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What Saith the Scripture?
http://www.WhatSaithTheScripture.com/
Babylon the Great (Part 5)
Or, The Coming Destruction of the One World Religion
Billy Graham: Christianity's Modern Balaam
"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore
is wrath upon thee from before the LORD"
(2Chronicles 19:2).
by Tom Stewart
3-23-99
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preface
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey was taken of the American public on December 28th-29th
1998, sampling 1,055 adult Americans' opinions of whom they "admire the most".
"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not
of Me" (Isaiah 30:1). Despite the House of Representatives' vote to impeach
him, President Bill Clinton was voted the most admired man-- "living in any
part of the world"-- for the second consecutive year. "For My thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD" (55:8).
It came as no surprise that NBA sports star Michael Jordan was included near the
top of that list-- 4th most admired. However, the 2nd most admired was the only one
of the top four that is not an American-- Pope John Paul II. "Moreover I will
deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious
things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the
hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon"
(Jeremiah 20:5). The individual that ranked as the 3rd most admired man-- by this
"evil and adulterous generation" (Matthew 12:39)-- in 1998's year end poll,
was Billy Graham, the Southern Baptist evangelist known throughout the world. But,
"11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you" (5:11-12).
How Could This Happen?
Jesus Christ, the Judge, "standeth before the door" (James 5:9), and the
Apostasy preceding His Second Coming is already in progress. "When the Son of
Man cometh, shall He find Faith on the Earth?" (Luke 18:8). Though it may seem
that the entire world has capitulated to Babylon the Great, the God of All Comfort
assures His people, "I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal" (Romans 11:4). The transformation of
Professed Christianity into Babylon the Great must accelerate as the Man of Sin must
shortly be revealed. "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving,
and being deceived" (2Timothy 3:13). Though Christ's free gift of salvation
is offered to the world-- and "few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14)--
apparently even fewer have an "understanding of the times, to know what Israel
[i.e., the Godly] ought to do" (1Chronicles 12:32). [See
our articles, "An Earnest Appeal to Roman Catholics, Or, Roman Catholicism Examined in
Light of the Scriptures"-- http://Whatsaiththescripture.com/Fellowship/An.Earnest.Appeal.html
--and "Babylon the Great (Part 2), The Reformation and the Church of Rome"-- http://Whatsaiththescripture.com/Timeline/Babylon.The.Great.Part.2.html
--, for an exposition of Rome's doctrine and history.]
How could this degeneration take place for the Professed Church, if the Godly continue
to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ"
(2Peter 3:18)? Obviously, the Professed Church has ceased to grow, but has become
"as a backsliding heifer" (Hosea 4:16). The command of the Holy One-- "Be
ye holy; for I am holy" (1Peter 1:16)-- has been minimized or sinfully ignored,
i.e., "Christians aren't perfect-- just forgiven". As the Saints became
"weary in well doing" (Galatians 6:9), instead of reproving the "unfruitful
works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11), they opened their arms of fellowship to
Babylon the Great in the name of Unity and Christian Love. But, "what saith
the Scripture?" (Romans 4:3). "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love
them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD"
(2Chronicles 19:2).
Billy Graham: His Early Life and Ministry
Outside of the Pope, one of the best known names of the modern Christian culture
is that of Billy Graham-- William Franklin Graham, Jr.-- born in 1918. "For
unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48).
At the age of 16, Billy Graham made a public profession of faith in the LORD Jesus
Christ, under the preaching of Baptist evangelist, Mordechai Ham (1877-1961). "Even
a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right"
(Proverbs 20:11). In 1936, Graham briefly attended Bob Jones College (now Bob Jones
University of Greenville, South Carolina [USA])-- founded by Bob Jones, Sr. (1883-1968),
Fundamentalist evangelist-- citing an inability to adjust to Bob Jones campus life
as his reason for leaving. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
(Amos 3:3). He then transferred to Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College).
At this time, he began his life-long membership in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Graduating in 1940, he then entered Wheaton College, where he also graduated; and,
in 1943, he married Ruth Bell (b. 1920), daughter of missionaries to China and Korea.
"For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife: and they twain shall be one flesh" (Matthew 19:5).
