The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-03-11

AT the request of the Richmond
Ministerial Union on Thursday at noon
DR.. Russell Cecil. pastor of Second
Presbyterian Church, delivered an ad-
dress to that body on Billy Sunday
and His Message" based on his trip
TO Philadelphia with the Richmond
committee to invite the evangelist to
come to this ely DR.. Cecil has kindly
furnished the Virginian n copy of his
address, which is as follows:
Billy Sunday is q rciis Gus phenom-
enon. / do not mean that he Is re-
ligious freak, but that he is q relig Gus
phenomenon peculiar to our times,
and raised up. as | believe. by the
Providence OF God for a special work.
This has not been unusual in the his
tory of the church. God has frequently
raised up men for special purposes.
As far back as the days Of the judges
from time to time He called out from
among the people some man OF
unusual gifts to revive His work. Some
OF them were very peculiar characters.
rough and uncouth. Later. in the days
like Elijah, jeremiah, Amos and
others. to call the people back to the
true religion. John the Baptist was
another such man: and TO the same
class belong St. Francis, st. Rernard.
Peter the Hermit, Luther, Wesley.
Whitefield and Moody. Sunday Is
called of God in order to do a similar
work
A Religious Force.
He is not only religious phenome-
non. but he is religious force; with
out doubt ! think. the greatest IN
this country Mt the presen time. 1t
is a remarkable thing for a man TO
have induced a quarter of a million
OPP people to make an open profession
of faith in Christ. He Is man OF
character. irreproachable in his con-
duct. who has stood in the white light
Of public opinion for many years
with no serious charge laid against
him. He is a man of gifts--gifts of
language and oratory. and of tremen-
dous dramatic power. like George
Whitefeld. whom even David Gar
rick admired and envied. But above
all Billy Sunday Is man OF the
So'rit God Is using him to produce
mighty results in the world. We
cannot confine the great Head OF the
Church to narrow channels He raises
up and epuips men for His service
In a variety OF ways. One man Is born
in a Christian home reared in the
Sunday school and Church sent to
rood schools. TO college. the univer-
atty, the theological seminary. and has
the advantage of foreign travel, and
is thoroughly prepared to do a great
work In the world; but another man
may he selected by the Spirit of God
from the slums of great city, and
prepared by terrible experience. disci-
plined in the hard and bitter walks of
life, sent out to preach to vast masses
OF people who will not listen. even for
n moment to the. cultured scholar.
Billy Sunday evidently has had the
hand Of God laid upon him. and he Is
just as much "a chosen vessel TO do
the will OF God as any man OF his day.
have no desire to pronounce an
eulogv Of him, he needs nothing of
the kind. but / do not hesitate to
say that believe he is a great power
of God for good in the world.
Methods are Productive.
In regard to his message. I wish to
sav that he saws and does some things
that are painful to me. ! am naturally
a lover of quiet and order in religious
services: but I will not permit myself
10 become a harsh critic OF servant
OF God who adopts and uses methods
different from those which / like,
especially when 1t Is evident to all that
those methods are productive of gra-
eious results His methods are I'M
conventional. but they are not for
that reason to be condemned out OF
hand AS long as methods are not i'm
moral If they produce good results
they can be justified Methods. after
all are largely a matter Of choice;
and although some methods may not