Billy Graham.

I am sure, pretty much anyone who is alive today, either knows who Billy Graham was, or has heard of his recent passing away. Certainly, he was a man with world wide recognition, and shared a great message of hope for the world.

There are probably no countries that exist in the world today, where Billy Graham has not had some sort of impact on their citizens, in one way or another. His mission was world-wide, I do not think anyone can doubt that statement. With such a world-wide influence of the ministry of Billy Graham, there are always going to be the groups of supporters, and also groups of opponents of it. Certainly, when we preach the Gospel, we end up having our own 'crosses' to bear, and Christ warned us of this fact. However, the opponents of our faith, and teachings, according to the Scriptures, should be those from outside the faith, those of a different 'Religion' or more specifically, those of  'this World'.

The purpose of this article is to point out one fact, that you can see clearly if you were to do a Google or You Tube search of Billy Graham. Pretty much the vast majority of people who post video's or write critical materials about Billy Graham are the Bible believing Christians who profess faith in Christ, and hardly not any people of 'this World' or other faiths. I guess I would have to be included in that group, but I believe if you can open our mind and heart to truth, you may see that there are some reasons for some real concerns about the ministry of Billy Graham. Why should we care? Well, if we study the Scriptures, we know that there is coming a time when all faiths will unite as one, and establish what is called a 'one world religion'. This, of course will be a false religion, and will have it's purpose in causing the 'World' to worship and follow the coming Anti-Christ. If you consider the past, and all the wars and death that resulted from one 'religion' fighting against another, one would think the task of uniting such faiths into one common faith would be nearly impossible. Certainly a task that would not happen "overnight" and would take many years to cultivate. But, it certainly makes logical sense that if someone was to come along, appearing to be completely in tune with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, but over many years began compromising, and promoting ideas and showing actions that tend to unite different religions more than divide, that would be an affective tool to use to obtain such a one world religion. Would it not?
Let's not forget Jesus' actual words on this subject;
Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

A sword is symbolically used in Scripture to divide, and the person of God who is referred to as a sword, is the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Spirit is to separate, make a distinction, between those who follow Christ, and those who do not. The Spirit will only indwell the heart of the true, born again believer, there is no language in New Testament Scriptures of peoples of differing faiths, uniting with the followers of Jesus. Sure, we all live in the same world, and have to work with, eat with and even have family members to live with that have different faith than ours, but even that subject Jesus addressed. So, let's examine whether Billy Graham followed this principle of dividing the faiths, or in time, ended up embracing the world's way of trying to unite them. You decide.

When Billy Graham began his crusades, his message was based solely on one point, Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation, there is no path to God outside of faith in Jesus Christ, and all other paths lead to destruction. Please watch the short clip below from one of his crusades in 1957;

Billy Graham's initial teaching on the only way to heaven.is through Jesus

Certainly his statements here are taken right from the New Testament Scriptures, and I am certain many came to faith in Jesus based solely on these words, given to us by the Spirit of God in the Bible, and pronounced publicly by Billy Graham (and others, of course) in his day. Remember, the Scriptures also tell us; Isaiah 55:11 "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." 
And Paul, using Isaiah's writings as an example, also stated; Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
So, did Billy Graham stay true to this message? Did he die with a untainted record of keeping this basic truth as the foundation of his teachings, or did the influence of the world, and the world 'Religions' affect his teaching? Specifically, did he give the Holy Spirit full control of the direction and purpose of his ministry, or did he allow Satan, the god of this world, to influence that direction?
Below is a clip from the 1988 interview Billy Graham did with Larry King;

Billy Graham now admitting 'Jesus is the only way' is a sidetrack from the true Gospel message

Here, not only do we witness Billy Graham not willing to state that if anyone should not have their faith fully in Jesus Christ while they yet have breath, and should die a Muslim, Hindu or other faith outside of being 'born again', that they will be destined for Hell (as he clearly stated in the video above). But, he recanted, or at the very least retracted, his 'early' method of preaching the truth of 'salvation only through Jesus Christ', given to us from the Holy Spirit, through the Apostles, for a more acceptable, and ecumenical message of  simply the "love" of Christ. He even went so far as to say that the preaching of  'the one way to salvation' was a 'sidetrack' from the "true message of the cross", which stands in direct opposition to his 1957 depiction of the "true message of the cross". What happened to his message?

