother's love has done for -the world.</p> - -<p>Oh, there is power in a mother's trust. Surely as -Moses was put in his mother's arms by the princess, so -God put the babes in your arms, as a charge from him to -raise and care for. Every child is put in a mother's arms -as a trust from God, and she has to answer to God for the -way she deals with that child. No mother on God's earth -has any right to raise her children for pleasure. She has -no right to send them to dancing school and haunts of sin. -You have no right to do those things that will curse your -children. That babe is put in your arms to train for the -Lord. No mother has any more right to raise her children -for pleasure than I have to pick your pockets or throw -red pepper in your eyes. She has no more right to do that -than a bank cashier has to rifle the vaults and take the -savings of the people. One of the worst sins you can commit -is to be unfaithful to your trust.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Mother's Responsibility</p> - -<p>"Take this child and nurse it for me." That is all the -business you have with it. That is a jewel that belongs -to God and he gives it to you to polish for him so he can -set it in a crown. Who knows but that Judas became the -godless, good-for-nothing wretch he was because he had a -godless, good-for-nothing mother? Do you know? I -don't. What is more to blame for the crowded prisons -than mothers? Who is more to blame for the crowded -disreputable houses than you are, who let your children<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> -gad the streets, with every Tom, Dick and Harry, or keep -company with some little jack rabbit whose character -would make a black mark on a piece of tar paper? I have -talked with men in prisons who have damned their mothers -to my face. Why? They blame their mothers for their -being where they are.</p> - -<p>"Take the child and nurse it for me, and I will pay -you your wages." God pays in joy that is fireproof, -famine-proof and devil-proof. He will pay you, don't you -worry. So get your name on God's pay-roll. "Take this -child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you your wages." -If you haven't been doing that, then get your name on -God's pay-roll.</p> - -<p>"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay -you your wages." Then your responsibility! It is so -great that I don't see how any woman can fail to be a -Christian and serve God. What do you think God will -do if the mother fails? I stagger under it. What, if -through your unfaithfulness, your boy becomes a curse -and your daughter a blight? What, if through your neglect, -that boy becomes a Judas when he might have been a John -or Paul?</p> - -<p>Down in Cincinnati some years ago a mother went -to the zoological garden and stood leaning over the bear -pit, watching the bears and dropping crumbs and peanuts -to them. In her arms she held her babe, a year and three -months old. She was so interested in the bears that the -baby wriggled itself out of her arms and fell into the bear -pit, and she watched those huge monsters rip it to shreds. -What a veritable hell it will be through all her life to know -that her little one was lost through her own carelessness -and neglect!</p> - -<p>"Take this child and raise it for me, and I will pay -you your wages." Will you promise and covenant with -God, and with me, and with one another, that from now -on you will try, with God's help, to do better than you -ever have done to raise your children for God?</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_244fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">The Ideal Mother is the Product of a Civilization that Rose from the Manger of Bethlehem.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span></p> - -<p>"I once read the story of an angel who stole out of -heaven and came to this world one bright, sunshiny day; -roamed through field, forest, city and hamlet, and as the -sun went down plumed his wings for the return flight. -The angel said: "Now that my visit is over, before I return -I must gather some mementos of my trip." He looked -at the beautiful flowers in the garden and said: "How -lovely and fragrant," and plucked the rarest roses, made -a bouquet, and said: "I see nothing more beautiful and -fragrant than these flowers." The angel looked farther -and saw a bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked child, and said: "That -baby is prettier than the flowers; I will take that, too," -and looking behind to the cradle, he saw a mother's love -pouring out over her babe like a gushing spring, and the -angel said: "The mother's love is the most beautiful thing -I have seen! I will take that, too."</p> - -<p>And with these three treasures the heavenly messenger -winged his flight to the pearly gates, saying: "Before I -go I must examine the mementos of my trip to the earth." -He looked at the flowers; they had withered. He looked -at the baby's smile, and it had faded. He looked at the -mother's love, and it shone in all its pristine beauty. Then -he threw away the withered flowers, cast aside the faded -smile, and with the mother's love pressed to his breast, -swept through the gates into the city, shouting that the -only thing he had found that would retain its fragrance -from earth to heaven was a mother's love.</p> - -<p>"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay -you your wages."</p> - -<p>When Napoleon Bonaparte was asked, "What do you -regard as the greatest need of France?" he replied, "Mothers, -mothers, mothers." You women can make a hell of a home -or a heaven of a home. Don't turn your old Gatling-gun -tongue loose and rip everybody up and rip your husbands -up and send them out of their homes. If I were going -to investigate your piety I would ask the girl who works -for you.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span></p> - -<p>This talk about the land of the free is discounted -when the children look like a rummage sale in a second-hand -store; with uncombed hair, ripped pants, buttons off, -stockings hanging down. It doesn't take the wisdom of -truth to see that mother is too busy with her social duties, -clubs, etc., to pay much attention to the kids.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Mothers of Great Men</p> - -<p>The mother of Nero was a murderess, and it is no -wonder that he fiddled while Rome burned. The mother -of Patrick Henry was eloquent, and that is the reason why -every school boy and girl knows, "Give me liberty or give -me death." Coleridge's mother taught him Biblical -stories from the old Dutch tile of the fireplace. In the -home authority is needed today more than at any time -in the history of this nation. I have met upon the arena -of the conflict every form of man and beast imaginable -to meet, and I am convinced that neither law nor gospel -can make a nation without home authority and home -example. Those two things are needed. The boy who -has a wholesome home and surroundings and a judicious -control included does not often find his way into the -reformatory.</p> - -<p>Susanna Wesley was the mother of nineteen children, -and she held them for God. When asked how she did it -she replied, "By getting hold of their hearts in their youth, -and never losing my grip."</p> - -<p>If it had not been for the expostulations of the mother -of George Washington, George Washington would have -become a midshipman in the British navy, and the name -of that capital yonder would have been some other. John -Randolph said in the House of Representatives, "If it had -not been for my godly mother, I, John Randolph, would -have been an infidel." Gray, who wrote the "Elegy in a -Country Churchyard," said he was one of a large family -of children that had the misfortune to survive their mother. -And I believe the ideal mother is the product of a civilization -that rose from the manger of Bethlehem.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span></p> - -<p>I am sure there is not an angel in heaven that would -not be glad to come to earth and be honored with motherhood -if God would grant that privilege. What a grand -thing it must be, at the end of your earthly career, to look -back upon a noble and godly life, knowing you did all you -could to help leave this old world to God, and made your -contributions in tears and in prayers and taught your -offspring to be God-fearing, so that when you went you -would continue to produce your noble character in your -children.</p> - -<p>I believe in blood; I believe in good blood, bad blood, -honest blood, and thieving blood; in heroic blood and -cowardly blood; in virtuous blood, in licentious blood, in -drinking blood and in sober blood. The lips of the Hapsburgs -tell of licentiousness; those of the Stuarts tell of -cruelty, bigotry and sensuality, from Mary, queen of Scots, -down to Charles the First and Charles the Second, James -the First—who showed the world what your fool of a Scotchman -can be when he is a fool—down to King James the -Second.</p> - -<p>Scotch blood stands for stubbornness. They are full -of stick-to-it-iveness. I know, Mrs. Sunday is full-blooded -Scotch. English blood speaks of reverence for the English. -That is shown by the fact that England spent $50,000,000 -recently to put a crown on George's head. Danish blood -tells of love of the sea. Welsh blood tells of religious fervor -and zeal for God. Jewish blood tells of love of money, from -the days of Abraham down until now.</p> - -<p>You may have read this story: Down in New York -was a woman who said to her drunken son: "Let's go down -to the police court and have the judge send you over to the -island for a few weeks. Maybe you'll straighten up then -and I can have some respect for you again." Down they -went to the police court and appeared before the judge. -He asked who would make the charge and the mother -sprang forward with the words on her lips. Then she -stopped short, turned to her son and throwing her arms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> -about his neck cried out: "I can't! I can't! He is my -son, I love him and I can't." Then she fell at his feet -dead. As dearly as she had loved her drunken, bloated, -loafing son she couldn't stand in judgment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a><br /> - -<small>Standing on the Rock</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If a doctor didn't know any more about Materia Medica than the average -church member knows about the Bible, he'd be arrested for malpractice.—<span class="smcap">Billy -Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">A publisher</span> remarked to me that a Billy Sunday -campaign did not create a demand for religious books -in general. With rather an air of fault-finding he -said, "You can't sell anything but Bibles to that Billy -Sunday crowd."</p> - -<p>That remark is illuminating. Billy Sunday does not -create a cult: he simply sends people back to the Bibles -of their mothers. His converts do not become disciples -of any particular school of interpretation: the Bible and -the hymn book are their only armory. It cannot be gainsaid -that it is better to read the Bible than to read books -about the Bible. The work of Billy Sunday is not done with -a convert until he has inspired that person to a love and -loyalty for the old Book.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE STORY OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT</p> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" summary=""> -<col width="50%" /><col width="50%" /> -<tr><th align="center">BIBLE VERSION</th><th align="center">SUNDAY'S VERSION</th></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdj"> -<p>5. And the people spake -against God and against Moses, -Wherefore have ye brought us -up out of Egypt to die in the -wilderness? for there is no bread, -neither is there any water; -and our soul loatheth this -light bread.</p> - -<p>6. And the Lord sent fiery -serpents among the people, and -they bit the people; and much -people of Israel died.</p> - -<p>7. Therefore the people came -to Moses and said, We have -sinned, for we have spoken -against the Lord, and against -thee; pray unto the Lord that -he take away the serpents -from us. And Moses prayed -for the people.</p> - -<p>8. And the Lord said unto -Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, -and set it upon a pole: -and it shall come to pass that -every one that is bitten, when -he looketh upon it, shall live.</p> - -<p>9. And Moses made a serpent -of brass and put it upon -a pole and it came to pass, that -if a serpent had bitten any -man, when he beheld the serpent -of brass he lived.</p> -</td> - - -<td class="tdj"> -<p>The Jews were in Egyptian -bondage for years. God said -he would release them, but he -hadn't come. But God never -forgets. So he came and chose -Moses to lead them, and when -Moses got them out in the -wilderness they began to knock -and said, "Who is this Moses -anyway? We don't know him. -Were there not enough graves -in Egypt?" and they said they -didn't like the white bread they -were getting and wanted the -onions and the leeks and the -garlic and melons of Egypt, -and they found fault. And God -sent the serpents and was going -to kill them all, but Moses -interceded and said, "Now see -here, God." But the Lord said, -"Get out of the way, Moses, -and let me kill them all." But -Moses said, "Hold on there, -Lord. That bunch would have -the laugh on you if you did -that. They'd say you brought -them out here and the commissary -stores ran out and -you couldn't feed them, so -you just killed them all." So -God said, "All right, for your -sake, Moses, I won't," and he -said, "Moses, you go and set -up a brazen serpent in the -wilderness and that will be the -one thing that will save them -if they are bitten. They must -look or die."</p></td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p>Such passages as this show the uncompromising loyalty -of Sunday to the Bible:</p> - -<p>"Here is a book, God's Word, that I will put up against -all the books of all the ages. You can't improve on the -Bible. You can take all the histories of all the nations of -all the ages and cut out of them all that is ennobling, all -that is inspiring, and compile that into a common book, -but you cannot produce a work that will touch the hem of -the garment of the Book I hold in my hand. It is said, -'Why cannot we improve on the Bible? We have advanced -everything else.' No, sir. 'Heaven and earth shall pass -away, but My Word shall not.' And so this old Book, -which is the Word of God, the Word of Jesus Christ, is the -book I intend to preach by everywhere. The religion that -has withstood the sophistry and the criticism of the ages,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a><br /><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -the sarcasm of Voltaire, the irony of Hume, the blasphemy -of Ingersoll, the astronomer's telescope, the archæologist's -spade and the physician's scalpel—they have all tried to -prove the Bible false, but the old Book is too tough for the -tooth of time, and she stands triumphant over the grave of -all that have railed upon her. God Almighty is still on the -job. Some people act as though they had sent for the -undertaker to come to embalm God and bury him. But it -is the truth; it is not an accident that places the Christian -nations in the forefront of the world's battles. It is something -more than race, color, climate, that causes the difference -between the people that dwell on the banks of the -Congo and those in this valley. The scale of civilization -always ascends the line of religion; the highest civilization -always goes hand in hand with the purest religion."</p> - -<p>Rigid as he is in literal interpretation of the Bible, -Sunday is celebrated for his paraphrases of favorite passages, -a recasting of the familiar form of words into the speech of -the day. Some of these "slang versions" of the old Book -make one gasp; but generally the evangelist gets the -innermost meaning of the Book itself. He is not an interpreter -of the Bible but a popularizer of it. He does not -expound the Scripture as much as he pounds in the Scripture. -The Bible and its place in the life of the Christian are often -on the Evangelist's lips.</p> - -<p>Here, for instance, is his interpretation of the story of -David and Goliath:</p> - -<p>"All of the sons of Jesse except David went off to war; -they left David at home because he was only a kid. After -a while David's ma got worried. She wondered what had -become of his brothers, because they hadn't telephoned to -her or sent word. So she said to David, 'Dave, you go down -there and see whether they are all right.'</p> - -<p>"So David pikes off to where the war is, and the first -morning he was there out comes this big Goliath, a big, -strapping fellow about eleven feet tall, who commenced to -shoot off his mouth as to what he was going to do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span></p> - -<p>"'Who's that big stiff putting up that game of talk?' -asked David of his brothers.</p> - -<p>"'Oh, he's the whole works; he's the head cheese of the -Philistines. He does that little stunt every day.'</p> - -<p>"'Say,' said David, 'you guys make me sick. Why -don't some of you go out and soak that guy? You let him -get away with that stuff.' He decided to go out and tell -Goliath where to head in.</p> - -<p>"So Saul said, 'You'd better take my armor and sword.' -David put them on, but he felt like a fellow with a hand-me-down -suit about four times too big for him, so he took them -off and went down to the brook and picked up a half dozen -stones. He put one of them in his sling, threw it, and soaked -Goliath in the coco between the lamps, and he went down -for the count. David drew his sword and chopped off his -block, and the rest of the gang beat it."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">SUNDAY UTTERANCES ON THE BIBLE</p> - -<p>The Bible is the Word of God. Nothing has ever been -more clearly established in the world today, and God -blesses every people and nation that reverence it. It has -stood the test of time. No book has so endured through the -ages. No book has been so hated. Everything the cunning -of man, philosophy, brutality, could contrive has been -done, but it has withstood them all.</p> - -<p>There is no book which has such a circulation today. -Bibles are dropping from the press like the leaves in autumn. -There are 200,000,000 copies. It is read by all nations. It -has been translated into five hundred languages and dialects.</p> - -<p>No book ever came by luck or chance. Every book -owes its existence to some being or beings, and within the -range and scope of human intelligence there are but three -things—good, bad, and God. All that originates in intellect, -all which the intellect can comprehend, must come from one -of the three. This book, the Bible, could not possibly be -the product of evil, wicked, godless, corrupt, vile men, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> -it pronounces the heaviest penalties against sin. Like -produces like, and if bad men were writing the Bible they -never would have pronounced condemnation and punishment -against wrong-doing. The holy men of old, we are -told, "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Men -do not attribute these beautiful and matchless and well-arranged -sentences to human intelligence alone, but we are -told that men spake as they were inspired by the Holy -Ghost. The only being left, to whom you, or I, or any -sensible person could ascribe the origin of the Bible, is God.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_253fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Biting, Blistering, Blasting Condemnation of Sin. This Rare Photograph -Shows the Tremendous Earnestness of Mr. Sunday and -the Energy, Zeal and Fire he Puts into his Message which -has Warmed this Cold World more than that of any -other Apostle of Righteousness in this Generation.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>Men have been thrown to beasts and burned to death -for having a Bible in their possession. There have been wars -over the Bible; cities have been destroyed. Nothing ever -brought such persecution as the Bible. Everything vile, -dirty, rotten and iniquitous has been brought to bear against -it because it reveals man's cussedness. But it's here, and its -power and influence are greater today than ever.</p> - -<p>Saloons, bawdy houses, gambling hells, every rake, -every white-slaver, every panderer and everything evil has -been against it, but it is the word of God, and millions of -people know it.</p> - -<p>This being true, it is of the highest importance that you -should think of the truths in it. I'll bet my life that there are -hundreds of you that haven't read ten pages of the Bible in -ten years. Some of you never open it except at a birth, a -marriage or a death, and then just to keep your family -records straight. That's a disgrace and an insult. I repeat it, -it's a disgrace and an insult. Don't blame God if you wind -up in hell, after God warned you, because you didn't take -time to read it and think about it.</p> - -<p>It is the only book that tells us of a God that we can -love, a heaven to win, a hell to shun and a Saviour that can -save. Why did God give us the Bible? So that we might -believe in Christ. No other book tells us this. It tells us -why the Bible was written, that we might believe and be -saved. You don't read a railroad guide to learn to raise -buckwheat. You don't read a cook book to learn to shoe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> -horses. You don't read an arithmetic to learn the history -of the United States. A geography does not tell you about -how to make buckwheat cakes. No, you read a railroad -guide to learn about the trains, a cook book to learn to make -buckwheat cakes, an arithmetic for arithmetic and a geography -for geography. If you want to get out of a book what -the author put in it, find out why it was written. That's -the way to get good out of a book. Read it.</p> - -<p>It was written that you might read and believe that -Jesus is the Son of God. The Bible wasn't intended for a -history or a cook book. It was intended to keep me from -going to hell.</p> - -<p>The greatest good can be had from anything by using -it for the purpose for which it was intended. A loaf of -bread and a brick may look alike, but try and exchange them -and see. You build a house with brick, but you can't eat -it. The purpose of a time table is to give the time of trains, -the junctions, the different railroads. A man that has been -over the road knows more about it than a man who has -never been over it. A man who has made the journey of -life guided by the Bible knows more about it than any high-browed -lobster who has never lived a word of it. Then whom -are you going to believe, the man who has tried it or the man -who knows nothing about it?</p> - -<p>The Bible was not intended for a science any more than -a crowbar is intended for a toothpick. The Bible was written -to tell men that they might live, and it's true today.</p> - -<p>One man says: "I do not believe in the Bible because -of its inconsistencies." I say the greatest inconsistency is -in your life—not in the Bible! I bring up before you the -memory of some evil deed, and you immediately begin to -find fault with the Bible! Go to a man and talk business or -politics and he talks sense. Go to a woman and talk society, -clubs or dress, and she talks sense. Talk religion to them, -and they will talk nonsense!</p> - -<p>I want to say that I believe that the Bible is the Word -of God from cover to cover. Not because I understand its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> -philosophy, speculation, or theory. I cannot; wouldn't -attempt it; and I would be a fool if I tried. I believe it -because it is from the mouth of God; the mouth of God has -spoken it.</p> - -<p>There is only one way to have the doubts destroyed. -Read the Bible and obey it. You say you can't understand -it. There's an A, B, C in religion, just as in everything -else. When you go to school you learn the A, B, C's and -pretty soon can understand something you thought you -never could when you started out. So in religion. Begin -with the simple things and go on and you'll understand. -That's what it was written for, that you might read and -believe and be saved. I'm willing to stand here and take -the hand of any man or woman if you are willing to come -and begin with the knowledge you have.</p> - -<p>In South Africa there are diamond mines and the fact -has been heralded to every corner of the world. But only -those that dig for them get the diamonds. So it is with the -Bible. Dig and you'll find gold and salvation. You have -to dig out the truths.</p> - -<p>Years ago in Sing Sing prison there was a convict by -the name of Jerry McCauley and one day an old pal of his -came back to the prison and told him how he had been saved, -and quoted a verse of Scripture. McCauley didn't know -where to find the verse in the Bible, so he started in at the -first and read through until he came to it. It was away over -in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. But he found Jesus Christ -while he was reading it. He lived a godly life until the day -he died.</p> - -<p>Supposing a man should come to you and say, "The title -to your property is no good and if some one contests it you -will lose?" Would you laugh and go on about your business? -No, sir! You would go to the court house and if you could -find it in only one book there, the book in the recorder's -office, you'd search and find it, and if the recorder said -the deed was all right you could laugh at whatever any one -else said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span></p> - -<p>There is only one book in the world that tells me about -my soul. It says if you believe you're saved, if you don't -you are damned. God said it and it's all true. Every man -who believes in the Bible shall live forever. The Bible says -heaven or hell, so why do you resist?</p> - -<p>No words are put in the Bible for effect. The Bible -talks to us so we can understand. God could use language -that no one could understand. But we can not understand -all by simply hearing and reading. When we see we will -know.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"I stood one day beside a blacksmith's door,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And heard the anvil beat and the bellows chime;</div> -<div class="verse">Looking in, I saw upon the floor</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Old hammers worn out with beating years and years of time.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'How many anvils have you had?' said I,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">'To wear and batter all these hammers so?'</div> -<div class="verse">'Just one,' said he, then said with twinkling eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">'The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.'</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"So methought, the anvils of God's word—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Of Jesus' sacrifice—have been beat upon—</div> -<div class="verse">The noise of falling blows was heard—</div> -<div class="verse indent2">The anvil is unharmed—the hammers are all gone."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Julian the apostate was a hammer. Gone! Voltaire, -Renan, hammers. Gone! In Germany, Goethe, Strauss, -Schleiermacher—gone. In England, Mill, Hume, Hobbes, -Darwin, Huxley and Spencer—the anvil remains; the -hammer is gone. In America, Thomas Paine, Parker, -Ingersoll, gone. The anvil remains.</p> - -<p>Listen. In France a hundred years ago or more they -were printing and circulating infidel literature at the expense -of $4,500,000 a year. What was the result? God was denied, -the Bible sneered at and ridiculed, and between 1792 and -1795 one million twenty thousand and fifty-one hundred -people were brought to death. The Word of God stood -unshaken amidst it all. Josh Billings said: "I would rather<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> -be an idiot than an infidel; because if I am an infidel I made -myself so, but if I am an idiot somebody else did it." Oh, -the wreckers' lights on the dangerous coasts that try to -allure and drag us away from God have all gone out, but -God's words shine on.</p> - -<p>The vital truths of the Bible are more believed in the -world today than at any other time. When a man becomes -so intelligent that he can not accept the Bible, too progressive -to be a Christian, that man's influence for good, in society, -in business or as a companion, is at an end. Some think that -being a doubter is an evidence of superior intellect. No!</p> - -<p>I've never found a dozen men in my life who disbelieved -in the Bible but what they were hugging some secret sin. -When you are willing to give up that pet sin you will find it -easy to believe in the Bible.</p> - -<p>It explains to me why Saul of Tarsus, the murderer, -was changed to Paul, the apostle. It explains to me why -David Livingstone left his Highland home to go to darkest -Africa. It explains to me why the Earl of Shaftesbury was -made from a drunkard into a power for God in London for -sixty-five years. It explains why missionaries leave home -and friends to go into unknown lands and preach Jesus Christ, -and perhaps to die at the hands of the natives.</p> - -<p>I can see in this book God revealed to man and when I -do and accept, I am satisfied. It is just what you need to be -satisfied. God knows your every need.</p> - -<p>This explains to me why Jesus Christ has such influence -on men and women in the world today. No man ever had -such influence to teach men and women virtue and goodness -as Christ. This influence has been in the world from 2,000 -years ago to the present time. The human heart is to Jesus -like a great piano. First he plays the sad melodies of repentance -and then the joyful hallelujahs.</p> - -<p>The Bible has promises running all through it and God -wants you to appropriate them for your use. They are -like a bank note. They are of no value unless used. You -might starve to death if you have money in your pockets,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> -but won't use it. So the promises may not do you any good -because you will not use them. The Bible is a galaxy of -promises like the Milky Way in the heavens.</p> - -<p>When you are in trouble, instead of going to your Bible, -you let them grow, and they grow faster than Jonah's gourd -vine. You're afraid to step out on the promises.</p> - -<p>There are many exceedingly great and precious promises -in the Bible. Here is one:</p> - -<p>"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, -that the Father may be glorified in the Son."</p> - -<p>If some of you would receive such a promise from John -D. Rockefeller or Andrew Carnegie, you'd sit up all night -writing out checks to be cashed in the morning. And yet -you let the Bible lie on the table.</p> - -<p>But the infidel says: "Mr. Sunday, why are there so -many intelligent people in the world that don't believe the -Bible?"</p> - -<p>Do you wonder that it was an infidel who started the -question: "Is life worth living?" Do you wonder that it -was some fool woman, an infidel woman, that first started -the question: "Is marriage a failure?" A fool, infidel woman. -Christians do not ask such fool questions. Would you be -surprised to be reminded that infidel writers and speakers -have always and do always advocate and condone and excuse -suicide? Do you know that in infidelity the gospel is -suicide? That is their theory and I don't blame them, and -the sooner they leave the world the better the world will be.</p> - -<p>The great men of the ages are on the side of the Bible. -A good many infidels talk as though the great minds of the -world were arrayed against Christianity and the Bible. -Great statesmen, inventors, painters, poets, artists, -musicians, have lifted up their hearts in prayer. Watt, -the inventor of the steam engine, was a Christian; Fulton, -the inventor of the steamboat, was a Christian; Cyrus -McCormick, who first invented the self-binder, was a -Christian; Morse, who invented the telegraph, and the first -message that ever flashed over the wire was from Deuteron<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>omy—'What -hath God wrought'. Edison, although a -doubter in some things, said that there was evidence enough -in chemistry to prove the existence of a God, if there was no -evidence besides that. George Washington was a Christian. -Abraham Lincoln was a Christian, and with Bishop Simpson -knelt on his knees in the White House, praying God to give -victory to the Army of the Blue. John Hay, the brightest -Secretary of State that ever managed the affairs of state, in -my judgment, was a Christian. William Jennings Bryan, -a man as clean as a hound's tooth; Garfield, McKinley, -Grover Cleveland, Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow -Wilson—all Christians.</p> - -<p>The poets drew their inspiration from the Bible. Dante's -"Inferno," Milton's "Paradise Lost," two of the greatest -works ever written, were inspired by the Word of God. Lord -Byron, although a profligate, drew his inspiration from the -Word of God. Shakespeare's works abound with quotations -from the Bible. John G. Whittier, Longfellow, Michael -Angelo, who painted "The Last Judgment," Raphael, who -painted the "Madonna of the Chair," Da Vinci, who painted -"The Last Supper," all dipped their brushes in the light of -heaven and painted for eternity. The great men of the -world of all ages, of science, art, or statesmanship, have all -believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.</p> - -<p>Twenty-seven years ago, with the Holy Spirit for my -guide, I entered this wonderful temple that we call Christianity. -I entered through the portico of Genesis and walked -down through the Old Testament's art gallery, where I saw -the portraits of Joseph, Jacob, Daniel, Moses, Isaiah, Solomon -and David hanging on the wall; I entered the music -room of the Psalms and the Spirit of God struck the keyboard -of my nature until it seemed to me that every reed -and pipe in God's great organ of nature responded to the -harp of David, and the charm of King Solomon in his -moods.</p> - -<p>I walked into the business house of Proverbs.</p> - -<p>I walked into the observatory of the prophets and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> -there saw photographs of various sizes, some pointing to -far-off stars or events—all concentrated upon one great -Star which was to rise as an atonement for sin.</p> - -<p>Then I went into the audience room of the King of -Kings, and got a vision from four different points—from Matthew, -Mark, Luke and John. I went into the correspondence -room, and saw Peter, James, Paul and Jude, penning their -epistles to the world. I went into the Acts of the Apostles -and saw the Holy Spirit forming the Holy Church, and then -I walked into the throne room and saw a door at the foot of -a tower and, going up, I saw One standing there, fair as the -morning, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and I found this -truest friend that man ever knew; when all were false I -found him true.</p> - -<p>In teaching me the way of life, the Bible has taught -me the way to live, it taught me how to die.</p> - -<p>So that is why I am here, sober and a Christian, instead -of a booze-hoisting infidel.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a><br /> - -<small>Making a Joyful Noise</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Don't look as if your religion hurt you.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">"He</span> put a new song in my mouth." That is -real religion which sets the saints to singing. -Gloomy Christians are a poor advertisement of -the Gospel. There is nothing of gloom about a Billy Sunday -revival.</p> - -<p>Shrewd students of the campaigns have often remarked -that there are so few tears and so much laughter at the -evangelist's services. There is scarcely one of Sunday's -sermons in which he does not make the congregation laugh. -All of his work is attuned to the note of vitality, robustness -and happiness. Concerning the long-faced Christian Sunday -says:</p> - -<p>"Some people couldn't have faces any longer if they -thought God was dead. They ought to pray to stop looking -so sour. If they smile it looks like it hurts them, and -you're always glad when they stop smiling. If Paul and -Silas had had such long faces as some church members have -on them when they went into the Philippian jail, the jailer -would never have been saved. There never was a greater -mistake than to suppose that God wants you to be long-faced -when you put on your good clothes. You'd better -not fast at all if you give the devil all the benefit. God -wants people to be happy.</p> - -<p>"The matter with a lot of you people is that your -religion is not complete. You have not yielded yourself -to God and gone out for God and God's truth. Why, I -am almost afraid to make some folks laugh for fear that I -will be arrested for breaking a costly piece of antique bric-à-brac. -You would think that if some people laughed it -would break their faces. I want to tell you that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> -happy, smiling, sunny-faced religion will win more people -to Jesus Christ than the miserable old grim-faced kind -will in ten years. I pity any one who can't laugh. -There must be something wrong with their religion or -their liver. The devil can't laugh.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Oh, laugh and the world laughs with you,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Weep and you weep alone;</div> -<div class="verse">'Tis easy enough to be pleasant</div> -<div class="verse indent2">When life moves along like a song;</div> -<div class="verse">But the man worth while is the man who can smile</div> -<div class="verse indent2">When everything goes dead wrong.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Don't look as if religion hurt you. Don't look as if -you had on a number two shoe when you ought to be wearing -a number five. I see some women who look as if they -had the toothache. That won't win anyone for Christ. -Look pleasant. Look as if religion made you happy, when -you had it.</p> - -<p>"Then there is music. When you get to heaven you'll -find that not all have been preached there. They have been -sung there. God pity us when music is not for the glory of -God. Some of you will sing for money and for honor, but -you won't sing in the church. Much of the church music -today is all poppycock and nonsense. Some of these high-priced -sopranos get up in church and do a little diaphragm -wiggle and make a noise like a horse neighing. I don't -wonder the people in the congregation have a hard time -of it."</p> - -<p>So Sunday sets the city to singing. His sermons are -framed in music—and not music that is a performance by -some soloist, but music that ministers to his message. -His gospel is sung as well as preached. The singing is as -essential a part of the service as the sermon. Everybody -likes good music, especially of a popular sort. Sunday sees -that this taste is gratified.</p> - -<p>The Tabernacle music in itself is enough to draw the -great throngs which nightly crowd the building. The choir<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> -furnishes not only the melodies but also a rare spectacle. -This splendid regiment of helpers seated back of the speaker -affects both the eyes and the ears of the audiences. Without -his choirs Sunday could scarcely conduct his great campaigns. -These helpers are all volunteers, and their steadfast loyalty -throughout weeks of strenuous meetings in all kinds of -weather is a Christian -service of the first -order.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_263.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Some of These High-Priced Sopranos Get -up in Church and Make a Noise -Like a Horse Neighing.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>True, membership -in a Sunday -choir is in itself an -avocation, a social -and religious interest -that enriches the -lives of the choir -members. They -"belong" to something -big and popular. -They have new themes -for conversation. -New acquaintances -are made. The associations -first formed -in the Sunday choir -have in many cases -continued as the -most sacred relations -of life. The brightest -spot in the monotony of many a young person's life has -been his or her membership in the Billy Sunday choir.</p> - -<p>The choir also has the advantage of a musical drill and -experience which could be secured in no other fashion. All -the advantages of trained leadership are given in return for -the volunteer service. Incidentally, the choir members -know that they are serving their churches and their communities -in a deep and far-reaching fashion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span></p> - -<p>Many visitors to the Sunday Tabernacle are surprised -to find that the music is of such fine quality. There is less -"religious rag-time" than is commonly associated with the -idea of revival meetings. More than a fair half of the -music sung is that which holds an established place in the -hymnody of all churches.</p> - -<p>There is more to the music of a campaign than the -volume of singing by the choir, with an occasional solo by -the chorister or some chosen person. A variety of ingenious -devices are employed to heighten the impression of the music. -Thus a common antiphonal effect is obtained by having -the choir sing one line of a hymn and the last ten rows of -persons in the rear of the Tabernacle sing the answering line. -The old hymn "For You I am Praying" is used with -electrical effect in this fashion. Part singing is employed -in ways that are possible only to such a large chorus as the -musical director of the Sunday campaigns has at his command.</p> - -<p>A genius for mutuality characterizes the Sunday song -services. The audiences are given a share in the music. -Not only are they requested to join in the singing, but they -are permitted to choose their favorite hymns, and frequently -the choir is called upon to listen while the audience sings.</p> - -<p>Various delegations are permitted to sing hymns of -their own choice. Diversity, and variety and vim seem to be -the objective of the musical part of the program. From -half an hour to an hour of this varied music introduces each -service. When the evangelist himself is ready to preach, -the crowd has been worked up into a glow and fervor that -make it receptive to his message.</p> - -<p>If some stickler for ritual and stateliness objects -that these services are entirely too informal, and too much -like a political campaign, the partisan of Mr. Sunday will -heartily assent. These are great American crowds in their -every-day humor. These evangelistic meetings are not -regular church services. It has already been made plain -that there is no "dim religious light" about the Sunday -Tabernacle meetings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span></p> - -<p>It is a tribute to the comprehensiveness of the Sunday -method that they bring together the most representative -gatherings imaginable every day under the unadorned -rafters of the big wooden shell called the Tabernacle. -Shrewdly, the evangelist has made sure of the democratic -quality of his congregation. He has succeeded in having -the gospel sing its way into the affection and interest of -every-day folk.</p> - -<p>It is no valid objection to the Sunday music that it is -so thoroughly entertaining. The Tabernacle crowds sing, -not as a religious duty, but for the sheer joy of singing. -One of the commonest remarks heard amid the crowd is "I -never expect to hear such singing again till I get to Heaven." -It is real Christian ministry to put the melodies of the -Gospel into the memories of the multitudes, and to brighten -with the songs of salvation the gray days of the burden-bearers -of the world. Boys and men on the street whistle -Gospel songs. The echoes of Tabernacle music may be -heard long after Mr. Sunday has gone from a community -in ten thousand kitchens and in the shops and factories and -stores of the community. This is the strategy of "the expulsive -power of a new affection." These meetings give to -Christians a new and jubilant affirmation, instead of a mere -defense for their faith. The campaign music carries the -campaign message farther than the voice of any man could -ever penetrate.</p> - -<p>Upon the place of music in the Christian life Sunday -says: "For sixteen years there had been no songs in Jerusalem. -It must have been a great loss to the Jews, for everywhere -we read we find them singing. They sang all the way to the -Red Sea, they sang when Jesus was born, they sang at the -Last Supper and when Jesus was arisen.</p> - -<p>"Song has always been inseparably associated with the -advancement of God's word. You'll find when religion -is at low ebb the song will cease. Many of the great revivals -have been almost entirely song. The great Welsh revival -was mostly song. In the movements of Martin Luther,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> -Wesley, Moody and Torrey you will find abundance of -song. When a church congregation gets at such low ebb -that they can't sing and have to hire a professional choir -to sing for them, they haven't got much religion. And -some of those choir members are so stuck up they won't sing -in a chorus. If I had a bunch like that they'd quit or I -would.</p> - -<p>"Take the twenty-fourth Psalm, 'Lift up your heads, -O ye gates,' and the thirty-third Psalm. They were written -by David to be sung in the temple.</p> - -<p>"I can imagine his singing them now. They were -David's own experiences. Look at them. Now you hear -an old lobster get up to give an experience, 'Forty years ago -I started forth—.' The same old stereotyped form.</p> - -<p>"There's many a life today which has no song. The -most popular song for most of you would be,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"'Where is that joy which once I knew,</div> -<div class="verse">When first I loved the Lord?'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Right behind you where you left it when you went to that -card party; right where you left it when you began to go to -the theater; right where you left it when you side-stepped -and backslid; right where you left it when you began paying -one hundred dollars for a dress and gave twenty-five cents to -the Lord; right where you left it when you began to gossip."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a><br /> - -<small>The Prophet and His Own Time</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>There wouldn't be so many non-church goers if there were not so many -non-going churches.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">A prophet</span> to his own generation is Billy Sunday. -In the speech of today he arraigns the sins of today -and seeks to satisfy the needs of today. A man -singularly free and fearless, he applies the Gospel to the -conditions of the present moment. Knowing life on various -levels, he preaches with a definiteness and an appropriateness -that echo the prophet Nathan's "Thou art the man." -By the very structure of Billy Sunday's mentality it is -made difficult for him to be abstract. He has to deal -definitely with concrete sins.</p> - -<p>Now a pastor would find it difficult to approach, in -the ruthless and reckless fashion of Billy Sunday, the shortcomings -of his members and neighbors. He has to live with -his congregation, year in and year out; but the evangelist -is as irresponsible as John the Baptist on the banks of the -Jordan. He has no affiliations to consider and no consequences -to fear, except the Kingdom's welfare. His only -concern is for the truth and applicability of his message. -He is perfectly heedless about offending hearers. Those -well-meaning persons who would compare Billy Sunday with -the average pastor should bear this in mind.</p> - -<p>A rare gift of satire and scorn and invective and ridicule -has been given to Sunday. He has been equipped with -powerful weapons which are too often missing from the -armory of the average Gospel soldier. His aptitude for -puncturing sham is almost without a peer in contemporary -life. Few orators in any field have his art of heaping up -adjectives to a towering height that overwhelms their -objective.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span></p> - -<p>Nor does the Church escape Sunday's plain dealing. -He treats vigorously her shortcomings and her imperfections. -Usually, the persons who hear the first half dozen -or dozen sermons in one of his campaigns are shocked by -the reckless way in which the evangelist handles the Church -and church members.