 With "Death's Black Train Is Coming", Gates was the first individual to achieve widespread success with the recorded sermon, and set the precedent for others like Reverend A. W. Nix and Reverend J. C. Burnett.Gospel writer Lerone A. Martin noted that, unlike his predecessors, Gates' delivery of his sermons, which included antiphony, black vernacular, and emotion, especially appealed to urban African-Americans.Gates' record sales rivaled and surpassed all of Columbia's established label artists, and black newspapers such as "Atlanta Daily World" declared "Death's Black Train Is Coming" made the Reverend's fame as a revitalist circulate across the country.