Almost ten years later, in 1997, during an interview with the late Robert Schuller - Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral Church in California at that time, Mr. Graham again denies that faith in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and His Gospel message, is the only way to obtain salvation;

You can be saved without even being conscious of who Jesus Christ is

Did you listen to that entire video clip? How is it that someone can have faith is Jesus Christ and not even be conscious of it? Granted, even though the Scripture tells us that the Gospel message will, at some point, be preached and known throughout the entire world before the second return of Christ, from his Resurrection until today, there have been some amount of people who have died without hearing that message, or about Jesus. Does the Bible address these people? Yes, Paul clearly addresses this issue in Romans 2:12, and Billy Graham was right to point out that there was, and could still be, 3rd world people who are in this situation. However, what he failed to point out is that once they are discovered, as he claims he did discover some, they would be given that Gospel message, and would have immediately accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, if, of course, they truly were called of God (had a consciousness toward God). As Paul taught us, we are judged by God, according to our works, based on what we know. If we know of, or have heard of the saving message of the cross, that Mr. Graham so often spoke of, and we reject that message, or in any way refuse to accept that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation, then no amount of 'good works' we do will be acceptable to God. Once we have been given this truth, or in any way had access to it, unless Jesus Christ has been accepted as Lord, and not rejected as such, then you shall not, in this present age, enter into the Kingdom of God (Heaven). That should have been Billy's answer to Mr. Schuller, but sadly, he 'tickled his ears' and gave him a very watered down, and incomplete answer to his question. Much different than, even by his own admission, his earlier days of preaching. Again, what happened to his message?

Truth be known, ALL men alive on this planet today can be traced back to the family of Noah, who, of course, was a true 'man of God'. So, therefore, any people on this planet, regardless of when they lived, if not now a believer in the faith of Jesus Christ as the only way, had some root of rejection, and disbelief in what Noah knew, and their ancestors walked away from pure faith in the 'great I AM', God. So, this discredits Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other world 'religions' as 'having a heart towards God' as they all in some way split from the one true faith, in a one true, and specific, God.
It certainly also discredits any 'Christian' based faiths that do not hold to the pure teachings of the canonized New Testament scriptures, and have added other doctrines, traditions and/or prophesies that contradict the truth of the Gospel, and the teaching of the Holy Spirit given us through the original Apostles. In Revelations, chapter 22:18, the last of the living Apostles, John, wrote (around the year 90A.D.) that if any prophesies are added, or taken away from what Jesus has revealed to him in these writings (the book of Revelations), then the same plagues spoken of in these writings would also be added to them. What would these 'prophesies' be? Anything, regarding our salvation, or the acquirement of that salvation, or any future events or 'revelations' that was not clearly written and expounded upon within, not only the book of Revelations, but also the entire New Testament. It's not a stretch to make this statement, because even the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 24 of the New Testament, are clearly repeated, and even expounded upon in Jesus' further teaching of these truths to John in the entire book of Revelations.

The Gospel message is the same throughout the entire New Testament, and was even foretold in the Old Testament. Therefore, we have to conclude, that regardless of what might be considered acceptable doctrine, and teaching by the world today, the Gospel message must always, and forever remain the same.