</p> - -<p>Others, forewarned, perceive the psychology of it. -It is clear that in Sunday's thinking the purity of the Church -is all-important. Complacency with any degree of corruption -or inefficiency on her part he would regard as sin. -So he unsparingly belabors the Church and her ministry -for all the good that they have left undone and all amiss -that they have done.</p> - -<p>The net result of this is that the evangelist leaves on -the minds of the multitudes, to whom the Church has been -a negligible quantity, a tremendous impression of her pre-eminent -importance. It is true that sometimes, after a Sunday -campaign, a few ministers have to leave their churches, -because of the new spirit of efficiency and spirituality which -he has imparted. They have simply been unable to measure -up to the new opportunity. On the whole, however, it is -clear that he imparts a new sense of dignity and a new field -of leadership to the ministers of the Gospel in the communities -he has served. Testimony on this point seems to -be conclusive.</p> - -<p>Given prophets of today, with the conviction that both -Church and social life should square with the teaching of -Jesus Christ, and you have revolutionary possibilities for -any community. Fair samples of Sunday's treatment of -the Church and of society are these:</p> - -<p>"There is but one voice from the faithful preacher -about the Church—that is she is sick. But we say it in such -painless, delicate terms; we work with such tender massage, -that she seems to enjoy her invalidism. I'm coming with -my scalpel to cut into the old sores and ulcers and drive -them out. I feel the pulse and say it's pus temperature. -The temperature's high. I'm trying to remove from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span> -Church the putrefying abscess which is boring into its vitals. -About four out of every five who have their names on our -church records are doing absolutely nothing to bring anybody -to Christ and the Church is not a whit better for their -having lived in it. Christians are making a great deal of -Lent. I believe in Lent. I'll tell you what kind, though. -I believe in a Lent that is kept 365 days in the year for Jesus -Christ. That is the kind I like to see. Some people will go -to hell sure if they die out of the Lenten season. I hate to -see a man get enough religion in forty days to last him and -then live like the devil the rest of the year. If you can -reform for forty days you can reform for the year.</p> - -<p>"The Jewish Church ran up against this snag and was -wrecked. The Roman Catholic Church ran up against it -and split. All of the churches today are fast approaching -the same doom.</p> - -<p>"The dangers to the Church, as I see them, are assimilation -with the world, the neglect of the poor, substitution -of forms for godliness; and all summed up mean a fashionable -church with religion left out. Formerly Methodists used -to attend class meetings. Now these are abandoned in -many churches. Formerly shouts of praise were heard. -Now such holy demonstration is considered undignified. -Once in a while some good, godly sister forgets herself and -pipes out in a falsetto, apologetic sort of a key: 'Amen, -Brother Sunday.' I don't expect any of those ossified, petrified, -dyed-in-the-wool, stamped-on-the-cork Presbyterians -or Episcopalians to shout, 'Amen,' but it would do you good -and loosen you up. It won't hurt you a bit. You are hidebound. -I think about half the professing Christians amount -to nothing as a spiritual force. They have a kind regard for -religion, but as for evangelical service, as for a cheerful -spirit of self-denial, as for prevailing prayer, willingness to -strike hard blows against the devil, they are almost a failure. -I read the other day of a shell which had been invented -which is hurled on a ship and when it explodes it puts all on -board asleep. I sometimes think one of these shells has hit -the Church.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span></p> - -<p>"What are some people going to do about the Judgment? -Some are just in life for the money they get out of it. They -will tell you north is south if they think they can get a -dollar by it. They float get-rich-quick schemes and anything -for money. I haven't a word to say about a man who -has earned his money honestly, uses it to provide for his -family and spends the surplus for good. You know there is a -bunch of mutts that sit around on stools and whittle and spit -and cuss and damn and say that every man who has an -honest dollar ought to divide it with them, while others get -out and get busy and work and sweat and toil and prepare -to leave something for their wives and families when they -die, and spend the rest for good.</p> - -<p>"Old Commodore Vanderbilt had a fortune of over -$200,000,000, and one day when he was ill he sent for Dr. -Deems. He asked him to sing for him that old song:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">'Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,</div> -<div class="verse">Come, ye wounded, sick and sore.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The old commodore tossed from side to side, looked around -at the evidence of his wealth, and he said: 'That's what -I am, poor and needy.' Who? Commodore Vanderbilt -poor and needy with his $200,000,000? The foundation -of that fabulous fortune was laid by him when he poled a -yawl from New York to Staten Island and picked up pennies -for doing it. The foundation of the immense Astor fortune -was laid by John Jacob Astor when he went out and bought -fur and hides from trappers and put the money in New York -real estate. The next day in the street one man said to -another: 'Have you heard the news? Commodore Vanderbilt -is dead.' 'How much did he leave?' 'He left it all.'</p> - -<p>"Naked you came into this world, and naked you will -crawl out of it. You brought nothing into the world and you -will take nothing out, and if you have put the pack screws -on the poor and piled up a pile of gold as big as a house -you can't take it with you. It wouldn't do you any good if -you could, because it would melt."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a><br /> - -<small>Those Billy Sunday Prayers</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I never preach a sermon until I have soaked it in prayer.—<span class="smcap">Billy -Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Concerning</span> prayers of Sunday there is little -to be said except to quote samples of them and let -the reader judge for himself.</p> - -<p>That they are unconventional no one will deny; many -have gone farther and have said that they are almost -sacrilegious. The charge has often been made that the -evangelist addresses his prayers to the crowd instead of to -God. No one criticism has oftener been made of Mr. Sunday -by sensitive and thoughtful ministers of the Gospel, -than that his public prayers seem to be lacking in fundamental -reverence.</p> - -<p>The defender of Sunday rejoins, "He talks to -Jesus as familiarly as he talks to one of his associates." -Really, though, there is deep difference. His fellow-workers -are only fellow-workers, but of the Lord, "Holy and -reverend is his name." Many of the warmest admirers of -the evangelist do not attempt to defend all of his prayers.</p> - -<p>Probably Sunday does not know that in all the -Oriental, and some European, languages there is a special -form of speech reserved for royalty; and that it would be -an affront to address a king by the same term as the commoner. -The outward signs of this mental attitude of -reverence in prayer are unquestionably lacking in Sunday.</p> - -<p>His usual procedure is to begin to pray at the end of -a sermon, without any interval or any prefatory remarks, -such as "Let us pray." For an instant, the crowd does -not realize that he is praying. He closes his eyes and says, -"Now Jesus, you know," and so forth, just as he would say -to the chorister, "Rody, what is the name of that delega<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span>tion?" -Indeed, I have heard him interject just this inquiry -into a prayer. Or he will mention "that Bible class over to -my right, near the platform." He will use the same -colloquial figures of speech in a prayer—baseball phrases, -for instance—that he does in his sermons. Sometimes it is -really difficult to tell whether he is addressing the Lord or -the audience.</p> - -<p>More direct familiar, childish petitions were never -addressed to the Deity than are heard at the Sunday meetings. -They run so counter to all religious conceptions of a -reverential approach to the throne of grace that one marvels -at the charity of the ministers in letting him go unrebuked. -But they say "It's Billy," and so it is. That is -the way the man prays in private, for I have heard him -in his own room, before starting out to preach; and in -entirely the same intimate, unconventional fashion he asks -the help of Jesus in his preaching and in the meetings. -But to the prayers themselves:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"O God, help this old world. May the men who have -been drunkards be made better; may the men who beat -their wives and curse their children come to Jesus; may -the children who have feared to hear the footsteps of their -father, rejoice again when they see the parent coming up -the steps of the home. Bring the Church up to help the -work. Bless them, Lord. Bless the preachers: bless the -officials of the Church and bless everyone in them. Save -the men in the mines. Save the poor breaker boys as they -toil day by day in dangers; save them for their mothers -and fathers and bring them to Jesus. Bless the policemen, -the newspapermen and the men, women and children; the -men and girls from the plants, factories, stores and streets. -Go into the stores every morning and have prayer meetings -so that the clerks may hear the Word of God before they -get behind the counters and sell goods to the trade.</p> - -<p>"Visit this city, O Lord, its schools and scholars, and -bless the school board. Bless the city officials. Go down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> -into the city hall and bless the mayor, directors and all the -rest. We thank thee that the storm has passed. We -believe that we will learn a lesson of how helpless we are -before thee. How chesty we are when the sun shines and -the day is clear, but, oh! how helpless when the breath of -God comes and the snowflakes start to fall; when the floods -come we get on our knees and wring our hands and ask -mercy from thee. Oh, help us, O Lord.</p> - -<p>"When the people get to hell—I hope that nobody will -ever go there and I am trying my best to save them—they -will know that they are there because they lived against -God. I am not here to injure them; I am not here to wreck -homes; I am here to tell them of the blessing you send down -when they are with you. We pray for the thousands and -thousands that will be saved."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Thank you, Jesus. I came to you twenty-seven years -ago for salvation and I got salvation. Thank the Lord I -can look in the face of every man and woman of God everywhere -and say that for all those years I have lived in -salvation. Not that I take any credit to myself for that; -it was nothing inherent in me; it was the power of God that -saved me and kept me.</p> - -<p>"O Lord, sweep over this town and save the business -men of this community, the young men and women. O -God, save us all from the cesspools of hell and corruption. -Help me, Lord, as I hurl consternation into the ranks of -that miserable, God-forsaken crew who are feeding, fattening -and gormandizing on the people! Get everybody interested -in honesty and decency and sobriety and make them fight -to the last ditch for God. There are too many cowards, -four-flushers in the Church."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"O Jesus, we thank God that you came into this old -world to save sinners. Keep us, Lord. Hear us, O God, -ere we stumble on in darkness. Lead the hundreds here to -thy throne. Help the professing Christians who have not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span> -done as they should in the past, to come down this trail -and take a more determined stand for thee. Help the official -boards, the trustees of our churches, to show the way to -hundreds by themselves confessing sin. Help them to say, -'O Lord, I haven't been square with thee. It is possible -for me to improve my business and I can certainly improve -my service to thee. I know and I believe in God and I -believe in hell and heaven.' Lead them down the trail, -Lord."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"O Lord, there are a lot of people who step up to the -collection plate at church and fan. And Lord, there are -always people sitting in the grandstand and calling the -batter a mutt. He can't hit a thing or he can't get it over -the base, or he's an ice wagon on the bases, they say. O -Lord, give us some coachers out at this Tabernacle so that -people can be brought home to you. Some of them are dying -on second and third base, Lord, and we don't want that. -Lord, have the people play the game of life right up to the -limit so that home runs may be scored. There are some -people, Lord, who say, 'Yes, I have heard Billy at the Tabernacle -and oh, it is so disgusting: really it's awful the way he -talks.' Lord, if there weren't some grouches and the like -in the city I'd be lost. We had a grand meeting last night, -Lord, when the crowd come down from Dicksonville (or -what was that place, Rody?), Dickson City, Lord, that's -right. It was a great crowd. There's an undercurrent of -religion sweeping through here, Lord, and we are getting -along fine.</p> - -<p>"There are some dandy folks in Scranton, lots of good -men and women that are with us in this campaign, and Lord, -we want you to help make this a wonderful campaign. It -has been wonderful so far. Lord, it's great to see them pouring -in here night after night. God, you have the people -of the homes tell their maids to go to the meeting at the -Y. W. C. A. Thursday afternoon, and God, let us have a -crowd of the children here Saturday. Rody is going to talk<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span> -to them, Lord. He can't preach and I can't sing, but the -children will have a big time with him, Lord. Lord, I won't -try to stop people from roasting and scoring me. I would -not know what to do if I didn't get some cracks from people -now and then."</p> - -<p>"Well, Jesus, I don't know how to talk as I would like -to talk. I am at a loss as to just what to say tonight. Father, -if you hadn't provided salvation, we'd all be pretty badly -off. Knowing the kind of life I live and the kind of lives -other people live, I know you are very patient and kind, but -if you can do for men and women what you did for me, I -wish it would happen. I wouldn't dare stand up and say -that I didn't believe in you. I'd be afraid you'd knock me -in the head. I'd be afraid you'd paralyze me or take away -my mind. I'm afraid you'd do that. There are hundreds -here tonight who don't know you as their Saviour. The -Bible class believes you are Jesus of Nazareth, but they -don't know you as their personal Saviour. And these -other delegations, Lord, help them all to come down. Well, -well, well, it's wonderful—'I find no fault in Him.' Amen."</p> - -<p>"Oh, devil, why do you hit us when we are down? -Old boy, I know that you have no time for me and I guess -you have about learned that I have no time for you. I will -never apologize to you for anything I have done against you. -If I have ever said anything that does not hurt you, tell me -about it and I will take it out of my sermon."</p> - -<p>"We thank thee, Jesus, for that manifestation of thy -power in one of the big factories of the city. Lord, we are -told that of eighty men who used to go to a saloon for their -lunch seventy-nine go there no more. All these men heard -the 'booze' sermon. Lord, they are working on the one -man who is standing out and they'll get him, too. The -saloon-keeper is standing with arms akimbo behind the bar, -but his old customers give the place the go-by. Thank -you, Jesus."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span></p> - -<p>"Well, Jesus, I've been back in Capernaum tonight. -I've been with you when you cast the devil out of that man. -They all said, 'We know you're helping us, but you're hurting -the hog business.' I've been with you when you got in the -boat. And Jesus arose and said to the sea: 'Peace, be still.'</p> - -<p>"Ah, look at her. Bless her heart. There comes that -poor, crying woman.</p> - -<p>"Say, Jesus, here are men who have been drunkards. -They have been in our prayers. They have been in our -sermons. If I could just touch Him. He's here."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Well, thank you, Lord. It's all true. I expect -this sermon has caused many men and women to look into -their hearts. Perhaps they are powerless, helpless for the -Church. O God, what it will mean to people in the cause of -Christ all over this city! We appreciate their kind words, -but we wish they would do more.</p> - -<p>"O God, may some deacons, elders, vestrymen, come -out for God this afternoon. May they come down these -aisles and publicly acknowledge themselves for God. Help -them, then, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Now, Lord, I'm not here to have a good time. I am -here to show what you are doing for these people and to tell -them that you are willing to save them and to bear their -burdens if they will give their hearts to you."</p></blockquote> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Well, Jesus, I'm not up in heaven yet. I don't want -to go, not yet. I know it's an awful pretty place, Lord. I -know you'll look after me when I get there. But, Jesus, I'd -like to stay here a long time yet. I don't want to leave Nell -and the children. I like the little bungalow we have out at -the lake. I know you'll have a prettier one up there. If -you'll let me, Jesus, I'd like to stay here, and I'll work -harder for you if I can. I know I'll go there, Jesus, and I -know there's lots of men and women here in this Tabernacle -tonight who won't go.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span></p> - -<p>"Solomon found it was all vanity and vexation of -spirit. They're living that way today, Jesus. I say that -to you here tonight, banker; to you, Commercial Club; to -you, men from the stockyards. If you want to live right, -choose Jesus as your Saviour, for man's highest happiness -is his obedience to Jesus Christ. And now, while we're all -still, who'll come down and say 'I'm looking above the -world?' Solomon said it was all vanity. Why certainly, -you poor fool. He knew. But I'm glad you saw the light, -Solomon, and spread out your wings."</p> - -<p>"O Lord, bend over the battlements of glory and -hear the cry of old Pittsburgh. O Lord, do you hear us? -Lord, save tens of thousands of souls in this old city. Lord, -everybody is helping. Lord, they are keeping their churches -closed so tight that a burglar couldn't get in with a jimmy. -Lord, the angels will shout to glory and the old devil will -say, 'What did they shut up the churches of Pittsburgh for, -when they have so many good preachers, and build a Tabernacle -and bring a man on here to take the people away from -me? O Lord, we'll win this whisky-soaked, vice-ridden old -city of Pittsburgh and lay it at your feet and purify it until -it is like paraffine."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Sunday's sermon on prayer is entitled,</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"TEACH US TO PRAY"</p> - -<p>We live and develop physically by exercise. We are -saved by faith, but we must work out our salvation by doing -the things God wills. The more we do for God, the more -God will do through us. Faith will increase by experience.</p> - -<p>If you are a stranger to prayer you are a stranger to the -greatest source of power known to human beings. If we -cared for our physical life in the same lackadaisical way that -we care for our spiritual, we would be as weak physically -as we are spiritually. You go week in and week out without -prayer. I want to be a giant for God. You don't even sing;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> -you let the choir do it. You go to prayer-meeting and offer -no testimony.</p> - -<p>You are a stranger to the great privilege that is offered -to human beings. Some of the greatest blessings that -people enjoy come from prayer. In earnest prayer you think -as the Lord directs, and lose yourself in him.</p> - -<p>Some people say: "It's no use to pray. The Lord -knows everything, anyway." That's true. He does. He -is not limited, as I am limited. He knows everything and -has known it since before the world was. We don't know -everybody who is going to be converted at this revival, but -that doesn't relieve us of our duty. We don't know, and we -must do the work he has commanded us to do.</p> - -<p>Others say: "But I don't get what I pray for." Well, -there's a cause for everything. Get at the cause and you'll -be all right. If you are sick and send for the doctor, he pays -no attention to the disease, but looks at what produced it. -If you have a headache, don't rub your forehead. In Matthew -it is written, "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye -shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." If your -prayers are not answered you are not right with God. If -you have no faith, if your motive is wrong, then your prayers -will be in vain. Many times when people pray they are -selfish. They are not gripping the word. I believe that -when many a wife prays for the conversion of her husband -it isn't because she really desires the salvation of his soul, -but because she thinks if he were converted things would be -easier for her personally. Pray for your neighbors as well -as your own family. The pastor of one church does not -pray for the congregation of another denomination. I'm -not saying anything against denominations. I believe in -them. I believe they are of God. Denominations represent -different temperaments. A man with warm emotions -would not make a good Episcopalian, but he would make a -crackerjack Methodist. Oh, the curse of selfishness! The -Church is dying for religion, for religion pure and undefiled. -Pure religion and undefiled is visiting the widow and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span> -fatherless and doing the will of God without so much thought -of yourself. I tell you, a lot of people are going to be fooled -the Day of Judgment.</p> - -<p>Isaiah says the hand of God is not shortened and his -ear is not deaf. No, his hand is not shortened so that it -cannot save. He has provided agencies by which we can -be saved. If he had made no provision for your salvation, -then the trouble would be with God; but he has, so if you go -to hell the trouble will be with you.</p> - -<p>In Ezekiel we read that men have taken idols into their -hearts and put stumbling-blocks before their faces. God -is not going to hear you if you place clothes, money, pride -of relationship before him. You know there is sin in your -life. Many people know there is sin in their lives, yet ask -God to bless them. They ought first to get down on their -knees and pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner."</p> - -<p>Some people are too contemptibly stingy for God to -hear them. God won't hear you if you stop your ears to -the cries of the poor. You drag along here for three weeks -and raise a paltry sum that a circus would take out of town -in two hours. When they give things to the poor they rip -off the buttons and the fine braid. Some people pick out -old clothes that the moths have made into sieves and give -them to the poor and think they are charitable. That -isn't charity, no sir; it's charity when you'll give something -you'll miss. It's charity when you feel it to give.</p> - -<p>And when you stand praying, forgive if you have aught -against anyone. It's no use to pray if you have a mean, -miserable disposition, if you are grouchy, if you quarrel in -your home or with your neighbors.</p> - -<p>It's no use to pray for a blessing when you have a fuss -on with your neighbors. It doesn't do you any good. -You go to a sewing society meeting to make mosquito netting -for the Eskimo and blankets for the Hottentots, and -instead you sit and chew the rag and rip some woman up -the back. The spirit of God flees from strife and discord.</p> - -<p>People say: "She is a good woman, but a worldly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> -Christian." What? Might as well speak of a heavenly -devil. Might as well expect a mummy to speak and bear -children as that kind to move the world Godward. Prayer -draws you nearer to God.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Learning of Christ</p> - -<p>"Teach us to pray," implies that I want to be taught. -It's a great privilege to be taught by Jesus. A friend of -mine was preaching out in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and had to -go to a hospital in Chicago for an operation, and I was asked -to go and preach in his place. Alexander was leading the -singing, and one night Charles called a little girl out of the -audience to sing. She didn't look over four or five years -of age, though she might have been a little older. I thought, -"What's the use? Her little voice can never be heard over -this crowd." But Charlie stood her up in a chair by the -pulpit and she threw back her head and out rolled some of -the sweetest music I have ever heard. It was wonderful. -I sat there and the tears streamed down my cheeks. That -little girl was the daughter of a Northwestern engineer and -he took her to Chicago when her mother was away. Some -one took her to Patti. Patti took the little girl to one of her -suite of rooms and told her to stand there and sing. Then -she went to the other end of the suite and sat down on a -divan and listened. The song moved her to tears. She ran -and hugged and kissed the little girl and sat her down on the -divan and said to her: "Now you sit here and I'll go over -there and sing." She took up her position where the child -had stood, and she lifted her magnificent voice and she sang -"Home, Sweet Home" and "The Last Rose of Summer"—sang -them for that little girl! And Patti used to get a thousand -dollars for a song, too. She always knew how many -songs she was to sing, for she had a check before she went on -the platform. It was a great privilege the little daughter -of that Northwestern engineer had, but it's a greater privilege -to learn from Jesus Christ how to pray.</p> - -<p>A friend of mine told me he went to hear Paganini, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span> -the great violinist broke one of the strings of his instrument, -then another, then another, until he had only one left, and -on that one he played so wonderfully that his audience burst -into terrific applause. It was a privilege to hear that, but -it's a greater privilege to have Jesus teach you to pray.</p> - -<p>Let us take a few examples from the life of Christ. In -Mark we learn that he rose up early in the morning and went -out to a solitary place and prayed. He began every day with -prayer. You never get up without dressing. You never -forget to wash your face and comb your hair. You always -think of breakfast. You feed your physical body. Why -do you starve your spiritual body? If nine-tenths of you -were as weak physically as you are spiritually, you couldn't -walk.</p> - -<p>When I was assistant secretary of the Y. M. C. A. at -Chicago, John G. Paton came home from the New Hebrides -and was lecturing and collecting money. He was raising -money to buy a sea-going steam yacht, for his work took -him from island to island and he had to use a row-boat, and -sometimes it was dangerous when the weather was bad, so -he wanted the yacht. We had him for a week, and it was my -privilege to go to lunch with him. We would go out to a -restaurant at noon and he would talk to us. Sometimes -there would be as many as fifteen or twenty preachers in the -crowd, and now and then some of us were so interested in -what he told us of the work for Jesus in those far-away -islands that we forgot to eat. I remember that he said one -day: "All that I am I owe to my Christian father and -mother. My father was one of the most prayerful men I -ever knew. Often in the daytime he would slip into his -closet, and he would drop a handkerchief outside the door, -and when we children saw the white sentinel we knew that -father was talking with his God and would go quietly away. -It is largely because of the life and influence of that same -saintly father that I am preaching to the cannibals in the -South Seas." It is an insult to God and a disgrace to allow -children to grow up without throwing Christian influences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> -around them. Seven-tenths of professing Christians have -no family prayers and do not read the Bible. It is no wonder -boys and girls are going to hell. It is no wonder the damnable -ball-rooms are wrecking the virtue of our girls.</p> - -<p>In the fourteenth chapter of Matthew it is told that -when Jesus had sent the multitudes away he went up into -the mountain and was there alone with God. Jesus Christ -never forgot to thank God for answering his prayers. Jesus -asked him to help him feed the multitude, and he didn't -neglect to thank him for it. Next time you pray don't ask -God for anything. Just try to think of all the things you -have to be thankful for, and tell him about them.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Pride Hinders Prayer</p> - -<p>Pride keeps us from proper prayer. Being chesty and -big-headed is responsible for more failures than anything -else in this world. It has spoiled many a preacher, just as it -has spoiled many an employee. Some fellows get a job and -in about two weeks they think they know more about the -business than the boss does. They think he is all wrong. -It never occurs to them that it took some brains and some -knowledge to build that business up and keep it running -till they got there.</p> - -<p>Here's two things to guard against. Don't get chesty -over success, or discouraged over a seeming defeat.</p> - -<p>"And when he prayed he said: 'Lazarus, come forth'; -and he that was dead came forth." If we prayed right we -would raise men from sin and bring them forth into the light -of righteousness.</p> - -<p>"And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was -altered." Ladies, do you want to look pretty? If some of -you women would spend less on dope and cold cream and -get down on your knees and pray, God would make you -prettier. Why, I can look into your faces and tell what sort -of lives you live. If you are devoting your time and thoughts -to society, your countenances will show it. If you pray, I -can see that.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span></p> - -<p>Every man who has helped to light up the dark places -of the world has been a praying man. I never preach a -sermon until I've soaked it in prayer. Never. Then I -never forget to thank God for helping me when I preach. I -don't care whether you read your prayers out of a book or -whether you just say them, so long as you mean them. A -man can read his prayers and go to heaven, or he may just -say his prayers and go to hell. We've got to face conditions. -When I read I find that all the saintly men who have done -things from Pentecost until today, have known how to pray. -It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church to -give up prayer. One of the biggest farces today is the average -prayer-meeting.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Praying in Secret</p> - -<p>Matthew says, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into -thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy -Father, which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in -secret shall reward thee openly."</p> - -<p>Two men came to the Temple to pray—the first was the -Pharisee. He was nice and smooth, and his attitude was -nice and smooth. He prayed: "God, I thank thee that I am -not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or -even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes -of all I possess," and he went out. I can imagine a lot -of people sitting around the church and saying: "That is -my idea of religion; that is it. I am no sensationalist; I -don't want anything vulgar, no slang." Why don't you use -a little, bud, so that something will come your way? And -it will come as straight as two and two make four.</p> - -<p>Services rendered in such opposite directions cannot -meet with the same results. If two men were on the top of -a tall building and one should jump and one come down the -fire escape they couldn't expect to meet with the same -degree of safety. The Pharisee said, "Thank God, I am not -as other men are," and the publican said, "God be merciful -to me, a sinner." The first man went to his house the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> -as when he came out of it. "God be merciful to me, a sinner." -That man was justified. I am justified in my faith -in Jesus Christ. I am no longer a sinner. I am justified -as though I had never sinned by faith in the Son of God. -That man went down to his house justified.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Praying in Humility</p> - -<p>How many people pray in a real sense? How many -people pray in humility and truth? Some men pray for -humility when it is pride they want. Many a man gets -down on his knees and says: "Our Father, who art in heaven, -hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come—" That is not -so; they don't want God's kingdom to come. It is not so -with half the people that pray. I say to you when you pray -in the church pew and say that, it don't count a snap of -my finger if you don't live it. You pray, "Thy kingdom -come," and then you go out and do something to prevent -that kingdom from coming. No man can get down and -pray "Thy kingdom come," and have a beer wagon back up -to his door and put beer in the ice box. No man can get -down on his knees and pray "Thy kingdom come," and look -through the bottom of a beer glass. God won't stand for it. -If you wanted God's will done you would do God's will, even -if it took every drop of blood in your body to do it.</p> - -<p>"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When -you say this in your pew on Sunday it means nothing unless -you live it on Monday. You say "Thy kingdom come," and -then go out and do the very thing that will prevent God's -kingdom from coming. Your prayers or anything you do in -the church on Sunday mean nothing if you don't do the same -thing in business on Monday. I don't care how loud your -wind-jamming in prayer-meeting may be if you go out and -skin somebody in a horse deal the next day.</p> - -<p>The man who truly prays, "Thy kingdom come," cannot -take his heart out of his prayer when he is out of the church. -The man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come," will not be -shrinking his measures at the store; the load of coal he sends<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> -to you won't be half slate. The man who truly prays "Thy -kingdom come" won't cut off his yardstick when he measures -you a piece of calico. It will not take the pure-food law to -keep a man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come" from -putting chalk in the flour, sand in the sugar, brick dust in -red pepper, ground peanut shells in breakfast food.</p> - -<p>The man who truly prays "Thy kingdom come" cannot -pass a saloon and not ask himself the question, "What can -I do to get rid of that thing that is blighting the lives of thousands -of young men, that is wrecking homes, and that is -dragging men and women down to hell?" You cannot pray -"Thy kingdom come," and then rush to the polls and vote -for the thing that is preventing that kingdom from coming. -You cannot pray "Thy kingdom come" and then go and do -the things that make the devil laugh. For the man who -truly prays "Thy kingdom come" it would be impossible -to have one kind of religion on his knees and another when he -is behind the counter; it would be impossible to have one -kind of religion in the pew and another in politics. When a -man truly prays "Thy kingdom come" he means it in everything -or in nothing.</p> - -<p>A lot of church members are praying wrong. You -should pray first, "God be merciful to me a sinner," and then -"Thy kingdom come."</p> - -<p>Saying a prayer is one thing: doing God's will is another. -Both should be synonymous. Angels are angels because they -do God's will. When they refuse to do God's will they become -devils.</p> - -<p>Many a man prays when he gets in a hole. Many a -man prays when he is up against it. Many a man prays in -the time of trouble, but when he can stick his thumbs in his -armholes and take a pair of scissors and cut his coupons off, -then it is "Good-bye, God; I'll see you later." Many a man -will make promises to God in his extremity, but forget them -in his prosperity. Many a man will make promises to God -when the hearse is backed up to the door to carry the baby -out, but will soon forget the promises made in the days of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> -adversity. Many a man will make promises when lying -on his back, thinking he is going to die, and load up just the -same when he is on his feet.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Men of Prayer</p> - -<p>Every man and every woman that God has used to -halt this sin-cursed world and set it going Godward has been -a Christian of prayer. Martin Luther arose from his bed -and prayed all night, and when the break of day came he -called his wife and said to her, "It has come." History -records that on that very day King Charles granted religious -toleration, a thing for which Luther had prayed.</p> - -<p>John Knox, whom his queen feared more than any other -man, was in such agony of prayer that he ran out into the -street and fell on his face and cried, "O God, give me -Scotland or I'll die." And God gave him Scotland and not -only that, he threw England in for good measure.</p> - -<p>When Jonathan Edwards was about to preach his -greatest sermon on "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," -he prayed for days; and when he stood before the congregation -and preached it, men caught at the seats in their terror, -and some fell to the floor; and the people cried out in their -fear, "Mr. Edwards, tell us how we can be saved!"</p> - -<p>The critical period of American history was between -1784 and 1789. There was no common coinage, no common -defense. When the colonies sent men to a constitutional -convention, Benjamin Franklin, rising with the weight -of his four score years, asked that the convention open with -prayer, and George Washington there sealed the bargain -with God. In that winter in Valley Forge, Washington led -his men in prayer and he got down on his knees to do it.</p> - -<p>When the battle of Gettysburg was on, Lincoln, old Abe -Lincoln, was on his knees with God; yes, he was on his -knees from five o'clock in the afternoon till four o'clock in -the morning, and Bishop Simpson was with him.</p> - -<p>"And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, -that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span> -No man can ever be saved without Jesus Christ. There's -no way to God unless you come through Jesus Christ. It's -Jesus Christ or nothing.</p> - -<p>"Lord, teach us to pray."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a><br /> - -<small>The Revival on Trial</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>One spark of fire can do more to prove the power of powder than a -whole library written on the subject.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">What</span> Evangelist Sunday says to his congregations -is sometimes less significant than what he helps -his congregation to say to the world. Let us -take a sample meeting in the Pittsburgh campaign, with -the tremendous deliverance which it made upon the subject -of revivals and conversions.</p> - -<p>A "sea of faces" is a petrified phrase, which means -nothing to most readers. Anybody who will stand on the -platform behind Billy Sunday at one of his great tabernacles -understands it. More than twenty thousand faces, -all turned expectantly toward one man, confront you. -The faces rather than the hair predominate. There are -no hats in sight.</p> - -<p>Like the billows along the shore, which may be -observed in detail, the nearer reaches of this human sea are -individualized. What a Madonna-face yonder girl has! -See the muscles of that young man's jaw working, in the -intensity of his interest. The old man who is straining -forward, so as not to miss a word, has put a black and -calloused hand behind his ear. That gray-haired woman -with the lorgnette and rolls of false hair started out with -the full consciousness that she was a "somebody": watch -her wilt and become merely a tired, heart-hungry old -woman. And the rows and rows of undistinguished commonplace -people, just like the crowds we meet daily in the -street cars.</p> - -<p>Somehow, though, each seems here engaged in an -individual transaction. A revival meeting accents personality. -Twenty or thirty rows down the big congrega<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span>tion -begins to blurr in appearance, and individual faces are -merged in the mass. The host, which is but an agglomeration -of individuals, is impressive. The "sea of faces" is -more affecting than old ocean's expanse.</p> - -<p>Where else may one so see "the people"; or fundamental -human nature so expressing itself? One compares -these crowds with the lesser throngs that followed Jesus -when he walked the earth, and recalls that "greater works -than these shall they do." There is a sermon in every aspect -of the Billy Sunday meetings.</p> - -<p>Curiously, people will reveal more of themselves, be -more candid concerning their inner experiences, in a crowd -than when taken one by one. Thus this congregation is a -rare laboratory. Tonight the evangelist is going to make -an experiment upon revivals and their value.</p> - -<p>It is common to object to revivals and to revivalists. -Billy Sunday's reply to this is simply unanswerable: he -appeals to the people themselves for evidence. By a show -of hands—and he conducts this experiment in practically -every community he visits—he gives a convincing demonstration -that it is by special evangelistic efforts that most -Christians have entered the Church of Christ. By the -same method, he shows that youth is the time to make the -great decision.</p> - -<p>When this question is put to a test a dramatic -moment, the significance of which the multitude quickly -grasps, ensues. On this occasion there are more than -twenty thousand persons within the Tabernacle. First -the evangelist asks the confessed Christians to rise. The -great bulk of the congregation stands on its feet. Then he -asks for those who were converted in special meetings, -revivals of some sort or other, to raise their hands. From -three-fourths to four-fifths of the persons standing lift their -hands in token that they were converted during revivals.</p> - -<p>Then—each time elaborating his question so that -there may be no misunderstanding—Sunday asks those who -were converted before they were twenty to indicate it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span> -Here again the majority is so large as to be simply overwhelming. -It almost seems that the whole body of -Christians had become such before they attained their -legal majority.</p> - -<p>Of the few hundreds that are left standing, Sunday -asks in turn for those who were converted before they were -thirty, those who were converted before they were forty, -before they were fifty, before they were sixty. When it -comes to this point of age the scene is thrilling in its significance. -Usually there are only one or two persons standing -who have entered the Christian life after reaching fifty years -of age.</p> - -<p>The conclusion is irresistible. Unless a person accepts -Christ in youth the chances are enormously against his ever -accepting Him subsequently. The demonstration is an -impressive vindication of revivals, and of the importance of -an early decision for Christ.</p> - -<p>After such a showing as this, everybody is willing to -listen to a sermon upon revivals and their place in the economy -of the Kingdom of Heaven.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"THE NEED OF REVIVALS"</p> - -<p>Somebody asks: "What is a revival?" Revival is a -purely philosophical, common-sense result of the wise use -of divinely appointed means, just the same as water will put -out a fire; the same as food will appease your hunger; just -the same as water will slake your thirst; it is a philosophical -common-sense use of divinely appointed means to accomplish -that end. A revival is just as much horse sense as that.</p> - -<p>A revival is not material; it does not depend upon -material means. It is a false idea that there is something -peculiar in it, that it cannot be judged by ordinary rules, -causes and effects. That is nonsense. Above your head -there is an electric light; that is effect. What is the cause? -Why, the dynamo. Religion can be judged on the same -basis of cause and effect. If you do a thing, results always -come. The results come to the farmer. He has his crops.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> -That is the result. He has to plow and plant and take care -of his farm before the crops come.</p> - -<p>Religion needs a baptism of horse sense. That is just -pure horse sense. I believe there is no doctrine more dangerous -to the Church today than to convey the impression -that a revival is something peculiar in itself and cannot be -judged by the same rules of causes and effect as other things. -If you preach that to the farmers—if you go to a farmer and -say "God is a sovereign," -that is true; if you say "God -will give you crops only -when it pleases him and it is -no use for you to plow your -ground and plant your crops -in the spring," that is all -wrong, and if you preach -that doctrine and expect the -farmers to believe it, this -country will starve to death -in two years. The churches -have been preaching some -false doctrines and religion -has died out.</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_291.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"You Sit in Your Pews so Easy that -You Become Mildewed"</div> -</div> - - -<p>Some people think that -religion is a good deal like -a storm. They sit around -and fold their arms, and -that is what is the matter. -You sit in your pews so easy that you become mildewed. -Such results will be sure to follow if you are persuaded -that religion is something mysterious and has no natural -connection between the means and the end. It has a natural -connection of common sense and I believe that when -divinely appointed means are used spiritual blessing will -accrue to the individuals and the community in greater -numbers than temporal blessings. You can have spiritual -blessings as regularly as the farmer can have corn, wheat,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> -oats, or you can have potatoes and onions and cabbage in -your garden. I believe that spiritual results will follow more -surely than temporal blessings. I don't believe all this -tommyrot of false doctrines. You might as well sit around -beneath the shade and fan yourself and say "Ain't it hot?" -as to expect God to give you a crop if you don't plow the -ground and plant the seed. Until the Church resorts to the -use of divinely appointed means it won't get the blessing.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">What a Revival Does</p> - -<p>What is a revival? Now listen to me. A revival does -two things. First, it returns the Church from her backsliding -and second, it causes the conversion of men and women; and -it always includes the conviction of sin on the part of the -Church. What a spell the devil seems to cast over the Church -today!</p> - -<p>I suppose the people here are pretty fair representatives -of the Church of God, and if everybody did what you do -there would never be a revival. Suppose I did no more -than you do, then no people would ever be converted through -my efforts; I would fold my arms and rust out. A revival -helps to bring the unsaved to Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>God Almighty never intended that the devil should -triumph over the Church. He never intended that the -saloons should walk rough-shod over Christianity. And -if you think that anybody is going to frighten me, you -don't know me yet.</p> - -<p>When is a revival needed? When the individuals are -careless and unconcerned. If the Church were down on her -face in prayer they would be more concerned with the fellow -outside. The Church has degenerated into a third-rate -amusement joint, with religion left out.