During his early ministry, Billy Graham became a well known evangelistic figure among
the Fundamentalist, Bible preaching churches of America, but still not a byword to
America's religious mainstream. "A good name is rather to be chosen than great
riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). From
1945 to 1948, Graham assisted Torrey Johnson, organizing rallies and speaking for
the Youth for Christ organization. "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My
disciples indeed" (John 8:31). In 1947, William B. Riley (1861-1947)-- ardent
Fundamentalist, who fought the drift of the Northern Baptist Convention into Modernism's
Social Gospel-- persuaded Graham to accept the leadership of Northwestern Schools
in Minneapolis, Minnesota [USA]. "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of
trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint" (Proverbs 25:19).
After all, in 1948, at the annual convention of the fundamentalist 'Conservative
Baptist Association', Billy Graham was asked: "What do you expect the World
Council of Churches to do this August when you visit Copenhagen?" Graham replied,
"I believe they are going to nominate the Anti-Christ" (from Ian R. K.
Paisley's "Billy Graham and the Church of Rome" [1970], p. 46). Contrast
that to Graham's 1974 statement at the International Congress on World Evangelization
in Lausanne, Switzerland: "I have nothing but the warmest of relations with
the World Council of Churches" (from Dr. Bert Oately-Willis' "Billy Graham:
The Facts" [Toronto Free Presbyterian Church]). "No man can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).
1949-- A Year of Decision for Billy Graham
Let an excerpt from a biography of Billy Graham, "Billy Graham and the Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association - Historical Background", prepared by the staff
of the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College-- since 1980, the designated
repository for the papers of Graham and the records of the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association (BGEA)-- inform us of the sudden transformation of Billy Graham
at the close of 1949. "Within evangelical and fundamentalist communities in
America, Graham was quite well known. At the end of 1949, he suddenly came into national
prominence. An evangelistic campaign Graham was leading in Los Angeles resulted in
the dramatic conversion of a local underworld figure and a prominent disc jockey,
among others. The newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, for reasons unknown,
ordered his publications to 'puff Graham' and other newspapers around the country
followed suit. The campaign, planned for three weeks, lasted seven. Next, Graham
went to Boston for a scheduled series of campaigns and again the results were spectacular.
He then went on to Columbia, South Carolina, where he met publisher Henry Luce, who
was impressed with the evangelist and had articles about him written for his publications,
Time and Life magazines." "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well
of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).
The Way of Balaam
But, why identify the name of the wicked prophet, Balaam, with that of Billy Graham,
a Bible preaching evangelist?
A thoughtful evaluation of the ministry of Billy Graham
will reveal that Billy Graham has been mightily used of Satan to break down the
walls of separation between the Godly and the ungodly. "And ye shall be
holy unto Me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that
ye should be Mine" (Leviticus 20:26). It will also reveal that Billy Graham's
most effective work for Babylon the Great has been that of masquerading as a Bible
believing evangelist-- doing "the work of the LORD deceitfully" (Jeremiah
48:10)-- seducing unwary Pilgrims into laying aside the "Sword of the Spirit"
(Ephesians 6:17) in the name of Christian Love and Unity. If the Pope had approached
the Bible-Believing-Evangelical-Community with the need for Ecumenical Unity in previous
generations, he would have been viewed with suspicion-- on account of the corruptions
of the Medieval Catholic Church, the terrors of the Inquisition, the wicked absurdity
of Papal infallibility, etc. "Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matthew
7:16).
But, when Billy Graham, who is supposed to be a respected leader of the Bible-Believing-Evangelical-Community,
calls for Love and Christian Unity with the Church of Rome, i.e., Babylon
the Great, it becomes palatable to the rank and file. "Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). Though Billy
Graham is only one of "many antichrists" (1John 2:18)-- for he opposes
the necessity to "come out of" Babylon the Great (Revelation 18:4), which
is the antichristian Church of Rome-- he does prepare the way for the False Prophet
and the Antichrist. "For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his
evil deeds" (2John 11). [See our article,
"Babylon the Great (Part 3), The Ecumenical Movement and the Church of Rome"-- http://Whatsaiththescripture.com/Timeline/Babylon.The.Great.Part.3.html
--, to trace the prophetic significance of the False Love and Unity of Ecumenism.]
A Chronology of the Compromise of Billy Graham With Babylon the Great.
1966, December 6th. A National Council of Churches-- or, the National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Inc., which is "the largest ecumenical
body in the United States, with a membership of about 40 million" (Britannica
CD 99)-- committee invited Billy Graham to speak at a December 6th luncheon. Dr.