John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 

Certainly Billy Graham taught plenty of truth about Jesus' message for mankind, and yes, he did often share that same verse posted above throughout his ministry. And I am certain there are many souls, drawn by God, that heard Mr. Graham preach these truths, and became saved. There are also many other Christian based faiths out there that also teach a lot of truth, and can appear to also have faith in Jesus Christ, but, they have added to what scriptures teach. Whether it be in post Apostolic prophesies of future events, methods or means of obtaining salvation, religious ceremonies or practises, all seeming to appear to be 'Godly' or 'Christ like', but straying from the true teaching and witness of the Holy written Word.
Having a mixed message, and not standing firmly on the truth written in the Word of God, throughout your entire ministry, can have a wide range of affects on a large groups of people in this world. Man is always constantly searching 'with itching ears' to hear  things that justify their ways, and help to satisfy the desires of their own hearts, rather than what is the desire of God's heart. Giving them the slightest idea that they are not heading to Hell by their thinking, or devotion to their religion, as opposed to true faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, can be the one thing that guarantees they miss their salvation all together, and do end up in Hell.

I actually think Billy Graham had many days and nights of seriously contemplating this. One would think, with the large crowds, and countless testimonies of salvation that Billy Graham has witnessed, or known about, as a result of his preaching, that Mr. Graham would have complete confidence that he did do exactly as the Lord had purposed him to do. But, in this video clip of his 1992 interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC News, at the end, he even confesses he's not sure he's going to be told by the Lord "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

In his own words...

It's pretty obvious, now that Billy Graham has died, that he is getting all the accolades that he had stated he did not want to receive in the above video clip. People from all over the world, and from many religions and faiths, are saying big things about him, which is what he supposedly did not want. The public opinion polls out there on Billy Graham are all positive, lauding, and even sensational when speaking about the man, but, will he hear the same from the Lord? Even he did not appear to think so. We can look at that and say that it is simply Billy being humble, or, we can look at that and say why was there even a doubt in his mind? I think, based on what I have shown above, that we can understand why there was doubt.

I have always been one, when certain questions are raised about certain men and their faith toward God, to simply go 'back to the Bible' and see what Scriptures, and the Lord, have to say about it. In regards to public opinion;

Luke 6:26 "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." 

 Certainly, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we should all speak well of each other, and be in unity as Scripture also commands us. However, the Scriptures also command us to not just follow every wind of doctrine out there, to not follow after man or man's wisdom, and to test all spirits whether or not what they teach is of God, or not. We are warned of false teachers, and false prophets, and also strong delusion, that can affect even the very elite. A good point to consider is this; Scripture does not warn us to 'beware of wolves in wolves clothing', rather, we are to be on guard, and watch for 'wolves in sheep's clothing'.

Whether or not Billy Graham was any one of these things that Scripture has warned us to look out for, that is up to each individual to decide for themselves. It is certainly not my call to judge whether or not Billy Graham was or was not saved at his death, is or is not in Heaven, or such judgments. That's God's call.
However, by just the evidence I have presented, and without even considering other evidence out there that suggests he may have been involved in even more sinister groups, or coalitions, there's enough there to make me question who Billy Graham, in the end, truly was serving.

Remember, there's not been a Pope past or present that doesn't preach Jesus Christ, however, how many, if any, do you think are in Heaven based solely on the fact that everyone of them allowed (and even commanded) men to refer to them, not only as 'Father', but 'Holy Father'. Yikes! That's exactly the reason Satan was cast from Heaven! Trying to be as God. Whether in Heaven, or here on Earth, it's the same result, and we certainly know this because it was that 'original sin', that we can be "as God, knowing all things", that Satan beguiled Adam and Eve with and got them thrown out of God's paradise, Eden.

We should all be careful not to get thrown out of His new 'Paradise', and this is something I hope Billy Graham, before his death, really truly considered, but sadly, as yet, I have seen no public confession, or recanting of the things he has falsely taught in the past.
If one should think that one can not be thrown from Grace, then what is the purpose of the Lord having John the Apostle write letters to the Churches, and in those letters having John point out their errors, stating to one if they repent- "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,"
and to another if they don't repent- " I will spue thee out of my mouth." 

I can only hope Billy Graham repented.

The below video may explain a few things, if one keeps an open mind.

The other evidence.