</p> - -<p>When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern -keep the people asleep. It is as much the duty of -the Church to awaken and work and labor for the men and -women of this city as it is the duty of the fire department to -rush out when the call sounds. What would you think of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> -the fire department if it slept while the town burned? You -would condemn them, and I will condemn you if you sleep -and let men and women go to hell. It is just as much your -business to be awake. The Church of God is asleep today; -it is turned into a dormitory, and has taken the devil's -opiates.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_292fpa.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">I Never Look at a Child or an Older Person Without -Thinking, 'There is a Casket of Locked-up -Possibilities. Only the Key of Salvation -is Needed to Open it.</span>'"</div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_292fpb.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">Samson with the Holy Spirit could take the -Jawbone of an Ass and Lay Dead a Thousand -Philistines.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness -of the wicked grieves and distresses the Christian. -Sometimes people don't seem to mind the sins of other people. -Don't seem to mind while boys and girls walk the streets of -their city and know more of evil than gray-haired men. You -are asleep.</p> - -<p>When is a revival needed? When the Christians have -lost the spirit of prayer.</p> - -<p>When is a revival needed? When you feel the want of -revival and feel the need of it. Men have had this feeling, -ministers have had it until they thought they would die -unless a revival would come to awaken their people, their -students, their deacons and their Sunday-school workers, -unless they would fall down on their faces and renounce the -world and the works and deceits of the devil. When the -Church of God draws its patrons from the theaters the -theaters will close up, or else take the dirty, rotten plays off -the stage.</p> - -<p>When the Church of God stops voting for the saloon, the -saloon will go to hell. When the members stop having cards -in their homes, there won't be so many black-legged gamblers -in the world. This is the truth. You can't sit around and -fold your arms and let God run this business; you have been -doing that too long here. When may a revival be expected? -When Christians confess their sins one to another. Sometimes -they confess in a general way, but they have no earnestness; -they get up and do it in eloquent language, but that -doesn't do it. It is when they break down and cry and -pour out their hearts to God in grief, when the flood-gates -open, then I want to tell you the devil will have cold -feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Revival Demands Sacrifice</p> - -<p>When may a revival be expected? When the wickedness -of the wicked grieves and distresses the Church. When -you are willing to make a sacrifice for the revival; when you -are willing to sacrifice your feelings. You say, "Oh, well, -Mr. Sunday hurt my feelings." Then don't spread them all -over his tabernacle for men to walk on. I despise a touchy -man or woman. Make a sacrifice of your feelings; make a -sacrifice of your business, of your time, of your money; you -are willing to give to help to advance God's cause, for God's -cause has to have money the same as a railroad or a steamship -company. When you give your influence and stand up -and let people know you stand for Jesus Christ and it has -your indorsement and time and money. Somebody has got -to get on the firing line. Somebody had to go on the firing -line and become bullet meat for $13 a month to overcome -slavery. Somebody has to be willing to make a sacrifice. -They must be willing to get out and hustle and do things for -God.</p> - -<p>When may a revival be expected? A revival may be -expected when Christian people confess and ask forgiveness -for their sins. When you are willing that God shall promote -and use whatever means or instruments or individuals or -methods he is pleased to use to promote them. Yes. The -trouble is he cannot promote a revival if you are sitting on -the judgment of the methods and means that God is employing -to promote a revival. The God Almighty may use any -method or means or individual that he pleases in order to -promote a revival. You are not running it. Let God have -his way. You can tell whether you need a revival. You -can tell if you will have one and why you have got one. If -God should ask you sisters and preachers in an audible -voice, "Are you willing that I should promote a revival by -using any methods or means or individual language that I -choose to use to promote it?" what would be your answer? -Yes. Then don't growl if I use some things that you don't -like. You have no business to. How can you promote a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> -revival? Break up your fallow ground, the ground that -produces nothing but weeds, briars, tin cans and brick-bats. -Fallow ground is ground that never had a glow in it. Detroit -had a mayor, Pingree, when Detroit had thousands and -thousands of acres of fallow ground. This was taken over -by the municipal government and planted with potatoes -with which they fed the poor of the city.</p> - -<p>There are individuals who have never done anything -for Jesus Christ, and I have no doubt there are preachers as -well, who have never done anything for the God Almighty. -There are acres and acres of fallow ground lying right here -that have never been touched. Look over your past life, -look over your present life and future and take up the -individual sins and with pencil and paper write them down. -A general confession will never do. You have committed -your sins, one by one, and you will have to confess them -one by one. This thing of saying, "God, I am a sinner," -won't do.</p> - -<p>"God, I am a gossiper in my neighborhood. God, I have -been in my ice-box while I am here listening to Mr. Sunday." -Confess your sins.</p> - -<p>How can you promote a revival? You women, if you -found that your husband was giving his love and attention -to some other woman and if you saw that some other woman -was encroaching on his mind and heart, and was usurping -your place and was pushing you out of the place, wouldn't -you grieve? Don't you think that God grieves when you -push him out of your life? You don't treat God square. You -business men don't treat God fair. You let a thousand things -come in and take the place that God Almighty had. No -wonder you are careless. You blame God for things you have -no right to blame him for. He is not to blame for anything. -You judge God. The spirit loves the Bible; the devil loves -the flesh.</p> - -<p>If you don't do your part, don't blame God. How many -times have you blamed God when you are the liar yourself. -You are wont to blame him for the instances of unbelief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> -that have come into your life. When should we promote a -revival? When there is a neglect of prayer? When your -prayers affect God? You never think of going out on the -street without dressing. You would be pinched before you -went a block. You never think of going without breakfast, -do you? I bet there are multitudes that have come here -without reading the Bible or praying for this meeting.</p> - -<p>You can measure your desire for salvation by means of -the amount of self-denial you are willing to practice for Jesus -Christ. You have sinned before the Church, before the -world, before God.</p> - -<p>Don't the Lord have a hard time? Own up, now.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Persecution a Godsend</p> - -<p>There are a lot of people in church, doubtless, who have -denied themselves—self-denial for comfort and convenience. -There are a lot of people here who never make any sacrifices -for Jesus Christ. They will not suffer any reproaches for -Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I love to suffer reproaches for -Christ." The Bible says, "Woe unto you when all men shall -speak well of you." "Blessed are you when your enemies -persecute you." That is one trouble in the churches of -God today. They are not willing to suffer reproach for God's -sake. It would be a godsend if the Church would suffer -persecution today; she hasn't suffered it for hundreds of -years. She is growing rich and lagging behind. Going -back.</p> - -<p>Pride! How many times have you found yourself -exercising pride? How many times have you attempted -pride of wealth? Proud because you were related to some -of the old families that settled in the Colonies in 1776. That -don't get you anything; not at all. I have got as much to -be proud of as to lineage as anyone; my great-grandfather -was in the Revolutionary War, lost a leg at Brandywine; -and my father was a soldier in the Civil War.</p> - -<p>Envy! Envy of those that have more talent than you. -Envious because someone can own a limousine Packard and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> -you have to ride a Brush runabout; envious because some -women can wear a sealskin coat and you a nearseal.</p> - -<p>Then there is your grumbling and fault-finding. When -speaking of people behind their backs, telling their faults, -whether real or imaginary, and that is slander. When you -sit around and rip people up behind their backs at your old -sewing societies, when you rip and tear and discuss your -neighbors and turn the affair into a sort of a great big -gossiping society, with your fault-finding, grumbling and -growling. There is a big difference between levity and -happiness, and pleasure, and all that sort of thing.</p> - -<p>Make up your mind that God has given himself up for -you. I would like to see something come thundering along -that I would have more interest in than I have in the cause -of God Almighty! God has a right to the first place. God -is first, remember that.</p> - -<p>Multitudes of people are willing to do anything that -doesn't require any self-denial on their part.</p> - -<p>I am not a member of any lodge, and never expect to -be, but if I were a member of a lodge and there were a prayer-meeting -and a lodge-meeting coming on Wednesday night, -I would be at the prayer-meeting instead of at the lodge-meeting. -I am not against the lodges; they do some good -work in the world, but that doesn't save anyone for God. -God is first and the lodge-meeting is second. God is first -and society second. God is first and business is second. "In -the beginning, God!" That is the way the Bible starts out -and it ought to be the way with every living being. "In the -beginning, God." Seek you first God and everything else -shall be added unto you. Christianity is addition; sin is -subtraction. Christianity is peace, joy, salvation, heaven. -Sin takes away peace, happiness, sobriety, and it takes away -health. You are robbing God of the time that you misspend. -You are robbing God when you spend time doing something -that don't amount to anything, when you might do something -for Christ. You are robbing God when you go to -foolish amusements, when you sit around reading trashy -novels instead of the Word of God.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span></p> - -<p>"Oh, Lord, revive thy work!"</p> - -<p>I have only two minutes more and then I am through. -Bad temper. Abuse your wife and abuse your children; -abuse your husband; turn your old gatling-gun tongue loose. -A lady came to me and said, "Mr. Sunday, I know I have a -bad temper, but I am over with it in a minute." So is the -shotgun, but it blows everything to pieces.</p> - -<p>And, finally, you abuse the telephone girl because she -doesn't connect you in a minute. Bad temper. I say you -abuse your wife, you go cussing around if supper isn't ready -on time; cussing because the coffee isn't hot; you dig your -fork into a hunk of beefsteak and put it on your plate and -then you say: "Where did you get this, in the harness shop? -Take it out and make a hinge for the door." Then you go -to your store, or office, and smile and everybody thinks you -are an angel about to sprout wings and fly to the imperial -realm above. Bad temper! You growl at your children; -you snap and snarl around the house until they have to go -to the neighbors to see a smile. They never get a kind word—no -wonder so many of them go to the devil quick.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a><br /> - -<small>An Army with Banners</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The man who is right with God will not be wrong with anything that -is good.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">The</span> oldest problem of the Christian Church, and the -latest problem of democracy, is how to reach the -great mass of the people. Frequently the charge is -made that the Church merely skims the surface of society, and -that the great uncaring masses of the people lie untouched -beneath it. Commonly, a revival reaches only a short -distance outside the circumference of church circles. The -wonder and greatness of the Billy Sunday campaigns -consist in the fact that they reach to the uttermost rim of -a community, to its greatest height and its lowest depth. -There can be no question that he stirs a city as not even -the fiercest political campaign stirs it. Sunday touches life -on all levels, bringing his message to bear upon the society -woman in her parlor and the humblest day laborer in the -trench.</p> - -<p>This does not come to pass by any mere chance. Organized -activity achieves it. The method which produces the -greatest results is what is called the Delegation Idea, whereby -detachments of persons from various trades, callings and -organizations and communities attend in a body upon the -services of the Sunday Tabernacle.</p> - -<p>By pre-arrangement, seats are reserved every night for -these visiting delegations. Sometimes there will be as many -as a dozen delegations present in one evening. As the -campaign progresses towards its conclusion real difficulty -is experienced in finding open dates for all the delegations -that apply. At the outset, Mr. Sunday's assistants have -to "work up" these delegations. Later, the delegations -themselves besiege the workers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span></p> - -<p>In variety the delegations range from a regiment of -Boy Scouts to a post of old soldiers; from the miners of a -specified colliery to the bankers of the city; from the -telephone girls to the members of a woman's club; from -an athletic club to a Bible class.</p> - -<p>Not only the community in which the meetings are -being held furnish these delegations, but the surrounding -territory is drawn upon. It is by no means an unknown -thing for a single delegation, numbering a thousand or -fifteen hundred men, to come a distance of fifteen or twenty-five -miles to attend a Sunday Tabernacle service. Almost -every evening there are lines of special cars waiting for these -deputations who have come from afar, with their banners -and their badges and their bands, all bent upon hearing -and being heard at the Tabernacle.</p> - -<p>The crowd spirit is appealed to by this method. The -every-day instinct of loyalty to one's craft or crowd is -aroused. Each delegation feels its own identity and -solidarity, and wants to make as good a showing as possible. -There is considerable wholesome emulation among the -delegations representing the same craft or community. -Of course, the work of making ready the delegation furnishes -a topic for what is literally "shop talk" among working -men; and naturally each group zealously watches the -effect of its appearance upon the great congregation. Delegations -get a very good idea of what their neighbors think of -them by the amount of applause with which they are -greeted. Thus when the whole force of a daily newspaper -appears in the Tabernacle its readers cheer vociferously. -Every delegation goes equipped with its own battle cry, -and prepared to make as favorable a showing as possible.</p> - -<p>All this is wholesome for the community life. It fosters -loyalty in the varied groups that go to make up our society. -Any shop is the better for its workers, led by their heads of -departments and by their employers, having gone in a solid -phalanx to a Tabernacle meeting. Every incident of that -experience becomes an unfailing source of conversation for -long days and weeks to follow.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_301fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Tabernacle at Scranton, Pennsylvania, Typical of the Auditoriums That Are Erected Wherever -Campaigns are Conducted. To Deaden Sound the Floor is Covered with Sawdust, whence the -Name "Sawdust Trail." To Prevent the Possibility of a Panic, No Board is Fastened -with More than Two Nails, and There is a Door at the End of Every Aisle.</span></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span></p> - -<p>Naturally, too, each delegation, delighted with the -showing it has made at the Tabernacle, and with the part it -has borne in the meeting, becomes one more group of partisans -for the Billy Sunday campaign. Men who would not -go alone to the Tabernacle, cannot in loyalty well refuse to -stand by their own crowd. So it comes to pass that the delegation -idea penetrates every level and every section of the -community. A shrewder scheme for reaching the last man -could scarcely be devised. Thousands who are impervious -to religious appeals quickly respond to the request that they -stand by their shop-mates and associates.</p> - -<p>Participation in the meetings makes the people themselves -feel the importance of their own part. They are not -merely a crowd coming to be talked at; they share in the -meetings. The newspapers comment upon them even as -upon the sermon. All are uplifted by the glow of geniality -and camaraderie which pervades the Tabernacle. For the -songs and slogans and banners of the delegations greatly -help to swell the interest of the meetings.</p> - -<p>All this is wholesome, democratic and typically American. -This good-natured crowd does not become unreal or -artificial simply because it is facing the fundamental verities -of the human soul.</p> - -<p>Outspokenness in loyalty, a characteristic of Sunday -converts, expresses itself through many channels. Taught -by the delegation idea, as well as by the sermon, the importance -of standing up to be counted, the friends and converts -of the evangelist are always ready for the great parade which -usually is held toward the close of the campaign. The simple -basis for this street demonstration is found in the old Scripture, -"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." The idea of the -Roman imperial triumph survives in the Billy Sunday parade. -It is a testimony to the multitudes of the loyalty of -Christians to the Gospel.</p> - -<p>Beyond all question, a tremendous impression is made -upon a city by the thousands of marching men whom the -evangelist first leads and then reviews. A street parade is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span> -a visualization of the forces of the Church in a community. -Many a man of the street, who might be unmoved by many -arguments, however powerful, cannot escape the impression -of the might of the massed multitudes of men who march -through the streets, thousands strong. Some twenty thousand -men were in the Sunday parade at Scranton. Nobody -who witnessed them, be he never so heedless a -scoffer, could again speak slightingly of the Church. Religion -loses whatever traits of femininity it may have -possessed, before the Sunday campaign is over.</p> - -<p>Those most practical of men, the politicians, are quick -to take cognizance of this new power that has arisen in the -community's life. They know that every one of these men -not only has a vote, but is a center of influence for the things -in which he believes.</p> - -<p>The heartening effect of such a great demonstration as -this upon the obscure, lonely and discouraged saints is beyond -calculation.</p> - -<p>The great hosts of the Billy Sunday campaign are returning -to first principles by taking religion out into the -highways and making it talked about, even as the Founder -of the Church created a commotion in the highways of -Capernaum and Jerusalem. These marching men are a sermon -one or two miles long. The impression made upon -youth is not to be registered by any means in the possession -of men. Every Christian the world around must be grateful -to this evangelist and his associates for giving the sort of -demonstration, which cannot be misunderstood by the -world at large, of the virility and the immensity of the hosts -of heaven on earth.</p> - -<p>Many of the utterances of Billy Sunday are attuned to -this note of valiant witness-bearing for Christ.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"SPIRITUAL POWER"</p> - -<p>Samson didn't realize that the Spirit of the Lord had -departed from him; he walked out and shook himself as -aforetime; he weighed as much; he was as strong physically;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> -his mind was as active, but although he possessed all that, -there was one thing that was necessary to make him as he -had been: "He wist not that the Spirit of the Lord had -left him."</p> - -<p>A man may have a fine physique; he may have strength; -he may have greatness; he may have a beautiful home; and -a church may be magnificent and faultless in its equipment; -the preacher may be able to reason; the choir may rival the -angels in music; but if you have not the Spirit of the Lord -you are, as Paul says, as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, -and the church is merely four walls with a roof over it.</p> - -<p>Nothing in the world can be substituted for the Spirit -of God; no wealth, culture nor anything in the world. By -power we do not mean numbers; there never has been a -time when there were more members in the Church than -today; yet we haven't kept progress in the number of members -in the Church with the increased number of people in -the nation. Our nation has grown to over 90,000,000 of -people, but we are not correspondingly keeping pace with -the number of church members. God's Church has not -increased correspondingly in power as it has in numbers; -while increasing in numbers it has not increased in spiritual -power. I am giving you facts, not fancies. We are -not dealing with theories. I am not saying anything against -the Church; you never had a man come into this community -who would fight harder for the Church of God Almighty than -I would. I am talking about her sins and the things that -sap her power—and by power I do not mean numbers. -If you had an army of 100,000 and increased it another -100,000 it ought to be doubled in power.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Derelicts in the Church</p> - -<p>In the Church of God today you know there are a lot -of people who are nothing but derelicts and nothing but -driftwood.</p> - -<p>By power I do not mean wealth. We are the richest -people on the earth; nineteen-twentieths of all the wealth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span> -or all the money in the United States today is in the hands -of professing Christians, Catholic and Protestant. That -ought to mean that it is in God's hands; but it doesn't. -They are robbing God. I was in a church in Iowa that had -three members who were worth $200,000 each and they paid -their preacher the measly salary of $600 a year, and I will -be hornswaggled if they did not owe him $400 then. If -I ever skinned any old fellows I did those old stingy coots. -A man who doesn't pay to the church is as big a swindler as -a man who doesn't pay his grocery bill and he is dead-beating -his way to hell. You let somebody else pay your bills, -you old dead-beat. God hasn't any more use today for a -dead-beat in the church than he has for the man who -doesn't pay his grocery bill—not a bit!</p> - -<p>By power I do not mean culture. There never was a -time when the people of America were better informed than -they are today; they have newspapers, telephones, telegraphs, -rural delivery, fast trains. You can leave home and -in five days you are in Europe. If something happens in -China or Japan tonight you can read it before you go to bed. -The islands of the sea are our neighbors.</p> - -<p>A stranger once asked: "What is the most powerful -and influential church in this town?"</p> - -<p>"That big stone Presbyterian church on the hill."</p> - -<p>"How many members has it?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, my wife is a member."</p> - -<p>"How many Sunday-school members?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know; my children go."</p> - -<p>"How many go to prayer-meetings?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know; I have never been there."</p> - -<p>"How many go to communion?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, I never go; my wife goes."</p> - -<p>Then the stranger said: "Will you please tell me why -you said it was the most powerful and influential church in -the community?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir; it is the only church in the town that has -three millionaires in the church." That was why he thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span> -it was a great church. The Church in America would die -of dry rot and sink forty-nine fathoms in hell if all members -were multi-millionaires and college graduates. That ought -not to be a barrier to spiritual power. By power I do not -mean influence.</p> - -<p>I'd hate to have to walk back nineteen hundred years -to Pentecost. There were 120 at Pentecost who saved 3,000 -souls.</p> - -<p>Some of the most powerful churches I have ever worked -with were not the churches that had the largest number or -the richest members. Out in a town in Iowa there were three -women who used to pray all night every Thursday night, -one of them a colored woman. People used to come under -her windows at night and listen to her pray. She murdered -the king's English five times in every sentence, but oh, she -knew God. They had 500 names on their list for prayer and -when the meetings closed they had checked off 397 of them. -Every Friday I would be called over the telephone or receive -a letter or meet those women and they would tell me what -assurances God gave them as to who would be saved. I -have never met three women that were stronger in faith -than those three. That town was Fairfield, Iowa, one of -the brightest, cleanest, snappiest little towns I ever went into.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Meaning of Power</p> - -<p>Samson wist not the Spirit of the Lord had departed. -So might we have money, so might we have members, so -might we have increase in culture; but we have not increased -in power. I mean spiritual power; power to bring things -to pass by way of reform. What do I mean by power? I -have told you what I did not mean.</p> - -<p>By power I mean when the power of God comes upon -you and enables you to do what you could not do without -that power. That comes to you through confidence and -faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time when the -Church had more spiritual power than she has today; there -never was a time when she had more members than she has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span> -today; there never was a time when she had more money -than she has today; more culture; but there was a time when -she had more spiritual power than today.</p> - -<p>And when she had more spiritual power she was a separate -institution. She was not living for the devil as she is -today. And the Church had not become a clearing house for -the forces of evil. We are told that at Pentecost tongues of -fire came upon the expectant worshipers.</p> - -<p>I don't mean this gabby stuff they have got today that -they call the things of the spirit; I don't mean that jabbering -and froth and foaming at the mouth when you can't understand -a word they say. Try the Spirit, whether it be of -God, and in all ages when the Church has stood for something -she has had power.</p> - -<p>So few of us dream of the tremendous power at our -command. At the World's Fair at Chicago the door to -one of the great buildings was without doorknob or latch, -for these were not needed. There was a great mat at the -entrance, and as you stepped upon it your weight would -cause an electrical connection to be made and the great -doors would swing open. I take this old Book and stand -upon it, and all the wonders of life and eternity are opened -to me. The power of the Holy Spirit is at my command.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Church Needs Great Awakening</p> - -<p>Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to -bring the world to Christ. We need a Pentecost today. -The Church needs a great awakening. Now, I'll not stand -anyone's saying anything against the Church as an institution; -but I will rebuke its sins and point out its shortcomings. -Nobody who loves the Church can be silent when so much -needs to be said. I love the Church. I want to explode that -old adage that "Love is blind"; I tell you, love has an eagle's -eyes.</p> - -<p>Lots of churches are wrong in their financial policy. -It is a wrong that the churches have to resort to tricks that -would shame the devil in order to filch a quarter out of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span> -fellow's pocket to help pay the preacher's back salary. There -is hardly a church in this country that couldn't have abundant -funds if the people would only give of their means as -they are commanded by God.</p> - -<p>Then, too often you put the wrong men in places of -authority in the church. You elect some old fellow who -would look better in a penitentiary suit, just because he had -a "drag" somewhere. We must quit putting such men in -church offices.</p> - -<p>When I was a boy I was taught how to put glass knobs -on the feet of a chair and charge the chair with electricity. -So long as I didn't touch anything but the chair I was all -right, but if I touched the wall or something else I got a -shock. The power passed through and from me. As -Christians we cannot come into touch with defiling things -without suffering a loss of spiritual power. You can't go -to the dance and the card party and the cheap-skate show -without losing power. Yes, you can do those things and be -a church member. But you can be a church member without -being a Christian. There's a difference.</p> - -<p>I read in the Bible that Lot first pitched his tents near -Sodom. Next I read that Lot moved right into Sodom, and -lived there for twenty years. He lost his power there, too. -When God warned him to get out of the city he went and -told his sons and daughters, but they wouldn't heed him. -He had lost his power over them. He warned his sons-in-law, -but they wouldn't heed him. He even lost power over -his own wife, for he told her not to look back as they fled, and -she rubbered.</p> - -<p>If you have lost spiritual power it is because you have -disobeyed some clear command of God. Maybe you're -stingy. God requires tithes. He commands you to give -one tenth of your income to him, and maybe you don't do it. -It may be your temper. It may be that you have neglected -to read the Bible and haven't prayed as you should.</p> - -<p>The Church is a failure because she is compromising -with the men that sit in the seats and own saloons whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> -she never rebukes; she is compromising with the men who -rent their property for disorderly houses, and whom she never -rebukes. They are living off the products of shame and if -they buy food and clothes for their wives and children from -such money, they, too, are living off this product of shame. -We have lost our power because we have compromised.</p> - -<p>When I played baseball I used to attend every theater -in the country. Since I was converted I have not darkened -a theater's door, except to preach the Gospel. We've lost -our power because we've lost our faith.</p> - -<p>Our leading members are leaders in nothing but card -parties and society; they are not leaders in spiritual things. -A man comes to me and says, "Mrs. So-and-So is one of my -leading members."</p> - -<p>I ask: "Does she get to prayer-meetings?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Does she visit the sick?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Does she put her arms around some poor sinner and -try to save her for Christ?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>And I find she is a leader in nothing but society, card -parties, dances and bridge-whist clubs. I don't call that kind -a leading woman in the church; she is the devil's bell-wether. -That is true. I tell you people what I call your leading -woman: She is the one who gets down on her knees and -prays; she is the one that can wrap her arms around a sinner -and lead her to Christ; that is a leading church member. -You have it doped out wrong.</p> - -<p>Did Martin Luther trim his sails to the breeze of his -day? If he had, you would never have had a Reformation. -I will tell you why we have lost our power; I have told you -what I don't mean by power.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Lost Power</p> - -<p>We have lost our power because we have failed to insist -on the separation of the Church from the world. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span> -Church is a separate body of men and women; we are to be -in the world, but not of the world. She is all right in the -world, all wrong when the world is in her, and the trouble -with the Church today is that she has sprung a leak. The -flood tides of the world have been swept in until even her -pews are engulfed, yes, even the choir loft is almost submerged. -We have become but a third-rate amusement -bureau. The world has got to see a clean-cut line of demarkation -between the Church and the world. So I believe.</p> - -<p>If there's anything the Church of God needs it's to -climb the stairs and get in an upper room.</p> - -<p>Come out from the things of the world. When you hand -out a pickle and a bunch of celery for the cause of good, then -will my Father not be glorified; nor will he be glorified when -you sell oyster soup at twenty-five cents a dish, when one -lone oyster chases around the dish to find his brother. It -doesn't require much power to do that, for two dollars would -hire a girl to dish up ice-cream. That does not get you -spiritual power.</p> - -<p>There is deep heart hungering in the Church today for -the old-time Pentecostal power.</p> - -<p>Now, I do not know that the Spirit will ever come to us -as he came to Pentecost, for you must remember that -he came to usher in the new dispensation, or the dispensation -of the Holy Ghost. It is true he was present in the Old -Testament. He was in Abraham and Moses.</p> - -<p>You'll have power when there is nothing questionable -in your life.</p> - -<p>You'll have power when you testify in a more positive -manner.</p> - -<p>Do as the disciples did, believe and receive the Holy -Spirit by waiting. The Holy Spirit is ours. He is the promise -of Jesus from the Father as a gift to the prayers of the -Son. God can no more fill you with the Spirit if you are -not right, willing and waiting to receive Him, than he can -send the sunshine into your house if you have the blinds and -shutters all closed. You can pray till you are black in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span> -face and bald-headed, but you're wasting your time unless -you agree with God. There can be no wedding unless two -parties are agreed. If the girl says "No," that ends it. -Don't think you are walking with God just because your -name is on a church record. Walk in the path of righteousness -even if it leads to a coffin and the graveyard.</p> - -<p>Jesus gave his disciples power to perform miracles. That -same power can be delegated to you and me today. He -always spoke of the Holy Spirit in the future. He was not -there. He didn't have to be. They had Jesus, but the -Church needs him today. It needs a baptism of the Holy -Ghost. There are no substitutes. You can organize, -prepare, hire the best singers and preachers in the universe, -but you'll get no power. No matter what Scriptural knowledge -he may have, no matter if he prays so that it reaches -the stars, no matter if his sermons sway the congregation -with their word pictures, no matter if the singers warble -faultlessly and to beat the band—the preacher and the -singers will produce no more effect than the beating of a -drum or the running of a music box. The preacher who -murders the king's English four times to every sentence and -has the Holy Ghost will get the revival.</p> - -<p>The Church today needs power. It has plenty of wealth, -culture and numbers. There is no substitute for the Holy -Spirit and you cannot have power without the Holy Spirit. -The Holy Spirit is ours by the promise of Christ. To -receive him we must give up all sin and walk in the path of -righteousness even if it carries us to our graves or across -the seas as a missionary. Give up everything the Lord -forbids even if it is as important to you as your hand or -your eye.</p> - -<div class="box"> -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_310_b.jpg" alt="Portrait of Billy Sunday" /> -</div> -<p> -Dear Friend: -</p> - -<p>You have by this act of coming -forward publicly acknowledged -your faith in Jesus Christ as your -personal Saviour. No one could -possibly be more rejoiced that you -have done this, or be more anxious -for you to succeed and get the -most joy out of the Christian life, -than I. Therefore, I ask you to -read carefully this little tract. -Paste it in your Bible and read it -frequently.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_310_c.jpg" alt="Signature: W. Sunday. 2 Tim:2:15" /> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="center"><small>[Facsimile of Page One of Circular Handed to Every Convert.]</small></p> - -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A<br /> -CHRISTIAN</p></div> - - -<p>"A Christian is any man, woman or child who comes -to God as a lost sinner, accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as -their personal Saviour, surrenders to Him as their Lord -and Master, confesses Him as such before the world, and -strives to please Him in everything day by day."</p> - -<p>Have <b>you</b> come to God realizing that you are a lost sinner? -Have <b>you</b> accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as <b>your</b> -personal Saviour; that is, do <b>you</b> believe with all your heart -that God laid all <b>your</b> iniquity on Him? (Isa. 53:5-6) and -that <b>He</b> bore the penalty of <b>your</b> sins (1 Peter 2:24), and -that <b>your</b> sins are forgiven because Jesus died in <b>your</b> stead?</p> - -<p>Have <b>you</b> surrendered to Him as your Lord and -Master? That is, are <b>you</b> willing to do His will even -when it conflicts with your desire?</p> - -<p>Have <b>you</b> confessed to Him as your Saviour and Master -before the world?</p> - -<p>Is it <b>your</b> purpose to strive to please Him in everything -day by day?</p> - -<p>If you can sincerely answer "YES" to the foregoing -questions, then you may know on the authority of God's -Word that <b>you</b> are NOW a child of God (John 1:12), that -you have NOW eternal life (John 3:36); that is to say, if -you have done <b>your</b> part (i.e., believe that Christ died in -your place, and receive Him as your Saviour and Master) -God has done HIS part and imparted to you His own -nature (II Peter 1:4).</p> - - - -<p class="center"><small>[Facsimile of Page Two of Circular Handed to Every Convert.]</small></p> - -<div class="box"> -<p class="center">HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF THE<br /> -CHRISTIAN LIFE</p></div> - - -<p>Now that you are a child of God <b>your</b> growth depends -upon <b>yourself</b>.</p> - -<p>It is impossible for you to become a useful Christian -unless you are willing to do the things which are -absolutely essential to your spiritual growth. To this end -the following suggestions will be found to be of vital importance:</p> - - -<p class="hang"><b>1. STUDY THE BIBLE</b>: Set aside at least fifteen minutes -a day for Bible Study. Let God talk to you -fifteen minutes a day through His Word. Talk to -God fifteen minutes a day in prayer. Talk for God -fifteen minutes a day.</p> - -<p class="margin">"As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of -the Word, that ye may grow thereby."—1 Peter 2:2.</p> - -<p class="margin">The word of God is food for the soul.</p> - -<p class="margin">Commit to memory one verse of Scripture each day.</p> - -<p class="margin">Join a Bible class. (Psa. 119:11.)</p> - -<p class="hang"><b>2. PRAY MUCH</b>: Praying is talking to God. Talk to -Him about everything—your perplexities, joys, sorrows, -sins, mistakes, friends, enemies.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer -and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests -be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6.</p> - -<p class="hang"><b>3. WIN SOMEONE FOR CHRIST</b>: For spiritual growth -you need not only food (Bible study) but exercise. -Work for Christ. The only work Christ ever set for -Christians is to win others.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel -to every creature." Mark 16:15.</p> - -<p class="margin">"When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely -die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest -to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his -life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but -his blood will I require at thine hand."—Ezek. 3:18.</p> - -<p class="center"><small>[Facsimile of Page Three of Circular Handed to Every Convert]</small></p> - - - -<p class="hang">4. <b>SHUN EVIL COMPANIONS</b>: Avoid bad people, bad -books, bad thoughts. Read the First Psalm.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: -for what fellowship hath righteousness with -unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with -darkness—what part hath he that believeth with an -infidel—wherefore come out from among them and -be ye separate, saith the Lord."—II Cor. 6:14-17.</p> - -<p class="margin">Try to win the wicked for God, but do not choose -them for your companions.</p> - -<p class="hang">5. <b>JOIN SOME CHURCH</b>: Be faithful in your attendance -at the Sabbath and mid-week services.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, -as the manner of some is."—Heb. 10:25.</p> - -<p class="margin">Co-operate with your pastor. God has appointed -the pastor to be a shepherd over the church and you -should give him due reverence and seek to assist -him in his plans for the welfare of the church.</p> - -<p class="hang">6. <b>GIVE TO THE SUPPORT OF THE LORD'S WORK</b>: -Give as the Lord hath prospered you.—I Cor. 16:2.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Give not grudgingly or of necessity, for God -loveth a cheerful giver."—I Cor. 9:7.</p> - -<p class="hang">7. <b>DO NOT BECOME DISCOURAGED</b>: Expect temptations, -discouragement and persecution; the Christian -life is warfare.</p> - -<p class="margin">"Yea and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus -shall suffer persecution."—II Tim. 3:12.</p> - -<p>The eternal God is thy refuge. We have the promises -that all things, even strange and hard unaccountable obstacles, -work together for our good. Many of God's brightest -saints were once as weak as you are, passed through dark -tunnels and the hottest fire, and yet their lives were enriched -by their experiences, and the world made better because of -their having lived in it.</p> - -<p>Read often the following passages of Scripture: Romans -8:18; James 1:12; I Corinthians 10:13.</p> - - - -<p class="center"><small>[Facsimile of Page Four of Circular Handed to Every Convert.]</small></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a><br /> - -<small>A Life Enlistment</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>When a man, after starting to be a Christian, looks back, it is only a -question of time until he goes back.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Professor</span> William James, the philosopher, -contended that there was a scientific value to the -stories of Christian conversions; that these properly -belonged among the data of religion, to be weighed by the -man of science. Harold Begbie's notable book, "Twice-Born -Men," was recognized by Professor James as a contribution -to the science of religion; for it was simply a -collection of the stories of men whose lives had been transformed -by the gospel which the Salvation Army had carried -to them. A whole library of such books as "Twice-Born -Men" could be written concerning the converts of Billy -Sunday. His converts not only "right-about-face" but -they keep marching in the new direction. Their enlistment -is for life.</p> - -<p>This point is one of the most critical in the whole realm -of the discussion of revivals. Times without number it has -been charged that the converts of evangelists lose their -religion as quickly as they got it. A perfectly fair question -to ask concerning these Billy Sunday campaigns is, "Are -they temporary attacks of religious hysteria, mere effervescent -moods of spiritual exaltation, which are dissipated by -the first contact with life's realities?"</p> - -<p>Here is opportunity for the acid test. Billy Sunday -has been conducting revival meetings long enough to -enable an investigator to go back over his trail and trace -his results. After years have passed, are there still evidences -of the presence and work of the evangelist? To this only -one answer can be made. The most skeptical and antagonistic -person cannot fail to find hundreds and thousands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> -of Billy Sunday converts in the churches of the towns where -the evangelist has conducted meetings during the past -twenty years.</p> - -<p>Not all of the converts have held fast; we cannot forget -that one of the Twelve was a complete renegade, and that -the others were for a time weak in the faith. Alas, this -condition is true of Christian converts, however made. -The terrible record revealed in each year's church statistics, -of members who are missing—entirely lost to the knowledge -of the Church—is enough to restrain every pastor from -making uncharitable remarks upon the recruits won by an -evangelist. The fact to be stressed at this present moment -is that Billy Sunday converts are to be found in all departments -of church work, in the ministry itself, and on the -foreign field.</p> - -<p>One reason for the conservation of the results of the -Sunday campaigns is that all the powers of the evangelist -and his organization are exerted to lead those who have -confessed Christ in the tabernacles to become members of -the church of their choice, at the earliest possible date. -Sunday says candidly that converts cannot expect to grow -in grace and usefulness outside the organized Church of -Christ. Thus it comes about that before a Sunday campaign -closes, and for months afterwards, the church papers -report wholesale accessions to the local congregations of all -denominations. Three thousand new church members were -added in a single Sunday in the city of Scranton.</p> - -<p>What these campaigns mean in the way of rehabilitating -individual churches is illustrated by what a Scranton pastor -said to me toward the close of the Sunday campaign: -"You know my church burned down a short time ago. We -have been planning to rebuild. Now, however, we shall have -to rebuild to twice the size of our old church, and we have -enough new members already to make sure that our financial -problem will be a simple one." In other words, the coming -of the evangelist had turned into a triumph and a new starting -point for this congregation what might have otherwise -been a time of discouragement and temporary defeat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span></p> - -<p>For a moment the reader should take the viewpoint of -the pastors who have been struggling along faithfully, year -after year, at best getting but a few score of new members -each year. Then Billy Sunday appears. The entire atmosphere -and outlook of the church is transformed within a few -days. Optimism reigns. Lax church members become -Christian workers, and enthusiasm for the kingdom pervades -the entire membership. The churches of the community -find themselves bound together in a new solidarity of fellowship -and service.</p> - -<p>Then, to crown all, into the church membership come -literally hundreds of men and women, mostly young, and -all burning with the convert's ardent zeal to do service for -the Master. Can anybody but a pastor conceive the thrill -that must have come to the minister of a Wilkes-Barre -church which added one thousand new members to its -existing roll, as a result of the Billy Sunday campaign in -that city?