On February 21st Billy Graham died at his home in North Carolina. One of his many famous quotes is especially pertinent, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” God used his evangelistic outreaches to bring thousands if not millions to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Billy Graham did not rest in his own accomplishments for his righteousness but in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness alone. He said, “I am not going to heaven because I’ve read the Bible, nor because I’ve preached to a lot of people. I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did.”
Billy Graham was born on November 7, 1918 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was the first of four children born to William F. Graham, Sr. and Morrow Graham. He grew up on a dairy farm in Charlotte. It was in November 1934, that Billy and his friend Grady Wilson attended a revival service conducted by Mordecai Ham, who was in Charlotte to hold a series of revival meetings. Despite the fact that Graham was a well-mannered teenager, Ham’s sermons on sin spoke to young Graham. As the tent revival was closing and the last invitation hymn was being sung, Billy and Grady went forward and surrendered their lives to Christ. He was ordained in 1939 by Peniel Baptist Church in Palatka, Florida, and he attended Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida). In 1943 he graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and married fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, daughter of a missionary surgeon, who spent the first 17 years of her life in China.
He gained great notoriety as an evangelist in 1949 when a planned three-week tent campaign, or “crusade,” in Los Angeles had to be extended to eight weeks due to crowds. In 1957 he preached nightly for 16 weeks in New York’s Madison Square Garden. He spoke to more than 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Graham’s first crusade was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1947. And his final crusade was at Madison Square Garden in 2005.
Billy Graham met with 12 U.S. presidents, beginning with Harry Truman in 1950 and ending with Barack Obama in 2010. He was listed on U.S. Gallup poll’s annual list of most admired people 61 times, more than any other world figure. Graham was also included on the 2017 list. The person with the second-most appearances on the list is Ronald Reagan with 31. He wrote 33 books. His autobiography Just As I Am was published in 1997 attaining a “triple crown,” appearing concurrently on the three top best-seller lists in one week.
One of many things that are admirable about this man of God was his ability to honor the Lord, not perfectly of course, but honorably. Paul writes this in Ephesians 4:1 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Have you ever read an article about Billy Graham vacationing with a young lady that was not his wife? No, because there are none! Never in his entire ministry did he put himself in a position that could ever give formation to such a rumor. Have you read any articles about Billy Graham’s lavish lifestyle including an “air condition dog house”? No, because there are none. That was a very different TV religious personality.
Billy Graham may not have done everything perfectly, nor did he have his doctrine in the perfect order for all his critics. He may have even crossed some sort of imaginary line of politics that others put in front of him. But isn’t that why Billy Graham preached the gospel? He was a man changed by the gospel and propelled into this world with a single, clear, and unwavering purpose: the proclamation of the gospel!
Where did he get that crazy and insane idea?
The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
Billy Graham is home with his Lord and Savior. His work in this world is over. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been affected by his evangelistic effort. He was a man of integrity who loved Jesus, loved his family, and the countless others that came across his path. Yes, I am sure when he got to glory he will be recognized as a faithful servant of God. But he may be busy, not shaking hands with those who were influenced by his ministry. He will be worshiping Jesus Christ, the King of kings who died an atoning death and rose victorious over sin and death. And the good news is that like Billy Graham, anyone who replaces their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be redeemed.
Soli Deo Gloria.