Billy Graham Quotes - Page 21

Thousands of pastors, Sunday school teachers, and Christian workers are powerless because they do not make the Word the source of their preaching or teaching.
Billy Graham
Nowhere in Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” [KJV] — nor in any similar Scripture did Christ command us to go only into the Western or capitalist world. Nowhere did He say to exclude the Communist world.
Billy Graham
I have had the privilege of preaching the Gospel on every continent in most of the countries of the world, and I have found that when I present the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with authority, quoting from the very Word of God—He takes that message and drives it supernaturally into the human heart.
Billy Graham
When I preach—no matter where it is in the world—I can always count on five areas of human need that afflict all peoples. Emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, deep-seated insecurity.
Billy Graham
God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The weaker I became, the more powerful became the preaching.
Billy Graham
Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News.
Billy Graham
I’m not a great preacher, and I don’t claim to be a great preacher . . . I’m an ordinary preacher, just communicating the Gospel in the best way I know how.
Billy Graham
We preach Christ crucified. The cross is the focal point in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It was no afterthought or emergency measure with God. Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” [Revelation 3:8 KJV].
Billy Graham
Oh God, if You want me to preach, I will do it.
Billy Graham
As the people came to a desert place to hear John the Baptist proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord,” so [man] in his confusions, frustrations, and bewilderment will come to hear the minister who preaches with authority.
Billy Graham
I preach a Gospel not of despair but of hope for the individual, hope for society, and hope for the world.
Billy Graham
I am counting totally and completely on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not on Billy Graham. 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
I know that many of the things I have said from the Scriptures have offended some, but I cannot afford to tone down the message. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:17, “I have a stewardship entrusted to me” (nasb), and that is to preach the pure and simple Gospel in whatever culture I am in.
Billy Graham
Many churches have their eyes on the culture instead of on Christ. Many pastors preach on common unity instead of calling the community to repent.
Billy Graham
When we preach or teach the Scriptures, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to do His work. God has not promised to bless oratory or clever preaching. He has promised to bless His Word.
Billy Graham
I must ask myself, “Billy Graham, are you prepared to meet the Master at any moment?” Yes, I am—but not because I have preached or tried to help people, but solely because I am trusting Christ as my Lord and Savior. Stop right now and ask yourself that question.
Billy Graham
Effective preaching must be biblical preaching, whether it is the exposition of a single word in the Bible, a text, or a chapter. The Word is what the Spirit uses.
Billy Graham
Double-mindedness means the faculty of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind and accepting both of them. We talk out of both corners of our mouths at once.
Billy Graham
I have not known of too many people who found Christ on their deathbeds. When we come to Christ in our youth, a life is saved. When we come in old age, a soul is salvaged and life eternal is assured; but the opportunity to live a life for Christ has been lost.
Billy Graham
Someday your life will be over, no matter how much attention you give to your health. Will you look back with regret, because you nourished your body but starved your soul?
Billy Graham
We spend enormous amounts of time and money on fad diets, expensive exercise machines, and health clubs. For many people, these things only demonstrate their preoccupation with the physical side of life . . . but even more important is taking care of our souls.
Billy Graham
Partial education throughout the world is far worse than none at all if we educate the mind but not the soul.
Billy Graham
Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless.
Billy Graham
God requires something of us. We must confess our spiritual poverty, renounce our sins, and turn by faith to His Son, Jesus Christ. When we do that, we are born again. He gives us a new nature. He puts a little bit of heaven down in our souls.
Billy Graham
The Bible teaches that whether we are saved or lost, there is conscious and everlasting existence of the soul and personality.
Billy Graham
May we all storm the gates of heaven for the souls of the anguished, that in their greatest time of need they will hear the gentle voice of God’s Spirit calling them to repentance.
Billy Graham
The Bible teaches that you are an immortal soul. Your soul is eternal and will live forever . . . the real you—the part of you that thinks, feels, dreams, aspires; the ego, the personality—will never die . . . your soul will live forever in one of two places—heaven or hell.
Billy Graham
Even in the darkest moment, before death snatches man’s last breath, God is willing to save a lost soul.
Billy Graham
It is a time for soul-searching, a time to see if our anchor holds.
Billy Graham
The soul actually demands as much attention as the body . . . the soul was made for God, and without God it is restless and in secret torment.