</p> - -<p>Six months after the Sunday meetings in Scranton I -visited Carbondale, a small town sixteen miles distant from -Scranton, and talked with two of the resident pastors. There -are four Protestant churches in Carbondale, which have -already received a thousand new members within five months. -All these converts are either the direct result of Billy Sunday's -preaching, or else the converts of converts. Out of a Protestant -population of nine thousand persons, the Carbondale -churches have received one-ninth into their membership -within six months. These bare figures do not express the -greater total of Christian service and enthusiasm which -permeates the community as an abiding legacy of the Billy -Sunday campaign. These converts consider that they have -been saved to serve.</p> - -<p>Asked to fix a period after which he would expect a -reaction from the Sunday meetings, a critic would probably -say about one year. On this point we learn that when the -evangelist visited the city of Scranton, which is within an -hour's ride of Wilkes-Barre, he found that the influence of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span> -the meetings which he had held a year previously in Wilkes-Barre -were perhaps the most potent single factor in preparing -the people of Scranton for his coming. Night after night -Wilkes-Barre sent delegations of scores and hundreds over -to the Scranton Tabernacle. Investigators from afar who -came to look into the Scranton meetings were advised to go -to the neighboring city to ascertain what were the effects -of the campaign after a year. The result was always convincing.</p> - -<p>When the evangelist was in Pittsburgh, McKeesport, -where he had been six years before, sent many delegations -to hear him and on one occasion fifteen hundred persons made -the journey from McKeesport to Pittsburgh to testify to the -lasting benefits which their city had received from the -evangelist's visit.</p> - -<p>Usually some organization of the "trail-hitters" is -effected after the evangelist's departure. These are bands -for personal Christian work. The most remarkable of them -all is reported from Wichita, Kansas, where the aftermath -of the Sunday meetings has become so formidable as to -suggest a new and general method of Christian service by -laymen.</p> - -<p>The Sunday converts organized themselves into "Gospel -Teams," who announce that they are ready to go anywhere -and conduct religious meetings, especially for men. -They offer to pay their own expenses, although frequently -the communities inviting them refuse to permit this. Sometimes -these Gospel Teams travel by automobiles or street -cars and sometimes they make long railway journeys.</p> - -<p>The men have so multiplied themselves that there are -now more than three hundred Gospel Teams in this work -and they have formed "The National Federation of Gospel -Teams" of which Claude Stanley of Wichita is president and -West Goodwin of Cherryvale, Kansas, is secretary.</p> - -<p>Up to date, the tremendous total of eleven thousand -conversions is reported by these unsalaried, self-supporting -gospel workers, who joyously acclaim Billy Sunday as their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span> -leader. They represent his teachings and his spirit in -action.</p> - -<p>The most celebrated of these gospel teams is "The -Business Men's Team" of Wichita, an interdenominational -group. It comprises such men as Henry Allen, the editor of -the Wichita <cite>Beacon</cite> and one of the foremost public men of -the state; the president of the Inter-urban Railway; the -president of the Kansas Mutual Bank, and other eminent -business men. This team has visited eleven states in its -work, all without a penny of cost to the Church, and with -results exceeding those achieved by many great and expensive -organizations.</p> - -<p>The Billy Sunday converts not only stick but they -multiply themselves and become effective servants of the -Church and the kingdom.</p> - -<p>Nobody is left to conjecture as to the sort of counsel -that Mr. Sunday gives his converts. Every man, woman and -child who "hits the trail" is handed a leaflet, telling him -how to make a success of the Christian life.</p> - -<p>A trumpet call to Christian service by every confessed -disciple of Jesus Christ is sounded by the evangelist. The -following is an appeal of this sort:</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"SHARP-SHOOTERS"</p> - -<p>The twentieth century has witnessed two apparently -contradictory facts: The decline of the Church and the -growth of religious hunger in the masses. The world during -the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries passed through -a period of questioning and doubts, during which everything -in heaven and earth was put into a crucible and melted down -into constituent elements. During that period many laymen -and preachers lost their moorings.</p> - -<p>The definite challenging note was lost out of the life -of the ministry. The preacher today is oftentimes a human -interrogation point, preaching to empty pews. The hurrying, -busy crowd in the street is saying to the preacher and the -Church, "When you have something definite to say about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span> -the issues of life, heaven, hell and salvation, we will listen; -till then we have no time for you." I believe we are on the -eve of a great national revival. The mission of the Church is -to carry the gospel of Christ to the world.</p> - -<p>I believe that lack of efficient personal work is one of -the curses of the Church today. The people of the Church -are like squirrels in a cage. Lots of activity, but accomplishing -nothing. It doesn't require a Christian life to sell oyster -soup or run a bazaar or a rummage sale.</p> - -<p>Last year many churches reported no new members on -confession of faith. Why these meager results with this -tremendous expenditure of energy and money? Why are -so few people coming into the kingdom? I will tell you -what is the matter—there is not a definite effort put forth -to persuade a definite person to receive a definite Saviour -at a definite time, and that definite time is now.</p> - -<p>I tell you the Church of the future must have personal -work and prayer. The trouble with some churches is that -they think the preacher is a sort of ecclesiastical locomotive, -who will snort and puff and pull the whole bunch through -to glory.</p> - -<p>A politician will work harder to get a vote than the -Church of God will work to have men brought to Christ. -Watch some of the preachers go down the aisles. They drag -along as if they had grindstones tied to their feet.</p> - -<p>No political campaign is won by any stump speaker or -any spell-binder on the platform. It is won by a man-to-man -canvass.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Value of Personal Work</p> - -<p>The children of this generation are wiser than the children -of light. You can learn something from the world about -how to do things. Personal work is the simplest and most -effective form of work we can engage in. Andrew wins -Peter. Peter wins three thousand at Pentecost. A man -went into a boot and shoe store and talked to the clerk about -Jesus Christ. He won the clerk to Christ. Do you know who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span> -that young man was? It was Dwight L. Moody, and he -went out and won multitudes to Christ. The name of the -man who won him was Kimball, and Kimball will get as -much reward as Moody. Kimball worked to win Moody -and Moody worked and won the multitude. Andrew wins -Peter and Peter wins three thousand at Pentecost. That is -the way God works today. Charles G. Finney, after learning -the name of any man or woman, would invariably ask: -"Are you a Christian?" There isn't any one here who hasn't -drag enough to win somebody to Christ.</p> - -<p>Personal work is a difficult form of work; more difficult -than preaching, singing, attending conventions, giving your -goods to feed the poor. The devil will let you have an easy -time until God asks you to do personal work. It is all right -while you sing in the choir, but just as soon as you get out -and work for God the devil will be on your back and you will -see all the flimsy excuses you can offer for not working for -the Lord. If you want to play into the hands of the devil -begin to offer your excuses.</p> - -<p>There are many people who want to win somebody for -Jesus and they are waiting to be told how to do it. I believe -there are hundreds and thousands of people who are willing -to work and who know something must be done, but they -are waiting for help; I mean men and women of ordinary -ability. Many people are sick and tired and disgusted with -just professing religion; they are tired of trotting to church -and trotting home again. They sit in a pew and listen to a -sermon; they are tired of that, not speaking to anybody and -not engaging in personal work; they are getting tired of it -and the church is dying because of it. A lot should wake up -and go to the rescue and win souls for Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>I want to say to the deacons, stewards, vestrymen, -prudential committees, that they should work, and the -place to begin is at your own home. Sit down and write -the names of five or ten friends, and many of them members -of your own church, and two or three of those not members -of any church; yet you mingle with these people in the club,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> -in business, in your home in a friendly way. You meet -them every week, some of them every day, and you never -speak to them on the subject of religion; you never bring -it to their attention at all; you should be up and doing -something for God and God's truth. There are always -opportunities for a Christian to work for God. There is -always a chance to speak to some one about God. Where -you find one that won't care, you'll find one thousand that -will.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">My Father's Business</p> - -<p>Be out and out for God. Have a heart-to-heart talk -with some people and win them to Christ. The first recorded -words of Jesus are these: "Wist ye not that I must -be about my Father's business?"</p> - -<p>The trouble is we are too lackadaisical in religion, -indifferent and dead and lifeless. That is the spirit of the -committees today in the Church. I think the multitude in -the Church will have to get converted themselves before they -can lead any one else to Christ. It is my firm conviction, after -many years of experience in the work, that half the people -in the Church have never been converted, have never been -born again. I take up a bottle of water, uncork it and take -a drink. That is experimental. One sip of water can convince -me more of its power to slake thirst than 40,000 -books written on the subject. You know quinine is bitter -because you have experimented; you know fire will burn -because you have experimented; you know ice will freeze; -it is cold; you have experimented.</p> - -<p>A man must experience religion to know God. All you -know of God is what you read in some book or what you -heard somebody else talk about; you haven't lived so that -you could learn first-handed, so most of your religion is -second-handed. There is too much second-hand stuff in the -Church. It is your privilege to know and to have salvation. -Jesus said to Peter: "When you are converted strengthen -your brethren." You are not in a position to help anybody -else unless you have been helped yourself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span></p> - -<p>So many church members know nothing about the -Bible. A preacher will take a text from the Bible and get as -far from it as the East is from the West. A young preacher -just out of the seminary said: "Must I confine myself in my -preaching to the Bible?" Just like a shrimp who would say, -"Must I confine my roaming to the Atlantic Ocean?" Imagine -a little minnow saying: "Must I confine myself to the -Atlantic Ocean?" "Must I confine myself to the Bible?" -Just as if his intellect would exhaust it in two or three sermons.</p> - -<p>We have cut loose from the Bible, and any man who is -living contrary to the Bible is a sinner, whether he feels -like a sinner or not. Every man who is living contrary to -the laws is a criminal, whether he feels like it or not. A -man who breaks the law of God is a sinner, and is on the road -to hell, whether he feels like it or like a saint. Jesus came -into the world to reveal God to man, and man reveals him to -man. The only revelation we have of Jesus is through the -Bible. You have got to know Jesus to know God; that's -how I get through there. There is no revelation for God to -make of himself greater than he has made through Jesus -Christ. It is not possible for the human intellect to have -a greater conception of God. Every man needs Christ. -Jesus is the Saviour that he needs and he has got to know the -Bible to show what it is that makes Jesus the Saviour. He -needs a Saviour and now is the time to accept the Saviour -and be saved. That's what the Bible says. Whatever the -Bible says, write "finish" after it and stop.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Feeding the Spiritual Life</p> - -<p>Then you need the Holy Spirit. Without him you cannot -do anything. The spirit of God works through clean -hands. There are too many dirty hands, too many dirty -people trying to preach a clean gospel. I have known men -that have preached the truth and God has honored the truth, -although their lives were not as they should be. But God -honored the truth and not the people who preached the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span> -truth. But if they had been Christians themselves then -God would have honored them more, because he would have -honored them and the truth.</p> - -<p>Prayer. Three-fourths of the church members have no -family prayer. They let spiritual life starve. That is the -reason the pews are full of driftwood; that is the reason that -religion is but a mirage to many.</p> - -<p>Pray God to give you power. Pray God to give you -power to carry on his work after you have become converted. -I don't preach a sermon that I don't pray God for help, and -I never finish a sermon that I don't thank God that I have -preached it. Then I say: "Lord, you take care of the seed -I have sown in that sermon." I think the Church needs a -baptism of good, pure "horse sense."</p> - -<p>Pure hearts. If I have any iniquity in my heart the -Lord will not come in. We need a wise head. We need -horse sense in preaching. We need horse sense in what we -do. I think God is constantly looking for a company of -men and women that are constantly alive. There are too -many dead ones. He needs men and women that are always -at it, not only during the revival; we need to be full of faith; -dead in earnest, never give up, a bulldog tenacity and stick-to-it-iveness -for the cause of God Almighty.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Dignity of Personal Work</p> - -<p>If it is beneath your dignity to do personal work then -you are above your Master. If you are not willing to do -what he did, then don't call him your Lord. The servant -is not greater than the owner of the house. The chauffeur -is not greater than the owner of the automobile. The servant -on the railroad is not greater than the owners of the -road. Certainly they are not greater than our Lord Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>It requires an effort to win souls to Christ. There is -no harder work and none brings greater results than winning -souls.</p> - -<p>You'll need courage. It is hard to do personal work and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span> -the devil will try to oppose you. You'll seek excuses to try -to get out of it. Many people who attend the meetings -regularly now will begin to stay at home when asked to do -personal work. It will surprise you to see them lie to get -out of doing personal work.</p> - -<p>We need enthusiasm for God. If there is any place on -God's earth that needs a baptism of enthusiasm, it is the -church and the prayer-meetings. It is not popular in some -communities and in some churches to be enthusiastic for -God. You'll never accomplish anything without pure enthusiasm, -and don't be afraid of being a religious enthusiast. -Religion is too cold. Formality is choking it in the pews.</p> - -<p>There is nothing accomplished in war, politics or religion, -without enthusiasm. Admiral Decatur once gave this -toast: "My country: May she always be right, but right -or wrong, my country!" That's enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>Perseverance is needed to conquer in this old life. Perseverance -is contagious, not an epidemic. Religion is -contagious. Roman soldiers shortened their swords and -added to their kingdom. You shorten the distance between -you and the sinner and you'll add to the kingdom of God. -The trouble is you have been trying to reach them with a -ten-foot pole. Drop your dignity and formality and walk -up to them; take them by the hand. You are too dignified. -You sit in your fine homes and see the town going to hell.</p> - -<p>We need carefulness to win souls. The way to win -souls is to be careful what you say. Study the disposition -of the person with whom you talk.</p> - -<p>We need tact. Personal work is the department of the -church efficient to deal with the individual and not the masses. -It is analogous to the sharpshooter in the army so dreaded -by the opposing forces. The sharpshooter picks out the -pivotal individual instead of shooting at the mass. The -preacher shoots with a siege gun at long range. You can -go to the individual and dispose of his difficulties. I shoot -out there two or three hundred feet and you sit right beside -people. If I were a physician and you were sick I'd not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> -prescribe <i lang="fr">en masse</i>, I'd go down and see you individually. -I'd try to find out what was the matter and prescribe what -you needed. All medicine is good for something, but not for -everything.</p> - -<p>We need sympathy. One of the noblest traits of the -human character is sympathy. It levels mountains, warms -the broken heart and melts the iceberg. Have sympathy -with the sinner. Not with sin, but the fact that he is one. -God hates sin and the devil. He will not compromise. Have -sympathy with the girl who sins, but not with the sin that -ruined her. Get down on the ground where the others are. -You are away up there saved, but you must get down and -help the sinner.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Five Classes of People</p> - -<p>There are five classes of people and this classification -will touch every man and woman, whether in Scranton, -New York or London.</p> - -<p>First, those who can not attend church, and you will -always find some. Some are sick, shut in; some have to -work in hotels and restaurants; the maids in your house -have to get your meals, the railroad men have to go out, the -furnaces must be kept going in the steel works.</p> - -<p>Second, those who can attend and who do not attend -church. There are millions of people that can and don't -attend church. Some fellows never darken the church door -until they die, and they carry their old carcass in to have -a large funeral. It is no compliment to any man, and it is -an insult to manhood, and disgrace to the individual, that he -never darkens the church door. But he darkens the door of -the grog shop any day.</p> - -<p>Third, those who can and do attend church and who are -not moved by the preaching. There are lots of people who -come out of curiosity.</p> - -<p>Fourth, those who can go to church and those who do go -to church and are moved by the preaching and convicted -but not converted. Every man that hears the truth is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> -convicted. Talk to those men about Jesus Christ. Get -them to take their stand for righteousness.</p> - -<p>Fifth, those who can and do go to church and are convicted -by the preaching and converted. They need strengthening. -They are converted now, but they need the benefit -of your experience. You say, "Where will I find these -people to talk to them?" Where won't you find them? -Where can you find a place where they are not? You will -only find one place where they are not and that is in the -cemetery. Right in your neighborhood, right in your block, -how many are Christians? Is your husband a Christian? -Are your children Christians? If they are, let them alone -and get after somebody else's husband and children. Don't -sit down and thank God that your husband and children are -Christians. Suppose I were to say: "My family, my George, -my Nell, my Paul, my Helen are Christians!" We are all -Christians, let the rest of the world go to the devil. There -is too much of that spirit in the Church today.</p> - -<p>Go from house to house. Go to the people in your -block, in your place of business. Have you said anything -to the telephone girl when you called her up? You are quick -enough to jump on her when she gives you the wrong number. -Have you said anything to the delivery boy—to the -butcher? Have you asked the milkman? Have you said -anything to the newsboy who throws your paper on the -doorstep at night? Have you called them up at the newspaper -office? Have you said anything to the girl who waits -on you at the store; to the servant who brings your dinner in -at home; to the woman who scrubs your floors? Where will -you find them?—where won't you find them?</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Privilege of Personal Work</p> - -<p>Personal work is a great privilege. Not that God needs -us, but that we need him. Jesus Christ worked. "I must -do the works of Him that sent me." So must you. He -didn't send me to work and you to loaf. Honor the God that -gives you the privilege to do what he wants. Jesus worked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span></p> - -<p>Please God and see how it will delight your soul. If -you'll win a soul you will have a blessing that the average -church member knows nothing about. They are absolute -strangers to the higher Christian life. We need an aroused -church. An anxious church makes anxious sinners.</p> - -<p>If all the Methodist preachers would each save a soul -a month there would be 460,000 souls saved in a year. If -all the Baptist preachers would each save a soul a month -there would be 426,000 souls saved in a year. If all the other -evangelical preachers would save a soul a month there would -be 1,425,000 souls -saved a year. Over -7,000 Protestant -churches recently -made report of no -accessions on confession -of faith. -Christ said to preach -the gospel to all the -world and that -means every creature -in the world.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_324.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">My God, I've Got Two Boys Down There!</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>Listen to this: -There are 13,000,000 -young men in this -country between the -ages of sixteen and -thirty years; 12,000,000 are not members of any church, -Protestant or Catholic; 5,000,000 of them go to church -occasionally; 7,000,000 never darken a church door from one -year's end to another. They fill the saloons and the houses of -ill fame, the haunts of vice and corruption, and yet most -young men have been touched by some Sunday-school influences; -but you don't win them for God and they go -into the world never won for God.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_325fpa.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">You Old Hypocrite!</span>"</div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_325fpb.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">It's Up to You.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>I want to tell you if you want to solve the problem for -the future get hold of the young men now. Get them for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> -God now. Save your boys and girls. Save the young man -and woman and you launch a life-boat.</p> - -<p>At the Iroquois fire in Chicago six hundred people were -burned to death. One young woman about seventeen years -of age fought through the crowd, but her hair was singed -from her head, her clothes were burned, her face blistered. -She got on a street car to go to her home in Oak Park. She -was wringing her hands and crying hysterically, and a -woman said to her: "Why, you ought to be thankful you -escaped with your life."</p> - -<p>"I escaped—but I didn't save anybody; there are -hundreds that died. To think that I escaped and didn't -save anybody."</p> - -<p>In Pennsylvania there was once a mine explosion, and -the people were rushing there to help. Up came an old -miner seventy or eighty years of age, tired, tottering and -exhausted. He threw off his vest, his coat and hat and picked -up a pick and shovel. Some of them stopped him and said: -"What is the matter? You are too old; let some of the -younger ones do that. Stand back."</p> - -<p>The old fellow said: "My God, I've got two boys down -there!"</p> - -<p>So you see it seems to make all the difference when -you've got some boy down there.</p> - -<p>Who is wise? You say Andrew Carnegie, the millionaire, -is wise, the mayor, the judge, the governor, the educator, -the superintendent of schools, the principal of the high -school, the people who don't worry or don't live for pleasure, -the inventor. But what does the Lord say? The Lord -says, "He who winneth souls is wise."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</a><br /> - -<small>"A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ"</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I'd rather undertake to save ten drunkards than one old financial Shylock—it -would be easier.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Sympathetic</span> observers comment in distressed -tones upon the physical exhaustion of Sunday after -every one of his addresses. He speaks with such -intensity and vigor that he is completely spent by every -effort. To one who does not know that he has worked at -this terrific pace for near a score of years it seems as if the -evangelist is on the verge of a complete collapse. He -certainly seems to speak "as a dying man to dying men." -The uttermost ounce of his energy is offered up to each -audience. Billy Sunday is an unsparing worker.</p> - -<p>For a month or six weeks of every year he gives himself -to rest. The remainder of the year he is under a strain -more intense than that of a great political campaign. -Even his Monday rest day, which is supposed to be devoted -to recuperation, is oftener than not given to holding special -meetings in some other city than the one wherein he is -campaigning. Speaking twice or oftener every day, to -audiences averaging many thousands, is a tax upon one's -nerve force and vitality beyond all computation. In addition -to this, Sunday has his administrative work, with -its many perplexities and grave responsibilities.</p> - -<p>Withal, the evangelist, like every other man pre-eminent -in his calling, suffers a great loneliness; he has -few intimates who can lead his mind apart from his work. -What says Kipling, in his "Song of Diego Valdez," the -lord high admiral of Spain, who pined in vain for the comradeship -of his old companions, but who, in the aloneness -of eminence, mourned his solitary state?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"They sold Diego Valdez</div> -<div class="verse">To bondage of great deeds."</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span></p> -<p>The computable aggregate of Sunday's work is almost -unbelievable. His associates say that his converts number -more than a quarter of a million persons. That is a greater -total than the whole membership of the entire Christian -Church, decades after the resurrection of our Lord. -Imagine a city of a quarter of a million inhabitants, every -one of whom was a zealous disciple of Jesus Christ. What -a procession these "trail-hitters" would make could they -all be gathered into one great campaign parade!</p> - -<p>Of course these converts are not all trophies of Billy -Sunday's preaching power. He has not won them alone. -He has merely stood in the forefront, as the agent of the -Church, with vast co-operative forces behind him. Nevertheless, -he has been the occasion and the instrument for -this huge accomplishment in the Church's conquest.</p> - -<p>When it comes to counting up the aggregate size of -Sunday's audiences, one is tempted not to believe his own -figures, for the total runs up into the millions, and even the -tens of millions. Probably no living man has spoken to -so great numbers of human beings as Billy Sunday.</p> - -<p>More eloquent than any comment upon the magnitude -and number of his meetings is the following summary of -his campaigns gathered from various sources. Sunday himself -does not keep records of his work. His motto seems to -be, "Forgetting those things which are behind."</p> - -<p>In 1904-5 Billy Sunday visited various cities of Illinois, -where conversions ranged in numbers from 650 to 1,800; in -Iowa, where conversions ranged from 400 to 1,000; and in a -few other towns. In 1905-6 numerous campaigns in Illinois, -Iowa and Minnesota produced converts ranging from 550 -to 2,400, the highest number being reached in Burlington, -Iowa. In 1906-7 the converts numbered over 12,000, with -a maximum of 3,000 in Kewanee, Illinois. In 1907-8 campaigns -in Illinois and Iowa, and one in Sharon, Pennsylvania, -reported over 24,000 converts in all, with a maximum of -6,700 in Decatur, Illinois. In 1908-9 the total number of -converts reached over 18,000, with 5,300 in Spokane, Washington,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> -and 4,700 in Springfield, Illinois. In 1908-9 campaigns -in various cities reported a total of 35,000 converts, -with 6,600 in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, 5,900 in Youngstown, -Ohio, and 5,000 in Danville, Illinois. In 1911-12 -campaigns in cities of Ohio, in Erie, Pennsylvania, and in -Wichita, Kansas, reported a total of 36,000 converts, with -7,600 in Toledo, and 6,800 in Springfield. In 1912-13 -campaigns in other Ohio and Pennsylvania cities and in -Fargo, North Dakota; South Bend, Indiana; and Wheeling, -West Virginia, brought 81,000 converts, with a minimum in -Fargo of 4,000, and a maximum of 18,000 in Columbus.</p> - -<p><cite>The Lutheran Observer</cite> gives the following table of -statistics for eighteen of the largest cities in which campaigns -have been conducted:</p> - - - -<div class="center small"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<col width="50%" /><col width="20%" /><col width="20%" /> -<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><small>Population</small></td><td align="right"><small>Conversions</small></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Pittsburgh, Pa</td><td align="right">533,905</td><td align="right">26,601</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Steubenville, Ohio</td><td align="right">22,391</td><td align="right">7,888</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Columbus, Ohio</td><td align="right">181,511</td><td align="right">18,137</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">McKeesport, Pa</td><td align="right">42,694</td><td align="right">10,022</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Toledo, Ohio</td><td align="right">168,497</td><td align="right">7,686</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Wheeling, W. Va</td><td align="right">41,641</td><td align="right">8,300</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Springfield, Ohio</td><td align="right">46,921</td><td align="right">6,804</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Newcastle, Pa</td><td align="right">36,280</td><td align="right">6,683</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Erie, Pa</td><td align="right">66,525</td><td align="right">5,312</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Portsmouth, Ohio</td><td align="right">23,481</td><td align="right">5,224</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Canton, Ohio</td><td align="right">50,217</td><td align="right">5,640</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Youngstown, Ohio</td><td align="right">79,066</td><td align="right">5,915</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">South Bend, Ind</td><td align="right">53,684</td><td align="right">6,398</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Wilkes-Barre, Pa</td><td align="right">67,105</td><td align="right">16,584</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Beaver Falls, Pa</td><td align="right">12,191</td><td align="right">6,000</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Lima, Ohio</td><td align="right">30,508</td><td align="right">5,659</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">East Liverpool, Ohio</td><td align="right">20,387</td><td align="right">6,354</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Johnstown, Pa</td><td align="right">55,482</td><td align="right">11,829</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">———</td><td align="right">———</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Total</td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">167,036</td></tr> -</table></div> - - -<p>Included in the 18,000 converts in Columbus were the -chief of police and all the policemen who had been detailed -to duty at the tabernacle. A notable work was also done -in the penitentiary.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span></p> - -<p>Wilkes-Barre's 16,000 conversions bore an extraordinary -relation to the population of the city, which is but -67,105. The sheriff was among the Wilkes-Barre converts -and he has since proved his faith by his works in -prosecuting law-breakers.</p> - -<p>The statistics show that there were 6,000 converts at -South Bend, Indiana, in the spring of 1913, but they do not -reveal the fact that immediately afterwards there was -inaugurated an era of civic reform which cleaned up the -city for the first time in fifteen years, and elected as mayor -one of the Billy Sunday converts.</p> - -<p>Prior to the Sunday campaign in Steubenville, Ohio, -September and October, 1913 (where the converts numbered -8,000), the town had gone "wet" by 1,400 majority, after -the meetings it went "dry" by 300 majority.</p> - -<p>Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with a campaign held November -and December, 1913, reported 12,000 conversions, and -a Billy Sunday Anti-saloon League of 10,000 men. The -fame of the Pittsburgh campaign, January and February, -1914, is in all the churches; 27,000 converts were reported.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sunday is my authority for these and the following -details of recent meetings:</p> - -<p>The Scranton campaign (March and April, 1914) was -unusual in several respects. It not only reported 18,000 -converts, but it also held the greatest industrial parade, -under distinctively Christian auspices, that the country has -ever seen. In preparation for the Sunday meetings 10,000 -adults were enlisted in Bible classes, and this number grew -steadily during and after the campaign.</p> - -<p>In May and June of 1914 the evangelist worked in -Huntingdon, West Virginia, where the conversions were -6,500. From there he went to Colorado Springs and a total -of 4,500 persons "hit the trail." The Colorado Springs -meetings were unusual in that the attendants were from all -parts of the country, and so the revival fire was carried far. -The organization of adult Bible classes followed the Colorado -Springs campaign. This promises to be one of the distinctive -features of Billy Sunday's meetings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span></p> - -<p>In reading such a compiled record as the foregoing, it -is to be remembered that in all things that affect spiritual -values the only true record is that which is kept in another -world. Enough has been shown, however, to make clear -that Sunday practices what he preaches when he urges -Christians to whole-hearted service.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">SUNDAY'S "CONSECRATION" SERMON</p> - -<p>"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of -God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, -acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."</p> - -<p>The armies of God are never made up of drafted men -and women, ordered into service whether willing or not. God -never owned a slave. God doesn't want you to do anything -that you can't do without protest. This is not a call to hard -duty, but an invitation to the enjoyment of a privilege. It -is not a call to hired labor to take the hoe and go into the field, -but the appeal of a loving father to his children to partake -of all he has to give.</p> - -<p>If there is nothing in you that will respond to God's -appeal when you think of his mercies, I don't think much of -you. The impelling motive of my text is gratitude, not fear. -It looks to Calvary, not to Sinai. We are being entreated, -not threatened. That's the amazing thing to me. To -think that God would entreat us—would stand to entreat us! -He is giving me a chance to show I love him.</p> - -<p>If you are not ready to offer it in gratitude, God -doesn't want you to serve him through fear, but because -you realize his love for you, and appreciate and respond -to it.</p> - -<p>A business man who loves his wife will never be too -busy to do something for her, never too busy to stop sometimes -to think of how good she has been and what she has -done for him. If men would only think of the things God -has done for them there would be less card-playing, less -thought of dinners and of concerts and other diversions of -the world. God wants us to sit down and think over his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> -goodness to us. The man who doesn't isn't worth a nickel -a punch. Has God done anything for us as a nation, has he -done anything for us as individuals, that commands our -gratitude?</p> - -<p>Astronomers have counted three hundred and eighty -million stars, and they have barely commenced. Why, you -might as well try to count those countless stars as to try to -count God's mercies. You might as well try to count the -drops of water in the sea or the grains of sand upon the -shore. If we only think, we shall say with David: "According -to Thy tender mercies."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Mercies</p> - -<p>An old lady said one morning that she would try to -count all God's mercies for that one day, but at noon she -was becoming confused, and at three o'clock she threw up -her hands and said: "They come three times too fast for -me to count."</p> - -<p>Just think of the things we have to be thankful for! A -visitor to an insane asylum was walking through the grounds -and as he passed one of the buildings he heard a voice from a -barred window high up in the wall and it said: "Stranger, -did you ever thank God for your reason?" He had never -thought of that before, but he says that he has thought of it -every day since. Did you ever think that thousands of -people who were just as good as you are, are beating their -heads against the walls of padded cells? Did you ever think -what a blessed thing it is that you are sane and you go about -among men and follow your daily duties, and go home to -be greeted by your wife and have your children climb about -you?</p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God for your eyes? Did you ever -thank him that you can see the sunrise and the sunset and -can see the flowers and the trees and look upon the storm? -Did you ever thank God that you have two good eyes while -so many others less fortunate than you must grope their way -in blindness to the coffin?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span></p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God for hearing? That you can -hear music and the voices of friends and dear ones? That -you can leave your home and business, and come here and -hear the songs and the preaching of the word of God? Did -you ever think what it would mean to be deaf?</p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God for the blessing of taste? -Some people can't tell whether they are eating sawdust and -shavings or strawberries and ice cream. Think of the good -things we enjoy! Others have tastes so vicious that they find -it almost impossible to eat. God might have made our food -taste like quinine.</p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God that you can sleep? If not, -you ought to be kept awake for a month. Think of the -thousands who suffer from pain or insomnia so that they can -sleep only under opiates. Did you ever wake up in the -morning and thank God that you have had a good night's -rest? If you haven't, God ought to keep you awake for a -week, then you'd know you've had reason to be thankful.</p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God for the doctors and nurses and -hospitals? For the surgeon who comes with scalpel to save -your life or relieve your sufferings? If it had not been for -them you'd be under the grass. For the nurse who watches -over you that you may be restored to health?</p> - -<p>Did you ever thank God for the bread you eat, while so -many others are hungry? Did you ever thank him for the -enemy that has been baffled, for the lie against you that has -failed?</p> - -<p>Out in Elgin, Illinois, I was taken driving by a friend, -and he said that he wanted me to go with him to see a man. -He took me to see a man who was lying in bed, with arms -most pitifully wasted by suffering. The poor fellow said he -had been in bed for thirty-two years, but he wasn't worrying -about that. He said he was so sorry for the well people who -didn't know Jesus. I went out thanking God that I could -walk. If your hearts are not made of stone or adamant -they will melt with gratitude when you think of the many -mercies, the tender mercies, of God.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_332fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Billy Sunday and His Staff at Scranton. From Left to Right: (standing) F. R. Seibert, A. G. Gill: -(sitting) B. D. Ackley, Miss Frances Miller, Miss Grace Saxe, Mr. Sunday.</span></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Living Sacrifice</p> - -<p>"Brethren"—that's what God calls his true followers. -No speaking from the loft. If there's any lesson we need to -learn it is that of being "brethren."</p> - -<p>Sinners are not called "brethren" in the Bible. God -commands sinners. They are in rebellion. He entreats -Christians. When Lincoln called for volunteers he addressed -men as "citizens of the United States," not as foreigners.</p> - -<p>The man who is appreciative of God's mercies will not -have much mercy on himself. Don't stand up and say: -"I'll do what Jesus bids me to do, and go where he bids me to -go," then go to bed. Present your bodies—not mine—not -those of your wives; you must present your own. Present -your bodies; not your neighbor's; not your children's; it -is their duty to do that. Do you trust God enough to let -him do what he wants to do?</p> - -<p>Henry Varley said to Moody, when that great American -was in England, that God is waiting to show this world what -one man could do for him. Moody said: "Varley, by the -grace of God I'll be that man"; and God took hold of -Moody and shook the world with him. God would shake the -world with us today if only we would present our bodies as -a living sacrifice to him, as Moody did. Are you willing to -present yourself? I am tired of a church of five hundred or -seven hundred members without power enough to bring one -soul to Christ.</p> - -<p>At the opening of the Civil War many a man was willing -that the country should be saved by able-bodied male -relatives of his wife, who made themselves bullet-men, but -he didn't go himself. God isn't asking for other men's -bodies. He's asking for yours. If you would all give to -God what rightfully belongs to him, I tell you he would -create a commotion on earth and in hell. If God had the -feet of some of you he would point your toes in different ways -from those you have been going for many years. If he had -your feet he would never head you into a booze joint. If -he had your feet he would never send you into a ball-room.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> -If he had the feet of some of you he would make you wear -out shoe leather lugging back what you've taken that -doesn't belong to you. If God had your feet he would take -you to prayer-meeting. I'm afraid the preacher would have -nervous prostration, for he hasn't seen some of you there -in years. If God had your feet you'd find it harder to follow -the devil. Some of you preachers have your children going -to dancing school and I hear some of you go to dances. He -would make your daily walk conform to the Golden Rule and -the Sermon on the Mount.</p> - -<p>Some people work only with their mouths. God wants -that part that's on the ground. Some soldiers sit around -and smell the coffee and watch the bacon frying.</p> - -<p>If God had your hands he would make you let go a lot -of things you hold on to with a death-like grip. If you don't -let go of some of the things you hold so tightly they will -drag you down to hell. He would have you let go some of the -things you pay taxes on, but don't own, and he would make -you let go of money to pay taxes on some that you do own. -Some people are so busy muck-raking that they will lose -a crown of glory hereafter. If God had your hands, how -many countless tears you would wash away. A friend of -mine bought a typewriter, and when he tried to use it his -fingers seemed to be all sticks, but now he can write forty-five -words a minute. Let God have your hands and he will -make them do things that would make the angels wonder -and applaud.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Glass of Champagne</p> - -<p>A young man went down to Thomasville, Alabama, and -while there was invited to a dress ball—or rather an undress -ball, if what I have read about such affairs properly describes -the uniforms. A young lady—a young lady with eyes like -the dove and with beautiful tresses—came up to him and -said to the young man, "Won't you pledge a glass of champagne -with me?"</p> - -<p>The young man thanked her, but said: "No, I don't -drink."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span></p> - -<p>"Not with me?" she said, and smiled; and he repeated -his answer, "No."</p> - -<p>Then she said: "If I had thought you would refuse me -I would not have asked you and exposed myself to the -embarrassment of a refusal. I did not suppose you would -think me bold for speaking to you in this way, and I thought -you might be lonely."</p> - -<p>A little later she came back to him and repeated her -invitation. Again he said: "No."</p> - -<p>Others came up and laughed. He took it and hesitated. -She smiled at him and he gave in and drank the champagne, -then drank another glass and another, until he was flushed -with it. Then he danced.</p> - -<p>At two o'clock the next morning a man with a linen -duster over his other clothes walked back upon the railroad-station -platform, waiting for a train for the North; and as he -walked he would exclaim, "Oh God!" and would pull a -pint flask from his pocket and drink. "My God," he would -say, "what will mother say?" Four months later in his -home in Vermont, with his weeping parents by him and with -four strong men to hold him down, he died of delirium -tremens.</p> - -<p>The Epworth League's motto is: "Look up, lift up." -But you'll never lift much up unless God has hold of your -hands. Unless he has, you will never put your hands deep -in your pocket, up to the elbows, and bring them up full of -money for his cause. A man who was about to be baptized -took out his watch and laid it aside; then he took out his -knife and bankbook and laid them aside.</p> - -<p>"Better give me your pocketbook to put aside for you," -said the minister.</p> - -<p>"No," said the man, "I want it to be baptized, too."</p> - -<p>There's no such thing as a bargain-counter religion. -Pure and undefiled religion will do more when God has -something besides pennies to work with. God doesn't run -any excursions to heaven. You must pay the full fare. -Your religion is worth just what it cost you. If you get<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> -religion and then lie down and go to sleep, your joints will -get stiff as Rip Van Winkle's did, and you'll never win the -religious marathon.