"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for ChristEllis, William T. (William Thomas)
Religion
"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for Christ
Ellis, William T. (William Thomas)
Baseball players -- United States -- Biography; Evangelists -- United States -- Biography; Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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