Graham said, "We need to remind ourselves of such scriptures as Paul wrote to
the Corinthians, 'Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.' [2Corinthians 6:17]
Now some people have interpreted that verse to mean the National Council-- that you're
to come out and touch not the unclean thing. (Laughter) That's not the meaning there,
the meaning is paganism-- the evils of the world. Indeed we're to go into the world,
and mingle with the publicans and sinners but we're not to participate in the moral
and social evils" (from Ian R. K. Paisley's "Billy Graham and the Church
of Rome", pp. 27-28). Concerning Graham's mocking of spiritual separation, "Fools
make a mock at sin" (Proverbs 14:9). Ian Paisley wisely assessed that the purpose
of the Ecumenical Movement is the final union of all churches with Babylon the Great.
"Without a doubt the aim of both the National Council of Churches in America,
and the World Council of Churches on the international level is the final unity of
all churches with the Roman Catholic Church" (Paisley, "Billy Graham and
the Church of Rome", p. 25). Concerning Babylon the Great, "a whore is
a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit" (23:27).
1967, November 21st. Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school in Belmont, North
Carolina (USA), climaxed the week long program of its Institute for Ecumenic Dialogue--
"designed to promote understanding among Catholic and Protestant clergymen"--
with the presentation of an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters (D.H.L.)
to Southern Baptist evangelist, Billy Graham. "The gospel that built this school
and the gospel that brings me here tonight is still the way of salvation," Graham
assured his audience of 1,700 Protestants and Catholics (from an article, "Belmont
Abbey Confers Honorary Degree" by Paul Smith, taken from the "The Gastonia
Gazette" [North Carolina] November 22, 1967). "I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel"
(Galatians 1:6).
1968, July 5th. In the magazine "Christianity Today"-- founded in 1955
by Graham, his father-in-law L. Nelson Bell, and others "to present the evangelical
viewpoint to theologically liberal Protestant pastors" (from "Billy Graham
and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association - Historical Background" of the
Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College)-- Graham spoke of cooperation with
the Church of Rome, saying, "I don't think we have all to unite and be one big
church to do the work of God, but there are areas where we can cooperate" (from
Dr. Bert Oately-Willis' "Billy Graham: The Facts" [Toronto Free Presbyterian
Church]). Billy Graham was speaking of willingness to cooperate with Babylon the
Great, i.e., to have "fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness"
(Ephesians 5:11). This step in Graham's disobedience formed part of a gradual slide
away from any kind of Scriptural separation. "But the Word of the LORD was unto
them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be
broken, and snared, and taken" (Isaiah 28:13).
1977, June 3rd. "Would Billy Graham conduct a crusade at the Vatican? If a place
were made available and Christian leaders in Rome wanted him to, he might. No campaign
in Catholicism's capital is on the evangelist's calendar now, but his five-day crusade
last month [May 1977] on the Notre Dame University Campus proved he is not afraid
to go deep into Roman Catholic territory. It also showed that many elements in the
once hostile Catholic community are now receptive to Graham's type of ministry. Graham's
sermons were of the type that audiences around the world have heard, with only a
few more references to such Catholics as Bishop Fulton Sheen and Mother Teresa of
Calcutta" (from "Christianity Today" June 3, 1977). Even King David
would have to disagree with Billy Graham's unscriptural evangelism. "4 I have
not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers [pretenders]. 5
I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked"
(Psalm 26:4-5). When Billy Graham began to refuse to keep his evangelistic crusades
from being sponsored by the enemies of the Gospel of Christ, then he openly surrendered
his ministry to the Devil. "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not
in the way of evil men" (Proverbs 4:14). Billy Graham forgot that only the methods
of the LORD could properly promote his ministry. "6 For promotion cometh neither
from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7 But God is the Judge: He
putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalm 75:6-7).
1978, January. In an interview given to "McCall's Magazine" Graham said,
"I used to believe that pagans in far off countries were lost going to hell
if they did not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe
that. I believe that there are other ways of recognizing God through nature
for instance and plenty of other ways of saying 'yes' to God". But, Dr. Graham,
what happened to the Gospel necessity of turning solely to Jesus Christ in
faith? "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association later issued a statement citing Graham as saying,
"On the whole I am pleased with the accuracy of the article (McCall's)... a
few statements unfortunately convey meanings which I never intended. This may be
due to my own failure to make myself as plain as I should have". However, in
the same McCall's article, Graham said, "I've found that my beliefs are essentially
the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics... we differ on some matters of later
church tradition". Notice how the difference between Graham and the universal
Church of Rome is admittedly nonexistent. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know
ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will
be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). The Scripture telling
of the degeneration of evil men, i.e., Billy Graham's departure from salvation by
faith alone in Christ Jesus, must also be true. "But evil men and seducers shall
wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2Timothy 3:13).