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Denying One's Self</p> - -<p>A man said to his wife that he had heard the preacher -say that religion is worth just what it costs, and that he had -determined to give more for religion and to deny himself as -well. "What will you give up?" she asked. He said that -he would give up coffee—for he dearly loved coffee—used to -drink several cups at every meal, the very best. She said -that she would give up something, too—that she would give -up tea. Then their daughter said she would give up some -of her little pleasures, and the father turned to his son Tom, -who was shoveling mashed potatoes, covered with chicken -gravy, into his mouth. He said, "I'll give up salt mackerel. -I never did like the stuff, anyway."</p> - -<p>There are too many salt-mackerel people like that in the -pews of our churches today. They will take something that -they don't like, and that nobody else will have, and give it to -the Lord. That isn't enough for God. He wants the best -we have.</p> - -<p>God wants your body with blood in it. Cain's altar -was bigger than Abel's, but it had nothing valuable on it, -while Abel's had real blood. God rejected Cain's and accepted -Abel's. God turns down the man who merely lives -a moral life and does not accept the religion of Jesus Christ. -You must come with Jesus' blood. How thankful you are -depends on how much you are willing to sacrifice.</p> - -<p>I don't believe that the most honored angel in heaven -has such a chance as we have. Angels can't suffer. They -can't make sacrifices. They can claim that they love God, -but we can prove it.</p> - -<p>What would you think of a soldier if when he was -ordered "Present arms," he would answer, "Tomorrow"; -if he would say, "When the man next to me does"; if he -would say, "When I get a new uniform"? "Present"—that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span> -means now. It is in the present tense. God wants us to -make a present of our bodies to him—because we love him.</p> - -<p>A little girl showed a man some presents she had received -and he asked her, "How long may you keep them?"</p> - -<p>"How long?" she answered. "Why, they were given -to me. They are mine!"</p> - -<p>Many a man gives his boy a colt or a calf, then when it -has grown to a horse or a cow he sells it and pockets the -money. Some of you fellows need to do a little thinking -along that line. When we give our bodies, they ought to be -His for keeps.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Thinking for God</p> - -<p>If when you make a present you do not mean to give -it outright, you are not honest. "Will a man rob God?" -You bet he will—a heap quicker than he will rob any one -else.</p> - -<p>Your body, that takes the head as well as hands. God -wants brains as well as bones and muscles. We ought to do -our best thinking for God. God is in the greatest business -there is, and he wants the best help he can get. Some of you -old deacons and elders make me sick. If you used such -methods in business as you do in the work of the Church the -sheriff's sale flag would soon be hanging outside your door. -I don't ask any of you business men to curtail any of your -business activities, but I do ask that you give more of your -energy to the things of religion. You want to use good -business methods in religion. The Republicans and the -Democrats and the Socialists use good business methods -in politics. The farmer who hasn't any sense is still plowing -with a forked stick. The farmer who has sense uses a -modern plow. Use common sense.</p> - -<p>Bishop Taylor promised God that he would do as much -hard thinking and planning for him as he would do for -another man for money. He did it. So did Wesley and -Whitefield and Savonarola, and look what they did for God! -If there is any better way of doing God's business than there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> -was one hundred years ago, for God's sake do it! He's -entitled to the best there is. This thing of just ringing the -church bell to get people to come in is about played out. In -business, if they have a machine that is out of date and -doesn't produce good results, it goes onto the scrap heap. -If a man can produce a machine that can enlarge the product -or better it, that machine is adopted at once. But in religion -we have the same old flint-lock guns, smooth-bore; the same -old dips and tallow candles; the same old stage coaches over -corduroy roads; and if a protest is made some of you will -roll your eyes as if you had on a hair shirt, and say: "Surely -this is not the Lord's set time for work." I tell you any time -is God's time. Now is God's time. It was God's time to -teach us about electricity long before Franklin discovered it, -but nobody had sense enough to learn.</p> - -<p>It was God's time to give us the electric light long before -Edison invented it, but nobody had sense enough to understand -it. It was God's set time to give us the steam engine -long before Watts watched the kettle boil and saw it puff the -lid off, but nobody had sense enough to grasp the idea.</p> - -<p>If God Almighty only had possession of your mouths, -he'd stop your lying. If he had your mouths he'd stop your -knocking. If he had your mouths, he'd stop your misrepresentations. -If he had your mouths, he'd stop your swearing. -If he had your mouths, he'd stop your back-biting. -If he had your mouths, he'd stop your slanders. There -would be no criticizing, no white lies, no black lies, no social -lies, no talking behind backs.</p> - -<p>If God had your mouths, so much money wouldn't go -up in tobacco smoke or out in tobacco spit. If God had your -mouths, there would be no thousands of dollars a year spent -for whisky, beer and wine. You wouldn't give so much to -the devil and you would give more to the Church. Many of -you church pillars wouldn't be so noisy in politics and so -quiet in religion. So many of you fellows wouldn't yell like -Comanche Indians at a ratification meeting and sit like a -bump on a log in prayer-meeting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span></p> - -<p>If God had our eyes he'd bring the millennium. His -eyes run to and fro through the world seeking for men to -serve him; and if he had our eyes, how our eyes would run -to and fro looking for ways to help bring men to Christ. How -hard it would be for sinners to get away. We would be looking -for drunkards, and the prostitutes and down-and-outs, -to lift and save them. How many sorrowful hearts we would -find and soothe, how many griefs we would alleviate! Great -God! How little you are doing. Don't you feel ashamed? -Aren't you looking for a knot-hole to crawl through? If -God had our eyes how many would stop looking at a lot of -things that make us proud and unclean and selfish and -critical and unchristian.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">What God Asks</p> - -<p>God wants you to give your body. Are you afraid to -give it to him? Are you afraid of the doctor when you are -sick? Your body—that thing that sits out there in the seat, -that thing that sits up there in the choir and sings, that -thing that sits there and writes editorials, that body which -can show Jesus Christ to fallen sons of Adam better than any -angel—that's what God wants. God wants you to bring it -to him and say: "Take it, God, it's yours." If he had your -body, dissipation, overeating and undersleeping would stop, -for the body is holy ground. We dare not abuse it.</p> - -<p>A friend of mine paid $10,000 for a horse. He put him -in a stable and there the animal had care-takers attending -him day and night, who rubbed him down, and watched his -feet to take care that they should not be injured, and put -mosquito netting on the windows, and cooled him with -electric fans, and sprinkled his oats and his hay. They -wanted to keep him in shape, for he was worth $10,000 and -they wanted him for the race-track. Give your body to God, -and the devil will be welcome to anything he can find.</p> - -<p>God wants your body as a living sacrifice, not a dead one. -There are too many dead ones. A time was when God was -satisfied with a dead sacrifice. Under old Jewish law a dead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span> -sheep would do. He wants my body now when I'm alive -and not when I am dead and the undertaker is waiting to -carry it out to the cemetery. The day of that dispensation -is past, and now he wants you, a living sacrifice, a real -sacrifice. A traveling man who wants to make his wife a -present, and sits up all night in the train instead of taking a -berth for three dollars and uses the three -dollars to buy a present for his wife, -makes a real sacrifice for her. There -never was a victory without sacrifice. -Socrates advanced the doctrine of immortality -and died with a cup of poisoned -hemlock. Jesus Christ paid with a crown -of thorns. Abraham Lincoln paid with a -bullet in his body. If you mean to give -yourself as a sacrifice to God, get out and -work for him. Ask men to come to him.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_340.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">No More of You -Old Deacons -Coming Down -the Aisles -Stroking Your -Whiskers</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>"A holy sacrifice." Some men shy -at that word "holy" like a horse at an -automobile. Holy vessels were set apart -for use in the worship of God. To be holy -is to be set apart for God's use—that's all. -To be holy isn't to be long-faced and never -smile.</p> - -<p>"Acceptable unto the Lord." If -that were true then this old desert would -blossom like Eden. If that were taken -as our watchword, what a stampede of -short yardsticks, shrunken measures, -light weights, adulterated foods, etc., -there would be!</p> - -<p>What a stopping of the hitting up of booze! There -would be no more living in sin and keeping somebody on the -side, no more of you old deacons coming down the aisles -stroking your whiskers and renting your buildings for houses -of ill fame, and newspapers would stop carrying ads for -whisky and beer.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_340fpa.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">Close that Window, Please.</span>"</div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/i_340fpb.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><div class="capcop"><i>Copyright, 1908, by C. U. Williams.</i></div><br /> -"<span class="smcap">Break Away from the Old Bunch of the Damned.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Reasonable Service</p> - -<p>"Your reasonable service." God never asks anything -unreasonable. He is never exacting. He only asks rights -when he asks you to forsake sin. A man must be an idiot -if he does not see that man is unreasonable when unrighteous. -God never made a law to govern you that you wouldn't -have made if you had known as much as God knows. You -don't know that much and never can, so the only sensible -thing to do is to obey God's laws. Faith never asks explanation.</p> - -<p>God asks some things that are hard, but never any that -are unreasonable. I beseech you, brethren. It was hard -for Abraham to take his son up on the mountain and prepare -to offer him up as a sacrifice to God, but God had a reason. -Abraham understands tonight, and Abraham is satisfied. -It was hard for Joseph to be torn from his own people and -to be sold into Egypt and to be lied about by that miserable -woman, torn from his mother and father, but God had a -reason. Joseph knows tonight, and Joseph is satisfied. It -was hard for Moses to lead the Jews from Egypt, following -the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and make -that crossing of the Red Sea, only to have God call him up to -Mount Pisgah and show him the Promised Land and say: -"Moses, you can't go in." It was hard, but God had a -reason. Moses understands tonight, and Moses is satisfied. -It was hard for Job to lose his children and all that he possessed -and to be afflicted with boils, and to be so miserable -that only his wife remained with him. But God had a -reason. Job understands tonight, and Job is satisfied.</p> - -<p>It was a hard thing God asked of Saul of Tarsus—to bear -witness to him at Rome and Ephesus, to face those jeering -heathen, to suffer imprisonment and be beaten with forty -stripes save one, and finally to put his head on the block and -have it severed by the order of old Nero, but God had a -reason. Paul understands tonight, and Paul is satisfied. -It was a hard thing God asked of Jesus—to leave the songs -of the angels and the presence of the redeemed and glorified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span> -and come down to earth and be born amid the malodors of a -stable, and be forced to flee from post to post, and dispute -with the learned doctors in the temple at twelve years of age -and confute them, and to still the storm and the troubled -waters, and to say to the blind, "Be whole," and finally -to be betrayed by one of his own followers and to be murdered -through a conspiracy of Jews and Gentiles; but now he sits -on the throne with the Father, awaiting the time to judge -the world. Jesus understands and Jesus is satisfied.</p> - -<p>It was a hard thing for me when God told me to leave -home and go out into the world to preach the gospel and be -vilified and libeled and have my life threatened and be -denounced, but when my time comes, when I have preached -my last sermon, and I can go home to God and the Lamb, -he'll say, "Bill, this was the reason." I'll know what it all -meant, and I'll say "I'm satisfied, God, I'm satisfied."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</a><br /> - -<small>A Wonderful Day at a Great University</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The higher you climb the plainer you are seen.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Billy</span> Sunday has had many great days in his -life—mountain-top experiences of triumphant service; -exalted occasions when it would seem that the -climax of his ministry had been reached. Doubtless, -though, the greatest day of his crowded life was the -thirtieth of March, 1914, which he spent with the students -of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.</p> - -<p>The interest not alone of a great university but also of -a great city was concentrated upon him on this occasion. -An imposing group of discriminating folk took the opportunity -to judge the much discussed evangelist and his -work. In this respect, the day may be said to have proved -a turning point in the public career of the evangelist. It -silenced much of the widespread criticism which had been -directed toward him up to this time; and it won for him -the encomiums of a host of intellectual leaders.</p> - -<p>What Sunday's own impressions of that day were may -be understood from the prayer he offered at the close of the -night meeting.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Oh, Jesus, isn't this a fine bunch? Did you ever look -down on a finer crowd? I don't believe there is a mother -who is any prouder of this lot of boys than I am tonight. -I have never preached to a more appreciative crowd, and if -I never preach another sermon, I am willing to go home to -glory tonight, knowing that I have helped save the boys at -the University of Pennsylvania. Help them to put aside -temptations, and to follow in the paths in which Doctor -Smith is trying to guide their feet.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Back of the visit of the evangelist to the University -lies a story, and a great principle. The latter is that materialism<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span> -has no message for the human soul or character. -The authorities of the University, in common with a wide -public, had been deeply disturbed over the suicide of -several students during the winter of 1913-14. Sensational -stories, largely unwarranted, in the daily press had reported -an epidemic of suicides, due to infidelity.</p> - -<p>Underneath all this "yellow" portrayal of conditions -lay the truth, realized by nobody more clearly than by -the University head, Provost Edgar Fahs Smith, that the -character of young manhood needs to be fortified by -spiritual ideals. In his rôle of religious leader of the University, -and counselor to the young men, Provost Smith -had heard confessions of personal problems which had -wrung his soul. None knew better than he that it takes -more than culture to help a man win the battle of life. -Looking in every direction for succor in this deepest of all -problems, the sight of Billy Sunday at Scranton indicated -a possible ray of hope.</p> - -<p>Led by Thomas S. Evans, the secretary of the Christian -Association of the University, a deputation of student -leaders went to Scranton, heard the evangelist, and conveyed -to him an invitation to spend a day with the University. -The call of the need of young men in particular -is irresistible to Sunday, and he gladly accepted the invitation -for a day in Philadelphia—going, it may be added -parenthetically, entirely at his own expense, and insisting -that the offering made be devoted to University Christian -Association work.</p> - -<p>There is a thorough organization of the Christian work -of the University; so careful plans were laid for the visit -of the evangelist. The meetings were made the subject of -student prayer groups, and all that forethought could do -to secure the smooth running of the day's services was -carefully attended to. Students were to be admitted by -their registration cards, and a few hundred other guests, -mostly ministers and persons identified with the University, -were given special admission cards.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span></p> - -<p>There is no such rush for grand opera tickets in Philadelphia -as was experienced for these coveted cards of -admission to the Billy Sunday meetings at the University. -The noon meeting and the night meetings were exclusively -for men, but in the afternoon a few score favored women -were admitted. The result was that in these three services -the evangelist talked to representatives of the best life of -the conservative old city of Philadelphia. He never before -had faced so much concentrated culture as was represented -that day within the walls of the great gymnasium.</p> - -<p>This improvised auditorium could be made to hold -about three thousand persons, especially when the hearers -were students, and skilful in crowding and utilizing every -inch of space, such as window sills and rafters. The line -of ticket holders that gathered before the opening of the -doors itself preached a sermon to the whole city. As one -of the Philadelphia newspapers remarked, in the title it -gave to a section of its whole page of Billy Sunday pictures, -"Wouldn't think they were striving for admittance to a -religious service, would you?" The newspapers, by pen -and camera, chronicled this Billy Sunday day at the University -as the city's most important news for that issue.</p> - -<p>The evangelist's chorister, Homer Rodeheaver, led -the introductory service of music. He set the college -boys to singing and whistling familiar gospel hymns, and -Mrs. De Armond's "If Your Heart Keeps Right"—a -refrain which was heard for many weeks afterward in University -corridors and campus.</p> - -<p>From the first the students, than whom there are no -more critical hearers alive, were won by Billy Sunday. -Provost Smith, who has the men's hearts, introduced him -in this happy fashion:</p> - -<p>"Billy Sunday is a friend of men. He is a friend of -yours and a friend of mine, and that's why we are glad to -have him here today to tell us about his other friend, Jesus -Christ. His is the spirit of friendship, and we are glad to -extend to him our fellowship while we have the opportunity."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span></p> - -<p>The three addresses given on that day were "What -Shall I Do with Jesus?" "Real Manhood," and "Hot-cakes -off the Griddle."</p> - -<p>These fragments of the three addresses culled from -the newspaper reports give the flavor of the messages heard -by the students:</p> - -<p>"What shall I do with Jesus?"</p> - -<p>"This question is just as pertinent to the world today -as it was to Pilate," he said. "Pilate had many things to -encourage and discourage him, but no man ever sought -to do anything without meeting difficulties.</p> - -<p>"Pilate should have been influenced by his wife's dream," -the speaker continued, whimsically suggesting that he -didn't care what sort of wife Pilate had. "She may have -been one of those miserable, pliable, plastic, two-faced, two-by-four, -lick-spittle, toot-my-own-horn sort of women, but -Pilate should have heeded her warning and set Jesus free," -he asserted.</p> - -<p>"Pilate had the personality of Jesus before him and -should have been influenced by this. He had also heard -of the miracles of Jesus, even if he had never seen them.</p> - -<p>"Why, Jesus was cussed and discussed from one end -of the land to the other. All he had to do was to say -'Come forth,' and the graves opened like chestnut burrs -in the fall," he added.</p> - -<p>"I have no use for the fellow that sneers and mocks at -Jesus Christ. If the world is against Christ, I am against -the world, with every tooth, nail, bit of skin, hair follicle, -muscular molecule, articulation joint"—here the evangelist -paused for breath before adding—"yes, and even my -vermiform appendix.</p> - -<p>"But Pilate was just one of those rat-hole, pin-headed, -pliable, standpat, free-lunch, pie-counter politicians. He -was the direct result of the machine gang in Jewish politics, -and he was afraid that if he released Christ he would lose -his job.</p> - -<p>"Say, boys," he demanded, leaning so far over the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span> -platform it seemed he must have fallen, "are you fellows -willing to slap Jesus Christ in the face in order to have -some one come up and slap you on the back and say you -are a good fellow and a dead-game sport? That is the -surest way to lose out in life. I am giving you the experience -of a life that knows.</p> - -<p>"Pilate had his chance and he missed it. His name -rings down through the ages in scorn and contempt because -he had not the courage to stand up for his convictions and -Jesus Christ. Aren't you boys doing the same thing? You -are convinced that Jesus Christ is the son of God, but -you are afraid of the horse-laugh the boys will give you.</p> - -<p>"God will have nothing to do with you unless you -are willing to keep clean," he said. "Some people think -they are not good enough to go to heaven and not bad -enough to go to hell, and that God is too good to send them -to hell, so they fix up a little religion of their own. God -isn't keeping any half-way house for any one. The man -who believes in that will change his theology before he has -been in hell five minutes.</p> - -<p>"There's just one enemy that keeps every one from -accepting Christ, and that is your stubborn, miserable will -power. You are not men enough to come clean for Jesus.</p> - -<p>"I don't care whether you have brains enough to fill -a hogshead or little enough to fill a thimble, you are up -against this proposition: You must begin to measure Christ -by the rules of God instead of the rules of men. Put him -in the God class instead of in the man class; judge Christ -by his task and the work he performed, and see if he was -only a man."</p> - -<p>The University of Pennsylvania would be turning out -bigger men than Jesus Christ, he said, if Christ were not -the son of God. The conditions and the opportunities are -so much greater in these days, he showed, that a real -superman should be the product of our day if education, -society, business, politics and these varied interests could -produce such a thing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span></p> - -<p>"Jesus Christ is just as well known today as old Cleopatra, -the flat-nosed enchantress of the Nile, was known -hundreds and hundreds of years ago.</p> - -<p>"Don't swell up like a poisoned pup and say that -'it doesn't meet with my stupendous intellectual conception -of what God intended should be understood.' God -should have waited until you were born and then called -you into counsel, I suppose. Say, fellows, I don't like to -think that there are any four-flushing, excess-baggage, -lackadaisical fools like that alive today, but there are -a few.</p> - -<p>"On the square, now, if you want to find a man of -reason, would you go down in the red-light district, where -women are selling their honor for money, or through the -beer halls or fan-tan joints? You don't find intellect there," -he continued.</p> - -<p>In contrast to these places, the evangelist described -with remarkable accuracy and emotion the scenes surrounding -the death of President McKinley and the burial -ceremony at Canton, Ohio; how the great men of the -nation, all Christian men, passed by the flag-covered casket -and paid their silent tribute to the man who had died with -Christian confidence expressed in his last words.</p> - -<p>"When I came out of that court-house at Canton, I -said: 'Thank God, I'm in good company, for the greatest -men of my nation are on the side of Jesus Christ,'" he -added. From the farthest corner of the auditorium there -came a fervent "Amen," which found many repetitions in -the brief silence that followed.</p> - -<p>Mr. Sunday reached a powerful climax when he -described the possibilities of the Judgment Day, and the -efforts of the evil one to lead into the dark, abysmal depths -souls of men who have been popular in the world. To -those who have accepted Christ, the Saviour will appear -on that day as an advocate at the heavenly throne, he -argued, and the saved ones can turn to the devil and say:</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_349fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Billy Sunday and his Family at Home, Mount Hood, Winona -Lake, Indiana.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>"'Beat it, you old skin-flint. I have you skinned to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span> -frazzle. I have taken Jesus Christ and he's going to stand -by me through all eternity.'</p> - -<p>"Wherein does Jesus Christ fail to come up to your -standard and the highest conception of the greatest God-like -spirit? Show me one flaw in his character. I challenge -any infidel on earth to make good his claims that -Christ was an ordinary man. The name of Jesus Christ, -the son of God, is greater than any. It is the name that -unhorsed Saul of Tarsus, and it is holding 500,000,000 of -people by its majestic spell and enduring power.</p> - -<p>"If you can't understand what this means, just take -a walk out into some cemetery some day and look at the -tombstones. You'll find that the name of the man who -had a political drag twenty-five years ago is absolutely -forgotten," continued the challenge.</p> - -<p>"Do you fellows know what sacrifice means?" suddenly -asked the speaker. "Some of your fathers are -making sacrifices and wearing old clothes just to keep -you here in school. He wants you to have an education -because he can't even handle the multiplication table.</p> - -<p>"If Jesus Christ should enter this gymnasium we -would all fall to our knees. We have that much reverence -in our hearts for him. I would run down and meet him, -and would tell him how much I love him and that I am -willing to go wherever he would have me go."</p> - -<p>In closing, the evangelist told the story of a man who -recklessly tossed a valuable pearl high into the air, reaching -over the side of a ship to catch it as it fell. Time and -again he was successful, but finally the ship swerved to one -side and the gem disappeared beneath the waves.</p> - -<p>"Boys, that man lost everything just to gain the -plaudits of the crowd. Are you doing the same thing?</p> - -<p>"That is the condition of thousands of people beneath -the Stars and Stripes today—losing everything just to hear -the clamor of the people, and get a little pat on the back -for doing something the mob likes."</p> - -<p>Mr. Sunday suddenly abandoned his dramatic attitude,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span> -and lowered his voice. There was an instantaneous bowing -of heads, although he had given no suggestion of a -prayer. It seemed proper at that time, and one of the -evangelist's heart-to-heart talks with Christ, asking a blessing -on the Christian workers of the University, and an -earnest effort, on the part of every student, to live a -Christian life, accompanied the great audience as it filed -from the gymnasium.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Real Manhood</p> - -<p>"Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man," -the Bible verse reads, and Mr. Sunday promptly added: -"Don't be a mutt! Don't be a four-flusher—a mere cipher -on the sea of human enterprise.</p> - -<p>"God is a respecter of character, even if he isn't a -respecter of persons," continued the speaker. "Abraham -towers out, like a mountain above a molehill, and beside -him some of our modern gimlet-eyed, heel-worn fellows -shrink like Edward Hyde in Doctor Jekyll's clothes.</p> - -<p>"When those fellows over in Babylon offered booze -to Daniel, although he was only seventeen years old, he -said, 'Nothing doing.' He told them where to head in. -Moses pushed aside the greatest scepter of any kingdom -and did what his heart told him was right. 'Be thou strong -and show thyself a man.'</p> - -<p>"David was a man of lofty purposes and his life was -influenced by those that had preceded him. It wasn't -an accident that made David a king. The big job is always -looking for big men. A round peg will not fit into a square -hole, even if he is a university professor.</p> - -<p>"The young buck who inherits a big fortune without -working for it," continued Mr. Sunday, "is going down -the line so fast you can't see him for the fog. The man -who has real, rich, red blood in his veins, instead of pink -tea and ice water, when the lions of opposition roar, thinks -it is only a call for dinner in the dining car, and he goes -ahead and does things.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span></p> - -<p>"There are some going around disguised as men who -ought to be arrested," the evangelist interposed. "To -know some men is an invitation to do right; to know -others is an invitation to know dirty booze and to blot the -family escutcheon, insult your mothers and sisters. The -size of the man depends on his mind, not on his muscle. -There is lots of bulk but little brains in some men.</p> - -<p>"It's a sad day for a young man when Bill Taft's -overcoat wouldn't make him a vest," he added, amid shouts -of laughter, in which even staid, stern-faced professors -joined with the students.</p> - -<p>"Too many fellows look like men from across the -street, but when you get close to them they shrivel up.</p> - -<p>"It makes a difference what kind of an example you -follow. If Thomas Edison should say to his boy, 'Be an -inventor,' the boy would know what he meant, but if some -red-nosed, beer-soaked old reprobate should tell his boy -to 'be a man,' the boy would be all in. Lots of fellows -today turn out bad because their fathers' talk and walk -do not agree.</p> - -<p>"The best thing that can happen to a young man," -said Mr. Sunday, "is to come under the influence of a real -man. Every one has a hero, whether it be on the foot-ball -field or in the classroom, and if every one would lead -right today, there would be no going astray tomorrow.</p> - -<p>"There are some men in this world that when they -are around you turn up your collar, feel chills running up -and down your back and when you look at the thermometer, -you find the temperature is about 60 degrees below -zero."</p> - -<p>Then followed the evangelist's famous story of how -David killed Goliath, considerably tempered to suit the -culture of his audience. He told how David boldly asked -who the "big lobster was," and why he was "strutting -around as if he was the whole cheese, the head guy of the -opposition party.</p> - -<p>"David put down the sword that Saul had given him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span> -for he felt like a fellow in a hand-me-down suit two sizes -too large. He picked up one of his little pebbles, slung -it across the river and hit poor old Goliath on the koko."</p> - -<p>"Some fellows are working so hard to become angels -they forget to be men. If you will study your Bible you -will find that the men of old were subject to the same temptations -as the men of today, but they didn't let their temptations -get the best of them.</p> - -<p>"If your manhood is buried in doubt and cheap booze, -dig it out. You have to sign your own Declaration of -Independence and fight your own Revolutionary wars -before you can celebrate the Fourth of July over the things -that try to keep you down.</p> - -<p>"The best time for a man to sow his wild oats is -between the age of eighty-five and ninety years. A six-ply -drunk is about as good a passport into commercial -life as a record for housebreaking, and the youth who goes -to the mat with a half-pint of red-eye in his stomach, will -be as beneficial to humanity as a one-legged man in a -hurdle race."</p> - -<p>"If I knew, when the undertaker pumps that pink -stuff into me and embalms me, that the end of all had -come, I would still be glad I lived a Christian life, because -it meant a life of decency," he said. "I would rather go -through the world without knowing the multiplication -table than never to know the love of Christ. I don't underestimate -the value of an education, boys, but just try living -on oatmeal porridge. Get your education, but don't lose -sight of Jesus."</p> - -<p>"Once you have made your plan, cling to it. Be a -man, even in situations of great danger. The man whose -diet is swill will be at home with the hogs in any pen. He's -bound to have bristles sticking through his skin. If Abraham -Lincoln had read about Alkali Ike, or Three Fingered -Pete, do you think he would ever have been President? -While other young men were waking up with booze-headaches, -he was pulling up his old-fashioned galluses and -saying, 'I'm going to be a man.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span></p> - -<p>"And one morning the world awoke, rubbed its sleepy -eyes and looked around for a man for a certain place. It -found Abraham Lincoln and raised him from obscurity to -the highest pinnacle of popular favor. He was a man and -his example should be a guiding influence in the life of -every American citizen."</p> - -<p>Booze, evil women, licentious practices, cigarettes—all -these came under the ban of Mr. Sunday's system of -Christian living. He spared no words; he called a spade -a spade and looked at modern affairs without colored -glasses.</p> - -<p>"You can't find a drunkard who ever intended to be -a drunkard," argued Mr. Sunday. "He just intended to -be a moderate drinker. He was up against a hard game, -a game you can't beat."</p> - -<p>He asserted that he could get more nourishment from -a little bit of beef extract, placed on the edge of a knife -blade, than can be obtained from 800 gallons of the best -beer brewed.</p> - -<p>Talking about riches, he suggested that King Solomon, -with his wealth, could have hired Andrew Carnegie as a -chauffeur or J. Pierpont Morgan to cut the lawns around -his palace. "Money isn't all there is in this world, but -neither is beer," he said. "I don't want to see you students -get the booze habit, just because we are licensing -men at so much per year to make you staggering, reeling, -drunken sots, murderers, thieves and vagabonds."</p> - -<p>The double standard of living was bitterly attacked -by the revivalist, who said one of the crying needs of -America was the recognition of a single standard of living.</p> - -<p>"It makes no difference to God whether the sinner -wears a plug hat and pair of suspenders or a petticoat and -a willow plume. No man who deliberately drugs a girl -and sends her into a life of shame ought to be permitted -in good society. He ought to be shot at sunrise." This -sentiment evoked a tremendous round of applause, and -cries of "Amen!" and "Good, Bill!" were not infrequent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span></p> - -<p>"The avenging God is on his trail and the man who -wrecks women's lives is going to crack brimstone on the -hottest stone in hell, praise God," the speaker continued. -"If we are to conciliate this unthinkable and unspeakable -practice of vampires feeding on women's virtue, we might -as well back-pedal in the progress of the nations. The -virtue of womanhood is the rampart of our civilization and -we must not let it be betrayed."</p> - -<p>When the invitation was given after the night meeting, -for men who wanted to dedicate themselves to cleaner, -nobler manhood to rise, nearly the entire body, visibly -moved by the words of the preacher, rose to its feet. Then, -with a daring which prim and conservative Philadelphia -had not thought possible in this citadel of intellectuality -and conventionality, Sunday gave the invitation to the -students who would begin a new life by confessing Christ -to come forward. Accounts vary as to the number who -went up and grasped the evangelist's hand. All reporters -seemed to be carried away by the thrill of the occasion. -Many reported that hundreds went forward. The most -conservative report was that 175 young men took this -open stand of confession of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>The University weekly, <cite>Old Penn</cite>, in its issue of the -following Saturday summarized the Billy Sunday visit in -pages of contributions. These three paragraphs are the -sober judgment of those best informed from the University -standpoint:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The results of Mr. Sunday's visit within the University -have been nothing short of marvelous. The Provost has -been receiving congratulations from trustees, business men, -lawyers, members of the faculty and prominent undergraduates. -Several whole fraternities have taken action -leading to higher living in every line. Drink has been -completely excluded from class banquets. Students are -joining the churches, and religion has been the paramount -topic of conversation throughout the entire University.</p> - -<p>Under the leadership of the University Christian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span> -Association, the church leaders of Philadelphia of all denominations -have been canvassing their own students in the -University and have found most hearty response to everything -that has to do with good living. The effect is really -that of a religious crusade, and the result is of that permanent -sort which expresses itself in righteousness of life. At the -close of the night meeting on Monday, about 1,000 students -arose to their feet in answer to Mr. Sunday's invitation to -live the Christian life in earnest, or to join for the first time -the Christian way of life. Those who have called upon the -students who took this stand have found that it was genuine, -and not in any sense due to a mere emotional movement. -Mr. Sunday's appeal seems to be almost wholly to the will -and conscience, but it is entirely based upon the movement -of the Holy Spirit of God.</p> - -<p>No one who has ever addressed the students of the -University of Pennsylvania on vital religion has ever approached -the success which was attained by Mr. Sunday in -reaching the students, and without doubt this visit is only the -opening up of a marvelous opportunity for Mr. Sunday to -reach the students of the entire country, especially those of -our great cosmopolitan universities.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The editor of <cite>Old Penn</cite> asked opinions from members -of the faculty and undergraduate body. Dean Edward C. -Kirk, M.D., D.D.S., of the Dental Department, said in his -appraisal of the Sunday visit:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If, as according to some of the critics, the impression -that he has made is but temporary and the enthusiasm which -he has created is only a momentary impulse, even so, the -success of his accomplishment lies in the fact that he has -produced results where others have failed to make a beginning. -The University ought to have the uplifting force not -only of a Billy Sunday, but a Billy Monday, Tuesday, -Wednesday and every other day in the week.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of the students who testified in print, one, a prominent -senior, wrote:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Sunday awoke in me a realization of my evil -practices and sins so forcefully that I am going to make a -determined effort to give them up and to make amends -for the past. From my many conversations with fellow-students -I find that this is what Mr. Sunday did. If he did -not directly cause the student to come forward and take a -stand, every student at least was aroused to think about this -all-important question in a light that he had not seriously -considered it in before. The undergraduate body, as a -whole, is glad that Mr. Sunday came to Philadelphia.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A Christian worker from the Law School gave his -opinion as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I have been connected with the University of Pennsylvania -for six years, and for the greater part of this time have -been in close touch with the work of the Christian Association. -The influence of the Association seems to be increasing -constantly, but Billy Sunday accomplished in one day what -the Association would be proud to have accomplished in one -year. To my mind, Mr. Sunday's visit marks the beginning -of a new epoch—the Renaissance of religious work of the -University.</p></blockquote> - -<p>That is the sort of thing that occupied pages of the -official publication of the University, following the evangelist's -visit. This day's work attracted the attention not -only of Philadelphia newspapers, but the religious press -throughout the country quite generally commented upon it. -Dr. Mosley H. Williams graphically reviewed it in the -<cite>Congregationalist</cite>.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The University of Pennsylvania, founded by Benjamin -Franklin in 1749, is the fourth in age of American universities, -antedated only by Harvard, Yale, and Princeton by one -year. It is located in a city of a million and three-quarters -people. It now enrolls 6,632 students, representing every -state in the Union, and fifty-nine foreign countries. There -are 250 from Europe and Asia, and 150 from Latin America; -so that in the cosmopolitanism of its make-up, probably no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span> -American university equals it. Its Young Men's Christian -Association employs twenty-seven secretaries, its Bible -classes on week days gather 650 students, and every Fraternity -House has its own Bible Class. But attendance upon -daily prayers is not obligatory, and less than a hundred, on -an average, are seen at those services.</p> - -<p>Into this cosmopolitan University Billy Sunday came -like a cyclone. After preaching in Scranton three times on -the Sabbath, to audiences aggregating 30,000 people, he -traveled all night, reached Philadelphia Monday morning, -took an automobile spin to the baseball park, where he was -a famous player twenty years ago, and preached three times -in the University of Pennsylvania gymnasium, which was -seated with chairs, and accommodated 3,000 hearers.</p> - -<p>There were three services—noon, afternoon and evening. -Tickets were issued, red, white and blue, each good -for one service, and that one exclusively. Not a person was -admitted without a ticket. The long lines reached squares -away, and the police kept the people moving in order.</p> - -<p>What does such a spectacle mean in a great old university, -in a great city? Such a student body knows slang, -and athleticism, and all sorts of side plays. No doubt there -was plenty of criticism and questioning; but a spectator who -had his eyes and ears and mind open, would say, that in -getting a response to the religious appeal, Billy Sunday's -Monday in the University of Pennsylvania scored high.</p> - -<p>This effort for quickening religious interests in the -University was not a spasmodic effort for one day; there had -been the most careful preparations beforehand, in consultation -with leading ministers of all denominations in the city, -to seek out students of every denomination. Lists were -carefully made and cards put in the hands of ministers and -Christian workers, with the understanding that all the young -men of the University should be visited in a friendly and -Christian spirit by representatives of various churches. The -results, of course, remain to be seen, but after this effort, no -student need say, "No man cares for my soul."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The conclusion of the whole matter, of course, is that -the old-time religion, the gospel of our fathers and our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">358</span> -mothers, is still the deepest need of all sorts and conditions -of men. The religion that saved the outcast in the gutter -is adequate to redeem the man in the university.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">359</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a><br /> - -<small>The Christian's Daily Helper</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Too much of the work of the Church today is like a squirrel in a cage—lots -of activity, but no progress.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">In</span> the course of one of his campaigns, Sunday sweeps -the arc of the great Christian doctrines. While he -stresses ever and again the practical duties of the -Christian life, yet he makes clear that the reliance of the -Christian for all that he hopes to attain in character and in -service is upon the promised Helper sent by our Lord, the -ever-present Holy Spirit. One of the evangelist's greatest -sermons is upon this theme, and no transcript of his essential -message would be complete without it.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"THE HOLY SPIRIT"</p> - -<p>The personality, the divinity and the attributes of the -Holy Ghost afford one of the most inspiring, one of the most -beneficial examples in our spiritual life. We are told that -when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, he came as the -rushing of a mighty wind and overurging expectancy. -When Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, of John, out -from the expanse of heaven was seen to float the Spirit of -God like a snowflake, and they heard a sound as of whirring -wings, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered -over the dripping locks of Christ. Neither your eyes nor -mine will ever behold such a scene; neither will our ears -ever hear such a sound again. You cannot dissect or -weigh the Holy Spirit, nor analyze him as a chemist may -analyze material matter in his laboratory, but we can all -feel the pulsing of the breath of his eternal love.</p> - -<p>The Holy Spirit is a personality; as much a personality -as Christ, or you or I. "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of -truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">360</span> -not speak of himself." He is to us what Jesus was when he -was on earth. Jesus always speaks of the Holy Spirit -in the future tense. He said, "It is expedient that I go -away; if I go not away the Spirit will not come. It is -expedient for you that I go away, but when I am gone, then -I will send Him unto you who is from the Father." So we are -living today in the beneficence of the Holy Spirit.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">No Universal Salvation</p> - -<p>I do not believe in this twentieth-century theory of -the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of -man. We are all made of one blood—that is true, physically -speaking; we are all related. I am talking about the spiritual, -not the physical. You are not a child of God unless -you are a Christian; then you are a child of God—if you -are a Christian.</p> - -<p>Samson with the Holy Spirit upon him could take the -jawbone of an ass and lay dead a thousand Philistines. -Samson without the Holy Spirit was as weak as a new-born -babe, and they poked his eyes out and cut off his locks. -And so with the Church and her members. Without -the Holy Spirit you are as sounding brass and tinkling -cymbals, simply four walls and a roof, and a pipe organ and -a preacher to do a little stunt on Sunday morning and evening. -I tell you, Christian people, that with the Holy Spirit -there is no power on earth or in hell that can stand before -the Church of Jesus Christ. And the damnable, hell-born, -whisky-soaked, hog-jowled, rum-soaked moral assassins -have damned this community long enough. Now it is time -it was broken up and it is time to do something.