Billy Graham
The searchlight of [God’s] Spirit will probe the inner depths of your soul and reveal things that you think you have already yielded, but you have not.
Billy Graham
The Bible teaches whether we are saved or lost, there is an everlasting existence of the soul.
Billy Graham
Hardship is not our choice; but if we face it bravely, it can toughen the fiber of our souls.
Billy Graham
Our soul is that part of our being which possesses intelligence, conscience, and memory—the real personality. Your body will die, but your soul lives on. And that soul has a “sixth sense”—the ability to believe, to have faith.
Billy Graham
Our souls set us apart from every other living creature, and that makes us unique. It also makes us fully human.
Billy Graham
Let [Christ] transform your life so that you will have a glow on your face, a spring in your step, and joy in your soul.
Billy Graham
Where do we get the notion that our idea of success and God’s are the same? You have written a book; you are a clever manager and promoter; you are a talented artist; you are independently wealthy; you have achieved fame and fortune. Without the gifts of intelligence, imagination, personality, and physical energy—which are all endowed by God—where would you be?
Billy Graham
Our world is obsessed with success. But how does God define success? Success in God’s eyes is faithfulness to His calling.
Billy Graham
The Bible says that God sees two classes of men. He sees the saved and the lost, those who are going to heaven and those who are going to hell.
Billy Graham
Lying is one of the worst of all sins and can be committed by a thought, word, or deed. Anything that is intended to deceive another person is lying.
Billy Graham
As men and women seek to find independence from God, they have lost a sense of purpose in life. The worth of human personality is often equated with what we do for a living. However, a person’s occupation, community standing, or bank account is not what is important in God’s eyes.
Billy Graham
Tell me why the gardener trims and prunes his rosebushes, sometimes cutting away productive branches, and I will tell you why God’s people are afflicted. God’s hand never slips.
Billy Graham
All around you are people who need Christ: your family, your neighbors, people you work with or go to school with every day. Are you praying for them, asking God to open the door of their hearts to His truth?
Billy Graham
Someday all of us will give account of the way we have used the gifts God has given. The person to whom much has been given will find much required of him.
Billy Graham
I have never met a person who didn’t have problems of some kind. This is why we need one another’s encouragement.
Billy Graham
In our desire to achieve success quickly it is easy to get our values mixed up and call evil good and good evil.
Billy Graham
Instead of manipulating [people] for our own purposes, we’d help them achieve what is best for them. We’d also try to see life through their eyes. Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.
Billy Graham
If the other person would just do things my way, we could get along,” one says, when the other person is probably thinking the same about us—that leads to conflict. Our deepest problems are within ourselves.
Billy Graham
Man boasts of his nobility, his ideals, and his progress. Man’s goal is imitation, not redemption.
Billy Graham
Man persists in waywardness. If one institution fails [he says], try another—anything but God’s plan.
Billy Graham
Some of the most miserable people I have ever met have been people who are very popular with the public, but down inside are empty and miserable.
Billy Graham
Proclaiming “the whole will of God” should be the goal—and the joy—of every church and every preacher.
Billy Graham
Our souls have a disease. It causes all the troubles and difficulties in the world. It causes all the troubles, confusions, and disillusionments in your own life. The name of the disease is . . . sin.
Billy Graham
We spend all our time and energy pampering our bodies and minds, but if we ignore our souls, we will end up spiritually starved and malnourished.
Billy Graham
Take care of your soul—your inner self—by feeding on the Word of God and letting His Spirit transform you from within.
Billy Graham
Christ taught that in the sight of God one soul is worth the entire materialistic world! In God’s sight the individual is all-important. When Christ calls a man to follow Him, He calls him “out” from the “group.” Christ can fill the vacuums. He can restore your personal identity. He can become the truth to your generation.
Billy Graham
Nothing can calm our souls more or better prepare us for life’s challenges than time spent alone with God.
Billy Graham
You should no more allow sinful imaginations to accumulate in your mind and soul than you would let garbage collect in your living room.
Billy Graham
Compared to when I was a boy, we now live in reverse. The people are locked up in their homes at night and criminals are outside on the loose! When I was young, the criminals were locked up and the people were free to move about. That time has passed for many cities.
Billy Graham
The central theme of the universe is the purpose and destiny of every individual. Every person is important in God’s eyes.
Billy Graham