“With everybody trying to tell us what to do, you are to wonder who to know whose word is true.” These words from a Johnny Cash song came to mind recently when listening to men of God on You Tube pulling down another man of God. And I mean men of God, not religious men of the flesh or of the devil. They’re in on the act too, but that can be expected. The man of God being pulled down is Billy Graham, who also features on Cash’s song, proclaiming that which he has never failed to proclaim throughout his near seventy-year ministry, “Jesus said….” Neither has he in all those years ever failed to proclaim, “The Bible says….!”
One man of God doing the pulling down has been blessed with successful ministry and a big church. I wonder though, if he’s ever asked the members how many of them became Christians as a result of the, “Jesus said,” preaching of brother Graham. As consistent as he has been with, “Jesus said,” in his preaching, he has always been just as consistent with, “Go find a church where you can grow and mature in Christ.” Billy Graham has never drawn attention to himself as far as I know, and for me personally he’s helped make the living Lord Jesus Christ irresistibly attractive. The attraction began in 1985 and it has never ceased. Moreover, I’m sure this is the testimony of hundreds of thousands of Christians world-wide.
Thank God for the man of God who says, “Jesus said,” and means it, for many there are who say it but what they really mean is, “I said!” The former always lead you to Jesus, the latter lead you away from Jesus and on to themselves. The spirit that says, I am of Paul,…. I am of Apollos 1 Corinthians 3:4, entices church leaders every bit as much as it entices their people. The man who preaches, “Jesus said,” and means it will discern that spirit and quickly deal with it. The charge that Billy Graham has watered down the gospel over the years and “got into bed” with the Catholics is invalid. He still preached “Jesus said,” in context. I knew I was a sinner before reading a Graham book but he certainly cemented that reality after reading one.
One church leader said of Billy Graham recently that if his ministry was truly of God then the spiritual state of the USA would not be as bad as what it has been in the last sixty years and, “Billy Graham is going to hell,” he said, “He doesn’t know God.” This man too preaches “Jesus said,” and means it, and there are more than a few he could say that about given the false doctrines and silly sermons we hear from them, but where is such evidence with Billy Graham? When I look at a photograph of brother Graham’s eyes I see the eyes of a holy man filled with light, not the eyes of a devil filled with darkness. If there are to be apologies given in heaven to one another, this leader will be giving one to brother Graham, I believe.
Billy Graham is no more responsible for the spiritual state of his nation than were the Old Testament prophets for the spiritual state of Israel. He preached; they preached. They were faithful to the message to the end; he is faithful to the message to the end. If that charge is to be laid at the feet of anyone it is not Billy Graham, it is the church leaders. He proclaimed the gospel of Christ, many thousands responded, it was up to the churches to take it from there. “Go find a church……” he said. So what did the leaders do with those people? How much “Jesus said,” was in their preaching and teaching? How about discipling? Were those under their charge discipled in Christ outside of the one-hour-a-week church gathering or was that the extent of it?
The call to be discipled in Christ will thin the ranks of a church and that’s why a lot of church leaders won’t touch it. Thinned ranks mean thinned meal tickets, so that’s a no-no. Discipleship or lack of is the true reason for the dead spiritual state of the church and not just in the USA but everywhere. A church with five or six on-fire disciples of Christ will do more in sixty days with, “Jesus said,” than five or six hundred spiritually lukewarm or dead pew-sitters could do in sixty months! If you’re a church leader pointing a finger at Billy Graham, pay attention to three fingers pointing back at you. Jesus said, Make disciples Matthew 28:19. By the way, disciples don’t wait thirty years before they get baptized. Properly taught, they act immediately.
Interestingly, followers of Christ were referred to as disciples long before they were referred to as Christians. Could it be said therefore, a Christian who is not a disciple is not a Christian either, in the true sense? ‘Disciple’ means: ‘learner’ ‘pupil’. If the church had more learners and pupils it would be a different church and people on the outside would take notice, as they did at the beginning. ‘Christian’ gets two mentions in the New Testament; ‘disciple’ and ‘disciples’ combined get mentioned about 270 times. Perhaps if we put more focus on being disciples than we do on being Christians our Christian witness would attract a lot more people than it currently does. If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed John 8:31.
The Scripture cited above highlights a greater problem. Sadly, there are not as many disciples of Christ in church leadership as there are politicians and autocrats, charlatans and deceivers. Leaders who won’t become disciples cannot make disciples. Nobody can take anyone where he won’t go himself. So when they open their Bibles and open their mouths and say, “Jesus said,” there’s a lack of spiritual power and authority coming forth to support them. It is not that the Holy Spirit won’t bless His word through such people; it is that He can’t bless unbelief. And He did not do many works there because of their unbelief Matthew 13:58 can apply more so to leaders than it does to the people sitting under them.
Perhaps before they entered their Bible seminaries and colleges many people were disciples of Christ, full of, “Jesus said,” but the spirit of unbelief manifesting itself in teachers and lecturers slowly but surely sucked that from them. In other words, the Holy Spirit was quenched 1 Thessalonians 5:19, causing doubt within them, then unbelief and finally, disobedience. That’s the devil’s pattern; he has not deviated from it since his encounter with Eve in the garden and he never will. For example: If a disciple enters college full of what, “Jesus said,” on Creation, Noah or Jonah, those devils running the show will have them doubting then disbelieving the reality of those accounts within hours!
After that, everything else is a cake-walk for those devils. By the time the students walk from those places with their qualifications and certificates in hand they are as useless to God as the devils are who qualified and certificated them. No wonder we have them standing in pulpits today preaching doctrines of devils 1 Timothy 4:1. If a leader makes a decision to depart from the faith in one area of Scripture he’ll do it with any area. That’s why his “Jesus said” has little to no impact on his people. They go to him for prayer and counselling and he has no Jesus to offer them – not the biblical Jesus at least. Lord, to whom shall we go? Peter asked. You have the words of eternal life John 6: 68. If you want the words of eternal life, stay away from such leaders.
Has everything Billy Graham spoken or written in his near seventy-year ministry been totally correct doctrinally? No man of God would lay claim to that. But nothing he has spoken or written will deceive us and cause us to doubt his, “Jesus said….” He is a man of God empowered by the Spirit of God – to lead people to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Once that is accomplished, Jesus will take it from there. Perhaps someone reads this saying, “Well I saw Billy Graham on You Tube and he said,…………. and I don’t think that’s correct.” Brother Graham leads the lost to Jesus, He is not Jesus. So seek Jesus for yourself and find out what is correct. Make sure you do so with your Bible in hand though. Remember also his unfailing proclamation, “The Bible says….”
Billy said, “Jesus said….” Yes he did; yes he does. Can we as Christians say the same thing? As disciples of Christ we can, we do and by the grace of God we always will. Our discipleship is the key to how effective we are in proclaiming, “Jesus said,” not our Christianity, sad to say. So much said and done in the name of Christianity at this time is nothing more than Socialism, Cultural Marxism and every other God-forsaken ism you can poke a stick at! And if I’m reading the times and the Scriptures correctly this is the way it’s going to be right on into the Great Tribulation. There’s a one-world religion awaiting apostate Christians. Don’t be one of them. Billy said, “Jesus said….” So say I! Jesus said, Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming Matthew 24:42. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life……. John 14:6.