</p> - -<p>There are three classes in the Church, as I have looked -at it from my standpoint. The first are those in the Church -personally who want to be saved, but they are not concerned -about other people. They do not give any help to other -people; they don't lie awake at night praying for other -people that they may be brought to the Lord.</p> - -<p>The second class are going to depend upon human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">361</span> -wisdom. There is no such thing as latent power, expressed -or implied—power is just as distinctive in an individual as -the electricity in these lights. If these globes are without -a current they would be nothing but glass bulbs, fit for -nothing but the scrap heap. Without the Holy Spirit you -are as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, and a third-rate -amusement parlor, with religion left out.</p> - -<p>The third class are church members not from might -and honor and power, but from the Spirit.</p> - -<p>While at Pentecost one sermon saved 3,000 people, now -it takes 3,000 sermons to get one old buttermilk-eyed, -whisky-soaked blasphemer.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Happiest Nation on Earth</p> - -<p>We have our churches, our joss houses, our tabernacles; -we have got the wisdom of the orientals, the ginger, vim, -tabasco sauce, peppering of the twentieth century; we have -got all of that, and I do not believe that there are any people -beneath the sun who are better fed, better paid, better -clothed, better housed, or any happier than we are beneath -the stars and stripes—no nation on earth. There are lots of -things that could be eliminated to make us better than we -are today. We are the happiest people in God's world.</p> - -<p>Out in Iowa, a fellow said to me: "Mr. Sunday, we -ought to be better organized." Just think of that, we -ought to be better organized. Now listen to me, my friends! -Listen to me! There is so much machinery in the churches -today that you can hear it squeak.</p> - -<p>Drop into a young people's meeting. The leader will -say in a weak, effeminate, apologetic, minor sort of way, that -there was a splendid topic this evening but he had not had -much time for preparation. It is superfluous for him to say -that; you could have told that. He goes along and tells -how happy he is to have you there to take part this evening, -making this meeting interesting. Some one gets up and -reads a poem from the <cite>Christian Endeavor World</cite> and then -they sing No. 38. They get up and sing:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">362</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Oh, to be nothing—nothing,</div> -<div class="verse">Only to lie at His feet."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>We used to sing that song, but I found out that people -took it so literally that I cut it out.</p> - -<p>Then a long pause, and some one says, "Let us sing -No. 52." So they get up and then some one starts,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Throw out the life line,</div> -<div class="verse">Throw out the life line."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>They haven't got strength enough to put up a clothesline. -Another long pause, and then you hear, "Have all -taken part that feel free to do so? We have a few minutes -left. So let us sing No. 23." Then another long pause. -"I hear the organ prelude; it is time for us to close, now let -us all repeat together, 'The Lord keep watch between me -and thee, while we are absent one from another.'"</p> - -<p>I tell you God has got a hard job on his hands. Ever -hear anything like that?</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Ambassadors of God</p> - -<p>Believe that God Almighty can do something. Don't -whine around as though God were a corpse, ready for the -undertaker. God is still on the job. The Holy Spirit is -needed to bring man into spiritual touch with God; to make -man realize that he is a joint representative of God on earth -today. Do you ever realize that you are God's representative—God's -ambassador?</p> - -<p>And as we are God's ambassadors why should we fear -what the devil may do? Can it be that you fail to realize -his power? Or are you so blind to the spiritual that you can't -see that you need God's help? Let me ask you one question: -Are you ready to surrender to him? A man said to me: "It -was a mighty little thing to drive Adam and Eve out of the -Garden of Eden because they ate an apple." It wasn't the -fruit. It was the principle, whether man should bow to -God or God bow to man. That act was an act of disobedi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">363</span>ence. -You may say it was a mighty little thing for England -to go to war with us because we threw some tea into Boston -harbor. We didn't go to war over the tea. We said: "You -can't brew tea in the East India Company and pour it down -our throats." It was the principle we went to war about, -not the price of tea, and we fought it out. Are you ready to -surrender? You, who are in rebellion against God? You, -who are in rebellion against the authority of God's government? -Are you ready to do his will?</p> - -<p>A good many people suppose that when they have -accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and joined the Church -that is all there is to the Christian life. As well might a -student who has just matriculated imagine that he has finished -his education. Nobody has reached a stage in the -Christian life from which he cannot go further unless he is -in the coffin—and then it's all over. To accept Christ, to -join the Church, is only to begin. It is the starting of the -race, not the reaching of the goal. There are constant and -increasing blessings if you are willing to pay the price.</p> - -<p>I don't care when or where you became a church member, -if the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, is not with -you, you are a failure.</p> - -<p>This power of the Spirit is meant for all who are -Christians. It is a great blessing for the Presbyterian elder -as well as for the preacher. I know some Methodist stewards -who need it. Deacons would "deak" better if they had -it. It is a great blessing for the deacon and the members of -the prudential committee, and it is just as great a blessing -for the man in the pew who holds no office. To hear some -people talk you would think that the Holy Spirit is only for -preachers. God sets no double standard for the Christian -life. There's nothing in the Bible to show that the -people may live differently from the man in the pulpit.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Holy Spirit a Person</p> - -<p>I once heard a doctor of divinity pray for the Holy -Spirit, and he said: "Send it upon us now." He was wrong,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">364</span> -doubly wrong. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal thing. -He is a person, not an "it." And the Holy Spirit has always -been here since the days of Pentecost. He does not come -and go. He is right here in the world and his power is -at the command of all who will put themselves into position -to use it.</p> - -<p>A university professor was greeted by a friend of mine -who took him by the hand, and said: "What do you think -of the Holy Spirit?" The professor answered that he regarded -the Holy Spirit as an influence for good, a sort of -emanation from God. My friend talked to him and tried -to show him his mistake, and a few months later he met -him again. "What do you think of the Holy Spirit now?" -he asked. The professor answered: "Well, I know that the -Holy Spirit is a person. Since I talked with you and have -come to that conviction, I have succeeded in bringing -sixty-three students to Christ."</p> - -<p>A great many people think the Holy Spirit comes and -goes again, and quote from the Acts, where it says that Peter -was filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, if you will find that -Peter had been doing things right along, that showed he had -been filled with the Holy Spirit all the time. Acts, second -chapter and fourth verse, we read: "And they were all filled -with the Holy Spirit." You have no right, nor have I, to -say that the Holy Spirit ever left any one. We have no -right to seek to find Scripture to bolster up some little theory -of our own. We must take the Word of God for it, just as -we find it written there. Now, at Pentecost, Peter had -said: "Repent, and be baptized for the remission of sins." -Then he promised them that the Holy Spirit would come -and fill them. Now we have the fulfilment of the promise.</p> - -<p>Who were filled with the Holy Spirit? Peter and James -and John? No—the people. That is the record of the filling -with the Holy Spirit of the three thousand who were converted -at Pentecost, not the filling of Peter and James and John.</p> - -<p>If the Spirit remains forever, why doesn't his power -always show itself? Why haven't you as much power with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">365</span> -God as the one hundred and twenty had at Pentecost? -There are too many frauds, too much trash in the Church. -It is because the people are not true to God. They are -disobeying him. They are not right with him yet.</p> - -<p>I don't know just how the Holy Spirit will come, but -Jesus said we should do even greater works than he did. -What are you doing? You are not doing such works now.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Last Dispensation</p> - -<p>We find the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. When -the prophets spoke they were moved by him. God seems -to have spoken to man in three distinct dispensations. Once -it was through the covenant with Abraham, then it was -through Moses and under the Mosaic dispensation, and -finally it is through his own son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ -came into the world, proved that he is the Son of God, -suffered, died and was buried, rose again, and sent his Holy -Comforter. This is the last dispensation. There is no -evidence that after the Holy Spirit once came, he ever left -the world. He is here now, ready to help you to overcome -your pride, and your diffidence that has kept you from doing -personal work, and is willing and ready to lead you into a -closer relationship with Jesus.</p> - -<p>But you say, some are elected and some are not. On -that point I agree with Henry Ward Beecher. He said: -"The elect are those who will and the non-elect are those -who won't."</p> - -<p>But you go in for culture—"culchah." If you are too -cultured to be a Christian, God pity you. You may call it -culture. I have another name for it. Is there anything -about Christianity that is necessarily uncultured? I think -the best culture in the world is among the followers of Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>But you say: "Ignorance is a bar to some." No sir. -Billy Bray, the Cornish miner, was an illiterate man. He -was asked if he could read writing, and he answered: "No, -I can't even read readin'." Yet Billy Bray did a wonderful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">366</span> -work for God in Wales and England. Ignorance is no bar -to religion, or to usefulness for Jesus.</p> - -<p>Some time ago, over in England, a man died in the poor -house. He had had a little property, just a few acres of -land, and it hadn't been enough to support him. After he -died the new owner dug a well on it, and at a depth of sixty-five -feet he found a vein of copper so rich that it meant a -little fortune. If the man who died had only known of that -vein, he need not have lived in poverty. There are many -who are just as ignorant of the great riches within their reach. -Lots of people hold checks on the bank of heaven, and haven't -faith enough to present them at the window to have them -cashed.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"Little Things"</p> - -<p>You may say, "I have failed in something, but it is a -little thing." Oh, these little things! Bugs are little things, -but they cost this country $800,000,000 in one year. Birds -are little enemies of the bugs, and birds are little things, and -if it weren't for the birds we would starve in two years. -If there's anything that makes me mad it is to see a farmer -grab a shotgun and kill a chicken hawk. That hawk is -worth a lot more than some old hen you couldn't cook tender -if you boiled it for two days. That chicken hawk has killed -all the gophers, mice and snakes it could get its claws on and -it has come to demand from the farmer the toll that is rightfully -due to it, for what it has done to rid the land of pests.</p> - -<p>Why is it that with all our universities and colleges we -haven't produced a book like the Bible? It was written long -ago by people who lived in a little country no bigger than some -of our states. The reason was that God was behind the -writers. The book was inspired.</p> - -<p>When good old Dr. Backus, of Hamilton College, lay -dying the doctor whispered to Mrs. Backus, saying, "Dr. -Backus is dying." The old man heard and looked up with -a smile on his face and asked: "Did I understand you to -say that I am dying?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">367</span></p> - -<p>Sadly the doctor said: "Yes, I'm sorry, you have no -more than half an hour to live."</p> - -<p>Dr. Backus smiled again. "Then it will soon be over," -he said. "Take me out of bed and put me on my knees. I -want to die praying for the students of Hamilton College." -They lifted him out and he knelt down and covered his face -with his transparent hands, and prayed "Oh, God, save the -students of Hamilton College."</p> - -<p>For a time he continued to pray, then the doctor said, -"He is getting weaker." They lifted him back upon the bed, -and his face was whiter than the pillows. Still his lips -moved. "Oh, God, save——" Then the light of life went -out, and he finished the prayer in the presence of Jesus. -What did his dying prayer do? Why, almost the entire -student body of Hamilton College accepted Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p>If you haven't the power of the Spirit you have done -something wrong. I don't know what it is—it's none of my -business. It's between you and God. It is only my duty -to call upon you to confess and get right with him.</p> - -<p>A man went to a friend of mine and said: "I don't -know what is wrong with me. I teach a Sunday-school -class of young men, and I have tried to bring them to Jesus, -and I have failed. Can you tell me why?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," was the answer. "There's something wrong -with you. You've done something wrong."</p> - -<p>The man hesitated, but finally he said, "You're right. -Years ago I was cashier in a big business house, and one time -the books balanced and there was some money left over. -I took that money and I have kept it. That was twelve -years ago. Here is the money in this envelope."</p> - -<p>"Take it back to the owner," said my friend. "It's -not yours, and it's not mine."</p> - -<p>"But I can't do that," said the man. "I am making -a salary of $22,000 a year now, and I have a wife and daughters, -and my firm will never employ a dishonest man."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's your business," said my friend. "I -have advised you, and that's all I can do; but God will -never forgive you until you've given that money back."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">368</span></p> - -<p>The man sank into a chair and covered his eyes for a -while. Then he got up and said, "I'll do it." He took a -Chesapeake and Ohio train and went to Philadelphia, and -went to a great merchant prince in whose employ he had -been, and told his story. The merchant prince shut and -locked the door. "Let us pray," he said. They knelt -together, the great merchant's arm about his visitor; and -when they got up -the great merchant -said: "Go in peace. -God bless you."</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_368.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">I've Walked Sixty Miles to Look Upon -Her Face Again</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>On the next -Sunday the man -who had confessed -took the Bible on -his knee as he sat -before his class and -said to them: -"Young men, I -often wondered why -I couldn't win any -of you to Christ. -My life was wrong, -and I've repented -and made it right." -That man won his -entire class for Christ, and they joined Dr. McKibben's -church at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio.</p> - -<p>If you would get right with God what would be the -result? Why, you would save your city.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Fame of a Christian</p> - -<p>Some time ago the funeral of a famous woman was held -in London. Edward, who was king then, came with his -consort, Alexandra, to look upon her face, and dukes and -duchesses and members of the nobility came. Then the -doors were opened and the populace came in by thousands.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">369</span> -Down the aisle came a woman whose face and dress bore -the marks of poverty. By one hand she led a child, and in -her arms she carried another. As she reached the coffin she -set down the child she was carrying and bent her head upon -the glass above the quiet face in the coffin, and her old -fascinator fell down upon it.</p> - -<p>"Come," said a policeman, "you must move on."</p> - -<p>But the woman stood by the coffin. "I'll not move on," -she said, "for I have a right here."</p> - -<p>The policeman said, "You must move on. It's orders;" -but the woman said, "No, I've walked sixty miles to look -upon her face again. She saved my two boys from being -drunkards." The woman in the coffin was Mrs. Booth, wife -of the great leader of the Salvation Army.</p> - -<p>I'd rather have some reclaimed drunkard, or some poor -girl redeemed from sin and shame, stand by my coffin and -rain down tears of gratitude upon it, than to have a monument -of gold studded with precious stones, that would pierce -the skies.</p> - -<p>"If ye love me keep my commandments. And I will -pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, -that he may abide with you forever."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">370</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</a><br /> - -<small>A Victorious Sermon</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>If you fall into sin and you're a sheep you'll get out; if you're a hog -you'll stay there, just like a sheep and a hog when they fall into the mud.—<span class="smcap">Billy -Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">On</span> the walls of Sir Walter Scott's home at Abbottsford -hangs the claymore of the redoubtable Rob -Roy, one of the most interesting objects in that -absorbing library of the great novelist. A peculiar interest -attaches to the instruments of great achievement, as -the scimitar of Saladin, or the sword of Richard the Lion-Hearted, -or the rifle of Daniel Boone. Something of this -same sort of interest clings to a particular form of words that -has wrought wondrously. Apart altogether from its contents, -Sunday's sermon on "The Unpardonable Sin" is of -peculiar interest to the reader. This is the message that -has penetrated through the indifference and skepticism and -self-righteousness and shameless sin of thousands of men and -women. Many thousands of persons have, under the impulse -of these words, abandoned their old lives and crowded forward -up the sawdust trail to grasp the preacher's hand, as -a sign that they would henceforth serve the Lord Christ.</p> - -<p>"The Unpardonable Sin" is a good sample of Sunday's -sermons. It shows the character of the man's mind, and -that quality of sound reasonableness which we call "common -sense." There are no excesses, no abnormalities, no -wrenchings of Scripture in this terrific utterance.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"THE UNPARDONABLE SIN"</p> - -<p>"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and -blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy -against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto -men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">371</span></p> - -<p>"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of -man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh -against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither -in this world, neither in the world to come."</p> - -<p>I'd like to know where anybody ever found any -authority for a belief in future probation. Jesus Christ -was either human or he was divine. And if he was only -human then I am not obligated to obey his word any more -than I am that of any other philosopher.</p> - -<p>The Pharisees charged Jesus with being in league -with the devil. They said to him, "You have a devil." -They grew bolder in their denunciation and said: "You -do what you do through Beelzebub, the prince of devils." -Jesus said: "How is that so? If what I do I do through -the devil, explain why it is I am overthrowing the works -of the devil. If I am a devil and if what I do is through -the devil, then I wouldn't be working to hurt the works -of the devil. I would not be doing what I am doing to -destroy the works of the devil, but I would be working to -destroy the works of God."</p> - -<p>From that day forth they dared not ask him any -questions.</p> - -<p>I know there are various opinions held by men as to -what they believe constitutes the sin against the Holy -Ghost. There are those who think it could have been -committed only by those who heard Jesus Christ speak -and saw him in the flesh. If that be true then neither you -nor I are in danger, for neither has ever seen Jesus in the -flesh nor heard him. Another class think that it has been -committed since the days of Jesus, but at extremely rare -intervals; and still a third class think they have committed -it and they spend their lives in gloom and dread -and are perfectly useless to themselves and the community.</p> - -<p>And yet I haven't the slightest doubt but that there -are thousands that come under the head of my message, -who are never gloomy, never depressed, never downcast; -their conscience is at ease, their spirits are light and gay,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">372</span> -they eat three meals a day and sleep as sound as a babe -at night; nothing seems to disturb them, life is all pleasure -and song.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">What It Is</p> - -<p>If you will lay aside any preconceived ideas or opinions -which you may have had or still have as to what you -imagine, think or believe constitutes the sin against the -Holy Ghost, or the unpardonable sin, and if you will listen -to me, for I have read every sermon I could ever get my -hands upon the subject, and have listened to every man -I have ever had an opportunity to hear preach, and have -read everything the Bible has taught on the subject.</p> - -<p>I do not say that my views on the subject are infallible, -but I have wept and prayed and studied over it, and -if time will permit and my strength will allow and your -patience endure, I will try and ask and answer a few questions. -What is it? Why will God not forgive it?</p> - -<p>It is not swearing. If swearing were the unpardonable -sin, lots of men in heaven would have to go to hell and -there are multitudes on earth on their way to heaven who -would have to go to hell. It is not drunkenness. There -are multitudes in heaven that have crept and crawled out -of the quagmires of filth and the cesspools of iniquity and -drunkenness. Some of the brightest lights that ever blazed -for God have been men that God saved from drunkenness.</p> - -<p>It's not adultery. Jesus said to the woman committing -adultery and caught in the very act: "Neither do I condemn -thee; go and sin no more."</p> - -<p>It isn't theft. He said to Zaccheus, "This day is -salvation come upon thy house." Zaccheus had been a -thief.</p> - -<p>It's not murder. Men's hands have been red with -blood and God has forgiven them. The Apostle Paul's -hands were red with blood.</p> - -<p>What is it? To me it is plain and simple. It is constant -and continual, and final rejection of Jesus Christ as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">373</span> -your Saviour. God's offer of mercy and salvation comes -to you and you say, "No," and you push it aside. I do -know that there is such a thing as the last call to every -man or woman. God says that his spirit will not always -strive with man, and when a man or woman says "No" -as God's spirit strives for the last time it forever seals your -doom.</p> - -<p>It is no special form of sin, no one act. It might be -swearing, it might be theft. Any one becomes unpardonable -if God keeps calling on you to forsake that sin and -you keep on refusing to forsake it, and if you don't then -he will withdraw and let you alone and that sin will become -unpardonable, for God won't ask you again to forsake it.</p> - -<p>It is no one glaring act, but the constant repetition of -the same thing. There will come a time when you commit -that sin once too often.</p> - -<p>It is a known law of mind that truth resisted loses its -power on the mind that resists it. You hear a truth the -first time and reject it. The next time the truth won't -seem so strong and will be easier to resist. God throws -a truth in your face. You reject it. He throws again; -you reject again. Finally God will stop throwing the truth -at you and you will have committed the unpardonable -sin.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"There is a line by us unseen;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">It crosses every path;</div> -<div class="verse">It is God's boundary between</div> -<div class="verse indent2">His patience and his wrath.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"To cross that limit is to die,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">To die as if by stealth.</div> -<div class="verse">It may not dim your eye,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Nor pale the glow of health,</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Your conscience may be still at ease;</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Your spirits light and gay;</div> -<div class="verse">That which pleases still may please,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And care be thrown away;</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">374</span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"But on that forehead God hath set</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Indelibly a mark,</div> -<div class="verse">Unseen by man; for man as yet</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Is blind and in the dark.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Indeed, the doomed one's path below</div> -<div class="verse indent2">May bloom as Edens bloom;</div> -<div class="verse">He does not, will not know,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Nor believe that he is doomed."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Over in Scotland there are men who earn their living -by gathering the eggs of birds, laid upon ledges on rocks -away below the cliff top. They fasten a rope to a tree, -also to themselves, then swing back and forth and in upon -the ledge of rock. When a man was doing that same -thing years ago, the rope beneath his arms became untied, -and the protruding rock caused the rope to hang many -feet beyond his reach.</p> - -<p>The man waited for help to come, but none came. -Darkness came, the light dawned, and he gave himself up -to the fate of starvation, which he felt inevitably awaiting -him, when a breeze freshened and the dangling rope began -to vibrate. As the wind increased in velocity it increased -the vibration of the rope and as it would bend in, he said: -"If I miss it, I die; if I seize it, it's my only chance," and -with a prayer to God as the rope bent in, he leaped out -of the chasm and seized it and made his way hand over -hand to the top, and when he reached it his hair was as -white as the driven snow.</p> - -<p>There is one cord that swings through this old world -today—the Holy Spirit. With every invitation it swings -farther away. We are living in the last dispensation, the -dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and God is speaking to -the world through the Holy Spirit today.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Resisting the Truth</p> - -<p>By every known law of the mind, conversion must be -effected by the influence of the truth on the mind. Every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">375</span> -time you resist the truth the next time you hear it, it loses -its force on your mind. And every time you hear a truth -and withstand it, then you become stronger in your power -to resist the truth. We all know this, that each resistance -strengthens you against the truth. When a man hears -the truth and he resists it, the truth grows weaker and he -grows stronger to resist it.</p> - -<p>No matter what Jesus Christ did the Jews refused to -believe. He had performed wonderful deeds but they -wouldn't believe, so when Lazarus was dead, he said: -"Lazarus, come forth," and then turned to the Jews and -said: "Isn't that evidence enough that I am the Son of -God?" and they cried: "Away with him." One day he -was walking down the hot dusty road and he met a funeral -procession. The mourners were bearing the body of a -young man and his mother was weeping. He told them -to place the coffin on the ground and said:</p> - -<p>"Young man arise," and he arose. Then he asked -the Pharisees: "Is that not proof enough that I am the -Son of God, that I make the dead to arise?" and they -cried: "Away with him." So no matter what Jesus did, -the Jews refused to believe him. No matter what Jesus -Christ says or does today, you'll refuse to accept, and continue -to rush pell-mell to eternal damnation.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"Too Late"</p> - -<p>Jesus Christ gives you just as much evidence today. -Down in Indiana, my friend, Mrs. Robinson, was preaching. -I don't remember the town, but I think it was Kokomo, -and I remember the incident, and the last day she tried -to get the leader of society there to give her heart to God. -She preached and then went down in the aisle and talked -to her. Then she went back to the platform and made -her appeal from there. Again she went to the girl, but -she still refused. As Mrs. Robinson turned to go she saw -her borrow a pencil from her escort and write something -in the back of a hymn book.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">376</span></p> - -<p>A few years afterward Mrs. Robinson went back to -the town and was told the girl was dying. They told her -the physicians had just held a consultation and said she -could not live until night. Mrs. Robinson hurried to her -home. The girl looked up, recognized her and said: "I -didn't send for you. You came on your own account, -and you're too late." To every appeal she would reply: -"You're too late." Finally she said: "Go look in the -hymn book in the church."</p> - -<p>They hurried to the church and looked over the hymn -books and found in the back of one her name and address -and these words, "I'll run the risk; I'll take my chance." -That was the last call to her. Not any one sin is the -unpardonable sin, but it may be that constant repetition, -over and over again until God will say: "Take it and go -to hell."</p> - -<p>Who can commit it? I used to think that only the -vile, the profane were the people who could commit it.</p> - -<p>Whom did Jesus warn? The Pharisees. And who -were they? The best men, morally, in Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>Who can commit it? Any man or woman who says -"No" to Jesus Christ. You may even defend the Bible. -You may be the best man or woman, morally, in the world. -Your name may be synonymous with virtue and purity, -but let God try to get into your heart, let him try to get -you to walk down the aisle and publicly acknowledge Jesus -Christ, and your heart and lips are sealed like a bank -vault, and God hasn't been able to pull you to your feet. -And God won't keep on begging you to do it.</p> - -<p>Something may say to you, "I ought to be a Christian." -This is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. God -spoke in three dispensations. First, through the old Mosaic -law. Then Jesus Christ came upon this earth and lived -and the Jews and Gentiles conspired to kill him. Then -the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost and God is speaking -through the Holy Spirit today. The Holy Spirit is -pressing you to be a Christian. It takes the combined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">377</span> -efforts of the Trinity to keep you out of hell—God the -Father to provide the plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit -to convict, Jesus Christ to redeem you through his blood, -and your acceptance and repentance to save you. Sin is -no trifle.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Representative of the Trinity</p> - -<p>The only representative of the Trinity in the world -today is the Holy Ghost. Jesus has been here, but he is -not here now—that is, in flesh and blood. The Holy Ghost -is here now. When he leaves the world, good-bye.</p> - -<p>There was an old saint of God, now in glory. He -was holding meetings one time and a young man came -down the aisle and went so far as to ask him to pray for -him. He said: "Let's settle it now," but the young man -refused and told him to pray for him. Years afterwards, -in Philadelphia, the old saint was in a hotel waiting for -his card to be taken up to the man he wanted to see. He -looked in the bar-room door. There was a young man -ordering a drink. The two saw each other's reflections in -the French plate behind the bar, and the young man came -out and said: "How do you do?" The old man spoke to -him.</p> - -<p>The young fellow said: "I suppose you don't remember -me?" and the old saint had to admit that he did not.</p> - -<p>The young fellow asked him if he remembered the -meeting eleven years before in New York when a young -man came down the aisle and asked him to pray for him. -He said he was the young man. The old saint said: "From -what I have just seen I would suppose that you did not -settle it."</p> - -<p>The young fellow said: "I did not and I never expect -to. I believe there is a hell and I'm going there as fast -as I can go."</p> - -<p>The old man begged him to keep still, but he said: -"It is true. If Jesus Christ would come through that door -now I would spit in his face."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">378</span></p> - -<p>The old man said: "Don't talk that way. I would -not stand to have you talk about my wife that way, and -I will not stand it to have you talk about Christ that way." -The young fellow said it was all true. The old fellow said: -"Maybe it is all true, but I do not like to hear it." The -young fellow said it was true, and that if he had a Bible -he would tear it up. With a string of oaths he went to -the bar, took two or three drinks and went out the door.</p> - -<p>Sometimes it may be utter, absolute indifference. -Some can hear any sermon and any song and not be moved. -I'll venture that some of you have not been convicted of -sin for twenty-five years. Back yonder the Spirit of God -convicted you and you didn't yield. The first place I -ever preached, in the little town of Garner, in Hancock -county, Iowa, a man came down the aisle. I said, "Who's -that?" and someone told me that he was one of the richest -men in the county. I asked him what I had said to -help him, and he said nothing. Then he told me that -twenty-one years ago he had gone to Chicago and sold his -stock four hours before he had to catch a train. Moody -was in town and with a friend he had gone and stood -inside the door, listening to the sermon. When Moody -gave the invitation he handed his coat and hat to his friend -and said he was going down to give Moody his hand. The -friend told him not to do it, that he would miss his train, -and then the railroad pass would be no good after that -day. He said he could afford to pay his way home.</p> - -<p>His friend told him not to go up there amid all the -excitement, but to wait and settle it at home. He said -he had waited thirty-five years and hadn't settled it at -home, but the friend persisted against his going forward -and giving his heart to God. Finally the time passed and -they had to catch the train and the man hadn't gone forward. -He told me that he had never had a desire to give -his heart to God until that time, twenty-one years later, -when he heard me preach. The Spirit called him when -he heard Moody, and then the Spirit did not call him -again until twenty-one years later, when he heard me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">379</span></p> - -<p>I have never said and I never will say that all unbelievers -died in agony. Man ordinarily dies as he has lived. -If you have lived in unbelief, ninety-nine cases out of one -hundred you'll die that way. If Christianity is a good -thing to die with it is a good thing to live with.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Death-bed Confessions</p> - -<p>I don't go much on these death-bed confessions. A -death-bed confession is like burning a candle at both ends -and then blowing the smoke in the face of Jesus. A death-bed -confession is like drinking the cup of life and then offering -the dregs to Christ. I think it is one of the most contemptible, -miserable, low-down, unmanly and unwomanly -things that you can do, to keep your life in your own control -until the last moment and then try to creep into the -kingdom on account of the long-suffering and mercy of -Jesus Christ. I don't say that none is genuine. But -there is only one on record in the Bible, and that was the -first time the dying thief had ever heard of Christ, and he -accepted at once. So your case is not analogous to this. -You have wagon loads of sermons dumped into you, but it's -a mighty hard thing to accept in the last moment. If you've -lived without conviction, your friends ought not to get -mad when the preacher preaches your funeral sermon, if -he doesn't put you in the front row in heaven, with a harp -in your hands and a crown on your head.</p> - -<p>God can forgive sins but you have got to comply with -his requirements. He is not willing that any shall perish, but -he has a right to tell me and you what to do to be saved.</p> - -<p>A doctor had been a practitioner for sixty years and -he was asked how many Godless men he had seen show -any trace of concern on their death-bed. He said he had -kept track of three hundred and only three had shown -any real concern. That is appalling to me. You ordinarily -die as you have lived.</p> - -<p>A minister was called to a house of shame to be with -a dying girl in her last moments. He prayed and then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">380</span> -looked at her face and saw no signs of hope of repentance. -He was led to pray again and this time he was led to put -in a verse of scripture, Isaiah 1:18: "Come now and let -us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be -as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they -be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."</p> - -<p>"Is that what the Bible says?" the girl asked. He said -it was. "Would you let me see it?" and the minister -pointed it out to her.</p> - -<p>"Would you pray again and put in that verse?" the -girl asked and as he started she called, "Stop! Let me -put my finger on that verse." The minister prayed and -when he looked again, he saw hope and pardon and peace -in the girl's face. "I'm so glad God made that 'scarlet,'" -she said, "for that means me."</p> - -<p>All manner of sins God will forgive. Then tell me -why you will not come when God says, "All manner of -sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." Great -heavens! I can't understand how you sit still.</p> - -<p>But a man says: "Bill, will He forgive a murderer? -My hands are red with blood, although no one knows it." -Didn't I say he forgave Paul?</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Forgiving God</p> - -<p>A friend of mine was preaching in Lansing, Michigan, -one time, and in the middle section of the church there -was a man who made him so nervous he couldn't watch -him and preach. Nothing seemed to attract him until he -said, "Supposing there were a murderer here tonight, God -would forgive him if he accepted Christ," and the man -grabbed the chair in front of him at the word murderer -and sat rigid throughout the sermon, never taking his eyes -from my friend. At the end of the meeting my friend -went down to him and asked him what was the matter, -telling him that he had made him so nervous he could hardly -preach. The man said: "I'm a murderer. I escaped -through a technicality and I'm supporting the widow and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">381</span> -children, but I am a murderer." My friend brought him -to Jesus Christ and now that man is a power in the Church. -All manner of sins God says he will forgive.</p> - -<p>Some say: "Mr. Sunday, why is it that so few aged -sinners are converts?"</p> - -<p>Infidels when asked this, seize upon it as a plan of -attack. When God begins to show his power, then the -devil and all of the demons of hell get busy. That's the -best evidence in the world that these meetings are doing -good, when that bunch of knockers gets busy. Infidels -sneer and say: "How does it happen that when a man's -mind has developed through age and experience and contact -with the world, and he has passed the period of youthful -enthusiasm, how does it happen that so few of them are -converted?"</p> - -<p>Religion makes its appeal to your sensibility, not to -your intellect. The way into the kingdom of heaven is -heart first, not head first. God is not an explanation; God -is a revelation.</p> - -<p>A grain of corn is a revelation, but you can't explain -it. You know that if you put the vegetable kingdom in -the mineral kingdom the vegetable will be born again, but -you can't explain it. Some of the greatest things are revelations. -Therefore, instead of being an argument against -religion, it is an argument for it.</p> - -<p>Don't you know that sixteen out of twenty who are -converted are converted before they are twenty years old? -Don't you know that eighteen out of thirty who are converted -are converted before they are thirty years old? -Don't you know that?</p> - -<p>What does that prove? It proves that if you are -not converted before you are thirty years old the chances -are about 100,000 to one that you never will be converted.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Power of Revivals</p> - -<p>Most people are converted at special revival services. -I want to hurl this in the teeth, cram it down the throats<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">382</span> -of those who sneer at revival efforts—preachers included. -Almost nine-tenths of the Christians at this meeting were -converted at a revival. What does that show? It shows -that if you are thirty and have not been converted, the -chances are that if you are not converted at this revival -you never will be converted.</p> - -<p>If it weren't for revivals, just think of what hell would -be like. Then think of any low-down, God-forsaken, -dirty gang knocking a revival.</p> - -<p>God says: "You can spurn my love and trample the -blood under your feet, but if you seek my pardon I will -forgive you." You might have been indifferent to the -appeals of the minister, you might have been a thief, or -an adulterer, or a blasphemer, or a scoffer, and all that, -but God says: "I will forgive you." You might have -been indifferent to the tears of poor wife and children and -friends, but if you will seek God he will forgive you.</p> - -<p>But when He came down and revealed himself as the -Son of God through the Holy Spirit, if you sneer and say -it is not true, your sin may become unpardonable. If you -don't settle it here you never will settle it anywhere else.</p> - -<p>I will close with a word of comfort and a word of -warning. If you have a desire to be a Christian it is proof -that the devil hasn't got you yet. That is the comfort. -Now for the warning: If you have that desire thank God -for it and yield to it. You may never have another chance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">383</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</a><br /> - -<small>Eternity! Eternity!</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I tell you a lot of people are going to be fooled on the Day of Judgment.—<span class="smcap">Billy -Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Only</span> a man to whom has been given eloquence and -a dramatic instinct can drive home to the average -mind the realities of eternity and its relation to -right living in this world and time. Under the title "What -Shall the End Be?" Sunday has widely circulated his -message upon this theme:</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"WHAT SHALL THE END BE?"</p> - -<p>No book ever came by luck or chance. Every book -owes its existence to some being or beings, and within the -range and scope of human intelligence there are but three -things—good, bad and God. All that originates in intellect; -all which the intellect can comprehend, must come from one -of the three. This book, the Bible, could not possibly be -the product of evil, wicked, godless, corrupt, vile men, for -it pronounces the heaviest penalties against sin. Like -produces like, and if bad men were writing the Bible they -never would have pronounced condemnation and punishment -against wrong-doing. So that is pushed aside.</p> - -<p>The holy men of old, we are told, spake as they were -moved by the Holy Ghost. Men do not attribute these -beautiful and matchless and well-arranged sentences to -human intelligence alone, but we are told that men spake -as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost.</p> - -<p>The only being left, to whom you, or I or any sensible -person could ascribe the origin of the Bible, is God, for here -is a book, the excellence of which rises above other books, -like mountains above molehills—a book whose brilliancy -and life-giving power exceed the accumulated knowledge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">384</span> -and combined efforts of men, as the sun exceeds the lamp, -which is but a base imitation of the sun's glory. Here is a -book that tells me where I came from and where I am going, -a book without which I would not know of my origin or -destiny, except as I might glean it from the dim outlines of -reason or nature, either or both of which would be unsatisfactory -to me. Here is a book that tells me what to do and -what not to do.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Men Believe in God</p> - -<p>Most men believe in God. Now and then you find -a man who doesn't, and he's a fool, for "The fool hath said -in his heart, there is no God." Most men have sense. -Occasionally you will find a fool, or an infidel, who doesn't -believe in God. Most men believe in a God that will reward -the right and punish the wrong; therefore it is clear what -attitude you ought to assume toward my message tonight, -for the message I bring to you is not from human reason or -intelligence, but from God's Book.</p> - -<p>"What shall the end be of them that obey not the -gospel of God?" Now listen, and I will try to help you. -Israel's condition was desperate. Peter told them that if -they continued to break God's law, they would merit his -wrath. I can imagine him crying out in the words of Jeremiah: -"What will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?" -I hear him cry in the words of Solomon: "The way of the -transgressor is hard." That seems to have moved him, -and I can hear him cry in the words of my text: "What -shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"</p> - -<p>There are those who did obey. Peter knew what their -end would be—blessings here and eternal life hereafter—but -he said, "What shall the end be of them that obey not?"</p> - -<p>A man said, "I cannot be a Christian. I cannot obey -God." That is not true. That would make God out a -demon and a wretch. God says if you are not a Christian -you will be doomed. If God asked mankind to do something, -and he knew when he asked them that they could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">385</span> -not do it, and he told them he would damn them if they -didn't do it, it would make God out a demon and a wretch, -and I will not allow you or any other man to stand up and -insult my God. You can be a Christian if you want to, -and it is your cussedness that you are unwilling to give up -that keeps you away from God.