Sunday 25th February 2018

“And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” Mark 2:16-17

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye” Matthew 7: 3-5

It was with sadness that I learned of the home call of Billy Graham today. (Wed) I've no doubt that he is now in the glory after a life of service in the cause of the gospel. I can remember the great excitement of Christian folk in the Church we attended when Billy Graham held his first campaign in England (1954) I was only seven years old, but it's stuck in my mind. Even now, in our little fellowship today, we have copies of The Billy Graham Song Book, used in a later campaign,which we sometimes use songs from. So yes, Billy Graham has certainly made a mark within Christendom, and will not be forgotten.

It's sad though that he comes under severe judging from some Christians. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those who class all forms of judging to be sin, on the contrary, there are times when we must pass judgment on people and on ministries, but I only tend to do this in the area of FALSE TEACHERS, FALSE DOCTRINE and FALSE PRACTISES in Churches today. Where people are being led astray and away from the “FAITH ONCE DELIVERED” (Jude 3) only the fiercest of Judgment will do.

In the case of Billy Graham, he mostly comes under judgment because of the company he kept and the people he associated himself with, and his political involvement. I personally see no grounds for this judgment. Jesus Himself was judged for doing exactly the same. “He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners” But these were the very people who needed to hear the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL. It would be a good thing if the Church today would follow the example of Jesus, and get out there amongst today's PUBLICANS & SINNERS. The down and outs of society need the message of the LIFE CHANGING GOSPEL. But instead of taking up the call, MOST BELIEVERS would rather hear the word in Church on a Sunday, then go about their own business during the week. Perhaps to satisfy our conscience, we may give or support others to go out and do the work that we should be taking part in!

But certainly, we have no cause to judge others, whoever they are, famous or not, because they take up the challenge and mix with the PUBLICANS & SINNERS to take advantage of the situation and speak the gospel.

Jesus said we should remove the BEAM from our own eye, before we try to remove the spec from our brother's eye.

I feel we should PRAISE & THANK our great God for the life and witness of Billy Graham, and thank Him for the souls that were led to Jesus through His ministry. I personally knew people who were BORN AGAIN at Billy's crusades. I say 'KNEW' past tense, because they too are now in the glory!

I am not a great fan of MASS EVANGELISM. I know that of all the thousands who answered the altar calls, only a small percentage were really, seriously, BORN AGAIN, but if that total was only one, then it was still ONE SOUL snatched from the LAKE of FIRE and eternal DAMNATION.

What would be a good thing, would be if each one reading this, was to ask our Lord to “Lead me to one soul today who needs salvation” Then witness to that soul what God has done for you. If every believer did that, we would have a SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION on our hands! Just think about it!

Brotherly love.....Pastor Keith