REAL REVIVAL PREACHING CONTRASTED
WITH THAT OF SUNDAY AND GRAHAM

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr

A sermon preached at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles
Lord's Day Evening, March 4, 2001

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

There has been no classical, Biblical national revival in America since the Third Great Awakening of 1858-59. In reading the literature regarding the history of revivals, we find that there has been no great regional revival in the English-speaking world since the one on the island of Lewis, off the coast of Scotland, in 1949.

I have become convinced that one of the missing components in our services, which must change if we are to see revival, is the kind of preaching which has always accompanied such awakenings.

In the preaching of Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Asahel Nettleton, and other evangelists during the revivals of history, there was a different emphasis from that which flowed out of  the ministry of Charles G. Finney.

Finney's "new" method of preaching called for a physical verdict, a "decision" at the end of each sermon. Finney was an attorney, and his sermons reflect that background. Like an attorney, Finney presented a series of arguments in his preaching, and called for a physical decision at the end. The older preachers had also called for an immediate conversion, but they preached for an inward experience, rather than a mere physical action. The older revival preachers made the people look inwardly, at their own corrupted, depraved natures, and think about the fact that they were lost without Christ. The older preaching, like that of Whitefield, Edwards and Nettleton, drove people to examine their own hearts and see, inwardly, that they were in rebellion against God, and that they were hopeless unless they came into union, inwardly, with the Son of God, the mediator between a holy God, and themselves as ruined sinners (cf. I Timothy 2:5; I Peter 3:18).

To see how the "new" preaching of Finney's "decisionism" was different from the older preaching in the revivals of the past, we need look no farther than the recorded sermons of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. I am not against all that Graham and Sunday preached by any means. But I am saying that these two famous evangelists followed the methods of Finney in their preaching. They called for immediate, on the spot decisions. They did not turn people to an inward examination of their own souls and a deep, heart-searching for union with Christ, as the only hope for the forgiveness of sins through His Blood (cf. Revelation 1:5).

We will examine the "invitations" of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham, and we will show how their invitations pandered to the flesh, and did not adequately present Biblical Christianity.

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

I. The preaching of Billy Sunday

Billy Sunday was born in 1862 and died in 1935. In 1883 he became a baseball player for the Chicago Whitestockings. He was converted in 1888. In 1893 he became an assistant to evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman. When Chapman left evangelism to become a pastor in 1895, Sunday began holding his own meetings. He developed a knack for publicity and a slang-filled direct style of preaching that attracted large crowds. He received the support of millionaires like John D. Rockefeller, and was soon leading gigantic evangelistic meetings in big cities like New York and Chicago.

Sunday was often criticized for sensationalism and lack of follow-up on those who came forward in his meetings. It is estimated that about one million people made "decisions" in his evangelistic services.

My criticism of Billy Sunday is on his presentation of the gospel, particularly in the way he gave the "invitation." Here are the closing words of several of his sermons, containing his "invitation" to salvation. I am giving them word-for-word, transcribed from his own sermons, in Less Than Conquerors by Douglas W. Frank (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986):

How many of you men and women will jump to your feet and come down and say, "Bill, here's my hand for God, for home, for my native land, to live and conquer for Christ?" (p. 265).

How many of you will pledge and promise to say, "God, I will stand by you and I'll stand by your cross, and I'll stand by the religion of Jesus Christ. I'll stand by my flag, I'll stand by my country - here I am, Lord" (ibid.).

How many men and women here tonight will come down and give me your hand and say: "Here's my hand, to live for God and Christ the best I know how"? Will you? Come on. I would like to have the honor to take you by the hand (ibid.).

Oh, do you want to know why you are not a Christian? You aren't man enough to be a Christian. You haven't manhood enough to get up and walk down the aisle and take me by the hand and say, "I give my heart to Christ." You haven't manhood enough to take my hand and go home this afternoon and say, "I hit the trail this afternoon and I'm going to live for Christ." It takes manhood to be a Christian, my friend, in this old world (page 193).

How many of you men will say, "Bill, I believe the Christian life is the right and manly life, and by the grace of God, from now on I'll do my best for the Lord and for his truth." Do you believe it's manly? Have you got the guts to do it? Come on! Come on! Come on! (ibid.).