</p> - -<p>Supposing I should go on top of a building and say to my -little baby boy, "Fly up to me." If he could talk, he would -say, "I can't." And supposing I would say, "But you can; -if you don't, I'll whip you to death." When I asked him to -do it, I knew he couldn't, yet I told him I would whip him to -death if he didn't, and in saying that I would, as an earthly -father, be just as reasonable as God would be if he should -ask you to do something you couldn't do, and though he -knew when he asked you that you couldn't do it, nevertheless -would damn you if you didn't do it.</p> - -<p>Don't tell God you can't. Just say you don't want to be -a Christian, that's the way to be a man. Just say, "I don't -want to be decent; I don't want to quit cussing; I don't -want to quit booze-fighting; I don't want to quit lying; I -don't want to quit committing adultery. If I should be a -Christian I would have to quit all these things, and I don't -want to do it." Tell God you are not man enough to be a -Christian. Don't try to saddle it off on the Lord. You -don't want to do it, that's all; that's the trouble with you.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">At the Cross</p> - -<p>A man in a town in Ohio came and handed one of the -ministers a letter, and he said, "I want you to read that -when you get home." When the minister got home he -opened it and it read like this:</p> - -<p>"I was at the meeting last night, and somehow or other, -the words 'What shall the end be?' got hold of me, and -troubled me. I went to bed, but couldn't sleep. I got up -and went to my library. I took down my books on infidelity -and searched them through and searched through the writings -of Voltaire, and Darwin, and Spencer, and Strauss, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">386</span> -Huxley, and Tyndall, and through the lectures of Ingersoll, -but none of them could answer the cry and longing of my -heart, and I turn to you. Is there help? Where will I find -it?" And that man found it where every man ever has, or -ever will find it, down at the Cross of Jesus Christ, and I -have been praying God that might be the experience of many -a man and woman in this Tabernacle.</p> - -<p>Ever since God saved my soul and sent me out to preach, -I have prayed him to enable me to pronounce two words, and -put into those words all they will mean to you; if they ever -become a reality, God pity you. One word is "Lost," and -the other is "Eternity."</p> - -<p>Ten thousand years from now we will all be somewhere. -Ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand years, -the eternity has just begun. Increase the multiple and you -will only increase the truth. If God should commission a -bird to carry this earth, particle by particle, to yonder planet, -making a round trip once in a thousand years, and if, after -the bird had performed that task God should prolong its -life, and it would carry the world back, particle by particle, -making a round trip once in a thousand years, and put -everything back as it was originally, after it had accomplished -its task, you would have been five minutes in eternity; and -yet you sit there with just a heart-beat between you and the -judgment of God. I have been praying that God would -enable me to pronounce those two words and put in them all -they will mean to you, that I might startle you from your -lethargy. I prayed God, too, that he might give me some -new figure of speech tonight, that he might impress my mind, -that I, in turn, might impress your mind in such a manner -that I could startle you from your indifference and sin, until -you would rush to Jesus.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Judgment of God</p> - -<p>What is your life? A hand's breadth—yes, a hair's -breadth—yes, one single heart-beat, and you are gone, and -yet you sit with the judgment of God hovering over you. -"What shall the end be?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">387</span></p> - -<p>I never met any man or woman in my life who disbelieved -in Christianity but could not be classified under one -of these two headings.</p> - -<p>First—They who, because of an utter disregard of God's -claims upon their lives, have, by and through that disregard, -become poltroons, marplots or degenerate scoundrels, and -have thrown themselves beyond the pale of God's mercy.</p> - -<p>Second—Men and women with splendid, noble and -magnificent abilities, which they have allowed to become -absorbed in other matters, and they do not give to the subjects -of religion so much as passing attention. They have -the audacity to claim for themselves an intellectual superiority -to those who believe the Bible, which they sneeringly -term 'that superstition.' But, listen! I will challenge -you. If you will bring to religion or to the divinity of Jesus, -or the salvation of your soul, the same honest inquiry you -demand of yourself in other matters, you will know God is -God; you will know the Bible is the Word of God, and you -will know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You will -know that you are a sinner on the road to hell, and you will -turn from your sins. But you don't give to religion, you -don't demand of yourself, the same amount of research that -you would demand of yourself if you were going to buy a -piece of property, to find out whether or not the title was perfect. -You wouldn't buy it if you didn't know the title was -without a flaw, and yet you will pass the Bible by and claim -you have more sense than the person who does investigate -and finds out, accepts and is saved.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Glad Tidings to All</p> - -<p>What is the Gospel that the people ought to obey it? -It is good news, glad tidings of salvation, through Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>Oh, but somebody says, do you call the news of that -book that I am on the road to hell, good news? No, sir; that -in itself is not good news, but since it is the truth, the sooner -you find out the better it will be for you.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">388</span></p> - -<p>Supposing you are wandering, lost in a swamp, and a -man would come to you and say: "You are lost." That -wouldn't help you. But supposing the man said: "You are -lost; I am a guide; I know the way out. If you put yourself -in my care, I will lead you back to your home, back to -your loved ones." That would meet your condition.</p> - -<p>Now God doesn't tell you that you are lost, and on the -road to hell, and then leave you, but he tells you that you -are on the road to hell, and he says, "I have sent a guide, my -Son, to lead you out, and to lead you back to peace and salvation." -That's good news, that God is kind enough to tell -you that you are lost, and on the road to hell, and that he -sends a guide, who, if you will submit, will lead you out of -your condition and lead you to peace and salvation. That's -gospel; that's good news that tells a man that he needn't go -to hell unless he wants to.</p> - -<p>When the Israelites were bitten by the serpents in the -wilderness, wasn't it good news for them to know that -Moses had raised up a brazen serpent and bid them all to -look and be healed?</p> - -<p>When the flood came, wasn't it good news for Noah to -know that he would be saved in the ark?</p> - -<p>When the city of Jericho was going to fall, wasn't it -good news to Rahab. She had been kind and had hid two of -God's servants who were being pursued as spies. They were -running across the housetops to get away to the wall to drop -down, and Rahab covered them, on top of her house, with -grass and corn, and when the men came they could not find -them. After the men had gone, Rahab gave them cord and -lowered them down the wall, and God said to her, "Because -you did that for my servants, I will save you and your household -when I take the city of Jericho. What I want you to -do is to hang a scarlet line out of your window and I will -save all that are under your roof." Wasn't it good news -to her to know that she and all her household would be saved -by hanging a scarlet line out of the window? Never has -such news been published. "Thou shalt call his name<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">389</span> -Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." It was -good news, but never has such news reached the world as -that man need not go to hell, for God has provided redemption -for them that will accept of it and be saved.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_388fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Rev. L. K. Peacock, One of Mr. Sunday's Assistants, Preaching in a Machine Shop in One of the Noonday -Meetings that Form an Important Part of All Campaigns.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>Supposing a man owed you $5,000 and he had nothing -to pay it with. You would seize him and put him in jail, and -supposing while there, your own son would come and say: -"Father, how much does he owe you?" "Five thousand -dollars." And your son would pay it and the man would -be released.</p> - -<p>Ah, my friends, hear me! We were all mortgaged to -God, had nothing with which to pay, and inflexible justice -seized upon us and put us in the prison of condemnation. -God took pity on us. He looked around to find some one -to pay our debts. Jesus Christ stepped forward and said: -"I'll go; I'll become bone of their bone and flesh of their -flesh." God gave man the Mosaic law. Man broke the -law.</p> - -<p>If a Jew violated the law he was compelled to bring a -turtle dove, or pigeon, or heifer, or bullock to the high priest -for a sacrifice, and the shedding of its blood made atonement -for his sins. Once a year the high priest would kill the -sacrifice, putting it on the altar. That made atonement -for the sins of the people during the year. Then they would -put their hand on the head of the scape-goat, and lead it -out into the wilderness.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Atonement of Christ</p> - -<p>Jesus Christ came into the world, born of a woman. -When he shed his blood, he made atonement for our sins. -God says, "If you will accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, -I will put it to your credit as though you kept the law." -And it's Jesus Christ or hell for every man or woman on God -Almighty's dirt. There is no other way whereby you can be -saved. It's good news that you don't have to go to hell, -unless you want to.</p> - -<p>When the North German Lloyd steamer, the <em>Elbe</em>, went<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">390</span> -down in the North Sea, years and years ago, only nineteen -of her passengers and crew were saved. Among them was a -county commissioner who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and when -he reached the little English town he sent a cablegram to -his wife, in which he said, "The <em>Elbe</em> is lost; I am saved." -She crumpled that cablegram, ran down the street to her -neighbors, and as she ran she waved it above her head and -cried, "He's saved! He's saved!" That cablegram is -framed, and hangs upon the walls of their beautiful Euclid -Avenue home. It was good news to her that he whom she -loved was saved.</p> - -<p>Good news I bring you. Good news I bring you, -people. You need not go to hell if you will accept the Christ -that I preach to you.</p> - -<p>"What shall the end be of them that obey not the -gospel?" And the gospel of God is, "Repent or you will -go to hell." "What shall the end be of them that obey not -the gospel?" What is the gospel, and what is it to obey the -gospel? We have seen that it is good news; now what is it -to obey? What was it for Israel to obey? Look at the -brazen serpent on the pole. What was it for Noah to obey? -Build the ark and get into it. What was it for Rahab to -obey? Hang a scarlet line out of the window, and God -would pass her by when he took the city of Jericho. All that -was obeying. It was believing God's message and obeying.</p> - -<p>Ah! I see a man. He walks to the banks of the Seine, -in Paris, to end his life. He walked to the bank four times, -but he didn't plunge in. He filled a cup with poison, three -times raised it to his lips, but he did not drink. He cocked -the pistol, put it against his temple. He did that twice, but -he didn't pull the trigger. He heard the story of Jesus -Christ and dropped on his knees, and William Cowper -wrote:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"God moves in a mysterious way,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">His wonders to perform;</div> -<div class="verse">He plants his footsteps in the sea,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">And rides upon the storm.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">391</span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"There is a fountain filled with blood,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Drawn from Immanuel's veins;</div> -<div class="verse">And sinners plunged beneath that flood,</div> -<div class="verse indent2">Lose all their guilty strains."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>So that's what you found, is it, Cowper?</p> - -<p>I go to Bridgeport, Connecticut. I rap at a humble -home and walk into the presence of Fanny J. Crosby, the -blind hymn-writer. She has written over six thousand -hymns. She never saw the light of day, was born blind, and -I say to her, "Oh, Miss Crosby, tell me that I may tell the -people what you have found by trusting in the finished work -of Jesus Christ? You have sat in darkness for ninety-four -years; tell me, Miss Crosby." And that face lights up like -a halo of glory; those sightless eyes flash, and she cries:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;</div> -<div class="verse">Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,</div> -<div class="verse">Hear my humble cry!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Jesus keep me near the cross,</div> -<div class="verse">There's a precious fountain."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Once I was blind, but now I can see,</div> -<div class="verse">The light of the world is Jesus."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"And I shall see Him, face to face,</div> -<div class="verse">And tell the story, Saved by Grace."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>I go to Wesley as he walks along the banks of a stream, -while the storm raged, the lightning flashed and the thunder -roared. The birds were driven, in fright, from their refuge -in the boughs of the trees. A little bird took refuge in his -coat. Wesley held it tenderly, walked home, put it in a cage, -kept it until morning, carried it out, opened the door and -watched it as it circled around and shot off for its mountain -home. He returned to his house and wrote:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"Jesus, lover of my soul,</div> -<div class="verse">Let me to thy bosom fly."</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">392</span></p> -<p>What have you found by trusting in the finished work -of Jesus Christ?</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Word</p> - -<p>It is said of Napoleon that one day he was riding in -review before his troops, when the horse upon which he sat -became unmanageable, seized the bit in his teeth, dashed down -the road and the life of the famous warrior was in danger. -A private, at the risk of his life, leaped out and seized the -runaway horse, -while Napoleon, out -of gratitude, raised -in the stirrups, saluted -and said, -"Thank you, captain." -The man -said, "Captain of -what, sir?" "Captain -of my Life -Guards, sir," said -he.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_392.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Captain of My Life Guards, Sir</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>The man stepped -over to where -the Life Guards -were in consultation -and they ordered him -back into the ranks. -He refused to go and issued orders to the officer by saying, -"I am Captain of the Guards." Thinking him insane, they -ordered his arrest and were dragging him away, when Napoleon -rode up and the man said, "I am Captain of the Guards -because the Emperor said so." And Napoleon arose and said, -"Yes, Captain of my Life Guards. Loose him, sir; loose -him."</p> - -<p>I am a Christian because God says so, and I did what he -told me to do, and I stand on God's Word and if that book -goes down, I'll go down with it. If God goes down, I'll go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">393</span> -with him, and if there were any other kind of God, except that -God, I would have been shipwrecked long ago. Twenty-seven -years ago in Chicago I piled all I had, my reputation, -my character, my wife, children, home; I staked my -soul, everything I had, on the God of that Bible, and the -Christ of that Bible, and I won.</p> - -<p>"What shall the end be of them that obey not the -gospel of God?" Hear me! There are three incomprehensibilities -to me. Don't think there are only three things -I don't know, or don't you think that I think there are only -three things I don't know. I say, there are three things that -I cannot comprehend.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Eternity and Space</p> - -<p>First—Eternity; that something away off yonder, -somewhere. You will think it will end. It leads on, on, on -and on. I can take a billion, I can subtract a million; I -can take a million or a billion, or a quadrillion, or a septillion -of years from eternity, and I haven't as much as disturbed -its original terms. Minds trained to deal with -intricate problems will go reeling back in their utter inability -to comprehend eternity.</p> - -<p>And there is space. When you go out tonight, look up -at the moon, 240,000 miles away. Walking forty miles a -day, I could reach the moon in seventeen years, but the -moon is one of our near neighbors. Ah, you saw the sun -today, 92,900,000 miles away. I couldn't walk to the sun. -If I could charter a fast train, going fifty miles an hour, it -would take the train two hundred and fifteen years to -reach the sun.</p> - -<p>In the early morn you will see a star, near the sun—Mercury—91,000,000 -miles away; travels around the sun -once in eighty-eight days, going at the speed of 110,000 miles -an hour, as it swings in its orbit.</p> - -<p>Next is Venus; she is beautiful; 160,000,000 miles away, -travels around the sun once in 224 days, going at the rate of -79,000 miles an hour, as she swings in her orbit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">394</span></p> - -<p>Then comes the earth, the planet upon which we live, -and as you sit there, this old earth travels around the sun -once in 365 days, or one calendar year, going at the speed of -68,000 miles an hour, and as you sit there and I stand here, -this old planet is swinging in her orbit 68,000 miles an hour, -and she is whirling on her axis nineteen miles a second. By -force of gravity we are held from falling into illimitable -space.</p> - -<p>Yonder is Mars, 260,000,000 miles away. Travels -around the sun once in 687 days, or about two years, going -at the speed of 49,000 miles an hour. Who knows but that -it is inhabited by a race unsullied by sin, untouched by -death?</p> - -<p>Yonder another, old Jupiter, champion of the skies, -sashed and belted around with vapors of light. Jupiter, -480,000,000 miles away, travels around the sun once in -twelve years, going at the speed of 30,000 miles an hour. -I need something faster than an express train, going fifty -miles an hour, or a cyclone, going one hundred miles an hour. -If I could charter a Pullman palace car and couple it to a -ray of light, which travels at the speed of 192,000 miles a -second—if I could attach my Pullman palace car to a ray of -light, I could go to Jupiter and get back tomorrow morning -for breakfast at nine o'clock, but Jupiter is one of our near -neighbors.</p> - -<p>Yonder is old Saturn, 885,000,000 miles away. Travels -around the sun once in twenty years, going at the speed of -21,000 miles an hour.</p> - -<p>Away yonder, I catch a faint glimmer of another stupendous -world, as it swings in its tireless and prodigious -journey. Old Uranus, 1,780,000,000 miles away. Travels -around the sun once in eighty-four years, going at the speed -of two hundred and fifty miles an hour.</p> - -<p>As the distance of the planets from the sun increases, -their velocity in their orbit correspondingly decreases.</p> - -<p>I say is that all? I hurry to Chicago and take the -Northwestern. I rush out to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">395</span> -climb into the Yerkes observatory, and I turn the most -ponderous telescope in the world to the skies, and away out -on the frontier of the universe, on the very outer rim of the -world, I catch a faint glimmer of Neptune, 2,790,000,000 -miles away. Travels around the sun once in one hundred and -sixty-four years, going at the speed of two hundred and ten -miles an hour. If I could step on the deck of a battleship -and aim a 13-inch gun, and that projectile will travel 1,500 -miles in a minute, it would take it three hundred and sixty -years to reach that planet.</p> - -<p>Away out yonder is Alpha Centauri. If I would attach -my palace car to a ray of light and go at the speed of 192,000 -miles a second, it would take me three years to reach that -planet. An express train, going thirty miles an hour, would -be 80,000,000 years pulling into Union depot at Alpha -Centauri.</p> - -<p>Yonder, the Polar or the North star. Traveling at a -rate of speed of 192,000 miles a second, it would take me -forty-five years to reach that planet. And if I would go to -the depot and buy a railroad ticket to the North star, and -pay three cents a mile, it would cost me $720,000,000 for -railroad fare to go to that planet.</p> - -<p>"Oh, God, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" -And the fool, the fool, the fool hath said in his heart, "There -is no God." I'm not an infidel, because I am no fool. "The -Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth -his handiwork." I don't believe an infidel ever looked -through a telescope or studied astronomy.</p> - -<p>"What is man, that thou are mindful of him?" These -are days when it is "Big man, little God." These are days -when it is gigantic "I," and pigmy "God." These are days -when it is "Ponderous man, infinitesimal God."</p> - -<p>There are 1,400,000,000 people on earth. You are one of -that number, so am I. None of us amount to much. What -do you or I amount to out of 1,400,000,000 people? If I -could take an auger and bore a hole in the top of the sun, I -could pour into the sun 1,400,000,000 worlds the size of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">396</span> -planet upon which we live, and there would be room in the -sun for more. Then think of the world, and God made that -world, the God that you cuss, the God that wants to keep you -out of hell, the God whose Son you have trampled beneath -your feet.</p> - -<p>If you take 1,400,000,000, multiply it by 1,400,000, -multiply that by 1,000,000, multiply that by millions, multiply -that by infinity, that's God. If you take 1,400,000,000, -subtract 1,400,000, subtract millions, subtract, subtract, -subtract, subtract on down, that's you. If ever a man appears -like a consummate ass and an idiot, it's when he says -he don't believe in a God or tries to tell God his plan of -redemption don't appeal to him.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">God's Infinite Love</p> - -<p>And the third: The third is the love of God to a lost and -sin-cursed world and man's indifference to God's love. -How he has trampled God's love beneath his feet, I don't -understand. I don't understand why you have grown -gray-haired, and are not a Christian. I don't understand -why you know right from wrong, and still are not a Christian. -I don't understand it. Listen! What is it to obey the Gospel? -The Gospel is good news, and to obey it is to believe in -Jesus. What is it not to obey? What was the end of those -who weren't in the ark with Noah? They found a watery -grave. What was the end of those who didn't look at the -brazen serpent in the wilderness? They died. What was -the end of those who were not with Rahab when she hung out -the scarlet line? They perished.</p> - -<p>When a man starts on a journey he has one object in -view—the end. A journey is well, if it ends well. We are -all on a journey to eternity. What will be the end? My -text doesn't talk about the present. Your present is, or -may be, an enviable position in church, club life, or commercial -life, lodge, politics; your presence may be sought after -to grace every social gathering. God doesn't care about -that. What shall the end be? When all that is gone, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">397</span> -pleasures pass away, and sorrow and weeping and wailing -take their place, what shall the end be?</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_397fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Snowballing in June. Billy Sunday and Party on Pike's Peak.</span></div> -</div> - -<p>Some people deny that their suffering in the other world -will be eternal fire. Do you think your scoffs can extinguish -the flames of hell? Do you think you can annihilate hell -because you don't believe in it? We have a few people who -say, "Matter is non-existent," but that doesn't do away with -the fact that matter is existent, just because we have some -people who haven't sense enough to see it. You say, "I -don't believe there is a hell." Well, there is, whether you -believe it or not. You say, "I don't believe Jesus Christ -is the Son of God." Well, he is, whether you believe it or -not. Some people say, "I don't believe there is a heaven." -There is, whether you believe it or not. You say, "I don't -believe the Bible is the Word of God." Well, it is, and your -disbelief does not change the fact, and the sooner you wake up -to that the better for you. I might say that I don't believe -George Washington ever lived. I never saw him, but it -wouldn't do away with the fact that he did live, and George -Washington lies buried on the banks of the Potomac. You -say you don't believe there is a hell, but that doesn't do away -with the fact that there is a hell.</p> - -<p>What difference does it make whether the fire in hell is -literal, or the fittest emblem God could employ to describe -to us the terrible punishment? Do you believe the streets -of heaven are paved with literal gold? Do you believe that? -When we talk about gold we all have high and exalted ideas. -How do you know but that God said "streets of gold" -in order to convey to us the highest ideal our minds could -conceive of beauty? It doesn't make any difference whether -the gold on the streets in heaven is literal or not. What -difference does it make whether the fire in hell is literal or -not? When we talk about fire everybody shrinks from it. -Suppose God used that term as figurative to convey to you -the terror of hell. You are a fool to test the reality of it. -It must be an awful place if God loved us well enough to -give Jesus to keep us out of there. I don't want to go there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">398</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Preparing for Eternity</p> - -<p>I said to a fellow one time, "Don't you think that possibly -there is a hell?"</p> - -<p>He said, "Well, yes, possibly there may be a hell."</p> - -<p>I said, "It's pretty good sense, then, to get ready for the -maybe." Well, just suppose there is a hell. It's good sense -to get ready, then, even for the "maybe." I don't look like -a man that would die very quickly, do I? I have just as -good a physique as you ever gazed at. I wouldn't trade with -any man I know. A lot of you fellows are stronger than I, -but I have as good a physique as ever you looked at. I have -been preaching at this pace for fourteen years, and I've stood -it, although I begin to feel myself failing a little bit. But I -don't look like a man who would die quickly, do I? But I -may die, and on that possibility I carry thousands of dollars -of life insurance. I don't believe that any man does right -to himself, his wife or his children if he doesn't provide for -them with life insurance, so when he is gone they will not be -thrown upon the charity of the world. And next to my faith, -if I should die tonight, that which would give me the most -comfort would be the knowledge that I have in a safe deposit -vault in Chicago life insurance papers, paid up to date, and -my wife could cash in and she and the babies could listen to -the wolves howl for a good many years. I don't expect to -die soon, but I may die, and on that "may" I carry thousands -of dollars in life insurance.</p> - -<p>I take a train to go home, I don't expect the train to be -wrecked, but it may be wrecked, and on that "maybe" -I carry $10,000 a year in an accident policy. It may go in -the ditch. That's good sense to get ready for the "maybe." -Are you a business man? Do you carry insurance on your -stock? Yes. On the building? Yes. Do you expect it to -burn? No, sir. But it may burn, so you are ready for it. -Every ship is compelled, by law, to carry life-preservers -and life-boats equal to the passenger capacity. They don't -expect the ship to sink, but it may sink and they are ready -for the "may." All right. There may be a hell. I'm ready;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">399</span> -where do you get off at? I have you beat any way you can -look at it.</p> - -<p>Suppose there is no hell? Suppose that when we die -that ends it? I don't believe it does. I believe there is a -hell and I believe there is a heaven, and just the kind of a -heaven and hell that book says. But suppose there is no -hell? Suppose death is eternal sleep? I believe the Bible; I -believe its teachings; I have the best of you in this life. I -will live longer, be happier, and have lost nothing by believing -and obeying the Bible, even if there is no hell. But -suppose there is a hell? Then I'm saved and you are the -fool. I have you beat again.</p> - -<p>"What shall the end be of them that obey not the -gospel of God?" What will some do? Some will be stoical, -some will whimper, some will turn for human sympathy. -Let God answer the question. You would quarrel with me. -"A lake of fire" and "a furnace of fire." "In hell he lifted up -his eyes, being in torment." "Eternal damnation." "The -smoke of their torment ascendeth forever and ever." Let -God answer the question. "What shall be the end of them -that obey not the gospel of God?" Will you say, "God, I -didn't have time enough"? "Behold! Now is the accepted -time." Will you say, "God, I had no light?" But "light is -come into the world, and men love darkness rather than -light."</p> - -<p>I stand on the shores of eternity and cry out, "Eternity! -Eternity! How long, how long art thou?" Back comes the -answer, "How long?"</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"How long sometimes a day appears and weeks, how long are they?</div> -<div class="verse">They move as if the months and years would never pass away;</div> -<div class="verse">But months and years are passing by, and soon must all be gone,</div> -<div class="verse">Day by day, as the moments fly, eternity comes on.</div> -<div class="verse">All these must have an end; eternity has none,</div> -<div class="verse">It will always have as long to run as when it first begun."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"What shall be the end of them that obey not the -Gospel of God?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">400</span></p> - -<p>When Voltaire, the famous infidel, lay dying, he summoned -the physician and said, "Doctor, I will give you all -I have to save my life six months."</p> - -<p>The doctor said, "You can't live six hours."</p> - -<p>Then said Voltaire, "I'll go to hell and you'll go with -me."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Leap in the Dark</p> - -<p>Hobbes, the famous English infidel, said: "I am taking -a leap into the night."</p> - -<p>When King Charles IX, who gave the order for the -massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, when blood ran like -water and 130,000 fell dead, when King Charles lay dying, he -cried out, "O God, how will it end? Blood, blood, rivers of -blood. I am lost!" And with a shriek he leaped into hell.</p> - -<p>King Philip of Spain said; "I wish to God I had never -lived," and then in a sober thought he said: "Yes, I wish I -had, but that I had lived in the fear and love of God."</p> - -<p>Wesley said, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in His -likeness."</p> - -<p>Florence A. Foster said, "Mother, the hilltops are -covered with angels; they beckon me homeward; I bid you -good-bye."</p> - -<p>Frances E. Willard cried, "How beautiful to die and be -with God."</p> - -<p>Moody cried: "Earth recedes, heaven opens, God is -calling me. This is to be my coronation day."</p> - -<p>Going to the World's Fair in Chicago, a special train on -the Grand Trunk, going forty miles an hour, dashed around -a curve at Battle Creek, and headed in on a sidetrack where -a freight train stood. The rear brakeman had forgotten to -close the switch and the train rounded the curve, dashed into -the open switch and struck the freight train loaded with -iron, and there was an awful wreck. The cars telescoped and -the flames rushed out. Pinioned in the wreck, with steel -girders bent around her, was a woman who lived in New -York. Her name was Mrs. Van Dusen. She removed her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">401</span> -diamond ear-rings, took her gold watch and chain from about -her neck, slipped her rings from her fingers and handing -out her purse gave her husband's address, and then said: -"Gentlemen, stand back! I am a Christian and I will die -like a Christian."</p> - -<p>They leaped to their task. They tore like demons to -liberate her and she started to sing,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">"My heavenly home is bright and fair.</div> -<div class="verse">I'm going to die no more."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Strong men, who had looked into the cannon's mouth, -fainted. She cried out, above the roar of the wind and the -shrieks of the dying men, "Oh, men, don't imperil your lives -for me. I am a Christian and I will die like a Christian! -Stand back, men," and then she began to sing, "Nearer, My -God, to Thee."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"The End Thereof"</p> - -<p>"There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the -end thereof are the ways of death." Moses may have made -some mistakes, but I want to tell you Moses never made a -mistake when he wrote these words: "Their rock is not as -our Rock, even our enemies themselves being the judges." -He never made a mistake when he wrote these words. I say to -you, you are going to live on and on until the constellations -of the heavens are snuffed out. You are going to live on and -on until the rocks crumble into dust through age. You are -going to live on and on and on, until the mountain peaks are -incinerated and blown by the breath of God to the four -corners of infinity. "What shall the end be?" Listen! -Listen!</p> - -<p>I used to live in Pennsylvania and of the many wonderful -things for which this wonderful state has been noted, -not the least is the fact that most always she has had godly -men for governors, and one of the most magnificent examples -of godly piety that ever honored this state was Governor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">402</span> -Pollock. When he was governor, a young man, in a drunken -brawl, shot a companion. He was tried and sentenced to be -executed. They circulated a petition, brought it to Harrisburg -to the governor, and the committee that waited upon -the governor, among them some of his own friends, pleaded -with him to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. -Governor Pollock listened to their pleadings and said, -"Gentlemen, I can't do it. The law must take its course." -Then the ministers—Catholic and Protestant—brought a -petition, and among the committee was the governor's own -pastor. He approached him in earnestness, put a hand on -either shoulder, begged, prayed to God to give him wisdom -to grant the request. Governor Pollock listened to their -petition, tears streamed down his cheeks and he said, -"Gentlemen, I can't do it. I can't; I can't."</p> - -<p>At last the boy's mother came. Her eyes were red, her -cheeks sunken, her lips ashen, her hair disheveled, her clothing -unkempt, her body tottering from the loss of food and -sleep. Broken-hearted, she reeled, staggered and dragged -herself into the presence of the governor. She pleaded for -her boy. She said, "Oh, governor, let me die. Oh, governor, -let him go; let me behind the bars. Oh, governor, I beg of -you to let my boy go; don't, don't hang him!" And Governor -Pollock listened. She staggered to his side, put her -arms around him. He took her arms from his shoulder, held -her at arms' length, looked into her face and said to her: -"Mother, mother, I can't do it, I can't," and he ran from her -presence. She screamed and fell to the floor and they -carried her out.</p> - -<p>Governor Pollock said to his secretary, "John, if I can't -pardon him I can tell him how to die." He went to the cell, -opened God's Word, prayed, talked of Jesus. Heaven bent -near, the angels waited, and then on lightning wing sped -back to glory with the glad tidings that a soul was born -again. And the governor left, wishing him well for the -ordeal. Shortly after he had gone, the prisoner said to the -watchman, "Who was that man that talked and prayed with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">403</span> -me?" He said, "Great God, man, don't you know? That -was Governor Pollock." He threw his hands to his head and -cried: "My God! My God! The governor here and I -didn't know it? Why didn't you tell me that was the -governor and I would have thrown my arms about him, -buried my fingers in his flesh and would have said, 'Governor, -I'll not let you go unless you pardon me; I'll not let -you go.'" A few days later, when he stood at the scaffold, -feet strapped, hands tied, noose about his neck, black cap and -shroud on, just before the trap was sprung he cried, "My -God! The governor there and I—" He shot down.</p> - -<p>You can't stand before God in the Judgment and say, -"Jesus, were you down there in the tabernacle? In my home? -In my lodge? Did you want to save me?" Behold! Behold! -A greater than the governor is here. Jesus Christ, -the Son of God, and he waits to be gracious.</p> - -<p>"What shall the end be of them that obey not the -gospel of God?"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">404</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</a><br /> - -<small>Our Long Home</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Don't let God hang a "For Rent" sign on the mansion that has been -prepared for you in heaven.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Vivid</span>, literal and comforting, is Sunday's portrayal -of the Christian's long home. He is one of the -few preachers who depict heaven so that it ministers -to earth. Countless thousands of Christians have -been comforted by his realistic pictures of "the land that is -fairer than day."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"HEAVEN"</p> - -<p>What do I want most of all? A man in Chicago said -to me one day, "If I could have all I wanted of any one thing -I would take money." He would be a fool, and so would -you if you would make a similar choice. There's lots of -things money can't do. Money can't buy life; money can't -buy health. Andrew Carnegie says, "Anyone who can -assure men ten years of life can name his price."</p> - -<p>If you should meet with an accident which would -require a surgical operation or your life would be despaired -of, there is not a man here but would gladly part with -all the money he has if that would give him the assurance -that he could live twelve months longer.</p> - -<p>If you had all the money in the world you couldn't -go to the graveyard and put those loved ones back in your -arms and have them sit once more in the family circle and -hear their voices and listen to their prattle.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_405fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Ha! Ha! Old Skeptic, I've got You Beat.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>A steamer tied up at her wharf, having just returned -from an expedition, and as the people walked down the plank -their friends met them to congratulate them on their success -or encourage them through their defeat. Down came a -man I used to know in Fargo, S. D. Friends rushed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">405</span> -up and said, "Why, we hear that you were very fortunate."</p> - -<p>"Yes, wife and I left here six months ago with hardly -anything. Now we have $350,000 in gold dust in the hold -of the ship."</p> - -<p>Then somebody looked around and said, "Mr. L——, -where is your little boy?"</p> - -<p>The tears rolled down his cheeks and he said, "We left -him buried on the banks of the Yukon beneath the snow -and ice, and we would gladly part with all the gold, if we -only had our boy."</p> - -<p>But all the wealth of the Klondike could not open the -grave and put that child back in their arms. Money can't -buy the peace of God that passeth understanding. Money -can't take the sin out of your life.</p> - -<p>Is there any particular kind of life you would like? -If you could live one hundred years you wouldn't want to -die, would you? I wouldn't. I think there is always something -the matter with a fellow that wants to die. I want to -stay as long as God will let me stay, but when God's time -comes for me to go I'm ready, any hour of the day or night. -God can waken me at midnight or in the morning and I'm -ready to respond. But if I could live a million years I'd -like to stay. I don't want to die. I'm having a good time. -God made this world for us to have a good time in. It's -nothing but sin that has damned the world and brought it -to misery and corruption. God wants you to have a good -time. Well, then, how can I get this life that you want -and everybody wants, eternal life?</p> - -<p>If you are ill the most natural thing for you to do is to -go for your doctor. You say, "I don't want to die. Can -you help me?"</p> - -<p>He looks at you and says, "I have a hundred patients -on my hands, all asking the same thing. Not one of them -wants to die. They ask me to use my skill and bring to -bear all I have learned, but I can't fight back death. I can -prescribe for your malady, but I can't prevent death."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">406</span></p> - -<p>"I, Too, Must Die"</p> - -<p>Well, go to your philosopher. He it is that reasons -out the problems and mysteries of life by the application -of reason. Say to him, "Good philosopher, I have come to -you for help. I want to live forever and you say that -you have the touch-stone of philosophy and that you can -describe and solve. Can you help me?"</p> - -<p>He says to you, "Young man, my hair and my beard -have grown longer and as white as snow, my eyes are dim, -my brows are wrinkled, my form bent with the weight -of years, my bones are brittle and I am just as far from -the solution of that mystery and problem as when I started. -I, too, sir, must soon die and sleep beneath the sod."</p> - -<p>In my imagination I have stood by the bedside of -the dying Pullman-palace-car magnate, George M. Pullman, -whose will was probated at $25,000,000, and I have -said, "Oh, Mr. Pullman, you will not die, you can bribe -death." And I see the pupils of his eyes dilate, his breast -heaves, he gasps—and is no more. The undertaker comes -and makes an incision in his left arm, pumps in the embalming -fluid, beneath whose mysterious power he turns as rigid -as ice, and as white as alabaster, and they put his embalmed -body in the rosewood coffin, trimmed with silver -and gold, and then they put that in a hermetically -sealed casket.</p> - -<p>The grave-diggers go to Graceland Cemetery, on the -shore of Lake Michigan, and dig his grave in the old family -lot, nine feet wide, and they put in there Portland cement -four and a half feet thick, while it is yet soft, pliable and -plastic. A set of workmen drop down into the grave a -steel cage with steel bars one inch apart. They bring -his body, in the hermetically sealed casket all wrapped -about with cloth, and they lower it into the steel cage, -and a set of workmen put steel bars across the top and -another put concrete and a solid wall of masonry and they -bring it up within eighteen inches of the surface; they -put back the black loamy soil, then they roll back the sod<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">407</span> -and with a whisk broom and dust pan they sweep up the -dirt, and you would never know that there sleeps the -Pullman-palace-car magnate, waiting for the trumpet of -Gabriel to sound; for the powers of God will snap his -steel, cemented sarcophagus as though it were made of -a shell and he will stand before God as any other man.</p> - -<p>What does your money amount to? What does your -wealth amount to?</p> - -<p>I summon the three electrical wizards of the world -to my bedside and I say, "Gentlemen, I want to live and -I have sent for you to come," and they say to me, "Mr. -Sunday, we will flash messages across the sea without -wires; we can illuminate the homes and streets of your -city and drive your trolley cars and we can kill men with -electricity, but we can't prolong life."</p> - -<p>And I summon the great Queen Elizabeth, queen of -an empire upon which the sun never sets. Three thousand -dresses hung in her wardrobe. Her jewels were measured -by the peck. Dukes, kings, earls fought for her smiles. -I stand by her bedside and I hear her cry "All my possessions -for one moment of time!"</p> - -<p>I go to Alexander the Great, who won his first battle -when he was eighteen, and was King of Macedonia when -he was twenty. He sat down on the shore of the Ægean -sea, wrapped the drapery of his couch about him and lay -down to eternal sleep, the conqueror of all the known -world, when he was thirty-five years of age.</p> - -<p>I go to Napoleon Bonaparte. Victor Hugo called him -the archangel of war. He arose in the air of the nineteenth -century like a meteor. His sun rose at Austerlitz; -it set at Waterloo. He leaped over the slain of his countrymen -to be first consul; and then he vaulted to the throne of the -emperor of France. But it was the cruel wanton achievement -of insatiate and unsanctified ambition and it led to the barren -St. Helena isle. As the storm beat upon the rock, once -more he fought at the head of his troops at Austerlitz, at -Mt. Tabor, and the Pyramids. Once more he cried, "I'm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">408</span> -still the head of the army," and he fell back, and the -greatest warrior the world has known since the days of -Joshua, was no more. Tonight on the banks of the Seine -he lies in his magnificent tomb, with his marshals sleeping -where he can summon them, and the battle flags he made -famous draped around him, and from the four corners of -the earth students and travelers turn aside to do homage -to the great military genius.</p> - -<p>I want to show you the absolute and utter futility of -pinning your hope to a lot of fool things that will damn -your soul to hell. There is only one way: "As Moses -lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the -Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him -should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved -the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever -believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting -life." Search the annals of time and the pages of -history and where do you find promises like that? Only -upon the pages of the Bible do you find them.</p> - -<p>You want to live and so do I. You want eternal -life and so do I, and I want you to have it. The next -question I want to ask is, how can you get it? You have -seen things that won't give it to you. How can you get -it? All you have tonight or ever will have you will come -into possession of in one of three ways—honestly, dishonestly, -or as a gift. Honestly: You will work and sweat and -therefore give an honest equivalent for what you get. Dishonestly: -You will steal. Third, as a gift, you will inherit -it. And eternal life must come to you in one of these -three ways.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">No Substitute for Religion</p> - -<p>A great many people believe in a high moral standard. -They deal honestly in business and are charitable, but if -you think that is going to save you, you are the most mistaken -man on God's earth, and you will be the biggest disappointed -being that ever lived. You can't hire a sub<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">409</span>stitute -in religion. You can't do some deed of kindness -or act of philanthropy and substitute that for the necessity -of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Lots of people -will acknowledge their sin in the world, struggle on without -Jesus Christ, and do their best to live honorable, upright -lives. Your morality will make you a better man -or woman, but it will never save your soul in the world.