1979, September. "The Christian Courier" of Milwaukee, Wisconsin published
the following report on their recent Milwaukee Crusade: "Sister Maureen Hopkins,
Director of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Milwaukee Roman Catholic
Archdiocese, and a liaison member of the Crusade committee, reported that 120 people
have volunteered within the Catholic community to help her with the task of contacting
each of the 3,500 inquiries. Sr. Maureen received the names and telephone numbers
from the Crusade Committee, based upon the inquirers indication of leaving a Catholic
background on his inquiry card... All 3,500 were immediately invited to a Eucharistic
celebration which was held on August 16 at St. Theresa's Church in Milwaukee. The
mass was attended by more than 400 people. The primary purpose for the mass was to
remind the inquirers that their commitments to Christ should be nurtured within the
sacramental framework of the [Catholic] church." "Woe be unto the pastors
that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the LORD" (Jeremiah
23:1).
"Christianity Today" for September 7,1979 pointed out that "Graham
had sent a team member almost a year before the Crusade to conduct a seminar on the
working of the Crusade for Milwaukee [Catholic] priests and lay workers". Pastor
John Ashbrook writes, "It is a tragedy that 3,500 decision cards were turned
over to the Roman Catholic Church, but, it is a worse tragedy when you realize that
it did not 'happen,' It was planned by the world's best-known evangelist" (from
John Ashbrook's "Billy Graham's Catholic Connection"). "Woe unto him
that buildeth his house by unrighteousness" (Jeremiah 22:13).
1979, September 27th. On the eve of the Papal visit to the United States in 1979,
The Religious News Service produced a September 27,1979 dispatch which quoted Billy
Graham as follows: "The visit of Pope Paul II to the United States is an event
of great significance not only for Roman Catholics, but for all Americans-- as well
as the world... In the short time he has been Pope, John Paul II has become the moral
leader of the world. My prayers and the prayer of countless other Protestants will
be with him as he makes his journey" (from John Ashbrook's "Billy Graham's
Catholic Connection"). "When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst
with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers" (Psalm 50:18). And, "They
that forsake the Law praise the wicked: but such as keep the Law contend with them"
(Proverbs 28:4).
1980, January/February. Alan Cairns recorded that, "DR. GRAHAM HAILS THE POPE
AS 'THE GREATEST RELIGIOUS LEADER OF THE MODERN WORLD.'" Billy Graham wrote
this in a lengthy article in the "Saturday Evening Post" of January/February
1980, referring to John Paul II as "one of the greatest moral and spiritual
leaders of this century" and "an evangelist" who "sought to speak
to the spiritual hunger of our age in the same way Christians throughout the centuries
have spoken to the spiritual yearning of every age-- by pointing people to Christ"
(from Alan Cairns' "Billy Graham and His Bible" [Greenville, South Carolina--
in association with the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church]). When the Professed Church
begins to believe such lies as Graham wrote for the "Saturday Evening Post",
then the Scripture is rejected. "Let not an evil speaker be established in the
Earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him" (Psalm 140:11). Also,
the Scripture is spurned that declares, "I am a companion of all them that fear
Thee, and of them that keep Thy Precepts" (119:63).
1981. Billy Graham "met the pope for the first time, and was the first Protestant
to speak at the North American College, a seminary for students from North America
at the Vatican" (reported from "Roman Catholic- Evangelical Cooperation"
at ReligiousTolerance.org-- an unscriptural website, i.e., "tolerant of all
religious beliefs, accurate in our writing, and inclusive", run by two
"Unitarian Universalists", one "Wiccan" [witch], and one "liberal
but unaffiliated Christian"). "Come [quickly], LORD Jesus" (Revelation
22:20). Billy Graham's toleration of wickedness is the essence of his sin, i.e.,
hypocritical love. "Let love be without dissimulation [literally, hypocrisy].
Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (Romans 12:9). Any tolerance
of that which is known to be evil, in the name of being balanced, fair, inclusive,
etc. is a devious means of stripping the Saint of his holiness. "Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you" (2Corinthians 6:17). When the very word "tolerance"
can be used as a weapon against the Godly, then the enemy has come in like a flood.
But, "when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall
lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19). Amen, and Amen!
1984, February 9th. John Ashbrook, pastor of Bible Community Church in Mentor, Ohio,
reported that the Lake County (Ohio) "News Herald" of February 9, 1984
printed a headline stating: "Graham's Help on Vatican Ties". The article
was an Associated Press release: "A spokesman for Billy Graham confirms that
the evangelist played a behind-the-scenes role in President Reagan's decision to
establish formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Early in 1983, Graham was asked by the president and adviser William Clark to make
informal, private inquiries among evangelical Protestant leaders about likely response
to such an action, said Donald Bialy, media director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association in Minneapolis. A copy of the seven-page letter that the Baptist evangelist
sent to Clark was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, which quoted Graham as saying,
'If anyone can do it and get away with it, it is Mr. Reagan.'" Concerning the
sinful overture of the United States to the Vatican, "Righteousness exalteth
a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). And concerning
America's departure to Rome, "My people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken Me the Fountain of Living Waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
1989, June 8th. Commenting on a highlight of his life, Billy Graham offered this
anecdote about a 1989 meeting with Pope John Paul II: "There was a pause in
the conversation; suddenly the Pope's arm shot out and he grabbed the lapels of my
coat, he pulled me forward within inches of his own face. He fixed his eyes on me
and said, 'Listen Graham, we are brothers'" (from "Today" June 8,
1989). "Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt
not go" (Proverbs 22:24). And, "Take ye heed every one of his neighbour,
and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every
neighbour will walk with slanders" (Jeremiah 9:4).
1995, June 2-8. "The European" reported, "DR. GRAHAM SENDS HIS ENQUIRERS
INTO ROMAN CATHOLICISM, EASTERN ORTHODOXY, LIBERAL PROTESTANTISM, ETC." This
has been a consistent policy since Billy Graham's early evangelistic days. "His
name and address and a lot of information about him is taken and within 24 hours
that is sent to a minister of the church of his choice regardless of denomination"
(from an interview with Graham in the "U.S. News and World Report" of August
27, 1954). "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in
me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that
he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). Why has Billy Graham
done this? Like Balaam, Billy Graham "loved the wages of unrighteousness"
(2Peter 2:15), i.e., the acceptance of man, the success of man, the materialism of
man, etc. But, the "deceivableness of unrighteousness" (2Thessalonians
2:10) caused Billy Graham to believe the lie that he has done all of this for Jesus
Christ. In the end, Billy Graham has no one to blame but Billy Graham. "Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked
and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).
1997. In Billy Graham's autobiography, he made clear that his goal was not to lead
people out of Roman Catholicism: "My goal, I always made clear, was not to preach
against Catholic beliefs or to proselytize people who were already committed to Christ
within the Catholic Church. Rather, it was to proclaim the Gospel to all those who
had never truly committed their lives to Christ" (from Billy Graham's autobiography,
"Just As I Am", p. 357). "3 If any man teach otherwise, and
consent not to Wholesome Words, even the Words of our LORD Jesus Christ, and to the
doctrine which is according to Godliness; 4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting
about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil
surmisings, 5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the Truth,
supposing that gain is Godliness: from such withdraw thyself" (1Timothy
6:3-5).
1997, January. Larry King interviewed Billy Graham, and he easily induced Graham
to make statements applauding the Pope and the Church of Rome.
Billy Graham's self-admitted "fellowship" with
Mormonism and Catholicism makes him a "partaker of [their] evil deeds"
(2John 11). "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). However, no amount of historical proofs or Scriptural
texts will convince you of the blackness of Billy Graham's compromise or the present
nakedness of the Professed Church, if you are unwilling to receive it. "If any
man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God,
or whether I speak of Myself" (John 7:17). In fact, that so few of the Professed
Church can understand Billy Graham's compromise and oppose it, demonstrates that
the "coming of the LORD draweth nigh" (James 5:8). For, "when the
Son of Man cometh, shall He find Faith on the Earth?" (Luke 18:8).
1997. David Frost interviewed his long time friend, Billy Graham. Frost noted the
change that took place in Graham from the early days of his evangelistic ministry
to the present.