Douglas W. Frank says, "The good news, in Billy Sunday's hands, became the proclamation that men and women could be good and strong; and that if enough people were good and strong…America would be saved." (ibid.). This may sound good, but it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I have just read Billy Sunday's most famous sermon, "Get on the Water Wagon." I do not see how anyone could get saved through hearing this sermon! There is not one word of the gospel in it! It is purely an attack on a social evil with no gospel whatever. It ends with these words:

You men now have a chance to show your manhood. In the name of your pure mother, in the name of your manhood, in the name of your wife and the pure, innocent children that climb up in your lap and put their arms around your neck, in the name of all that is good and noble, fight the curse (quoted in 25 of the Greatest Sermons Ever Preached, edited by Jerry Falwell, Baker Book House, 1983, p. 185).

The six invitations I have quoted were typical of Billy Sunday's preaching. They were humanistic and Pelagian. They were based on human effort and man's ability to make himself right in the sight of God. Billy Sunday did not plainly tell people they were hopeless sinners. He did not adequately stress the atonement, Christ's death for sinners. He did not stress salvation by grace. He told sinners to "do something for Jesus" instead of stressing what "Jesus did for them."  Sunday's preaching was not Protestantism.  It was Pelagianist  heresy.  It was not the belief of old-time Baptists! 

Billy Sunday's invitations were not inner-directed like the old evangelistic sermons of Whitefield, Wesley, Edwards, and Nettleton. Sunday did not call for people to examine their hearts and see that they were inwardly corrupted and sinful and in need of Christ and His Blood to atone for their sins. Finney's "decisionism" came full circle in the invitations of Billy Sunday. One million people came forward during his invitations. Hearing a man-centered, Pelagian message, how many of them were converted?

No classical, Biblical revival ever occurred during Billy Sunday's evangelistic crusades. That is a matter of record.

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

II. The preaching of Billy Graham

Fourteen years after Billy Sunday died in 1935, a young preacher named Billy Graham became the leading evangelist in America. Graham's 1949 Los Angeles Crusade drew record crowds and he became the leading spokesman for evangelism.

Bob Jones, Sr. and John R. Rice spoke out against Graham's refusal to separate from liberal churches and denominations. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, of London, England, refused to cooperate with Graham because of "decisionism." But most of the evangelical churches and leaders followed Billy Graham. He became the chief spokesman, and one of the main creators, of new-evangelicalism.

I have heard many well-meaning people say, "I don't agree with Billy Graham cooperating with liberals, but he does preach the Gospel. People are getting saved by the thousands."

I question that. I have done careful research on this question, and I have come to the conclusion, based on statistics, that very few people (pitifully few) have actually gotten saved as a result of hearing Dr. Graham's sermons across the last fifty years.

Billy Graham's 1958 San Francisco Crusade was one of his greatest successes. It was six weeks long. The San Francisco Cow Palace auditorium was packed with thousands of people every night. 26,698 people came forward at Graham's invitation. But, as in the earlier Billy Sunday meetings, the great majority of those people were not seeking salvation, but were "rededicating" their lives or "reconfirming their commitment." The number of those coming forward for salvation was only 1,300 people, or 5%.

But it gets even worse! The Oakland Tribune made this statement:

Approximately 1,300 people made decisions…who had not frequented a church before. Less than one percent of this number have become church members (Bill Rose, Oakland Tribune, December 17, 1958, p. 6-S).

Dr. R. T. Ketcham, the founder of the General Association of Regular Baptists, gave this comment on the Graham meeting:

Dr. Graham's San Francisco Crusade reported 26,698 decisions for Christ. One year after the Crusade, the Oakland Tribune reported that first time confessions of Christ were only 1,300, and that less than one percent of the 1,300 had become members of any church. That would be 13 people (R. T. Ketcham, "Facts Concerning Billy Graham," in "Graham's 23 Years of Change" by D. A. Waite, Collingswood, NJ: The Bible For Today, 1971, Appendix III, p. 3).

As Dr. R. T. Ketcham pointed out, "Less than one percent had become members of any church. That would be 13 people." So, 26,698 people came forward, but only 13 new people were added to the churches that sponsored the crusade. Only one twentieth of one percent of those coming forward were added to the churches! Pitiful!

Dr. William G. McLoughlin, Jr., professor of history at Brown University, points out that Graham claimed 100,000 decisions a year between 1950 and 1958. At one twentieth of one percent, this means that Graham only added 50 people a year to the churches (ref. Modern Revivalism, The Ronald Press, 1959, pp. 514-522).

Think of it! With all the hoopla, all the TV programs, all the crowded stadiums - with all that - Graham only added about 50 people a year to the nation's churches!