</p> - -<p>Supposing you had an apple tree that produced sour -apples and you wanted to change the nature of it, and -you would ask the advice of people. One would say -prune it, and you would buy a pruning hook and cut off -the superfluous limbs. You gather the apples and they -are still sour. Another man says to fertilize it, and you -fertilize it and still it doesn't change the nature of it. -Another man says spray it to kill the caterpillars, but the -apples are sour just the same. Another man says introduce -a graft of another variety.</p> - -<p>When I was a little boy, one day my grandfather -said to me: "Willie, come on," and he took a ladder, and -beeswax, a big jackknife, a saw and some cloth, and we -went into the valley. He leaned the ladder against a sour -crab-apple tree, climbed up and sawed off some of the limbs, -split them and shoved in them some little pear sprouts -as big as my finger and twice as long, and around them -he tied a string and put in some beeswax. I said, "Grandpa, -what are you doing?" He said, "I'm grafting pear sprouts -into the sour crab." I said, "What will grow, crab apples -or pears?" He said, "Pears; I don't know that I'll ever -live to eat the pear—I hope I may—but I know you will." -I lived to see those sprouts which were no longer than my -finger grow as large as any limb and I climbed the tree -and picked and ate the pears. He introduced a graft of -another variety and that changed the nature of the tree.</p> - -<p>And so you can't change yourself with books. That -which is flesh is flesh, no matter whether it is cultivated -flesh, or ignorant flesh or common, ordinary flesh. That -which is flesh is flesh, and all your lodges, all your money<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">410</span> -on God Almighty's earth can never change your nature. -Never. That's got to come by and through repentance -and faith in Jesus Christ. That's the only way you will -ever get it changed. We have more people with fool ways -trying to get into heaven, and there's only one way to do -and that is by and through repentance and faith in Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>Here are two men. One man born with hereditary -tendencies toward bad, a bad father, a bad mother and -bad grandparents. He has bad blood in his veins and he -turns as naturally to sin as a duck to water. There he is, -down and out, a booze fighter and the off-scouring scum -of the earth. I go to him in his squalor and want and -unhappiness, and say to him: "God has included all that -sin that he may have mercy on all. All have sinned and -come short of the glory of God. Will you accept Jesus -Christ as your Saviour?"</p> - -<p>"Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast -out," and that man says to me, "No, I don't want your -Christ as my Saviour."</p> - -<p>Here is a man with hereditary tendencies toward good, -a good father, a good mother, good grandparents, lived in -a good neighborhood, was taught to go to Sunday school -and has grown up to be a good, earnest, upright, virtuous, -responsible business man; his name is synonymous with -all that is pure and kind, and true. His name is as good -as a government bond at any bank for a reasonable amount. -Everybody respects him. He is generous, charitable and -kind. I go to your high-toned, cultured, respectable man -and say to him: "God hath included all under sin that -he might have mercy upon all. All have sinned and -come short of the glory of God. Whosoever cometh unto -me I will in no wise cast out. Will you accept Jesus Christ -as your Saviour? Will you give me your hand?" He says: -"No, sir; I don't want your Christ."</p> - -<p>What's the difference between those two men? Absolutely -none. They are both lost. Both are going to hell.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">411</span> -God hasn't one way of saving the one and another way of -saving the other fellow. God will save that man if he -accepts Christ and he will do the same for the other fellow. -That man is a sinner and this man is a sinner. That man -is lower in sin than this man, but they both say, "No" -to Jesus Christ and they are both lost or God is a liar.</p> - -<p>You don't like it? I don't care a rap whether you -do or not. You'll take it or go to hell. Stop doing what -you think will save you and do what God says will save -you.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Morality Not Enough</p> - -<p>Morality doesn't save anybody. Your culture doesn't -save you. I don't care who you are or how good you are, -if you reject Jesus Christ you are doomed. God hasn't -one plan of salvation for the millionaire and another for -the hobo. He has the same plan for everybody. God -isn't going to ask you whether you like it or not, either. -He isn't going to ask you your opinion of his plan. There -it is and we'll have to take it as God gives it.</p> - -<p>You come across a lot of fools who say there are hypocrites -in the Church. What difference does that make? -Are you the first person that has found that out and are -you fool enough to go to hell because they are going to -hell? If you are, don't come to me and expect me to -think you have any sense. Not at all. Not for a minute.</p> - -<p>A good many people attend church because it adds -a little bit to their respectability. That is proof positive -to me that the Gospel is a good thing. This is a day -when good things are counterfeited. You never saw anybody -counterfeiting brown paper. No, it isn't worth it. -You have seen them counterfeiting Christians? Yes. You -have seen counterfeit money? Yes. You never saw a -counterfeit infidel. They counterfeit religion. Certainly. -A hypocrite is a counterfeit.</p> - -<p>But there is one class of these people that I haven't -very much respect for. They are so good, so very good,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">412</span> -that they are absolutely good for nothing. A woman -came to me and said: "Mr. Sunday, I haven't sinned in -ten years."</p> - -<p>I said: "You lie, I think."</p> - -<p>Well, a man says: "Look here, there must be something -in morality, because so many people trust in it." -Would vice become virtue because more people follow it? -Simply because more people follow it doesn't make a -wrong right; not at all.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">The Way of Salvation</p> - -<p>There was an old Spaniard, Ponce de Leon, who -searched through the glades of Florida. He thought away -out there in the midst of the tropical vegetation was a -fountain of perpetual youth, which, if he could only find -and dip beneath its water would smooth the wrinkles from -his brow and make his gray hair turn like the raven's -wing. Did he ever find it? No, it never existed. It -was all imagination. And there are people today searching -for something that doesn't exist. Salvation doesn't -exist in morality, in reformation, in paying your debts. -It doesn't exist in being true to your marriage vows. It is -only by repentance and faith in the atoning blood of Jesus -Christ, and some of you fellows have searched for it until -you are gray-haired, and you will never find it because -it only exists in one place—repentance and faith in Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>Supposing I had in one hand a number of kernels of -wheat and a number of diamonds equal in number and -size to the kernels of wheat. I would say: "Take your -choice." Nine of ten would take the diamonds. I would -say: "Diamonds are worth more than wheat." So they -are now, but you take those diamonds, they will never -grow, never add. But I can take a handful of wheat, sow -it, and, fecundated by the rays of the sun and the moisture, -it will grow and in a few years I have what's worth all the -diamonds in the world, for wheat contains the power of</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">413</span></p> - -<p>life; wheat can reproduce and diamonds can't; they're not -life. A diamond is simply a piece of charcoal changed by -the mysterious process of nature, but it has no life. Wheat -has life. Wheat can grow. You can take a moral man; -he may shine and glisten and sparkle like a diamond. He -may outshine in his beauty the Christian man. But he -will never be anything else. His morality can never grow. -It has no life, but the man who is a Christian has life. -He has eternal life. Your morality is a fine thing until -death comes, then it's lost and you are lost. Your diamond -is a fine thing to carry until it's lost, and of what -value is it then? Of what value is your morality when -your soul is lost?</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/i_412fp.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Judas Bought a Ticket to Hell with Thirty Pieces of Silver and it wasn't a Round Trip Either.</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>Supposing I go out in the spring and I see two farmers, -living across the road from each other. One man plows -his field and then harrows and puts on the roller, gets it -all fine and then plants the corn or drills in the oats. -I come back in the fall and that man has gathered his crop -into the barn and the granaries and has hay stacked around -the barn.</p> - -<p>The other fellow is plowing and puts the roller on and -gets his ground in good shape. I come back in the fall -and he is still doing the same thing. I say, "What are you -doing?" He says: "Well, I believe in a high state of cultivation." -I say: "Look at your neighbor, see what he has." -"A barn full of grain." "Yes." "More stock." "Yes." -But he says: "Look at the weeds. You don't see any -weeds like that on my place. Why, he had to burn the -weeds before he could find the potatoes to dig them. The -weeds were as big as the corn." I said: "I'll agree with -you that he has raised some weeds, but he has raised corn -as well." What is that ground worth without seed in -it? No more than your life is worth without having -Jesus Christ in it. You will starve to death if you -don't put seed in the ground. Plowing the ground without -putting in the seed doesn't amount to a snap of the -finger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">414</span></p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Rewards of Merit</p> - -<p>When I was a little boy out in Iowa, at the end of the -term of school it was customary for the teachers to give -us little cards, with a hand in one corner holding a scroll, -and in that scroll was a place to write the name: "Willie -Sunday, good boy." Willie Sunday never got hump-shouldered -lugging them home, I -can tell you. I never carried off -the champion long-distance belt for -verse-quoting, either. If you ever -saw an American kid, I was one.</p> - -<div class="figleft"> -<img src="images/i_414.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">I Feel Sorry for the Little -Lord Fauntleroy Boys -With Long Curly Hair -and White Stockings</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>I feel sorry for the little Lord -Fauntleroy boys with long curly -hair and white stockings. Yank 'em -off and let them go barefoot.</p> - -<p>A friend of mine told me he was -one time being driven along the -banks of the Hudson and they went -past a beautiful farm, and there -sitting on the fence in front of a -tree, in which was fastened a mirror -about twelve inches square, sat a -bird of paradise that was looking -into the mirror, adjusting his plumage -and admiring himself, and the -farmer who had driven my friends -out said that every time he passed -those birds were doing that.</p> - -<p>I thought, "Well, that reminds -me of a whole lot of fools -I'm fortunate enough to meet everywhere. They sit -before the mirror of culture, and their mirror of money, -and their mirror of superior education and attainments; -they are married into some old families. What -does God care about that?" I suppose some of -you spent a whole lot of money to plant a family -tree, but I warrant you keep to the back the limbs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">415</span> -on which some of your ancestors were hanged for stealing -horses.</p> - -<p>You are mistaken in God's plan of salvation. Some -people seem to think God is like a great big bookkeeper -in heaven and that he has a whole lot of angels as assistants. -Every time you do a good thing he writes it down -on one page and every time you do a bad deed he writes -it down on the opposite page, and when you die he draws -a line and adds them up. If you have done more good -things than bad, you go to heaven; more bad things than -good, go to hell. You would be dumfounded how many -people have sense about other things that haven't any sense -about religion. As though that was God's plan of redemption. -Your admission into heaven depends upon your -acceptance of Jesus Christ; reject him and God says you -will be damned.</p> - -<p>Back in the time of Noah, I have no doubt there were -a lot of good folks. There was Noah. God says: "Look -here, Noah, I'm going to drown this world with a flood -and I want you to go to work and make an ark." And -Noah started to make it according to God's instructions -and he pounded, and sawed, and drove nails and worked -for 120 years, and I have often imagined the comments -of the gang in an automobile going by. They say: "Look -at the old fool Noah building an ark. Does he ever expect -God's going to get water enough to flood that?" Along -comes another crowd and one says: "That Noah bunch -is getting daffy on religion. I think we'd better take them -before the commission and pass upon their sanity." Along -comes another crowd and they say: "Well, there's that -Noah crowd. I guess we won't invite them to our card -party after Lent is over." They said: "Why, they're too -religious. We'll just let them alone."</p> - -<p>Noah paid no heed to their criticism, but went on -working until he got through. God gave the crowd a -chance, but they didn't heed. It started to rain and it -rained and rained until the rivers and creeks leaped their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">416</span> -banks and the lowlands were flooded. Then the people -began to move to the hilltops. The water began to creep -up the hills. Then I can see the people hurrying off to lumber -yards to buy lumber to build little rafts of their own, -for they began to see that Noah wasn't such a fool after all. -The hilltops became inundated and it crept to the mountains -and the mountains became submerged. Until the -flood came that crowd was just as well off as Noah, but -when the flood struck them Noah was saved and they were -lost, because Noah trusted God and they trusted in themselves. -You moral men, you may be just as well off as the -Christian until death knocks you down, then you are lost, -because you trust in your morality. The Christian is saved -because he trusts in Jesus. Do you see where you lose -out?</p> - -<p>"Without the shedding of blood there is no remission -of sin." You must accept the atonement Christ made by -shedding his blood or God will slam the gate of heaven -in your face.</p> - -<p>Some people, you know, want to wash their sins and -they whitewash them, but God wants them white, and -there's a lot of difference between being "white-washed" -and "washed white."</p> - -<p>Supposing I was at one of your banks this morning -and they gave me $25 in gold. Supposing I would put -fifty of your reputable citizens on this platform and they -would all substantiate what I say, and supposing I would -be authorized by bank to say that they would give every -man and woman that stands in line in front of the bank -at 9 o'clock in the morning, $25 in gold. If I could stand -up there and make that announcement in this city with -confidence in my word, people would line the streets and -string away back on the hills, waiting for the bank to -open.</p> - -<p>I can stand here and tell you that God offers you salvation -through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and -that you must accept it or be lost, and you will stand up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">417</span> -and argue the question, as though your argument can -change God's plan. You never can do it. Not only has -God promised you salvation on the grounds of your acceptance -of Jesus Christ as your Saviour, but he has promised -to give you a home in which to spend eternity. Listen! -"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not -so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for -you." Some people say heaven is a state or condition. -I don't believe it. It might possibly be better to be in a -heavenly state than in a heavenly place. It might be -better to be in hell in a heavenly state than to be in heaven -in a hellish state. That may be true. Heaven is as much -a place as the home to which you are going when I dismiss -the meeting is a place. "I go to prepare a place for -you." Heaven is a place where there are going to be -some fine folks. Abraham will be there and I'm going up -to see him. Noah, Moses, Joseph, Jacob, Isaiah, Daniel, -Jeremiah the weeping prophet, Paul, John, Peter, James, -Samuel, Martin Luther, Spurgeon, Calvin, Moody. Oh, -heaven is a place where there will be grand and noble -people, and all who believe in Jesus will be there.</p> - -<p>Suppose instead of turning off the gas at bedtime -I blew it out. Then when Nell and I awoke choking, -instead of opening the window and turning off the gas -I got a bottle of cologne and sprinkled ourselves. The -fool principle of trying to overcome the poison of gas with -perfumery wouldn't work. The next day there would be -a coroner's jury in the house. Your principle of trying -to overcome sin by morality won't work either.</p> - -<p>I'm going to meet David and I'll say: "David, I'm -not a U. P., but I wish you'd sing the twenty-third psalm -for me."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">A Place of Noble People</p> - -<p>The booze fighter won't be in heaven; he is here. The -skeptic won't be there; he is here. There'll be nobody -to run booze joints or gambling hells in heaven. Heaven<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">418</span> -will be a place of grand and noble people, who love Jesus. -The beloved wife will meet her husband. Mother, you -will meet your babe again that you have been separated -from for months or years. Heaven will be free from -everything that curses and damns this old world here. -Wouldn't this be a grand old world if it weren't for a lot -of things in it? Can you conceive anything being grander -than this world if it hadn't a lot of things in it? The only -thing that makes it a decent place to live in is the religion -of Jesus Christ. There isn't a man that would live in it -if you took religion out. Your mills would rot on their -foundations if there were no Christian people of influence -here.</p> - -<p>There will be no sickness in heaven, no pain, no sin, no -poverty, no want, no death, no grinding toil. "There remaineth -therefore a rest to the people of God." I tell you there -are a good many poor men and women that never have any -rest. They have had to get up early in the morning and -work all day, but in heaven there remaineth a rest for the -people of God. Weary women that start out early to their -daily toil, you won't have to get out and toil all day. No -toil in heaven, no sickness. "God shall wipe away all -tears from their eyes." You will not be standing watching -with a heart filled with expectation, and doubt, and -hope. No watching the undertaker screw the coffin lid -over your loved one, or watching the pall-bearers carrying -out the coffin and hearing the preacher say, "Ashes to -ashes, dust to dust." None of that in heaven. Heaven—that -is a place He has gone to prepare for those who will -do his will and keep his commandments and turn from -their sin. Isn't it great?</p> - -<p>Everything will be perfect in heaven. Down here we -only know in part, but there we will know as we are known. -It is a city that hath foundation. Here we have no continuing -state. Look at your beautiful homes. You admire -them. The next time you go up your avenues and streets -look at the homes. But they are going to rot on their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">419</span> -foundations. Every one of them. Where are you tonight, -old Eternal City of Rome on your seven hills? Where -are you? Only a memory of your glory. Where have -they all gone? The homes will crumble.</p> - -<p>"Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took -him." That is a complete biography of Enoch.</p> - -<p>Elijah was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire and -Elisha took up the mantle of the prophet Elijah and smote -the Jordan and went back to the seminary where Elijah -had taught and told the people there. They would not -believe him, and they looked for Elijah, but they found him -not. Centuries later it was the privilege of Peter, James -and John in the company of Jesus Christ, on the Mount -of Transfiguration, to look into the face of that same Elijah -who centuries before had walked the hilltops and slain -four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"A Place for You"</p> - -<p>Stephen, as they stoned him to death, with his face -lighted up saw Jesus standing on the right of God the -Father, the place which he had designated before his -crucifixion would be his abiding place until the fulfilment -of the time of the Gentiles in the world. Among the last -declarations of Jesus is, "In my Father's house are many -mansions." What a comfort to the bereaved and afflicted. -Not only had God provided salvation through faith in Jesus -Christ as a gift from God's outstretched hand, but he -provided a home in which you can spend eternity. He -has provided a home for you. Surely, surely, friends, -from the beginning of the history of man, from the time -Enoch walked with God and was not, until John on the -island of Patmos saw the new Jerusalem let down by God -out of heaven, we have ample proof that heaven is a place. -Although we cannot see it with the natural eyes, it is a -place, the dwelling place of God and of the angels and of -the redeemed through faith in the Son of God.</p> - -<p>He says, "I go to prepare a place for you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">420</span></p> - -<p>People sometimes ask me, "Who do you think will -die first, Mr. Sunday, you or your wife, or your children -or your mother?" I don't know. I think I will. I never -expect to be an old man, I work too hard. I burn up -more energy preaching in an hour than any other man -will burn up in ten or twelve hours. I never expect to -live to be an old man. I don't expect to, but I know this -much, if my wife or my babies should go first this old -world would be a dark place for me and I would be glad -when God summoned me to leave it; and if I left first I -know they would be glad when God called them home. -If I go first, I know after I go up and take Jesus by the -hand and say, "Jesus, thank you. I'm glad you honored -me with the privilege of preaching your Gospel; I wish -I could have done it better, but I did my best, and now, -Jesus, if you don't care, I'd like to hang around the gate -and be the first to welcome my wife and the babies when -they come. Do you care, Jesus, if I sit there?" And he -will say, "No, you can sit right there, Bill, if you want -to; it's all right." I'll say, "Thank you, Lord."</p> - -<p>If they would go first, I think after they would go -up and thank Jesus that they are home, they would say, -"Jesus, I wish you would hurry up and bring papa home. -He doesn't want to stay down there because we are up -here." They would go around and put their grips away -in their room, wherever it is, and then they would say, -"Can we sit here, Jesus?" "Yes, that's all right."</p> - -<p>I don't know where I'll live when I get to heaven. -I don't know whether I'll live on a main street or an avenue -or a boulevard. I don't know where I'll live when I get -to heaven. I don't know whether it will be in the back -alley or where, but I'll just be glad to get there. I'll be -thankful for the mansion wherever God provides it. I -never like to think about heaven as a great, big tenement -house, where they put hundreds of people under one roof, -as we do in Chicago or other big cities. "In my Father's -house are many mansions." And so it will be up in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">421</span> -heaven, and I'll be glad, awfully glad, and I tell you I -think if my wife and children go first, the children might -be off some place playing, but wife would be right there, -and I would meet her and say, "Why, wife, where are the -children?" She would say, "Why, they are playing on -the banks of the river." (We are told about the river -that flows from the throne of God.) We would walk down -and I would say, "Hello, Helen! Hey, George. Hey, -Willsky; bring the baby; come on." And they would -come tearing as they do now.</p> - -<p>I would say, "Now, children, run away and play a -little while. I haven't seen mother for a long time and we -have lots of things to talk about," and I think we would -walk away and sit down under a tree and I would put -my head in her lap as I do now when my head is tired, -and I would say, "Wife, a whole lot of folks down there -in our neighborhood in Chicago have died; have they come -to heaven?"</p> - - - -<p class="ss-title">The Missing</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know. Who has died?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. S. Is he here?"</p> - -<p>"I haven't seen him."</p> - -<p>"No? His will probated five million. Bradstreet -and Dun rated him AaG. Isn't he here?"</p> - -<p>"I haven't seen him."</p> - -<p>"Is Mr. J. here?"</p> - -<p>"I haven't seen him."</p> - -<p>"Haven't seen him, wife? That's funny. He left years -before I did. Is Mrs. N. here?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"You know they lived on River street. Her husband -paid $8,000 for a lot and $60,000 for a house. He paid -$2,000 for a bathroom. Mosaic floor and the finest of -fixtures. You know, wife, she always came to church late -and would drive up in her carriage, and she would sweep -down the aisle and you would think all the perfume of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">422</span> -Arabia had floated in, and she had diamonds in her ears -as big as pebbles. Is she here?"</p> - -<p>"I haven't seen her."</p> - -<p>"Well! Well! Well! Is Aunty Griffith here?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; aunty lives next to us."</p> - -<p>"I knew she would be here. God bless her heart! -She had two big lazy, drunken louts of boys that didn't -care for her, and the church supported her for sixteen years -to my knowledge and they put her in the home for old -people. Hello, yonder she comes. How are you, Aunty?"</p> - -<p>She will say, "How are you, William?"</p> - -<p>"I'm first rate."</p> - -<p>"Mon, ye look natural just the same."</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"And when did ye leave Chicago, Wally?"</p> - -<p>"Last night, Aunty."</p> - -<p>"I'm awfully glad to see you, and, Wally, I live right -next door to you, mon."</p> - -<p>"Good, Aunty, I knew God would let you in. My, -where's mother, wife?"</p> - -<p>"She's here."</p> - -<p>"I know she's here; I wish she would come. Helen, -is that mother coming down the hill?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>I would say, "Have you seen Fred, or Rody, or -Peacock, or Ackley, or any of them?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. They live right around near us."</p> - -<p>"George, you run down and tell Fred I've come, will -you? Hunt up Rody, and Peacock and Ackley and -Fred, and see if you can find Frances around there and -tell them I've just come in." And they would come and -I would say, "How are you? Glad to see you. Feeling -first-rate."</p> - -<p>And, oh, what a time we'll have in heaven. In heaven -they never mar the hillsides with spades, for they dig no -graves. In heaven they never telephone for the doctor, for -nobody gets sick. In heaven no one carries handkerchiefs,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">423</span> -for nobody cries. In heaven they never telephone for the -undertaker, for nobody dies. In heaven you will never -see a funeral procession going down the street, nor crêpe -hanging from the doorknob. In heaven, none of the things -that enter your home here will enter there. Sickness won't -get in; death won't get in, nor sorrow, because "Former -things are passed away," all things have become new. -In heaven the flowers never fade, the winter winds and -blasts never blow. The rivers never congeal, never freeze, -for it never gets cold. No, sir.</p> - -<p>Say, don't let God be compelled to hang a "For Rent" -sign in the window of the mansion he has prepared for -you. I would walk around with him and I'd say, "Whose -mansion is that, Jesus?"</p> - -<p>"Why, I had that for one of the rich men, but he -passed it up."</p> - -<p>"Who's that one for?"</p> - -<p>"That was for a doctor, but he did not take it."</p> - -<p>"That was for one of the school teachers, but she -didn't come."</p> - -<p>"Who is that one for, Jesus?"</p> - -<p>"That was for a society man, but he didn't want it."</p> - -<p>"Who is that one for?"</p> - -<p>"That was for a booze fighter, but he wouldn't pass -up the business."</p> - -<p>Don't let God hang a "For Rent" sign in the mansion -that he has prepared for you. Just send up word -and say, "Jesus, I've changed my mind; just put my name -down for that, will you? I'm coming. I'm coming." -"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not -so I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">424</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</a><br /> - -<small>Glorying in the Cross</small></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>It's Jesus Christ or nothing.—<span class="smcap">Billy Sunday.</span></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Pauline</span> in more than one characteristic is Billy -Sunday. But in none so much as in his devotion to -the cross of Jesus Christ. His life motto may well -be Paul's, "I am resolved to know nothing among you, save -Jesus Christ and him crucified." His preaching is entirely -founded on the message that "the blood of Jesus Christ -cleanseth us from all sin." There are no modern theories of -the atonement in his utterances. To the learned of the -world, as to the Greeks of old, the Cross may seem foolishness, -but Sunday knows and preaches it as the power of -God unto salvation. As his closing and most characteristic -message to the readers of this book we commend his sermon -on "Christ and him crucified."</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"ATONEMENT"</p> - -<p>"For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of -an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying -of the flesh"—Paul argued in his letter to the Hebrews—"how -much more shall the blood of Christ, who through -the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, -purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living -God."</p> - -<p>No more of this turtle-dove business, no more offering -the blood of bullocks and heifers to cleanse from sin.</p> - -<p>The atoning blood of Jesus Christ—that is the thing -about which all else centers. I believe that more logical, -illogical, idiotic, religious and irreligious arguments have -been fought over this than all others. Now and then when -a man gets a new idea of it he goes out and starts a new -denomination. He has a perfect right to do this under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">425</span> -the thirteenth amendment, but he doesn't stop here. He -makes war on all of the other denominations that do not -interpret as he does. Our denominations have multiplied -by this method until it would give one brain fever to try to -count them all.</p> - -<p>The atoning blood! And as I think it over I am -reminded of a man who goes to England and advertises -that he will throw pictures on the screen of the Atlantic -coast of America. So he gets a crowd and throws pictures -on the screen of high bluffs and rocky coasts and waves -dashing against them until a man comes out of the audience -and brands him a liar and says that he is obtaining money -under false pretense, as he has seen America and the -Atlantic coast and what the other man is showing is not -America at all. The men almost come to blows and then -the other man says that if the people will come tomorrow -he will show them real pictures of the coast. So the -audience comes back to see what he will show, and he -flashes on the screen pictures of a low coast line, with -palmetto trees and banana trees and tropical foliage and he -apologizes to the audience, but says these are the pictures -of America. The first man calls him a liar and the people -don't know which to believe. What was the matter with -them?</p> - -<p>They were both right and they were both wrong, -paradoxical as it may seem. They were both right as far -as they went, but neither went far enough. The first showed -the coast line from New England to Cape Hatteras, -while the second showed the coast line from Hatteras to -Yucatan. They neither could show it all in one panoramic -view, for it is so varied it could not be taken in one picture. -God never intended to give you a picture of the world in -one panoramic view. From the time of Adam and Eve -down to the time Jesus Christ hung on the cross he was -unfolding his views. When I see Moses leading the people -out of bondage where they for years had bared their backs -to the taskmaster's lash; when I see the lowing herds and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">426</span> -the high priest standing before the altar severing the jugular -vein of the rams and the bullocks on until Christ cried out -from the cross, "It is finished," God was preparing the picture -for the consummation of it in the atoning blood of Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>A sinner has no standing with God. He forfeits his -standing when he commits sin and the only way he can -get back is to repent and accept the atoning blood of Jesus -Christ.</p> - -<p>I have sometimes thought that Adam and Eve didn't -understand as fully as we do when the Lord said, "Eat and -you shall surely die." They had never seen any one die. -They might have thought it simply meant a separation from -God. But no sooner had they eaten and seen their nakedness -than they sought to cover themselves, and it is the same -today. When man sees himself in his sins, uncovered, he -tries to cover himself in philosophy or some fake. But God -looked through the fig leaves and the foliage and God walked -out in the field and slew the beasts and took their skins and -wrapped them around Adam and Eve, and from that day to -this when a man has been a sinner and has covered himself -it has been by and through faith in the shed blood of Jesus -Christ. Every Jew covered his sins and received pardon -through the blood of the rams and bullocks and the doves.</p> - -<p>An old infidel said to me once, "But I don't believe in -atonement by blood. It doesn't come up to my ideas of -what is right."</p> - -<p>I said, "To perdition with your ideas of what is right. -Do you think God is coming down here to consult you with -your great intellect and wonderful brain, and find out what -you think is right before he does it?" My, but you make me -sick. You think that because you don't believe it that it -isn't true.</p> - -<p>I have read a great deal—not everything, mind you, for -a man would go crazy if he tried to read everything—but I -have read a great deal that has been written against the -atonement from the infidel standpoint—Voltaire, Huxley,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">427</span> -Spencer, Diderot, Bradlaugh, Paine, on down to Bob Ingersoll—and -I have never found an argument that would stand -the test of common sense and common reasoning. And if -anyone tells me he has tossed on the scrap heap the plan of -atonement by blood I say, "What have you to offer that -is better?" and until he can show me something that is -better I'll nail my hopes to the cross.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Suffering for the Guilty</p> - -<p>You say you don't believe in the innocent suffering for -the guilty. Then I say to you, you haven't seen life as I -have seen it up and down the country. The innocent suffer -with the guilty, by the guilty and for the guilty. Look -at that old mother waiting with trembling heart for -the son she has brought into the world. And see him -come staggering in and reeling and staggering to bed -while his mother prays and weeps and soaks the pillow -with her tears over her godless boy. Who suffers most? -The mother or that godless, maudlin bum? You have only -to be the mother of a boy like that to know who suffers most. -Then you won't say anything about the plan of redemption -and of Jesus Christ suffering for the guilty.</p> - -<p>Look at that young wife, waiting for the man whose -name she bears, and whose face is woven in the fiber of her -heart, the man she loves. She waits for him in fright and -when he comes, reeking from the stench of the breaking of -his marriage vows, from the arms of infamy, who suffers -most? That poor, dirty, triple extract of vice and sin? You -have only to be the wife of a husband like that to know -whether the innocent suffers for the guilty or not. I have -the sympathy of those who know right now.</p> - -<p>This happened in Chicago in a police court. A letter -was introduced as evidence for a criminal there for vagrancy. -It read, "I hope you won't have to hunt long to find work. -Tom is sick and baby is sick. Lucy has no shoes and we have -no money for the doctor or to buy any clothes. I manage -to make a little taking in washing, but we are living in one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">428</span> -room in a basement. I hope you won't have to look long for -work," and so on, just the kind of a letter a wife would write -to her husband. And before it was finished men cried and -policemen with hearts of adamant were crying and fled from -the room. The judge wiped the tears from his eyes and -said: "You see, no man lives to himself alone. If he sins -others suffer. I have no alternative. I sympathize with -them, as does every one of you, but I have no alternative. -I must send this man to Bridewell." Who suffers most, that -woman manicuring her nails over a washboard to keep the -little brood together or that drunken bum in Bridewell -getting his just deserts from his acts? You have only to be -the wife of a man like that to know whether or not the -innocent suffer with the guilty.</p> - -<p>So when you don't like the plan of redemption because -the innocent suffer with the guilty, I say you don't know what -is going on. It's the plan of life everywhere.</p> - -<p>From the fall of Adam and Eve till now it has always -been the rule that the innocent suffer with the guilty. It's -the plan of all and unless you are an idiot, an imbecile and -a jackass, and gross flatterer at that, you'll see it.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">Jesus' Atoning Blood</p> - -<p>Jesus gave his life on the cross for any who will believe. -We're not redeemed by silver or gold. Jesus paid for it -with his blood. When some one tells you that your religion -is a bloody religion and the Bible is a bloody book, -tell them yes, Christianity is a bloody religion, the gospel is -a bloody gospel, the Bible is a bloody book, the plan of -redemption is bloody. It is. You take the blood of Jesus -Christ out of Christianity and that book isn't worth the -paper it is written on. It would be worth no more than your -body with the blood taken out. Take the blood of Jesus -Christ out and it would be a meaningless jargon and jumble -of words.</p> - -<p>If it weren't for the atoning blood you might as well -rip the roofs off the churches and burn them down. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">429</span> -aren't worth anything. But as long as the blood is on the -mercy seat the sinner can return, and by no other way. -There is nothing else. It stands for the redemption. You -are not redeemed by silver or gold, but by the blood of Jesus -Christ. Though a man says to read good books, do good -deeds, live a good life and you'll be saved, you'll be damned. -That's what you will. All the books in the world won't -keep you out of hell without the atoning blood of Jesus -Christ. It's Jesus Christ -or nothing for every sinner -on God's earth.</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/i_429.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"<span class="smcap">Say, Boss, Why Didn't You Chuck -that Nickel in the Sewer?</span>"</div> -</div> - -<p>Without it not a sinner -will ever be saved. Jesus -has paid for your sins with -his blood. The doctrine of -universal salvation is a lie. -I wish every one would be -saved, but they won't. You -will never be saved if you -reject the blood.</p> - -<p>I remember when I was -in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago -I was going down -Madison Street and had -just crossed Dearborn -Street when I saw a newsboy with a young sparrow in his -hand. I said: "Let that little bird go."</p> - -<p>He said, "Aw, g'wan with you, you big mutt."</p> - -<p>I said, "I'll give you a penny for it," and he answered, -"Not on your tintype."</p> - -<p>"I'll give you a nickel for it," and he answered, "Boss, -I'm from Missouri; come across with the dough."</p> - -<p>I offered it to him, but he said, "Give it to that guy -there," and I gave it to the boy he indicated and took the -sparrow.</p> - -<p>I held it for a moment and then it fluttered and struggled -and finally reached the window ledge in a second story<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">430</span> -across the street. And other birds fluttered around over my -head and seemed to say in bird language, "Thank you, Bill."</p> - -<p>The kid looked at me in wonder and said: "Say, boss, -why didn't you chuck that nickel in the sewer?"</p> - -<p>I told him that he was just like that bird. He was in -the grip of the devil, and the devil was too strong for him -just as he was too strong for the sparrow, and just as I could -do with the sparrow what I wanted to after I had paid for it -because it was mine. God paid a price for him far greater -than I had for the sparrow, for he had paid it with the blood -of his Son and he wanted to set him free.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">No Argument Against Sin</p> - -<p>So, my friend, if I had paid for some property from you -with a price, I could command you, and if you wouldn't -give it to me I could go into court and make you yield. Why -do you want to be a sinner and refuse to yield? You are -withholding from God what he paid for on the cross. When -you refuse you are not giving God a square deal.</p> - -<p>I'll tell you another. It stands for God's hatred of sin. -Sin is something you can't deny. You can't argue against -sin. A skilful man can frame an argument against the -validity of religion, but he can't frame an argument against -sin. I'll tell you something that may surprise you. If I -hadn't had four years of instruction in the Bible from Genesis -to Revelation, before I saw Bob Ingersoll's book, and I -don't want to take any credit from that big intelligent brain -of his, I would be preaching infidelity instead of Christianity. -Thank the Lord I saw the Bible first. I have taken -his lectures and placed them by the side of the Bible, and -said, "You didn't say it from your knowledge of the Bible." -And I have never considered him honest, for he could not -have been so wise in other things and such a fool about -the plan of redemption. So I say I don't think he was entirely -honest.</p> - -<p>But you can't argue against the existence of sin, simply -because it is an open fact, the word of God. You can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">431</span> -argue against Jesus being the Son of God. You can argue -about there being a heaven and a hell, but you can't argue -against sin. It is in the world and men and women are -blighted and mildewed by it.</p> - -<p>Some years ago I turned a corner in Chicago and stood -in front of a police station. As I stood there a patrol dashed -up and three women were taken from some drunken debauch, -and they were dirty and blear-eyed, and as they were taken -out they started a flood of profanity that seemed to turn the -very air blue. I said, "There is sin." And as I stood there -up dashed another patrol and out of it they took four men, -drunken and ragged and bloated, and I said, "There is sin." -You can't argue against the fact of sin. It is in the world -and blights men and women. But Jesus came to the world -to save all who accept him.</p> - - -<p class="ss-title">"How Long, O God?"</p> - -<p>It was out in the Y. M. C. A. in Chicago. "What is -your name and what do you want?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"I'm from Cork, Ireland," said he, "and my name is -James O'Toole. Here is a letter of introduction." I read -it and it said he was a good Christian young man and an -energetic young fellow.</p> - -<p>I said, "Well, Jim, my name is Mr. Sunday. I'll tell -you where there are some good Christian boarding houses -and you let me know which one you pick out." He told me -afterwards that he had one on the North Side. I sent him -an invitation to a meeting to be held at the Y. M. C. A., and -he had it when he and some companions went bathing in -Lake Michigan. He dived from the pier just as the water -receded unexpectedly and he struck the bottom and broke -his neck. He was taken to the morgue and the police found -my letter in his clothes, and told me to come and claim it or -it would be sent to a medical college. I went and they had -the body on a slab, but I told them I would send a cablegram -to his folks and asked them to hold it. They put it in a glass -case and turned on the cold air, by which they freeze bodies<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">432</span> -by chemical processes, as they freeze ice, and said they would -save it for two months, and if I wanted it longer they would -stretch the rules a little and keep it three.</p> - -<p>I was just thinking of what sorrow that cablegram -would cause his old mother in Cork when they brought in the -body of a woman. She would have been a fit model of -Phidias, she had such symmetry of form. Her fingers were -manicured. She was dressed in the height of fashion and her -hands were covered with jewels and as I looked at her, the -water trickling down her face, I saw the mute evidence of -illicit affection. I did not say lust, I did not say passion, I -did not say brute instincts. I said, "Sin." Sin had caused -her to throw herself from that bridge and seek repose in a -suicide's grave. And as I looked, from the saloon, the fan-tan -rooms, the gambling hells, the opium dens, the red -lights, there arose one endless cry of "How long, O God, -how long shall hell prevail?"</p> - -<p>You can't argue against sin. It's here. Then listen -to me as I try to help you.</p> - -<p>When the Standard Oil Company was trying to refine -petroleum there was a substance that they couldn't dispose -of. It was a dark, black, sticky substance and they -couldn't bury it, couldn't burn it because it made such a -stench; they couldn't run it in the river because it killed the -fish, so they offered a big reward to any chemist who would -solve the problem. Chemists took it and worked long over -the problem, and one day there walked into the office of -John D. Rockefeller, a chemist and laid down a pure white -substance which we since know as paraffine.</p> - -<p>You can be as black as that substance and yet Jesus -Christ can make you white as snow. "Though your sins be -as scarlet they shall be as white as snow."</p> - -<div class="transnote"> -<h3>Transcriber's Notes</h3> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.</p> - -<p>Base ball, base-ball and baseball have been variously used throughout -the original, these have been standardised to baseball. Other variations in -hyphenation have been standardised, but variations in punctuation and -spelling remain.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Billy" Sunday, by William Ellis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "BILLY" SUNDAY *** - -***** This file should be named 50586-h.htm or 50586-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/5/8/50586/ - -Produced by Richard Hulse, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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