MY THOUGHTS ON BILLY GRAHAM.

Billy Graham has died, and millions who were saved by the Gospel he preached, share the joy that resounds in heaven!  In Psalm 116:15, we read, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."  The message he preached contained these things:

       1.  All have sinned - Romans 3:23!
       2.  The wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23a! 
       3.  Jesus died for sinners - Romans 5:8!
       4.  Forgiveness of our sins was paid for by Jesus - 1 Corinthians 15:3!
       5.  Salvation cannot be earned by religious works - Ephesians 2:9!
       6.  Salvation is a gift to those who believe the Gospel - Ephesians 2:8!
       7.  This is the Gospel he preached:  Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that 
            He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures -
            1 Corinthians 15:3-4!
       8.  You need to repent before God, and have faith in Jesus - Acts 20:21!
       9.  Your repentance should be followed by evidence of salvation - Acts 26:20!
     10.  Read your Bible everyday, and be sure to go worship the Lord this Sunday!

Ironically, even after over fifty years of preaching the Gospel, sharing Jesus with dozens of nations worldwide, his worst critics were, and apparently still are, those who found error in something he said in a conversation (not in his messages)!  He visited the Pope!  O my!  Jesus ate with tax collectors.  He was unclear in trying to tell a prosperity preacher that there will be people from all religions in heaven.  I believe, based upon the thousands of messages he preached, that what he was saying is that there will be people saved from false religions, cults, and even in prisons!  I agree that his wording was not "Bible," but I choose to believe his sermons were 100% biblical.  Jesus' toughest opponents were those who thought they were experts on God's Word, and perhaps there is a little of that flaw in all of us at times.  I have to guard against judging a person due to something or other, even when I have fellowshipped with him in the Lord for years.  And, it has happened to me as well.

As for those who accuse Billy Graham of ecumenicalism, he was guilty.  However, if one reads John 17:11, 21-23, he was in good company; Jesus said, "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.  Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are....That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us:  that the world may believe that thou hast sent Me.  And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved me."

The bottom line?  The following verses tell us how to recognize a brother:
        

1 Corinthians 12:3 - Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed:  and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

1 John 2:22-23 - Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.  Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father:  but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Oh, yeah, the reason so many unbelievers respected Billy Graham, was his humility, his consistency, and a lifetime of living what he preached!  And, he did more for breaking down the racism in the churches of the world more than any one!

IF YOU ARE "PROGRAMMED" TO LOOK FOR FLAWS IN OTHERS,

SURROUND YOURSELVES IN A ROOM FULL OF MIRRORS!