But it gets even worse! When you examine Billy Graham's sermons and his form of the "sinner's prayer," you find a similar humanistic basis, and the same Pelagianism, as there was in the sermons of Billy Sunday. Oh, to be sure, Graham is much more "slick" than Sunday. To be sure, he adds the words of the gospel to his sermons. But when you come to the invitation, there are the same underlying forces of humanism and Pelagianism.

I have been listening to Billy Graham preach on a regular basis for about forty-seven years. I have heard the following formula for salvation repeated in nearly all of his sermons for the last five decades. Here is Graham's formula, taken directly from his sermon, "What About You? What About God?," as it was given in the February 2001 Decision magazine (pp. 1-3). Graham ends the sermon with his usual "three things you must do." You often hear him say, "You may ask, 'Billy, what do I have to do?' There are three things you must do." Then he lists them. Here is the list:

You can change. How?

First, you must repent of your sins. You must confess to God. Say, "I'm willing to change my way of living…"

Second, you must believe. And many of you believe in God. You believe in Christ. But you haven't put your trust and total confidence in Christ.

Third, you must confess Christ openly. Do others know you are a follower of Christ? You must be willing to stand up for Christ, and that's tough because some people are going to laugh at you. I'm going to ask you to make your commitment to Jesus Christ now… (Decision, February 2001, pp. 1-3).

Notice that all of this is man-centered. "You can change." "You must repent of your sins." "You must confess to God." "You must believe." "You must confess Christ openly." "You must be willing to stand up for Christ, and that's tough…" "Make your commitment to Jesus Christ now."

How is this any different from Billy Sunday's message? Words like this are typical in Graham's invitations, "You must be willing to stand up for Christ, and that's tough because people are going to laugh at you" (ibid.). "Now it's hard and it's tough and it's rough to follow Christ. I don't want you to come under any false illusions. I'm going to ask you to come tonight and receive Him openly and publicly" (Billy Graham, The Challenge, New York: Doubleday, 1969, p. 102).

There is little difference between this and Billy Sunday saying,

It takes manhood to be a Christian, my friend, in this old world.

How many of you men will say, "Bill, I believe the Christian life is the right and manly life…" Do you believe it's manly? Have you got the guts to do it? Come on! Come on! Come on!

Although Billy Graham is more refined and polished than Billy Sunday, their message is basically the same: man can change himself by his own effort. It is, therefore, a humanistic message, because it centers in what man does for himself. It is a Pelagian message because it assumes that man has the ability to change himself and follow Christ.

Both Sunday and Graham take the same basic view as their predecessor, Charles G. Finney, whose most famous sermon was titled, "Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts." That was exactly the emphasis of his 20th century successors, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham.

Just be manly enough to stand up and come forward. Just be good enough to take a stand for Christ. As Billy Graham put it, "You can change…You must be willing to stand up for Christ, and that's tough" (Decision, February 2001, p. 3).

Like Billy Sunday, Graham did not tell the people they were totally depraved, helpless sinners. He mentioned Christ's atonement on the Cross, but he did not adequately stress it. Because he did not preach total depravity, he did not stress salvation wholly by grace. He, like Sunday, told sinners to "do something for Jesus" instead of stressing what "Jesus did for them."

Billy Graham does not stress the total depravity of man.  He does not stress that man is really lost. In this he is no different from Charles G. Finney, Billy Sunday... or the Pope! None of them preach that man is a helplessly condemned sinner without converting grace. 

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

III. The preaching of those who desire real revival

A revival may be defined like this:

A revival is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, brought about by the prayers of Christ, resulting in a widespread movement of grace among the unconverted, and a new degree of life in the churches as a consequence.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his book Revival (Crossway, 1987) points out several doctrines that always accompany revival. He includes (1) The Blood atonement of Christ, (2) Justification only by faith in Jesus, and (3) Regeneration. "It emphasizes the absolute necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit. It reminds us that nothing will suffice except a man be born again, that he be given a new nature. That there is no value in any decision on the part of man" (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival, Crossway, 1987, p. 56). Then, Dr. Lloyd-Jones also listed (4) The doctrine of the total depravity of man, which makes any "decision" merely a sham unless the person has been regenerated by the grace of God. Dr. Lloyd-Jones calls this "man in sin" (ibid., p. 40). And, he also gives (5) The wrath of God against sin (p. 41), and (6) The mediatorial work of Christ (p. 46).