It has become more humanistically expedient and acceptable
for Billy Graham to now say, "I don't know" than in his early Fundamentalist
days-- and later-- when his oft used expression was, "The Bible says".
"Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake Thy Law"
(Psalm 119:53). The certainty of a "plain path" (27:11) from the LORD directed
by a "more sure Word of prophecy" (2Peter 1:19) has now been replaced by
the same uncertainty possessed by those who perish. "17 This I say therefore,
and testify in the LORD, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of
their heart" (Ephesians 4:17-18). True Christians have the Infallible Scriptures--
"16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly [thoroughly] furnished unto all good works" (2Timothy
3:16-17)-- while Babylon the Great has only an "infallible" Pope. "For
their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges" (Deuteronomy
32:31).
1999. With Parkinson's disease, Billy Graham is now more of a university chancellor,
watching over the vast expanse of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA)--
with his son, William Franklin Graham III (b. 1952), already positioned as his father's
successor at the BGEA. "26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:26-27).
Sadly, Billy Graham still presents himself as the affable senior statesman of Evangelical
Christianity, admired by the world religious community, but he has yet to repent
of his adultery with Babylon the Great. "Behold, I will cast her [Jezebel, i.e.,
Babylon the Great] into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great
tribulation, except they repent of their deeds" (Revelation 2:22). Perhaps
the Amazingly Merciful God would allow Billy Graham to be cast into the Tribulation
Week (Daniel 9:27) to gain his repentance. "When He slew them, then they sought
Him: and they returned and enquired early after God" (Psalm 78:34).
On Separating Obedience From Love, And Truth From Unity
True Christian love responds to the Father that sent His "Only Begotten Son"
(John 3:16), to the "Greater Love" (15:13) of the LORD Jesus Christ that
laid "down His life for His friends" (15:13), and to the "Love of
the Spirit" (Romans 15:30) that pursued us with the "Great Love wherewith
He loved us" (Ephesians 2:4). The only right response of the Saints to the Love
of God is loving obedience. "For this is the Love of God, that we keep His Commandments:
and His Commandments are not grievous" (1John 5:3). The Body of Christ must
be taught that obedience to the Word of God is the demonstration of a heart of love
from a True Saint. "He that hath My Commandments, and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21).
If the Body can be somehow persuaded that Christian Love can be separated from Obedience,
then the way of the Antichrist can be prepared so that no heed need be given to the
warning that damnation will come to all those who receive the Mark of the Beast.
"9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship
the Beast [the Antichrist] and his image, and receive his Mark in his forehead, or
in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with
fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the
Lamb" (Revelation 14:9-10).
Further, if Christian Unity can be separated from Truth, then the lack of obedience
to the "Word of Truth" (Ephesians 1:13) will breed a False Christian Unity--
in the name of "that they may be one" (John 17:11)-- free of the restrictions
of the Word of God. But, "Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth"
(17:17) was the high priestly prayer of the LORD Jesus Christ in Gethsemane, understanding
that True Christian Unity only comes from submission to the Truth of the Word of
God. "13 Till we all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the Truth in Love, may
grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15).
Once Truth has been divorced from Christian Unity, then it is unnecessary to discriminate
if the one who enters Jerusalem to seat himself in the "temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God" (2Thessalonians 2:4) is really Jesus Christ or simply
the Antichrist. The stage has been set for the advent of that Antichrist, for the
predicted Apostasy-- falling away from Obedience to the Truth of the Word of God--
that precedes the Man of Sin is well under way (and, speeding to completion). "2
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the Day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive
you by any means: for that Day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition" (2Thessalonians 2:2-3).
Conclusion
The LORD Jesus Christ had His John the Baptist. "For this is he that was spoken
of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the LORD, make His paths straight" (Matthew 3:3). The False Prophet
and the Antichrist also have their Balaam to prepare their way into the Tribulation
Week (Daniel 9:27)-- but, for their inevitable judgment at the conclusion of that
Week. "And the Beast [the Antichrist] was taken, and with him the False Prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the
Mark of the Beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive
into a Lake of Fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20). May God grant
that Modern Balaam-- Billy Graham-- "repentance to the acknowledging of the
Truth" (2Timothy 2:25). But, whether or not the Sovereign God should bestow
mercy-- "Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will
He hardeneth" (Romans 9:18)-- upon Billy Graham, may the True People of God
"judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24) by separating from Babylon the Great.
"Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that
ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).
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in the Series "Babylon The Great"
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