The Billy Sunday Story

Biographical book written by Lee Thomas

I feel humbled and amazed upon my finished reading of this great man of God. From the day the Lord called Billy Sunday into the ministry of evangelism to the time the Lord beckoned him to "come on Home," this saint "ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" with holy zeal. His unabashed, uncompromised preaching of the old-time Gospel and his fiery condemnation of sin brought millions to the foot of Calvary where their sins were washed in that precious blood that will never lose its power.

The story of Bro. Billy Sunday begins in the days of his boyhood. His mother, the widow of a Union soldier, was penniless and unable to provide for her two young boys. With tears coursing down her cheeks, she sent them away by train to a faraway orphanage. Young Billy learned early the value of good, honest hard work. In his later years, he became the well-known baseball player. It was during his career that he turned to Christ for salvation and became a changed many by the Spirit of God. Bro. Sunday related, "If the same floor is in that old building, I can show you the knothole in the board upon which I knelt that dark and stormy night forty years ago. I have followed Jesus from that day to this very second, like a hound on the trail of the fox, and will continue until He leads me through the pearly gate into the presence of God and until it closes on its jeweled hinges."

He continued his baseball career for several years and married a sweet young lady named Helen. Just as he was about to enter full-time ministry, he was offered a very significant baseball contract. For days he wrestled with the decision. He made up his mind to accept the contract, but his heart was still in a turmoil. His dear wife in her wisdom encouraged her husband, "You made God a promise. Stick to it!" He realized that to "gain the whole world" was not worth the price. It was said of him, "He was a premier base-stealing threat on the champion team, but God called him from stealing bases to 'stealing' hearts, from winning championships to winning souls."

This crucial point in Billy Sunday's life was pivotal to God's mighty plans for him. Millions of souls hung precariously upon the choice he would make in this test of surrender. Who can know what God can do with a man fully yielded to Him!

And so Evangelist Billy Sunday began his great work for God. He faithfully preached the Word for 39 years and "fought the Devil, tooth and claw, and never lacked a place to fight him." It was estimated that he delivered 20,000 Spirit-filled sermons during his lifetime. Resonating from the pages of this biography is his devotion and earnestness for the Lord's work in the hearts and lives of men. He was truly a great man of God.

Dr. Elijah Brown said of Evangelist Billy Sunday's preaching, "When he stands in the pulpit with his open Bible before him, he fears neither man nor devil, and in the terrific and almost tragic manner in which he thunders against whatever he believes to be wicked, you can almost see the lightning flashes of Sinai. There are moments when he makes you think of the way in which the Master denounced the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew. With no more fear than Elijah had when he stood before Ahab, he tears the mask from sin, and makes it stand before you a false and cruel thing that is devilish and wicked. While he thunders terrific denunciations against the sins that people right there before him are guilty of, without thought or care as to where his burning shafts will strike, blanched faces may be seen all over the tabernacle. And whatever he says he says standing on the Rock of Ages, with a 'thus saith the Lord' for the stand he takes, so that you are compelled to see that God is against the thing he denounces, as plainly as Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall."

Following are a few quotes by Bro. Billy Sunday which thrilled my soul and convicted my wicked heart:

"Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I've butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition."

"O Devil, why do you hit us when we are down? Old boy, I know that you have no time for me, and I guess that you have about learned that I have no time for you. I will never apologize for anything I have ever done against you. If I have ever said anything that has does not hurt you, tell me about it, and I'll take it out of my sermon."

"Whenever a day comes when I can stand and preach God's Word without an agony of anxiety lest the people will not accept Christ; whenever a day comes when I can see men and women coming down the aisles without joy in my heart, I'll quit preaching."

"Better die an old maid, sister, than marry the wrong man."

"You can't measure manhood with a tape line around his biceps."

"The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you."

"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."

"The Bible will always be full of things you cannot understand, as long as you will not live according to those you can understand."

"Give your face to God, and He will put his shine on it."

"Yank some of the groans out of your prayers and shove in some shouts."

The precious wife of the great evangelist Billy Sunday, lovingly called "Ma" Sunday, was a key feature of this biography. Indeed, as the Proverbs 31 woman's husband, "Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land." A mainstay, loving companion and faithful helpmeet to him, she labored alongside Bro. Sunday, striving for souls and loving the Lord God completely. She said, "My real work was caring for him." She was an asset to Bro. Sunday's ministry. She did him "good and not evil all the days of her life." She was at his side when he finished his race and entered the City of God. This precious lady was endeared to my heart as I read of her life of service to the Lord.

Engraved on Billy Sunday's tombstone is II Timothy 2:3, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith". Below the verse is an open Bible. His testimony of fervency for souls will continue throughout history. As loudly as his great preaching, his enduring testimony shouts to shame and challenge every preacher and believer of today.