None of those doctrines were at the heart of the preaching of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. You hear a passing mention of these topics in the Sunday/Graham sermons to be sure, but only a passing mention. They are not at the heart of Sunday/Graham sermons. The subjects these evangelists only mentioned in passing were,

1. The total depravity of man

2. The wrath of God against sin

3. The mediatorial work of Christ between God and sinful men

4. The Blood atonement of Christ

5. Justification by faith in Christ alone

Revival preaching doesn't just mention those subjects. Revival preaching focuses on them almost exclusively. Let's look at these great subjects which must be preached if we expect God to send revival:

1. The total depravity of man. Turn to Ephesians, chapter two, verse one.

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins"

Notice verse five,

"Even when we were dead in sins…"

Now turn to chapter four, verse eighteen,

"Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."

You cannot "make a decision to follow Christ" because you are dead, alienated from God, blind in your heart. In other words, you are lost! That's what it means to be lost!

2. The wrath of God against sin. Turn to Psalm 7:11,

"God is angry with the wicked every day."

Turn to Hebrews 12:29,

"For our God is a consuming fire."

Turn to Hebrews 10:31,

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

God is filled with anger and wrath at your sin. You will be cast into Hell by God if you die in the state that you are now in. Turn to Matthew 25:46:

"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment."

3. The mediatorial work of Christ. Turn to I Peter 3:18,

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."

Turn to I Timothy 2:5,

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

The only possible way that a depraved sinner, under the wrath of God, can be saved is through the mediator between God and men, who died "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18). You cannot come to God any other way than through Jesus, the mediator.

4. The Blood atonement of Christ. Turn to Revelation 20:12,

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

Now turn to Revelation 1:5,

"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood"

Your sins are recorded in God's "books" up in Heaven. Those sins, recorded in God's books, will send you to Hell. Nothing can wash those sins away but the Blood of Jesus. You must have Jesus so your sins can be washed away in His Blood.

5. Justification by faith in Christ alone. Turn to Romans 4:5,

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Now turn to Acts 16:31,

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

When you believe in Jesus, His Blood cleanses your sins and you are regenerated, born again (ref. John 3:7).

Isn't it a pity that these great themes, though mentioned, were not the central core of the sermons of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham?

Won't you make these doctrines the core of your own belief and be converted to Christ?

Preacher, if you are reading this on the website, will you preach whole sermons on those five doctrines? Will you keep them central in all your preaching? God bless you as you do.

Sinner, consider these great doctrines again:

1. The total depravity of man. You are helplessly lost. You cannot save yourself. You are lost in sin.

2. The wrath of God. God's wrath and anger are against you in your sin.

3. The mediatorial work of Christ. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to bridge the gap between you, a sinner, and the Holy God of the Bible.

4. The Blood atonement. Jesus shed His Blood on the Cross so that your sins could be washed away.

5. Justification by faith in Jesus alone. You can only be counted just and righteous by God by believing on His Son, Jesus.

This is historic Protestant and Baptist belief. This is what the Bible teaches. Away with Finney/Sunday/Graham "decisionism"! It is Pelagianism! It is the religion of the Pope! It has poisoned the churches and sent millions to Hell. Away with it! Go back to our revival heritage! Go back to the Bible! Throw yourself on the mercy of Christ!

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

There is a fountain filled with blood
   Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
   Lose all their guilty stains.
           ("There Is a Fountain" by William Cowper, 1731-1800).

Our deacon, Mr. Griffith, did not sing a solo before the sermon. He is with his dying mother in New England.

You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com. Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."

For a tape recording of Dr. Hymers preaching this sermon, send $4.00 and request the sermon by date and title. Write to Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr., P. O. Box 15308, Los Angeles, CA 90015.

THE OUTLINE OF

REAL REVIVAL PREACHING CONTRASTED
WITH THAT OF SUNDAY AND GRAHAM

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

I.    The preaching of Billy Sunday

II.   The preaching of Billy Graham

III.  The preaching of those who desire real revival
1. The total depravity of man, Ephesians 2:1,5; 4:18.
2. The wrath of God against sin, Psalm 7:11;
           Hebrews 12:29; 10:31; Matthew 25:46.
3. The mediatorial work of Christ, I Peter 3:18;
           I Timothy 2:5.
4. The Blood atonement of Christ, Revelation 20:12;
           Revelation 1:5.
5. Justification by faith in Christ alone, Romans 4:5;
           Acts 16:31; John 3:7.