But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
America and the world have been blessed by the life and ministry of Rev. Billy Graham. In fact, the body of Christ has seen the goodness and grace of the Lord in the continuity of the Gospel since it was declared by Jesus and His Apostles more than 2,000 years ago.
With all of the platitudes and biographies that have been and will be written about the life of Billy Graham, the most impactful quote I have read was shared by my daughter-in-law:
“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.” –Billy Graham
This statement from America’s Pastor sums up well the life of Billy Graham. His hope was in nothing less than the righteousness of Jesus Christ through His grace and mercy. Rev. Graham was called to be an evangelist for Christ and as such he did not offer an opinion on every social problem but instead offered the gospel of Jesus.
His ministry and sermons were sometimes attacked for being too simple due to the laser focus Rev. Graham had on the Gospel message. What these detractors failed to realize is that Billy Graham was but one part of the body of Christ used by the Holy Spirit to draw men and women to the cross and from there he sent them to the local church.
The challenge Billy Graham’s life makes to every believer in Jesus is not the estimated 2.2 billion people that the Lord used him to reach for the sake of the gospel but it is this truth, that the gospel was shared with Billy Graham because of faithful Christians who had a burden for the souls of men.
A Sunday school teacher by the name of Edward Kimball determined to win each of the boys in his class to Jesus. One of those boys was Dwight L. Moody. Moody declared the gospel over two continents with many thousands professing Jesus as Lord and Savior as a result. I should also mention that Moody’s ministry is still reaching people today.
From Moody the Gospel was received by Wilbur Chapman who in turn preached it to thousands including a professional baseball player who attended one of Chapman’s meetings, his name was Billy Sunday.
Sunday soon was preaching his own crusades where a scholarly, dignified gentleman known as Mordecai Ham accepted Christ. Ham would rent and parade it through the streets to advertise his meetings. Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina and announced that he knew for a fact that there was a house of ill repute operating just across the street from the high school.
When some of the students decided to interrupt the meetings of Mordecai Ham a young Billy Frank Graham, who until then vowed not to go to the meeting, decided he would see what would happen.
Young Billy was convicted by what he heard and returned a second night where he responded to the invitation of the Gospel message, giving his heart to Jesus.
I am sure there are stories to tell of presidents and famous people who were touched by the life of Billy Graham. There are certainly better biographies written about this man but what I think we should realize is that Jesus used a Sunday School teacher and many other men and women of God to bring the Gospel to you and me.
The life of Billy Graham should be an example of the faithfulness of God as well as the faithfulness of the body of Christ. We should be heartened by that, even as we mourn the passing of this man of God. We should also pray for how we can be used by the Lord to reach those He has given us to reach with His Gospel message.
